Although Zhong Hui had changed the subject rather clumsily, Cao Mao followed his train of thought.
"Indeed."
"Once a situation becomes especially urgent, Sima Zhao will resort to risky moves, bold and reckless."
"He is different from the Grand General. The more critical the situation, the calmer the Grand General becomes. But the General of the Guards? The more urgent things become, the more reckless he gets."
"Given the present circumstances, his only risky move would be to seize military authority. I believe he is very likely to move against He Zeng and Chen Ben."
"He will send people to stir up infighting between He Zeng and Chen Ben, then imprison them and take over their troops. Next, under the pretext of suppressing bandits, he will lead the army out of Ye City, giving He Zeng and Chen Ben no chance to reclaim it!"
"Their destination will be Henei. Once he returns there with the army, he will seize the opportunity to strike at Luoyang, hoping to tear through our defenses in one stroke and take Luoyang outright."
Cao Mao explained this very seriously.
Zhong Hui, however, was already dumbstruck.
He knew the emperor was formidable, but surely he could not predict things in such detail? Was he going to name the very day they would attack Luoyang, too?
Suspicion now filled Zhong Hui's face. "Your Majesty, why are you so certain? How do you know all this?"
"Oh... Yin Damu sent someone to inform me."
"What? Even if the General of the Guards trusts Yin Damu, he would still be watched at every turn. How could he send someone out to leak information so easily?"
"Oh, here is what happened. I still have a few acquaintances in Hebei, so I sent someone to contact Yin Damu. They can make