Jiang Ji's garrison at Hefei stood on the Huainan battlefield. To the northwest were the troops under Man Chong, Governor of Runan; directly north, Jia Kui, Inspector of Yu Province, had forces stationed in Qiao County; and to the northeast were the Mount Tai troops of Xiahou Ru, Inspector of Xu Province. There were no shortage of resources and troops that could be mobilized from the surrounding areas, but there was no capable general like Cao Ren to command them all.
What Jiang Ji needed now was not troops, money, or provisions, but a supreme commander.
Cao Pi had been exceptionally irritable lately. The strategy of launching a surprise attack on Chang'an had failed, while rumors ran rampant both inside and outside Luoyang. This time, those implicated were not heavyweight ministers like Zhong Yao or Chen Qun, but minor officials holding idle posts.
During their inspections, Zhu Shuo's men intercepted quite a few letters of treasonous correspondence. Yet since most bore no signatures, they could only hand them all over to Sima Zhi for handling and secretly report the matter to Cao Pi.
Sima Zhi was exceptionally skilled at solving cases. Following the scant clues provided by Zhu Shuo, he traced the vine to its roots and uncovered a mountain of evidence. Within three days, he had dug up dozens of implicated officials—but every last one had a powerful great clan standing behind him.
Though Sima Zhi was impartial and stern as iron, faced with such a thorny matter, he could only ultimately submit it for the Son of Heaven's judgment, just as in Cao Hong's case.
In Cao Hong's case of deceiving the sovereign, Empress Dowager Bian ultimately stepped in to plead for mercy. Cao Hong was stripped of his rank and office and reduced to a commoner, while