Chapter 23: Pig's Feet Eats Dumb Sticks? Forced Marriage!

  Lü Rui lay on a high bed in the room, with a woolen mattress made from sheep's wool purchased from merchants outside the pass underneath him. He was covered with a tiger skin quilt and had a small pot of hot tea beside him. Two maids were helping Lü Rui massage his shoulders. Ah, this is the life! Compared to following Cao Song around in the mountains every day, eating smelly mantou, this is heavenly life. The ancient ruling class was truly extravagant!

  While Lü Rui was enjoying a heavenly life, Cao Cao and his advisors and generals were discussing in the governor's mansion how to reward Lü Rui.

  Cao sat in the main seat, sipping a small wine, then looked at the crowd. Except for Guo Jia, who was drinking from a wine jug with a rogue appearance, the rest of the people were sitting upright and waiting for Cao's words. Cao coughed several times and said: "Everyone, this time Rui'er coincidentally saved my father, it is a great merit for my Cao family and our army. How to reward Rui'er has become a difficult problem in my heart. Does anyone have any clever ideas to help me solve this worry?"

  Xiahou Dun glanced at Cao, then took a bite of chicken leg and said: "Big brother, Rui'er has made great contributions and should be heavily rewarded. As for children, it's enough to give them more gold, silver, treasures and rare animals. I think Rui'er won't have any objections!"

  Cao Cao listened and silently cursed: Yuan Rang is really stupid, if it's that simple, why would I need to gather the civil and military officials for discussion? Can't I just take the money from the Cao family directly? Humph, anyway, I, Cao Mengde, am not short of money! I still have the Golden Armor General!

  Cao did not respond to Xiahou Dun, but instead looked at Cheng Yu. Cheng Yu immediately stood up and said: "General Xiahou, the matter of granting Qi Guo Hou is trivial, but the key is to gather the hearts of the whole army. If the lord achieves merit without reward, there will be no more soldiers willing to risk their lives, and our army will not be able to compete with other lords."

  Xiahou Dun glanced at Cheng Yu, then said: "Sir? Enfeoff Rui'er? How to enfeoff? Rui'er is the young master of a marquis, if you're talking about granting a noble title, can you grant it? If increasing his fiefdom? Can you increase it? Granting an official position? A child who has not yet reached the age of majority, how can he be granted an official position? Qin Ganluo was appointed as prime minister at the age of twelve, Rui'er is still a few years away from that!" After finishing speaking, he snorted, daring to challenge me in front of these scholars!

  Cheng Yu and others listened, stunned for a moment. Xiahou Dun still understood in his heart that this was where Cao Cao had difficulty. Granting official titles and nobility were not suitable, giving money and wealth, did Lü Bu lack money? It couldn't show sincerity, if done poorly, it would lose the hearts of the soldiers and the people!

  Cao Hong saw everyone's puzzled expression, put down the wine cup in his hand and said loudly: "Big brother, what's so difficult about this? Since Rui'er is still young and not suitable for rewards, can't we just reward him after he comes of age?"

  Cao's eyes gleamed with anger as soon as he heard, and he glared at Cao Hong. Cao Hong was taken aback and hastily lowered his head. Did I just say something wrong? Looking at Cao Hong, Cao shook his head. Fool, how can you utter such words? Is it reasonable to have merit but not be rewarded?

  Xun Yu stepped forward and said: "General Cao Hong, in the past when Han Gaozu pacified the world and rewarded his ministers, he first enfeoffed those who were not pleased, and afterwards the hearts of all the ministers submitted to him, being loyal to Gaozu and establishing the foundation of the Han dynasty for hundreds of years. Our lord's enfeoffment of Lü Bu is just like Gaozu's enfeoffment of those who were not pleased - a meritorious deed that will last for thousands of autumns!"

  Xun Yu used the precedent of Han Gaozu's enfeoffment of meritorious officials to advise Cao Hong: In the past, when Han Gaozu first enfeoffed his arch-nemesis Yong Chi as a marquis, the ministers who were initially furious immediately became tame like rabbits. What does this show? It shows that the enfeoffments of others must be higher than that of Yong Chi! Yong Chi thus became a benchmark!

  Now Cao's reward to Lü Rui is also a benchmark. Although Lü Rui is Cao's adopted son, he is not his biological son. Rewarding Lü Rui is also a benchmark for rewarding those who have made contributions in the future! The rewards of those who have made contributions in the future cannot be higher than Lü Rui's, because all of Cao's adopted sons are rewarded like this, what else do you want? Yong Chi is the lower limit of the benchmark, and Lü Rui is the upper limit of the benchmark!

  Cao Hong, of course, did not know the subtlety of Cao's reward to his ministers, he just realized that he had misspoken and buried his head in pig's trotters! Cao looked at him and sighed secretly, thinking that the Cao family still lacked a politician with strategic vision.

  At this time, Cao Ren stepped forward and said: "Big brother, since Rui'er is already your adopted son, why don't you take Rui'er as a clan child and let him enter my Cao family clan? Wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"

  Cao looked at Cao Ren and thought that he was indeed a wise general of the Cao family, his ideas were different. Although Lü Bu was Cao's adopted son, an adopted son is still an adopted son and cannot share the wealth and glory of the Cao family. After the coming-of-age ceremony, it would be reasonable for him to leave the Cao family. However, if he became a sworn son of Cao instead of just an adopted son, then the wealth and glory of the Cao family could be shared with Lü Bu as well! The upper limit of rewards given to meritorious officials is also to share the honor with the Cao family!

  Xun Yu looked at Cao and asked, "Has the lord's mind been moved?" Xun Yu stepped forward, cupped his hands and said, "My lord, outsiders may not know, but has my lord forgotten that Lü Bu only left behind one descendant of Lü Lingqi?"

  Cao's body shook as soon as he heard it, and he thought of Lü Bu, "Brother Lü, he is just a descendant of the imperial bloodline. If Rui'er were to take the Cao surname, wouldn't that mean the extinction of the Lü family line? Brother Lü saved himself by doing this, but isn't this unkind? Especially during the Eastern Han dynasty's era of filial piety and righteousness, when others would sacrifice their lives to save one another, you took someone else's son into your own family? This is something that will be ridiculed by the world!

  Cao sighed and asked: "Gongda, is there a good plan?"

  Xun Yu's eyes rolled around and then he said: "My lord, I have a plan to reward Lü Bu!"

  Cao asked hastily: "Please speak, Gongda!"

  Xun Yu cupped his hands and said: "My lord, I have a daughter who is about the same age as Lü Bu's son. I am willing to betroth my daughter to him as his wife. My lord, you can grant rewards to your ministers and form alliances with noble families, why not?"

  Cao Cao listened, Gong Da? So it was this idea that was being hit. Marrying into a noble family in the late Eastern Han period meant acquiring a political status and identity, which was very important. Why did Mi Zhuang exhaust his family's wealth to assist Liu Bei? It was all for the sake of identity! A merchant's identity wasn't good enough! This is actually a feasible method! But...

  Xun Yu immediately stood up and said: "My lord, Wen Ruo also has a daughter who can be married to Lü Bu, please my lord use the name of Zhong Fu to marry Lü Bu!"

  Most of the generals were still confused, but Xiahou Yuan had already reacted and stood up to say: "My lord, the Xiahou family also has a suitable woman to marry Lü Bu, please make the decision!"

  Cao finally understood at this time, really? You all planned it out? Inviting my Rui'er as a son-in-law? Nai's, how can you come to me like this?

  Guo Jia listened to the crowd arguing, suddenly burst out laughing, drank from his wine gourd, and looked at the crowd with relish.

  Cao asked: "Fengxiao, why are you smiling?"

  Guo Jia bowed and said: "My lord, if you want to be on equal terms with the Cao family, isn't there a way to make him a son-in-law? My lord can also take Lü Bu as a son-in-law!"

  As soon as Guo Jia finished speaking, everyone looked over at him, and said "You're going to die if you don't speak up!" Guo Jia knew he had offended someone, so he just lowered his head and drank his wine. Actually, when Xun Yu proposed marrying off a daughter from the family, Cao Cao had already thought of using his own daughter to marry Lü Bu, but couldn't say it out loud. If he said it, you wouldn't want to snatch her away? I, old Cao, taking Lü Bu as my son-in-law, that would be competing with my subordinates for a son-in-law, losing face! But if Guo Jia brought it up, it's different, that would just be discussing how to reward Lü Bu, the decision is in the hands of our lord, mine!

  Cao looked at Guo Jia with satisfaction, and said: "The way of Feng Xiao is feasible. My family has a virtuous daughter, who can be married to Rui's son. Everyone, do you have any objections?"

  Everyone looked at each other, could there be any objection? Isn't that robbing the master of his son-in-law? No way, they just nodded and said: "The master is wise!"

  Cao nodded, as if he had thought of something again, and said: "Everyone, if you want Rui'er to agree to this marriage, it's probably still up to his fate, but what about Rui'er? I don't know if you have any solutions?"

  In the Han Dynasty, marriage was still quite free. The idea of "parental orders and matchmaker's words" was a thing of the Song Dynasty, not the Han Dynasty! Lü Bu's clan only had him left, if he were to publicly reject Cao Cao, it would be a loss of face! Moreover, there was also the possibility that Wen Ru and others might snatch Lü Bu away. Lord, even if others look down on your daughter, there is still a possibility that they will take a liking to our daughter!

  Those who wanted to be in-laws with Lü Rui naturally shook their heads, hehe, Master, you solve it, can't solve it, Rui'er is ours! Cheng Yu really couldn't bear it, but there was no good way out, so he said: "Master, Feng Xiao is Lü Rui's teacher, Feng Xiao must have a way to let Rui'er marry the master!"

  Guo Jia hurriedly coughed several times, choked by the wine. Zhong De said, "Without you doing this, how can I have a way?" Cao Cao smiled and said: "Filial piety?"

  "Master, this has nothing to do with me. If I were to offend your precious adopted son, it would be a troublesome and thankless task. Thinking of this, Guo Jia cupped his hands and said: 'Master, although I am Rui'er's teacher, this matter is indeed impossible to accomplish, please forgive me!'"

  "What, even Fengxiao has retreated? However, Guo Jia has already become a scapegoat, so let's not force him. Thinking of this, Cao looked at the crowd, and basically everyone had written on their faces: 'Master, don't look for me! I have no way out!'"

  Just as Cao was at a loss for what to do, a voice suddenly came from beside him: "Your Excellency, I have a way to make the young master agree to this marriage."

  Everyone was stunned and looked over, it turned out to be one of Cao's newly recruited door guests. The man wore a bamboo hat, was not tall in stature, and had some white whiskers that were faintly visible, he should have been an older man. Cao trusted him very much, but everyone didn't know who this person was.

  Cao smiled and said: "Alright, I'll leave this matter to you to handle!"

  Cao waved his hand, and the man wearing a bamboo hat left. The crowd looked at him with strange eyes, but suddenly he disappeared. The crowd looked at the place where the bamboo-hatted man disappeared in surprise, Cao just smiled and said: "Come on, let's drink!"

  Everyone had just raised their wine cups and was about to drink a toast with Cao when Guo Jia narrowed his eyes, wondering what kind of person this was.

  "You idiot, hurry up and prepare more things."

  "Hurry up and go get someone to fix this door!"

  Another festival is approaching, and the people in the Cao Mansion of Puyang are busy. This festival is not ordinary for the Cao family. Cao Song has also returned, and the members of the Cao family have finally gathered together!

  Cao took out a loan receipt and arrived at Lü Rui's door, opened it and shouted: "Rui'er?"

  Lü Bu was enjoying the massage when he saw Cao Cao's sly smile and said, "Ah, Uncle Cao, you're here to borrow money again? Lately, Cao Cao has been using the excuse that his family is short of funds to borrow money from Lü Bu. Lü Bu had no choice but to lend him money since Old Cao had already spent all their wealth on recruiting soldiers. The rewards brought by Cao Pi were given to the meritorious generals, so Cao Cao could only come to Lü Bu every day to cry about being poor! Digging up gold takes time! Borrowing from Lü Bu doesn't take any time at all!

  Lü Ru was also very willing to lend to Cao, anyway Han Emperor Xian would give many rewards to Cao in the future. At that time, hehe, Lü Ru would make a profit, and all of Cao's IOUs were interest-free!

  Lü Rui stood up and cupped his hands saying: "Uncle Zhong?"

  Cao sat down on his horse and said: "Rui'er?"

  Looking at Cao's ugly appearance, Lü Rui shook his head and said: "Zhongfu, speak up, how much do you want to borrow?"

  Cao stretched out his hand and said: "Five hundred thousand dollars is not a lot!"

  Lü Rui nodded and then wrote the two large characters "Lü Rui" on the IOU that Cao had brought, which was a style of calligraphy he had learned from Cai Yong's study. The strokes were strong and elegant, Lü Rui felt it was a pleasure to behold, and Xun Yu and others all praised Lü Rui's good handwriting!

  Cao took over the IOU and smiled: "Rui'er? Zhongfu still has something to do, I'll leave first!" After finishing speaking, he hurriedly left.

  Lü Rui looked at Cao's back, also very puzzled. What does it mean? Why is Cao running so fast? Lately, he has been acting strange. Cao took the yellow silk with Lü Rui's personal signature and smiled, then slipped out of Lü Rui's courtyard.

  There are still seven days before the festival, and all the civil and military officials of Yanzhou have arrived at Cao's state government. Today is the day when Cao rewards or punishes his civil and military officials for their achievements over the past year. Those who have made contributions will be rewarded by Cao, while those who have made mistakes will be punished by Cao. It's similar to the annual commendation conference in later generations.

  At the reward ceremony, Xiahou Dun took over the gold awarded by Cao Cao and said: "Everyone, this time Meng De's father escaped danger in Xuzhou, it was all due to my adopted son Lü Rui's credit. Today I want to give a generous reward to Rui'er!"

  Everyone heard this and nodded their hands, saying: "The master is wise!"

  Lü Rui's heart bloomed with joy, hehe, Old Cao wants to reward himself? Definitely not a title, but an official position! What kind of official position? Make me a military advisor or something? Snatch the rice bowl from my master? Although I'm still just a half-baked strategist!

  Cao looked at Lü Rui and revealed a strange smile, then said: "Rui'er?"

  Lü Rui immediately stood up and cupped his hands in respect, saying: "Uncle Zhong!"

  Cao nodded and said: "Rui'er, since you have agreed, I have decided to marry Jie to you. Let our two families become even closer."

  Lü Rui, what's going on? Old Cao? Isn't it enough that you've taken me in as a foster son? Do you also want to take me in as a son-in-law? Cao Jie? That little girl is quite good-looking, but wait, what does this mean? I haven't even agreed yet, and Cao already says I've consented?

  Lü Rui nodded and said: "Uncle Zhong?"

  Cao looked at Lü Rui and burst out laughing, saying: "Rui'er? What's wrong? Have you forgotten that this is the marriage certificate you signed with your own hand?"

  After finishing, the servant beside him took out Lü Rui's marriage certificate and showed it to everyone. At this time, Lü Rui was stunned, what was going on? How did his signature appear on this marriage certificate? This is a very ordinary marriage certificate, but that signature is his handwriting, absolutely written by himself! Himself? He really didn't write any marriage certificate!

  Both informed and uninformed people nodded their hands and said: "Congratulations to the host for getting such a good son-in-law, congratulations to the lord for getting a good partner!"

  After finishing speaking, a group of people came to congratulate Lü Rui, and Lü Rui could only return the courtesy one after another. Nǎinǎi's, Uncle Zhong, you've wronged me, it's so frustrating, it's so frustrating that I'm being forced into marriage! How did the wedding certificate with my own signature end up in Cao Cao's hands? Why? What went wrong?

  The reward meeting ended with Lü Rui being taken as Cao's daughter-in-law, and at night, Lü Rui sat in the room, tapping on the marriage certificate on the table. This was the marriage certificate that Lü Rui had kept for himself. (In ancient times, marriage certificates were usually divided into two copies, one for each party.) He carefully recalled that Cao had recently asked him to sign a loan document, and apart from that, there was no other place where Lü Rui's signature was left behind, but why was there a marriage certificate?

  Lü Rui scratched his head, looked at the marriage certificate again, and couldn't figure it out. How did Cao have this marriage certificate? His own signature? Lü Rui knew he was completely tricked by Cao this time. In front of everyone, showing off the marriage certificate, Lü Rui didn't even have a chance to say no. Although he was just a child, as the Marquis of Qi, he had to be honest. If he were to back out of the engagement, the consequences would be severe. In the Eastern Han dynasty's era of filial piety, you wouldn't be able to get by without it! Cao understood this principle despite being young, after all, he was a member of a noble family.

  Just as Lü Rui was at a loss for what to do, Cao came into Lü Rui's room and called out: "Rui'er?"

  Lv Rui looked up and saw Cao Cao had arrived again. Lv Rui's face was unpleasant as he said, "Uncle!"

  Seeing Lü Rui's expression, Cao knew that Lü Rui was angry, but for the sake of his own dignity in front of his subordinates, there was no way around it. Rui'er was already almost eight years old and should have understood by now. Thinking this, Cao called out: "Rui'er?"

  Lv Rui glared at Cao and said: "Uncle Zhong, you deceived me!"

  Cao sat down, smiled and said: "Rui'er, Zhongfu has no choice either. If Rui'er publicly refuses me, wouldn't Zhongfu lose face? Don't worry, Rui'er, the money that Zhongfu owes will definitely be repaid according to the contract, let's just consider it as a dowry for you!"

  Looking at Cao's sincere expression, Lü Rui also felt helpless in her heart. Cao was indeed as the later generations' evaluation of Yi Zhongtian: Hehe, I, Cao, am just such a small person, a true and innocent small person, what can you do with me? It's really impossible to deal with him, anyway, Cao Jie is also good-looking, and it's okay to be his first wife. After all, it's better than being matched by Cao with some unknown woman in the future. The marriages of aristocratic families are also helpless!

  Thinking of this, Lü Rui revealed a smile and said: "Father-in-law's painstaking efforts, I understand, but what I don't understand is why the marriage certificate written by me personally would be in your hands?"

  Cao saw Lü Rui smile and also smiled mysteriously, saying: "Rui'er, this kind of mystery lies in this ink!"

  Cao then took out an inkstone and a bamboo tube filled with ink, handed them to Lü Rui, and left. At the same time, he left behind a note: "Heavenly gifted divine ink, Rui'er likes strange and unusual things, this ink is given to Rui'er! The matter of the marriage contract cannot be asked again!"

  Lü Rui stared blankly at the note, then looked at the ink. Isn't this ordinary ink? Afterwards, Lü Rui drew a picture of Cao Cao as a big turtle on another piece of paper. There was no other way, so he could only vent his anger with this!

  After finishing the painting of the turtle, Lü Rui went to take a bath and then went to find Cao Pi and others to play a game of arrow throwing. He wanted to relax his depressed mood! It wasn't until deep into the night that Lü Rui returned to his room. At this time, he was shocked to discover that the words written by Cao Cao had disappeared, and the turtle he had painted was also blurry! What kind of ink can make writing disappear? How could Cao Cao have such a thing?! (Dear readers, you can guess who Cao Cao's mysterious advisor is. This is a character created from my own understanding and processing of the history books about the Three Kingdoms. Readers hope that this is an unusual advisor.)