On the Ying River, a black-canopied boat was ready.
This was the water route, from the Ying River to the Luo River, and then to the waterway leading to Shanyang Hu.
By the side of the black-canopied boat, besides two or three eunuchs and a few guards, only Shanyang Gong Liu Xie remained.
Liu Xie, dressed in casual clothes today... He stood at the bow of the boat, gazing back at the city walls of Xudu, where he had been Emperor for ten years.
"Alas..." A faint sigh, suddenly... the sound of "dada da" hooves approached from afar. Surrounded by a troop of Huben Army soldiers, Cao Cao was riding towards them.
Seeing Cao Cao, Liu Xie was startled, and a natural sense of fear forced him to step back...
But it was only for a moment, and he straightened his chest again. When he was Emperor, he feared Cao Cao, but now... he was no longer Emperor. He no longer had to live a life as if walking on thin ice. Now... was there still a need to fear?
The eunuch beside him looked worried, "Your Majesty, should you quickly retreat into the cabin?"
Liu Xie appeared calm, "The entire world belongs to his son. If he wants to kill me, where else can I hide?"
Saying this, he walked forward to meet Cao Cao.
Soon, Cao Cao's cavalry arrived beside Liu Xie. Cao Cao dismounted without bowing, but the arrogance of the past was gone. "Shanyang Gong."
"Great Wei Emperor Wu..." Cao Cao's address to Liu Xie had changed, and Liu Xie's address to Cao Cao had also changed.
With one retreating and one advancing, not only the actual status but also the nominal status had changed greatly. "My son has just ascended the throne, and he is too busy with various matters to come and see Shanyang Gong off. Let this father do it in his stead!"
It was rather strange...
Cao Cao had become Emperor Wu of Wei, and Liu Xie had become Shanyang Gong. However, Cao Cao's tone of speaking was gentler than when he was King of Wei and Liu Xie was Emperor, as if they were dear friends or relatives.
"Heh heh... Heh heh..."
Suddenly, Liu Xie burst into laughter... He shook his head, but the corners of his mouth were always upturned, laughing with profound melancholy. On the black-canopied boat, at a table, Cao Cao and Liu Xie sat on opposite sides.
Two wine cups had been refilled three times each, all initiated by Cao Cao, as if... he was in quite a good mood.
However, during this time, he remained silent.
"Great Wei Emperor Wu, do you have any advice? You wouldn't have truly come to see me off, would you? That's not like you!" Liu Xie, unable to bear the silent atmosphere, spoke first.
"Haha..." Cao Cao laughed. "My son is truly a benevolent ruler. If it were me... I certainly wouldn't let you go to Shanyang Hu so easily. There are many ways to cause an accident, and I am very good at them. For example... drilling a hole in this boat beforehand, setting up an ambush on the opposite bank, or a large fire. I've done all these!"
"Haha..." This time it was Liu Xie who laughed heartily. "Yes, Emperor Wu of Wei can do anything. I even believe that before I leave, you would still tell me, 'As long as I don't return to the capital, I will protect your life,' but I'm afraid even you don't believe that!"
More than ten years of companionship...
Cao Cao understood Liu Xie, and how could Liu Xie not understand Cao Cao?
"Alas..." Cao Cao slowly stood up. "Yu'er once told me what great love is. To consider the suffering of the common people as one's own suffering, and the peace and well-being of all people as one's own peace and well-being. This is great love. Yu'er's mention of 'water can carry a boat and also capsize it' is also for this reason! To be honest, I have learned a lot from Yu'er these years and have let go of a lot of my aggression! If in the past, someone had advised me to retire, hahaha, I would have ordered his head!"
Liu Xie nodded...
He had felt Cao Cao's changes over the years most keenly.
Liu Xie could be sure that without "Cao Yu," perhaps Cao Cao could still have unified the land, but many more people would have died, dozens or hundreds of times more!
The current Great Wei would also have been rife with rebellion... This is what is called using violence to counter violence! "If Great Wei Emperor Wu has nothing to say, then I will leave now..."
"Good!"
Cao Cao didn't say more and agreed readily.
Liu Xie smiled at him. In his memory, this was the first time he had smiled at Cao Cao with understanding. It seemed they had talked about nothing, yet also talked about everything.
The black-canopied boat sped on, scattering the reeds on both banks, merging into the green mountains and clear waters. Cao Cao stood by the river, squinting... and watched the departing black-canopied boat.
"Brother, the boat has sailed far. It's windy by the river, we should go too."
The speaker was Cao Cao's younger brother, Cao De. For this retirement, he and his father Cao Song would accompany Cao Cao. "Let me look one more time!" Cao Cao said with emotion. "One look less is one look less. After all, he was Emperor for over ten years. To witness firsthand how a fallen ruler departs, such an encounter... in a hundred years... no, in a thousand years, it is extremely rare!"
Cao De followed Cao Cao's gaze towards the river.
A lone sail's distant shadow... the ripples on the water, the sky and water merging into one... vast stretches of blue waves! The era of the Han... was finally drawing to a close...
Wei, was destined to set sail!
"No..." Suddenly, Cao Cao realized something, and he exclaimed, "Where is the Empress? Shanyang Gong has left, but where is that Empress?"
Xu Chu, who was beside him, quickly replied, "Empress Fu is still in the Han palace. It seems she proposed to meet the new Emperor, and Your Majesty has agreed."
Hmm...
Cao Cao squinted and turned his head.
"Hahahahaha..." A hearty laugh echoed in the area. "My son resembles me! Hahaha... My son resembles me! Only then does he possess the aura of a king!"
-----
Inside the black-canopied boat, Liu Xie was still sitting at the table.
After three cups of wine, he was already feeling dizzy... and with the help of the intoxicating wine, Liu Xie unconsciously blurted out, "Empress, pour me some wine!"
As the words left his mouth, no one responded, and there was no echo. There was only a eunuch on the black-canopied boat... but just now, Liu Xie had ordered the eunuch to go outside, to the outside of the cabin.
The former palace walls were full of "eyes." Now he wanted to learn to be alone, but he subconsciously called out for the Empress.
However...
There was no Empress anymore, and no Fu Shou. He was no longer the Emperor... meaning Liu Xie had lost everything an Emperor should possess.
Realizing this, he lowered his head slightly.
He recalled last night's heartfelt conversation with the Empress.
"Are you willing to go with me to Shanyang Hu? Are you willing? Willing?" Liu Xie placed his hands on Fu Shou's shoulders and shook her vigorously. He had already asked all the imperial concubines in the palace before; no matter how favored they had been, none were willing to go with him.
A tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs... a phoenix in decline is not as good as a chicken...
Even the Son of Heaven was no exception!
Liu Xie stared intently at Fu Shou. Back then, Empress Fu Shou gritted her teeth. She first nodded, but in the end, she shook her head again. "If you were the Emperor, then the Empress would naturally follow, even to the ends of the earth. But if you are Shanyang Gong... then... how can the Empress... how can she..."
Fu Shou's words were not finished, but her meaning was clear. Liu Xie understood...
Where was there pure affection in the marriage of an Emperor? It was merely an alliance of families.
A daughter of the Fu family could marry the Son of Heaven, but she could not marry a fallen Duke... The Empress... the Empress always put her family first, even though they had lived together for over ten years.
"If... If..." Liu Xie finally asked, "What if I had touched you?"
This sentence, as it came from Liu Xie's mouth, carried a hint of heartbreak. Because...
For more than ten years, he had not shared a bed with Fu Shou, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't...
Living on thin ice every day, in constant fear and trepidation... Fear spread throughout his body. He was an Emperor who was impotent and incapable!
Silence...
After a brief silence, Fu Shou's answer still disappointed him. "This has nothing to do with whether Your Majesty has touched me. It only has to do with whether Your Majesty's current identity is still the Son of Heaven!"
Reality... this is reality!
Now... inside the black-canopied boat, looking around, whether it was those who had once received his favor and sworn loyalty to him, or those who had shared the name of husband and wife but eventually drifted apart, Liu Xie had nothing left.
This was the price of freedom...
This was the price of leaving hope for millions of common people! "Drip... drip drip!"
Large tears fell silently...
Thinking of Fu Shou, thinking of the imperial palace, thinking of the servants who surrounded him, Liu Xie covered his face and mocked himself.
"I... I truly had an interesting reign as Emperor. When I was Emperor, others forced me to be, and when I am no longer Emperor, I willingly don't want to be, and cannot be!"
"When I was nine years old, Dong Zhuo pushed me onto the throne, and I became his most satisfactory puppet. From then on, I washed my face with tears every day, feeling ashamed of my ancestors and the common people, never having a happy day, never having a day of freedom. Now... he Cao Ziyu has given me freedom, allowing me to escape this sea of suffering. I thought I should be happy, but.... but there is no happiness at all, only desolation!"
Liu Xie slowly stood up, poured himself another cup of wine, and drank it down in one gulp. He was hazy, as if in a dream.
For a moment, he didn't know what he should be pursuing.
"Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun, Li Jue, Guo Si, Cao Cao, Cao Yu... I... I can finally return to the green mountains and clear waters. I have only read about that place in poems and books, and I have never been there."
Speaking of this... Bafeng Novel
Suddenly, the door of the cabin opened.
It turned out to be a guard escorting the black-canopied boat. "Shanyang Gong, His Majesty ordered me to give this to you when the boat reached the middle of the river!"
The guard, wearing the armor of the Long Xiao Battalion, was exceptionally spirited. Liu Xie looked up, "What is this?"
The guard took out a bamboo slip from his embrace and handed it to Liu Xie. "This is a medicinal prescription. General Xiahou Dun recovered by taking this prescription when he was impotent. This illness, Your Majesty is very skilled at treating!"
Uh...
Liu Xie opened the bamboo slip in astonishment. The medicinal ingredients were listed:
—Goji berries, mulberries, longan, Solomon's seal, ginseng, red dates... and the specific treatment, as well as the dosage...
This...
Liu Xie's eyes snapped open. "Cao... Cao Ziyu, no... Your Majesty... How did His Majesty know?" "I don't know about that!" The Long Xiao guard bowed and retreated.
Liu Xie, however, instantly thought of Empress Fu Shou. Was it... did she tell Cao Yu? Then...
A bold guess appeared in Liu Xie's mind. Yes... she was a daughter of the Fu family. Her marriage into the palace was not for the pursuit of love and happiness, but for family honor and prestige.
She would tell Cao Yu everything, right? She... would give everything to Cao Yu, right?
"Heh heh... Heh heh... Hahaha..."
Suddenly, Liu Xie looked at the prescription in his hand, and he burst into laughter... The laughter was sometimes high-pitched, sometimes low...
He felt as if, because of this prescription, he could stand up, but it also felt as if he had lost something he shouldn't have lost.
"Hahahaha..." "Hahahaha..."
"This is the price of freedom, the price of freedom!"
The arduous, bitter, and melancholic laughter echoed, and finally... the laughter returned to calm, and everything returned to nothingness.
--
-.-
For the past few days, Lu Yu had been staying in the imperial palace.
Cao Cao had left. Lu Yu had asked many people where his father, the Emperor, had retired to...
But no one knew. Xu Chu had stayed behind, but when Lu Yu asked him, he wouldn't say... Actually, Lu Yu knew it wasn't that Xu Chu wouldn't say, but that his father had told Xu Chu not to say.
Now, in this vast imperial palace, he was the only one gazing at the night view alone.
Cao Ang entered. In the shadow by the door stood a woman wearing a veil. Although her face could not be seen, her soft and graceful figure was visible.
Cao Ang bowed, "Your Majesty, the person has been brought!"
Lu Yu nodded, "Thank you for your trouble, Ziyou. You may go now!"
Cao Ang glanced at the woman worriedly. "Your Majesty has just ascended the throne... Shanyang Gong only left by boat today. This might not be appropriate!"
Lu Yu couldn't help but laugh, "What kind of person does my second brother think I am!" Cao Ang hurriedly lowered his head in shame. "Your subject would not dare..."
Saying this, he slowly retreated.
The woman walked forward with soft steps, knelt down, and paid homage to Lu Yu. "Your Majesty above, former Empress Fu Shou pays respects to the Emperor of Great Wei!"
Who else could it be but the former Han Empress Fu Shou? Lu Yu smiled faintly, "Rise, and take off your veil!"
Fu Shou stood up with composure, gently took off her hat, revealing a bright and beautiful face. Although she kept her head lowered, her demeanor was calm and collected, neither humble nor arrogant... possessing a charm and grace that did not belong to a mature woman of her age.
Lu Yu took a step closer and raised her face, carefully examining Fu Shou's fair and jade-like skin. Her eyes, as they flickered before Lu Yu, made Lu Yu feel his father Cao Cao's happiness for a moment. Lu Yu chuckled, "Such a beautiful Empress, for ten years, could Liu Xie really hold back!"
Fu Shou smiled faintly, "If a person lives on thin ice every day, even sleeping at midnight will be extremely difficult, let alone intimate matters between men and women."
As these words escaped her lips, Fu Shou gently bit her lip. "The genuine fear is still too terrifying!"
Lu Yu became interested. "So, you wrote to me, asking me to give Shanyang Gong a prescription, at least so that he could enjoy the happiness of being a man when he reached Shanyang Hu? And in exchange for your inner relief and guilt towards the former Emperor? You are very intelligent... and you understand how to read the situation, no wonder the Fu family pinned their hopes on you, a woman."
Fu Shou replied, "If I were truly intelligent, I would not have been sent to the imperial palace, nor sent here... Does Your Majesty not know that my reputation now entirely depends on Your Majesty's thoughts?"
Yes...
The former Empress being taken into the palace by the new Emperor was nothing to the new Emperor. It was the joy of the victor.
However, the former Empress would inevitably bear the infamy of "one woman serving two husbands," and "one Empress serving two rulers," which could never be washed away.
Lu Yu smiled, "Liu Xie was unrefined, but Empress Fu is a marvelous person!"
"Very well, I will give you two choices now... to let you decide how you will proceed in the future!"
...
...