Summary of the previous chapter: Sun Quan persuaded Cao Cao to retreat his 400,000-strong army with a letter... After Ma Xiaoquan returned to Yecheng, he asked Cao Cao to help him continue to lie...
In the evening, Ma Xiaoquan left Cao Cao to have a small gathering in Ma's courtyard. During the dinner, the two talked about Cao Cao's past when he was young...
"Haha..." Ma Xiaoquan picked up a glass of water and wine, touched it with Cao Cao, and said, "Xiao Cao, do you remember the scene when we first met?"
Cao Cao drank the wine in the cup and nodded: "Haha, of course I remember. At that time, Master Shangxian suddenly appeared from mid-air, which really shocked me."
Ma Xiaoquan raised his eyebrows and said, "Scared you? Why didn't I feel it at the time?"
Cao Cao chuckled: "Wang Yun was so scared at that time. Master Shangxian, all your attention was on Wang Yun, hehe..."
"You guy, do you still remember that you stabbed me?"
Cao Cao argued: "Even so, Master Shangxian has nothing to do with you, right?"
The two looked at each other and then burst into laughter.
Cao Cao asked: "Master Shangxian, do you know...who will control the world in the future?"
"Huh?" Ma Xiaoquan was just about to pick up a piece of chicken to eat. When he heard what Cao Cao said, he put down his chopsticks and looked at Cao Cao and said, "Xiao Cao, what do you mean?"
Cao Cao said: "I don't mean anything else. I just think that the big man is really going to die soon."
Ma Xiaoquan nodded: "You are right, but I don't know the specific time."
"Don't you know, Master Shangxian? Can't Master Shangxian figure it out?"
Ma Xiaoquan lied and said: "These things are secrets. As the saying goes, secrets cannot be revealed. I have practiced Taoism for more than a thousand years, which is not enough to figure it out. Of course, even if I can figure it out, I will never tell you.
....."
Ma Xiaoquan's words were full of puns. How could Cao Cao not understand the meaning? However, since Lord Shangxian had already expressed his intention, Cao Cao didn't say much more. But Cao Cao was really itching in his heart.
Cao Cao rolled his eyes and asked again: "Master Shangxian, do you think I should accept the emperor's reward?"
Cao Cao's words were rather vague, but the meaning was clear to Ma Xiaoquan.
A few days ago, Dong Zhao and others persuaded Cao Cao to give him the title of Duke of Wei and add nine tins, but Cao Cao suppressed the matter. As soon as Cao Cao returned to Yecheng in the past two days, Dong Zhao and others began to persuade him again.
It's not that Cao Cao didn't want to, after all, the boy Emperor Xian of Han had grown up now and was starting to make trouble for himself secretly. If Cao Cao was still in the position of prime minister, sooner or later Emperor Xian of Han would find a way to remove him.
Dong Zhao and others advised Cao Cao to join the Duke of Wei, and Cao Cao was indeed very moved. However, when Emperor Gaozu first established the Han Dynasty, he had a rule of "no one will be king unless he is Liu". Of course, Dong Zhao and others only advised Cao Cao to join the Duke of Wei.
Duke Wei, but...if there is Duke Wei, is the King of Wei still far away?
Ma Xiaoquan looked at Cao Cao with interest, making Cao Cao feel a little guilty.
"Haha..." Ma Xiaoquan said with a smile, "Xiao Cao, I would like to ask you, if one day you reach the power of becoming king, do you... dare to become king?
?”
"Hey..." Cao Cao was speechless.
"Let me tell you, you old boy, if I give you a chance, you won't let it go, right?"
Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, then nodded and sighed: "Master Shangxian still understands me, haha"
Cao Cao asked: "Then Master Shangxian, if such a day comes, do you think I should be cheated or not?"
Ma Xiaoquan laughed: "Yes, why not!"
Cao Cao was overjoyed and said: "Is this the secret of heaven?"
Ma Xiaoquan nodded: "It's such a secret!"
"Okay, great!" Cao Cao clapped his hands and filled a glass of wine for Ma Xiaoquan, "Master Shangxian, come, drink and drink!"
Ma Xiaoquan picked up the wine glass, clinked it with Cao Cao, and drank the wine in the glass.
Ma Xiaoquan was originally unable to drink alcohol, but since he mastered the ability of autophagic flames, Ma Xiaoquan can swallow the green spirit fire and let it burn the wine in his own organs. Although at this moment, Ma Xiaoquan feels a little uncomfortable with the burning in his chest and abdomen.
, but it’s much better than not being able to drink.
Cao Cao was also very surprised. In his impression, Master Shangxian did not drink much. But now, after drinking for more than an hour, Master Shangxian also drank a jar of wine, and he is still talking and laughing. Well, it seems
Master Shangxian has always been pretending before.
Cao Cao was very happy to see that Ma Xiaoquan was not drunk at all.
Cao Cao was a good drinker. Although his drinking capacity was not as good as before due to his age, it was still very good compared to ordinary people. With Master Shangxian drinking with him, Cao Cao opened another jar of wine.
Ma Xiaoquan took the wine jar from Cao Cao with a smile and filled a cup for himself and Cao Cao respectively.
After the two drank it all, they exhaled loudly and said "good wine" at the same time.
"Haha..." The two laughed again.
Putting down his wine glass, Ma Xiaoquan suddenly asked Cao Cao out of curiosity: "Xiao Cao, have you ever drank with Liu Bei like we did?"
Cao Cao hummed, put down his wine glass, and nodded gently.
"Oh?" Ma Xiaoquan raised his eyebrows and became interested, "Let's talk about it and listen to it."
In fact, Ma Xiaoquan just asked casually. The little story of "green plums cooking wine" is not recorded in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, but it is recorded in Zizhi Tongjian.
Ma Xiaoquan has read both books. Although both books are historical books, Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms is earlier than Zizhi Tongjian, so its credibility is naturally higher than Zizhi Tongjian. Of course, many modern histories
Everybody has also discussed this issue, but in the end no one dares to be 100% sure that this is not the case.
Now that Cao Cao admitted it so easily, Ma Xiaoquan was naturally very interested in hearing it.
"That year..." Cao Cao sighed and said, "Xuande and I..."
Cao Cao slowly described to Ma Xiaoquan the process of making wine with Liu Bei's green plums. After listening to it, Ma Xiaoquan was happy.
"Lord Immortal, why do you look so happy?"
Could Ma Xiaoquan be unhappy? Because the description in Zizhi Tongjian is completely different from Cao Cao's own description.
Zizhi Tongjian said that Cao Cao revealed the worries of the world today. He and Liu Bei are heroes, and the rest is not a concern, but Liu Bei dropped his chopsticks because of a thunder explosion in the sky...
Cao Cao's original words were: Liu Bei and I did discuss some of the current world situation, and we also reached a certain consensus, but in terms of details, Liu Bei chose to stick to the Han Dynasty, while I chose to change.
...
After listening to Cao Cao's words, Ma Xiao didn't even hear what Cao Cao said about Liu Bei losing his chopsticks because of the thunder. He couldn't help but asked curiously: "Xiao Cao, what did you eat when you were cooking wine with green plums?"
Cao Cao was puzzled and replied: "Yes, of course, there are vegetables on the table."
"Is there any thunder?"
"Thunder?" Cao Cao thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Yes."
"Is it loud?"
"It's not big, oh, but the thunder came quite suddenly. Liu Bei and I were startled at the same time, and our chopsticks happened to touch each other, and then our chopsticks fell to the ground."
"Ah? Your chopsticks? Are they not Liu Bei's chopsticks?"
Cao Cao shook his head: "Of course not, but I didn't look down. Liu Bei was different. He seemed to have something in mind, so he lowered his head and looked at it for a long time... Well, I realized it later.
Liu Bei was planning to escape at that time, which caused me to lose the general's chariot and his armor..."
After what Cao Cao said, Ma Xiaoquan finally understood. After a long time of fussing, the thunder did not scare off Liu Bei's chopsticks. It turned out that it scared off both men's chopsticks.
"Oh, hahaha...haha..." Ma Xiaoquan couldn't help laughing.
Cao Cao felt very strange and asked: "Master Shangxian, why are you laughing?"
Ma Xiaoquan shook his head: "It's nothing, it's just that it doesn't take much effort to find a way out of iron shoes, haha... So that's it, that's it... Haha..."
Cao Cao didn't understand what Ma Xiaoquan meant, but seeing the immortal laughing, he was gradually infected and started laughing along with him.