C163

The small courtyard that Sima Fang resided in was located in the northernmost corner of the house. It did not take up the largest amount of land, but it was extremely exquisite, with gardens, corridors, ponds, fake mountains, etc. On the way in, there was a servant that lit up the area with lanterns every so often. When he saw Sima Yi and Cao Cao, he would bow and greet them, his manner and speech impeccable. Dian Wei was a tough guy, he only cared about throwing his arms out and following behind Cao Cao Cao, he did not feel that anything was strange, but Cao Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan were secretly praising him in their hearts.

"The Sima family is indeed a thousand year old family. Even ordinary servants are so skilled in etiquette. This old man is filled with admiration!" When he arrived at the entrance of Sima Fang's courtyard, Cao Cao stopped and sighed.

"Zhong Da, after you!" Cao Cao knew that Sima Yi wouldn't be able to walk in front of him, so he took the lead and walked inside.

Sima Yi invited Xiahou Yuan and Dian Wei to go in first as he himself was walking at the back into the courtyard.

Sima Fang had long been waiting in front of the small living room's door. Upon seeing Cao Cao Cao, he did not go forward to greet him, but instead cupped his hands and asked: "Meng De, long time no see, how have you been?"

When Sima Fang held the position of Jing Zhaoyin, he had some friendship with Cao Cao Cao's father, Cao Song. As a result, they could be considered Cao Cao Cao's seniors, hence he called Cao Cao's cousin Meng De.

Cao Cao Cao walked in front of Sima Fang, respectfully cupping his hands and said, "This nephew is fine, I have come late at night to visit you, please forgive me Uncle Sima for disturbing you!"

"No worries!" "It's alright!" Sima Fang laughed and propped Cao Cao Cao up, he sized him up and sighed: "It's been a few years but Meng De has already become an important member. Unfortunately, Ju Gao (Cao Cao's father, Cao Song) was nowhere to be seen. Five years ago, when we parted ways in Chang An, I invited you to stay with me in the river for a while. You agreed so readily, but who would have thought! "

When Sima Fang finished speaking, his face turned sorrowful and his eyes became watery. He quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

Hearing Sima Fang talk about the tragic death of Cao Song, Cao Cao Cao Cao Cao couldn't help but feel sorrow in his heart. He only felt a pinch on his nose, and a single tear almost fell down.

Sima Fang apologized: "When people get old, they like to reminisce about old times, but when Meng De thought about it, it made him sad. Meng De, please come in to speak. "

Cao Cao forced a smile and said, "Uncle Sima's words are too serious. Uncle has remembered my father's name in his heart. This nephew is extremely grateful, but it is too late. How could I be dissatisfied?" In this nephew's heart, Uncle Sima has always been a senior who deserves to be respected. I hope uncle can treat this nephew as your own nephew! "

"Hehe," Sima Fang twisted his beard and laughed: "Since Meng De has put it this way, this old man shall address you as my nephew."

"This is exactly how it should be!" Cao Cao bowed once again, "Nephew Cao Mengde greets uncle!"

"Meng De, quickly get up!" Sima Fang helped Cao up, and asked for Xiahou Yuan and Dian Wei's identities and names, complimenting the two of them respectively. Then he pulled Cao Cao Cao and walked into the hall.

Cao Cao Cao turned his head and ordered: "Miao Cai, follow me in and chat with Uncle and Zhong Da. Dian Wei, wait here."

Xiahou Yuan followed behind Sima Yi into the living room. Dian Wei stood at the door of the living room as he looked around cautiously.

The decorations in the small living room were very simple, but Cao Cao Cao could tell that the furniture in the room was made of high quality yellow and flowery pear wood and expensive sandalwood. Xiahou Yuan was attracted by the few calligraphy and paintings on the wall. When he looked carefully, he was shocked by the signature of one of the calligraphy and paintings, it turned out that this calligraphy and painting was actually written by the Emperor of Wen Shi who was an expert in calligraphy and painting. Amongst the many emperors of the current dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Liu Huan, had the highest cultivation, and had left behind many paintings. However, many of them had already been lost after experiencing war and chaos.

Seeing that Xiahou Yuan's gaze was fixated on the painting, Sima Yi leaned over and asked in a low voice, "General Xia Hou likes painting too?"

Xiahou Yuan nodded his head: "That's right, this humble one's favorite is to collect calligraphy and painting books, I never thought that I would actually be able to see Emperor Wen's calligraphy brush in your esteemed palace, it is truly a worthwhile trip!"

"General Xiahou has actually mastered both martial and martial arts! This is truly admirable!" Sima Yi praised, before shaking his head in regret. "It's a pity that this painting was bestowed upon our ancestors by Emperor An (Emperor An, Liu Hu, the sixth emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty). Otherwise, it would've been given to our general."

Sima Yi's great-grandfather, Sima Jun, had been a Zhengxi General during the Han An Emperor's era and was highly regarded and trusted by Emperor Han An. Sima Jun was also known as the one who moved the Sima Family to the Henei County.

"Sima Xiansheng is being too serious!" Xiahou Yuan quickly shook his head: "This is the inherited treasure of the Sima Family, I am just admiring and admiring it, I have no presumptuous thoughts about it!"

Sima Yi smiled and said, "Since General Xiahou is so fond of painting, I shall pick a few to give to you as a gift. I hope you will kindly accept them."

"About that," Xiahou Yuan hesitated for a moment, then laughed: "Thank you, Zhong Da! Zhong Da, you don't have to be so polite, just call me by the name of Miao Cai. "

"It's better to obey than to be respectful!" Brother Miao Cai, please take a seat! "

Thank you, Zhong Da! I dare ask Zhong Da, the aura of this painting is extremely imposing, and the signature is also somewhat strange, who wrote it? "

"This … this is written by our ancestor Sima Jun …"

Sima Fang and Cao Cao Cao were drinking tea while smiling and watching the two of them talk about painting. After they finished talking and sat down, Sima Fang lightly clapped his hands towards outside the door.

The old butler quietly appeared at the door, bowing and asking, "Master, what orders do you have?"

"Go and tidy up a few tables of fine wine noodle soup, we have to be a bit faster!" Sima Fang instructed, then laughed at Cao Cao Cao, "Meng De must have something to discuss with me, but since it is already the middle of the night, I think you are already hungry, why don't we eat and drink at the same time?"

"Thank you, uncle." Cao Cao Cao smiled as he expressed his thanks. Ever since Cao Song passed away, it had been a long time since someone treated him like an elder, and he was extremely grateful towards Sima Fang's words.

Not long after, the old steward brought the maidservants to serve the banquet. As he retreated, he closed the door to the small living room.

Sima Fang raised his wine cup and started to persuade the others to drink, and the few of them started to talk and talk.

On the roof about thirty to forty steps away, Mo Bingmei stared at Dian Wei's figure and whispered: "Those people at the door are obviously difficult to deal with. They should be Cao Cao's subordinates' generals."

Dian Wei was tall and strong, his fierce face could be seen clearly under the light. He carried a pair of fine iron halberds on his back, and kept on looking around cautiously.

"That man …" Gongsun Xu stared at the great iron halberd on Dian Wei's back for a while, and then whispered: "He should be the Dian Wei that Cao Cao called my Evil, he is one of the top ranked warriors under Cao Cao's command, we carefully approached from the back, we mustn't startle him! "Let's go!"

Mo Bingmei nodded and followed Gongsun Xu down the roof, and then went around to the back of the small living room.

Dian Wei stared at the courtyard in front of him, unaware that Gongsun Xu and Mo Bingmei had already circled around him to the window at the back of the small living room. Gongsun Xu's finger was stained with saliva, he gently opened the window and looked inside, to see Sima Fang and his son laughing and drinking with Cao Cao Cao Cao Xiahou Yuan, the atmosphere was extremely relaxed and happy.

Mo Bingmei also did the same as she looked inside. When she realised that the people inside were chatting happily, she couldn't help but move closer to Gongsun Xu's ears and ask in a soft voice, "The Sima father and son wouldn't betray us, right?"

Gongsun Xu shook his head, and also whispered into Mo Bingmei's ears: "If the Sima father and son wanted to go back on their word, they would have told Cao Cao at the main gate. It would have been troublesome if we had wanted to leave the city. "Listen to what they have to say!"

Mo Bingmei once again felt the male Qi that came from her ears, her face immediately flushed red, and her breathing became rapid, but since her face was covered, Gongsun Xu once again focused his attention on the small hall, and thus did not notice anything strange about Mo Bingmei.

At this time, Sima Fang put down his bottle of wine, looked at Cao Cao Cao and asked: "Meng De, why have you suddenly come to this old man's house today?"

Cao Cao Cao also put down his bottle of wine, solemnly cupping his hands and said: "I presumptuously came to ask for uncle's help!"

Seeing that they were starting to get down to business, Sima Yi and Xiahou Yuan also put down their chopsticks and bottle of wine s, quietly listening from the side.

"Oh?" Sima Fang's expression was somewhat stunned, and asked: "Meng De, just speak your mind, as long as this old man can do it, I will definitely help you!"

"Good!" Uncle is indeed compassionate and righteous, this nephew will not be polite! " Cao Cao Cao raised his thumb to praise, and said sternly: "Now, Gongsun Xu has led a large army to surround the city, and will attack fiercely at any time, but your nephew is too exhausted, I am afraid it will be difficult for him to block Gongsun Xu's attack! Gongsun Xu was ruthless and merciless, once his army invaded the city, they would be annihilated! So, this nephew is going to ask uncle to come forward and borrow some men from the Wealthy Class families in the city. As long as we can protect Henei County, this prefecture chief mansion is willing to pay any price! "

Sima Fang laughed coldly in his heart, Cao Cao Cao's words were without sincerity. When borrowing people, it was Sima Family who came forward, and even if it was to protect the city, when it was time to return the favor, it would be prefecture chief mansion who came forth. This way, Cao Cao didn't need to pay anything to have a large number of people to help protect the city. These people had spent a lot of money, food, and blood from the main house. If these people were to die in large numbers in the siege warfare and not get enough compensation, the Sima Family would definitely offend the majority of the people! When the time comes for Cao Cao to leave and the Sima Clan to clean up this mess, how could Sima Fang agree to do such a foolish thing?

It was just that Sima Fang knew that he could not directly reject, so he stroked his beard and muttered to himself for a while, and said: "This matter is big, the hearts of the various great clans in the city are not at ease. I hope Meng De will let me think it over carefully, how about I give Meng De a reply tomorrow at noon?"

Cao Cao thought for a moment, cupped his hands, and said: "That's good too, I'll have to trouble uncle for the safety of Henei County!"

"Meng De, no need to be courteous!" Sima Fang laughed: "This old man has my duty, after all, once Gongsun Xu's army enters the city, my Sima Family will not be able to escape this calamity! Meng De, other than this, is there anything else? "

"This nephew has only come on this matter. I have no other important matters to attend to!" Cao Cao Cao shook his head and laughed: "As long as uncle can help this nephew accomplish this, this nephew has the confidence to prevent the Henei County from falling into Gongsun Xu's hands! Oh right, I have long heard of Zhong Da's scheming, and if uncle allows it, I would like to have Zhong Da beside me to advise me! "

Sima Fang nodded, looked at Sima Yi and asked, "Zhong Da, what do you think?"

Sima Yi was overjoyed. If he followed Cao Cao, he would be able to find out more information before passing it to Gongsun Xu. Immediately, he nodded in agreement.