Cao Cao’s Condolences and Cao Pi 4

Cao Pi’s face, which had worn a sly smile over his cold expression, twitched with displeasure.

“What did you say?”

“I came as part of a condolence delegation, not to surrender to your country. I will show proper courtesy befitting an envoy, but I cannot comply with excessive demands.”

“Is that so…? So you say…”

Cao Pi acted as if deep in thought. But even then, the way his eyes kept turning towards me felt somewhat unsettling.

Among the diverse cast of characters in the Three Kingdoms, Cao Pi is arguably one of the top psychopaths.

Obsessed with hunting, he squandered the national treasury extravagantly, and even conducted Cao Cao’s memorial service in the style of a common civilian rather than with imperial formality.

He killed the beloved concubine of his close friend Xiahou Shang, and when Shang went mad and dug up the concubine’s grave, Cao Pi clicked his tongue behind his back, saying “This is why Ziyu looked down on Xiahou Shang.”

He remembered for years that someone hadn’t lent him money in the past, and tried to kill Cao Hong, an elder of the clan and founding contributor, over trivial matters.

Cao Pi’s outrageous behavior is too much to count on two hands.

While I was discreetly assessing the placement of the surrounding guards, the distance to Cao Pi, and considering contingencies, Cao Pi asked again:

“Then will you ride the horse you came on?”

“If you allow it, yes.”

“Good. Then I shall ride a horse too.”

With that, Cao Pi stood up abruptly and dismounted from the carriage.

As the distance between us suddenly closed, Cao Pi’s actions were so brash that I almost unconsciously stepped back.

Cao Pi now sat in the almighty position of King of Wei. Unlike when he was crown prince, now that he had become Chancellor of Han and King of Wei, he had nothing to be wary of.

Stroking his chin, Cao Pi said with satisfaction:

“Seeing you up close, I like you even more.”

“…Is that so.”

“Come, follow me. I will show you a true horse. It will be of a completely different class from those bred in that backwater Shu.”

“I have the horse I rode here. I will ride that.”

“Enough. This is the king’s invitation, so do not refuse any further.”

Cao Pi’s tone grew harsher, as if saying he wouldn’t tolerate it if I refused once more. For Cao Pi with his short temper, it was impressive he had been this accommodating so far.

Having no choice, I followed behind Cao Pi. Unlike the horses pulling the carriage, there were horses with saddles but no riders. And among them were some that particularly caught the eye.

Even at a glance, they were clearly exceptional horses with large, sturdy builds, but one stood out above the rest.

The lower part of its long legs had yellow hairs in a lightning-like pattern, and hooves. The coat color deepened as it went up towards the head, passing through yellowish-brown and turning black at the forehead.

“It’s called Zhaohuang Feidian.”

A famous horse said to have been ridden by Cao Cao along with Jueying. I thought it only appeared in the Romance, but it seems it was a real horse.

Its elegant large build was of a completely different breed from horses native to East Asia. It was clearly a Central Asian horse.

Having lived as a general and knowing how important horses are, and having a desire for them myself, I stared at Zhaohuang Feidian as if entranced, letting out exclamations of admiration. This seemed to boost Cao Pi’s ego, as he shrugged his shoulders proudly as if to say “How about that?”

The action closely resembled that of people in modern times showing off a nice car.

“Do you want to ride it?”

“What warrior would refuse a fine horse?”

“Then go ahead and ride.”

What’s this? It felt awkward to see Cao Pi acting so magnanimous even after being refused to his face.

His extravagant favoritism towards Meng Da. His obsession with women, not satisfied with famous beauties like Lady Zhen and Guo Nüwang as his principal wives, but gathering beauties from across the country as concubines.

Looking at Cao Pi’s conduct recorded in history, it’s not entirely implausible.

“If I ride Zhaohuang Feidian, what will Your Majesty the King of Wei do?”

“Hm? The obvious thing. We’ll mount Zhaohuang Feidian together.”

He said it so confidently that I almost inadvertently nodded and accepted.

“Then I must decline. Your Majesty emphasized the importance of Confucianism, so shouldn’t we observe the rule of men and women not sitting together after age seven?”

“Oh ho, you’ve looked into my literary mind. How admirable.”

It was quite an egocentric interpretation.

Cao Pi didn’t seem to have greatly expected me to ride with him anyway, so he didn’t press the matter.

Besides Zhaohuang Feidian, all the horses Cao Pi brought were exceptional. Even the horse I rode, which was quite high-quality in Shu-Han, couldn’t compare to Cao Pi’s horses.

‘Well, they’re horses presented to the king in Wei, which controls the Silk Road of Liangzhou and the nomadic north.’

On the road entering Ye. I rode my horse close to Cao Pi.

Of course, not completely side-by-side, but with my horse’s head slightly behind to maintain the form of following him. It was a meaningless display given the size difference between Zhaohuang Feidian and my horse, though.

“By the way, I heard you wear a mask, but your face is bare now?”

“It would be rude to cover my face as an envoy. I only wear the mask on the battlefield.”

And lately I don’t wear it much even on the battlefield. At first, the soldiers would stare if I went around with my face exposed, but now most have gotten used to it and follow orders well even when I’m barefaced.

Unless the Luanling Army undergoes a major personnel change, I probably don’t need to worry about it anymore.

However, my answer didn’t seem to please Cao Pi, as his expression looked subtly disappointed.

“Hmph, that Zixuan fellow was going around boasting, so I thought I’d create a bit of a tale myself.”

He seemed to think he was muttering quietly, but with my good hearing, I could hear it all, you fool.

Zixuan is Cao Zhang’s style name, so he must have been jealous of the anecdote about Cao Zhang directly knocking off my mask and seeing my face in our duel?

Well, it is quite a novel-like anecdote fitting for the Romance – in an unprecedented battle with a female general, using amazing spear techniques to remove only the mask, and that fateful-seeming encounter.

It was also the first time someone gained the upper hand against me who had never lost before, so it must have significantly boosted Cao Zhang’s reputation. How much must that have irked Cao Pi with his well-known jealousy?

‘But it’s none of my business.’

I’m not some anecdote generator, and I have no reason to boost Cao Pi’s reputation.

Pretending not to have heard his muttering, I let it pass, and Cao Pi changed the subject.

“By the way, don’t you wear makeup? All the women I’ve seen are busy adorning their beauty.”

“I am a general before I am a woman, so rouge is enough when it’s blood, and the scent of iron from weapons suffices instead of perfume.”

“Oh ho. ‘Blood for rouge’. A line of poetry for the late king.”

As expected of Cao Pi, who loved literature enough to establish the Seven Masters of Jian’an and was sincere about literary works himself, he seemed to have memorized the poem Cao Cao and I had exchanged.

He included even Kong Rong, Cao Cao’s political rival, among the Seven Masters of Jian’an, showing how much he cherished and loved literature. He must have been greatly interested in Cao Cao’s poetry, which had literary talent comparable to his own.

“You seem to have quite a talent for poetry too. Did you study it properly?”

“My father enjoyed it, so I just saw and heard it at his side.”

In truth, I copied something someone made in the future. Feeling a bit guilty but acting shameless, I responded.

The original author is a person from the future, and no matter how much it’s Cao Pi, he wouldn’t say “I must see your literary talent!” and make an envoy compose a seven-step poem or something.

‘Though Cao Pi might actually do that…?’

Anyway, exchanging such small talk, I entered Ye.

If Chang’an was majestic and Luoyang was splendid, Ye was neat and tidy. Developed as Cao Cao’s planned city, Ye had clearly divided districts, and the buildings still retained a newness that gave a sense of tidiness and sophistication.

“Do you see that? That is Tongque Tower.”

The tall and magnificent tower faintly visible in the distance. It was said to have been built under Cao Cao’s direct supervision, and both Cao Pi and Cao Zhi wrote poems praising Tongque Tower to celebrate its completion.

“After the condolences are over, I will hold a banquet there.”

Cao Pi showed a determined will to properly enjoy what he couldn’t during Cao Cao’s mourning period.

Of course, it could be a necessary process to display national prestige to the delegation, but judging from Cao Pi’s tone, it was closer to the aforementioned self-satisfaction than that.

‘Even though Wei is in a much tougher situation compared to the original history, Cao Pi is still the same. Right, a person’s true nature doesn’t change easily.’

Even though Wei’s power is still the strongest so far, to have such a lack of crisis awareness…

‘Perhaps he judges that as long as he has the Central Plains and Hebei, he can recover anytime?’

I know Cao Pi has some ability. Though he had monstrous qualities inferior to Sun Quan in diplomacy, warfare, and other external affairs, he had competent skills in internal affairs.

So Cao Pi must have calculated that if he stabilizes the country like this and turns it into a long-term war, he can deal with the Shu-Wu alliance based on the overwhelming productivity of the Central Plains and Hebei.

But that’s arrogance.

‘Your opponents won’t wait for you.’

The childish idea that the world revolves around you. The conceit that you can defend against Shu-Wu’s attacks as much as you want.

I felt like I had already reaped the second harvest of this condolence journey.

The first was, of course, the surrounding geography and popular sentiment I learned on the way to Ye.

Synthesizing what I gained through the condolence journey, I became newly convinced:

‘While Cao Pi is still complacent. And before Cao Pi dies young and Cao Rui ascends to Emperor, we must gain maximum benefit.’

That Cao Pi’s reign is the finest opportunity to achieve a great reversal.