With the baby in her belly as her support, Sun Luban's words became more coquettish and joking.
"Your Majesty has given the title of Marquis of Wu to Lu Xun. I'm afraid my father will be so angry that he will smash his wine jar when he hears about it in Wuchang."
Cao Rui laughed and said, "What do you mean? Does my father-in-law have such a bad temper?"
Sun Luban opened her fox eyes, looked at Cao Rui, and said in a slightly exaggerated manner: "Your Majesty may not know that my father has always had a bad temper and often scolds his subjects after drinking."
"But he always apologizes after he sobers up. With the reputation of King Wu, few people really take him seriously."
Cao Rui laughed. The image of Sun Quan he heard from Sun Luban, Sun Quan's daughter, was slightly different from the image of Sun Quan he knew from the ministers' words.
Cao Rui asked jokingly, "Aren't you afraid of upsetting him?"
Sun Luban pursed her lips, lowered her head and gently stroked her bulging belly, then looked at Cao Rui and said, "I have always known that it is only my father who makes others angry, but others cannot make him angry."
"Besides," Sun Luban laughed, "Your Majesty is so kind to me. If you conquer Jingzhou and Yangzhou one day, you won't kill my father, right?"
Cao Rui said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "This matter is not my fault, but your father's."
"If that time really comes, I will be magnanimous, but I cannot tolerate his stubbornness."
Sun Luban seemed unfazed: "I know it, I have known it since the first day I entered the palace."
"Let's not talk about my father. Your Majesty is so kind to Lu Xun. Don't the ministers have any objections?"
Cao Rui said: "How could there be none? Some people said that I rewarded Lu Xun with the title of Marquis of a county and a thousand households when he had not done anything. Others said that Lu Xun was too old and I should not have married the princess to him."
Sun Luban curled her lips and said, "I have met Lu Xun. Lu Xun is forty-five years old, talented, and well-known. He is from a prominent family and has a handsome appearance. Is he wronged?"
Cao Rui nodded and said, "That's what I mean. But he is a surrendered general after all, and he has only been an official in Wei for more than a year. The general asked Lu Xun to guard Dazhong, and I agreed."
"Let Lu Xun stay here for a few years, and I will use him according to the situation."
Sun Luban nodded, picked up the ivory chopsticks and continued to eat, with a smile on her lips.
Cao Rui wondered, "What is Da Hu laughing at?"
Sun Luban pursed her lips and said nothing. Sun Luban had never told Cao Rui that when they were in Wuchang, Sun Quan had once intended to marry her to Quan Cong. Now that she thought of this old story, she could not tell the emperor.
After having dinner with Sun Luban, Cao Rui said goodbye to Da Hu and drove to Guo Yao's place to spend the night.
The next evening, it was Guo Yao's place again.
The next day, it was still Guo Yao's place.
Three days later, in the morning, Cao Rui sat in front of a bronze mirror in a plain white silk robe. Guo Yao, also in a nightgown, combed Cao Rui's hair inch by inch with a comb.
Cao Rui looked at the reflection in the bronze mirror with satisfaction and said softly, "I suddenly thought of last winter."
"It was late at night when I was woken up by the eunuchs and learned about the military situation in Longyou. I was reading the military report very quickly, and you stepped on the ground barefoot and put on my cloak for me."
"do you remember?"
Guo Yao lowered her head and said softly, "How could I not remember? Your Majesty, you were so busy that you didn't even care about your health, but you still remember all this?"
Cao Rui teased, "How can I not remember? The blazing red cloak and the dark blue floor tiles set off Yao'er's lush, white feet. How can I forget it?"
Guo Yao pretended to be angry and hit Cao Rui's shoulder lightly. She then gently tied up Cao Rui's hair and inserted a peach wood hairpin.
"I will not put a crown on Your Majesty. There is a grand court meeting today, and everyone on either side must wear a crown."
Cao Rui asked: "I have never seen this hairpin before, where did it come from?"
Guo Yao said, "I made this for Your Majesty. Your Majesty, please take a look at the shape."
"Very good!" Cao Rui stood up, put on his regular clothes, and turned around and said after he went out: "Don't wait for me tonight. I will stay in the study for one night and rest. I will see you tomorrow."
Guo Yao bit her lips lightly and stomped her feet in embarrassment and annoyance.
Watching Cao Rui's back gradually disappearing into the distance, Guo Yao came back to her senses and looked down at her shoes.
Is it really as white as Your Majesty said?
……
According to previous practice, the grand court meeting was held on the first day of each month. But now it involved the reward for the conquest of Shu, so it was held in the middle of the month.
At the court meeting, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Liu Fang read out the imperial edict and promulgated the rewards that had already been prepared.
Under Cao Zhen, generals Zhang, Qian, Guo and Lu each made great contributions. The rest of the central and outer armies were paid 2,000 stones each, and more than twenty of them were granted the title of marquis.
Many of the ministers who remained in Luoyang had envy in their eyes.
It is easy to be granted a title of nobility for military merit, but it is relatively more difficult for a civil official to be granted a title of nobility.
The so-called "liehou" is actually a marquis, which is a general term for county marquis, township marquis, and pavilion marquis. The Guannei marquis, who is generally awarded as a reward, is not counted among the "liehou".
Since the Huangchu period, there have been signs of an increase in rewards for marquises.
In the third year of Huangchu, when Huang Quan surrendered to Wei, among the army of only 10,000 people, 42 of them were granted the title of Marquis. This was roughly how generous Wei was to its surrendered ministers.
After Cao Rui ascended the throne, apart from conferring the title of marquis to those who had made great contributions but had not yet been granted the title among the Nine Ministers and Two Thousand Stone Officials in Luozhong, and the provincial governors and garrisons in various places, he was very restrained in conferring the title of marquis on others.
Most of the more than 20 people who were granted the title of marquis this time were marquises with fiefs of less than 300 households. But for these people, it was also a rare achievement.
When the court meeting was about to end, Liu Fang held the imperial edict and announced the news that Chen Qun would return to Luoyang to serve as the new prime minister and that a general amnesty would be granted to the whole country.
For a moment, there were shouts of "Long live the emperor" in the hall.
Regardless of whether these people's praise was sincere or false, the first grand court meeting after returning to Luoyang was over.
As soon as Sima Yi finished the court meeting, he sent someone on express horseback to leave Luoyang and head north to his hometown in Wen County to summon his eldest son Sima Shi back to Luoyang.
On the afternoon of the second day, Sima Shi, who was studying in his ancestral home, received a letter from his father. Less than an incense stick of time after receiving the letter, Sima Shi and his family servants rode on fast horses and headed south at high speed.
At night, he stayed in the post house near the Yellow River ferry. With Sima Yi's official certificate, Sima Shi got the best room in the post house.
On the afternoon of the third day, Sima Shi entered Luoyang City and went straight to Sikong Mansion.
"Brother!"
Upon hearing that Sima Shi had returned, Sima Zhao ran over from the back hall without showing any surprise: "Brother, you came so quickly, just as father said!"
After hugging his brother, Sima Shi smiled and asked, "Zi Shang, what did father say?"
Sima Zhao replied, "My father said that it would take one day to get from Luoyang to Wenxian and one day to return, so Ziyuan would arrive in two days."
Sima Shi smiled and shook his head: "Is father still on duty in the palace? When will he be back?"
Sima Zhao said, "In another hour and a half, father should be able to return home."
After saying that, Sima Zhao stared at Sima Shi's face for a long while: "Brother, what kind of life have you been living in your hometown? Why do you look fatter?"
"By the way, why didn't the eldest sister-in-law come back with her brother?"
Sima Shi laughed and said, "Being in Wen County is like being confined to my house. All I do every day is study, eat and sleep. How can I not get fat?"
"Your sister-in-law is six months pregnant, so it's not convenient for her to come with me on horseback. I have already asked the people in my clan to take her back to Luoyang slowly by carriage, traveling twenty miles a day."
Sima Zhao said, "Brother, I have made all the arrangements."
Sima Shi asked, "Zi Shang, where is my mother? Take me to see her immediately."
Sima Zhao smiled and said, "Mother has cried a lot this year when she thought of you. No matter how I consoled her, it was useless. Now that you are back, I think she will cry again."
Sima Shi patted his brother's shoulder heavily and said, "I'm not at home, and my father is not at home either. Thanks to Zishang for taking on the important task!"
Compared to Sima Shi, Sima Zhao was younger and more kind-hearted. Hearing this, he smiled embarrassedly and said, "Brother, stop praising me. Let's go and see mother!"
Sima Shi nodded and said, "Let's go together!"
……
When Sima Yi had a meal at home, he was always silent.
After dinner, Sima Yi called Sima Shi into the study alone. Sima Zhao looked at the two men leaving and instinctively opened his mouth to ask a question, but he held back.
Behind closed doors, Sima Yi looked at his eldest son whom he had not seen for over a year and sighed softly, "It's been over a year! Since Ziyuan was born, I have never been separated from you for so long."
Sima Shi smiled and said, "Don't worry, father. Isn't your son doing well? He has gained weight and Hui'er is pregnant with a child."
Sima Yi said: "Having an heir is of course a good thing. My family will have someone to carry on the legacy!"
"Ziyuan, have you had any feelings or gains in the past year or so you have been in Wen County?"
Sima Shi said: "Son, of course I have some feelings and gains. I wonder what you want to hear?"
What do you want to hear?
Sima Yi frowned slightly: "First, tell me, you have been imprisoned for more than a year and then released. What do you think of the court?"
Sima Shi sighed and said, "To be honest, father, at first I hated the court and those ministers who suggested to imprison the scholars."
"But more than half a year later, in winter, when he heard that his father had joined the army on the Western Expedition, the son suddenly stopped hating him for some reason."
"Why not hate?" Sima Yi asked curiously.
Sima Shi replied: "My son always thought it was someone else's fault, but later he thought it through and realized it was his own fault."
"What have you done wrong?" Sima Yi frowned as he listened, as if he did not understand his eldest son's thoughts at all.
Sima Shi said, "My son is wrong. He wants to learn from those scholars to raise their reputations and study peacefully in Luoyang!"
"In this day and age, what good can studying do? My son wants to join the army to learn military strategy, command the army and make military achievements!" (End of this chapter)
