Chapter 37: An Arm Cannot Twist a Thigh

Inside the study of Yang Hu's private residence in Chang'an, the atmosphere was thick with tension.

Sima Zhao sat before the desk, waiting for Shi Shouxin's answer. A single wrong response might well mean that tomorrow would be the anniversary of his death.

"To lower Zhong Hui's guard and avoid startling the snake in the grass, I offered no resistance to the seizure of the original letters and feigned obedience by handing them over. However, complete copies of every single letter remain in my possession."

Shi Shouxin drew a silk-wrapped bundle from his sleeve and handed it to Sima Zhao. Inside were the copies he had spent the better part of the night painstakingly transcribing.

"This..."

Gazing at the silk-wrapped package, Sima Zhao was struck dumb with astonishment, momentarily at a loss for words.

He untied the bundle to reveal stack upon stack of fine paper.

Yang Hu, standing nearby, stared with wide eyes, hardly daring to believe what he saw.

Without a word, Sima Zhao opened the letters one by one, his expression shifting continuously.

Many matters contained within were expected, yet just as many came as an absolute surprise.

When he had finished reading them all, Sima Zhao let out a long breath. Had these missives failed to reach him, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

He casually laid the copied letters upon the desk, then looked up at Shi Shouxin. "Why did Zhong Hui merely seize the letters instead of having you killed?"

"Because murder would have been a superfluous gesture, painting legs on a snake. If Zhong Hui had dispatched assassins to kill the messenger, the General-in-Chief would undoubtedly have investigated the matter. Should the messenger escape death and merely flee, the General-in-Chief would likely have cast suspicion upon him. Zhong Hui calculated that I would choose to flee, and sought to use that to hoodwink the General-in-Chief."

Shi Shouxin explained with a calm expression, his reasoning seamless and unassailable.

After a moment's thought, Sima Zhao realized the logic was sound.

"Yet you had no authority to open correspondence addressed to the General-in-Chief's estate. Taking it upon yourself to copy the letters carries the suspicion of leaking secrets, which is likewise a grave crime."

Sima Zhao spoke with a cold face. In his view, the act of copying implied that the letters had been unsealed without authorization, which was inherently a major offense.

"General-in-Chief, how could I dare commit such an act on my own accord? The reason I made these copies was that Military Inspector Wei Guan dropped broad hints instructing me to do so, all to draw the snake out of its hole and test Zhong Hui. And look—Zhong Hui's rebellious intent has thus been brought to light."

Shi Shouxin deflected Sima Zhao's reprimand effortlessly, using Wei Guan as a shield to parry and counter the blow.

"And how did Wei Guan hint at this to you?"

Tapping his index finger rhythmically against the desk, Sima Zhao asked with rising interest. He suddenly found the situation rather amusing.

"Inspector Wei knew full well that Zhong Hui could not be trusted, and many within the army had already reported as much to him. Yet, right in front of Zhong Hui, he commanded this humble official to deliver the dispatches, publicly announcing the exact time of my departure. Inspector Wei possesses extraordinary intellect; it is utterly impossible that it was an oversight. He must have done it intentionally. Fearing that the letters might be intercepted midway by Zhong Hui's trusted aides, I made a copy, preparing for all contingencies. Now that the duplicate has been safely delivered to the General-in-Chief, I have not failed my mission. As for whether the contents are accurate, once the campaign to conquer Shu concludes, the General-in-Chief need only question the parties involved at his leisure to verify their authenticity. Of course, delivering the letters successfully involved a measure of fortune. This subordinate took a gamble, and the gamble paid off."

Shi Shouxin offered a patient explanation, glossing over the gravest aspects while highlighting the outcome.

"You have done well. You truly live up to the recommendations of those who urged me to take you along on this campaign; you have not betrayed their trust."

Sima Zhao nodded in satisfaction, having now fully grasped the situation.

The various generals in the army had sent their whistleblower letters directly to Wei Guan because Wei Guan was the Military Inspector and held an imperial tally, granting him supreme disciplinary authority in principle. Both Zhong Hui and Deng Ai held lesser tallies, placing them half a rank lower.

Whether Wei Guan had deliberately set a trap for Zhong Hui or used Shi Shouxin as cannon fodder to test the waters, his goal was to gauge the extent of Zhong Hui's treasonous ambitions—specifically, to see whether Zhong Hui would dare send men to intercept the informants' letters.

As for Zhong Hui, his objective was equally clear: to ascertain whether the generals in the camp were lodging secret complaints against him, who among them was doing so, and the exact contents of those grievances.

Armed with that knowledge, Zhong Hui would understand where his subordinates stood, helping him map out his next moves—such as figuring out in advance who could be bought off, who was plotting behind his back, and who smiled to his face while sharpening a blade in secret.

As for merely seizing the letters without executing the messenger, it was a maneuver designed to make Shi Shouxin take the blame. Stripped of his credentials, Shi Shouxin would face certain death whether he fled, returned to the main camp to bear witness, or proceeded empty-handed to Chang'an.

In this game, he was the sacrificial lamb!

Once Zhong Hui finished reading the letters, he would thoroughly destroy the evidence. No matter how thoroughly Sima Zhao investigated afterward, there would be no surviving proof.

For Shi Shouxin, this setup had been an inescapable dead end, yet he had managed to carve out life from death, wriggling through a microscopic crack like an eel!

Zhong Hui thought he had succeeded.
Wei Guan thought he had succeeded.
The generals in the camp all thought they had succeeded.

Yet none of them anticipated that Sima Zhao—who should have been left entirely in the dark back in Chang'an—would end up reading the letters.

With the fewest chips in hand, Shi Shouxin had won the greatest prize!

Sima Zhao rose to his feet, pacing back and forth within the study of Yang Hu's residence, his mind racing as he weighed the pros and cons.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. He turned to Shi Shouxin and inquired, "You also took part in the expedition against Shu. What is the current state of the army and the enemy situation?"

It was not as though Sima Zhao had failed to read the dispatches, but he wanted to hear how someone from the front lines would describe it face-to-face.

"Yang'an Pass is already under our army's control. The General-in-Chief need only issue an order for the main force to return in triumph, sparing us the pointless expenditure of grain and fodder in Hanzhong. Hanzhong can serve as a base for stationed troops and military agriculture; we lack neither soldiers nor provisions. Though the northern terrain of Shu is rugged, troops based in Hanzhong can mount continuous harassment to sap Shu's national strength. Transporting provisions to their northern passes costs Shu far more than it costs us. When the time is ripe, the General-in-Chief can conquer Shu with a flick of the hand."

Shi Shouxin bowed to Sima Zhao in salute.

Hearing these words, Yang Hu, standing to the side, nearly broke into applause.

As for the strategic outlook on conquering Shu, the imperial court was not entirely devoid of perceptive minds. Yet, to gauge Sima Zhao's inner thoughts with such precision required no small degree of skill!

Was the goal of this expedition truly nothing more than capturing Hanzhong?

Certainly not. However, Hanzhong was all Sima Zhao desired; anything more would simply invite trouble.

"Shuzi, since you and Shi Shouxin are acquainted, have him stay here in your residence for a few days. I will make my own arrangements in due time."

Sima Zhao rose, exchanged a few parting words with Yang Hu, and left the estate. Though it appeared he was merely lodging Shi Shouxin there, the true intent was for Yang Hu to monitor and place him under house arrest.

After Sima Zhao departed, Yang Hu procured a pot of wine and some ice from the cellar, chilled the liquor, filled two cups, and sat down to converse with Shi Shouxin in the study.

"This official assignment of yours proved to be rather perilous," Yang Hu remarked with a sigh.

Shi Shouxin nodded. "Indeed. The army sent to conquer Shu was massive, and the General-in-Chief's arrangement was one of deliberately mismatched commands and divided authority, ensuring no single person could grow too powerful."

"It is only a pity that before the fighting was truly over, internal strife broke out within the ranks," Yang Hu said, shaking his head, uncertain how to judge the affair.

In truth, the endless troubles within the expeditionary force could hardly be blamed on chance. The primary responsibility lay with Sima Zhao himself, who dared not lead the campaign in person yet feared others might rebel. Consequently, he had been forced to adopt this multi-headed dragon setup.

Had Sima Zhao possessed the military prowess to lead the expedition himself, none of these issues would have arisen.

Did not Li Shimin, founding monarch of the Great Tang, do precisely that? When he led the troops in person, his proud and fierce generals obeyed without a murmur—who would dare harbor crooked thoughts?

What could old man Li Yuan, emperor only in name, possibly do? In the end, everything depended on whose blade was sharper!

"In this conquest of Shu, Zhong Hui is doomed; he cannot possibly return alive to the Guanzhong region."

Shi Shouxin said in a low voice.

Many shared this unspoken consensus, but Yang Hu wished to hear Shi Shouxin's reasoning. Feigning ignorance, he asked, "Why does Gandang say so?"

"It is very simple. If Zhong Hui does not die, I must."

Shi Shouxin offered a bitter smile.

Zhong Hui was an intelligent man; sooner or later, he would realize that Shi Shouxin had found another way to deliver the intercepted letters directly into Sima Zhao's hands.

Could Zhong Hui possibly let him live? Even if he feigned mercy, a poisoned plot would surely follow.

"Quite true. The official world is a treacherous place, and Wei Guan harbored malicious intent as well."

Yang Hu could not help but sigh with emotion.

Why had Wei Guan dared to send Shi Shouxin as a messenger to tread upon the dangerous path, rather than sending Yang Xiu, who was equally sharp-witted?

It was not merely because Shi Shouxin held the post of an inspector. The true reason was that Shi Shouxin lacked a powerful backing.

Behind Yang Xiu stood the Taishan Yang clan, with numerous family members serving as officials in the court, not to mention Yang Huīyù being the second wife of Sima Shi.

How could Wei Guan dare risk offending the Yang clan just to punish Yang Xiu?

Such were the unwritten rules by which the aristocratic elite operated. They were neither fools nor blind to consequences.

Without influential backing, someone like Shi Shouxin was merely the weak prey in officialdom. Yang Hu chose not to spell it out too bluntly to avoid inflicting needless hurt.

"Rest here for a couple of days. The main army won't be pushing deep into Shu territories all that quickly," Yang Hu comforted him.

"If only I could return to Luoyang for a look," Shi Shouxin replied, shaking his head with a preoccupied expression.

***

Compared to Cao Mao, a sovereign of fierce spirit, Cao Huan was far more "normal"—or perhaps simply a man who recognized the trends of the times.

Ever since he was enthroned, Cao Huan had served as an obedient puppet.

Even without Sima Zhao initiating the standard three-step abdication routine, Cao Huan proactively offered them to him. Over the span of two-odd years, he had already initiated the sequence four times.

Yet, despite Cao Huan's complete lack of rebellious intent, Sima Zhao had no intention of sparing him.

When relocating his administration to Guanzhong this time, Sima Zhao had not only brought his entire family along, but even dragged the Emperor, Cao Huan, right into the western territories.

On the very day Shi Shouxin arrived in Chang'an, Cao Huan was in the grand hall of the temporary palace, watching dancing girls perform.

It was late spring, and the weather had grown quite warm.

Attired in light, translucent gauze gowns, the dancers fluttered about the hall. Their slender, supple waists swayed gracefully to the rhythm of flutes and strings, leaving Cao Huan with a parched throat.

Once one gives up the urge to resist, the entire universe opens up. Cao Huan found this current life of resignation rather agreeable.

Just as his thoughts were wandering, his gaze drifting wantonly over the dancers' waists and hips, Sima Zhao marched into the hall surrounded by the Imperial Guard, their boots striking the floor in sharp unison.

In an instant, the festive scene transformed into an atmosphere of grim terror!

"Withdraw, all of you!"

Sima Zhao commanded his subordinates with a stern countenance.

The guards and dancers who had accompanied him poured out of the hall, vanishing entirely in the span of a breath. Left behind were only Sima Zhao, Jia Chong trailing at his side, and Cao Huan, who sat paralyzed with fright before his desk.

"Your Majesty, our army has successfully captured Yang'an Pass. The entire territory of Hanzhong now belongs to the Wei State!"

Sima Zhao bowed to Cao Huan, his tone tinged with a measure of excitement.

"Ah, splendid, splendid. Have the frontline soldiers been rewarded yet?"

Cao Huan asked lazily, looking fatigued and entirely indifferent.

For Sima Zhao to bring this up was far less appealing than having a beauty sit upon his lap! The state of Wei now belonged to the Sima family, not the Cao clan. What did it matter if Hanzhong was conquered, or even if the realm was unified?

Cao Huan truly had no heart to play the role of the harmonious ruler and minister with Sima Zhao; it was dreadfully tedious.

"Your Majesty, the General-in-Chief has rendered meritorious service in conquering Shu. He should be enfeoffed as the Duke of Jin, granted the Nine Bestowals, and elevated to the rank of Chancellor."

Seeing that Cao Huan remained oblivious, Jia Chong stepped forward to offer the proposal.

Again?

Cao Huan felt a sense of absurd familiarity. Over the past two years, he had processed this identical three-step package four times already, and on every single occasion, Sima Zhao had sternly rejected it.

Why was he actively demanding it now?

Puzzled, Cao Huan remained silent, fixing an innocent and somewhat naive gaze upon Jia Chong.

Seeing that Cao Huan still failed to speak, Sima Zhao grew impatient.

He offered a light cough, prompting Jia Chong to press on. "Your Majesty, the General-in-Chief has achieved great merit in subduing Shu; his contributions cannot go unrewarded. Should he receive no reward, neither the officers and men of the three armies nor the civil and military officials of the court will be satisfied."

At last, the meaning finally dawned on Cao Huan.

He nodded hurriedly. "Quite right, quite right. Then I bestow upon the General-in-Chief the title of Duke of Jin, grant him the Nine Bestowals, and elevate him to the rank of Chancellor."

Hearing this, Sima Zhao was finally content. He tossed a perfunctory bow in Cao Huan's direction, without uttering a single word, and turned to depart with Jia Chong in tow.