Only a country bumpkin like Li Er could take a giant vessel like the Great Emperor to reminisce at Red Cliff. Zhangsun watched with relish as Yun Ye made preparations. Li Tai skillfully wrapped marinated chicken wings in lotus leaves and placed them in a bamboo basket. Yun Ye was carefully brushing lard onto corn cobs.
This kind of thing had to be done personally to be interesting. Xinyue busily threaded vegetables onto bamboo skewers. When Zhangsun saw Xinyue threading chili peppers and chives onto the skewers, she wanted to ask but held her tongue. She learned from Xinyue’s example and threaded mushrooms onto the skewers.
“Why must you do this yourself instead of having servants do it?” Zhangsun finally couldn’t hold back and quietly asked Xinyue.
Xinyue stopped what she was doing and answered seriously: “My husband says that traveling and playing are actually a kind of life, and you need to participate from beginning to end. If you leave everything to others, it loses its fun. Actually, I also feel that our outing has already begun.”
Zhangsun smiled and nodded, very much agreeing with this view. In the lonely palace, if you didn’t find things to do yourself, how could you endure those long sunrises and sunsets?
A medium-sized boat slowly pulled alongside the Princess. At this time, the sun was setting behind the distant mountains. The orange-red skylight, half-bright and half-dark, was the perfect time to depart. Dongyu steadily held the rudder. Zhangsun, Xinyue, Li Tai, Yun Ye, and Xu Jingzong who had followed on his own—along with a group of female guards with bound chests and two long swords on their backs—lightly jumped aboard. This was their first time accompanying the Empress on a night tour, and they were full of curiosity about everything, especially those two oversized lanterns at the bow.
The boat slowly sailed out of the water camp. Three warships immediately followed quietly behind. Yun Ye pretended not to see and looked up to admire the waxing crescent moon that had already appeared on the horizon.
“In the twelfth year of Jian’an, in the year 207, Cao Cao swept through Hebei, campaigned north against the three Wuhuan commanderies, and eliminated the remnants of the Yuan clan. In the first month of the thirteenth year of Jian’an, Cao Cao returned to Ye commandery, built the Xuanwu Pool to train naval forces, and prepared to campaign south to unify the realm.”
“In the seventh month of autumn in the thirteenth year of Jian’an, Cao Cao led a great army of over a hundred thousand south to campaign against Liu Biao. In the eighth month, Liu Biao died of illness. In the ninth month, Cao Cao reached Xinye. Liu Cong surrendered, and Cao Cao took Jingzhou without bloodshed.”
“Liu Bei was defeated and fled at Changban Slope. Pursued by elite cavalry dispatched by Cao Cao, Liu Bei’s main forces were annihilated. Liu Bei barely escaped to Xiakou, where he reunited with Guan Yu, Liu Qi, and others.”
“Meanwhile, Sun Quan’s emissary Lu Su made contact with Liu Bei. Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang as an envoy to Eastern Wu, preparing to unite against Cao. Zhuge Liang successfully forged the Sun-Liu alliance with brilliant diplomatic skills to jointly resist Cao.”
“Sun Quan dispatched the Commander Zhou Yu to lead thirty thousand elite Wu troops to face Cao Cao at Wulin and Red Cliff.”
“In the twelfth month of the thirteenth year of Jian’an, Zhou Yu first defeated Cao’s forces in a battle on the Yangtze River, then immediately followed with a fire attack at Wulin. Cao Cao was defeated and fled to Huarong. He led his army north and lost the excellent opportunity to unify the realm. Truly regrettable and lamentable!”
Before the boat reached Red Cliff, Xu Jingzong was already sighing deeply while looking at the vast river surface. Truly one who made his living by his mouth—with a few simple sentences, he had clearly explained the historical facts of that time. His final lament, whether for himself or for Cao Cao, was unclear. Based on Yun Ye’s understanding of Xu Jingzong, his only interest was in where Cao Cao’s tomb was located. If there was an opportunity to rob it, that would be a good idea. As for passionate writing and judging historical figures, he had never been very interested. Such things sometimes offended people greatly. Perhaps some important person would be distantly related to a historical figure, and when they moved to deal with you, you wouldn’t even know how you’d offended the old gentleman. He never did things that weren’t worth the loss.
The half-bright, half-dark beautiful scenery was already intoxicating. Combined with Xu Jingzong’s mellow baritone narrating history, everyone lost interest in speaking. Zhangsun reclined on the brocade couch, appearing extremely languid. Xinyue sat at the lower seat gently massaging her calves. The three men sat on the other side of the screen, each holding a cup of wine, thinking their own thoughts.
In the sky above, the new moon was like a hook. On the ground, the chaotic mountains were like dragons. A vein of river water flowed torrentially. People sat in the bright places while distant mountains and nearby trees hid in the dark. Without fierce battle, they were already within the scene. Imagining that bitter battle four hundred years ago—a great fire turned Cao Cao’s towering ambitions to ashes. After this, Cao Wei no longer had the strength to campaign south. It only benefited Sun and Liu. The fine land of nine provinces was forcibly divided into three kingdoms. The population also fell from fifty million at the end of Han to just over seven million.
Yun Ye couldn’t help but slap the deck and say: “Heads hanging before horses, women carried behind carts, white bones exposed in the wild, no cock crowing for a thousand miles, only one in a hundred common people survived—thinking of it breaks one’s heart. Cao Cao deserved death, Zhou Yu deserved death, and that village fellow Zhuge deserved death even more.”
“How so?” Zhangsun’s voice floated over lightly: “Cao Cao holding the Emperor hostage to command the lords—that indeed deserves death. But Zhou Yu in his youth was heroic and accomplished—shouldn’t he be a figure you all admire? Why speak of deserving death?”
Yun Ye drained the wine in his cup and said: “Cao Cao lost a battle he shouldn’t have lost. Zhou Yu won a battle he shouldn’t have won. In the end, they gave Liu Bei an opportunity he shouldn’t have had. The result was the deaths of tens of millions of common people. Therefore, they all deserved death.”
Xu Jingzong quietly edged outward a bit. Li Tai simply lay flat on the deck and said: “What can you do about it? The past is like flowing water heading east, never to return. No one can change it. I’m even less willing with what you’re saying—if Cao Wei had won the realm, what would have happened to our family?”
Oh no! How did he always forget that the Li family was one of the Five Barbarian groups? Sure enough, Zhangsun’s voice floated over again: “No restraint on your mouth. I think you’ve become arrogant and forgotten how many bowls of rice you can eat.”
“No, I only pity the Two Qiaos of Jiangdong. That Martial Wei, a hero of his generation, never had the chance to see them—what a great regret. The Bronze Sparrow Terrace was built in vain. Truly, if the east wind hadn’t favored Zhou Yu, the Bronze Sparrow would have locked away the Two Qiaos in deep spring.”
“Sordid!” Zhangsun impatiently turned over and said: “Since you’re in the mood to compose poetry, then compose. You’re capable of putting together verses. Qing Que has always been highly talented, and the Assistant Director is a great scholar who can compose while leaning on his horse. This palace is all ears.”
“What difficulty is there in that? You pity Cao Cao, so I’ll compose a poem refuting him for you to hear: Before the tent, he struck the table to decide great plans. Red Cliff fire ships burned the battle flags. If Cao the Deceiver had been loyal to Han’s house, how would Zhou Yu dare break the imperial army?”
Xu Jingzong clapped his hands in praise, saying: “Your Highness is truly highly talented! ‘If Cao the Deceiver had been loyal to Han’s house, how would Zhou Yu dare break the imperial army’—these two lines fully express the reasons for rise and fall. The ancients said that if the name is not correct, the words will not flow smoothly. Cao Ah Man’s heart of disloyalty in holding the Emperor hostage to command the lords was clear as the sun in the sky. Naturally, the officers and men wouldn’t fight desperately. Zhou Yu held the advantages of timing, terrain, and popular support—how could he not win? Truly a fine poem.”
Zhangsun also spoke in praise, just short of running over to hold her son and kiss him twice. Those female guards also kept cheering. Xu Jingzong’s fawning manner was even more nauseating. That a broken poem, clumsy and unrefined, could elicit such resonance was truly strange.
Seeing the atmosphere had become lively, Xu Jingzong waved his folding fan and also extemporized four lines: “Red Cliff spans the shore overlooking the great river, where Zhou Yu broke Duke Cao. Heaven had already determined the three-part势势, alas that the traitor didn’t know his own measure.”
Sedan chairs are carried by everyone together. Zhangsun naturally understood this principle well. Moreover, Xu Jingzong had blatantly compared Cao Cao to a traitorous hero. The entire poem very much conformed to magnificent righteousness. She ordered someone to record it and praised Xu Jingzong thoroughly.
“Yun Ye, your turn. Compose a good poem. This palace is in an excellent mood today. If you dare ruin this palace’s good mood, just try staying alive.”
Facing Zhangsun’s threat, Yun Ye was completely unconcerned. At worst, he wouldn’t compose those strange poems. But he still had to say something about the Two Qiaos. Du Mu’s poem was good—he’d just borrow it. He’d anticipated this long ago. This evening, Dongyu had found a rusty iron spearhead from the great river for Yun Ye, thinking the marquis wanted to keep a memento. How could she know the marquis simply wanted to make composing poetry convenient? When Du Mu composed this poem, he’d picked up an iron spearhead. He couldn’t not pick one up, or it wouldn’t fit the scene. Composing poetry was all about fitting the scene. Yun Ye took out the iron spearhead, casually wiped it with a cloth, and opened his mouth: “Broken halberd sunk in sand, iron not yet consumed, I polish it myself to recognize the former dynasty. If the east wind hadn’t favored Zhou Yu, the Bronze Sparrow would lock away the Two Qiaos in deep spring.”
“You’re so stuck on the idea of the Two Qiaos you can’t get out, aren’t you? Look—Xinyue, Na Rimu, Lingdang—which one isn’t more beautiful than the Two Qiaos? You’ve gotten three in one go and still aren’t satisfied. How can you still be so lacking in ambition? This palace simply doesn’t believe the Two Qiaos could be beautiful to any great degree. Wu lord Sun Ce’s noble rank was only equivalent to yours. What kind of beauties could he obtain? Lacking ambition.”
Just as Yun Ye was about to defend himself, the sound of gongs and drums came from the distance. A brightly lit giant ship sailed from around the bend. On the deck, shadows moved about. Angry shouts, cursing, the clash of weapons, and palace attendants’ screams merged into one. Most outrageous of all was that there was even the neighing of warhorses. At the bow, a giant man beat a bronze gong until it thundered—who else could it be but Cheng Yaojin?
Zhangsun pressed her temples with a headache. The Emperor’s banquets were always like this—she’d seen them many times. Everyone said imperial wine gatherings should be solemn and dignified, frugal and proper in ceremony. But as long as those military commanders were at the banquet, they would generally turn out like this, ultimately becoming feasting gatherings. The instigator was none other than her imperial husband. He believed only this way could demonstrate that he and his generals were as close as family. This was an aftereffect from leading troops his entire life.
Just as she was preparing to order Dongyu to steer the boat away and keep some distance from them, she heard the Emperor loudly saying: “How did the Empress only just reach this place? I’ve already finished touring and am very pleased. Just wait, I’ll come over right now.”
The Emperor wasn’t wearing ceremonial robes tonight either, just a dark red long robe with the hem tucked into his belt. Who knows whom he’d just been wrestling with. Li Er prided himself as a famous dancer and wrestling expert. Last time when Yun Ye and Yan Zhitui randomly struck bells and were discovered by Li Er, he gained another beautiful reputation of “when the tune is off, His Majesty looks over.” So at every banquet, he would sing and dance, especially loving to sing “Walk this way, walk that way, just drink golden goblet wine. Walk this way, walk that way, just seeking flowers and willows”—such lewd and vulgar lyrics. Ever since Yun Ye sang it once when drunk, it became his.