A soft knock sounded at the rear gate of Jia Xu's residence.
The porter cautiously opened a narrow slit, peered outside, and only then relaxed.
"Oh? Master Gong, not going to honor your ancestors today? It's the Xiayuan Festival."
The visitor carried a food box stamped with the mark of the Chaling Winehouse. At the question, his round face showed a trace of helplessness.
"I'm from Yiyang. My ancestral graves are hundreds of li away. Hard to worship what you cannot reach."
The porter waved a hand.
"Bah. Find a scenic spot, put out some vegetables, bow twice. Ancestors won't blame you. Even the two young masters went out of the city this morning. The Cao family's homeland is far off in Qiao County."
The man with the food box stepped inside, following the porter's directions, a sly smile appearing.
"Well, on a festival like today, the winehouse business is lively…"
"Ah, right, right." The porter slapped his forehead. "Go on in. You know the way."
"I'm no master Gong anyway," the man replied lightly. "Just a cook."
---
The Jia residence was vast, but servants were few. From a nearby courtyard came the sound of boys reciting texts. Jia Xu's sons, most likely.
After turning through two covered corridors, the cook reached a modest, elegant hall.
He called softly.
"Grand Tutor Jia."
Then he opened the food box and began laying out dishes one by one.
Soon a faint fragrance filled the room.
Jia Xu, who had looked half-asleep moments earlier, slowly opened his eyes.
"Seared liver tips, pickled melon, pork steamed in apricot sauce, mock-roasted duck… and gourd chicken. Excellent. All things I enjoy."
Seeing the cook prepare to leave after emptying the box, Jia Xu stopped him.
"I can never finish all this. If you do not mind, stay and eat with me."
He nudged the gourd chicken with his chopsticks and effortlessly pulled free the bone, clearly pleased.
"Cook Gong. Gong Yilong. Gong Longyi. Courtesy name Xi. Tell me, when you abducted Xu Shu in Xuchang, did you really use your true name?"
The cook, or rather Dong Jue, courtesy name Xi, calmly wiped his hands on his robe and knelt across from him.
"No one knew me then. True name or false, what difference did it make?"
He picked up his chopsticks and neatly removed the remaining bones from the chicken, speaking casually as he worked.
"Today's plan. Not going to watch it unfold yourself, Grand Tutor?"
Jia Xu's chopsticks moved with delicate precision. He tore the chicken along the grain, dipped the strips in apricot sauce, and ate them together with pork.
He shook his head.
"What could be done has already been done. The rest is beyond an old man like me."
He tasted a slice of pickled melon.
"And since you found that secret medicine, why would it fail?"
Dong Jue rose slightly to refill Jia Xu's tea. His eyes narrowed into smilingy slits.
"My part is nothing. Without you, the old prison guard could never have been found. Without Master Jin, what the guard kept would never have surfaced. And without Physician Ji understanding its nature, the medicine could never have been recreated."
Jia Xu nodded.
"That is true."
Throughout, his focus never strayed from the dishes before him. His concentration was almost unnatural, as if nothing else in the world mattered.
"If nothing was neglected before today, then there is no reason to worry today. Worry would be useless."
Dong Jue nodded, laid chicken skin flat, placed melon and pork upon it, wrapped them together, and ate. The flavor made him close his eyes in satisfaction.
---
Inside Ye's palace, Empress Fu Shou could not help widening her eyes.
On this Xiayuan Festival, the Emperor had wished to leave the city to perform ancestral rites. Standing in his way was Xiahou Shang, nominally a palace attendant, in truth a living shackle.
Their argument had grown sharp.
The Emperor, furious at the perceived disrespect, had actually ordered Xiahou Shang flogged in public.
The Cao family guards exploded in anger, shoving against palace servants and elderly ministers alike.
And those old ministers, the few remaining men who had followed her and the Emperor from Luoyang to Chang'an to Xuchang and now to Ye, stood at the very front. White-haired, thin, yet resolute, they faced Cao blades with bare chests, utterly fearless.
The man who finally intervened was no surprise.
General Xu Chu.
Back in Xuchang, this mountain of a man had always stood silently behind Cao Cao. His presence haunted Fu Shou's dreams. Everyone knew he was the Chancellor's strongest arm. The other arm had died in Wan City long ago.
"Does Your Majesty truly wish to leave the city?" Xu Chu asked, one hand resting on his sword.
The old ministers glared furiously, but Xu Chu did not even consider them worthy of notice.
Emperor Liu Xie's earlier anger had already drained away. His face looked pale.
"Today is the Xiayuan Festival. I miss my father and brothers. I wish to offer prayers for Chancellor Cao's victory over the rebels. Is even that forbidden?"
Xiahou Shang's earlier tone had been far gentler, urging care for the Emperor's health and warning of dangers outside the city.
Xu Chu's reply was blunt.
"No."
Some of the white-haired ministers began shouting in outrage, but Liu Xie raised a hand to silence them.
"I, the Son of Heaven, am less free than a common child."
His voice trembled with grief.
Xu Chu lowered his gaze, seeing the Emperor's tearful expression. It only deepened his contempt.
"Your Majesty overstates it."
"Then here, in this place, I will mourn my father and brothers with wine. Surely even the General cannot forbid that."
As he spoke, Liu Xie picked up a wine jug, poured a cup, and drank it in one swallow to steel himself.
He poured another, raised it slightly, and spilled it onto the ground.
The fragrance spread through the courtyard.
He drank again, poured again, calling out the names of Emperor Ling and his elder brother, the Prince of Hongnong, and spilled the wine once more.
The white-haired ministers wept along with him.
Xu Chu found the scene deeply irritating.
He strode forward, snatched the jug, and drank straight from it.
"Not bad. Since Your Majesty has finished the rites, please return to your chambers."
He gave a perfunctory salute, then leaned closer and spoke in a low voice.
"And if Your Majesty cannot control your subordinates, I will do it for you."
Recently, rumors about the Second Young Master and Fourth Young Master had spread everywhere. No one knew their source, but Xu Chu's instincts told him the Emperor was involved.
"How would the General do it?" Liu Xie asked quietly.
Xu Chu frowned.
Cao Cao's letters had ordered him to keep the Emperor under control, but repeatedly warned him not to use violence against the Son of Heaven.
The question made Xu Chu's hand itch toward his sword.
But seeing the tear tracks on Liu Xie's face, he only smiled.
"Better that Your Majesty not know."
Liu Xie nodded, then asked casually, as if discussing clothing.
"General Xu… do you know that in my dreams, I have often tried to kill you?"