Chapter 47: Husband Does Not Regret The bleak autumn wind blew through the long streets of Luoyang. It was a holiday, and Sima Fu was riding a skinny horse slowly along the long street. The north wind, carrying leaves and dust, blew on Sima Fu's back, pushing him forward. Sima Fu was somewhat reluctant to go on this trip. A few months ago, Sima Fu's reputation quickly spread throughout Luoyang through two letters of remonstration and Chen Jiao's remonstration at the gate of the Shangshutai. He was known as "Chen Jibi, who was brave enough to speak out and give direct advice to Sima Fu." The political lives of Chen Jiao and Sima Fu entered a new stage from then on: Chen Jiao left the Secretariat and went to the emperor's side to serve as a Shizhong to provide advice, becoming one of the emperor's close ministers. Sima Fu was promised an equally prestigious position as Palace Attendant of the Imperial Palace. Although he was also a close minister to the emperor, his fate was different from that of Chen Jiao. Sima Fu was left out in the Palace Attendant of the Imperial Palace for several months by the emperor and was never summoned once. As a minister, Sima Fu was not allowed to bring anything in or out of the palace. He sat alone in the duty room and could only read a few historical books in the room every day. Three months of doing nothing was not bad, but he had no idea what the emperor was thinking and was worried about a disaster at any time. This kind of anxiety made Sima Fu almost crazy. Seeing that Sima Yi's mansion was just around the corner, Sima Fu hesitated. He hadn't been to Sima Yi's house for three years. Although they were brothers from the same mother, Sima Fu had always had an indescribable feeling towards Sima Yi. If I were to describe it in detail, it's almost a mixture of jealousy, envy, fear and respect. Human hearts are indeed so complicated. Just when Sima Fu was hesitating about turning the corner of Sima Yi's mansion, Sima Shi happened to pass by the mansion gate.
"Uncle!" Sima Shi dismounted from his horse after seeing Sima Fu, and shouted in surprise, "Uncle, are you here to look for me? I haven't seen you in my house for a long time." Sima Fu was quite embarrassed after hearing his nephew's words. Sima Fu had not visited his brother Sima Yi's mansion for a long time, but Sima Shi visited Sima Fu every month. Sima Fu paused on his horse, and after seeing Sima Shi bow, he calmly asked, "I'm here to look for my brother. Where are you going, Ziyuan?" Sima Shi said in a clear voice: "To be honest with you, uncle, I have an appointment with Xiahou Xuan, He Yan and others to have a casual conversation, and I am about to go to the meeting today." Sima Fu asked in confusion, "I haven't paid attention to the scholars in Luoyang for a long time. What do you young scholars talk about?" Sima Shi replied, "Uncle, you may not know that Xun Yu, the youngest son of Xun Lingjun, came to Luoyang from Yingchuan yesterday. On the first day of Xun Can's arrival in Luoyang, he debated with Fu Gu, a prodigy from the north." "Fu Gu was good at theory and logic, while Xun Can admired the profound and far-reaching. Their conversation at the gate of the Imperial College attracted hundreds of people to watch, and everyone was amazed at Xun Can's arguments." "Today He Yan and He Pingshu are hosting the party and have invited Xun Can to come and talk about the mysteries of the past. I am planning to go and listen to Xun Can's noble ideas today!" Sima Fu's mind was full of his future and position, and his nephew's words went in one ear and out the other: "I understand, Ziyuan, socializing with scholars may help you become famous, which will be of great benefit to your future. But you still need to ride slowly, and don't ride fast in the city." Sima Shi bowed and left, and Sima Fu slowly entered Sima Yi's mansion. The housekeeper saw Sima Yi's brother coming to visit, and said to Sima Fu without informing him, "Third Master, the master is in the study." Sima Fu nodded, and slowly walked to the outside of Sima Yi's study. Seeing that the door was not closed, he could only knock on the door frame gently. Sima Yi thought it was just an ordinary person from his family, so he said without even looking up, "Come in!" Sima Fu walked in slowly and saw his brother writing at his desk. He coughed lightly. Sima Yi raised his eyebrows and looked up: "It's Shuda who is here! How long has it been since you came to visit me?" Sima Fu bowed with a guilty look on his face: "Brother, I am sorry for not coming for a long time." Sima Yi stared at Sima Fu's lowered face for a moment, then stood up, took Sima Fu's arm, and pulled him to sit at the table: "You and I are brothers, what's the point of being rude? Come on, sit down." Sima Fu had lived under the aura of Sima Yi since he was a child. He always compared himself with Sima Yi and secretly competed with him. Now that he was visiting and his brother was so close to him, Sima Fu felt even more ashamed. Before Sima Fu could say anything, Sima Yi started to nag again: "Shuda, I haven't had time to tell you yet, but last month I sent a letter to the governor of Henei, asking him to recruit Wang'er as a county official. He should have taken up the post by now." The Wang'er mentioned by Sima Yi was Sima Wang, the second son of Sima Fu. Sima Yi had eight brothers. His eldest brother Sima Lang died young, Sima Yi was the second, and Sima Fu was the third. Sima Fu's son Sima Wang was adopted by Sima Lang in his early years and lived in his hometown of Wen County, Hanoi for a long time.
Hearing that Sima Yi was very concerned about his adopted son, Sima Fu was also stunned: "I haven't written to Wang'er for a long time. It's rare that you still remember Wang'er's future." Sima Yi smiled and said, "Wang'er is your second son, so he is naturally my nephew. After being adopted by my eldest brother, he is still my nephew. How could I forget him?" Sima Fu bowed and said, "Thank you, brother." Sima Yi waved his hand and said with a somewhat unhappy look: "You and I are brothers, why do you need to thank me?" Sima Fu nodded repeatedly. After a moment, Sima Fu said hesitantly: "Today I came to see you, brother, because I have some doubts in my heart, and I want you to solve them." "Oh?" Sima Yi raised his eyebrows and looked at Sima Fu: "What are you confused about? Aren't you a regular attendant in the palace? If you are not satisfied with this position?" Sima Fu explained, "That's not what I meant. It has been several months since I was appointed as a Palace Attendant by Your Majesty, and Your Majesty has not summoned me once." "Every day I can only sit idle in the guard duty room. I think my future is hopeless. I really don't know what to do to save some things in your Majesty's eyes." Sima Fu's expression was full of frustration at this time. Although he had some grudges against his brother, who else could he talk to if he didn't come to his brother to talk about this matter? It was afternoon, and the sun shone into the house from outside, illuminating Sima Fu's face. But it was much darker where Sima Yi was sitting, so Sima Fu couldn't see his brother's expression. Sima Yi did not answer after hearing this, but slowly stood up and closed the door of the study, then turned back to look at his brother: "Shuda, do you regret it?" Sima Fu naturally knew that what his brother was talking about was what he and Chen Jiao had planned to refute the emperor's will twice in one day by using advice. Sima Fu nodded solemnly, "I do regret it. I shouldn't have believed Chen Jiao's words at the time. I only wanted to seek fame and cause trouble. Now I just want to redeem myself." Sima Yi had a look of disappointment: "A real man should either not do anything or not regret it if he does it!" "Shuda, you are wrong twice." There is another chapter~ issued at the same time (End of this chapter)