Feng Yuan played the Huqin across from the table, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, her eyes clear and delicate, swaying with the melody.
Cao Rui sang in harmony with her, while Jia Cheng, seated to the left, softly clapped along.
The Great Huqin has a total of eighteen strokes, each stroke is a long note, and it takes a considerable amount of time to sing.
"Huqin plays a passage, the zither a beat, inner anger and resentment, no one knows..."
After Cao Rui finished the last sentence, he leaned back in his chair and looked at Feng Yuan across the table: "The Huqin plays for farewell, after the music ends people feel sad. Your Huqin skill learned from Cai Zhaoji is indeed good."
"I have only heard of her name, not seen her face. How old is she now?"
Feng Yuan placed the Huqin in her hands and smiled happily: "Your Majesty sings even better than I do. Please be considerate, she is now 56 years old. My grandfather had a friendship with Cai Badao in the past, so she agreed to teach me."
"Fifty-six..." Cao Rui repeated Cai Zhaoji's age and said, "If I'm not mistaken, your grandfather was the Marquis of Tongdi during the Han Dynasty, wasn't he?"
"Your Majesty is correct," Feng Yuan replied.
Cao Rui sighed again: "Such a talented woman, fate has been so wandering. Yun'er, choose a day to invite her to the palace and ask her whether she is willing to take the title of 'Academician of Chongwen', and pass down the books and music sheet techniques she has learned over the years."
"Yes," Feng Yuan replied and slowly sat down beside Cao Rui on his right, asking, "Your Majesty is leaving for Xuancheng tomorrow, aren't you? If Your Majesty wishes, I can invite her to the palace early tomorrow morning. You can meet her before you leave."
Cao Rui smiled lightly: "That's unnecessary, I admire her talent, but it has nothing to do with her person. You cannot go out of the palace at will, so I will allow you to invite her to the palace later."
"Oh, you'll stay with me tonight."
"Feng Yuan knows," she replied while pouring a small spoonful of soup for Cao Rui. Her lips curled up, and she couldn't help but glance at Jia Cheng with a triumphant air, as if boasting about her victory.
...
The next morning, Feng Yuan, who had been favored by the emperor, served him breakfast with the emperor and then stood in front of the bronze mirror in their sleeping quarters, carefully arranging the emperor's hair.
The eunuch Bi Jin walked in with steps that were neither too heavy nor too light, stopping at a distance of ten chi from the emperor, bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, someone has come from the Empress Dowager's palace to say that she has something she wishes to discuss with Your Majesty."
Cao Rui looked at Bi Jin with a glance, "We will depart at twenty-two minutes past noon. I will not go to the Empress Dowager's palace separately. The Empress Dowager should come to bid me farewell. I will talk to her again at the southern gate of the North Palace, it won't be too late then."
"Obeying Your Majesty's order, the old servant will go and report back," Bi Jin said after bowing respectfully and carefully retreated.
Cao Rui looked up and locked eyes with Feng Yuan's graceful figure in the bronze mirror for a moment: "I've heard that your family is an old friend with the Empress Dowager?"
Feng Yuan slightly opened her mouth, looking extremely surprised when asked about this topic by the emperor. She was stunned for a few seconds before regaining her composure.
"The Empress Dowager lived at your home earlier, and my mother used to mention this, but I do not know about it myself," Feng Yuan said.
Cao Rui said, "The Empress Dowager is skilled at the pipa, which is why she is familiar with Cai Zhaoji. You are skilled at the guqin and Huqin, your music can entertain people or confuse their ears. You are first and foremost yourself, the beauty of mine, and then a friend from someone else's past."
Feng Yuan continued to comb her hair with both hands, but her head had lowered much lower.
Cao Rui patted Feng Yuan's right hand that was conveniently resting on his shoulder, and softly said, "Okay, you can go back now. Call Zhao Jie to dress me."
"Obeying your order," Feng Yuan bowed her head, then left with small steps, calling the palace maid Zhao Jie to come in from the outer room.
At ten o'clock in the morning, Cao Rui, accompanied by the guards of the tiger team, leisurely walked from his bedroom to the southern gate of the North Palace.
Maopin and Sun Zhaoyi were each waiting with their sons here, and the other dozen or so concubines had also come to bid farewell. The Empress Dowager Guo had been waiting at this spot for some time already.
Cao Rui took a leisurely step forward and nodded slightly to Empress Dowager Guo: "Mother had someone find me just now? What is there to tell me?"
Empress Guo walked forward with a smile, smoothing out the few creases on Cao Rui's robe that had formed from walking, and said with a smile:
"My dear son is going to Xuchang so quickly, Your Majesty wants to do something for him but it's not enough. How long will it take him to return to the palace this time?"
Cao Rui smiled politely, nodded and said: "Thank you, Mother, for your concern. I will go to Xuchang this time, it will be a short half year and a long one year, but I should be able to return to Luoyang. Mother is responsible for managing the affairs of the palace. She needs to take good care of her health in Luoyang."
Empress Dowager Guo smiled and pointed to a group of consorts behind her: "My son, this time you are going to Xuchang with light luggage. I fear that you will have no one to take care of you there. Why don't we choose a few more consorts to accompany you to the palace in Xuchang?"
"This..." Cao Rui was just about to speak, but Empress Dowager Guo was still talking:
"The birth of children is the first priority in the imperial harem. It has been four years since the birth of three princes, and it seems somewhat thin. Can Your Majesty allow Your Majesty to take care of this for Rui?"
Cao Rui smiled and shook his head: "The palace in Xuchang is not like the North Palace in Luoyang, and I don't have that much time or inclination to spend on the harem. Mother can manage it for me. Less is more, don't bring too many."
"Also, when I go to Xuchang, the number of eunuchs in the North Palace in Luoyang can be reduced. Those who are old enough, give them some wealth and arrange for their marriage."
Empress Dowager Guo said with a smile: "Still, Your Majesty's benevolence. I will know about this. Then... can we select ten more people to enter the palace in Xuchang?"
Cao Rui slightly furrowed his brow: "Ten people are a bit too many. I can't even remember their names. The palace in Xuchang already has five consorts, adding five more will be enough."
"I have an idea now," Empress Dowager Guo nodded: "Xuchang, Xuchang is not far. If you have free time, you can also write more letters."
As he agreed, Cao Rui walked over to the two ladies, Mao and Sun, and crouched down to play with the two children. After a while, he stood up again and bid farewell to the consorts one by one.
The procession and carriage stopped in the courtyard before the southern gate of the North Palace. After saying goodbye, Cao Rui immediately set off.
...
Jingzhou, near Fan City.
The city of Fan, north of the Han River, is currently being besieged by General Bu Zhi and General Pan Jun, each commanding a force of ten thousand men, attacking from the west and east.
The city of Xiangyang is about three li wide from east to west and four li long from north to south. In comparison, Fan City is much smaller, with a length of only two li from north to south, half the area of Xiangyang. Moreover, facing the Han River, the area being besieged by the Wu army appears even more crowded.
Compared to Xiangyang, Lu Shi, the secondary commander of Fan City, is the one who is most worried. While there are ten thousand troops in Xiangyang, the city is large and has many troops. However, Fan City is much smaller with few troops, and it is surrounded by two million troops. It therefore appears even more difficult to support.
The Wu army's siege did not start with an immediate attack. Bu Zhi and Pan Jun began their siege progress slowly after realizing that the water level was gradually falling. They started by building dams, encirclement, digging ditches for drainage, constructing ladders, and creating siege weapons. All of these preparations have been carried out in the city's vicinity over the past few days.
With each passing day, Lu Shi's anxiety tightened by a third. By the fifteenth day, when the Wu army began their first siege, Lu Shi still had not received any relief forces from Xinye to the north.
"How can it be that no relief troops have arrived from Xinye after just a few hundred miles!", Lu Shi, fully armor-clad, spat at the soldiers getting closer to the city walls, carrying shields and piling soil.
"General, please do not be angry. Perhaps General Shen is on his way to help," the middle-aged military advisor next to him consoled: "General has already sent dispatches to the court, General Shen in Xinye, and General Wen in Jiangxia. Someone will come to save us."
Lu Shi sighed, "I hope it's as you say! The ground below the city is muddy, and with this weather, it might hold back the Wu army for two more days. After two days, when the sun dries the mud completely, the Wu army will be able to attack without obstruction."
Thanks to the navy operating on the rivers around Han, Sun Quan successfully encircled Fan City and Xiangyang from two directions. However, in this situation, both Chen Qun, who had been stationed in Jingzhou for a long time, and Zhao Yan, who was currently serving as the military supervisor of Jingzhou, along with their commanders and generals had prepared various contingency plans.
Fan City was under siege, waiting for reinforcements was the only option. Attempting to attack the Wu army with the intention of going out of the city would only give the Wu army an opportunity to strike.
At this moment, Xu Shu within Deng County to the north, and Zhao Yan and Niu Jin within the city of Xiangyang to the south, each had their own thoughts.
In the city of Deng, located 15 li to the northwest of Fan City, Xu Shu climbed onto the city wall and looked towards the direction of Fan City to the south.
Shen Duan stood behind Xu Shu, fully armored and pacing back and forth. After walking for quite a while, he finally stopped next to Xu Shu and asked:
"Xu Gong, shouldn't we go to rescue Fan City? It's been half a day since we arrived in Deng County, and Fan City isn't far away, is it?"
"Go?" Xu Shu sneered coldly: "How? The Wu army has been here for five days, and it has been ten days since they arrived in Xiangyang and Fan City. The camp and fortifications should have been built by now. How do you plan to lead your troops straight in?"
"Xu Gong..." Shen Duan laughed awkwardly, shook his head, and then said, "Even if we don't attack, just seeing us arrive from a distance would stabilize the morale in the city quite a bit for Lu Shi."
Xu Shu ignored Shen Duan and continued to look towards the south by himself.
Shen Duan had also been a general for many years, and seeing that Xu Shu paid no attention to him at all, his heart also grew somewhat resentful. He asked repeatedly:
"Xu Gong, say something, please," Shen Duan leaned in: "We can't just stay in Deng County and sit by while Fan City is attacked!"
Xu Shu turned to look at Shen Duan for a long time before speaking: "General Shen, the so-called 'spotting opportunities on the battlefield' is most important in the word 'opportunity'. The word 'opportunity' can refer to both opportunity and the alignment of heaven, earth, man, and affairs, everything that affects the battle."
"We have 7,600 state and county troops, plus 500 people from Deng County. That's barely over eight thousand. The Wu troops near Xiangyang and Fan City are estimated to be at least 50,000."
Xu Shu placed his hand on the railing of the city wall and sighed softly, "If you were Xu Zhennan, I would dare to lead these 8,000 men straight into the enemy camp and destroy their camp. But since you are not Xu Gongming, and I cannot instantly transform these 8,000 soldiers into elite troops, I can only rely on the city wall and wait." (End of chapter)
