Sun LuPan had a fetus in her belly as a reliance, so her words contained more petulance and playful meanings.
"Emperor, if you grant the title of Duke of Wu to Lu Xun, I'm afraid my father will be so angry that he will throw his wine cup in Wu-chang."
Cao Rui laughed, "How so? Is my father-in-law's temper also this great?"
Sun LuPan looked at Cao Rui with a pair of fox eyes, speaking slightly exaggeratedly, "Your Majesty may not know, my father has always had a bad temper and often scolds officials after drinking."
"However, he usually apologizes after drinking. With the face of the Wu King, not many people take him seriously."
Cao Rui laughed heartily, realizing that the image of Sun Quan he heard from Sun Luban, as Sun Quan's daughter, was somewhat different from the one he knew from the words of his ministers.
Cao Rui teased and asked, "Then why don't you worry about angering him?"
Sun LuPan pursed her lips, lowered her head and lightly caressed her protruding abdomen, and then looked at Cao Rui and said, "I have always known that only my father can make others angry. No one can anger him."
"And besides," Sun Luban laughed, "Your Majesty has been so kind to me. If one day we conquer Jingzhou and Yangzhou, it wouldn't be right for you to kill my father, would it?"
Cao Rui joked half-heartedly and seriously said, "This matter is not mine, but your father's."
"If that day comes, I will naturally be magnanimous and tolerant, but I cannot tolerate his stubbornness."
Sun Luban seemed completely unfazed: "I know, I've known since the day I entered the palace."
"Speaking of my father, why hasn't there been any criticism among the officials for Your Majesty's generosity towards Lu Xun?"
Cao Rui said, "How could there not be? Some people say that I awarded Lu Xun county-level title and thousand households before he had achieved any merit. Others say that Lu Xun is too old and I should not have married my princess to him."
Sun Luban scoffed: "I've met Lu Xun. He is in his mid-forties, with both talent and status. He comes from a distinguished family and has an imposing demeanor. Is that really a hardship?"
Cao Rui nodded and said, "I agree with you. However, Lu Xun is still a defeated general, serving in the official capacity of the Wei Kingdom for only over a year. I also agreed to General Guan Yu's suggestion to station Lu Xun in Da Zhong."
"Let Lu Xun live well for a few years, and I will re-appoint him according to the situation."
Sun Luban nodded and picked up the ivory chopsticks to continue eating, her lips curling up into a faint smile.
Cao Rui was perplexed, "What is Big Tiger laughing about?"
Sun Luban pursed her lips and did not answer. Sun Luban has never told Cao Rui that in Wu-chang, Sun Quan had even intended to marry her to Quan Jun. When thinking of this old event at this time, it was absolutely not right to tell the emperor.
After having dinner with Sun Luban, Cao Rui bid farewell to Big Tiger and then took a carriage to Guo Yao's place for the night.
The next evening, it was at Guo Yao's place.
The day after, it was still at Guo Yao's place.
Three days later, in the morning, Cao Rui sat in front of a bronze mirror, wearing a plain white silk robe. Guo Yao was in her nightgown, standing behind and combing Cao Rui's hair inch by inch.
Cao Rui looked satisfied at the reflection in the bronze mirror and softly said, "I suddenly remembered last winter."
"At that time, it was the middle of the night. You woke me up from here by an inner attendant, and learned about the military situation in Long right. I read the military report very urgently, you barefoot on the ground, help me put on a great coat."
"Do you remember that?"
Guo Yao lowered her head and softly said, "I remember very well. It's just that Your Majesty, when busy, you don't even care about your own body, and you actually remember all these things?"
Cao Rui joked, "How could I forget? The red cape, the black tiles on the floor, contrasting with your little feet that are fragrant and bright like jade and snow white, how could I forget?"
Guo Yao feigned an angry expression, lightly tapping Cao Rui's shoulder, and then gently gathered Cao Rui's hair into a ponytail and inserted a peach-wood hairpin.
"I will not put a crown on Your Majesty. Today there is a grand audience, everyone needs to wear mianfu."
Cao Rui asked, "This hairpin is unfamiliar to me. Where did you get it?"
Guo Yao said, "I made it myself for Your Majesty. Please take a look at the shape."
"Very good!" Cao Rui stood up, put on his usual clothes, and said after leaving the house, "Tonight, don't wait for me. I will stay in the study tonight and rest tonight. I will see you tomorrow."
Guo Yao bit her lips lightly, and stomped her feet, a mix of shyness and anger.
As Cao Rui's back disappeared into the distance, Guo Yao snapped back to reality and looked down at her shoes.
"Is it really as white as Your Majesty said?"
……
As per the previous convention, the grand imperial assembly was held on the first day of every month. However, due to the need to bestow rewards for the return from the campaign to conquer Shu, an assembly was held in the middle of the month instead.
At the court meeting, the chief librarian Liu Fang read out the edict, announcing the previously prepared rewards.
Below Cao Zhen, Zhang, Qian, Guo, and Lu each generals had achieved great merits. There were also more than twenty other officials from the central and outer armies who were granted two thousand stones of rank and enfeoffed as marquises.
Many of the officials remaining in Luoyang had envious looks in their eyes.
It is easier to be enfeoffed as a marquis for military achievements, while it is relatively more difficult for literati officials to be enfeoffed as marquises.
The term "list of marquises" refers to the title of marquis, which is a general term for county marquis, rural marquis, and pavilion marquis. The common enfeoffed marquis as a form of favor and reward within the borders is not included in the list of marquises.
Since the early years of the Huang Chu period, the rewards for marquises have already shown signs of excess.
In the third year of Huang Chu, during the time when Huang Quan surrendered to Wei, out of a mere ten thousand troops, there were forty-two people who were enfeoffed as marquises.
The magnanimity of the Great Wei towards traitorous officials was about like this.
After Cao Rui ascended the throne, besides rewarding the nine officials in Lu with two thousand stips and bestowing the title of marquise on those who had accomplished great feats but had not yet been enfeoffed, the rewards for marquises were very restrained.
The twenty or so people who were enfeoffed this time, most of them were only enfeoffed with less than three hundred households, which was just a pavilion marquis. But for these people, it was also a rare achievement.
As the court assembly neared its end, Liu Fang again held a royal edict, announcing the news that Chen Qun would return to Luoyang to serve as the new Grand Minister of Works, as well as the decision to grant an amnesty to all subjects throughout the empire.
The hall echoed with the sound of "Long live the king" for a while.
Whether the praise was sincere or insincere, the first grand imperial assembly after returning to Luoyang had come to an end.
Right after the imperial assembly ended, Sima Yi sent someone to leave Luoyang on a fast horse, heading north to his hometown in Wenxian County, summoning his eldest son, Sima Shi, back to Luoyang.
The second afternoon, while reading in the ancestral home, Sima Shiyi received his father's letter. It took him less than a whiff of incense to read the letter, and he followed his servant on a fast horse, heading south at great speed.
That night, he stayed in a post station near the Yellow River ferry. With Sima Yi's document as the proof of his status as a ministerial assistant, Sima Shiyi was given the best room in the post station.
By the third afternoon, Sima Shiyi had entered the city of Luoyang and rode directly to the mansion of the Grand Minister.
"Brother!"
Upon hearing that Sima Shiyi had returned, Sima Zhao, ignoring his astonishment, quickly ran over from the rear hall: "Brother has arrived so quickly that it's exactly what Father said!"
After embracing his younger brother, Sima Shiyi asked with a smile, "Zishang, what did Father say?"
Sima Zhao replied, "Father originally said that it would take one day to travel from Luoyang to Wenxian and another day to return, so Ziyuan will be here in two days."
Sima Shiyi laughed and shook his head: "Is Father still on duty in the palace? When can he return?"
Sima Zhao said, "Another and a half hours, and Father should be able to return home."
After saying that, Sima Zhao stared at Sima Shiyi's face for a long time and asked, "Brother, what kind of days have you been having in your hometown? Why does it look like you gained some weight?"
"Oh, why didn't Big Sister come back with Brother?"
Sima Shiyi laughed, "It was like being under house arrest in Wenxian. Every day was just about reading, eating, and sleeping; how could I not gain some weight?"
"Your Big Sister-in-law is pregnant for six months, it's not convenient for her to ride with me. I have already instructed the villagers to use a carriage that can travel twenty miles a day and slowly bring her back to Luoyang."
Sima Zhao said, "Brother has made the arrangements."
Sima Shiyi asked, "Zishang, where is Mother? Quickly, take me to see her?"
Sima Zhao laughed and said, "Mother has cried often this year thinking of you, and nothing I said could comfort her. Now that you've returned, she's probably going to cry again."
Sima Shiyi slapped his younger brother's shoulder hard and said, "With me and my father away, it was all thanks to Zishang who took on the heavy responsibility!"
Compared to Sima Shiyi, Sima Zhao was younger and had a more innocent mind. Hearing this, he felt embarrassed and laughed: "Brother, don't flatter me! Let's go, quickly to see Mother!"
Sima Shiyi nodded and said, "Let's go, let's go together!"
……
During mealtime at Sima Yi's household, there has always been a rule of silence.
After the dinner was over, Sima Yi called Sima Shiyi into his study alone. Sima Zhao watched the two of them leave and wanted to ask, but he still held back.
Once inside, Sima Yi looked at his eldest son, who he hadn't seen in over a year since his birth, and sighed softly, "More than a year! Since Ziyuan was born, I have never been away from you for so long."
Sima Shiyi laughed, "Father, don't worry. I'm not doing badly. I've gained some weight, and there's a new heir in Wei'er's belly."
Sima Yi said, "Having an heir is certainly a good thing. Our family will have someone to continue our lineage!"
"Ziyuan, during your stay in Wenxian for over a year, have you gained any insights or achievements?"
Sima Shiyi replied, "Of course, I have gained insights and achievements. I don't know what Father would like to hear?"
What would you like to hear?
Sima Yi frowned slightly and said, "First of all, let's talk about how you felt after being confined and then released. What are your thoughts about the court?"
Sima Shiyi sighed, "Father, to be honest, at first I was full of hate for the court and for those ministers who suggested confining the scholars."
"But after half a year or so, by the winter, when I heard that Father was leading the army on a western campaign, suddenly, I no longer felt hatred."
"Why no longer feel hatred?" Sima Yi asked out of curiosity.
Sima Shiyi answered, "I had always thought it was someone else's fault, but after thinking it through, I realized it was my own fault."
"Where is your mistake?" Sima Yi's brow furrowed as he seemed to understand nothing about his eldest son's thoughts.
Sima Shiyi spoke, "I made a mistake. I mistakenly wanted to emulate those scholars who wait for opportunities, the scholars who read books peacefully in Luoyang!"
"In these times, what use is reading? I want to study military strategy in the army, to lead troops and win military merit!" (Chapter ends)
