Chapter 3: The Whole Room Erupted in Laughter

  "Alas! The old man is going to Xuzhou... I fear his life will soon be over... Oh, the pain! Alas!"

  As soon as this remark came out, the laughter in the hall suddenly stopped, and the wine cups that had been raised in mid-air were suspended. The eyes of all the people at the banquet turned to the source of the sound, Cao Anmin's body.

  Cao Cao, sitting in the main seat, also had a look of astonishment on his face, while Old Master Cao Song was even more stunned, with a blank expression. He didn't know that at the moment when everyone was congratulating him, his own grandson, whom he loved dearly, would say such "cursed" words about himself. For a moment, all the people in the hall stared at Cao Anmin, completely at a loss for what to do.

  Bang!

  At the same time, Cao Xin's father, Cao De, was the first to react. The wine cup he had raised suddenly smashed to the ground as he glared at Cao Anmin, his face turning iron-gray with rage. "You ungrateful son! How dare you utter such treasonous words on a joyful occasion? Shut your mouth at once!" He then dragged Cao Anmin to kneel before Cao Cao, looking at him with a mixture of shame and apology. "Brother, my son misspoke. Please don't blame him, it's all because I failed to discipline him properly." As he spoke, he forced Cao Anmin to kowtow, leaving the latter kneeling on the ground with an expressionless face.

  Cao De stepped forward to confess his crime. Cao Cao, who was originally displeased, put down the wine cup in his hand and said calmly to Cao Shuang beside him: "I'm afraid Anmin is traveling so far for the first time, and he's a bit tired from the boat and carriage ride. Father, don't mind Anmin's words."

  As soon as the words fell, all the officials and military officers present nodded in agreement. After all, at this joyful banquet where Yan State had just been pacified and father and son were reunited, no one wanted to spoil the mood. Although everyone did not understand what Cao Anmin was raving about, it was clear that everyone agreed with Cao Cao's words. However, there were only two people who remained silent throughout, quietly watching Cao Anmin from start to finish.

  One of them was the literary scholar who had been called Wen Ruo by Cao Cao, and the other was a slightly pale young man. At this moment, they seemed to be carefully pondering Cao Anmin's words, occasionally glancing at the expressionless face of the former, seemingly very interested in the young man before them.

  At this time, Old Man Cao himself was also nodding his head and said calmly: "Yes, Xiner has just arrived and is tired from the journey, so it's inevitable that he would say something wrong..." Although there was still some awkwardness in his words, he tried to ease the atmosphere, not wanting everyone to be displeased because of his grandson's mistake. After all, this banquet wasn't just for him alone to freshen up and dust off.

  However, at this moment, Cao Anmin also saw all of this, although his face was expressionless, but in his heart, he was struggling painfully. How to prevent his grandfather and father from passing through Xuzhou? What kind of strategy could convince everyone?

  And under all this helplessness, Cao Anmin boldly burst into tears. Of course, the crying was fake, but for someone who had read through countless ancient classics and anecdotes, he was also very familiar with the various ways these strategists would present themselves.

  "Alas! The old gentleman had always loved the people like his own children, and spread virtue and kindness far and wide. Who would have thought that he would meet his demise at the hands of Xu State's Tao Qian? Alas! What a painful and regrettable loss!"

  Just as Old Man Cao's words had fallen, Cao Anmin pretended to be grief-stricken and burst into loud wailing, this time even more mournful than before, directly treating Cao as a dead man and putting on the appearance of mourning.

  And yet it was just such a sentence that caused the whole hall to erupt in shock and amazement once again, while Cao Cao, Cao Song and Cao De were even more stunned, looking at Cao Anmin's grief-stricken appearance, Cao De's heart suddenly burst into flames.

  "You disobedient child still won't shut up! Are you trying to emulate those who are unfilial and disloyal?"

  At this time, Cao Cao's face, which had just calmed down, turned iron-blue again. He signaled to Cao De not to get angry with his right hand and looked at Cao Anmin kneeling on the ground. At this moment, Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, and his sharp eyes seemed to see through Cao Anmin's heart. After a while, he said coldly: "Anmin nephew, why did you say that..."

  A few short sentences were so cold, completely devoid of the previous warmth and calmness. At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten that Cao Anmin was his own nephew. A majestic aura suddenly filled the banquet hall, even Cao Xing himself, who had a serious expression on his face, couldn't help but flinch. The atmosphere instantly became tense.

  At this moment, Cao Cao suddenly questioned himself. Cao An knew that once the words were spoken, they could not be taken back, so he immediately bowed to everyone and looked straight at Cao Cao and Cao Song, saying in a low voice: "Uncle, I dare to ask one question. Will the old lady set out for Hua County in a few days?"

  "So what."

  "Will you go via Xuzhou?"

  "This is natural, although Hua County is in Yanzhou, but this time Yanzhou was just established and the roads were blocked everywhere. Taking a detour through Xuzhou is a shortcut, do you need to ask about such a foolish thing?"

  As soon as Cao Cao said this, all the civil and military officials also echoed in agreement, "Yes, yes, what our lord says is absolutely right."

  Seeing everyone agree with Cao Cao's words, however, Cao Anmin suddenly burst out laughing. This laughter was expressionless, and his tone was even louder as he said: "If that's really the case! Then... Old Master Taishici will surely die in Xuzhou!!"

  As soon as this was said, everyone cried out in surprise again.

  Cao Cao's face changed drastically as he stared at Cao Anmin, exclaiming in shock: "Nephew Xie, how could you utter such words? Who dares to make a move on the old general?"

  Everyone seemed stunned by their own words, and Cao Anmin took the opportunity to say decisively: "Xuzhou Mu Tao Qian, Tao Gongzu."

  "What? Ancestor Cao?!?" Upon hearing this, Cao Cao seemed to still be in a daze, but just as Cao Anmin thought that Cao Cao was starting to believe him, unexpectedly, Cao Cao suddenly burst out laughing.

  "Haha, Tao Gongzu would harm my father? Haha, what nonsense! I thought you had some earth-shattering words, but it turns out to be just this... A young kid like you is indeed not worthy of discussion, haha!"

  "Haha, no need to discuss with a child."

  "Taogongzu has always been kind and generous, how could he harm Lao Taigong, it's simply absurd."

  "Yes, nowadays the lord's power is great, Tao Qian is not even able to keep up with the lord's social interactions, how could he possibly harm the old lady? It seems that Cao Anmin really doesn't understand politics at all."

  Unexpectedly, Cao Anmin never thought that all around him were sarcastic voices, and his father, who was kneeling on the ground with him, was also flushed at this moment, as if he wanted to find a seam in the ground to drill into.

  But at this moment, only Cao Anmin himself knew that in a few days, Cao Song and Cao De would be killed by Tao Qian's general Zhang Yan... This is an indisputable fact. Now, on the contrary, he failed to convince the former, but was ridiculed by everyone. At this moment, Cao Anmin's heart had an inexplicable feeling.

  Shouldn't they be smashed with a pile of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in a magnificent and heroic manner?

  "Uncle, this..."

  "Heh heh, Xing Gongzi doesn't know something......" Just as Cao Anmin was about to retort, a person suddenly appeared at the banquet, and this person was precisely the middle-aged scholar from before.

  But that person didn't care what Cao Anmin wanted to say, and instead smiled and said: "The lord has just pacified Yan Province, sits in control of the various counties of Yan Province, and commands an elite army of 100,000. The neighboring Xu Province is watching with envy, at this moment Tao Qian's greatest wish is not to make an enemy of our lord, on the contrary, that Tao Gongzu most wants to make friends with our lord, and together with us become allies, then unite with Gongsun Zan, advance to plot against Jingzhou and Xiangyang, retreat to rely on the two Yuans. If this time we offend our army, can Tao Qian's mere 30,000 soldiers resist our army? Wouldn't that be digging his own grave? This kind of foolish thing Tao Qian would never do, haha... Moreover, Tao Qian has always been benevolent...

  "That's enough, Wen Ruo. These young and ignorant children are not worthy of discussing politics... Trust me, you should retreat early..." Just as he was about to say something more, the scholar was suddenly stopped by Cao Cao, who was sitting in the main seat, and coldly said with a squint.

  Having heard this, Cao Anmin, who knew that saying more would be useless, could only secretly sigh and shake his head repeatedly as he walked out, occasionally muttering to himself in a low voice.

  "Haha... Is this what they mean by 'good medicine tastes bitter'? Haha, it seems that without ability, talking to anyone is unconvincing..."

  Perhaps it was at this moment that Cao Anmin truly realized what it meant to be ignored, as if he had returned to his past life, back to being a useless little administrator. However, at this moment, Cao Anmin did not want to be weak anymore, from now on, from here, and from the future, perhaps he should really reflect on himself, and could not let his grandfather die in Xuzhou like this...

  It was only a matter of days before Zhang Kan killed Cao Song and Cao De.

  PS: Newcomers are not easy to come by, I hope you can spare some collections, I'm grateful. Please!

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