Chapter Fourteen: The Wisdom of the Divine Child

  "Sir, someone from the Prime Minister's residence has arrived with a message. The madam requests your return home!"

  Haha, you're really fast, found me so quickly!

  "Rui'er, brothers, follow Ben Sikuang back to the mansion!" Cao said lightly and got up to leave.

  "Big brother will go first.......? We'll follow right after?" Cao Hong said with a smile, although he was forced to be the mediator, but it's still better to let Old Cao take the lead, after all they are a couple, if Old Cao can resolve it, then he won't have to show up.

  "Hum, Zi Lian? You're quite cunning, aren't you?"

  "I've followed Big Brother for a long time and learned a thing or two!"

  "You?" Cao looked at the remaining Cao clan relatives and generals.

  "Brother, you go first!" With Cao Hong taking the lead, everyone else followed suit, anyway there was a pioneer now.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, the madam also invites you to go to the Cai Kong Fu. All the ladies are at the Cai Kong Fu, the madam asks each of the gentlemen to go pick up their wives and take them home!"

  "What......?" The leaders of the Cao clan were all shocked. Ding had actually invited his wives to the residence of the Minister of Works.

  Haha, you still want to run? Cao smiled and said, "Rui'er, let's go!"

  Lü Rui followed Cao out of the manor and got into a carriage, while the rest of the Cao clan relatives also followed to the Minister of Works' residence.

  "Brother Cao, are you kidding me? On the carriage, Lü Rui discontentedly complained to Cao Cao, "You want to drag me down with you, and make me take the biggest blame?"

  "Rui Er...? You can't blame me, your ignorance at the time made me take on so much blame! Ben Chun and the others still hold a grudge against me, but I only let you take the fall once, very righteous!"

  "Uncle...?" How shameless! Too shameless! As for Cao's rascal behavior, Lü Rui really had no way to deal with it. A generation of heroes playing tricks, who can't handle it? He was indeed clever but ultimately outsmarted himself, trying to play tricks in front of a hero, only to be countered by the hero using the same tactics!

  Soon, Cao and his party arrived at the residence of the Minister of Works. The courtyard in front of the main hall was littered with shards of porcelain, apparently Ding the Tiger had made a show of force.

  Cao looked at the fragments on the ground and didn't say anything. He directly entered the main hall, and Lü Rui and others followed him into the main hall.

  Inside the main hall, not only were all the people from the Cao Mansion present, but also the family members of the Cao clan had arrived. The spacious main hall of the Cao Mansion actually seemed a bit cramped.

  "Pay respects to Lord Cao!" A group of people knelt down in unison to pay homage to Cao.

  "Everyone stand up!" Cao saw this situation and was stunned for a moment, how many people did Ding Lao Hu bring over? Are they going to hold a meeting?

  Cao Cao and Lü Bu, along with some of his relatives from the Cao clan, took their seats, then asked: "Madam... what is this?"

  "Sir! I recently have some free time, so I invited some relatives from our clan to the mansion to discuss some matters. Originally, it was just a women's affair, but since you're here, you might as well listen in. It's fitting that you know about some of the clan's affairs anyway."

  "Yes, madam...!" Most things in the family were still controlled by Ding, after all Cao was the host.

  "Your Excellency, just now an imperial edict was transmitted from the palace, saying that you are to take in a new sister as a concubine. Why wasn't I informed?" Ding Shi asked with some indignation.

  "What...?"

  "Milady, this matter is not just a family affair of the Cao's, but also involves the military power of our army. Therefore, yesterday, Lord Cao and others discussed and decided on this matter in the main hall of the central army camp. I didn't have time to explain it to you, milady...?" Cao hurriedly glanced at his relatives and generals.

  "Sister-in-law, brother, this is true, Zili will be the witness. Yesterday, brother was busy with government affairs and let Zili inform you instead. But... Hehe, sister-in-law, you know Zili loves to drink wine, after a few cups, he got drunk..."

  "Sister-in-law, it's indeed the case. Yesterday my brother and I went out to drink and got drunk, which caused us to miss Big Brother's appointment. Please forgive us, Sister-in-law!" Cao Ren also stood up to help explain for Cao Hong.

  Looking at the two of them, Ding's anger was even more intense, but she suppressed her inner rage and let out a cold laugh.

  "Sir, I am not an unreasonable person. Since marrying into the Zou family is not just a family matter, I do not object to it. However, as it pertains to the Cao family's affairs, may I still have a say in it?"

  "This is naturally a family matter, and it still needs to be handled by the wife! Cao will never interfere!" Cao said solemnly, some rules cannot be broken, the legitimate wife is always the legitimate wife!

  "All right, since you say so, I just discussed with the other madams and decided to let Zou Shi move into the Cao residence as my concubine, which would also give her a nominal status!" Ding Shi said calmly.

  "Madam, this...?" Cao was stunned upon hearing it. Concubine? If it were an ordinary person, it would be fine, but Zou Shi was the woman he had won over to his side from Zhang Yi's faction, and she was just a concubine?

  "Sir......? Didn't you just say that I, your concubine, could still be in charge of household matters? And wasn't what I did also following Your Majesty's orders?"

  "Housekeeper, read out the imperial edict to everyone!"

  "Yes, madam!" Then the steward read out Emperor Xian of Han's edict, which roughly stated that Zou was to be married to Cao Pi, and the Cao household carried out the order!

  Cao's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he had an air of killing intent about him! Xiahou brothers were stunned, looking at Cao, Big Brother, are you angry? Cao Ren looked at Cao thoughtfully, but soon furrowed his brow.

  Lü Ru was taken aback, could it be that there is a superior person, someone behind Liu Xie? Cao's original intention was definitely not to make Zou Shi his concubine, at least she would be his wife. This was an attempt to win over the Zhang Jue group, and the edict should have been worded as such. However, Liu Xie's decree was very ambiguous, bestowing Zou Shi upon Cao without clarifying her status, only requiring that the two get married. If it wasn't for Liu Xie throwing a childish tantrum, then there must be someone behind the scenes pulling the strings, with the goal of driving a wedge between Zhang Jue and Cao! And if there's an even deeper motive... that would be terrifying!

  "Madam, I think Mrs. Zou was originally the wife of Zhang Ji, a lady from a noble family. If... if she were to become just a concubine in the Prime Minister's estate... wouldn't that invite gossip? It would be saying that our Cao family has no magnanimity! Please reconsider, Madam!" Lu Rui stepped forward, this was a serious matter concerning the Cao army, if Zhang Chao didn't accept it, there would be big trouble.

  "Generosity of spirit..."?

  "Hum, Rui'er still remembers the matter of his older brother Ang. If it weren't for Zou's family, Ang would have suffered a great punishment. If it weren't for Doctor Hua Tuo being here, Ang wouldn't be able to stay here..."

  "Zou's entering our mansion is already the greatest tolerance of the Cao family!"

  "Rui'er is the young master of the Marquis's household, does he really think he can interfere with family matters...? You are still just an adopted son of the Cao Manor!"

  "Rui'er dare not...!" The tiger has shown its might, I've already come out and taken a beating, Uncle Zhong, that's enough loyalty!

  The relatives and generals of the Cao family saw this scene and were also in a dilemma, with imperial orders above and the rules of the Cao family below, it's not easy to persuade!

  "Wooo... wooo..."! Just as everyone was at a loss for what to do, someone suddenly burst into tears. The crowd looked over and saw that it was Cao Chong who had started crying.

  What's wrong? Cao Chong is crying... Lady Huan immediately went forward to comfort Cao Chong, but he continued to cry and make a fuss.

  "Chong er......? What's wrong?" Cao asked anxiously, his most intelligent son was crying.

  "Father... Cao Chong saw a story and was moved to tears!" After finishing speaking, Cao Chong waved a piece of cloth in his hand.

  Lü Rui took a look, this is the enlightenment book of the aristocracy in this era: silk painting! Just like the comic strips of later generations, used to enlighten children, there are many stories on it, of course, strange and bizarre, merchants fabricated many stories to make money.

  "What's wrong, young master...? What story is this?" Seeing Cao Chong cry, Cao and the others couldn't continue the conversation, they had to settle Cao Chong's matter first.

  "Father, please listen to me carefully......?" Then Cao Chong told everyone a story.

  In the past, there was a man who was going to marry a concubine. The first wife made things difficult for her everywhere, treating the concubine with the same courtesy as herself, but making life very hard for the concubine's children. Many years later, the first wife had one son and the concubine had two sons.

  One day, the son of the first wife fell ill with a strange disease in the county town not far from home and needed his brother's blood to be cured. The situation was critical, if he didn't get treated, he would die within half a day! The rich man hastily asked the two sons of the second wife to go to the county town to donate blood to save him.

  Before leaving, Ping's wife took revenge on Fa's wife by having their two sons deliberately arrive late. In the end, Ping's son died. The rich man blamed the two sons for not arriving on time.

  A son said: "Father, I took a small boat to cross the river, but unfortunately, heaven played tricks on me, and I encountered a storm halfway, so I was late.

  A son said: "Father, I went on horseback and encountered a heavy rain that blocked the road. I had to detour for several miles. The horse got hungry halfway and saw green grass, but it wouldn't move forward after eating the grass, and I couldn't do anything about it!"

  After finishing the story, Cao Chong scratched his head and asked: "Old lady, was it the fault of the wife's son that he died? Was it the fault of the boat? Or was it the fault of human?"

  Ding looked at Cao Chong and said, "Chong, the boat is innocent, the grass is innocent, but your wife is guilty. She doesn't love her sister-in-law, so her sister-in-law takes revenge, and your son dies, it's all because of your own doing!"

  Lü Rui originally didn't know why Cao Chong was telling a story, but after hearing Ding Shi's words, Lü Rui immediately reacted and realized that Cao Chong was indeed against the heavens!

  "Mrs. Dang's words are quite right! Zou is innocent, Cao is innocent, Faqi is guilty, doesn't love her sisters, the sisters take revenge, the son dies, it's all his own fault!" Lü Rui immediately stood up and echoed Ding Laohu's words.

  "What...?" Mr. Ding was stunned by Lü Rui's words, everyone was stunned, and only then did they understand Cao Chong's intention, this child is a prodigy!

  "Good! Cao Zhang told this story well!" Cao immediately applauded in praise, I have a son like this, my life is fulfilled!

  "Mother, if Zou Shi enters the mansion, she will surely give birth to a son in the future. If Zou Shi's son were to vent his anger on the Cao family due to his mother's hardships, wouldn't that be a calamity for our Cao family? Would that not go against Father's teachings and the brotherly love of my siblings?"

  "What...?" Mr. Ding was speechless, a three-year-old child had spoken so reasonably, it's hard to refute!

  "Mother, now Father and the uncles are away at war, Zhang Chao has come to surrender, and will be in the army soon. Eldest brother is already in the army. If the two armies clash, Mother treats Zhang Chao's mother poorly, Zhang Chao takes revenge, and eldest brother is in danger! Please think of eldest brother, Mother!" Cao Chong said firmly.

  Wonderful! Wonderful! Knowing how to use Cao Ang, he hit Ding Tiger's weak point!

  "Brother's words are reasonable, please think thrice, Madam!" Cao Ang also stood out and persuaded Ding Laohu.

  "Think thrice, elder sister-in-law!"

  "Please reconsider, madam!" The rest of the relatives and family members from each house urged Ding's wife to think twice. Has the situation turned around?

  "Alas! ...Since that's the case, let Zou enter the mansion as the mistress then!" Ding Laohu compromised like a deflated balloon.

  "Alright, it's settled then. Zihao, the official orders you to take this letter to Wan City and inform Zhang Yu, and we'll hold the wedding ceremony in half a month!"

  "Yes, elder brother!"

  Zou's turmoil was resolved under Cao Chong's clever plan. Looking at Cao Chong's energetic figure, Lü Rui muttered to himself: There's hope, there's hope. If Cao Chong can join forces with Zhou Yiyu, even if he's not the heir of Cao Wei, he'll still be a formidable force. When the time comes, Cao Wei's path might become much smoother! (Today was busy with work, so I'm updating late. Please forgive me, everyone!)