Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

The scorching sun in May was scorching Yuling City, and the air was filled with heat and depression.

Sima Yi sat upright on the dragon throne in the temporary palace, holding a blood-stained battle report tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the force.

His eyes were fixed on those lines of words - Tugu City was lost, 100,000 troops were destroyed, General Zhang Liao was killed in battle, 50,000 Han troops were wiped out, and Li Guang was killed in battle.

"boom!"

Sima Yi slammed the battle report on the table, causing the teacup to fall over and the tea to splash all over the memorial.

His face was ashen, veins bulged on his forehead, and anger was almost bursting out of his eyes.

"Li Guangming has clearly escaped outside Dongping City!"

He gritted his teeth, his voice low and thunderous: "Why did Xu Fang stand by and watch someone die?! What on earth is he doing?"

All the generals in the hall were silent, and no one dared to answer.

Prime Minister Cheng Yu lowered his head slightly, his eyes flickering. Minister of War Chen Su pursed his lips tightly, his fingers unconsciously stroking the sword at his waist.

The other generals even breathed softly, for fear of angering the furious emperor.

Sima Yi stood up suddenly, and the cuffs of his dragon robe blew up a gust of wind. He laughed in anger:

"What a Xu Fang! Li Guang is a great general of the Han Dynasty. He led his army all the way here to help, yet he dared to close the city and refuse to help?"

"If this matter gets out, who will dare to come to save the State of Wei in the future?"

His roar echoed in the hall, causing the candlelight to flicker.

The generals looked at each other, and no one dared to speak to defend Xu Fang.

Just then, hurried footsteps were heard outside the hall.

A guard knelt on one knee and shouted, "Your Majesty, General Xu Fang has urgent news!"

Sima Yi sneered, his eyes still blazing with anger: "I want to see how he explains it!"

He snatched the letter, tore open the seal, and scanned the words with his eyes like a knife. The letter read:

"Your Majesty, it's not that I'm unwilling to provide assistance in this battle, it's because Han Xing's 60,000-man army is tightly arrayed outside the city.

If I were to lead the army into battle, I would first have to break through Han Xing's formation. Han Xing is the military god of the Chu State and is a master of military tactics.

If our army fails to break through, and they take advantage of the situation and charge into the city, Dongping City will be lost!"

After Sima Yi finished reading, his expression eased slightly, but the anger between his brows still did not dissipate.

He snorted coldly and slammed the letter on the table: "I will settle the score with him later!"

He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and said in a deep voice: "Come here, bring me writing! I want to personally write a letter to Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty to explain this matter!"

The attendants hurriedly brought the pen, ink, paper and inkstone. Sima Yi picked up the pen and dipped it in ink. The tip of the pen was as sharp as a knife, and each word was heavy.

He must regain the trust of the Han Dynasty, otherwise the Wei State will be completely isolated and helpless!

At the same time, the wind blew past the Chu army camp outside Tugu City.

Inside the central army tent, candlelight was bright. Chu Ning was leaning on a tiger-skin chair, holding a battle report in his hand, with a smile on his lips growing wider and wider.

"Good! Good! Good!"

He suddenly laughed three times, his voice as loud as a bell: "In this battle, the Wei-Han coalition army of 150,000 was destroyed, and our army only lost a little over 20,000 men! Ma Chao deserves the primary credit for this battle!"

Upon hearing this, all the generals in the tent showed joy.

Advisor Jia Yu stroked his beard and chuckled, his eyes gleaming with shrewdness. "Your Majesty, General Ma Chao was truly heroic in this battle. Not only did he capture Tugu City, he also completely annihilated Li Guang's Han army."

"After this battle, the Han Dynasty will probably not easily send troops to support the Wei Kingdom again."

Chu Ning's eyes flashed, and his smile deepened: "Oh? What do you mean?"

Jia Yu bowed slightly and whispered, "Xu Fang of Dongping City stood by and watched Li Guang die in battle outside the city. If word of this were to reach the Han Dynasty, how could Liu Che swallow this?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Ning slammed the table and laughed out loud: "Excellent! Excellent!"

There was a sly glint in his eyes.

"Immediately have the Imperial Guard exaggerate this matter and report it to the Han Dynasty! I'm eagerly awaiting Liu Che's reaction upon learning of this!"

Jia Yu smiled and nodded: "I will arrange it right away."

Chu Ning stood up, walked out of the tent, and looked towards the direction of Dongping City in the distance.

In the darkness of the night, his eyes were as sharp as a wolf's: "Wei is isolated and helpless, and the Han is disunited. This world will eventually belong to my Great Chu!"

The night wind blew, and the battle flags fluttered, as if responding to his ambition.

Two days later, in the Han Dynasty, Weiyang Palace.

The scorching sun of May shines through the carved window lattices of the Weiyang Palace, casting mottled light and shadows inside the hall.

Emperor Liu Che of Han sat upright on the dragon throne, holding tightly in his hand a handwritten letter from Emperor Sima Yi of Wei.

His eyes followed the words, his face gradually became gloomy, and finally turned ashen.

"Snapped!"

Liu Che slammed the letter on the table, causing ripples in the teacup.

His knuckles turned white from the exertion, and the rage in his eyes threatened to burst forth.

"Damn Wei Jun! Damn Sima Yi! Damn Xu Fang!"

He stood up suddenly and tore the letter into pieces, and the scraps of paper fell like snowflakes.

"I sent 50,000 elite troops to support us, and they dared not help? Li Guang was a famous general of the Han Dynasty, and he died in vain? This is simply outrageous!"

His roar echoed in the hall, silencing all the ministers.

The Minister of War was the first to step forward and declared angrily, "Your Majesty, the Wei Kingdom has been so treacherous. Our dynasty will never send a single soldier to them again! Let them fend for themselves!"

"I second the proposal!"

The Minister of Revenue then stepped forward, his voice icy, "The Wei Kingdom is now at the end of its strength. Why should the Han Dynasty waste its troops on them?"

All the ministers in the hall echoed the sentiment, and for a time the voices denouncing the State of Wei resounded throughout the court.

Liu Che glanced at everyone with a gloomy expression, anger surging in his chest.

However, at this moment, Prime Minister Chen Pin slowly stepped out and said with a bow, "Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Liu Che glanced at him coldly and said, "Speak."

He knew his own ability as prime minister, and he would not take the initiative to speak out unless he was absolutely sure.

Since you dare to take the initiative to stand up, you must have a plan to deal with it.

Chen Pin's expression was calm, and his voice was steady: "Your Majesty, if we sever the alliance in a moment of anger, the people of the world will only blame us for Li Guang's death, and think that our dynasty is narrow-minded and has lost sight of the greater good."

Liu Che frowned and asked, "What do you think, Prime Minister?"

Chen Pin bowed slightly, a gleam in his eyes: "Why not tell the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty about this? Let him say that our dynasty has lost 50,000 elite soldiers to aid Wei. Now the Chu army is approaching from Maple Leaf City, and we are fighting with the Zhou Dynasty on the western front. We are unable to send any more reinforcements.

"Please ask the Tang Dynasty to send more troops to support the Wei Kingdom. This way, our dynasty won't have to waste any more troops and can stay out of the conflict. Isn't that the best of both worlds?"

There was a sudden silence in the hall.

Liu Che narrowed his eyes and tapped the armrests of the dragon throne with his knuckles. After a while, a sneer slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth:

"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely true."

He waved his hand suddenly: "Come here, prepare pen and ink! I will write a letter to Li Shiming right now!"

The May wind blew through the temple gate, blowing up the pieces of letter paper scattered on the ground.

The words "had no choice" on it seemed particularly ironic at this moment.