Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu
Chapter 335 Sima Gate Incident
Seeing this, Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and asked, "What crime should be taken for being disrespectful in front of the emperor?"
This guy...has he really accepted his fate?
But now Cao Cao no longer minds it, or rather... Cao Cao is no longer the fool who would show anger just because others use this to mock him!
However, Cao Cao's eyes would twitch slightly only when he glanced at him - Cao Cao still cared about Dong Cheng.
As long as Cao Cao wants to take advantage of the situation, he can use this to attack Liu Bei at any time.
Even Dong Cheng drank some wine at this time, and then lowered his head and said nothing...
The Gongcheling sounds like someone who is in charge of carriages, but in fact he is the one guarding the palace gates, and the most important "Sima Gate".
As a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty who cursed Cao Cao at least ten times a day... could he compromise? Of course not!
Cao Cao, who was already the King of Wei at that time, could also enter and exit from Sima Gate, but only the King of Wei and the emperor could do so. However, after a banquet, Cao Zhi and Yang Xiu, who was just as promiscuous as him, rode in a carriage and left the palace from Sima Gate!
However, at this moment, the Prime Minister, perhaps because he was drunk and heard something wrong, actually stood up and raised his glass to greet the ministers when they were saying "Congratulations, Your Majesty".
"Huh? What's the matter? 
You guys ... do you look down on me, the descendant of a eunuch? You toasted me with wine, but you didn't drink it. What's the reason?" Cao Cao's tongue was a little awkward at first, but as he spoke, his voice became clearer and his tone became colder!
Drink? It seems a bit embarrassing...
The reason why Cao Cao was happy was not because he had obtained evidence of Liu Bei's guilt - the reason why he did not turn against Liu Bei was not as simple as lack of evidence.
Don't drink? What if Cao Cao kills someone?
Six years ago in Yanzhou, Cao Cao killed many people because some scholars ridiculed him behind his back. As a result, the Yanzhou gentry became alienated. When he attacked Xuzhou, the Yanzhou gentry behind him turned against him and "sold" Yanzhou to Lu Bu...
An old minister with white hair and beard saw this and tears welled up in his eyes. He glared at Cao Cao... At the same time, he glanced at Liu Xie, whose face had already turned ashen.
When Cao Cao learned about this, he was furious and executed the Gongche Ling directly. In the same year, he made Cao Pi the crown prince of Wei. Cao Zhi's Seven-Step Poem was not necessarily written in seven steps. He had already come up with the idea after he drove through Sima Gate that day.
Before Cao Cao could think about it, Liu Bei stood up and said, "I am not feeling well. Goodbye!"
Just hearing Cao Cao say this himself, the ministers were still shocked and for a moment they felt that the wine bottles in their hands had become heavier.
Cao Cao was not afraid of Liu Bei's ambitions, but he was afraid that he would join forces with the royalists in the court. Liu Bei's behavior made Cao Cao feel relieved. He had originally wanted to take action against Dong Cheng, but now he had a better idea...
Before this, Dong Cheng had always opposed defining Yuan Shao as a traitor, and even wanted to use Yuan Shao's power to "rescue" the Han emperor.
However, Dong Cheng’s reaction now made Cao Cao feel a little uneasy!
just……
Cao Cao continued to hold this harmonious New Year's banquet with other court officials until the end.
After drinking, he slammed the wine jar on the table and turned his face away to show his dissatisfaction with Cao Cao.
Well, His Majesty didn't respond. It seems that His Majesty is hinting that I should keep it for later use. Then I will drink it...
At the side, Tianmu General Xiahou Dun slammed the table, his eyes widened, and the scar on his head looked even more hideous, as if he was about to open another eye. At the same time, he said in a loud voice: "Humph!"
Everyone was toasting to Liu Xie to congratulate Yuan Ni for his defeat. The reason for this celebration was that the generals under Cao Cao's command started a commotion, sneering and pushing them forward.
It was because Cao Cao read Liu Bei's dissatisfaction from Liu Bei's behavior. It was not only towards him, Cao Cao, but also towards the Han Dynasty, or the court headed by Liu Xie. He even... had the intention of replacing it!
As long as your majesty gives the order, I will fight Cao Cao...fight...fight...
Even though I have Cao's wine in my throat, my heart is still with the Han Dynasty!
Based on Cao Cao's understanding of him, he should not be a man who "knows the times".
"Thank you for your praise, gentlemen. This is not the work of me alone. Burp - bleat." Cao Cao looked drunk and smacked his lips as he burped.
Afterwards, when Cao Cao was leaving, a confidant of the Prime Minister's Office who served as the Public Carriage Order reported to Cao Cao that Liu Bei had been drunk and scolded him and his personal soldiers guarding the gate, and drove out from Sima Gate!
Xiahou Dun wanted to hold Liu Bei back, but Cao Cao stopped him with a look...
Or are you planning something?
When Liu Xie saw this scene, he felt even more sad - not only did the ministers have no confidence in him as the Emperor of Han, he had also lost confidence in the court officials!
After Cao Cao heard this, a look of joy first appeared in his eyes, but he had misunderstood the meaning of the bus order.
Seeing someone taking the lead, others naturally followed suit, but... the more prestigious the ministers were, the more basic they had to be in facial expressions. Otherwise, they should just sit back down obediently.
In history when there was no "white rabbit effect", Cao Zhi was completely eliminated from the competition for the crown prince because of the "Sima Gate Incident".
As for the guilt? Liu Bei was the governor of Xuzhou. He was just a small official. What if he couldn't stop it? As long as Cao Cao was willing to protect him, who could do anything to him?
Sima Gate was equivalent to the main gate of the imperial palace. Only the emperor's carriage could pass through it. Apart from that, only when the emperor summoned the princes could he enter through this gate on foot as a sign of honor.
At this time, Gongche Ling secretly reported to Cao Cao, but he was not "surrendering". As a confidant of the Prime Minister's Office, he deliberately let Liu Bei go and left a witness!
It’s just that Cao Cao has no concrete evidence, and Liu Ai has been persuading Liu Xie, and has not really agreed to Dong Cheng’s suggestion. Moreover, Cao Cao also expects Dong Cheng to bring out more "mud" and even expects him to lure Yuan Shao over, so he did not make trouble. After all... he is just Dong Cheng.
"Haha, that's right...what about you guys?" Cao Cao sneered and looked at the others.
Given Liu Bei's status, he would naturally not be instigated by the people in the Prime Minister's Office. Before that, he was leisurely drinking by himself in the position second only to the Prime Minister.
He also specifically mentioned that in the past, he was taboo about others mentioning the term "descendant of a eunuch."
After being drunk, one of the timid people became weak in the knees and sat down on the ground, with the wine in the bottle spilling all over him...
Now is not the time to turn against Liu Bei!
When Cao Cao saw this, he just smiled slightly and didn't care about this master of facial expressions who was willing to drink such wine.
However, apart from the increasing number of Cao Cao's followers in the court, the rest of the ministers fell silent. The smiles they had forced out became a little stiff, and they were neither able to put the wine bottles in their hands to their lips nor put them down!
Such is the importance of Sima Gate...
And he drank the wine in the bottle in one gulp...
Upon hearing this, the young official who used to be an expert at using facial expressions to save the country shouted, "Please forgive me, Prime Minister. Please forgive me... This is a New Year's banquet. Didn't the Prime Minister say that it should be a family banquet? I... I will drink three cups as punishment!" He did not dare to hesitate any longer and quickly got up and poured himself three cups and drank them down.
If it were the old Dong Cheng, he would never follow the crowd and toast Liu Xie under the instigation of Cao Cao's generals. For example, Zhong Ji, Liu Ai and others did not even raise their glasses!