Valkyrie Returns

Chapter 61 Suicide

Jian'an's 15-year long and cold winter has finally passed.

This year, Jingzhou City changed hands three times, and each time was more tragic than the first time. This year, Sun Ce, the little overlord of Jiangdong, was assassinated and killed. This year, Guo Jia, the advisor of Cao Wei, disappeared in Wu County.When countless historians in later generations speculated how the Battle of Chibi that finally burned the entire Three Kingdoms era started, no one thought that the war itself was just a love madness with no beginning and no end.

Cao Cao lay sideways on the large imperial concubine's couch, his forehead throbbing faintly.Xun Yu and Cheng Yu sat under Cao Cao, discussing the game of chess.琤r> "Wen Ruo, what do you think of the Jingzhou matter?" Cheng Yu slowly dropped a white piece on the chessboard, seemingly unintentionally opening the topic.

Xun Yu glanced at Cheng Yu meaningfully, and sighed calmly: "No matter what the cause is, Zhuge Liang finally managed to sneak through Chen Cang to win a large city in Xichuan. Fabai Emperor, Xizhi? ,?br>"If the city of Jingzhou is destroyed, the capital of Luoyang will be in danger.Zhou Gongjin is afraid that he will point at Cao Wei in a few days and go straight to Xuchang. "

"Zhong De is too worried. Eastern Wu Zhou Yu is good at water warfare, and Lu Su is good at land soldiers. Only Zhou Gongjin must come and go, but the Xiliang tiger has to be guarded against."

Cheng Yu looked at the chessboard carefully, and gently covered the chess pieces: "Speaking of chess, I am afraid that only Feng Xiaoneng can match Wen Hezhan. Lu Fengxian is a reckless man who has been entrenched in Xiliang for many years and has not moved. The goodness of Longyang, I am afraid that he has long been sunk in the gentle village, and he can't even lift Fang Tian's painted halberd. Otherwise, why would it be Ma Mengqi, the remnant of Fufeng, who fought with the master last time?"

"Zhongde's words are wrong. The so-called knowing yourself and the enemy is the basis for advancing and retreating. The forces in Xiliang have been dormant for many years, and how much strength they have now after recuperating. You and I don't know. On the contrary, Zhou Yu has been attacking Jingzhou for a long time. It's about fighting hard, not being afraid."

"According to Wen Ruo's opinion, how sure is it that I will lead an army to directly attack Jiangxia and kill Zhou Gongjin?" Cao Cao got up from his bed at some point and walked behind Xun Yu.

Xun Yu paused slightly as he was packing up the chess pieces, but his voice was still steady: "I don't know why my lord wants to kill Zhou Yu? And why do you want to do it yourself? General Xiahou Dun's archery skills are superb. If there is a chance, it is not difficult to shoot Zhou Gongjin in front of the battle." .”

Cao Cao closed his eyes and let out a long sigh: "I thought Wenhe understood me."

Xun Yu turned around with a wry smile and looked at Cao Cao. The chess jar in his hand fell heavily on the ground, and the black and white glazed chess pieces were scattered everywhere. There were chaotic sounds on the marble floor of the inner courtyard: "After all, it is because of filial piety, my lord. I knew that it was Feng Xiao who planned to kill Zhou Yu in Baiyun Tower, so I rushed to Jiangxia and was ambushed by Ma Chao. Now, is it because Feng Xiao wants to conquer Soochow and personally take Zhou Gongjin's head?"

Cheng Yu silently walked to the corner and picked up the scattered chess pieces one by one, then put the chess jar by the door and left quietly.

Cao Cao's hostile facial features twitched for a while, and finally nodded emphatically: "Princes, generals and ministers are just a fleeting moment. Without the company of a beloved person, how happy is life and why is there no fear of death?"

"My lord has many heirs, and there are so many people who are happy together. If I am filial piety, I don't believe in my lord's will. But I will lose Cao Wei's decades-long foundation on the spur of the moment. Do you really think it's worth it?" Xun Yu believes that this is not the first time. It wouldn't be the last time to discuss Guo Jia's issues with Cao Cao. Standing under the unknown flower tree in the early spring courtyard, he felt tired for no reason, so he simply raised his eyebrows and stopped looking at Cao Cao.

"I owed him a lot back then, but I couldn't see that he had planned to go far away when he invited Xiliang. For so many years, I have been tossing and turning every day without sleep. Recently, I have a severe headache and can't rest for a moment. The Lord of Cao Wei It doesn't matter if it's inappropriate, it really doesn't taste good." Seeing Xun Yu look away, Cao Cao also showed a little tiredness in his eyes, as if his figure had become much thinner.

"Since we know today, why bother? My lord assassinated Dong, usurped the Han, and flattened Jizhou just because of today's inappropriateness? Where did my lord put Cao Wei's thousands of soldiers? Where did my lord put all the people in the world? Where did I put me What Feng Xiao wanted was Jiang Song Cuizhu’s leisurely life. If the lord hadn’t insisted on inviting him out of the mountain, how could he be in a dilemma today? You are responsible for all the people in the world, but you don’t want to wrong yourself. I never thought that I, Xun Yu, would boast He is full of knowledge, but he has been blind for so many years, helping an unfamiliar white-eyed wolf." Cao Cao was so angry that his veins were exposed, his face was red, but he never said a word of rebuttal from the beginning to the end. , let alone the intention of doing it.Xun Yu yelled out of breath, turned around and left with a flick of his sleeves.Cao Cao's eyes were about to crack, and he pressed his forehead tightly for a while and collapsed on the soft bed.

Cheng Yu came out of the other courtyard where he lived in a complicated mood, walked to the martial arts training ground, and saw Xia Houyuan as expected: "General Xiahou is still here in a daze, it really is rain or shine, no matter rain or shine, I am admirable. I am in a bad mood today , would you like to ask the general to dance the sword for me?" Without waiting for Xia Houyuan to answer, he moved a wooden bench from the porch and sat down in the courtyard.Xia Houyuan took a glance at him, and silently danced around with his sword: "Didn't Zhongde play chess in the lord's yard today?"

Cheng Yu didn't answer him, but just glanced at Xia Houyuan with a half-smile: "Today, there are two roe deer in my lord's yard, which disturbed people's peace. I beg the general to help you catch them and make soup tonight."

Hearing that Cheng Yu was talking nonsense without beginning and end, Xia Houyuan nodded immediately, and led Cheng Yu quickly to his room: "The military division is ill today, and I still have a lot of Guizhou medicine issued by the medical officer in my place." Branches and ephedra, the military commander will take them back to make soup."

"Zhongde's hands and feet are weak, can you ask the general to do it for you?" Cheng Yu's expression brightened, and he pressed Xia Houyuan's palm.

Xia Houyuan frowned and snorted heavily: "I just don't want to deal with you literati. No matter what you say, there are so many twists and turns. Is it possible that there is something shameful that you don't want to be heard? Is it possible that the military advisers and staff still want to talk about it?" Can you compete for favor like those concubines in the harem?"

"Can General Xiahou take me away? Cao Wei will perish soon." Cheng Yu understood Xiahouyuan's original temperament better than anyone else, and he also understood why he became like this.So, he didn't say anything, he just asked for an answer, or just a peace of mind.This sentence is as light as a feather, but also heavier than Mount Tai.The light one is naturally Cheng Yu's fame and fortune, and the one heavy is his own wealth and life. Cheng Yu's light-colored eyebrows and eyes are fixed on Xia Houyuan's pale side face, and he always covers his palm with his palm and stands still.

Xia Houyuan's already pale face turned even paler, and his plain facial features were bleak: "Why do you say that, sir?"

"You just say whether you believe me or not, or whether you want to believe me or not." Cheng Yu's throat hardened, and he almost blurted out a hot breath, but he pressed it back into his body.Xia Houyuan opened his mouth, then closed it weakly, and finally shook off Cheng Yu's palm calmly.

Cheng Yu lowered his hands disheartened, and the corners of his mouth abruptly overflowed with dark blood: "You never believed in me, so why should I spend my whole life deceiving myself? Instead of seeing Cao Wei fall apart in the future, or you riding a flying horse alone in blood" Death, I might as well seek relief now. I have only believed in two people in my life, but they don't believe in me. Life is so ridiculous and sad." Cheng Yu said at the end, the poison at the bottom of his tongue was completely in his heart Spreading out, he took one last look at Xia Houyuan, and fell straight forward.Xia Houyuan's mind was blank, and he hugged Cheng Yu's already cold corpse into his arms by instinct. A dazzling scarlet flashed across his pale cheeks. , passed out in his room.

The next day, the whole city of Xu was panicked.General Xiahou and military advisor Cheng Yu were assassinated in a private house, and the news of one death and one injury spread like wildfire.Xiahoudun and Zhang Jai went to the mansion together to see Xiahouyuan, and healed him with his true energy: "Brother, can you see the assassin's appearance clearly yesterday?"

"My brother actually believes it's an assassin?" Xia Houyuan's voice was hoarse, his complexion was sallow, and his eyes were dull, obviously extremely disappointed by this question.Xiahou Dun shook his head helplessly, and buried his head to transmit more qi into Xiahouyuan's body: "It doesn't help if I believe it or not. Regardless of the cause and effect, the result is inevitable."

"Yes, he has always believed in me, but I don't believe in him." Xia Houyuan raised his neck high, and scorching tears hit the back of Xiahou Dun's hand heavily. After a while, he finally couldn't hold it back, and the whole person lay in Xiahou Dun's arms wow He burst into tears: "Brother, am I very useless? I didn't believe him, and I didn't believe in filial piety at the beginning. They all died for me, but I, the chief culprit, still live without shame."

Zhang Jai bent down and pressed his palms on Xia Houyuan's hair, and his feminine voice was very ethereal: "Who is innocent in troubled times? Cheng Yu just took certain things too seriously, so he couldn't let them go. No matter what you do Your brother and I have always supported the decision."

"What is Junyi's future plan? Zhongde told me that Cao Wei is going to die." Xia Houyuan's voice was very low, but he was very clear about his words.

"The past is broken by the wind. We might as well follow the example of Feng Xiaoyuan and flee to the frontier to have a chance of life. From now on, the wild cranes and the smoke and the rice fields will be a good thing if a historian mentions it in the future. It can also be regarded as a memory for the decaying Cao Wei. So a little bit of Jian'an style."

"A few years ago, I still laughed at Cao Zijian when he paraded around the rivers and lakes on a white horse in Tsing Yi. But I didn't think that I was just a rotten tree at best, and how could I be as good as him. I was really stupid. To this day, I have nothing to love. Just wanting to follow Zhongde to Jiuquan is his last wish at the time of death, but I don’t know if this trust will change after crossing the Naihe bridge.” Xia Houyuan laughed bitterly and pulled out the thong from Xiahoudun’s waist. The sword was wiped on the neck: "Good brother, I hope we can be brothers again in the next life!"