Jinting Han people

Sima Yun, King of Huainan, entered the capital at the beginning of summer in April.

Before the sun could blaze, the dark clouds of plum rain had already settled over Mangshan, threatening to cast a chill at any moment. The ground began to steam, and even though it hadn't rained yet, the roads and land had already become muddy.

As a vassal king appointed by the late emperor himself, and the only powerful vassal king that the current court could not control, the court showed great respect for him and sent the Secretary-General Chen Zhun and Duke of Lu Jia Mi to Chenggao Pass to welcome him early. According to the prior arrangement, they first went to Junyang Mausoleum to pay homage to the late emperor, and then went to the Taimiao to offer sacrifices to the ancestors and the country.

By the time the citizens of Luoyang saw the Huainan King's troops, it was already dusk. There weren't many people on the streets to begin with, but when they saw the Huainan King's flags and troops, they were all shocked. Word spread quickly, and everyone rushed to the streets to catch a glimpse of the Huainan King.

The reason why people came to watch was simply because King Huainan's team was too unique.

Sima Yun, King of Huainan, clad in crimson military uniform, rode at the front on a large, dark-red horse. Everyone observed his face. The Sima family's distinctive deep eye sockets, with a pair of dark pupils, resembled a lone wolf in the night. His features were regular, his skin was fair, and a hint of light-rooted stubble bordered his cheeks and chin, exuding a handsome and dignified air.

Behind him, a thousand warriors dressed in white, holding swords in their arms and wearing conical hats on their heads, walked in groups on the streets like ghosts. It was as if a heavy snow had fallen out of nowhere, bringing a chill to Luoyang.

A discerning person said, "These people seem to be swordsmen."

Someone laughed and said, "Of course he's a swordsman. Anyone with eyes can see that. Do I need you to tell me?"

The man shook his head and said, "These people are different. They are not the kind of people who just hang swords to show off. They seem to be veterans who have killed people before. I'm afraid they have killed more than one person."

Perhaps to dampen their arrogance, or perhaps for some other reason, as the Huainan prince's troops passed through the horse market, four or five frightened, unsaddled horses bolted from the street. Many onlookers gathered nearby, and as the unmanned horses approached with such frenzied abandon, the crowd retreated in panic, like the receding tide. As the horses neared the Huainan prince's troops, the swordsmen showed no sign of alarm, continuing their slow, steady pace with an air of composure and experience.

A swordsman behind them suddenly stopped in his tracks. As his horse approached, he leaned sideways and suddenly drew his sword. The blade sliced through the air like a dragon. In an instant, the galloping horse's head was severed. The horse collapsed to the ground with a thud, blood gushing out in a stream, emitting a nauseating steed. He promptly reeled in his sword and returned to the group, his body unstained by a single stain of blood.

After losing the leading horse, the horses behind also woke up. They stood still, sizing up the swordsman team with fear, and then began to retreat subconsciously. The onlookers saw this and were amazed at the man's swordsmanship and strength.

Sima Yun simply glanced at this incident without showing any emotion. But for the people, this only increased his majesty, making people more awed and admired.

Someone said, "It was like this when His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu came to Beijing! It feels like it was just yesterday."

"Yes, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu is a good man. When the Luoyang Palace was lending money, he was the only one who didn't charge interest! Who knew that he would end up like this?"

Indeed, the scene of Sima Yun's arrival in the capital was hard not to recall the scene following the death of Emperor Wu, Sima Yan. At that time, King Sima Wei of Chu had come to mourn, also visiting the Chongyang Mausoleum and accompanied by a thousand guards, terrifying the regents, the Three Yangs. The two men were brothers, and the similarities in their circumstances inevitably evoked unpleasant associations.

"I heard that His Royal Highness the Prince of Huainan is here to visit His Royal Highness the Prince of Qinghe who is seriously ill! What a deep brotherly love!"

"Hush! Be careful with your words! Aren't His Royal Highness the Prince of Huainan and His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu brothers?"

Although the King of Huainan had just arrived in Luoyang and had not yet made any statement, even passers-by could guess his thoughts and imagine what would happen in Luoyang next.

In today's turbulent political situation, the King of Huainan will probably not maintain peace, but will make some more extreme choices.

In fact, the imperial court shared this sentiment. On the day the Prince of Huainan arrived, the Empress issued an edict ordering all palace guards to be dispatched to greet Sima Yun. The Inspector of the Imperial Capital, the Inspector of Henan, the Inspector of the City Gates, and the Magistrate of Luoyang all led their troops to a standstill, enforcing martial law. Ostensibly, this was a gesture of respect, but in reality, it was more of a demonstration and warning to the Prince of Huainan.

But in the face of such threats, Sima Yun remained calm. He led the crowd into the palace calmly, and then entered the court alone to pay homage to the emperor and the empress.

Accompanying him were all the high-ranking officials on duty in the palace, such as Chen Zhun, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Zhang Hua, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Jia Mi, the Minister of the Secretariat, Sima Rong, the Minister of the Left Pei Wei, Liu Song, the Minister of Personnel, Jia Mo, the Minister of the Court, Wang Rong, Wang Yan, the General of the Northern Army, and Sima Lun, the General of the Cavalry.

It was already night, and the court ceremony was drawing to a close. On such a significant occasion, the ceremony could be officially concluded with a few pleasantries, a meal together, and a basic sense of decorum.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Sima Yun suddenly asked, "When does the Queen plan to hand over power to the Crown Prince?"

This statement came without warning and completely caught everyone present off guard. Everyone in the rear party was in a state of panic. After a long while, Zhang Hua finally replied:
"Your Highness, why do you say that? The world belongs to Your Majesty, not to the Empress or the Crown Prince. I don't understand the so-called return of power."

Sima Yun stared at Zhang Hua for a moment, then said firmly, "This is our family affair. How can a poor scholar like you have the right to interfere?"

Then he turned to the Queen and asked, "Please tell me, Queen, when do you plan to hand over power to the Crown Prince?"

After these words, the Queen's face turned pale, and Zhang Hua's face was even more miserable. But the Queen couldn't help but reply, so she followed Zhang Hua's words and said, "Why do you say that, Your Highness? All government affairs are now handled by Your Majesty. What do they have to do with me?"

Upon hearing this, Sima Yun immediately turned to the emperor and asked, "Your Majesty, is what the Queen said true?"

The emperor glanced at the empress and said hesitantly, "Ninth brother, you worry too much. Every day the empress hands me a memorial, and I always read it before affixing my seal."

"So, there is nothing that is not sealed?"

"No, no, didn't the Emperor say that? We should listen to others' opinions and not act arbitrarily. I've always kept that in mind! These days, I've affixed my seal to all documents signed by the three provinces."

“Who brought the documents?”

"Of course the Queen brought it."

After the brothers finished their conversation, Sima Yun looked at the Queen and the high-ranking officials who were accompanying her in the court and sneered:
"Is this what the Queen meant by not being a regent? You don't think I'm a three-year-old child, do you?"

Such remarks made the atmosphere tense and tense. Pei Wei stood up again and said:
"Your Highness, why must you do this? Since ancient times, husbands and wives have supported each other. Isn't that natural? What's the point of being a regent or not?"

Pei Wei was one of the Eight Founding Dukes, a prominent member of the Jin Dynasty's aristocratic family. Sima Yun couldn't tell him to shut up, but he continued to look at him coldly and asked, "You are talking to me about ancient times. Don't you know that the harem's interference in politics, this kind of internal affairs outside the palace, is often a sign of national disaster?"

Pei Wei answered immediately, "During the Later Han Dynasty, Emperor He of Han was seriously ill and unable to govern. He allowed Empress Deng to be in charge of external court affairs, and this did no harm. The Empress made decisive decisions at the right time and quelled the rebellions one after another. Wasn't this also a great contribution to the country? Your Highness, please don't make such an inappropriate analogy and hurt the harmony between brother and sister-in-law."

"Now that the Crown Prince has reached adulthood, why doesn't the Queen return power to him?"

"If a son were to plot against his father while he was still alive, wouldn't that be a violation of human ethics?"

"If a father is old and sick, and a son manages the family business and supports him, how can this be against moral principles?"

"..."

The two sides debated back and forth for several rounds. It must be said that Pei Wei was indeed a prodigy in debate. No matter which angle Sima Yun attacked from, Pei Wei was always able to quote classics and find a rebuttal in the first place, which greatly relieved the pressure on everyone present.

Sima Yun had no intention of engaging in such a verbal debate. His purpose was merely to exert pressure. Seeing that he could not defeat Pei Wei, he pursed his lips, sneered in public, pointed at Pei Wei and said:

"Justice is in the hearts of the people. If one could distort right and wrong by just talking, then Jia Chong would have become a loyal minister to the Wei Dynasty."

After these words were spoken, everyone present's faces changed. This was an ironclad accusation. The Empress's followers, already harboring suspicions, were completely at a loss for words. The Empress and Jia Mi, descendants of Jia Chong, were especially enraged. One's face was as gloomy as water, and the other was trembling all over.

But no matter what, the sudden attack by the King of Huainan at least did not defeat the Hou party head-on, and the court meeting ended in displeasure.

At the same time, the Prince of Huainan's questioning once again put the Empress Dowager's faction at the center of public controversy, and they were completely helpless. Firstly, the topic of the Prince of Huainan could not be discussed in public, so everyone had to pretend nothing had happened. Secondly, they did not dare to release the Prince of Huainan back to Yangzhou. If he led the people in rebellion, the court would be completely powerless to stop him.

So, on the whole, Sima Yun had already won the public opinion war in this court, and the party behind him had no power to fight back.

This blatant intensification of conflict also greatly emboldened the prince's faction and the imperial clan. Some who were still tempted by the idea of the Northern Expedition General, seeing the political situation enter a new phase, began to calm down and continue to wait and see how the situation developed. After all, if the queen's faction could not control the situation, then the promise would be invalid.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, everyone wanted to know what move the King of Huainan would make next.

But Sima Yun was not in a hurry. On the second day after arriving in Beijing, he went to the Qinghe Prince's mansion to visit his seriously ill brother as promised.

Sima Xia, the Prince of Qinghe, was now terminally ill. Although he was only twenty-eight years old, when Sima Yun saw him, this prince, once renowned for his handsome appearance and extraordinary spirit, had become emaciated.

Sima Xia was alarmingly thin. Despite being one of the most important vassal kings in the country, he looked like a starving corpse. Lying on the couch, one could clearly see the indentations of his finger and wrist bones, as if the connection between the bones wasn't flesh but a layer of yellow yarn woven from spiderwebs.

When Sima Yun held Sima Xia's hand, it felt so light it seemed weightless, yet he could clearly feel the weak pulsation in his blood. Looking at his brother's face, it was completely sallow, like a corpse.

It was noon at this time. Princess Zhou of Qinghe brought over a bowl of porridge, carefully helped Sima Xia up, and then fed him spoonful by spoonful. After feeding him only half a bowl, Sima Xia started coughing and couldn't eat anymore.

Seeing this, Sima Yun was extremely distressed. He asked Zhou, "Has Thirteenth Brother always eaten so little?"

Zhou shook her head slightly, frowning as she replied, "Brother Jiu, I have no other options. Over the years, I've often advised Shen Shen to eat more and take care of his health. But it's no use. He just can't eat, and can only eat porridge. If he adds even a hint of meat, he'll vomit it out. I've had no choice but to think of some way to add more herbs to nourish him. Other than that, I have no other options."

"What exactly is Thirteenth Brother's illness? Did the doctor tell me?"

"The palace doctor said that this is due to excessive worry and depression, but I have tried every possible way, but I can't make him let go of his worries... I, I really have no other choice. Please don't blame me, Brother Nine!"

After saying this, Zhou wiped her tears with her sleeves and sobbed. Sima Yun finally persuaded her to leave.

In the face of his wife's crying, the seriously ill prince did not say a word, just staring at the ceiling, like a puppet, seemingly without any emotion.

After his wife left, Sima Xia finally spoke. He greeted Sima Yun and said slowly, "Ninth Brother, you haven't changed at all. That's great."

Sima Yun said, "You have lost weight. There is no need to do this. Treating yourself so badly is just to please the Queen."

Sima Xia slowly shook his head. He turned his gaze to Sima Yun and said blankly, "I just remember the time when you, me, and my fifth brother played around together and stole treasures from my fourth uncle (Prince of Runan). How happy we were back then!"

"But in the blink of an eye, everything has changed except you. My fifth brother and I have become criminals of the Great Jin Dynasty."

"My fourth uncle's ghost haunts me every day. He talks to me every night. He says that people are born with sin, which is why they grow old and die. People should reflect on their sins every day and then forget them. This way, they can wash away their sins and return to their past."

At this point, Sima Xia showed a burst of ecstasy, and he asked repeatedly:
"Nine Brother, did you succeed? Can you tell me how you did it? I've tried so hard until now, but I still can't forget the past. Fourth Uncle said that was the last step. As long as the thought is firm enough, everything will be reversed, but I still can't take that step."

Sima Xia continued to talk to himself, while Sima Yun was speechless. He had assumed Sima Xia was too sad to eat or drink. However, he hadn't expected Sima Xia to be mentally repressed, but rather insane, unable to even communicate normally.

Sadness was like a cold fog, covering all of Sima Yun's emotions. He could only hold Sima Xia's hand and silently said in his heart:

"Deep, I don't know if you are guilty or not, but some people do deserve it, and they will all pay the price for it."

After a day of companionship, the King of Huainan formally went to the Eastern Palace to pay his respects to the Crown Prince Sima Yi. This was a signal that a new round of political struggle in Luoyang had officially begun. (End of this chapter)