Chapter 3: Heaven is Unjust

  On the way, the house slave explained the details of the matter.

  It was truly a case of "no cleverness can save a book" that Kouen was originally studying in Jingzhou, deeply favored by Governor Wang Rui - this Governor Wang was the former head of the Linshang Wang clan and also the elder brother of the current head Wang Rong. Who would have thought that they would run into the Marquis's rebellion against Dong, with Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha, leading troops into the county seat of Hanshou, forcing Wang Rui to his death? Kouen had no choice but to follow Wang Rui's family and guests as they fled to Nanyang, temporarily relying on Governor Zhang Zi. However, soon after, Sun Jian again led troops into Nanyang, killing Zhang Zi, so a large group of people could only flee once more. The hardships along the way are too numerous to recount in detail, until this summer when they finally returned to Linshang.

  Although he was close friends with Wang Xiong and had already agreed to marry, they had not yet finalized the marriage, so the two families were not considered relatives. Therefore, he did not plan to stay in the Wang household for long. After resting from his travels, he reportedly headed to Danyang County to visit several famous scholars from Xu State, and possibly also paid a visit to Governor Tao Qian. Later, upon hearing that the Yellow Turbans had invaded Beihai, he feared for his family's safety and hastily left Danyang County, heading north to Zhu County. At this time, many people from Qingzhou were living in Langya Commandery, so when he heard that his older brother was staying with his family at a hostel in the northern part of the city, he easily found them. Unfortunately, his brother had just left before he arrived, missing each other by a hair's breadth. He then helped settle his brother's family and belongings, leaving behind a letter and arranging for a servant to wait for him.

  The cause and effect were explained clearly, and it was only then that he let out a sigh of relief. But Wei Yan couldn't help but feel uneasy, his mind racing with thoughts: "The state of Pei, the Cao family... I won't believe it's just a coincidence!"

  What else could he think of the Cao family of Pei Guo? Isn't it just Cao Cao, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and Cao Chun's family? The Cao brothers must still be in Dongjun at this time, and they won't come to Xuzhou. So who is Cao here? It seems that there is a faint impression that Cao Cao's father Cao Song and his brother Cao De fled their hometown to escape the disaster of Dong Zhuo and went to another place... Later, they were harmed by Tao Qian... Since they were harmed by Tao Qian, they should have escaped to Xuzhou!

  No way, could I really have the chance to meet Cao Taigong? Can I take advantage of this opportunity to get in touch with Cao Cao? Oh my god, the surprise you gave me is really boundless! But... can God really bless myself like this?

  The answer is: No!

  Very soon, the group arrived at Cao's house, where they were greeted by a man with a refined and elegant appearance. He had an air of spirituality about him, and his scholarly demeanor was evident in every aspect of his being, except for the fact that he had a slightly shorter beard than his father. Xun hurriedly paid his respects to the third brother, who was none other than Hong Fu. With great enthusiasm, he patted Hong Fu's shoulder and said: "Hong Fu, I met Mr. Gong Bei Hai earlier, and he spoke highly of your poetry. I too have a fondness for it, and one day we can engage in a delightful exchange of verses."

  It's better not to say it.

  Many protagonists in time-traveling novels plagiarize poems, but most of them are not reliable. Let's not mention those who copy sentences like "人生若只如初见" from the Tang and Song dynasties - is it true that they can win over everyone? Nalan Xingde is not even considered a first-rate poet in the Qing dynasty, so why would poets from the Tang and Song dynasties be taken in by his tricks? Even if they copied poem after poem and mixed with literary circles without revealing their flaws, it's clear that they are just "paper tigers". It's easy to plagiarize essays, but difficult to discuss them. Literary people sing each other's praises, but it's not enough to just copy a few sentences. If someone asks you where the strengths of your poem lie and what its weaknesses are, can you really answer if you don't have a solid foundation in classical poetry? Even if you memorize books like "人间词话", it won't work. The poems from ancient times to the present are as vast as the ocean, and Wang Guowei has only evaluated a few of them.

  It's okay to recite poetry in front of Kong Rong, and it's also okay to recite poetry in front of Cao Cao. Because of the hierarchy, even if you can't answer questions, you can make excuses and others might think you're being humble and not daring to argue with your superiors. But when facing peers, for example, in front of Kuang, if you recite poetry and he wants to delve into every sentence and paragraph, what would you do? As the saying goes, "a master will know at a glance whether you have it or not".

  In the end, being defeated by Cao Cao and Kong Rong wouldn't be embarrassing. Even if you can't beat a first-rate poet, people would still think you're a second-rate poet. But if you were to be defeated by someone like Wan, who doesn't even have any reputation, wouldn't that be humiliating? It's like that guy Qiu Qianzhang, if he came out and was immediately defeated by Huang Yaoshi, everyone would at most think "Iron Palm Water Floating" is not as good as "Five Absolutes", and consider him a second-rate master. But if he were to be defeated in just three punches and two kicks by Guo Jing, who hadn't even practiced the "Nine Yin Manual", then everyone would immediately understand that he's a fake goods.

  He didn't really want to follow the Shi brothers south to avoid disaster in Langya, this place was temporarily peaceful but there were no opportunities, and who knows, maybe a few years later Cao Cao would come and kill everyone, wherever he went it was said that blood flowed like a river and not even chickens or dogs were spared. Then Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Liu Bei, and Lü Bu would have to fight here for years on end. So the scholars of Qingzhou, including Shi Yi, first fled south to Xuzhou, then were forced to cross the river to Jiangdong - what if one day he too had to be forced to cross the Yangtze River? Would he really follow in his family's historical footsteps and spend the rest of his life with that blue-eyed, purple-haired young master?

  So he thought on the road, whether to find an excuse to leave after settling down at home. For example, go to Taishi Ci first and learn some martial arts from him. After all, in a chaotic world, having kung fu skills will increase one's survival rate by a few percentage points. At least he should practice his riding skills so that even if he can't fight, he can still run away, right?

  Although in a few years, Taishi Ci will also go south to Jiangdong, but after all, he and Taishi Ziyi are friends, not relatives. When the time comes, it will be much simpler to get away from him.

  Because of what he said about poetry being careless words, Xun immediately made up his mind to leave early.

  They let the brothers enter the mansion, and Shi Yu proposed to pay respects to the master of the Zhuangyuan. Shi Xun felt his heart racing with excitement, hastily adjusting his clothes - he had to make a good impression on Cao Taigong, maybe even get a letter of recommendation from him, so he could directly go to Dongjun to meet the future Emperor Wu of Northern Wei. But Shi Kuan shook his head and said: "The master is still serving in the province and is not currently at home."

  What? Serving in the state government? Who else could it be? Could it be Cao De, Cao Cao's brother? Didn't the Cao family always have a grudge against Tao Qian? Was it his own misjudgment?

  Regarding the death of Cao Tàigōng Cáo Suǒ and Cáo Dé, there are two completely different records in historical books. One account says that Cáo Cāo sent someone to welcome his father, but Táo Qiān, in order to curry favor with Cáo Cāo, dispatched General Zhāng Kǎi to escort him, and then Zhāng Kǎi had a change of heart and killed the two members of the Cáo family on the way. This is the account adopted by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. However, there is another account that says Táo Qiān was actually the mastermind behind the scenes, and he deliberately sent troops to ambush and kill Cáo Suǒ and Cáo Dé.

  Xun Yu of the Three Kingdoms was inclined towards the latter view when studying this period of history. At that time, the lords of Guandong had formed two opposing groups: one was the Yuan Shao-Cao Cao group, to which Liu Biao also belonged; and the other was the Yuan Shu-Gongsun Zan-Sun Jian group, to which Tao Qian also belonged. The two sides had clashed more than once before. Therefore, when Cao Cao later attacked Xuzhou, Gongsun Zan's appointed Governor of Qingzhou, Tian Kai, wanted to send Liu Bei to provide reinforcements.

  Since Tao Qian and Cao Cao belonged to different camps, they were enemies rather than friends. Therefore, it is unreasonable to say that Tao Qian sent someone to escort Cao Song's father and son. At that time, although Gongsun Zan was defeated by Yuan Shao at the Jie Bridge, his power had not yet dissipated, and Yuan Shu was still eyeing the south. Tao Qian had no reason to change camps so quickly and curry favor with Cao Cao - besides, even if he wanted to curry favor, he should have done it with the great Yuan Shao, what's the use of currying favor with Cao Cao?

  But now it seems that the Cao family actually has someone serving as an official in the province, which means serving under Tao Qian - could it be that one's own judgment is wrong? Or does the complexity of history exceed the historian's pen, with too many unknown secrets hidden deep within the unfathomable depths?

  He was pondering, when he heard someone open their mouth and ask: "I wonder which Cao gentleman is in charge of what position in the state?" Cao Pi smiled lightly: "It's just the red person by Tao Shuai Jun's side, the military affairs officer Cao Jue, also known as Shu Yuan."

  Cao Cao! I almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

  In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Bao was mentioned briefly, but the specific content is not remembered. However, his impression of Cao Bao's deeds in the novel is still quite deep - it is said that Cao Bao was a former general of Tao Qian, and later followed Liu Bei. When Liu Bei went to conquer Yuan Shu, he left Zhang Fei to guard the city. Zhang Fei, being drunk and arrogant, whipped Cao Bao, who then colluded with Lü Bu to plot against Xuzhou. In the end, it seems that Cao Bao was killed by a single spear thrust from Zhang Fei.

  No matter in history or in the novel, Mr. Cao Jiao is a supporting character among supporting characters, just a passerby who adds flavor to the story, and has no connection with the Cao family (although it's said that his hometown was also in Pei State, so maybe there's some relationship, but it shouldn't be very close). If we compare this to an RPG game, then Cao Song would probably be an important character guiding the main storyline, while Cao Jiao is just a useless NPC standing by the road with only one line of dialogue that doesn't affect the development of the plot at all.

  I knew it, I really can't have any high hopes for this scoundrel of a heaven, I just knew he wouldn't be so kind to himself!

  He entered the residence arranged by Shi Kuan with a belly full of disappointment and resentment. The maid, Yue Er, welcomed him with tears in her eyes: "Young Master, you're finally back..." Shi Xun glanced at her, his mood slightly improving. He had originally planned to tease her a bit as usual, but after walking all day and suffering a setback, he felt exhausted and lethargic, unable to muster the energy. He simply waved his hand lightly: "Bring me water for a bath."

  As for his future actions, he didn't plan to make any decisions for the time being and was preparing to get a good night's sleep before thinking about it again in the morning. However, just as he was about to go to bed that evening, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door, followed by the sound of Kuang's voice: "Hongfu, have you gone to sleep? I have something to discuss with you."

  He was startled, and suddenly felt a chill run down his back - no way, this guy wouldn't be coming to discuss poetry with me in the middle of the night, would he? What am I supposed to do?!