Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 43 Hysteria
On the banks of the Wei River.

There are floating corpses upstream.

There is a floating corpse in front of me.

There are floating corpses downstream.

Dozens of bodies were floating together, scattered here and there, stretching endlessly.

Often, after dozens of corpses wearing Wei army uniforms and armor floated past, only two or three corpses wearing Shu army uniforms and armor appeared.

The Wei River, which had apparently returned to calm last night, was now even more turbid, more turbulent, and more terrifying.

Cao Rui watched this tragic scene quietly, with no visible expression on his face, but he couldn't hide his miserable expression.

"Your Majesty, could it be that the Shu invaders have used another water attack strategy, so..." the young eunuch named Bixie cried.

Cao Rui turned a deaf ear to it.

Just his eyes were always looking towards the southwest.

That is the direction of the Han army camp at the entrance of Xiegu Valley.

I don't know how many hours passed, but when the sky was dark and gloomy, a rider came running from the upper reaches of the Wei River. After dismounting at Meiwu, he said he wanted to see the general.

Bixie took the letter from the messenger and brought it to the Emperor of Wei, who was still standing by the Wei River, motionless and silent for a long time.

good news.

Guo Huai led 10,000 soldiers from Longyou County and Zhang He's 10,000 central troops along the Wei River to Guanzhong, then entered the Qinling Mountains from Chencang Road to block Zhuge Liang's return route.

Zhang He still had 40,000 troops chasing Zhuge Liang.

If nothing unexpected happened, Zhuge Liang would most likely be trapped to death in Longyou by Zhang He and Guo Huai.

Even if Zhuge Liang managed to escape, most of his 40,000 to 50,000 Shu soldiers would have to stay behind.

That’s great news.

But the Emperor of Wei, who had indulged in music and singing for half the night, was not excited at all at this moment.

It's not just on my face, it's also in my heart.

The sky grew darker.

Finally, the shadows of dozens of riders appeared on the plain in the direction of the valley entrance.

It was not dozens of riders running, but dozens of riders walking slowly.

When those dozens of riders were still about ten miles away from the eagerly awaited Emperor Wei, suddenly nearly a hundred riders came galloping from the direction of Chang'an.

Half an hour later.

The leader jumped off his horse.

"Your Majesty, what on earth is going on?!"

Jiang Ji, the Eastern General of the Wei Dynasty who accompanied the emperor on the expedition, asked in panic, but his eyes were staring in astonishment at the three or five corpses of Wei soldiers floating slowly in the river.

Last night, someone on the top of the Chang'an city wall discovered that the Wei River had inexplicably risen in water, and later someone else found the floating corpses of more than a hundred Wei soldiers.

Chen Qun, Jiang Ji and others were afraid that the war would go against their will, so they sent people to the Weiyang Palace to report to the emperor, but they found that the emperor was no longer in Chang'an.

The original intention of this Dong Zhonglangjiang to come was to invite the emperor who had secretly escaped back to Chang'an.

However, they never expected that when they were halfway there, they suddenly discovered that there were hundreds of thousands of terrifying and horrifying Wei soldiers' corpses floating in the Wei River.

How can I not be panicked?!
The Emperor of Wei ignored his panic at the moment.

Half an hour later.

The sky became even darker.

There are almost no floating corpses in the Wei River.

Just half a quarter of an hour ago, two bodies floated over.

At this time, dozens of riders appeared from the plain at the entrance of Xiegu Valley and finally came to Cao Rui.

"Yin Damu? Where's the general?" Cao Rui's voice was dry and trembling. "The general... is in Xieshui Stronghold. I sent you to deliver the message, right?"

The Emperor of Wei, who usually kept his emotions secret, asked such a question, causing Jiang Ji, the General of the Eastern Army standing behind him, to suddenly panic!

He just felt that the Wei Dynasty might have been defeated, and he was feeling uneasy, but he never considered that the Wei Dynasty's general might be gone?! !

"His Majesty!!!"

Yin Damu suddenly knelt on his knees, and then kowtowed on the ground again and again as if he was desperate. He kowtowed until blood came out after two or three kowtows, but he still did not stop. He howled loudly and screamed at the top of his lungs.

No words.

But everyone knows what it means.

Jiang Ji's eyes went dark and he collapsed to the ground.

Cao Rui was in a state of dismay and staggered.

If the eunuch Bixie had not rushed forward to hold him up, he would have fallen headfirst into the Wei River.

"What's going on?" Cao Rui rushed forward and grabbed Yin Damu's collar, trying to catch him, but he didn't have enough strength.

"what happened?!"

"what happened?!"

"what happened?!"

This was the first time that the usually taciturn Emperor of Wei became so hysterical in front of outsiders.

At this moment, a group of jackdaws came from west to east, flew over his head with a hoarse voice, and then flapped their wings in a hurry to fly to the lower reaches of the Wei River further east.

"Your Majesty, the Shu invaders are pursuing us relentlessly, and our soldiers are exhausted. In order to protect us from getting out of the plank road, the general...he..." The Cao family servant who grew up with Cao Pi, Cao Zhen and others and was grabbed by the collar by Cao Rui, burst into tears.

"Your Majesty, the general finally asked me to escort you back to Luoyang!

“Let’s go!

"Let's go!"

Yin Damu, with a bloody head, suddenly remembered something and stood up abruptly, his blood-red eyes almost popping out of his sockets.

"Waste!" Cao Rui pushed him away, but he himself retreated repeatedly.

"You trash!

"You trash!"

Everyone was terrified.

The usually leisurely Emperor of Wei was now practically hoarse. He cursed, pointed with trembling hands, and stumbled back and forth, almost falling.

Yesterday, I was bored to death because of my plan to defeat Liu Adou and attack him halfway across the river. Yesterday, I was still imagining how I could complete the unfinished business of my father and grandfather. Yesterday, I was full of confidence and ordered Sima Yi and Zhang He to attack Shu from three directions to seize Hanzhong.

As a result, today we lost our army and our general.

Despite this huge sense of disappointment and this absolutely unacceptable and crushing defeat, Cao Rui did not collapse like Jiang Ji. He could even stand and curse loudly. His psychological quality was really good.

A long time passed.

It was already dark.

Yin Damu, Zhang Hu, Le Lin, Li Zhen, Lu Fan, Zhu Shu, Du Xi and others who were lucky enough to escape thanks to Cao Zhen's great kindness told Cao Rui, Jiang Ji, Chen Tai, Sun Zi, Liu Fang and others the whole story of their defeat.

Relying on these people's descriptions, everyone almost completed the puzzle of the Battle of Xiegu.

No one looked anything but ashen.

No one was not gloomy.

"Now...what should I do?"

When the disbelief and anger faded away, Cao Rui began to feel the same as his grandfather did when he first heard that Xiahou Yuan had been beheaded. He lost all support and began to feel dazed and at a loss.

There is no such thing as calmness and composure, no such thing as resoluteness and judgment. They are all just a disguise to maintain the so-called imperial majesty.

Everyone is the same.

If it were Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, Liu Xiu, Cao Cao or Liu Bei, facing such a situation, they probably would not be much better off than Cao Rui today.

"Your Majesty, the corpses floating in the Wei River will drift to Luoyang in a few days!
"Luozhong will surely be in chaos!
"Your Majesty, please return to Luoyang as soon as possible!"

Jiang Ji, the Eastern Army General, finally remembered his mission to Meiwu today.

"I go back to Luoyang?" Cao Rui was confused.

This time he led an army of 100,000 out of Luoyang and into Chang'an, with the original intention of gaining prestige and reputation through military achievements.

Who would have thought of failing so badly?
How could he have the face to go back to Luoyang?
His current situation and state of mind are similar to those of Liu Bei, who stayed in Baidi City and never returned to Chengdu until his death.

"Your Majesty!" Jiang Ji urged with tears in his eyes.

“Don’t think so much!
"Rumors have long been circulating in Luoyang that His Majesty has passed away!

"He also said that we, the ministers who accompanied him, were ready to make Yongqiu Wang Zhi the emperor!
"His Majesty!
"Rumors never come out of nowhere, they must be spread intentionally by someone!

"When these tens of thousands of corpses drift to Luoyang, there will be chaos in Luoyang!

"If you don't return to Luoyang, Luoyang may not still be yours!"

At this moment, Jiang Ji didn't care about any taboos and just said whatever he wanted to say.

Queen Mother Bian is in Luoyang!

Cao Zhi is her son!!!

If we continue to be hesitant at this time and allow His Majesty to act recklessly, there will be a big chaos in Luozhong. Even if we can quell it, it will come at a huge and painful price!

If the Shu invaders were to take advantage of the situation and seize Longyou and Guanzhong, it would cause a great shock to the entire world! Then the Wei Dynasty would be in danger!
Cao Rui was already extremely nervous.

I don’t want to go back, I don’t dare to go back, but I have to go back.

When Liu Bei was defeated in Yiling, why didn't he return to Chengdu?

"What about Guanzhong?" Cao Rui asked coldly, "Just give Guanzhong to Liu Adou?!"

Zhongshu Ling Sun Zi hurriedly spoke to comfort him:

"Your Majesty, didn't Yin Damu and his men destroy the more than one-mile plank road in Xiegu? The Shu invaders won't be able to leave for a month!"

Liu Fang, the Zhongshujian, also thought of something:
"His Majesty!
“There is no general in Guanzhong right now!
"I believe we should quickly summon Sima Gong, Marquis of Wuyang and General of the Cavalry, to withdraw his troops from Shangyong.

"Lead the Jingyu army from Wuguan into Chang'an and take charge of the situation!"

Cao Rui was obviously stunned when he heard Sima Yi's series of titles.

Yesterday the general was still saying to him: If something unfortunate happens to me and my relatives no longer have generals to support Guanxi, I don’t know to whom the military power will be handed over.

As a result, the general died today.

And there seems to be really no other choice but to hand over the military power to Sima Yi, a foreign minister.

"Okay, order General Sima Yi to withdraw his troops to Wan and wait for the imperial edict. You will draft it." After a long time, Cao Rui said coldly to the Minister of the Central Secretariat Sun Zi.

"And order someone to retrieve the edict issued yesterday."

There is no room for discussion on returning to Luoyang.

Not only would he have to return to Luoyang, but he might also have to transfer at least 10,000 troops from Chang'an to accompany him back to Luoyang.

In addition, Sima Yi could not enter Chang'an directly. He had to leave his army in Wancheng and wait until he returned safely to Luoyang before making a decision.

Without military power, if any chaos breaks out in Luoyang, there will be no way to deal with it.

"Are you sure that the Shu invaders will not be able to get out of Xiegu within a month?" Cao Rui thought of something.

One month.

Zhang He and Guo Huai naturally had no worries in Longyou.

Sima Yi's Jingyu army could also reach Chang'an.

"Yes!" Yin Damu said.

“We demolished more than a mile of the Xiegu plank road.

“It will take at least 20 to 30 days to repair!
"Once the plank road is repaired, Your Majesty, please order me and your subordinates to lead the army to attack Shu!

"Your servants swear to avenge the great general's blood feud!"

Cao Rui nodded.

After a moment, he was suddenly startled.

"What if a small group of Shu bandits comes out from behind? How many people are left in Xieshui Stronghold?!"

Yin Damu and others were all stunned when they heard this.

After two days of sleepless nights, their brains were completely exhausted.

"Including the rebels who surrendered, there are less than... less than three thousand." Yin Damu said hesitantly.

It’s over.

(End of this chapter)