Sima Zhao indeed had a woman's benevolence towards Xiahou Xuan.

But when he saw the red light on half of Master Sima's face and heard the heavy breathing that was almost close to his ears, it all showed that his brother was excited.

He knew that his brother had been waiting for this day for a long time.

Although he was Xia Houxuan's brother-in-law, Master Sima felt a little guilty at first when facing Xia Houxuan.

But as a ruthless man who killed his wife to achieve enlightenment, Master Sima's guilty conscience gradually turned into shame and anger as time went by.

In addition, Xia Houxuan humiliated Master Sima more than once. (Chapter 1089, Chapter 1122)

When shame and anger turn into anger, it is easy to go further and turn into resentment, and even want to kill the person.

As long as you, Xia Houxuan, are dead, no one will ever maliciously remind me that I killed my wife with my own hands, and I can naturally turn my back on you.

It's just that Xia Houxuan and his wife, one has a great reputation among the scholars, and the other is quite benevolent among the common people.

Coupled with the Xiahou family's status in Wei State.

If you punish someone without justifiable reasons, it will be a minor matter for you to be criticized.

It would be a big deal if Sima's reputation was ruined and Sima's efforts to win over the people of Wei were ruined.

Now that Xia Houxuan has taken the initiative to give such a great opportunity, how could Master Sima let it go?

How can you not be extremely excited?

Under Master Sima's constant urging, no matter how much Sima Zhao wanted to plead for Xia Houxuan, he could only go to Xia Houxuan's house with his men first.

What was a bit unexpected was that when he stood in front of the Xiahou Xuan Mansion, before anyone came to call the door, the door was opened from the inside.

As the door opened, some dazzling light also came out of the brightly lit mansion, causing Sima Zhao to squint his eyes slightly.

Soon, a figure slowly appeared at the door, blocking most of the light.

"Zi Shang, are you here?"

Hearing this familiar voice, Sima Zhao, whose eyes had just adjusted to the light in front of him, immediately recognized the owner of the voice:

"Taichu?!"

Sima Zhao took over the affairs of Luoyang in a hurry because of his lack of experience, but he was not a fool.

Seeing Xia Houxuan coming out to greet him as if he was prepared at this time, I still can't figure out why.

But seeing his face change slightly, there was a slight tremor in his tone, a little unbelievable:

"Are you waiting for me?"

"yes……"

Xia Houxuan's tone was a little long, as if he was relaxing, but also seemed to be sighing.

Just two words shattered the last glimmer of hope in Sima Zhao's heart.

But seeing that he was losing his temper and took a few steps forward, he couldn't help but raise his voice:

"Why?!"

Xia Houxuan was silent for a moment, and finally asked:

"Does Zishang really not know?"

Sima Zhao choked.

He raised his head and looked at Xia Houxuan, who was standing in front of the gate of Xiahou Mansion, trying to see his face clearly.

But because the other person had no light behind him, he could only barely identify that the person in front of him was indeed Xia Houxuan.

At this moment, the dark night seemed to bring endless alienation.

It seemed that the host and guest were enjoying themselves during the day, as if it had never happened.

Sima Zhao, who was standing at the foot of the steps, felt that Xia Houxuan on the platform had become a little strange.

With a huge psychological gap, he asked in a somewhat astringent voice:

"So, Taichu, are you bullying me?"

Xia Houxuan was silent again, and then said after a while:

"It's about the lives of my wife, children, and relatives. I can't help but be sorry."

Sima Zhao hissed:

"Then Taichu did you know that before I came out, I tried my best to plead for you in front of my brother?"

Xia Houxuan sighed softly:

"Sir, if your master is in Luoyang at this time, he will not do anything to me because of the close relationship between the Sima family and the Xiahou family."

"Even if Zhongda is not here, if you can take charge of Luoyang, I will have no worries. However, who is really in charge of Luoyang today?"

Sima Zhao suddenly became speechless.

There was a long silence between the two, and finally Xia Houxuan took the initiative to speak again:

"The visitor is a guest. Would you like to come in and sit down?"

Unexpectedly, Sima Zhao was not fooled at all:

"Taichu, even now, do you still want to delay time?"

Xia Houxuan walked down the steps and came to Sima Zhao, who finally saw his appearance clearly.

But Xia Houxuan was still wearing the same clothes as in the daytime, and his expression was calm and indifferent.

It can be seen that what he said from the beginning about "waiting" is indeed true.

After hearing Sima Zhao's words, Xia Houxuan looked pale:

"Sir, now that you have led people here, if Sima Ziyuan really sends people to chase him, how can I stop him?"

"As for me," Xia Houxuan pointed at himself, "since I have chosen to stay, I am already prepared to die. What's the use of delaying it for a while and a half?"

Xia Houxuan looked at Sima Zhao and said slowly:

"The reason why I want to invite Zishang into my house for a chat is just because I received your warm hospitality during the day. Now Zishang comes to the door of my house. If I don't invite you in, it will be said that I am unkind."

Sima Zhao moved his lips, took a deep look at Xia Houxuan, and finally shook his head:

"Thank you Taichu, let's forget it this time, please."

Xia Houxuan nodded and started walking.

The people around wanted to take Xia Houxuan into custody, but were stopped by Sima Zhao.

"Since Xiahou Taichu can stay here and doesn't escape with others, it means that he has no intention of escaping. Why should you let me be a villain in vain and make unnecessary efforts?"

Master Sima, who had been waiting for a long time, asked someone to help him up early and sat in the hall.

Seeing Sima Zhao leading Xia Houxuan in, even a vicious Master Sima couldn't control his emotions and slapped his chest.

Then he laughed a little wildly:

"Xiahou Taichu, you too have today!"

Xia Houxuan raised his hands and saluted calmly:

"Zi Yuan, it's been a long time. I came here specially to visit you during the day, but I couldn't see you. Unexpectedly, I saw you at night. It seems that Zi Yuan's illness has improved?"

Master Sima's laughter stopped abruptly.

"Peng!"

Master Sima patted the table again and almost stood up in anger:

"Xiahou Taichu, what do you mean?"

Xia Houxuan was still unhurried: "I have no other intention, I just care about Ziyuan's condition."

Master Sima sneered:

"Don't worry, Taichu. Even if my condition gets worse, I won't be ahead of you."

Hearing this, Xia Houxuan smiled nonchalantly and said, "This is natural. Over the years I have been in Luoyang, I have had no control over my comings and goings. Now that I have entered the Grand Tutor's Mansion, I cannot control my life or death."

As he spoke, he looked at Master Sima meaningfully, "Today's Luoyang is in the hands of Zi Yuan, and my life is naturally in Zi Yuan's hands."

Master Sima became even more angry: "You mean I don't dare to kill you?"

Xia Houxuan's expression remained unchanged and his tone was calm:

"What I'm saying is that my life is in Ziyuan's hands. When did I say that Ziyuan didn't dare to kill me?"

Sima Zhao, who followed in, finally couldn't help but say:

"Brother, Taichu, in my opinion..."

"Sir, shut up!" Before Sima Zhao could finish his words, Master Sima interrupted him rudely, "Don't interrupt in this matter."

After Sima Zhao stopped drinking, Master Sima looked at Xia Houxuan again:

"In the early days of Taichu, your Xiahou clan was related by marriage to the royal family of the Wei Dynasty. Now, all three of your clans have violated the late emperor's edict and left Luoyang privately. How do you explain this?"
To be continued...