The Borrowed Knife
“Your Majesty. This humble servant Sima Yi requests an audience. May I enter?”
“Enter.”
Cao Pi and Sima Yi.
Emperor and subject faced each other not in the grand hall, but in the private chambers where Cao Pi resided. To be granted a solitary audience with the emperor in a quiet room meant, without question, that one was a trusted minister. How far that trust truly reached was another matter entirely.
In truth, Cao Pi did trust Sima Yi—his abilities, at least.
“This servant greets His Imperial Majesty.”
Sima Yi prostrated himself fully before Cao Pi, now the new emperor. He was a subject whose talents overflowed, and he was courteous besides. Compared to the likes of Wu Zhi and Zhu Shuo—men with the temperaments of street thugs—he was an incomparably capable talent.
Yet when set beside Wu Zhi and Zhu Shuo, Sima Yi left Cao Pi ill at ease whenever they were together. He did not know why.
“Zhongda. Rise.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Flat upon the floor, Sima Yi carefully raised himself at Cao Pi’s command—neither too slow nor too quick.
The subject faced his emperor still upon his knees, and offered a smile that seemed amiable enough.
The posture and manner were almost servile, yet whenever Cao Pi faced him he found himself shouldering an inexplicable discomfort.
The wolf’s backward glance, was it not?
His father Cao Cao had once appraised the man thus.
Sima Yi is not a man meant to remain another’s subject.
He had nearly severed every bond of family to climb to the sovereign’s seat, yet Cao Pi had never forgotten the words Cao Cao had spoken.
This is no time for such thoughts. So long as Shu and Wu yet stand, Sima Yi remains an indispensable minister.
Cutting short the brief reverie, Cao Pi addressed the subject he both trusted and did not trust.
“What business brings you, Zhongda?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have come because the investigation of that man has concluded. Zhao Wei, that is.”
“Zhao Wei? Ah. That fellow.”
Zhao Wei. The man who had swaggered about waving letters and treasures received from the King of Wu, Sun Quan, fleecing people left and right. In a single word: a swindler.
He had quarreled with Jin Cheong when she arrived as an envoy, been bound on the spot, and subjected to a thorough investigation.
He was a figure entangled even in the diplomacy between the two kingdoms and with Sun Quan himself; there had been no small number of other victims besides, so the inquiry had taken time—yet the entire truth had at last been brought to light.
“Yes. In short, the man is a complete fraud. It is true that he exchanged letters with the King of Wu, yet even those were false contents meant to deceive Sun Quan, and it is likewise true that he beguiled people and took bribes.”
“I see. You have done well.”
When the report first arrived that a man of obscure family and no office had been strutting about with a few letters and treasures, bullying people, Cao Pi had already guessed as much.
“Yes. And this is the treasure Sun Quan sent to him.”
Sima Yi presented the coral tree he had brought with him. A treasure that grew in the sea, one ordinary folk would scarcely ever set eyes upon—the coral tree displayed its elegant form before Cao Pi.
A slight flaw marred one side, yet it remained an undeniably precious treasure.
Cao Pi looked upon it and gave a snort of laughter.
“Sun Quan is truly pitiful. To be taken in by such an ignorant clod and even offer up a treasure like this.”
Sima Yi lifted one corner of his mouth in agreement.
“Indeed so. It is only because Your sagacious Majesty ordered a swift investigation that the truth has been laid bare like this.”
Sima Yi’s flattery lightly tickled the ear.
“Then, Zhao Wei—what shall be done with him, Your Majesty?”
“There is nothing more to see of that man. The truth is clear; set a date and put him to death.”
“Yes. I understand, Your Majesty.”
Murmuring thus, Sima Yi bowed low once more.
“Then this humble servant shall take his leave—”
“Wait a moment.”
Cao Pi stopped Sima Yi as he finished his bow and made to depart.
“Is there another command, Your Majesty?”
“I would ask one thing. I heard that Zhao Wei once met Jin Cheong. Is that true?”
“Yes, it is. I understand that Jin Cheong stopped him near Xuchang while he was bullying the common folk.”
“And is it also true that Jin Cheong had already seen through Zhao Wei’s falsehoods?”
“Mm. She never stated outright that she had seen through him, yet judging by the circumstances before and after, it seems she had some inkling. The way she cut through his honeyed words as cleanly as a blade, for one.”
“Mm… I see…”
Cao Pi rested a hand upon his chin and sank into thought for a moment.
“Is something weighing upon Your Majesty’s mind?”
“Jin Cheong. That one.”
A worthless swindler like Zhao Wei could simply be executed and done with. Jin Cheong was different.
“I have watched her for some time, yet it seems certain she is a figure of concern.”
“Yes. She appears not merely outstanding in martial skill, but possessed of insight as well.”
“My thoughts are the same. That one cannot be left alone. In Shu there are many who must be guarded against—Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and the rest—yet they have grown old. Jin Cheong, however, is still in the full flower of youth. And she serves as tutor to the Crown Prince, Liu Shan, besides. I regard her as one who will become a great threat to our Great Wei in days to come.”
“Yes, quite so. It was the same during the last campaign for Jingzhou. Then what does Your Majesty intend?”
“It would be best to move before she becomes a still greater threat.”
“How so, Your Majesty?”
“I have heard that Jin Cheong’s renown exceeds even her high popularity in Shu and is well known within our own Wei.”
“Yes, that is true, yet…”
There had been the time after the Battle of Tangqu when they recovered Zhang He and the Wei soldiers taken prisoner by Jin Cheong—at no small cost.
Because Jin Cheong had treated the captives with dignity, her popularity within Wei was considerable. Her striking appearance had no doubt played a part as well.
“There is no need to dirty our own hands directly.”
At Cao Pi’s words, Sima Yi formed a secretive smile.
“Might Your Majesty be speaking of the stratagem of killing with a borrowed knife?”
Kill with a Borrowed Knife—to borrow another’s blade and slay one’s enemy; to use another’s hand to dispose of a foe.
Sima Yi grasped at once that Cao Pi meant to employ another to strike at Jin Cheong in secret.
“Just so.”
Here lay the reason Cao Pi employed Sima Yi even while finding him distasteful. At times like this, they understood each other perfectly.
“Zhongda. Go to Wu and meet with Sun Quan once. Console him. Console the man whose stomach must be burning after being deceived by a wretch like Zhao Wei. And mention Jin Cheong’s name as well—just a light touch. A mere spark to the kindling of Sun Quan’s heart will suffice.”
“I understand Your meaning well. Yet will Sun Quan fall for such a method?”
“The Sun Quan of old would not. But now is different. I have heard that after repeated defeats he has sunk into the wine jar, grown suspicious of his ministers, and lost the keenness he once possessed. Well—even should it fail, it matters little. It is a light scheme, one that costs nothing if it fails. Merely kindling a small flame of discontent within him would already be success.”
“Yet if it goes well, it might become a stratagem to drive a wedge between Wu and Shu.”
“Just so. Wu and Shu will join hands against our Wei in the days ahead. To pry those hands apart would serve the greater cause.”
Ordinarily the two men kept a subtle distance from each other, yet when discussing schemes like this they acted as if of one mind.
“All of it is for the sake of our Great Wei. And take this with you as well. Returning it to its owner is only proper etiquette.”
Cao Pi held out the coral tree that lay before him.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Sun Quan will hold Your Majesty’s grace in the highest esteem.”
So saying, Sima Yi prostrated himself flat once more. Yet his thoughts ran differently from his outward manner.
On the surface it appears a scheme to eliminate an enemy for the sake of the realm, yet on the other hand it is a ploy laced with personal grudge.
Sima Yi knew that Cao Pi had once suffered a defeat at Jin Cheong’s hands in the Battle of Beishan.
And he had lost with the very mounted archery he always boasted of, so his pride must have been cracked.
With pride so wounded, the depths of his grudge will run deep, given his temper. And he dresses it up as something done for our Wei. Capable, yet petty. Exceedingly so. Alike to Cao Cao, and yet different.
Sima Yi rose and spoke.
“Yes. Then I shall prepare and depart as early as tomorrow. I have met the King of Wu once before and so have some acquaintance; I shall go again and observe every courtesy.”
“Good. See to it.”
Sima Yi took up the coral tree and hurried out with short steps, thinking as he went.
In any case, if it is carried out well, it is certainly a scheme that will profit Wei. It is also a scheme that depends upon how deep Sun Quan’s vessel runs.
At any rate, Sima Yi had followed Cao Pi from of old. This time he would go as envoy to Eastern Wu, cast the scheme once, and take the measure of Sun Quan’s capacity as well.
Click. The door closed.
That aside…
Left alone in the chamber, Cao Pi sank into another thought entirely.
Zhang, that boy… he seemed to harbor goodwill toward that Jin Cheong.
When Jin Cheong had come as an envoy, he had sent Cao Zhang to receive her. And he had quietly dispatched men to observe how the boy treated her.
To harbor goodwill toward a general of an enemy state? That, too, is something that cannot be left alone.
Thus Cao Pi sat alone, deep in thought, until the night grew late.