Chapter 218 My Brother-in-law
In Xudu, after one heavy snowfall, there was another heavy snowfall.

In the mansion of Shizhong Geng Ji, there was a small courtyard allocated for Ma Chao to live in.

Today, Ma Chao wore a leopard fur cape and sat cross-legged in front of the door, quietly admiring the heavy snow outside the corridor.

From time to time, snowflakes fell on the corridor outside the door and quickly melted on the wooden floor.

In front of Ma Chao was a copper charcoal brazier, in which strong tea was being boiled, with white steam rising.

At the gate of the small courtyard, two warriors wearing leather armor and felt clothes, with their hands tucked into their sleeves and iron halberds resting on their shoulders, were enduring the cold.

Ma Chao is now in mixed feelings. He thought that after entering Xu Du, some of his troops and followers would disperse.

As a result, the news of the victory of the Guanzhong troops in defeating three of the royal court's tribes came, attracting many young heroes to visit.

Just like he had done in Hedong before, when Black Bear won a great victory in Weibei, many young knights in Hedong gave up their hometowns and chose to follow Ma Chao.

During the past half month, many young knights who stayed in Xudu looking for opportunities joined Ma Chao's army.

Fortunately, when leaving, Ma Teng gave Ma Chao enough money, enough to sustain him for a long time.

During this time in Xudu, some people had already donated money to Ma Chao during their visits.

These days, there has been a lot of good news, and Ma Chao has become a little numb.

Now, Ma Chao began to doubt whether he was the representative sent by Black Bear to Xu Du.

From his fellow villager Geng Ji, to Xun Yu who lived in the next-door mansion, and Kong Rong who would always invite him to cocktail parties, they all seemed to regard him as the messenger of the black bear.

How could it be possible for a father to expel his son and for the son to run away in anger?
Those rumors in the past now seem more like rumors.

Now, Ma Chao doesn’t know how to debunk the rumors and prove his true position.

There were the sounds of footsteps trampling on the snow outside the courtyard. Ma Chao knew from the footsteps that it was Ma Dai who had returned.

Ma Dai entered the courtyard through the small door, walked around to a side corridor, stomped his feet in the corridor, took off his cloak and shook off the snow, then walked to the door in a black and yellow brocade robe.

After taking off his boots, Ma Dai also entered the front hall, sat cross-legged on one side, and handed out his business card and invitation: "Brother, it is the military strategist Cai Mu who sent the invitation."

"Cai Mu? Nephew of Cai Boqi?"

"Exactly this person."

"I have seen him before. A few days ago, at Kong Rong's banquet, Cai Mu was also there. He looked at me several times on purpose."

During this period, Ma Chao attended various banquets and met many people, but he formed deep friendships with only a few.

Ma Chao poured tea for Ma Dai and said lazily, "This man is never satisfied."

Ma Dai held the black pottery bowl in both hands. He also knew that there were only two hot topics discussed by the scholars in Xudu during this period. One was the black bear attacking the Huns and destroying three parts of the royal court, and the other was the collection of Cai Yong's books unearthed in the suburbs of Chang'an.

Song Zhong, a great scholar at the official school in Jingzhou, has already organized people to copy it, and the scholars in Xudu also want to make a copy.

These two events are also related. Legend has it that Wang Yun killed Cai Yong because he was jealous of the new calligraphy created by Cai Yong.

No one knows exactly what this new calligraphy is, but some of the simplified characters that Hei Xiong used in his daily official business spread to Xudu, which was obviously a more advanced style than the regular script summarized and developed by Zhong Yao.

The simplification of characters is a major trend, and the scholars know it better than anyone else.

If Wang Yun killed Cai Yong for this, the scholars could put themselves in Wang Yun's shoes and fully understand his mentality at that time.

Not to mention Wang Yun, even they wanted to kill the person who improved the simplified Chinese characters and wanted to take credit for this good name. This was enough to make a family become top-notch!
In particular, Cai Yong also established calligraphy for the new characters, which can be said to have been accomplished in one step.

This kind of attitude of eating alone would make even good brothers turn against him, not to mention his good friend Wang Yun.

Ma Chao flipped through the invitation, which invited him to a banquet at Kong Rong's mansion that evening, and told him that the participants of the banquet, in addition to Kong Rong, Xu Gan, and Cai Mu, also included Cai Yong's disciple Lu Cui from Chenliu, and Zheng Xuan's disciples Le'an Guoyuan and Shanyang Xi Lu.

Thinking about the official positions of these people, and seeing that the invitation only listed their hometown, name and courtesy name, without any official position, I knew that this was another private banquet for scholars, and official title was not regarded as the main factor in respect at the banquet.

Ma Chao frowned. He was not very happy to attend such a banquet, nor did he like people like Kong Rong.

However, Cai Mu, Lu Cui and Guo Yuan were all subordinates and aides of Cao Cao's Sikong Mansion. Only by establishing good relationships with these people could he quickly join Cao Cao's Sikong Mansion.

The government's recruitment is the right and glorious way.

After drinking tea, Ma Dai saw that he was frowning and asked, "Brother, are you not interested in going?"

"I'm worried about bringing trouble to my father."

Ma Chao threw the invitation aside, poured himself some tea, blew on it, and looked at the falling white snow outside the door. "Black Bear killed nearly 100,000 people for Cai Zhaoji. No one knows whether Cai Zhaoji is dead or alive, but Cai Zhenji is about to get married."

Sipping his drink, Ma Chao let out a long sigh: "If Cai Bojie really improves the writing system to make it simpler and easier to learn, countless lunatics will emerge from the four states of the Central Plains, and they will act like black bears. I'm afraid the whole Central Plains will be wiped out."

"Brother, you are joking. How could the families be so unwise?"

Ma Dai obviously didn't believe it. Seeing Ma Chao's serious look, he also frowned and said, "Brother, is there really such a fool?"

“It’s hard to say whether there are such fools in the Yiguan family, but I know that Cao Cao will try every means to provoke Black Bear.”

Ma Chao took another sip of tea, his mouth watering after the bitter experience, and put down the ceramic tea bowl: "I suspect that Cao Cao is very likely to let Cai Zhenji enter the palace. Kong Rong has been deliberately testing him these days. He wants to escape."

Ma Dai was stunned, because Ma Chao had never told him these things.

Ma Dai thought about it and lowered his voice: "If Cai Zhenji goes back, won't it be disadvantageous to Yunmei?"

"Confused."

Ma Chao narrowed his eyes and said, "The wise men in the Central Plains don't want to provoke the black bear. Cai Zhenji is very hot right now, and too many people want to send her to Guanzhong. This is not something Cao Cao can stop. If I interfere, my family will be implicated in Guanyou, and I will have no place to live in Guandong."

Ma Dai leaned over to pour tea for Ma Chao, who lowered his voice: "The Guandong region today is more desolate than when we fought against Dong Zhuo. Although Cao Cao has strong troops, he is also a desperate move, and he has no successors. Black Bear went out to rob so many women and children. He can rob them this year and next year. In twenty years, the manpower of the Central Plains will definitely be inferior to that of Guanzhong." He shook the tea bowl, and finally felt relieved and took a long breath: "It is impossible to compete with Cao Cao today. In the future, the Central Plains will lack troops and will not be a place for competition. There is no benefit in staying here. You inform the old man in Guanlong that if I reach an agreement with Kong Rong, we will flee to Xudu immediately."

Ma Dai was reluctant to let them go: "Are you going to abandon the people from Hedong and Guandong just like that?"

"Those who are willing to follow me will come again in the future. What we are planning now is a matter of life and death. I only trust the old man Guanlong."

Ma Chao raised his head to drink tea and put down the empty bowl: "I'm going to take a rest for a while."

The entire team has more than 700 people, and now we have to abandon nearly two-thirds of them in one go.

Ma Dai felt distressed and reluctant, but he had no choice. His subconscious told him that he would not go wrong if he listened to Ma Chao on such an important matter.

Anyway, Ma Teng is in Guanzhong, and he has Yunmei to help him. At worst, he can run back to Guanzhong and keep his head down.

The military force in Guanzhong is at its strongest now. If he and Ma Chao capture Cao Pi and beat him up, there is a high probability that they will be able to escape successfully.

Chopping off a hundred thousand heads in a row on the battlefield is different from chopping off the heads of a hundred thousand surrendered soldiers.

Today, the morale and psychological advantages gained by Cao's army from the victory at Guandu have disappeared.

Even Xiahou Dun, who barely escaped with his life after suffering a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Bowangpo, not only recovered his reputation in public opinion, but also regained a lot of his confidence in leading the troops.

Perhaps thinking about being able to return to Guanzhong, the resentment in Ma Dai's heart quickly dissipated. He drank two more bowls of tea and went to look for his old friends in Guanlong.

Not to mention him, even the old people in Guanlong were eager to return to Guanzhong.

At night, in Kong Rong's mansion in the city.

There was singing and dancing, everyone was drinking and having a great time.

Kong Rong put his hat aside, his cheeks flushed red, he shook his slightly dizzy head, and clapped his hands to keep rhythm with a smile.

Ma Chao got up and went to the side door, holding his stomach, and then he saw Lu Cui and Cai Mu, two people from Chenliu, following him.

Kong Rong kept the rhythm of his palms and glanced at Xi Lu and Guo Yuan again.

The two men were sitting together, whispering to each other.

Kong Rong and Xi Lu had a bad relationship and looked down on each other. Xi Lu could only sit here thanks to Guo Yuan's protection.

As Kong Rong clapped his hands to the rhythm, Xu Gan sang poems with the sound of ghosts howling.

Whenever he gets drunk, the usually gloomy Xu Gan becomes particularly unrestrained.

Xu Gan's daily life was not rich. He rented a house in the alleys in the western suburbs of Xudu and often only had one meal a day.

Kong Rong's occasional invitations were purely to provide Xu Gan with nutritional supplements.

On the other side, Ma Chao walked out of the toilet and saw Cai Mu bowing in the corridor, saying in a low voice: "I have long heard of Ma Mengqi's reputation for chivalry. Please help me."

Ma Chao glanced left and right and saw Lu Cui standing at the bend about ten steps away, watching the wind.

Ma Chao hurriedly supported Cai Mu and asked, "What's going on?"

"Prince Cao intends to propose marriage to my family and marry my concubine Zhenji to his son."

Cai Mu said in a low voice, "Everyone knows that when Hei Zhenbei came to Chenliu, he proposed to my family. Now Cao Sikong is using his power to destroy the reputation of our Cai family, and I am afraid that he intends to anger Hei Zhenbei."

"How dare he?"

Ma Chao was stunned, but then he was relieved and nodded: "I understand, does Lord Wen Ju know?"

"I asked Wen Jugong for help, and Wen Jugong said that Meng Qi was chivalrous and could take on this important task."

Cai Mu took two steps back and bowed, then knelt and kowtowed: "The lives of my clan and fellow villagers are all entrusted to Meng Qi."

Ma Chao nodded and stepped forward to support him, but couldn't help but speak: "Your concerns are reasonable. My brother-in-law is extremely cruel and has no taboos. Not to mention the people of Yu County, even the people of Chenliu would hardly survive."

Ma Chao's words were not meant to be a threat. Thinking of his own experience, the emotions in Ma Chao's words were very relatable.

Cai Mu felt weak in the knees after hearing this. The Cao family was beyond help, but the people of Yanzhou and Chenliu were innocent!

Especially the people of Chenliu, whether counting from the perspective of Lu Bu or Cai Yong, they are all close to Guanzhong.

Cai Mu had no choice but to be afraid, and Lu Cui, who was watching from the side, also felt weak in the knees.

Almost all the Xiongnu people in the three royal courts were killed, and even the half-grown children were cleared out in two batches.

The horror legend about the valley at the Fenshui ferry also spread to Xudu.

It is said that when the wind blows at night, countless children cry in the valley.

Killing the Huns was so cruel and efficient, who could escape if they killed the people of the Central Plains who had no defenses?
Black Bear not only has an absolute advantage in cavalry, but also has very powerful siege tactics.

He could not survive by hiding in the city or in a fortress; and how could he escape the detection of so many cavalrymen by hiding in the wild?
This really angered the Black Bear, and he launched the Eastern Expedition regardless of the consequences.

Only 30,000 cavalrymen are needed to completely destroy the Central Plains, especially the western part of the Central Plains, which is the core and prosperous area of ​​the Central Plains!
This has almost become a consensus among officials and scholars in Xudu!

Xudu could not keep secrets, and it was not the busy farming season. Most of the troops recruited from the front lines had been dismissed, and too many people huddled in their houses to spend the winter. They had nothing to do but discuss the war in the northwest.

The more we discuss and analyze, the higher our status, the greater our fear.

Seeing Ma Chao's agreement, Cai Mu immediately took out a scroll of silk and handed it to Ma Chao, whispering: "The journey is long, I'll leave everything to Meng Qi. Meng Qi can negotiate with this person, and we will follow Meng Qi's orders."

Ma Chao immediately stuffed the silk book into his arms, and patted the dust and wrinkles on Cai Mu's hem: "I will do my best!"

(End of this chapter)