Guo Yao stopped massaging the emperor's shoulders on the lounge chair and then slowly walked to the side of the emperor.
Cao Rui asked, "At the time of entering the palace, how old were you?"
After kneeling and sitting on the side of the lounge chair, Guo Yao consciously lightly beat her legs for the emperor and replied, "When I entered the palace, I was sixteen years old. Now I am twenty-three years old."
Cao Rui extended a finger to hook under Guo Yao's chin, gazing at her intently for a moment.
Guo Yao's appearance was different from Sun Luba, a Jiangdong woman, with a more distinct contour of the face, a high and straight nose, and a hint of masculine aura between her eyebrows. However, her skin as white as jade added much feminine delicacy.
Of course, her fair cheeks had begun to flush slightly.
Guo Yao and Sun Luba are really different.
Guo Yao was brought into the palace in the first year of Huangchu, associated with a crime. She had been extremely careful in the palace for seven years, and now being examined so closely by the emperor threw her into complete disarray and she didn't know how to respond.
While Sun Luba had already been married and had been a widow for several years. At the time, when she faced the emperor's request to make her a servant in Shouchun, Sun Luba, standing under the eaves, had to yield to the emperor's request with a few twists and turns.
Cao Rui withdrew his finger, laughing, "Do you not know? Years ago, Quru Yanyan was rebelling in Xiping. One of his kin was named Quru Ying. Earlier this year, he again caused a rebellion in Xiping. It has now been quelled."
"Guo Yao, where are your parents?"
"Replacing the emperor," Guo Yao slowly said: "After the campaign against the rebels led by Su Gong in Xiping, I, as a slave, was taken into the palace. My family was also gathered in Gong County to work on the granaries."
"My father passed away long ago, but my mother is still alive. There are also an uncle and a cousin in Gong County."
"In Gong County, you say? I understand," said Cao Rui as he heard the footsteps of Sun Luba entering. He nodded at Guo Yao, "You may go outside."
Guo Yao was confused, rising gently and backing away half a step, bowing to the emperor before slowly walking out.
Sun Luba, upon seeing only herself in the sleeping quarters, could not help but feel a bit tense and cramped.
Sun Luba walked slowly to Cao Rui's side and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, what should I do now?"
Cao Rui pointed to the side and said, "What do you need to do? Bring a chair over here and sit by my side. I have something important to tell you."
Sun Luba only felt her heart was going to jump out.
The emperor asking her to sit by his side? That's the first time!
Could it be... Sun Luba's mind was too stunned to think further. After biting her lip lightly, she still followed the emperor's orders, bringing a chair over and sitting down quietly.
Cao Rui looked at the seated Sun Luba, and couldn't help but laugh in his heart. This woman is quite aware, isn't she? When asked to sit next to him, she moved right away and sat almost next to him.
"Sun Quan has submitted a peace treaty request to me," Cao Rui's first words almost made Sun Luba's eyes widen.
"To ask for peace from the emperor, he still submits a petition first to ask if I agree to send envoys. Your father is delaying time here."
Sun Luba saw the emperor's words contained some dissatisfaction with her father, she also knew how to be discreet and dare not speak.
"He hasn't sent anyone, but I can send people to Wuchang," said Cao Rui, looking at Sun Luba who was sitting awkwardly with her fingers crossed and legs together. "Your father didn't ask about you in the petition."
Cao Rui's lips curved up slightly: "Dàhǔ, do you have anything to say to your father?"
Sun Luba gently lowered her head: "I, the court lady... my mind is in disarray, and I don't know what to say to my father."
After a few seconds, Sun Luba gathered her courage and raised her head to look at Cao Rui's eyes: "My father has been influential in the Jiangdong for decades. If I say something meaningless, it would be of no use to my father."
"But since I have been serving the emperor in Luoyang, what should I say?" Sun Luba said after clenching her teeth. "I hope the emperor can teach me."
"Hahaha," Cao Rui laughed out loud, "What should you say? Asking after your parents' health is always the right thing to do."
Sun Luba was stunned, and her eyes blinked by themselves.
"But, there is still one thing I want to ask you," Cao Rui said slowly: "Since my ascension to the throne less than a year ago, the current harem is also depleted."
"I have discussed it with the Empress Dowager, and this time, we will be bringing in twenty women to the palace."
Cao Rui stared directly into Sun Luba's eyes: "Although I am rich throughout the world, I do not wish to force women."
"Da Hǔ, are you willing to enter my harem?"
Sun Luba gazed somewhat dazedly at the extremely handsome emperor across from her.
For a long time, Sun Luba looked down and whispered, "As a court lady of the emperor, am I given a choice? Whether to be like this or like that, it is all at Your Majesty's will."
To Sun Luba's surprise, the emperor opposite replied seriously, "You have a choice. If you don't want to, then you remain the daughter of a traitor. I will bestow you as a wife to a general of the middle army. At least you've served me, and I will give you a lieutenant of 2000 stones."
"If you are willing, the envoys I will send to Wuchang will also carry a betrothal gift."
Sun Luba's thoughts were slightly melancholic. "I am only to be betrothed to a lieutenant of 2000 stones now, Your Majesty. Should I have to say it myself?"
After a moment, Sun Luba raised her head and seriously looked at the emperor's facial features for a few moments before slowly uttering four words.
"Da Hǔ... agrees."
Just as her words fell, the emperor on the other side got up from the armchair, picked her up horizontally, and walked towards the bed.
Sun Luba couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, but as soon as the sound left her mouth, she laughed softly.
Sun Luba's laughter was both at her own softened and heated body now and also at herself for what she had been like in Shouchun back then.
Since back in Shouchun, she had already roughly guessed that such a day would come.
……
The next day, the sky was clear and sunny.
Chongwen Guan was the first agency established in the outer court by Cao Rui since he ascended to the throne.
If we categorize it by function, Chongwen Guan should be included in the supervision of Taichang Linning along with the university, due to its literary functions.
Gao Tanglong had seriously submitted a petition on this matter a few days before.
At that time, Cao Rui's reply to Gao Tanglong was that Chongwen Guan could temporarily not be affiliated with the Palace Department and could report directly to the palace if necessary.
High Tanglong was still thinking about and wanting to advocate for the responsibility of selecting the students of the University as Lang, and was also conflicted about whether to place it under the jurisdiction of Taichang or Guanglu Xun.
Now, has he also become directly under the emperor's command? He finally has a sense of being an intimate subject of the emperor, like the Chancellors.
Wu Zhi returned to Luoyang yesterday.
Yesterday, he didn't have the chance to see the emperor, so this morning, he went to wait at the palace gate early. Wu Zhi also had the opportunity to ride a horse with the emperor to Chongwen Guan.
"Why is Master Wu so thin?" Cao Rui asked, puzzled, sitting on his horse.
As he rode on his horse alongside Cao Rui, Wu Zhi had a gloomy expression and was extremely thin, completely unlike the image of a high-ranking official enjoying a luxurious lifestyle.
Wu Zhi replied with a bow: "Your Majesty, since last summer, I was overcome by grief and cried for over ten days. Since then, my body has not been as good."
Wu Zhi laughed bitterly, "If Your Majesty had not summoned me back to Luoyang, I would have had to submit a resignation letter in a few days. The affairs in Hebei are too much for my weak body to bear."
Cao Rui remembered that when Emperor Wu Cao sent people to recruit Sima Yi for the first time, Sima Yi pretended to have a disease of wind paralysis that prevented him from getting up, so he could not serve.
It is possible to fake a condition like wind paralysis, which limits movement. However, Wu Zhi's face and body, burdened by illness, cannot be faked at all. Cao Rui is not a fool; he can see clearly even from half a zhang (about 1.8 meters) away.
Cao Rui also remembered yesterday, when Sun Zhi talked to himself about Wu Zhi's arrogant behavior and the scene of arguing and cursing that Wu Zhi and Cao Zhen had during a banquet.
It seems that one cannot rely solely on one's ears and eyes. In the future, regardless of the situation, the emperor must personally oversee the appointment and dismissal of officials.
This power cannot be delegated to anyone.
Cao Rui slowly said, "Master Wu, can your body still bear it? I did not know this before, and I entrusted the affairs of Chongwen Guan to you. If your condition worsens, it will not be good."
Wu Zhi bowed and said, "I am a poor man from Jiyin, promoted by the late emperor. How could I dare not repay the great kindness of the Cao family?"
"I understand that the late emperor appointed me as the Military Governor of Hebei and entrusted me with the defense of Hebei solely because of my relationship with his close confidants."
"Now that Your Majesty has abolished the position of Military Governor of Hebei, I am able to return to Luoyang, which is truly fortunate for me. In the past, I often discussed literature with the late emperor. Now, I can help the country find literary talents and edit and revise classic works, which is also fulfilling the late emperor's wish."
Cao Rui sighed after hearing Wu Zhi's words.
Emperor Cao Pi had many strengths and weaknesses. But regardless of how you look at it, he was genuinely good to his friends. Wu Zhi's statement was impeccable from any angle, and there was nothing that Cao Rui could fault.
Cao Rui slowly said, "Master Wu is right. The late emperor said that literature is the great achievement of a country and the everlasting event."
Wu Zhi also responded from Cao Rui's side: "Life has its limits, and honors and joys end with one's own life. Both are inevitable, but there is no end to literature."
"Compared to the infinity of literature, whether my illness will give me a few more years to live, I can still organize literary works," Wu Zhi said. "This can also be considered as 'fame transmitted to posterity'."
Cao Rui gently patted Wu Zhi's arm.
Indeed, there are people who can perform more convincingly than reality. Cao Rui currently does not know whether Wu Zhi belongs to this type. Let's observe slowly. Time is still long.
The Chongwen Guan is located in the south of Luoyang, to the east of the Taixue.
Chongwen Guan initially moved a few halls from the Taixue, serving as the first batch of personnel's office space.
When the team arrived at the gate of Chongwen Guan, the wine master Gao Tanglong and Deputy Wine Master Yongqi King Cao Zhi had been waiting there for a long time.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant greets you," Gao Tanglong and Cao Zhi bowed together.
After Cao Rui dismounted, he laughed and said, "Actually, the establishment of Chongwen Guan was all my idea."
"Today is not only a great day for you three, but also for me. Let's go inside together." (End of this chapter)
