Jinting Han people

Chapter 127 Cao Shangrou Cries in the Eastern Palace (5k)

The time when Liu Xian was in prison can be said to be the most difficult time in Cao Shangrou's life.

To be honest, she had anticipated this day as early as after Liu Xian offended Jia Mi. After all, Duke Lu was known to the world for his tyranny.

As a child, Shang Rou had heard her father talk about how Jia Mi had a servant who had lost one of his chess pieces, and then he had the servant eat a box of chess pieces, causing the man to die of pain. She had forgotten about the incident, but when Liu Xian said he had offended Jia Mi, she immediately remembered it, and a chill ran down her spine.

But she never expressed this worry, instead hiding it deeply. Shang Rou knew that worry was essentially a form of contempt, and for a youth as ambitious as Liu Xian, contempt was undoubtedly the most unacceptable and the most likely to dampen his spirit. The reason the Duke of Juancheng valued Liu Xian back then was simply because of his unwavering determination to face any hardship.

Therefore, what Shang Rou usually provides to Liu Xian is understanding and dependence, and she uses her love to make Liu Xian's edge more concentrated and his sword strokes more cautious.

As time passed, Shang Rou had almost forgotten the grudge between her husband and Jia Mi. She was also delighted to discover some encouraging changes in her husband. She didn't know why, but he had become more tolerant and patient than before, yet still genuine, gradually revealing a new kind of charm that made people happy to be close to him and couldn't stop.

If he continues to move forward, Liu Xian will surely become a very remarkable person!
Late at night, Shang Rou would glance at her husband's sleeping face and suddenly imagine: What earth-shattering things would he do in the future? How would he be judged by the world? And as his wife, how could I help him?
Liu Xian would probably never know that while he was asleep, his wife was thinking about these things in her mind.

Shangrou was also unwilling to accept the status quo. She actually wanted to be more prominent and do more, but in those days, there was no way to do that. Women could not realize their own value. Cao Shangrou, who grew up listening to the deeds of Cao Cao and Cao Rui, could only pin her yearning for heroes on her husband.

But after Liu Xian was imprisoned, Shang Rou couldn't help but discover with panic that the life she thought would last forever was actually so fragile.

After just one night, she might lose her husband forever. Thinking of this, even though Shang Rou tried her best to control her emotions, she finally failed. On the way to the East Palace, loneliness and solitude enveloped her, and then she cried.

This was a deeply undignified act. Not only did Liu Xian never let anyone see his tears, but Shang Rou did too. It was just that she suffered more, as tears were a woman's indispensable weapon. But precisely because of this, she didn't want anyone to see her, wanting to prove she was different from other women. Only in this shadow, where no one could see, could she indulge herself like this.

But as she was crying, the ox cart she was riding in gradually stopped. Then Shang Rou heard Zhu Fu outside the cart say, "Young Madam, Young Madam...someone is looking for you..."

Shang Rou quickly wiped away her tears, tidied her appearance, and then asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Who is it?"

"it's me."

A young man opened the carriage door, revealing a familiar and stern face. Shang Rou couldn't help but smile with joy when she saw it, and her worries were also relieved by a third. She whispered, "Second brother!"

It turned out that the person who came was Cao Guang. Two years ago, Cao Zhi died of illness, and he inherited the title of Duke of Juancheng. Now he is the Imperial Secretary and Yellow Gate Minister. Although he no longer has the connections that his father had in Luoyang, he can still be considered a top figure.

When Shang Rou saw her brother coming to see her, she was extremely happy for a moment. After all, before she got married, the only people she could rely on were her father and brother.

She quickly stood up and wanted to get out of the car to greet him, but Cao Guang had already come in, so she had to sit down again, feeling a little flustered for a moment.

"Second brother, why are you here?"

"I heard about your husband's situation, so I wanted to come see you, but I didn't expect to run into you on the way."

After hearing her brother's words, Shang Rou felt a warm feeling in her heart. It seems that the affection between brothers and sisters can never be severed no matter what.

She heard Cao Guang ask again: "Where are you going?"

Shang Rou had nothing to hide from her brother, so she answered honestly, "To the East Palace."

"To ask the prince for mercy?"

"Yeah." Shang Rou nodded. She raised her head and looked at her brother with hopeful eyes, hoping that he would support and care for her unconditionally like he did in her childhood.

Unexpectedly, Cao Guang's next words poured cold water on her face. He said, "Don't do this kind of useless work. I'm here to take you home."

"Go home?" Shang Rou looked at her brother in disbelief.

Cao Guang ignored his sister's unhappy expression and continued, "Your Excellency is foolish to have chosen such a marriage for you. Liu Huai Chong is a man with high aspirations but a fragile life. He was born in the Anle Mansion, but he acts arrogantly every day and demands things that don't belong to him. This will bring disaster to you..."

"How can you say that, second brother?!"

"I have to say this! Duke Lu just sent me a message saying that he will go to Anle Mansion next. If I don't take you back now, you will be implicated!"

"Second brother, do you want me to divorce Huai Chong?"

"Yes! Come with me right now. Once Liu Xian dies, I will find you a good family."

Shang Rou really doubted her own hearing. She hadn't considered her family's situation, so until now, she hadn't said a word to ask her brother for help. But she never expected that her brother would be so heartless, and just because of a word from Jia Mi, he couldn't wait to let her leave her husband.

This made her sad again, and she asked in a hoarse voice, "Am I just a puppet that can be moved around at will in my brother's heart?"

Cao Guang understood her thoughts and continued to comfort her, saying, "Some things are not something you and I can decide. I don't want to interfere in your life, but this concerns your life. As your brother, I have to make the decision for you, even if you blame me..."

As they were talking, the carriage had fallen into silence. Cao Guang looked at Shang Rou, while Shang Rou lowered her head and looked at the wood under her feet.

After a long moment, Shang Rou took a deep breath and finally said, "Go down."

"what?"

"Second brother, get down!"

"A Luo..."

"There's nothing much to say." Shang Rou raised her head, her eyes gleaming as she spoke. "If a piece of wood that's been shaved into a cart shaft is planted back in a flower field, can it ever bloom again?"

"..."

"I don't blame you for not helping me, but I'm no longer the immature A'Luo you saw. I'm now the wife of Prince Anle. I'm going to see the prince and ask him to save my husband. Could you please, Duke Juancheng, please step out of the carriage for courtesy?"

It was the first time that Cao Guang saw his sister treat him with such an attitude. He had originally made up his mind to take his sister away no matter what, but now, he was shocked by a firm will. He had never thought that A Luo, who he had always thought was well-behaved and cute, would say such words, so that he had no idea what to say to his sister. In the end, he could only get off the car with a grim face and said nothing.

Cao Shangrou did not try to persuade Zhu Fu to stay. After closing the curtains, she ordered Zhu Fu to continue driving towards the Eastern Palace.

At this moment, listening to the rumbling sound of the wheels, Shang Rou couldn't help but feel sad. She suddenly realized that time, like the wheels, had unknowingly transformed her into a different person, separating her from her family.

But she felt no regrets. Her initial fears were dispelled by her brother's admonitions, and she became calmer and wiser. She knew that this was Jia Mi's psychological warfare against her husband, a way to undermine Liu Xian's self-esteem. The more he did this, the stronger she had to be.

Thinking of this, Shang Rou felt a sense of satisfaction in her heart. She originally thought that her life could only be supported by her husband, but she didn't expect that now, she could become her husband's support. This responsibility made her love turn, as tireless as the wheel under her seat, and just like the creatures on the earth that kept sprouting, blooming and bearing fruit.

She finally understood that only tireless love and calm concern are a wife's true joy.

Originally, she was a little nervous about facing the prince, but now, she has no regrets.

After Shang Rou arrived at the Eastern Palace, she presented Liu Xian, the Crown Prince's Left Guard Commander, with her seal and ribbon, and requested an audience with the Crown Prince. This surprised the Eastern Palace guards. After all, it was rare for a woman to request an audience with the Crown Prince these days, but since it involved Liu Xian, they dared not neglect him. After all, Liu Xian's reputation within the Eastern Palace remained high after the Yang Ji Rebellion.

Soon, a palace maid appeared to lead the way for Shang Rou, and they had no trouble traveling all the way to the main hall of the East Palace. Shang Rou heard music coming from within the hall as she entered. The first thing she saw was a dozen or so hotly dressed Hu girls dancing in the hall like colorful butterflies. This made her blush, and she remembered that Liu Xian had once told her that Crown Prince Sima Yi was a seemingly absurd man, but Shang Rou had never imagined that he would indulge in such sensual pleasures in broad daylight.

Crown Prince Sima Yi sat bare-chested on the throne, his face flushed red, looking as if he had just drunk a lot of wine. His eyes followed Hu Ji's dance, and he was completely amused. It wasn't until Shang Rou stood still in the hall that Jiang Tong, who was standing beside him, reminded him, "Your Highness, Liu Xian's wife, Cao, has arrived."

"Cao?" Sima Yi cast his gaze towards Shang Rou, examining her for a moment. He then put down his wine cup and said to the Hu concubines in the hall, "You can leave first."

He then straightened his clothes slightly and teased Shang Rou in a rather tasteless manner, "I heard Liu Huai Chong say that his wife is a beautiful woman with an oval face, but I've never heard that she has peach blossom eyes?"

This was a joke. Cao Shangrou certainly didn't have a pair of peach blossom eyes. She just shed tears on the way here, and her eyes were red and swollen.

Shang Rou didn't care about Sima Yi's teasing. She just knelt in front of the palace, turned her red and swollen eyes to the prince, and then revealed her sorrow without reservation:

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I am in a hurry and cannot take care of my appearance."

"Appearance..." Sima Yi smiled meaningfully, his demeanor not at all like that of a fourteen-year-old boy. "False appearance is insignificant. It's the appearance that can reflect one's inner feelings, like yours, that can move people."

"So, Madam, what do you want to say to me when you come here?"

"Please save me, Your Highness!"

At this point, Shang Rou knelt in the center of the hall and bowed deeply to Sima Yi. She then recounted Liu Xian's story and pleaded, "My husband is usually upright and honest. Simply because he refused to submit to others and wanted to fulfill his loyalty as a subject, he was forcibly imprisoned and not even allowed to visit him!"

"I have no other options left. I can only come to the East Palace to beg Your Highness for help..."

When she said this, tears welled up in her eyes again.

After listening to Shang Rou, Sima Yi remained silent for a long time, as if an eternity had passed. He finally said, "Madam is a sentimental person. I originally wanted to tell you a few jokes to get over this matter, but now it seems that it was a bit disrespectful."

"But if I were to tell the truth to my wife, I couldn't say it."

This sentence implied a rejection, which made Shang Rou feel a little desperate. She whispered, "Your Highness can't protect Huai Chong?"

Sima Yi smiled bitterly and said, "Of course not. If I come forward, I can protect Huai Chong."

“But if I save Huai Chong, I’m afraid I won’t be able to save myself when the time comes.”

This sentence was difficult to understand, and Shang Rou looked at Sima Yi in confusion.

"You should know my reputation, right?"

"..."

"Don't worry, this should be a well-known absurdity. I'm afraid everyone will laugh at me for wasting my time and failing to teach."

"But it's not that I like doing this, it's that I have no other choice, you know?"

"Huai Chong is wary of Jia Mi, but why shouldn't I be wary of the woman behind Jia Mi?"

Cao Shangrou hesitated and asked, "Do you mean... the Queen?"

"Haha, I didn't mention that!" Sima Yi threw his head back and laughed, his expression indicating that it was indeed the case. He said, "In short, there was a woman who hated anyone who could threaten her power, especially those who were strict and had a good reputation and could win people's hearts. For ordinary people, she would simply suppress them and prevent them from getting promoted. But for a prince like me who would inherit the throne in the future, if I even showed any sign of that tendency, the knife of death would be on the way."

"So I have no choice. I must learn to be absurd, learn to go against the right path, learn to indulge in lust in broad daylight, and learn to be ungrateful. As long as I want to live and live to inherit the throne."

"..."

Shang Rou understood. The Crown Prince's bizarre actions over the years were actually a way of keeping a low profile. He was imitating the actions of King Zhuang of Chu before he came to power. Under the guise of absurd behavior, he was actually paying attention to who in the court were loyal, virtuous, and treacherous. Then, after ascending to the throne, he would make a splash.

This matter concerns the future of the crown prince and even the entire Eastern Palace. If the crown prince were to come forward to guarantee Liu Xian at this time, all the previous efforts would probably be wasted.

After understanding the reason, Shang Rou felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. She didn't know how to convince the prince, so she just hoped, "I don't dare ask Your Highness to bail me out, but I just hope you can ask the court official to let me visit him twice a day. Is that not enough?"

This decision would affect his subordinates' perception of him. Sima Yi was actually very conflicted. He closed his eyes and thought for a long time, but finally shook his head and said, "I'm afraid not. This is not enough to impress me..."

"But, but I have nothing left except a loving heart..."

At this point, Shang Rou finally lost control of her emotions and began to sob excitedly. Her shoulders trembled, her voice became garbled, and tears dripped down her face.

"Please accept my love's heart... my love's heart..."

Her cries were so sad that they echoed in the empty hall, making people feel upset and unable to sit still.

Although she didn't want to cry, her woman's instinct made her use this last weapon.

Sima Yi stood up involuntarily and paced back and forth in his seat. Faced with such pure crying, he felt very envious. Because since Sima Yan's death, no one had been willing to cry for him for a long time.

Jiang Tong, standing by, whispered, "Your Highness, you're getting married soon, so help Huai Chong. As the saying goes, a family that accumulates good deeds will surely have good fortune. Perhaps your relationship with the Crown Princess is also due to this!"

Sima Yi had just received news that Wang Yan had broken off the engagement, saying that he was marrying the original Crown Princess Wang Jingfeng to Jia Mi and Wang Jingfeng's sister Wang Huifeng to Sima Yi instead. Sima Yi was extremely angry about this, but he could do nothing about it, so he invited a group of Hu girls to the East Palace to dance in broad daylight to relieve his anger at Wang Yan's coldness.

But after seeing such pure feelings before his eyes, Sima Yi couldn't help but be moved.

No matter how eccentric and absurd his behavior was, he was only fourteen years old after all and still yearned for love and marriage. If he personally ruined such a marriage, Sima Yi felt that he would feel guilty for the rest of his life.

"Liu Huaichong, Liu Huaichong, you are so lucky!"

Sima Yi sighed deeply and ordered Jiang Tong, "Send a few men to push down the railings in front of the hall."

"Ah?" This request left Jiang Tong and others confused.

"Don't you understand what I'm saying?" Sima Yi stamped his foot and said, "Push the railings down, then spill a pool of chicken blood underneath, and then go outside and say that Liu Xian's wife, Cao, cried so hard that the railings of the East Palace collapsed! The stone steps are bleeding!"

"I was quite shocked by what I saw. I thought of Shen Baoxu weeping in the Qin court and Meng Jiangnu weeping at the Great Wall. I believed there must be a great injustice, so I agreed to all of Cao's requests! Then, you will go to the Imperial Court to see Liu Xian, and prepare two meals a day! Do you understand?!"

After Jiang Tong and the others hurried out, Sima Yi said to Cao Shangrou, "I'll send someone to take care of this matter and make sure Liu Huai Chong is alright. From now on, don't get too involved. Jia Mi is a man of unscrupulous intent, and I'm afraid he might plot something bad against you."

"As for your lover's heart, I accept it, and I hope you will never throw it away."

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(End of this chapter)