Three Kingdoms: The opening incorporates Li Cunxiao

"By the way, who enlightened you while dad was away."

"Enlightenment?" Zhang Xiao's vocabulary obviously had not yet accumulated to this level, and his eyes were somewhat puzzled.

"I'm just asking you, who taught you how to speak."

"Oh, it's Uncle Kuai."

Kuai Liang? It's unlikely. According to what Cao Cao said before he left, it would be difficult for Kuai Liang to enter the palace at all. So Kuai Yue should undoubtedly be the only one left to teach Zhang Xiao how to speak.

Upon hearing Kuai Yue's name, Cao Cao's eyes lit up and he called out to Ma Chao: "Meng Qi, don't leave in a hurry. I have something to ask you."

"Here."

"During my absence, how did Kuai Biejia declare to the outside world?"

"Your Majesty has been exhausted physically and mentally from years of fighting. You are resting in the palace. Except for the guards, no one else is allowed to disturb you."

"Then how do you go in and out of the palace on your own?"

"That day I received an urgent message from Xiangyang, which is 600 miles away. I will go south from Chang'an to this place to serve as the commander of the Tiger Guards."

Cao Cao secretly claimed to be wonderful.

Such important positions must not be held by the Cao clan. When it comes to the safety of the head of a country, the clan is obviously more sensitive than foreign ministers.

It’s not about trust, that’s human nature.

Of course, it cannot be manned by a general who is too distant.

Generally speaking, generals outside the inner circle usually do not seek merit but seek no fault. Once they learn that Cao Cao is not in the palace, they will report it to their superiors.

This Ma Chao was originally a close minister of Cao Cao and one of Yunxiao's minor honors. He has no blood relationship with the Cao family, and he is Zhang Wu's adopted brother.

The most important thing is that his heroic character means that he is destined to be able to take on responsibilities.

Once the news of Cao Cao's disappearance spreads, Zhang Wu must be the first to be held accountable.

In order to protect his brother from being questioned, this kid would probably keep his mouth shut.

What made Cao Cao even more satisfied was that Kuai Yue used the 600-mile express train for transmitting battle reports simply to select a suitable Tiger Guard commander.

All of them demonstrate his calmness and decisiveness in acting, as well as his calculation of people's hearts and human nature.

"Anything else, come together."

Ma Chao glanced at Cao Cao guiltily, and then replied: "Kui Biejia also drafted women into the palace in Xiangyang, Nanxiang, Nanjun, and Jiangxia. First, there was one selection every month, and then one selection every ten days. Now it has developed into three. The day has been chosen. Now there are probably no less than a thousand beautiful women in the Xiangyang Palace."

The large-scale selection of concubines was originally Cao Cao's trick to deceive people.

But with such a big fanfare, Kuai Yue was inevitably suspected of throwing dirty water on the emperor.

Ma Chao is a loyal person. He gets along well with Kuai Yue, so he naturally doesn't want Cao Cao to misunderstand anything.

Unexpectedly, Cao Cao was not angry at all. Instead, he clapped his hands and laughed: "Hahaha, Yidu is really good at scheming. If my guess is correct, the people outside the city will not only have no complaints, but everyone will praise me as a wise ruler?"

Ma Chao was stunned for a moment: "How did your majesty know this?"

He also asked Kuai Yue at that time, but Kuai Yue just said that he would understand later.

But Ma Chao has been thinking hard and still can't figure it out.

"Meng Qi knows soldiers and wars, but he doesn't understand people's hearts. Let me ask you, with such a selection, can there be enough good-looking and aged women among the gentry to fill the ranks?"

"More than that, two and a half months ago, almost all the women of marriageable age from the gentry and noble families entered the imperial palace."

"In other words, now that all the women from the wealthy families have been selected, the selection process has been accelerated, which means that women from farming and industrial families also have the opportunity to enter the palace."

Ma Chao suddenly realized.

No wonder there is such a festive and prosperous atmosphere in northern Jing.

Sending a daughter to the palace and letting the emperor take a fancy to her would be a real step towards success and a great act of kindness that would benefit future generations.

For the sake of personal gain, who would care about whether the emperor would be obsessed with beauty and lose interest in state affairs?

He didn't even fight for his scalp and sent his daughter to the palace.

Suddenly a wailing sound was heard in the distance.

Then the Yellow Gate Minister fell to the ground crying and quickly crawled over here.

He completely ignored his embarrassment and kowtowed to Cao Cao: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! You are finally back!"

"Okay, get up."

Wang Xi choked and stood up. After a long time of wiping away any tears, he pinched his thigh hard before tears came out.

And this guy showed up too quickly. It was obvious that he had placed eyes and ears in the palace.

Zhang Wu could see it clearly from the side, and secretly reached for the sword at his waist, but Cao Cao reached out to hold it down.

"Wang Xi, you did a good job. I am very satisfied. Tell me what reward you want."

"It is your duty as a servant to share your Majesty's worries. I dare not take any credit."

Cao Cao raised his voice three points higher: "I am actually a tyrant who does not know how to reward and punish."

"I don't dare, Your Majesty, that's not what I meant. It would be better if Your Majesty rewarded my servant three acres of fertile land."

"Three acres is not enough. I will allocate a thousand acres of good farmland for you in Xiangyang."

The king was overjoyed and kept saying "Thank you, Your Majesty"

Not only with Cao Cao's next words, his heart also fell to the bottom.

"From now on, you can stay here and become a rich man."

"Your Majesty, this, this, I can't bear to leave Your Majesty."

"It's better to stay." Cao Cao spread his arms with a smile on his face.

Looking past the exaggerated and luxurious sleeves, Wang Xi finally saw Zhang Wu's palm holding the sword. He was afraid that if he said another word "no" from his mouth, blood would be spilled on the spot, and he knelt down in shock: "Yes ,Yes, my servant takes the order. Thank you, Your Majesty."

As Wang Xi left, Zhang Wu said coldly: "Father-in-law, this man is clearly acting, and he has even planted spies in the palace. Why don't you let me kill him with a sword?"

"He wants to help Xingdu block the news, so he naturally needs to put in some eyes and ears. As for acting, that's not necessarily the case. Just seeing my return suddenly, his heart must be more happy than worried, how can he cry."

"Then why does my father-in-law want to send him away?"

"Maybe it's because he knows too much, and I'm worried about him."

"Maybe." Zhang Wu heard a dark clue, but Cao Cao didn't want to say more, and he didn't bother to ask.

In fact,

Covering up one's tracks was just a test Cao Cao gave to Kuai Yue.

It is a test of Kuai Yue's ability, courage and skill as a minister.

For a slave like Wang Xi, all he needs is loyalty.

Would an absolutely loyal slave collude with the state officials to conceal the whereabouts of the emperor?

Or maybe Kuai Yue actually saw through it but deceived Wang Xi,

But all this is no longer important.

Today, Wang Xi can work with Kuai Yue to conceal his whereabouts, and in the future, like Zhao Gao, he can work with Qin II to tamper with the emperor's edict.

Naturally, Cao Cao would not use him again.

Rewarding him with a thousand acres of fertile land can be regarded as a sign of the virtue of serving him wholeheartedly.

As for whether a eunuch who has lost his official title and has thousands of acres of fertile land will be coveted by others, Cao Cao has no control over it.