Receiving Guest
Guo Furen should think that I was an obedient daughter-in-law, as on the next day, I was already waiting outside the door when she got up, as usual.
Wei Jue had stayed with the concubine, Zhang Shi, last night, so I did not shy away from entering the room.
"Shao Furen is early today." Guo Furen looked pleased. "Is Da GongZi not up yet?"
I smiled, "Da GongZi went to the camp last night and did not stay the night at home."
“Oh?” Guo Furen looked at me and her eyes roamed for a moment before smiling, “Da GongZi is very busy. Shao Furen has to be more considerate.”
I said softly, "Understood."
Unexpectedly, not long after, Er GongZi Wei Zhao, came over.
"Greetings, MuQin, ZhangSao." His head was wrapped with a scarf and he was wearing a narrow-sleeved robe. He was dressed in an attire to practice martial arts but his every move was very elegant.
“Zhong Ming.” When Wei Furen saw him, the smile rose from the bottom of her eyes. “You have only returned from the barrack last night, why did you get up this early?”
“Er was practising swordplay with FuQin before the day broke and was not sleepy.” Wei Zhao answered.
Guo Furen took his hand lovingly before asking about other daily matters and Wei Zhao answered each one of them.
Wei Zhao and I usually only nodded at one another as greetings, thus in occasion like this, I could only stand aside to watch the deep affections between the two mother and son.
Guo Furen feared that swordplay would be strenuous to Wei Zhao and after a brief chat, she turned to order the maid to bring some porridge from the kitchens. During the break, Wei Zhao suddenly looked towards me.
As our gaze met, I nodded my head.
He smiled as his eyebrows raised slightly, making him look more elegant.
Upon exiting Guo Furen’s courtyard, I walked under the corridors when I suddenly heard footsteps behind me. Upon turning my head back, one saw Wei Zhao walking over.
"ZhangSao." Wei Zhao greeted with a gentle voice.
"ErShu." I returned the greeting and smiled gently. "Where is ErShu heading?"
Wei Zhao replied, “To the barracks. FuQin wanted to watch the forward troops' drills and ordered me to follow.”
I nodded my head, “ErShu has worked hard.”
"I dare not (accept the honour)." Wei Zhao said, When his lips were slightly curved, he looked a bit similar to Wei Tan but was more effeminate. “If one were to compare with XiongZhang, I am far behind.”
I frowned slightly.
Speaking of which, even though Wei Tan and Wei Zhao were brothers of the same father, they were very different in the eyes of everyone else. I heard some discussions about Wei Tan taking resolute actions in the speed of lightning and would be a man of one’s words, thus being quite prestigious among the military commanders. In contrast, Wei Zhao treated another amiably and had a good capacity for writing, making him popular among the scholars in Chang'an. Wei Jue’s treatment towards both sons also made others contemplate. When he was on an expedition or when dealing with national issues, he would rely on Wei Tan but would often bring along Wei Zhao when he goes around.
I smiled gently, “JiuShi worked hard for the country. Fujun, as the younger generation, would not dare to have any slights.”
Wei Zhao smiled lightly.
“The weather today is rather good.” He looked out the corridor, “The scenery in Yongzhou is beautiful in spring. Has ZhangSao gone for an outing?”
I replied, “Last month, I went to the temple to worship. However it was only done once or twice.”
“The original green willows are now scattered with peach blossoms.” Wei Zhao said slowly, “The spring sights in Yongzhou are rather good.”
I was startled.
Wei Zhao smiled gently, “When I was young, I had the honour to visit Fu SiTu (Fujin's father), and when I was taught, his poetry was use as a model.”
I looked at Wei Zhao and his face slightly caught the morning sun, and his brows looked particularly delicate with the ends slightly raised. I carefully traced it in my heart. I had to admit that I really did not have the slightest impression of this handsome and elegant face.
“Shao Furen.” Just at this moment, the steward’s voice came from behind.
Both of us looked at him and saw him coming over hurriedly and greeted before he said to me, “Shao Furen, Da GongZi is receiving guests at the back garden, and has invited Furen to come over.”
Receiving guests? I was a little surprised. I turned to Wei Zhao and said, “Fujun has request for me, I have to go first.”
Wei Zhao smiled as he bowed, "ZhangSao do go ahead slowly.”
The house of the Wei Residence used to be the official residence of the Marquis of Yong. During the troubled times, royalty, marquis, generals and ministers were all wasted. The entire family of Marquis of Yong died at the hands of bandits. When Wei Jue entered Yongzhou (Yongdu now) the property was empty and Wei Jue set this place up as the Prime Minister residence. t/n: one interesting thing I found while translating this, do you all notice all the ‘Yong’ in the Marquis of Yong, Yongzhou and Yongdu? It’s all actually using the same character, (雍) meaning harmonious. So in the past, this place was called YongZhou (the Yong Province) and was supervised by the Yong Hou (Marquis of Yong) but now its name has changed to YongDu (the Yong capital) as the Emperor is now residing here.
The Marquis of Yong was considered to be born from the Royal clan and even though the Marquis residence was nothing compared to the noble household in Chang'an, the courtyard was constructed very elegantly. There were towering old trees, various flowers, bridges and flowing waters. It was quite pleasant to enjoy the sights and play here.
When Wei Tan said that there were guests, I had thought that it was only one or two. I did not expect to see that many were presented when I reached the back garden. It seemed that there were no less than twenty people.
In the garden, there were a few banquet tables and in front of the first painting screen, Wei Tan wore a wide-sleeve robe and a bamboo crest on his head. When I entered the garden, one could feel his eyes glancing over sharply.
“Shao Furen.” The servants that were standing by the garden gates greeted me. The voices were neither loud nor soft, just enough to reach the banquet.
The discussing voices suddenly stopped as the guests all looked over curiously.
“Furen.” Wei Tan got up from his seat and stepped forward with a smile.
In front of everyone’s gaze, I walked to Wei Tan and greeted, “Fujun.” Before the greeting was finished, a pair of hands held me. Looking up, Wei Tan had a warm expression and his usually grave and stern facial features showed a beautiful arc under the sunlight.
“Gentlemen, this is my wife, Fu Shi.” He supported me with one hand and turned towards the guests.
I looked over and saw the individual faces of the guests. I was taken aback. Except for the few that I had never met, the majority of them were familiar faces.
“Furen, the gentlemen that attended today’s banquet are all scholars from Chang'an. Back in those years, SiTu had feasted with these attending gentlemen and they are now the guests. One wonders if Furen remembered?” Wei Tan said warmly.
I looked up and his head was slightly lowered, displaying a warm attitude of a husband to his newly wedded wife. Only from my angle, one could then see the calm and scrutiny behind those eyes.
“Qie was very young at that time, only remember a few voices and features.” I replied softly.
Wei Tan smiled lightly and took me to the banquet and introduced these scholars to me individually.
I greeted everyone gracefully and elegantly like my mother did. These scholars came bearing gifts and some were even filled with emotions as they spoke to me of their friendship with Father and Older Brothers.
I listened to their words as I kept a modest and dignified smile.
Ever since that year when the Fu Family was overturned, I had never met these people again. To encounter such a gathering of distinguished guests in the Wei Residence again today, there was a strange and unspeakable feeling. However, I understood that this was where my value lies. I did not like to be taken advantage of, but before my feathers were fully fledged, to escape all of this, I will do all I have to dutifully.
They pledged their allegiance to the Wei Clan, but it was not due to the sake of this last remnant of the Fu Family.
Dong Kuang has been exterminated, Shandong now entirely belonged to Wei Jue, and half of the land in the Central Plains was under his control. This was enough for the wavering scholars and those who were watching from the sidelines to realign their allegiance. Wei Jue had the Emperor whose foundation and claim to the throne was right and fair. With the addition of me, it had made their reasons for allegiance more palatable.
Sure enough, upon seeing me, the focus of their rhetoric had changed to deeply criticise Empress Bian’s authority manipulation and the striving clans that led to the neglect of the country. It was as if those words of praises and laments towards the Fu Clan had always been this loud and clear. I didn't even know that, the past even when I was wearing the mourning clothes while singing farewell loudly to my Father and Older Brothers as I was sending them to the execution ground, had already been included in the newly revised ‘Lie Nu Chuan’ (Biography of Exemplary Women).
These scholars, some already had grizzled hair and bread, while some were still in their youth, many of their names I had heard of before. But as one was young previously, one had never taken the effort to remember who they were.
However, there was on exception.
Sitting at the end seat (a place for less senior people) was Gongyang Gui, the second son of the Imperial Censor (YuShi DaFu), Gongyang Ou, was the only person among the guests that I could match the name to the person.
He was the same age as my second brother and was a good friend of his. The Gongyang Clan was from a lineage of great scholars, but Gongyang Gui had an unruly and rebellious personality, and admired heroes. But he was a different type compared to the Chang'an hedonistic sons of the wealthy family, who liked Five Mineral Powder and dusting rouge. Perhaps it was because of this reason that Second Older Brother, who admired wandering heroes, befriended him and often invited him to the residence to have swordplay competitions.
This person and I were not considered strangers. There were a few times when I wanted to go to the marketplace and since Second Older Brother had no leisure time, he requested Gongyang Gui to take me there.
Having not met for years, Gongyang Gui was no longer the high-spirited youth who would ride the streets of Chang'an carrying a sword. He had grown thinner and taller, even had a beard under his cheeks. He would even attend such influential banquets that he once disdained. There was one point that did not change. When he looked at another person, there was some sharpness in his eyes.
I gently lowered my brows and after listening to Wei Tan’s introduction, called out “Gongyang GongZi” and greeted him. Gongyang Gui did not express much and returned to the table after greetings.
It was said that military men were reckless and not eloquent. I found that this saying was not completely true. Wei Tan was considered a military man, but his words were not lacking. He knew how to take advantage of the new situation. When those scholars brought the topic of the Late Emperor, Wei Tan mentioned the current political affairs with just few words, the scholars would follow his lead talk about the current political affairs.
Wei Jue had now occupied a large territory, from the Western Liang (Xi Liang) to Shangdong. Although the Emperor made Yongzhou the capital, the world was still all splitted up and in pieces. The most arrogant and powerful from the North was Tan Xi, as almost all of the regions in Henan and Hebei as well as the secluded Yunzhou were all subjugated by him. In addition, Wu Zhang had set up an independent regime in Huaiyang. Liang Chong, the Emperor’s distand relative had set up another independent regime in Jingchu. Wang Mao had also done the same to Baiyue, and there were countless numbers of smaller forces everywhere.
The people who could be invited by Father and Older Brothers, in fact really were not ordinary people. I sat next to Wei Tan as I listened to them compare the strength and weakness of all parties and discuss the attacks on the expedition. Just as the discussion became hot, a voice suddenly sneered, “For gentlemen to be this zealous, one must have forgotten that the Prime Minister has just cut down Dong Kuang, Yongzhou’s grain and wealth is almost empty. To start a war again, could it be that it is to teach those hundreds of counties’ people to die of starvation?”
The one who spoke was Gongyang Gui.
Everyone in the banquet looked over. I looked at him, slightly surprised.
“Zhong Ping,” A middle-aged man sitting next to him glanced over at Wei Tan, seemingly embarrassed, as he smiled at Gongyang Gui, “Why does Zhong Ping say such things? ChengXiang is a wise person and would not go as far as creating famines.”
Gongyang Gui looked at him with a cold expression, but stopped speaking.
Someone in the banquet timely mentioned a few latest matters of Yongdu and diverted the topic away. Everyone then started to discuss actively.
Wei Tan smiled lightly as he listened to them speaking but did not really say anything.
I placed a cherry in my mouth as I glanced over the last seat.
Gongyang Gui had a serious expression as he held a cup in his hand. Suddenly he looked at me and our eyes met.
There was no expression on his face as he drank all the wine from the cup before turning his head back.
*****
This banquet was exceptionally joyous to both the host and the guests.
Later, I instructed Ah Yuan to inquire about the details of the guests of the banquet. She came back to tell me that most of the guests had been appointed to official positions by Wei Jue, except for one, Gongyang Gui.
I was surprised as Ah Yuan told me the whole story.
Gongyang Gui was already a member of the Imperial Court as an official before, and he was the TaiChang Cheng His family was not very satisfied with this position, as a result, Gongyang Gui’s uncle, TaiPu Cheng, Gongyang Hong, took him to the banquet today, ready to introduce him to Wei Tan.
I remembered the middle-aged man sitting next to Gongyang Gui, he must be Gongyang Gui’s uncle.
Actually, although the few words of Gongyang Gui was an eyesore, it was not to Wei Tan’s dislike at all. After the banquets that day, Wei Jue had personally met with Gongyang Gui. Ah Yuan told me that Wei Jue had felt that Gongyang Gui was a talent, and wanted him to take in under his wing, and appointed him as the Ji Jiu of the Military Counselor or as an Official Registrar. However, before the envoy who came to appoint could even arrive, Gongyang Gui had already hung his stamp up (left his seal) and did not even want to continue being the TaiChang Cheng.
“What a weird person, isn’t he?” Ah Yuan said with hesitation while helping me arrange the mess by the loom.
I smiled lightly and nodded. Looking at the shuttle in my hands, I interlaced it with the main threads on the loom.