Chapter 1 Who are they? Xuan and Xi 6. Hidden Bow
As I walked past Dai Ang, I whispered, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness."
Dai Ang stepped aside and shouted in a low voice without revealing his feelings: "Noble Yin is here——"
I took a deep breath, moved lightly, and walked inside. There was no sound of people in the hall, only the rustling of sleeves, and people kneeling one after another. Some of the lower-ranking officials even avoided their seats and prostrated themselves on the ground.
His eyes moved and swept across, taking in all the expressions of the crowd. Except for the three highest-ranking officials, all the ministers in Nanyang, headed by Deng Yu, prostrated themselves on the ground. The generals in Hebei either knelt or bowed. Geng Yan knelt first and then stepped away from the seat, slowly bowing his head.
I was not surprised and shifted my attention to Dou Rong and Liang Tong. Liang Tong looked at Dou Rong, and Dou Rong's eyes drifted away, and finally he slowly lowered himself to the table.
I raised the corners of my lips in satisfaction and walked through the ministers. Before I reached the emperor, Liu Xiu, who was sitting on the high couch, had already stood up.
"Your concubine Yin Ji pays homage to you..."
The ceremony was only halfway through when Liu Xiu suddenly took a step forward and held my arm.
I looked up suspiciously, but unexpectedly found that pair of clear eyes like water were looking at me brightly.
"What's wrong...is there something wrong with my face?" I subconsciously reached out to wipe my face, but he grabbed my wrist.
"No, not at all." He suddenly lowered his head and sneered, pulling my hand and motioning me to sit next to him.
I looked and saw that Empress Guo Shengtong was sitting on his left, and although the couch on his right was empty, it was seated side by side with the Emperor and Empress.
I paused, and glanced at Liu Xiu. He squinted his eyes and ignored me. He calmly turned his head and whispered to the queen. I took a deep breath, and finally took a step forward, holding up my skirt and sitting on it.
My back was straight, and there had never been a moment like this where my sitting posture was so standard, impeccable, elegant and perfect. My hands were placed on my knees, my fingers were pointed, white and slender, and I looked at my carefully trimmed long nails, which were painted with red, and there was a compelling power in the bright red, as if it spread through my fingertips to my whole body.
I closed my eyes, opened them , and slowly raised my head, with a confident smile on my lips. I looked at everyone present.
The Nanyang clan generals all had a smile on their faces, while the Hebei generals looked unhappy, and some even glared at me angrily. I just pretended not to see it. Hundreds of people gathered together, and looking around, more people were lost in thought.
I looked around and was about to look back when I suddenly felt a strange gaze staring at me. I looked up and was stunned.
There was a layer of deep confusion and melancholy in those strange eyes, which suddenly seemed to bring me back to more than ten years ago, and my breath seemed to freeze at this moment.
I was a little embarrassed, biting my lip and smiling at him implicitly, but Deng Yu seemed to be distracted, staring at me blankly from a distance of 70 meters. My ears were burning, and my teeth left teeth marks on my lips, but he was still in a trance. Li Yuelong, who was sitting at the same table with him, seemed to have noticed something, and glanced at her husband a few times, but did not dare to look in my direction, but just called Deng Yu with her lips.
"Yi-Hung--" There was a vibration of the strings of a zither in the hall, followed by the simultaneous playing of bells, chimes, and stringed instruments.
I lowered my head and took a long breath, but my heart began to feel uneasy.
"When you first came into the palace, I was thinking..." Liu Xiu suddenly leaned close to me and whispered in a voice as soft as cotton. His voice was very low, but it was not covered by the long music. It penetrated into my ears, mixed with a kind of tingling.
"What is your Majesty thinking about?" After waiting for a long time and seeing that he didn't continue speaking, I couldn't help but look up at him.
His face was handsome and thin, with fine lines at the corners of his eyes. His eyes were clear as water, and the surface of the water was as calm as a mirror, but there was an unspeakable undercurrent hidden deep under the water. It was rare to see him not smiling, but it was also rare to see him smiling so hard that even the undercurrent in his eyes would ripple with joy.
"I vaguely felt that you were still the innocent girl sitting on the window railing. I seemed to...hear you shouting, Liu Xiu, come out...When I realized what was happening, I actually stood up like I did back then..."
I sneered, and after I finished laughing, I slowly came to understand the deeper meaning of it, and my eyes couldn't help but become wet.
"Liu Xiu—come out!"
A clear voice rang out in my heart, and I used my mouth to move my lips and read it silently to him word by word.
The smile in his eyes became even more intense, like thick mist rising from the ocean. He quietly held my hand, and his wide sleeves covered this intimate little gesture.
He pursed his lips and smiled, like a child who had stolen a piece of candy, happy and delighted, intoxicated by it.
I smiled and lowered my head, my eyes already filled with tears that were about to fall out.
I secretly adjusted my mood and took two deep breaths. Finally, I raised my head while sniffing and said jokingly, "I just thought you were complimenting me on my youth."
He smiled silently, with an indescribable look of pity on his face. After a long while, he sighed, "We have known each other for nearly twenty years, and I actually owe you so much..."
The voice was so faint that it was almost inaudible, and he turned his head away quickly. I was so grief-stricken that the tears I had been holding back almost burst out.
The singing girls in the palace sang, and when the song ended, the palace servants had already carried up various food trays in an orderly manner and placed them in front of everyone. I glanced at them and found that the food trays of the emperor and empress were exactly the same as the dishes in front of me. There was no difference. The three food trays were all painted with wood, red and black, and the lacquered plates were filled with various kinds of meat and vegetable delicacies. The imperial eunuch obviously spent a lot of time and effort. The dishes were placed according to the etiquette, and they were very particular - food and some meat with bones were placed on the left hand side; soup, millet wine, and pure cut meat were placed on the right hand side; finely chopped and grilled meat were placed on the top of the food tray, and vinegar, sauce and other condiments were placed nearby, and onions, peppers and other side dishes were placed next to them. In addition, there were some dried meat and beef jerky, and the imperial eunuch also placed them separately , with the curved ones on the left and the straight ones on the right.
I kept silent, pretending to enjoy the singing and dancing as if nothing had happened. The drum beats in the hall were loud but not chaotic. There were seven plates placed on the open space in the courtyard. A tall dancer in a long-sleeved skirt swayed softly at the waist. With the beating of the drums, she jumped lightly on the tiptoes among the seven plates, sometimes shaking her sleeves and sometimes twisting her waist.
The drums are playing gracefully, the snakes are dancing in the courtyard, seven plates are played in turn, and the sleeves are waved and the feet are danced, as light as a feather.
The geisha's dancing posture is outstanding, with her long sleeves swinging like flowing clouds and water, swaying gracefully. In addition, beads of sweat appear on her forehead while dancing, and her pretty face is even more beautiful than a peach. She has a charming expression and frequently sends out flirtatious glances, looking as if she wants to say something but cannot.
I was gradually absorbed in watching, and my excitement soon subsided. At this time, Liu Xiu first raised the bell and moved the chopsticks, and then the ministers dared to start drinking and eating.
After drinking for several hours, the princes and their wives saw that the emperor was not at all arrogant, so they slowly began to joke and chat boldly, no longer as reserved as they were at the beginning of the banquet.
"Do you like watching this seven-plate dance?"
I was watching with great interest, and when Liu Xiu asked me about it, I nodded and said casually, "That woman dances very well, and has a pretty face..."
"Really?" He chuckled, "I remember... your dancing skills are also very good."
"Martial arts?" I asked him in confusion, wondering why he brought up my martial arts.
"Dance..." He pointed at the dancing geisha in the middle of the stage, "Dancing skills..."
"Oh..." I dragged out the sound. Suddenly I realized that he was talking about my dancing skills. I couldn't help but ask in surprise, "When have I ever danced?"
"Yes." He was very sure. "I remember that spring was cold and steep that year. You fetched water from the well to wash clothes. You rolled up your hakama legs high, stood in the wooden basin, stepped on the splashing water barefoot, hummed and danced... I think that dance was far more graceful and vivid than this Seven Plate Dance."
My face flushed and I was stunned. How long ago was this? Why do I seem to remember, yet I don't seem to remember, this ever happened?
There were many kinds of dances in the Han Dynasty, for both men and women, including long-sleeved dance, scarf dance, drum dance, seven-plate dance, sword dance, stick dance, knife dance, dry dance, Qi dance, etc. I don't know music, so I don't understand these dances. The only one I know is the "Taekwondo dance" that combines Taekwondo movements with music. In comparison, the movements of "Taekwondo dance" are vigorous and rhythmic. Although they are not abrupt, they are definitely not graceful and lively.
To hide my blushing cheeks, I picked up the wine cup and pretended to drink. Two palace maids behind me were fanning with feather fans. I thought the wind was too weak, so I turned around and signaled them to use more force.
At this time, Liu Xiu suddenly laughed and asked: "If you had not followed me to restore the Han Dynasty, what would you have done now?"
As the question was asked, the seven-plate dance came to an end. For a moment, the whole audience was silent and everyone looked at each other in confusion.
After a long while, someone at the table answered in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "When I was young, I studied and now I can become a county doctor of literature."
"Oh?" Liu Xiu said with a smile, "You are a descendant of the Deng family. You have a good character and you should be able to become a clerk. The Right General is really too modest in his words."
Deng Yu curled his lips in a strange smile, but his eyes were extremely sad. The atmosphere in the hall was a bit strange, my eyelids were twitching, and the uneasiness in my heart increased.
As you wish...
Hopefully, there won't be any flaws in today's plan.
"I am brave and can be a guard, responsible for catching thieves!" I looked sideways and laughed. The drunken general Ma Wu stood up from the table and raised his glass to the emperor.
Liu Xiu smiled and said, "Catching thieves? Ma Zizhang, as long as you don't become a thief and don't get caught by the head of the pavilion, you've done pretty well."
"Puff..." The wine spurted out before it could reach my throat. I pressed my handkerchief against my mouth to prevent myself from losing control again. My face turned red and I coughed repeatedly.
Ma Wu was obviously drunk. He stared at Liu Xiu with red eyes, then looked at me. He suddenly shouted, "Oh, I understand. Your Majesty is making fun of me because you still remember the old grudge. I will... apologize to Lady Yin right now." He scooped some wine from the wine jar with a spoon and walked towards me with a shaky step. "Lady Yin, I apologize to you. I was forced to become a thief, and I was blinded by lard. I was greedy and tied... tied you..."
He smiled and knelt down in front of me. I quickly stood up from the couch, bent down and stretched out my hand to help him: "No, General, please stand up quickly."
"It happened more than ten years ago. If I hadn't met a wise leader like Your Majesty, I would have continued to be a thief... At that time, at that time... Your Majesty even fought with a few of us to save you. Haha... haha... It's such a sin..." He knelt on the steps, raised the bell and drank the wine in one gulp, shaking his head, speaking without any scruples, "However, Your Majesty and the noble lady really shouldn't blame me anymore. After all, I have accomplished a story of a hero saving a beautiful girl. If it weren't for this..."
He kept talking nonsense, but Liu Xiu was not angry. He ordered the eunuch Dai Ang beside him to help Ma Wu back to the table. I took advantage of the gap to sneak a peek at Guo Shengtong. Although Liu Xiu was in the middle and I couldn't see the expression on her face, the hand holding the bell was shaking slightly. After a while, she covered her sleeves and drank the wine. Maybe she drank too quickly, she choked and coughed twice. A palace maid immediately brought her water to rinse her mouth.
The old ministers in the hall were talking about what they might do, and they all sighed when they recalled the past. I looked carefully, but the generals from Hexi were the only ones who didn't say a word, and they looked quite embarrassed. Dou Rong, who was sitting at the top, had a amiable face and was humble and calm, with his eyelids drooping, and I don't know what he was thinking. These people were not the emperor's old ministers, and now that they were in Luoyang, their official positions were not lower than those of the meritorious officials, so it was understandable that they felt panic in their hearts.
I smiled knowingly. Today's banquet is really becoming more and more interesting.
"Father." Seeing the ministers talking excitedly, Crown Prince Liu Qiang stood up from his seat and walked to his father and mother, with an excited look on his face. "Father, your majesty raised an army to restore the Han Dynasty and marched and fought so bravely. I have heard a little about it before, but I have never heard your majesty mention it. Father, can you tell me about it?"
The young boy's energetic face showed immense admiration and expectation, and he looked up at his father with blushing cheeks.
Liu Xiu looked down at her from above. Guo Shengtong hugged her son's shoulders, pressing very tightly with her five fingers. Liu Qiang felt pain, shrank his shoulders slightly, and glanced at his mother in confusion.
Liu Xiu smiled faintly and asked: "In the past, Duke Ling of Wei asked Confucius about battles, but Confucius did not answer. Do you know why?"
Liu Qiang was puzzled, and Liu Xiu patted his head and added calmly: "This matter is beyond your control."
He withdrew his hand and continued to greet and chat with the ministers as if nothing had happened. Guo Shengtong's face was pale and his eyes were complicated and changeable, as if full of resentment and hatred. In a moment, he heard a light cough behind him, and then he hurriedly restrained himself, pulled his still confused son to his side, and comforted him carefully.
I turned my head and found that Liu Yang had come to me without knowing when. He was kneeling under the couch, calmly taking the knife from the table and cutting the meat skillfully. After he divided the meat, he respectfully handed the plate to me and gently said, "Mother, please have some."
I took a piece of meat and put it in my mouth, as if thinking about something: "Yang'er, do you understand what the emperor asked your brother, the crown prince?"
He smiled lightly: "Duke Ling asked Chen, Confucius is wrong, the allusion comes from the Analects."
"I didn't ask that." I chewed the meat and swallowed it slowly. If Liu Xiu's intention was just to verify the Analects with the prince, Guo Shengtong would not have been so frightened.
"Yes." Liu Yang put away his smile, his expression was indifferent, with only a hint of satisfaction in the corners of his eyes, "I will never let my father and mother down."
I nodded and said with relief: "You must be more cautious and sensible in your future actions. From now on, every pair of eyes in this palace will be watching your every word and action behind your back."
"Yes." He responded, then stood up to pay his respects to his father, the emperor, and his mother, scooping wine and distributing meat. His humble and filial behavior was beyond words.
The singing and dancing were about to end, and the feast was about to end. Finally, I couldn't hold back any longer and secretly cast my gaze towards Deng Yu.
I never thought that Deng Yu had been looking at me. When our eyes met, I was shocked again. His expression was too heavy, as heavy as a thousand-pound tripod, which could make people breathless. But I couldn't avoid it. I looked straight at him, took a deep breath, and looked at him resolutely.
I could clearly see him sighing silently at the end, his expression solemn and numb, and then he stood up from the table and straightened his clothes. While he was doing all this, his wife Li Yuelong was always by his side - he stood up, she also stood up, he straightened his clothes, she reached out to help smooth out the folds, cooperating so skillfully and so naturally .
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Deng Yu calmly and leisurely walked to the center of the hall, kowtowed and prostrated himself. His cold voice covered all the noise and echoed throughout the hall.
“Now that our country has been recovered and the world is at peace, I request Your Majesty to take back the general’s seal, get rid of the weapons, and promote Confucianism.” He took out the right general’s seal from his sleeve, held it above his head, and kowtowed.
In an instant, the hall was silent, with only the sound of heavy breathing being heard.
Liu Xiu sat upright on the couch, without saying a word, with a calm look in his eyes, and he was silent.
Another person flashed out from the steps. It was the Left General Jia Fu. He knelt beside Deng Yu, handed over his seal and ribbon as well, and said in a loud voice: "I also request to hand over the general's seal and ribbon!"
The deserted hall was like a drop of water falling into an frying pan, splashing with oil.
The sound of whispers echoed in the spacious hall. I cast a cold gaze at Geng Yan in the crowd. He was slightly shocked. Finally, under the gaze of several Geng brothers, he slowly stood up and walked into the hall, saying in a hoarse voice: "I also surrender the seal !"
The oil pan is finally boiling!
Deng Yu and Jia Fu were both from Nanyang. They were the emperor's right and left arms, veteran ministers, meritorious officials, and good officials who had fought side by side with him. As for Geng Yan, since his father Geng Kuang and Leguang Hou Geng Chun passed away, most of the Hebei gentry followed his lead.
Liu Xiu stroked his beard and smiled. No one knows his mind better than me. If he is not sure, wouldn't today's banquet be in vain? As the saying goes, when the rabbit dies, the dog is cooked, and when the birds are gone, the bow is hidden. Now that the rabbit is dead and the birds are gone, if the meritorious officials do not want to become Han Xin, Peng Yue, and Ying Bu, it is time for them to learn to restrain themselves a little.
I believe Liu Xiu was not a heartless person, but in life, there are always things that are beyond one's control. No matter how kind-hearted Liu Xiu was, he was an emperor after all. If the imperial power fell into the hands of others, wouldn't it be that the king was not a king, and the minister was not a minister?
I cannot be like Lu Zhi, just as Liu Xiu could not be like Liu Bang. Neither he nor I are heartless or righteous, so we have to settle for the second best and it is imperative to withdraw the military power.
After Geng Yan, those who understood the current situation followed suit and submitted petitions requesting to surrender their titles of general and general's seals.
The play has come to this point, and all that remains is the cleanup work after the curtain falls.
Liu Xiu cleared his throat and said, "Since this is the case... we will take back the seals and ribbons of the generals, and confer upon Deng Yu the title of Marquis of Gaomi, with a fief of four counties; upon Jia Fu the title of Marquis of Jiaodong, and upon Li Tong the title of Marquis of Gushi, with a fief of six counties. All of them will be given titles of marquis, promoted to special rank, and allowed to serve as imperial guests..."
The imperial edict had actually been prepared long ago, and Dai Ang pretended to be busy for a while before drafting the edict and reading it out. This time, the meritorious officials who were stripped of their military power and given additional fiefs totaled 365 people, of whom 45 were relatives of the emperor and relatives of the royal family.
The grand banquet for the emperor and his ministers ended successfully with everyone cheering and congratulating each other.
