This Is Not a Matter of State, But of the Household
After Cao Cao swept through once, the political situation in Xu Capital changed dramatically.
The central ministers, with Yang Biao at their head, began withdrawing one by one.
The position of Shangshuling had fallen vacant, and a new one needed to be appointed, yet Cao Cao deliberately left the seat empty.
Instead, he recommended Xun Yu for the post of Shizhong under the Shangshuling, making it clear that once Xun Yu gained enough experience and age, he would ascend directly to that higher office.
It was an blatantly partisan appointment in everyone’s eyes, but not a single person dared voice opposition.
The Emperor also announced that, as part of governmental reform, he would change the reign title. The transition from Xingping to Jian’an was now underway.
It was a year earlier than history had originally recorded.
“Husband~ What do you think of this?”
“Why are you making toys?”
Cai Yan beamed with an innocent smile as she showed me what she had created. Lately she had been sewing, and now she was stitching little cloth dolls from leftover silk pouches.
“Could it be…?”
“I wish it were so, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Cai Yan gently stroked her belly, offering a radiant smile.
“We are still newlyweds and young. There will be plenty of opportunities.”
“Well… that’s true.”
Since joining the Cao army, events had rushed past in a whirlwind, yet I was still only twenty-two, and my wife was even younger. Cao Ang, for his part, had turned twenty-one this year and had recently held a truly magnificent betrothal ceremony.
Since it was the engagement of Cao Cao’s eldest son, everyone had come to offer congratulations. Cai Lin, Cai Yan’s younger sister and the bride-to-be, was currently receiving bridal and daughter-in-law training in the main residence.
“So who exactly are you making that for?”
“It’s a toy for Lady Bian’s son.”
“Cao Pi?”
“Ah, Zihuan and Ziwen like wooden horses, building blocks, and wooden swords, so the servants are making those. This one is for the third son, Zijian.”
“So it’s for Cao Zhi.”
At only three or four years old, Cao Zhi would surely be delighted by a new toy.
“If the reaction is good, I plan to make one for the child Lady Bian is carrying as well.”
“Mm, I see.”
My wife truly had a gentle heart. I embraced her, patted her back affectionately, and stepped outside feeling refreshed.
“Hm?”
“…”
I had gone out for a stroll, but Cao Pi was standing in the garden. He must have been eight or nine this year. The young boy was staring at me intently, so I approached and ruffled his hair.
“Next time we meet, you should greet me properly.”
“…Yes.”
Why was this kid’s answer so half-hearted?
After taking a light walk around the streets of Xu Capital, I returned home in the evening only to find the entire household in an uproar.
“My lady, we’ve searched everywhere but cannot find it.”
“That can’t be. Where on earth could it have gone…?”
I saw Cai Yan frantically searching alongside the maids and asked,
“Wife, what have you lost?”
“Ah, husband. It’s nothing.”
At that moment, a maid rushed over first.
“My lord, the lady says the rubbing of her late father’s epitaph has disappeared.”
“What? Where could that possibly have gone?”
That rubbing was one of the few remaining examples of calligraphy left by Cai Yong, father of both Cai Yan and Cai Lin. They had carefully taken rubbings of each character before fleeing Chang’an, barely managing to preserve them. Hearing that one had vanished, Cai Yan—unlike her usual self—wore a dark expression as she searched with the maids.
“This is strange. Just in case, I’ll check the main residence.”
“Pardon? Why would it be there…?”
“Perhaps your sister took it to make a copy? Who knows?”
Seeing her look so distressed, I decided to help and headed toward the main residence where Cao Cao stayed. The moment I arrived, the interior was in complete chaos.
“Zihuan, even now you should speak honestly to your elder brother. Did you really do this?”
“…”
“Sigh, keeping your mouth shut like this won’t solve anything. Did you truly steal something from Zire’s house?”
What was all this about?
“Zisu, there’s no need to listen any further! A child like this needs a good thrashing with the rod!”
Oh, this didn’t look good.
From what I could see, the commotion was happening in the garden. Cao Ang had brought his half-brother Cao Pi and was trying to reason with him, but Lady Ding herself was holding a disciplinary rod, while Lady Bian knelt flat on the ground beside them.
“My lady, it is all my fault. The child did not know any better, so please punish me instead.”
“Enough! This is not something that can be overlooked just because of you.”
Lady Ding glared fiercely at Cao Pi and pointed the rod at him.
“Speak clearly. Where did you get this calligraphy from?”
The rubbing Lady Ding held in her hand… Ah, so that was it. Earlier the boy had come to our house, looked around silently, and somehow that rubbing had ended up in his hands…
“What is all this commotion about?”
Cao Cao, returning from handling government affairs, entered slowly. Everyone bowed their heads in greeting—including me.
“What are all of you doing here? Why is Lady Bian kneeling, and why is Lady Ding holding a rod?”
“Ask the boy yourself. The little rascal stole something from Zire’s house, can you believe it?”
“Hm?”
At that moment, Cao Ang spoke up urgently.
“Father, there seems to have been a misunderstanding. Zihuan was carrying a rubbing with unfamiliar writing, so I asked him about it and this is what happened…”
“This is Cai Bojie’s epitaph, isn’t it? I know his calligraphy well. And this rubbing definitely belongs in Zire’s house. So if you took it out, Zihuan…”
Cao Cao looked at it, then without hesitation raised his hand.
Slap—!
“My lord!”
Cao Cao had struck his young son across the face. Even Lady Ding, who had been holding the rod, widened her eyes in shock, while Lady Bian simply lowered her head deeper.
“If you have something to say, then say it.”
“…”
One cheek burning bright red, eyes brimming with tears, Cao Pi still refused to open his mouth.
“This brat—must I, his own father, personally wield the rod?”
“My lord, please forgive him just this once. I beg you with all my heart.”
Lady Bian’s birthday was approaching soon. With the household busy preparing for the celebration, this was the last thing anyone needed. Cao Cao glanced at Lady Bian and seemed unable to bring himself to strike the boy again, so he called out to Cao Ang.
“Zisu, stop standing there watching and come here.”
“Yes, uncle.”
When I approached, Cao Cao suddenly took the rod from Lady Ding and gave both me and Cao Ang one light tap on the head each. Honestly, it didn’t hurt; it felt like he was deliberately hitting us after striking his son to make a point.
“You two, manage the main residence properly from now on.”
“Husband! Why are you hitting innocent Zisu and Zire?”
“Wife, that’s enough. Your voice is so loud the entire market could hear you.”
“Husband!”
In the end, Cao Cao stepped in and resolved the chaotic situation.
Later that evening, a tearful Lady Bian brought Cao Pi to see me. Actually, all three of them came to our house together.
“I sincerely apologize.”
“Apologize? Please don’t speak like that, and there’s no need for such formal speech, aunt.”
“This matter—I will apologize on behalf of the child.”
“No, please, speak comfortably. It makes us all uncomfortable.”
Cai Yan and Lady Bian. Two women who normally used only the most respectful language toward each other now found themselves awkwardly trying to out-polite one another.
“Zihuan—no, Pi. If you wanted this calligraphy so badly, why didn’t you simply tell me why?”
“…”
“If you tell me the reason, your sister-in-law will give it to you.”
Only then did Cao Pi quietly look at Cai Yan before slowly opening his mouth.
“Birthday present…”
“Hm?”
“Mother’s… birthday… present…”
Tears finally spilled down Cao Pi’s cheeks as he confessed everything.
“It’s Mother’s birthday… and Father said the most precious thing in our house is Cai Bojie’s writing! Sob… so I wanted to give Mother a gift of Lord Cai Bojie’s calligraphy…”
Good grief. Should I call this kid’s way of thinking unique?
A boy not even ten years old, who didn’t understand the true value, had somehow heard that “Cai Bojie’s writing is the most valuable treasure” and decided to steal it as a birthday gift for his mother.
What was I supposed to do with this twisted sense of filial piety…?
After listening, Cai Yan looked down at her father’s epitaph rubbing, then quietly held it out to Lady Bian.
“Aunt, I would like to give this to you.”
“That would be improper… No, how could I possibly accept this?”
“This was actually going to be my birthday gift to you. In any case, there are many other examples of my father’s writing.”
Despite Lady Bian’s repeated refusals, Cai Yan stubbornly pressed one of the rubbings into her hands. Then, smiling kindly at both mother and son, she offered them refreshments.
“Zihuan, I understand your heart toward your mother, but your method was wrong.”
“…I was wrong.”
“These are merely characters. Their true value is something you must come to understand yourself.”
“I can read, you know.”
That was true. Cao Pi could read. Back in Yan Province, he had shown me several writings and asked me to look at them, but Cao Cao had been too busy to pay attention.
Looking at him now, I realized that even if I could somehow change Cao Cao’s fate in history, turning him into a “good father” or “good husband” would be impossible no matter how hard I tried.
“In that case, would you like to learn from your sister-in-law? Poetry, prose, and calligraphy.”
“Pardon?”
“Sohui, you would teach this child? If so, I would be truly grateful.”
“Leave it to me. I can teach him properly.”
So Cao Pi would learn poetry and calligraphy from Cai Yan… Well, he would one day be known alongside his father Cao Cao and younger brother Cao Zhi as one of the Three Masters of Jian’an, but right now he was still just a child. And since my wife Cai Yan was the daughter of the renowned scholar Cai Yong and a poetess in her own right, she would make an excellent teacher.
“That’s perfect. I was just thinking that Uncle Xiahou’s two sons are also starting to study. Zihuan can join them.”
At my words, Lady Bian smiled brightly and repeatedly thanked both me and Cai Yan, holding our hands. She truly was the one who suffered the most in the Cao household.
“And this is nothing much, but I would also like to give you a gift, aunt.”
I presented her with the exquisite jade box I had received from the Wei merchant guild last time. I had considered giving her some of the abundant silk in the house, but since that had come from Lady Ding, I feared she might feel uncomfortable seeing it again.
With that, the matter concerning Lady Bian and Cao Pi seemed to have been settled somehow.
But that same night, Cao Ang called me out separately.
He said he wanted to drink, but not at a pleasure house or tavern. Instead, he brought me to the top of Xu Capital’s city wall—the highest point.
“I sometimes come here to drink while looking at the night scenery.”
“You really pick the strangest places. Still, the view does make for good company.”
We passed a wine jar back and forth while gazing at the landscape beyond Xu Capital.
“I consider Zihuan and the younger children my brothers, but Mother has always disapproved.”
“That’s because Aunt has always doted only on you.”
“That’s part of it… but she especially disliked Zihuan. Actually, it goes back a long way.”
“?”
“When Zihuan was even younger than now, he once threw chopsticks at Mother, saying she mistreated his own mother. Do you know what the boy said?”
“Mother is the one who suffered through labor for me. My mother is not a maidservant, and you, great mother, are not my mother!”
“Good heavens… Is that something a six- or seven-year-old should say?”
Lady Ding treated Cao Ang, the son of the late Lady Liu who had died childless, as if he were her own. She viewed all the other sons as the lowly-born children of concubines, but her maternal affection for Cao Ang was genuine. It seemed the young Cao Pi had been harboring resentment toward that treatment since childhood.
Cao Pi really was no ordinary child.
“Honestly… seeing something like that makes me never want to take a concubine. I just want to live quietly with one woman.”
“Quite different from Uncle, then.”
It seemed Cao Ang had suffered quite a bit from Cao Cao’s womanizing ways when he was young. That was probably why he hadn’t looked at any other marriage prospects and had ended up with my sister-in-law.
“It’s difficult. I just want to go to war.”
“…”
“It’s not that I enjoy killing people, but I feel so stifled I can’t stand it. No matter which battlefield, I want to volunteer and go.”
Once Lady Bian’s birthday was over, I would formally request Cao Cao to send me to the front lines.
Anything was better than staying here.