The Collection of The End

——AD 184——

Luoyang, Washington Palace.

Cao Cao was still drinking with Liu Bei.

The "substitute" should still be making noise to lure Zhang Rang's pursuers away at this moment. Before he confirmed that the Shi Changshi's attention was away from the Cao Mansion and returned, it was really reckless for him to act rashly. Moreover, since Liu Bei had no intention of chasing away the guests. I mean, it wouldn't be a bad thing to chat more with this young hero whom I admire very much.

Previously, after Cao Cao judged all the candidates who were expected to succeed him and proposed that a woman could succeed him, Liu Bei seemed to have little interest in this topic and only dealt with related topics. This shows that he himself has ideas about that position. , now probably considering how many "competitors" there are besides the princess.

Ha... people of the Liu family will probably have this idea. If this idea spreads out, it will be twice as difficult for them to succeed to the throne.

After all, the last queen can be traced back to the Ji family of the Zhou Dynasty. After hundreds of years of time in the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States, and Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, the existence of the "Queen" has become an untested "legend" in the hearts of people at that time.

"I heard that Xuande has been appointed as the head of a county at this time, which makes Cao Cao, who is still the prime minister of the country, very embarrassed." After confirming that Liu Bei did not intend to continue talking about that topic, Cao Cao took advantage of the situation and changed the topic and started talking about the essence of the two parties. Work.

"Meng De is too modest," Liu Bei responded as expected: "Compared with Guangyang County, which has only two counties, it is not easy to govern the Jinan Kingdom with 14 counties, not to mention..."

Just like that, Cao Cao nodded, and the conversations between men often started with world affairs, then narrowed down to one state and one county, and finally ended with their respective actual duties, rarely involving family matters.

Women, on the other hand, often can't talk to each other if they don't know where the other person lives, whether they've been married, what they do for a living, and who their relatives are. After quelling the Xiliang rebellion, Cao Cao once praised Guan Yu and Lu Bu to Ding Yi and Bian Ling. The wife and concubine opened their mouths and asked: "How do you look?" "Have you ever been married?" "Who do you marry?" "Do you have children?" Cao Cao, who only knew that Lu Bu seemed to have married Dong Zhuo's daughter, was speechless and retreated in defeat. .

Thinking about it this way, it is quite strange that Cai Zhenji, who was not able to go to Xiliang, asked "Am I as powerful as me?"... Wait, could it be that it was precisely because of Zhenji's influence from childhood that she had no confidence in recommending a queen? No grudge?

While Cao Cao was thinking, he talked with Liu Bei, and initially negotiated some cooperation between Qingzhou and Youzhou, such as the trade of horses, salt and iron and other scarce goods, as well as an offensive and defensive alliance to deal with the "Ten Constant Attendants"—— After all, both sides are now well-established officials, and they cannot just walk away when they encounter malicious difficulties.

However, while the Ten Constant Attendants still have great righteousness and have the support of the "Sword Master", they cannot and cannot confront them head-on. The current conclusion is that for some orders that are obviously intended to deceive them, such as "not bringing a single soldier" Even if it is an imperial edict, you must insist on requirements such as "entering a suspicious place without carrying weapons" or "entering a suspicious place with no weapons"... Pretending not to hear it, no matter what the consequences of doing so, is better than being directly cheated to death.

————

Just as their conversation was coming to an end, a dull thumping sound of "bang, bang, bang" came from the window. It was obvious that Dian Wei and Zhang Fei had started to "discuss" after drinking enough wine.

Dian Wei's "Guard" does not work when Cao Cao has not encountered an enemy. Looking at Liu Bei's attitude, it is obvious that Zhang Fei's "Wushuang" is not the type that can be used in such a fist-to-body fight.

"Why don't we go and see who wins and who loses?" Cao Cao suggested as he put down his wine cup.

"It's difficult to judge the outcome in a bare-handed fight, unless the two of them have agreed on some kind of 'rules.'" Liu Bei nodded and stood up.

The biggest feature of Huaxin's house is that it has no special features. It has private rooms and study rooms for elegant people to cook wine and enjoy the scenery, as well as gardens for women to play. As for the martial arts field for warriors to practice and compete, there is no shortage of it.

However, since its owner only asked for "have", its specifications and quality are not top-notch.

When Cao Cao and Liu Bei arrived at the martial arts arena, the simple bluestone floor had already been stepped on by two strong men with many cracks.

Zhang Fei and Dian Wei were grappling with each other in a weird way, constantly changing positions of their feet in an attempt to trip each other up, and from time to time they would use their hands to hit each other on the back. This was how those strange banging sounds came about.

"Brother, General Cao." Guan Yu was watching the battle at the edge of the martial arts arena. When he saw the two men, he bowed his hands and saluted.

"Yun Chang just calls me 'Mengde'," Cao Cao waved his hand and looked at the field: "Is this 'wrestling'?"

"Exactly," Guan Yu responded: "This is a martial arts play popular among some nomadic peoples in the north of Youzhou who have not invaded the Central Plains. Anyone whose back touches the ground is considered defeated, because the weapon easily makes loud noises, and It is not easy to tell the winner with fists and kicks, so the third brother and General Dian Wei used this to compete."

"Well..." Cao Cao also stood on the edge of the martial arts arena and began to watch the battle: "If Zhong Kang plays this game, he will probably be invincible."

"He will be banned from participating." Liu Bei probably also heard about Xu Chu's figure, so he responded.

"Lord Mengde, guess who will win?" Cao Cao was about to answer when Cai Wenji's playful voice came from beside him.

Ah, yes, it would be weird if such a big movement didn't attract the little girl who is curious about everything.

Cao Cao turned his head and faced a long face with black bean eyes, a chewing sheep's mouth and white hair on the forehead: "..."

"Eh? Why are Lord Mengde so stunned?" Cai Yan's little face poked out from behind the neck of the weird animal.

"Probably because I was shocked by my dark power." Xiahouji replied while holding her rabbit.

"Master Meng De will not be intimidated!" Cai Wenji immediately defended Cao Cao: "Even my sister can't do it!"

Liu Bei said before that this little girl is called Xiahou Ji, and she is the sister of Xiahou Dun and Xia Houyuan, but she looks nothing like her.

"So, who do you think will win?" Cao Cao asked. When it's hard to answer, it's a good idea to throw the question back.

"It must be A Dian!" "My husband will win." The two girls replied one after the other.

"A Dian will win! Look at his bald head, bald people are awesome!" Cai Yan immediately retorted.

Xiahou Ji snorted and kept saying: "My husband is the Tianpeng Marshal in charge of the Tianhe Navy. He has one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and one hundred warships. He can change in seventy-two ways. A somersault cloud can make one hundred and eighty thousand." Qianli only became like this because he broke a glass cup while arguing with Tathagata Buddha at the Bon Bon Festival and was sent to the lower world for ten reincarnations. If he had not lost his [power], how could a mere mortal be his opponent? ?”

Well, I believe she is Xiahou Dun's sister. Cao Cao glanced at Liu Bei and Guan Yu, and they were really speechless.

On the fighting field, because Dian Wei was stunned for a moment, Zhang Fei found the flaw and knocked him down directly, and then burst into laughter.

"He is so powerful, then who are you? Dare you call him husband?" Cai Wenji asked Xiahou Ji very dissatisfied because the "A Dian" she supported lost.

Cao Cao saw Liu Bei stretching out his hand as if to stop him, but it was too late.

"I am the embodiment of [power]!" the little girl announced arrogantly.

It’s actually connected to the “loss of power” mentioned earlier! Cao Cao tried his best to stop himself from saying these words.

Although it was Dian Wei and Zhang Fei who were wrestling, Cao Cao also felt seriously out of power at this time. He originally wanted to take her back to meet the Xiahou brothers first, but even if they wanted to get married, they would have to get her parents' orders. What did the matchmaker say? Yes, but now it seems that it is better to stay with Liu Bei...

————

"Mengde! I'm back!"

Yuan Shao's voice came in from outside the courtyard, breaking the strange atmosphere in the martial arts field, and Cao Cao also recalled the reason why he wanted to stay here, yes, the "substitute"...

"[Hey, partner]," the "substitute" held his green and red sword and jumped into the martial arts arena one step ahead of Yuan Shao: "[I just met Zilong, and worked with him to save Benchu ​​and a group of Taiping Taoists. Disciple, he looks to me...Why do you look like you were beaten up by Zhenji?]"

"Zhen Ji never beat me," Cao Cao regained his composure and responded in a low voice, "Where is Zilong?"

"[Well, he said he was going to escort that group of people to Julu, so he didn't have time to come over, but I feel like he had a much better impression of me.]" The "substitute" seemed to be very happy.

This is good news... Cao Cao nodded and looked towards the direction where Yuan Shao's voice came from.

"Meng De! You always said that I don't want a wife, but now I have one, come and see!" Yuan Shao's voice came from far away and appeared at the door of the martial arts arena.

"What must be corrected is that even if you and I get married, it will be you who becomes the consort, not me who will 'get married'. What's more, I haven't agreed to marry you yet." Behind Yuan Shao was a man in a green shirt and red dress, holding a shooting star. Hammer, a girl wearing a bright yellow cloak.

"Of course I won't force Yuan Jia." Yuan Shao's expression changed and he responded solemnly.

Why is Primordial's way of speaking so strange? And the girl's rebuttal was in the wrong order...wait, Yuanjia? Cao Cao looked at the girl carefully and was suddenly startled. He raised his hands and saluted: "Cao Mengde has seen the 'Princess of Ten Thousand Years'."

"No need to be polite, I am avoiding the queen's pursuit, and I am not a 'princess' for the time being." Although her attitude towards Yuan Shao was a bit strange, the attitude and actions of this "Princess of Ten Thousand Years" when dealing with Cao Cao were completely consistent with her status as a royal princess. .

"You..." Xiahou Ji didn't seem to have recovered from her "incarnation of power" state. She was about to say something to the princess, but was dragged away by Cai Yan.

"Liu Xuande has met the princess." Liu Bei also came to salute. As for Dian Wei and Zhang Fei, who were wrestling just now, they have been taken away by Guan Yu for cleaning.

"I have heard about you, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, a student of Lu Da Sima." After being treated as a princess, Liu Nai's temperament naturally began to change, as if the emperor was receiving his ministers in a temple.

How did Benchu ​​bring her back? Cao Cao had nothing to say about Yuan Shao's luck.

"Well...if we do the math, you should be my father's cousin, that is, my cousin." The princess pinched her fingers and counted for a moment before saying: "So I should call you -"

"Princess, you don't have to be like this." Liu Bei seemed to be trying to shirk. After all, his status was a bit arrogant.

"——Uncle Yudi."

"..."