After briefly straightening his clothes and headwear, Liu Xie sat down and patted the hu chair beside him.
"Shou'er, come here. Your husband will paint your eyebrows."
Fu Shou moved closer. She watched as Liu Xie's slender hands deftly opened the cosmetic box and took out a thin charcoal brush. His expression became focused as he leaned in.
At times like this the husband and wife would usually chat idly. But seeing the seriousness on her husband's face, Fu Shou hesitated for a moment before speaking softly.
"Bohe, the three daughters of the Cao house… let them remain for now."
Liu Xie's hands paused briefly, then he nodded.
"Very well."
Fu Shou immediately felt a trace of gratitude. Yet since he was still drawing her eyebrows she could not move, so she simply held his hands and rubbed them lightly.
Now that Imperial Uncle Liu Bei had arrived in Ye City, and had earlier stated clearly that Cao Cao's crimes would be judged according to Han law, Liu Xie felt greatly relieved. At the same time it forced another matter before him.
The three daughters whom Cao Cao had forced him to marry. Did those marriages still count?
To be honest, Fu Shou did not like them. Even before coming to Ye City she had already guessed that Cao Cao would sooner or later either kill or depose her, so that one of his daughters could become empress. Control through the empress's clan had precedent in the Han and would make things convenient.
Liu Xie disliked it as well. At that time he bore the title of Son of Heaven yet had absolutely no say in the matter. It had been a humiliation.
Yet both Liu Xie and Fu Shou had to admit that during their time in Ye City, the three daughters of the Cao house had not joined forces to bully or threaten them. On the contrary, they had often shown sincerity and even protected the two of them.
Now the positions of host and guest had reversed. A small matter like this did not require consulting Imperial Uncle Liu Bei. Several memorials had already requested that the marriages be annulled and the three women returned to the Cao house to face punishment. Liu Xie had simply read them and set them aside.
Now that Fu Shou had spoken, the matter was finally decided.
The topic quickly passed, and Fu Shou brought up something else.
"That Ma Teng is quite courteous. Who would have thought his son would be so fierce."
"A reunion between father and son should be joyful, yet it is said that the Ma residence was noisy until midnight that night. The next day someone saw both father and son with bruised faces and swollen noses. Yet neither of them reported any offense."
According to the law, a father beating his son was natural.
A son beating his father, however...
Liu Xie leaned slightly closer, his expression growing more concentrated. At the same time he chatted casually.
"When I was in Guanzhong I heard something of this. Ma Mengqi was born of a Qiang woman and therefore was not favored by Ma Teng. Yet his ferocity and courage are rarely matched in Yong and Liang, so Ma Teng has no choice but to rely on him. Between father and son there must be…"
"And Ma Teng willingly brought his whole household to Ye City, so perhaps…"
Liu Xie left both sentences unfinished, but Fu Shou understood the meaning. It involved whether Ma Teng supported Cao or supported the Han. Most likely Ma Chao's joining Liu Bei had not followed his father's wishes.
According to the customs of Yong and Liang, entrusting the troops to Ma Chao might not have been affection at all. It might simply have been that he had no other son capable of bearing that responsibility.
Fu Shou smiled.
"If Ma Teng has not reported the matter to you or to Imperial Uncle Liu, then we shall simply pretend not to know."
Liu Xie nodded.
"That would be best."
After a moment he added thoughtfully,
"Within half a year, Ma Teng will probably submit a memorial asking to retire."
Fu Shou did not care much about that. Instead she said,
"At the New Year's Eve banquet I watched from afar. Why does Zhang Wenyuan, who broke a hundred thousand troops with eight thousand men, not appear as formidable as Jin Ma Chao?"
Liu Xie trimmed the charcoal brush slightly and continued tracing a delicate line at the corner of her eye.
"The customs of the Qiang have always been like this. They only respect fierce warriors. Those they honor are all unmatched generals, like a long spear. One glance and you know its sharpness."
"As for Zhang Liao, I have heard that his ancestors served as generals in Yanmen for generations. A general must preserve the Five Virtues. He is like a treasured sword kept in its sheath, concealing its edge. Naturally he is different."
Hearing her husband speak so freely, Fu Shou smiled quietly. The Liu Xie of the past would never have had the leisure to discuss such things.
"But…" Liu Xie added with some emotion.
"A general cannot rely on bravery alone. Xu Chu was also a tiger general, yet he still died at the hands of a woman."
"Zhang Liao and Ma Chao are both brave. Yet if one must name the foremost general at the New Year's banquet, it would be Imperial Uncle's sworn brother Guan Yunchang."
Fu Shou had no objection to that conclusion. But she did take issue with the earlier remark.
"What of it if Xu Chu died at the hands of a woman like me?"
"Ye City once prided itself as the refined land of Hebei. Yet when scholars debated, the whole region was left speechless by a few children. In the end it still required women to save face."
She was referring to an event at the Lesser New Year banquet. After Liu Xie and Liu Bei had spoken privately and resolved their grievances, the gathering had been quite pleasant.
By the New Year's Eve banquet most of the guests had become familiar with one another. Fu Shou and Liu Xie also formally met Zhuge Liang, the key strategist of Imperial Uncle Liu.
They also met Jiang Wei, Zhuge Guoguo, Zhuge Qiao, and several others who had come to Ye City and argued the local academies into silence.
That very night Jiang Wei secretly drank some wine and spoke carelessly about the lack of heroes in the Central Plains. His words provoked Xin Xianying, daughter of Xin Pi, who happened to be present at the banquet.
Using the excuse that it was proper for a woman to debate a youth, she began a discussion on learning right there. Soon the two daughters of the Cai family were drawn into it as well.
Thus the banquet turned into a debate between young prodigies and the learned women of Hebei.
Fu Shou had watched the entire scene with great interest and admiration.
In the end no clear victory was decided. Yet Cai Wenji, whose name Fu Shou had long heard, clearly impressed the young men and women who had come with Liu Bei.
Finally Zhuge Liang declared the result a draw.
This was the event Fu Shou was referring to.
Liu Xie did not mind. Instead he remembered something.
"Grand Counselor Jia once mentioned that if we had the chance we should look after the daughter of an old acquaintance."
Fu Shou sighed softly.
If Cai Yong had known that his moment of grief would bring such misfortune upon his daughter, would he regret it?
Then Fu Shou asked curiously,
"The capture of Ye City relied entirely on Grand Counselor Jia's strategy. A man of such ability should be able to shelter the talented woman of the Cai family. How would it fall to…"
Before finishing she laughed at herself.
"I forgot. Grand Counselor Jia never remains in dangerous places. If Imperial Uncle did not have the reputation of benevolence, he probably would have left the city and returned to Yong and Liang the moment Ye City was taken."
Liu Xie smiled.
"Then tell me, Shou'er. Will Grand Counselor Jia attend today, or will he decline again as he did at the New Year's banquet?"
Fu Shou hesitated.
"It was understandable for him to avoid the New Year's banquet. Even now there are still people who dislike him."
"But today's gathering… Imperial Uncle said that what we will see is a spectacle unseen in the four hundred years of the Han. That statement seems rather… rather…"
"Boastful," Liu Xie said lightly.
"But it was said by Imperial Uncle. He is not someone who speaks falsely."
Fu Shou nodded at last.
"Whether Grand Counselor Jia comes or not, we will know when we arrive. If he is there, we can thank him in person."
Liu Xie nodded and finished the final stroke of her eyebrows.
"Then let us go together."