"I regret that my body is poor and humble, and I have lived in poverty for a long time. I have never emigrated to teach for three times, and I have never heard the words of the court." [Shan Zai Xing]
Ever since Cao Song was attacked and killed here last year, Fang Pavilion has never been visited again. The originally small pavilion and courtyard were burned down by fire, and all the exposed masonry, beams and wood were smoked black. Wild.
Amaranth grows everywhere in the cracks and corners of the wall, with dark purple leaves. From time to time, a few fox rabbits duck through the weeds with their ears lowered, leaving behind a gray afterimage.
The current owners of Fang Pavilion watched with vigilance as a group of uninvited guests were cleaning the bricks and pulling out weeds in the courtyard. Soon, an open space was cleared, with a wooden case that was about to be burned to char in the middle, and on it were placed
Several pottery bowls picked up from the corner, one for wine, one for meat, and one for millet.
After Cao Cao simply set up a banquet for his late father, he and Xi Zhicai walked boredly in the deserted courtyard. At this time, no news had come from Langye Kingdom, and Fangting was only half a day's journey from Huaxian County, so Cao Cao
He was not in a hurry to march, so he simply rested here and waited for the changes. Xi Zhicai and he still had a conversation about the imperial court that they had not yet finished. It seemed that they were deliberately avoiding it, and seemed to have been deliberately left to the end. But it was still
Xi Zhicai patiently followed Cao Cao in the small courtyard to face the problems he had to face, listening to Cao Cao's ramble on:
"My grandson has not liked me since he was a child." Cao Cao seemed to be immersed in some emotion after offering sacrifices to his late father. He raised his head and looked at the blue sky, listening to the ethereal birdsong in the mountains and forests, and the roar of the river not far away.
The voices passing by were so distant that even Cao Cao's own voice became elusive: "Perhaps he thinks I am not good-looking and not like him. He rarely asks about my studies and daily life. What I read when I was young
The military books and classics; the bow, horse, and sword skills I learned were all obtained by hard training on my own. I thought that when I became a talented person with both civil and military skills, Aweng would treat me differently, but I
wrong."
Xi Zhicai looked at the other party in surprise. He had never seen Cao Cao like this before. His gloomy tone and downcast expression were not like the usual high-spirited General Pingdong. Instead, he looked like a lonely child. Such Cao Cao made him feel uncomfortable.
He felt very strange and at a loss. Even though he was so resourceful, he didn't know how to deal with Cao Cao's unique way of speaking. According to Cao Cao's self-report, he seemed to be able to imagine a short, unspectacular young man many years ago.
Alone in the courtyard, struggling to wield a wooden sword; or immersed in reading on a cold winter night, how much he wanted to use his acquired efforts to make up for his congenital defects and gain his father's favor. However,
"My uncle couldn't stand the fact that I often interacted with Yuan Benchu, Zhang Mengzhuo and their flying eagle lackeys. They always complained in front of Aweng. But when Aweng heard this, he blamed me without asking why." Cao Cao lowered his head and tried to explain in front of him.
He found the covered stone path in the yard in the grass. He walked along the vaguely exposed stone path: "I was not angry at that time, so I deliberately devised a plan." As he said that, Cao Cao turned around and read the play log with interest.
Just one glance.
The boss wanted to tell his subordinates about his past secrets. This was a sign of extreme intimacy. The subordinates had to show interest no matter what. Xi Zhi took a step forward and said knowingly: "I would like to hear the details."
"I remember that it was afternoon. I saw my uncle coming from a distance, and I immediately made a crooked look. My uncle mistakenly thought that I had suffered a stroke, and ran to inform my father. When Aweng came over to see me, I was back to normal, pretending
I acted as if nothing had happened. Then I said, 'How could I have ever had a stroke? It's just that my uncle never loved me, so he was just lying.' From then on, Aweng would not believe any of his uncle's gossip." Cao Cao still gave him mercy at first.
He talked with interest about how he was clever when he was young and how he took revenge on his uncle. But after talking about it, Cao Cao's tone became lower: "But Aweng became less and less concerned about me. Maybe he saw through my tricks. Until
Many years later, I realized that among the elders of the Cao family, the one who was really kind to me was my uncle, whom I had hated since childhood. If he hadn’t often mentioned to Ah Weng that he had a son like me, how would Ah Weng have remembered to let me know?
Study under a famous teacher? If he didn’t really care about me, why would he have rushed to inform Aweng and summon the doctor in the first place?”
"It's a pity that I was very arrogant when I was young. I thought I could manipulate people's hearts with my wits, but I didn't know that people's hearts..." Cao Cao turned around, pointed at his chest, and then stretched out his hand to point at Xi Zhicai: "Finally,
It’s unpredictable.”
Xi Zhicai's heart trembled, and he knew that the other party was definitely not just trying to share this youthful past with him. The hidden meaning behind the stories and words was what he needed to figure out. He thought about it again and again, and then he said in an evasive manner: "Cao
Although Gong's uncle once seemed to be at odds with Cao Gong and went against Cao Gong's wishes at every turn, the reason behind his love and protection for Cao Gong was that he was kind and sincere. There might have been misunderstandings and he didn't know what Cao Gong meant, so he treated Cao Gong very well.
When the public realizes it later, he will only know that he has worked so hard, and he will surely repay him with all his heart, right?"
"Yes." Cao Cao suddenly sighed and said, "It's a pity that he died more than ten years ago. His next son died of illness before he could serve as an official, leaving only one grandson. My uncle's son is younger than me, so this is my son."
My younger brother's son... you should have seen him, An Min, who often hangs out with Zixiu."
"Oh." Xi Zhi then remembered that Cao Cao had many relatives, but he never used power for personal gain and promoted people based on closeness. Even people like Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan relied on their own talents to lead the army. As Cao Cao's heir,
, the team around him must have been carefully selected by Cao Cao. Apart from Cao Chun, there is only Cao Anmin, who is more than ten years old, around Cao Ang. He was originally strange, but compared with Cao Chun, who is inquisitive and thoughtful,
Cao Anmin had almost nothing to offer, but Cao Cao had so many nephews and nephews, but he was the only one who accompanied Cao Ang: "It turns out there is such a connection."
Cao Cao nodded, didn't say much, turned around and walked deeper into the courtyard, continuing to talk about his relationship with his father Cao Song: "From then on, I knew that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't let Aweng do it.
Look at me one more time. So although the filial piety is still there, in terms of love, I have already been separated from him."
That's it, Xi Zhicai thought in his mind, if the father and son had been estranged for a long time, then after learning the news of Cao Song's death, Cao Cao might not be really heartbroken. He must be heartbroken, but he would not be so angry that he would start an army.
, venting his anger on Xuzhou. Behind this, of course, there was the idea that he wanted to annex Xuzhou and show his filial piety, but further imagine, Cao Cao made a calm decision without being disturbed by his father's death.