Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

With his eyes closed, the world's conflicts were no longer relevant to Zhuge Liang. He had fulfilled all his duties as a subject, even sacrificing his life for the country, and could now meet the late emperor without regret.

It has nothing to do with Zhuge Liang, but it is related to Yang Yi, Liu Shan, and all the subjects, people, and soldiers of the Shu Kingdom.

The lights in the hall remained bright, as was the norm in the Prime Minister's Hall, and no one dared to disturb him. Yang Yi sat quietly beside the Prime Minister's body all night, his mind in turmoil, until dawn when he finally emerged, looking haggard and exhausted.

The soldiers standing guard outside the hall had been on duty for half the night. When they saw General Yang Yi come out, they all straightened their backs and became more alert.

Yang Yi calmly looked around and said, "The Prime Minister was busy with official business last night and only managed to sleep for half an hour. He needs to rest. The Prime Minister hasn't slept well for several days."

"The Prime Minister's health is of utmost importance in the army. You must all remember not to enter and disturb him, and not to make any noise, or you will be punished according to military law!"

"Yes, sir." The soldiers standing outside the hall saluted.

Yang Yi's orders were often the same as the Prime Minister's orders.

Yang Yi had been the chief secretary to the prime minister for many years and also the military advisor and general of the court. It was not the first or second time that he had issued orders on behalf of the prime minister, and no one dared to question him.

Yang Yi left the courtyard and went to his own camp, where he hurriedly went to see one of the people.

"Commander Zhao!" Yang Yi strode into the tent and hurriedly pulled a man who looked like a general to sit down.

Commandant Zhao Zheng asked with some confusion, "General, what brings you here to see me?"

Yang Yi swallowed hard. "There is something I need. I have a question on my mind. You are an expert in divination, and your divination with yarrow stalks is always accurate. That's why I've come to ask you to help me with a divination."

"Do you really want to consult the oracle?" Zhao Zheng said, "The general knows the rules of my divination."

Yang Yi appeared increasingly anxious: "I know you must bathe and purify yourself before divination. But in this urgent situation, can't we just burn incense and be sincere?"

"Alright!" Zhao Zheng gritted his teeth: "General, please wait a moment."

A bunch of yarrow stalks moved swiftly through Zhao Zheng's fingers, and in just a quarter of an hour, he had placed them on the mat in a regular pattern.

This means the divination has yielded a result.

Yang Yi leaned forward, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the yarrow stalks on the mat. His anxious expression even startled Zhao Zheng.

"General, what is this...?" Zhao Zheng hesitated.

Yang Yi frowned: "Silence!"

"Yes." Zhao Zheng was even more confused, so he could only shut up and take a step back, quietly watching Yang Yi's expression.

Divination is a highly specialized skill, and the I Ching is an essential part of classical studies. The success rate of divination varies from person to person. Zhao Zheng's skill in divination simply means that he was more likely to succeed and became famous for it, not that only Zhao Zheng was skilled in divination.

Yang Yi could also understand the result.

Yang Yi stared nervously at the yarrow stalks on the mat, muttering to himself, "It's the Family divination?"

Zhao Zheng replied softly, "It's the Family hexagram, the Wind and Fire Family hexagram."

Yang Yi remained silent. The Family hexagram signifies introspection, compliance, and tranquility. According to the hexagram's text, the woman occupies her proper place within, while the man occupies his proper place without. The proper order of man and woman is the great principle of Heaven and Earth.

Seeing Yang Yi's slightly flustered state, Zhao Zheng became inexplicably wary. But in the end, he didn't say anything.

Those skilled in divination often do not get too involved.

Last night, Yang Yi thought it over all the possibilities and finally decided to falsely claim that Zhuge Liang had left a will, so that Liu Shan would hand over full command of the war to him. He also wanted to bring Fei Yi, Jiang Wan, and others under his command.

In Yang Yi's eyes, wasn't all of this just a matter of course? I was once the chief secretary of the prime minister, and later the military advisor and general. I was also entrusted with important matters by the prime minister. If I don't do these national affairs, who else can?

However, the divination result was not auspicious.

The Family hexagram is mainly about being in the correct position.

Each should know their proper place.

Yang Yi now wants to seize power by falsely claiming the will of the deceased, and the divination he obtained by the family divination is by no means an auspicious sign!

Yang Yi waved his hand and walked away on his own, ignoring him completely. As he walked toward his barracks, his resolve grew stronger.

When it comes to matters of the world, we should ask whether they are appropriate to do them. How can we abandon important matters because of divination?
To be frank, Yang Yi was talented. He believed himself to be better than Jiang Wan and Fei Yi, and that he was the only one capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility of defense.

As for the Prime Minister's dying wish to keep the death a secret, how could he possibly keep it a secret? How could he possibly conceal such a momentous event?

If we don't take the opportunity of paying homage to the Prime Minister, how can we get the generals to obey our orders and be loyal to us?
After washing his face and having breakfast, Yang Yi felt some of the fatigue from staying up all night had subsided. He then summoned all the generals to a military council, where he publicly announced the news of Zhuge Liang's death and led all the generals and military advisors to kneel and pay homage to the Prime Minister.

The generals and soldiers wept bitterly; the backbone of the Han Dynasty was gone, and everyone was filled with fear. Just as Zhuge Liang said on his deathbed, he himself was the greatest reason why Shu was able to unite.

As for the Prime Minister's sudden death, although everyone was grieved, they were not too surprised, nor did they raise any objections to Yang Yi. The Prime Minister's poor health was not a recent development; all the commanders in the army, from top to bottom, had witnessed his frail condition.

These were all generals who had led troops into battle and witnessed countless life-and-death situations. How could they not see that the Prime Minister was on his deathbed? The question had been in everyone's mind for a long time, and today was simply the end of that doubt.

Yang Yi seized the opportunity to announce his revised version of the prime minister's will and his decision to take over the army, and no one objected.

Yang Yi was originally a military advisor and general, and had served as the chief secretary to the prime minister for many years. With the prime minister's death, it was Yang Yi's turn to take charge of all military affairs.

Seeing this, Yang Yi felt somewhat relieved.

The next step is to persuade His Majesty.

In these chaotic times, a true man who cannot wield power is destined to be nothing more than food for others. By seizing power, he can either assist the emperor in repelling the Wei army or secure multiple escape routes for himself!
Within days, the last camp ten miles south of Guanghan City had also fallen to the Wei army. Yang Yi led his troops in a large-scale retreat, relying on the city of Guanghan as the center of their forward defense.

On the third day after Zhuge Liang's death, at Jiange, 600 li away, Liu Shan received a secret report from Yang Yi, which contained three things.

The first and second points are consistent with what Zhuge Liang told Yang Yi: summoning Liu Shan to lead his army to Guanghan, having Wang Ping guard Jiange, and urging Liu Shan to strengthen his will to resist the enemy. These are all correct.

The key is the third thing.

The third matter was to instruct Liu Shan to appoint Yang Yi as his successor in command of the troops, praising Yang Yi's abilities and calling him the only person in the Han Dynasty capable of restoring order, requesting His Majesty to entrust him with the important task of leading troops. (End of this chapter)