Ye City.
Sima Zhao sat in the seat of honor, with He Zeng and Chen Ben seated to either side of him.
Sima Zhao looked at He Zeng and could not help asking, "These rebels caused such an uproar before, so why did they collapse at the first touch as soon as I arrived?"
He Zeng hurriedly answered, "It was all thanks to your divine might, General of the Guards. When the rebels heard you were coming, fear seized their hearts, and they no longer dared oppose the imperial court."
Hearing this flattery, even Chen Ben could not help closing his eyes.
This fellow truly had not a shred of a scholar's integrity.
Born into a great clan, yet still behaving like such a petty man.
But Sima Zhao liked precisely this sort of thing. At He Zeng's praise, a trace of a smile crossed his face, before he hastily schooled his expression and said sternly, "This happened because the many officials in Hebei could not work together and each harbored selfish intentions!"
"The governors each acted on their own, disobeying orders from above, while the generals competed with one another for military credit and even intercepted supplies. Their audacity truly blotted out the heavens!"
Only then did He Zeng look at Chen Ben.
"There is something you do not know, General of the Guards. Petty men have been stirring up trouble."
Sima Zhao acted as though he had not noticed He Zeng's gesture.
The situation in Hebei could be considered settled. He Zeng had described it as extremely grave; in his memorial, it sounded as though Hebei had returned entirely to the days of the Yellow Turbans Rebellion.
In reality, however, although the unrest had erupted swiftly, Great Wei was not Great Han. Wei had thoroughly learned from the