Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 653 Harem Bet
Cao Rui nodded: "Pei Qing, take him away. You will be the one who arranges the seal officer. Go and ask Prince Yongqiu to get the ships for the voyage. You will come back to me later."

"Yes, I obey your order." After Pei Qian took Lu Ya away, he returned after about a quarter of an hour.

It was getting dark by then.

Cao Rui asked, "Lu Ya, can this be accomplished? Pei Qing, what do you think?"

Pei Qian shook his head slightly: "Your Majesty, I don't think so."

"So you're worried that it won't work?" Cao Rui asked back.

"Yes." Pei Qian said carefully, "Whether the pirates can surrender or not does not depend on the price offered by the court, but on the character of the leader."

"If the leader of the bandits is of a decent character and seeks to maintain stability, it would be easy for him to surrender. But if he is the kind of leader who is arrogant and self-centered, I'm afraid he won't come even if the court recruits him."

Cao Rui said calmly: "It's just a casual move. If he succeeds, it will be a good thing. If he fails, it will only cost a few seals and a ship."

"If the Lu family hadn't had this incident, I might have been agonizing over the selection of the navy commander. Now I'm not agonizing anymore. This matter should be handled by Lu Boyan, and he has to be the one!"

Pei Qian nodded: "Six years of courtesy, even a person with a heart as hard as stone should be grateful for your majesty's kindness. I also think it is feasible. However, such an important position should still be discussed with the cabinet."

Cao Rui said, "That's right. I will go and talk to the cabinet. Pei Qing should go back as soon as possible. I will also return to the harem."

"As you wish." Pei Qian responded.

Shouchun, in the palace, inside the bedroom.

On the ten-foot-wide couch, Cao Rui lay leisurely, leaning against the cushion. On his left, Sun Luban leaned in his arms, her eyes like spring water, her skin like cream, and her body even more graceful than when they first met many years ago.

Sun Luban smiled and said, "I made a bet with my sisters about who His Majesty would call to sleep with him first after he came back from his tour in the south. In the end, I won."

Cao Rui teased, "You made a bet? Could it be that all five of you made a bet? What was the bet?"

Sun Luban said in a greasy voice: "Yes, all five of them bet, and each bet an oriental pearl."

Cao Rui could not help but be a little surprised: "You are really rich. Buyeo Kingdom just paid tribute to us, and we only got a hundred pearls in total. Excluding those stored in the treasury, and those given to the Queen Mother and rewarded to ministers, each of you only got one. You gambled it away like this?"

Sun Luban smiled softly and said, "My concubine and I are staying in Shouchun Palace. What else can we do except wait for my husband to come back? It's just a pearl. I have many more in my dowry."

Cao Rui shook his head. If Sun Luban had not said it, he would have almost forgotten that the woman next to him was the wealthiest woman in the Wei harem. After all, when Sun Quan gave her a dowry, he had tried his best to make her look respectable.

Cao Rui said: "Speaking of dowry, I think of something else. I guess your father must have killed Lu Xun's brother."

"Ah?" Sun Luban's eyes widened slightly. "How could this happen? Didn't Your Majesty tell me before that Lu Mao was the Shangshu? How could he be killed?"

Cao Rui shrugged slightly: "How would I know? In addition to Lu Mao, Gu Yong has also been in bad luck recently, and there is also your sister Xiaohu and your brother-in-law..."

As an emperor, Cao Rui did not often talk about state affairs with the harem, but whenever he encountered something related to the Wu Kingdom, he would still chat with Sun Luban. The emperor also needed someone to chat with. After hearing this, Sun Luban couldn't help shaking her head: "Xiaohu was a soft-hearted person when she was young. How come she is still like this after getting married? Political affairs are not something a princess like her can get involved in. My father will never harm her. She will be fine after being locked up for a while."

Cao Rui could tell that he had just talked so much with Sun Luban, but this woman was only talking about her own sister and did not mention anyone else. She was particularly aware of the limits.

Cao Rui stroked Sun Luban's arm and whispered, "I'll tell you something. My ministers and I have already made a plan to attack Wu in the ninth year of Taihe, with an army of 250,000."

Sun Luban suddenly raised her head and looked at Cao Rui for a few moments, but then buried her face in Cao Rui's chest, shaking left and right like a spoiled child: "I have already said that I am married, and what can I do if my husband wants to do something to my father?"

Cao Rui said: "It's better to talk to you about it."

Sun Luban, on the other hand, said jokingly: "I can't handle state affairs, but I can still handle some things."

As soon as she finished speaking, Sun Luban crawled into the quilt, and her pretty face, which was pressed against Cao Rui's chest, moved downwards.

Cao Rui took a deep breath and shouted loudly: "Zhao Jie, turn off the lights!"

The palace maid waiting outside responded weakly, walked in quietly, pulled down the curtains at the head of the bed, and extinguished the oil lamps in the room one by one, leaving only two small lamps.

The next day, at noon, in the study.

Looking at the ministers sitting on the chairs in the study, Cao Rui looked refreshed and asked loudly:
"When I was inspecting the south earlier, you mentioned to me the matter of appointing a crown prince. I therefore conferred two titles on them and asked cabinet ministers to serve as royal tutors, but the matter has never been finalized."

"I would like to ask first, why do you want to bring up the matter of appointing a crown prince now?"

While Cao Rui was saying this, his eyes were already on Sima Yi. The other three, Cao Zhen, Dong Zhao, and Chen Jiao, also looked at Sima Yi at the same time.

There's nothing we can do. Don't blame everyone for disregarding the friendship between colleagues. After all, you were the one who brought up this matter first!
Sima Yi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I raised this matter out of consideration for the country. I recall your Majesty's past experiences in the palace, which were not easy. During the Jian'an period, when the late emperor had not yet become the crown prince of Wei, his struggle with the King of Yongqiu was still bumpy, and he did not become the heir until he was only thirty years old."

"Your Majesty, the royal family is the foundation of the Great Wei, and the crown prince is the heir to the throne. He is also the most important person in the world. He and Your Majesty are both father and son, and one body. Now that the crown prince is naturally intelligent, the Minister of Rites has also written a letter praising him, so I just remembered this matter."

Cao Rui nodded calmly: "There is nothing wrong with what Sikong said just now. When the late emperor and King Yongqiu fought each other, it was the great general, Sikong and Situ who helped him and gradually won the heart of Emperor Wu. I know all these things. It was indeed difficult for me in the Qiandi back then, and this is also a fact."

"The problem is." Cao Rui's voice became heavier. "Cao Qi is only six years old now. Although he is smart, what can he see? Examples from ancient times to the present are all here. There are advantages and disadvantages to appointing a crown prince early. In short, it is an unsolvable problem. But if the prime minister did not mention this matter, and the whole court did not mention this matter, it would be possible to get away with it. But today, the prime minister said it, so how can I not ask? How can the court officials not think about it?"

"From my point of view, it is Sikong who is wrong."

Sima Yi was stunned for a moment. He thought the emperor would either agree or oppose, but he did not expect the emperor to be so determined to temporarily muddle through the issue of establishing a crown prince! This was beyond Sima Yi's expectations.

Sima Yi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, this is my fault. I am willing to accept the punishment!"

Cao Rui shook his head: "It's not a matter of accepting the punishment or not. Since the problem is in front of everyone, I can't just turn a blind eye. How about this, let each of the officials above 2,000 stone in the court and the governors of each state write a letter to say whether this matter is good or bad, and what to do. Isn't this more appropriate?"

(End of this chapter)