Chapter 72: Feeling of Disgrace (Seeking Follow-up Reading) Xin Pi has always been a man of few words, but this time when Sun Zi defended Jia Kui, he gave the emperor a reminder. Who was Sun Zi? In history, when the original emperor Cao Rui was bedridden, Sun Zi and Liu Fang seized power and replaced the regents with Sima Yi and Cao Shuang. During the period when Cao Rui was on the throne, Sun Zi handled official affairs rigorously and methodically, and was obedient and useful, which almost made Cao Rui neglect to pay attention to Sun Zi's character. Xin Pi should be credited with a great achievement, but Cao Rui did not want to show Xin Pi his likes and dislikes for Sun Zi. Sun Zi had already left. Cao Rui asked Xin Pi, "Minister, what is the grudge between Cao Xiu and Jia Kui? Please tell me in detail." Xin Pi was silent for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, this matter started in the third year of Huangchu, when the late emperor first attacked Wu." "At that time, the Grand Marshal was still the General of the Eastern Expedition. The late emperor granted him the power of the Yellow Axe and ordered him to supervise more than 20 troops including Zhang Liao, Zang Ba, Jia Kui, and Wang Ling to attack Wu from Guangling. Jia Yuzhou was under the supervision of the Grand Marshal at that time. The Grand Marshal and Jia Yuzhou had a disagreement over the strategy of sending generals across the river." "The Grand Marshal sent Zang Ba to lead 10,000 people across the river, but they were driven back to the north of the river by the Wu army. Jia Yuzhou believed that the Grand Marshal's dispatch was wrong and reported it to the late emperor." "It was probably at this time that Jia Yuzhou angered the Grand Marshal."
"When the late emperor was about to grant Jia Yuzhou the power of pretending to be a general for the second time during his southern expedition, the Grand Marshal dissuaded the late emperor from doing so, citing Jia Yuzhou's strong character and his contempt for other generals. Jia Yuzhou did not receive the power of pretending to be a general either." Xin Pi briefly and concisely explained the dispute between Cao Xiu and Jia Kui. It was simply that Jia Kui blamed Cao Xiu for his incompetence, and Cao Xiu stumbled over Jia Kui's fake chariot, and the two of them became enemies from then on. At this time, Cao Xiu held an imperial edict without clear words to mobilize troops from Yuzhou and asked Jia Kui to lead the army to Shouchun. It would be abnormal if Jia Kui did not find some process errors in this matter and disgust Cao Xiu. Cao Rui stood up and paced slowly in the study. What else could he do? He could only appease Cao Xiu and say that he would order Jia Kui to go to Shouchun. He could also appease Jia Kui by saying that the previous imperial edict did not include the details and then issue another imperial edict to Jia Kui. Otherwise, should we rebuke Cao Xiu or demote Jia Kui? With a powerful enemy at hand, anyone with a little bit of brains would not do such a stupid thing. After the confrontation between Sun Zi and Xin Pi, Cao Rui was not too worried about Cao Xiu and Jia Kui. People like Sun Zi, who seemed loyal to their duties but secretly carried out private activities, were the ones that should be guarded against. That night, Xin Pi returned home after finishing his shift and mentioned what happened in the palace during the day while chatting with his son Xin Chang. Xin Chang was quite worried about his father: "Father, Liu Fang and Sun Zi are now favored by His Majesty for their important posts, and everyone in the court is trying to curry favor with them. Even if father doesn't like Sun Zi, why bother to refute him in front of him?" Xin Pi looked at his mediocre son and asked, "According to you, what should I do?" Xin Chang thought for a moment and said, "Father can of course advise His Majesty when Sun Zi is not around. This way he won't offend Sun Zi and can be loyal to His Majesty. Isn't that the best of both worlds?" Xin Pi shook his head. "Taeyong, this is not the way a man of integrity behaves. How can one be truly loyal if one is afraid of offending a powerful official? I just want to explain this to Your Majesty in front of Sun Zi, so that people like Liu Fang and Sun Zi know that not everyone has to flatter them." Seeing his father's determination, Xin Chang, as a son, could not say anything more about the matter. Instead, he mentioned his father's future: "I'm afraid that when father is promoted in the future, Sun Zi will definitely hinder him." Xin Pi didn't seem to care: "Even if Sun Zi tried to stop me, what can I do? Your Majesty is smart and wise. He just wanted to stop me from becoming one of the Three Dukes. Can he also stop me from becoming one of the Nine Ministers?" "Don't mention such things again in the future." As a son, Xin Chang had no choice but to agree. But after a moment, Xin Chang seemed to think of something else: "Father, you said before that His Majesty banished Concubine Yu to the cold palace? In recent months, I haven't heard that His Majesty has taken anyone into the palace. Doesn't that mean His Majesty only has one concubine now?" Xin Pi was a little surprised at his son's divergent thinking, and was stunned for a moment: "It seems to be true. Your Majesty now has only Concubine Mao in the harem, and Concubine Mao is pregnant." Xin Pi quickly added: "Only the eunuchs know that Concubine Mao is pregnant. I have never mentioned it to anyone else, and you can't tell anyone either."
His son Xin Chang naturally nodded and agreed: "If that's the case, then is the emperor short of people in the harem?" Xin Pi looked at his son solemnly: "What do you mean by that?" Xin Chang continued his divergent thoughts: "Father, doesn't my brother-in-law Yang Dan have an elder brother named Yang Xin? Yang Xin's daughter, Yang Huiyu, is still my niece in terms of seniority!" "This girl will be thirteen in a month. Can she marry into the palace?" Xin Pi was slightly angry at this time: "I let you study, let you learn the classics, and teach you the affairs of the court, so that you can become an official and bring honor to the family in the future, not to let you think about His Majesty's harem!" "Do you still want me to find a woman for His Majesty? This is not something I can talk about!" Seeing his father was angry, Xin Chang could only apologize to his father again and again. …… At the same time, in Chang'an City. Xiahou Mao, the General of Anxi and the Commander-in-Chief of Guanzhong Military, was drinking among several concubines. Although he was surrounded by beauties, Xiahou Mao was already worried. Xiahou Mao faced two worries: First, his wife, Princess Qinghe, submitted a petition to the court accusing Xiahou Mao of slandering His Majesty. His Majesty had ascended the throne for several months, but Xiahou Mao had never had the opportunity to pay homage to His Majesty. The late emperor Cao Pi had a good relationship with Xiahou Mi, but I heard that the late emperor also had a bad relationship with the current emperor. I wonder how the emperor will deal with me when he receives this memorial? Secondly, Xiahou Mao did owe his wife something. He kept seven or eight concubines in Chang'an, and his relationship with Princess Qinghe was in name only. If this is the case, Xiahou Mao did not blame his wife for resenting him. What’s more crucial is that the idea of having his wife submit a petition to frame him was actually suggested by Xiahou Mao’s two younger brothers on behalf of their sister-in-law! This is simply several family scandals combined, doubling the family scandal. Xiahou Mao was drinking alone here, and he began to give up on himself. Instead of telling all the scandals in his family one by one, he might as well confess to the emperor directly and say that he had slandered him with his words! As the son of Xiahou Dun, could the emperor still execute me? As Xiahou Mao thought about it, he became even more drunk. But no matter how he struggled in his heart, the carriage to Luoyang had already been prepared, and he and Princess Qinghe would set off for Luoyang early tomorrow morning. (End of this chapter)
