"How can I be afraid of Shanyang Gong's collision?"
Cao Rui sneered and shook his head: "He is a poor man who has lost the country, his ancestral foundation, his wife and children. Why should I be afraid of him offending others?"
"I can see clearly on the map that the distance from the west of Xiuwu City to Zhuolu City in Shanyang County is only thirty miles, and the cavalry will arrive in a moment. Later, you will follow me to Zhuolu City to meet the last emperor of the Han Dynasty!"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Ye and the ministers beside him bowed and said.
As early as the first year of Taihe, when Cao Rui returned to Luoyang from Huainan, he had thought of going to Henei County to see the Duke of Shanyang himself while touring the counties. However, he had many things to do and this matter was not very important, so he kept delaying it.
Now it is only thirty miles away, and the cavalry can arrive there in less than half an hour. Why not do it?
Four thousand cavalrymen lined up outside Zhuolu City. Guanqiu Jian personally led his troops into the city and took over the city defenses.
Zhuolu City was not big, and even a little cramped, even smaller than Xiuwu County that we just passed by. The fact that the cavalry entered the city was like a bolt from the blue in the small city, and it was impossible to hide it at all.
In the Shanyang Mansion, Liu Xie, now fifty years old, was dressed in a linen robe, sitting on the throne that was the same as the one in the Han Dynasty palace, staring out the door in a daze. When Cao Pi was enthroned as the emperor, he specially sent someone to send the throne from Xuchang to Shanyang County.
Mrs. Cao Jie, who was only thirty years old, walked in quickly from outside, wearing a brocade dress, which was different from Liu Xie's frugal image. However, Liu Xie was dressed simply and Cao Jie was dressed gorgeously, and the two never had any conflicts.
The country has been destroyed, so what does a set of clothes mean? Wear whatever you like!
Speaking of Cao Jie, this woman married into the Xuchang Palace at the age of 14, was made queen at the age of 15, and was demoted to the wife of the Duke of Shanyang at the age of 20, becoming the queen of a fallen country. Having experienced such ups and downs in her early life, she, like Liu Xie, became indifferent to worldly affairs.
Is it okay to not take it lightly? Otherwise, I would have been angry to death long ago.
Fortunately, Cao Pi took good care of Cao Jie. In the fourth year of Huangchu, he added 500 households to his young sister, Tangmu, which was considered Cao Jie's private property. And Cao Jie was still Cao Rui's legitimate aunt according to seniority.
"Your Majesty, for some reason, many cavalrymen have arrived outside the city." Cao Jie said hurriedly, "This has never happened before. How should Your Majesty respond?"
"I've told you so many times, don't call me Your Majesty." Liu Xie sighed, "How can Your Majesty be trapped in a county?"
"My brother has promised Your Majesty, so why can't I call you Your Majesty or I?" Cao Jie gritted her teeth and said, "Your Majesty, please think of a solution."
"What can I do?" Liu Xie smiled bitterly. "If they want my head, they can just send a jailer to take it away. Why go to so much trouble to capture me? I'm not going anywhere. I'll just wait here!"
Cao Jie sighed softly, then knelt down next to Liu Xie again, and the two of them sat together.
Not long after, a team of armored soldiers walked straight into the Shanyang Mansion, and the person leading them was none other than Sima Yi, the Prime Minister of Wei.
Several old servants standing in the courtyard watched Sima Yi and others come in silently, without saying a word of greeting or expressing any expression, just like dead trees.
Sima Yi looked carefully at the front of the main hall. There were no attendants or messengers, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. After tidying up his robes, he turned around and signaled the soldiers to wait in the courtyard, and walked slowly inside alone.
"My name is Sima Zhongda. I'm here to meet the Duke of Shanyang and his wife." Sima Yi walked until he was two meters away from Liu Xie, stopped, bowed, and performed a very standard salute.
"It's Sima Gong who's here." Liu Xie forced a smile. "Time flies. I haven't seen Sima Gong for ten years. Is Sima Gong's family okay?"
"Very good." Sima Yi slowly straightened up, his face still respectful: "I already have three sons. The eldest son Shi and the second son Zhao have both entered officialdom. One is managing grain and fodder in Yangzhou, and the other is farming in Xu."
Liu Xie nodded slightly: "Tuntian is a serious matter. Sima Zhao, right? Where in Xu will the military farm be established?"
Sima Yi bowed and replied, "It is located thirty miles southeast of Xuchang, near Xinji, where the farmland is being cultivated."
"Very good, very good." Liu Xie asked again: "Is Sima Gong still working in the Secretariat? Where is your brother Shuda working now?"
Sima Yi still patiently replied: "I am still recording the affairs of the Shangshutai, and was granted the position of Sikong at the end of the seventh year of Huangchu. Shuda is now the governor of Liangzhou and an official in Wuwei."
As the last emperor, Liu Xie could only address his former minister as "I" and "Sima Gong". The two chatted about family matters, but in fact, they were full of sadness and helplessness.
What else could a king of a fallen country, living in a county, talk about besides family matters? Liu Xie didn't even have the courage to ask the other party's purpose.
Sima Yi himself, however, felt rather twisted and strange at the moment. Ten years had already passed, but when he faced his old emperor and was addressed as "Sima Gong" to his face, he still felt a kind of uncontrollable sadness in his heart, mixed with some sympathy and disdain. It was Cao Jie who broke the deadlock in their casual conversation.
"Since Lord Sima is here today, what is the important matter of the court? I just heard that a large group of cavalry entered the city. Why is it so serious?"
Sima Yi bowed and said, "Madam, your Majesty is on his way back from Yecheng to the north and is passing through Xiuwu. He wants to invite Duke Shanyang to a banquet when he enters the city, so he sent me here to inform you first."
"Your Majesty is here?" Liu Xie stood up in a hurry and almost tripped himself. "Your Majesty is here to invite me to a banquet?"
"That's right." Sima Yi nodded.
Liu Xie subconsciously reached out his hand to touch the top of his head, but he did not touch a golden crown or a wooden crown. Instead, he touched a bun hastily tied with a hairpin.
……
After all, she was an elder in name. The first thing Cao Rui did after entering the mansion was to exchange a few words with his aunt Cao Jie, who was not much older than him, and he also added two hundred households to her fiefdom as a gift.
No one else is qualified to attend this kind of dinner.
Cao Rui did not ask to sit in the hall, but asked Sima Yi to prepare a table and sit face to face with Liu Xie in the hall. Only two attendants stayed for the whole banquet, one was the Privy Councilor Liu Ye, and the other was the Central Commander Guanqiu Jian.
Liu Xie sat alone in the hall. Under the bright lights, the soldiers presented him with dishes and meals. They were not delicacies from land and sea, but just the simple meals that Cao Rui usually had in the army.
Cao Rui walked in front, and Liu Ye and Guanqiu Jian followed behind him.
Liu Xie stood up, took a serious look at Cao Rui's appearance, and then bowed with great ceremony, saying, "Your Majesty, I, Liu Xie, pay my respects to you!"
"Zhonggong, go and help him." Cao Rui whispered and looked at Liu Xie, "Duke Shanyang, please stand up. You are also related to me. The late emperor also promised that you will stay in Shanyang as before. There is no need for so many empty formalities."
"Today I am only here to visit you and not to discuss other trivial matters. In this case, when I speak to you two, there is no need to discuss the relationship between the ruler and the subject, or the relationship between the elder and the younger. I will call you Bohe and you will call me Yuanzhong, is that okay?"
Bohe is Liu Xie's courtesy name.
Guanqiu Jian helped Liu Xie up. Although Liu Xie was a little surprised, he dared not refuse at all. He had given up the throne and the world, so why would he care about such trivial details as age and title?
"Greetings, Yuan Zhong." Liu Xie straightened his back and bowed. After all, he was once an emperor, so it didn't seem strange to call the current emperor by his courtesy name.
"Greetings, Bohe." Cao Rui nodded gently: "Take your seat, and let's start the feast. Today we will use honey water instead of wine."
After the two men sat down, Guanqiu Jian knelt beside Liu Xie's table to serve the banquet, while Liu Ye knelt beside Cao Rui's table.
"This is Liu Ye, Liu Ziyang. Do you recognize him, Bohe?"
Liu Xie shook his head and said, "Yuan Zhong, I recognize Sima Zhongda who came to announce the imperial edict this afternoon. I only heard of Liu Ziyang in the past, but never recognized his face. I guess he also served in the Jian'an period, right?"
Liu Ye's face looked a little strange and slightly red, but he didn't say a word.
Cao Rui nodded: "Yes, I served in the Jian'an period. Bohe may not know that I passed through Shanyang County this time on my way back from Liaodong."
"In the past, Gongsun Du and Gongsun Kang usurped Liaodong, and then Gongsun Kang's son Gongsun Yuan attempted to secede. A few months ago, I personally led 40,000 troops and 16,000 Hu cavalry to defeat them, divided Liaodong into four counties, and established Goguryeo, Buyeo, and Baekje as counties and kingdoms, which has become Yingzhou."
Liu Xie thought for a moment and said, "Is this the Four Counties and Three Kingdoms?"
"That's right." Cao Rui said.
"Recovering the border territories and unifying the country is a great achievement for the country. I would like to congratulate Yuan Zhong!" Liu Xie raised the honey water in his right hand.
"It is indeed a great victory." Cao Rui signaled to Liu Xie through the air and took two sips.
Liu Ye and Guanqiu Jian, who were standing by, looked a little unnatural. But soon, the unnaturalness on their faces turned into some fear. (End of this chapter)
