Chapter 10 Wild Grasses

On the fifth day of the fifth month, Liu Kun, accompanied by his two sons, went to see the emperor. This was the first time Liu Jun, after his reincarnation, had met someone from the Sima clan.

The palaces of the Han Dynasty have long since crumbled and are no longer standing. The emperor today resides in nothing more than a small room in what was once the Weiyang Palace. The remaining ruins are overgrown with weeds, and many open spaces have been cultivated for farming. Birds and beasts often come to plunder the crops, making it truly a place where deer roam the Suzhou Terrace and millet grows in the old palace.

Although it was early summer, the palace was surprisingly quiet and cold.

Liu Jun bowed to his father and brothers before daring to look around – a middle-aged man sat on the high platform, with a slight smile on his face. He didn’t look obviously foolish, and even seemed somewhat approachable.

Below him sat two or three men and a five- or six-year-old boy, all dressed in official robes. Even the boy was wearing the crown robes of a prince. They must all be members of the Sima clan whom he could never figure out.

After Liu Kun greeted them one by one, Liu Jun finally understood that they were Wu King Sima Yan, Gaomi King Sima Jian, and Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Xun Fan, while the immature boy was named Sima Ye, Sima Yan's son, who was adopted by Sima Jian to succeed him as King of Qin.

Xun Fan was even more remarkable. He was Sima Ye's maternal uncle and came from the famous Xun clan of Yingchuan. Unfortunately, he also had a nephew, Wang Jun, who had previously lent Liu Kun five thousand cavalry.

Liu Jun was stunned. He suddenly remembered that Wang Jun's father, Wang Chen, was also a former official of Cao Wei. He had served as a court attendant for him and treated him with great respect, addressing him as Mr. Wenji. But what about him? He was one of the two people who informed Sima Zhao, leading to his own death. He had obtained a fief of two thousand households as the Marquis of Anping by relying on the passion of his former master.

It should be noted that Liu Kun fought his way through the bloody battles and made great contributions to saving the emperor, yet he was only granted the title of Marquis of Guangwu with a fief of two thousand households, which is not as good as a treacherous villain who betrayed his lord.

How ironic it is in comparison.

While he was still lost in thought, he heard Xun Fan and Liu Kun's pleasantries and flattery coming to an end. "Now everyone is saying that Liu Kun borrowed troops to save his father, and Liu Jun was imprisoned in a prison cart to show filial piety to his ancestors. Their filial piety moved Heaven, which is just in line with the spirit of our holy dynasty. Congratulations to Yue Shi on the birth of a son of a unicorn."

Sima Yan looked at the humble yet confident boy with clear eyes and smiled at Sima Zhong, saying, "In my humble opinion, I request that Liu Jun be appointed as the heir apparent to the Marquis of Guangwu."

Liu Jun, being the eldest son of the legitimate wife, was naturally destined to become the heir apparent. However, he still keenly sensed Liu Zun's disappointment and stepped forward, saying, "It is our duty to honor our grandfather; how can we reward him based on merit? I am ashamed to accept such a reward. My elder brother followed Father in battle, which was even more arduous. Please reward my elder brother!"

Liu Zun had not expected that he would ask for a reward for him. Recalling the fleeting jealousy that had crossed his mind just now, he felt extremely ashamed.

Sima Zhong was honest, saying, "The matter of the heir apparent has been agreed upon by the Prince of Donghai. As for the rest, I do not know and cannot make decisions."

The others wisely refrained from asking further questions. Sima Yan patted Sima Ye's head and said, "When you see someone virtuous, think of emulating them. If you are as filial as the heir apparent in the future, then thank God."

Liu Jun then noticed Sima Ye's face. To be honest, he had seen countless people in his past and present lives, but he had never seen such an exquisite and beautiful child. He wondered what kind of stunningly handsome man he would become in the future. If he could grow up in this chaotic world, he might be no less handsome than He Yan or Pan Yue.

Sima Ye bowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Uncle Wang. I will remember it."

Although he was young, he had a dignified appearance and an elegant demeanor, which was no less than those pretentious scholars. Compared to his uncles and relatives who were full of ugly behavior, he was more pleasing to the eye.

Although he was adopted by the King of Qin, he was still his biological son. Sima Yan looked at him with a smile, quite pleased with himself.

"Will His Highness the Prince of Qin go to the fiefdom in the future?" Liu Kun asked with concern.

Unlike the Han Dynasty, in the Jin Dynasty, all princes who were granted fiefs would have military command authority over the provinces and be appointed as governors or commanders-in-chief. Although princes could not levy taxes or mint coins in their fiefs, the fiefs they enjoyed were allocated by the court from the tax revenue according to the number of fiefs.

Being both a member of the imperial family and a high-ranking official in the court, he was able to become a vassal king of a country, which was much better than the son of an ordinary prince. This was also the reason why Sima Yan adopted his most beloved son to his younger brother Sima Jian, who died young. After all, the Qin King's fief was in Guanzhong, with a fief of 80,000 households, and also included the Western Regions Wuji Commandant and other places.

It is evident that parents who love their children plan far ahead for them.

Sima Yan rubbed his eyes. "He is still young, the same age as me. He will not go to the fiefdom for the time being. We will just recruit him."

Sima Yan suffered from an eye ailment and was unable to attend court or perform official duties, so he naturally did not leave his fiefdom. However, as the chief official of a province, he continued to recruit officials from the fiefdom. As the King of Wu, the brothers Lu Ji and Lu Yun from Wu had originally been recruited by him.

Having mentioned the Twenty-Four Friends of Jin Valley twice in just two days, Liu Kun's smug face was once again clouded over, and he slowly said, "Want to hear the cry of the crane at Huating? Can it be heard now? Shi Heng and Shi Long, what remarkable figures they were, what a pity!"

Both Lu Bu and Lu You died at the hands of Sima Ying. Liu Kun always regretted that Lu You had escaped.

Liu Jun remained silent. He had always found it strange that almost all of the Twenty-Four Friends of Jin Valley were killed when they purged the Jia family, but the Liu brothers escaped because of their family's reputation. But in terms of family reputation, wasn't the Lu family of Wuzhong even better?

In retrospect, it seems that either the Han imperial relatives still held considerable influence, or the Liu brothers were simply exceptionally lucky. Of course, the most likely explanation is that their own family had deep-rooted connections with relatives and friends within the aristocratic clans.

While the powerful ministers and members of the imperial family were talking, Sima Zhong obviously found it boring, so he simply beckoned Liu Jun and Sima Ye over, took out two zongzi from a food box, handed one to each of them, and said with a smile, "You can eat."

Although he harbored deep hatred for the Sima family, he couldn't bring himself to hit someone who was smiling. Sima Zhong was arguably the person with the purest eyes he had ever seen, even more so than the two children.

Liu Jun subconsciously looked at Sima Ye, who respectfully accepted the zongzi and smiled at Sima Zhong, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Seeing that Liu Jun did not move, Sima Ye whispered, "His Majesty is a very kind person. You don't need to be reserved. Eat."

Liu Jun bowed and accepted the zongzi. He opened it and discovered that it contained chestnuts and an unidentifiable herb.

"It is the herb Yizhiren, so this zongzi is Yizhi Zongzi, which will make children smarter," Sima Zhong explained.

Liu Jun looked up at him, recalling his life's experiences: an emperor with no real power, manipulated by his wife, powerful ministers, uncles, and brothers, and now wandering from place to place. When had he ever truly made his own decisions?

A person who can say "He is a loyal minister, do not kill him!" and "The blood of Ji Kang should not be washed!" may not be intelligent, but at least he still has a conscience. Compared to the Sima clan, those beasts who acted like dogs and caused chaos in the world, he seems more like a human being.

Sima Zhong watched them eat and said with a smile, "When Shamen was a child, he also loved to eat, and even asked me to recite the Li Sao to him, but I don't know how..."

Although he did not know who the monk was, Liu Jun deduced that it should be Sima Zhong's only son, Crown Prince Minhuai Sima Yu. Of course, given Jia Nanfeng's behavior, it was uncertain whether the other princesses she had were of imperial lineage.

Remembering that his family had once been part of the Jia family's faction, and the not-so-large Sizitai Terrace in Luoyang, and recalling the son he had barely seen in his previous life, Liu Jun felt an indescribable bitterness in his heart.

At this moment, he heard Sima Ye say softly, "This world is too bitter. Now even eating meat feels like a luxury. Brother Shamen is a celestial being, and he doesn't have to suffer like us in this world. Now he's going back to heaven to enjoy bliss. This is a good thing. Why should Your Majesty be sad?"