My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 181 Cao Pi was stunned: Am I the regicide? Xiao He: Thumbs up for you, I thank you on behalf of Lao Liu!
Liu Xie held Kong Rong's hand tightly, almost crushing it.

However, Kong Rong no longer felt the pain. He held the blood edict in one hand and supported Liu Xie with the other. He was in tears and full of regret and self-blame.

"Your Majesty, I shouldn't have agreed to go to Jingzhou to contact Xuande. If I hadn't gone, there wouldn't have been a mutiny, Your Majesty wouldn't have fled, and how could he have been shot by this arrow?"

"I am guilty. I have harmed Your Majesty..."

Kong Rong kept complaining about himself in self-pity.

However, Liu Xie had no intention of listening to his self-blame. His life was slipping away rapidly. His eyes gradually closed, and the hand he had tightly held on Kong Rong began to slowly loosen.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Arrows kept flying outside the car, and several screams were heard, and people kept falling under the arrows of Cao's army.

"Protect the Queen, Prince Jiyin and Princess Changle!"

"Your Majesty seems to have been shot by an arrow. What should we do?"

"If this continues, all of us will be shot to death by Cao's army!"

"You continue to protect His Majesty and go ahead. I will cover the rear and hold off Cao's army!"

Outside the carriage, the sad cries of Geng Ji and other Han officials were heard.

Kong Rong sighed deeply and said bitterly:

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid we, your servants, cannot escape death. Today, we must accompany Your Majesty to the underworld..."

This statement came out.

Liu Xie, who had originally closed his eyes, suddenly opened his eyes as if stimulated by something.

Then, as if he had a last burst of energy, he found strength from nowhere and actually climbed up, pushed open the door, and jumped off the imperial carriage.

"His Majesty--"

Kong Rong cried out in surprise and rushed forward to catch Liu Xie.

It's too late.

Liu Xie had rolled off the carriage and fell heavily to the ground.

Kong Rong was horrified and pretended to jump out of the car without thinking.

"Go, don't come down, go!"

"I order you to go and see Uncle Xuande—"

Liu Xie, lying on the ground, used all his remaining strength to wave to Kong Rong and issued the last imperial edict.

When the word "imperial uncle" came out of his mouth, Liu Xie seemed to have exhausted his life. His raised head collapsed to the ground, unable to move anymore.

Kong Rong gave up jumping out of the car at the last moment.

He understood Liu Xie's painstaking efforts.

Liu Xie knew that he was doomed to die, so he tried his best to jump out of the car to block Cao's pursuit for them.

After all, the primary target of Cao's army was the emperor.

Seeing the emperor fall off the carriage, the pursuing Cao army would definitely stop. Even if they could only delay for a moment, it would buy them precious time to cross the river.

"Your Majesty, I swear on my life that I will never betray your Majesty's trust and will deliver your Majesty's will to Lord Xuande!"

With tears in his eyes, Kong Rong kowtowed three times to Liu Xie who was leaving, then gritted his teeth and closed the car door.

The direction behind you.

Wu Zhi and hundreds of Cao's soldiers were still shooting arrows crazily.

However, Cao Pi did not shoot the arrow. He stared straight ahead, his palms sweating, and he silently prayed for good luck so that he could keep the emperor without hurting him.

Just when he was feeling anxious and nervous, the door of the imperial carriage in front suddenly opened and a figure in a dragon robe rolled down.

Wearing a dragon robe, who else could it be but the emperor?
Cao Pi's face changed, and he shouted anxiously:
"The emperor has fallen from his chariot. Stop shooting arrows immediately! Stop shooting arrows!"

After a few scattered arrows were fired, Wu Zhi and Cao's personal guards on both sides stopped shooting and slowed down their horses.

Cao Pi looked at the emperor lying on the ground, motionless, and his heart skipped a beat. An ominous premonition swept over his body.

The pursuers stopped after seven or eight steps, and no one dared to move forward.

Cao Pi dismounted, holding his sword in his hand, and walked towards the emperor step by step, accompanied by Wu Zhi and others.

"Your Majesty, I am sorry that your Majesty was frightened by your late arrival."

Cao Pi stopped three steps away and bowed to Liu Xie who was lying on the ground.

The body remained motionless and did not respond at all.

Cao Pi swallowed his saliva, looked up and looked carefully again, his expression suddenly changed.

An arrow suddenly shot out from Liu Xie's back.

"His Majesty!"

Cao Pi exclaimed, rushed forward and turned Liu Xie's body over.

A face with eyes wide open, filled with grief, anger and despair, caught my eye.

There was a sharp arrow stuck in his chest, piercing through his body.

Cao Pi's forehead was covered with sweat. He stretched out his hand tremblingly and touched Liu Xie's nose.

No breathing!

died!

The emperor was shot dead by his own guards!

Cao Pi gasped and fell to the ground, stunned with shock.

"Master Zihuan, this...what should we do?"

Wu Zhi, who was standing by, was also panicked and looked at Cao Pi helplessly.

Cao Pi shuddered violently.

The person dying in front of me is none other than the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.

Even if he is a puppet, he is still the emperor.

Killing the emperor is equivalent to regicide!
Not to mention that his father Cao Cao did not dare to do so, even a tyrannical and cruel person like Dong Zhuo, when he killed the young emperor Liu Bian, did so by secretly poisoning him after deposing him from the throne.

But Liu Xie was shot to death when he was still the emperor and had not yet been deposed!

The key point is that it was his confidant Wu Zhi who did this with his personal guards.

Even if he did not give the order to Wu Zhi explicitly, he could not escape responsibility for this matter. I am afraid he could not escape the charge of regicide.

At this moment, endless regret enveloped Cao Pi's body and mind.

He began to regret that he had been so impulsive and took the risk of hinting to Wu Zhi to shoot in order to regain the emperor.

Now, although the emperor was brought back, he was already dead. He didn't get any great merit, but was accused of regicide!

How was he going to explain this to Cao Cao?

"Liu Xie, Liu Xie, how could you be so unlucky that you were shot to death? You have caused me so much trouble..."

Cao Pi gritted his teeth and complained secretly, his eyes darting around as he thought about how to deal with the situation.

"Prince Zihuan, we shot the emperor. What should we do now?"

Wu Zhi beside him was sweating profusely, but he was still at a loss as he asked Cao Pi.

Cao Pi's eyes suddenly stopped rolling, and he stood up, staring at Wu Zhi and angrily scolded:
"Wu Zhi, you are so bold! Knowing that the emperor is among them, how dare you order the arrows to be shot?"

"Now that the emperor has been shot dead by you, you have become the sinner of regicide. How can I protect you?"

Wu Zhi was confused.

What do you mean by this?
Didn't you just tell me that your Cao family kept me for no good? You forced me to give the order to shoot?
You gave the order, and I was just an executor. Why do I have to bear the blame for regicide in the end?

Wu Zhi came to his senses and immediately argued excitedly:
"Prince Zihuan, you were the one who ordered the arrows to be released. I was only following orders. How can I be solely responsible for the crime of regicide?"

Cao Pi's face darkened and he said sternly:
"Stop your nonsense! When did I ever tell you to shoot an arrow at the emperor?"

Wu Zhi was speechless.

Cao Pi looked around at his guards and asked:
"Let me ask you again, who gave you the order to shoot?"

All the relatives pointed their eyes at Wu Zhi and said in unison that "it was General Wu who ordered the arrows to be shot."

Faced with the accusations of his personal guards, Wu Zhi was at a loss for words.

Cao Pi was not wrong, and the personal guards did not give false testimony. It was indeed you, Wu Zhi, who gave the order.

From beginning to end, Cao Pi never said a single word explicitly; all he said were hints.

"Prince Zihuan, I, I..."

Wu Zhi could only look at Cao Pi with a look of grievance on his face.

Cao Pi's expression softened a bit, and he patted Wu Zhi:
"Ji Zhong, don't worry too much. You are doing this for my Cao family after all."

"If you don't do this, the emperor will fall into the hands of that big-eared thief, which will be even more disadvantageous to my Cao family."

"Don't worry, if father really wants to question you, I, Cao Pi, will protect you at all costs!"

After hearing Cao Pi's promise, Wu Zhi just sighed and silently took the blame for regicide.

Cao Pi breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Liu Xie's corpse on the ground again, with a hint of hatred in his eyes.

"boom!"

The more Cao Pi thought about it, the angrier he became, and he couldn't help but kick Liu Xie hard.

...

Wancheng, inside the government hall.

Xiao He sipped his tea while listening to Deng Ai's intelligence report.

"General Wei and General Ma have already broken through Luyang and are continuing their march north. According to spies, Xiahou Dun has led 15,000 Cao troops out of Xudu and has stationed them in the Liangxian area."

"Cao Ren has gathered his defeated troops from Wancheng and is currently stationing them in Ye County."

"Yesterday, spies from Runan reported that Cao Cao's main force had passed Xiangcheng and was marching day and night back to Xudu..."

After hearing Deng Ai's report, Ma Yunlu showed respect and exclaimed in admiration:

"When Yunlu was in Guanzhong, I had long heard of Military Advisor Xiao's remarkable strategies. Now it seems his reputation is well-deserved."

"Military Advisor Xiao's series of arrangements really did mobilize Cao's troops from Xudu."

Xiao He smiled faintly, his eyes fell on the location of Xudu on the map, and he sighed:
"Cao's army has been dispatched, and Zilong's light cavalry should have reached the west bank of the Ying River. We have done everything we can, and now it's up to the emperor himself."

Ma Yunlu counted with his fingers and said:

"General Zhao has been on his way for six days. We should have news soon on whether the Emperor has successfully escaped Xudu."

The words trailed off.

A soldier came hurriedly and said with a bow:

"Military Advisor Xiao, General Zilong and his men have returned and are now outside the north gate."

Xiao He's eyes lit up and he looked at Ma Yunlu with a smile:

"Miss Ma's predictions are really accurate. Zilong has indeed returned. Let's go and greet him and see if he has brought back the emperor."

At that moment, Xiao He led the civil and military officials who stayed in Wancheng and personally went out of the north gate to welcome the emperor.

When Xiao He and his group arrived at the north gate, Zhao Yun's troops had already entered the city, and many unfamiliar faces were also entering the city one by one.

Judging from the situation, the emperor should have been successfully brought back.

"Military Advisor Bowen!"

Zhao Yun dismounted and walked forward, his brows filled with solemnity.

Xiao He sensed something was wrong and asked:
"Zilong, did this trip go wrong and fail to bring the emperor back?"

Zhao Yun sighed and said silently:

"The emperor had originally fought his way out of Xudu, but when he was about to join me at the Ying River, Cao's army caught up with him."

"The emperor was unfortunately murdered by Cao's army. Yun only brought back the empress, the Prince of Jiyin, and Princess Changle, mother and son, along with several court officials including the Minister of the Court, Kong Shaofu."

"Ugh--"

Everyone was shocked.

Be it Ma Yunlu, Deng Ai, or even the civil and military officials who stayed behind, they were all horrified.

Even Xiao He had a look of deep shock on his face at the first moment.

He envisioned many outcomes.

Either the emperor's rebellion failed and he was unable to escape from Xudu, or he was caught up by Cao's army not long after leaving the city, or...

But the emperor died on the way to break out, which was something he had never imagined.

Still killed by Cao's army!

Xiao He couldn't help but wonder, whose general was this? He was so brave that he dared to kill the emperor!

but.

After a brief shock, Xiao He suddenly realized that this result might not be a bad thing for Liu Bei.

even…

It’s a huge benefit!

(End of this chapter)