At Tongque Tower

Tongque Tower (Bronze Bird Tower).

Built by Cao Cao himself to commemorate the excavation of a copper sparrow, Tongque Tower reached a height of 10 zhang (about 30m) and had as many as 100 rooms, making it the largest pavilion of its time.

Additionally, with Golden Tiger Tower to the south and Ice Well Tower to the north, connected by cloud bridges, it formed a layout of three towers stretching in succession at intervals of just under 100m.

Tongque Tower was so majestic and magnificent that even if the anecdote from the Romance about Cao Cao holding a grand banquet and archery competition to celebrate its completion were true history, it would be believable.

Even the Shu condolence delegation, composed of quite strong-willed individuals, felt their shoulders shrink as they entered Tongque Tower, overwhelmed by the atmosphere.

Whether intentional or not, the condolence delegation’s lodgings were assigned to various locations, so they gathered at Tongque Tower separately. As the time for the banquet to start was approaching, Han Dang fidgeted anxiously at the absence of his companions who had not yet shown up.

Feeling he couldn’t wait any longer, Han Dang finally stood up and approached Pang De, saying:

“Is the chief envoy still not here?”

“General Zhao went to get her, so don’t worry.”

He’s not asking about her safety! No matter how much Shu and Wei are enemy states, and even if Cao Pi has reckless tendencies, he wouldn’t openly kill an envoy he permitted without any justification.

What Han Dang was asking was why they were so late. But seeing Pang De cross his arms as if there was nothing more to say, Han Dang could only nod and return to his seat.

And so the banquet began amidst Han Dang’s anxiety.

Even then, there were 4 empty seats. The two seats placed at the highest position would be for Cao Pi, the host of the banquet, and the queen. The remaining 2 seats were for Zhang Ran and Zhao Yun.

Even until Cao Pi appeared, Zhang Ran was nowhere to be seen. Han Dang, pushed almost to the brink of fainting, was drenched in cold sweat with his face turning pale blue.

Despite Han Dang’s anxious state, those words finally came out:

“Your humble servant Ding Yì respectfully addresses the King of Wei.”

“Oh, Kezhong. Speak.”

“If I may be so bold, what should we do about the Shu condolence delegation daring not to show themselves until Your Majesty arrives?”

Han Dang was now on the verge of completely passing out.

Ding Yi was one of Cao Pi’s closest confidants, called one of the Four Friends of Cao Wei. For such a person to step forward, wasn’t it all Cao Pi’s secret plan?

‘Could it be that even the chief envoy and general’s tardiness is Cao Pi’s scheme…!’

He hadn’t anticipated such a blatant maneuver. While biting his tongue to try to focus somehow and think of a rebuttal, Cao Pi answered casually, waving his hand as if it were no big deal:

“That’s fine. I already know about it. And it’s because I sent people to help with preparations, so don’t worry about it.”

“Huh? Ah, yes, Your Majesty.”

Ding Yi, who had tried to score some points but received an unexpected answer from Cao Pi, awkwardly returned to his seat.

Han Dang, whose tension had dissipated so easily that he felt completely drained, slumped his limbs and let out a long sigh of relief. Pang De, who had been watching the scene from the side, tossed out a remark:

“Didn’t I tell you not to worry?”

“Did you perhaps know about this, General Pang…?”

“Of course not. I just believed in the two generals’ martial prowess.”

The belief that Zhang Ran and Zhao Yun would have broken through and come no matter what situation they encountered. Han Dang seemed a bit embarrassed by Pang De’s answer and dismissed the conversation with a cough.

With the issue of Zhang Ran and Zhao Yun’s absence resolved like that, the banquet began in earnest.

Delicacies from land and sea from the Central Plains and Hebei, unlike those of Yizhou or Jingzhou, were laid out in the banquet hall, and the melodies of musicians pleasing to the ear and the dance movements of dancers captivating to the eye heightened the enjoyment of the attendees.

And finally, she arrived.

“The envoy from Shu, Zhang Ran, enters!”

At the eunuch guarding the door’s shout, the bustling banquet hall fell silent as if prearranged.

Cao Pi, who had been about to jump up from his seat, leaned his upper body forward instead, remembering he needed to maintain his dignity.

When he first saw Zhang Ran, Cao Pi realized that Cao Zhang’s words were no exaggeration. He saw a beauty that couldn’t be hidden despite not having properly applied makeup, styled her hair, or dressed up.

An uncut gem that, even without proper polishing, was in a different league from other jewels. What would it be like once it went through processing?

With that thought, Cao Pi sent his four favored concubines whom he cherished and boasted about.

If she wore clothes made by Xue Yalai, had her hair and face styled and adorned by Mo Jingxiu and Duan Jiaoqiao, and was taught feminine posture by Zhen Shangyi instead of manly bearing.

At that time, wouldn’t everyone in the world agree with Cao Zhang’s words?

Cao Pi strained his eyes to see Zhang Ran as the main doors opened and she entered.

And the Zhang Ran he witnessed was dressed completely differently from what Cao Pi had expected.

It wasn’t the bright colors and elaborate styles that women usually wear. It was based on black fabric like the official robes worn by Han dynasty officials, with red, the symbolic color of Han, added to the collar (ling) and border (yuan) parts.

And if one thought the shape might be beautiful, that wasn’t the case either. The style of clothes Zhang Ran was wearing was clearly closer to men’s clothing than women’s.

Although the difference between men’s and women’s clothing wasn’t strictly defined yet, wearing pants under a straight-cut robe (zhijupao) was clearly a characteristic of men’s clothing.

But it wasn’t entirely without femininity either. By tightening the lapel (ren) part, it revealed the slender and shapely waist curve, and by boldly narrowing the sleeves (mei), it emphasized the form of the long, graceful arms.

Despite wearing men’s clothing, Zhang Ran, whose feminine figure was revealed, was different in other aspects too.

Gone was Mo Jingxiu’s signature chanbin hairstyle parted in two, replaced by hair tied in a single ponytail.

Though it was hard to tell if she was wearing makeup or not, on her fair and smooth face, a seductive red glow shimmered around her eyes and lips as if she had applied rouge.

It was clearly less makeup than men wore, yet that white skin made one doubt if this person was really a general who had been roaming battlefields.

Receiving countless gazes from those attending the banquet, Zhang Ran walked impassively towards Cao Pi.

“I’m sorry for being late. It took longer than I expected.”

Cao Pi, who had been staring blankly at Zhang Ran’s face for a moment, quickly pointed to the seat beside him and said:

“…That’s alright. I gave permission, so you need not apologize. Come, over here. A seat is empty for you.”

Zhang Ran’s seat was the first seat to Cao Pi’s right, positioned slightly below Cao Pi’s highest seat. Except for the queen sitting to his left, it was closer to Cao Pi than anyone else’s.

As the shock Zhang Ran had given still hadn’t subsided, the banquet hall remained silent, so Cao Pi’s voice rang out clearly:

“But did those I sent help you dress like this?”

“No. I requested it myself.”

“Oh ho, you came up with this yourself? The clothes too?”

“That’s right.”

At first it only looked strange, but the more he looked at it, the better it seemed.

The clothing styles up to now that used long fabric to wrap the entire body completely hid the figure. In contrast, this outfit boldly revealing the body’s curves had quite a stimulating aspect, though perhaps that was because Zhang Ran was wearing it.

“Not bad. No, it might even be good.”

Cao Pi felt his artistic sensibilities rising. He felt like a poem might naturally come out. But before that, another thought flashed through his mind.

Cao Pi curled up the corners of his mouth into a sneer, with a fishy smile. And he deliberately turned that hate-filled gaze towards one of the three people he had called.

And breaking into open laughter, he said:

“Haha, isn’t it amusing! Zhang Ran, born a woman, wears men’s clothes and was praised as general material by the late king, but this fellow born a man wears what only women would wear. If the late king had seen this appearance, how could he have taken him in as a son-in-law!”

The son-in-law taken in by the late King Cao Cao – those words were aimed at He Yan, whom Cao Cao had not only made his son-in-law but also tried to adopt.

However, proportional to Cao Cao’s favor was Cao Pi’s hatred, so immediately after ascending as King of Wei, Cao Pi drove him out of the palace and gave him no official position.

But this time he extended an invitation to He Yan as well. It was absolutely not to forgive him. Cao Pi called He Yan simply to humiliate him.

The original plan to humiliate He Yan was to dress up Zhang Ran more beautifully than anyone, to give a sense of inferiority and humiliation to He Yan, who considered himself the most beautiful person in the world.

Although it had changed a lot from the original plan, the current one that also criticized his masculinity seemed even better.

And one more.

Cao Pi projected that malice towards another person he had specially called to the banquet.

“Isn’t that right, Zijian?”

Namely, his own younger brother Cao Zhi, who had fallen to become a mere Tinghou (Marquis of a Ting).