The Cao Clan

Cao Pi took her, Jia and Len to Cao Cao's castle at Guan Du. It was a massive fortress built of grey stone and surrounded by a tall impenetrable wall.

She was riding Cloud next to Cao Pi, who also had a white horse named Storm. His stallion was much taller and more muscular compared to Cloud. Storm was a battle horse and Cloud was a saddle horse. So their differences in build only made sense.

They were greeted by the joyous looking faces of the nearly victorious soldiers of the Wei army. 'Morale is high' as Cao Pi put it.

"We're victorious already?" She asked.

"It appears so, but I haven't gotten word from father since he left."

They stepped down off their horses in front of the castle's front entrance. She could feel a thousand sets of eyes on her and wished she was back riding in the wagon where Jia and Len were.

Cao Pi formally offered her his arm. She put her hand through his elbow and rested her palm on his forearm. She hadn't been treated so proper in years, not even during her own wedding, which was pathetic since the Yuans are even wealthier than the Caos.

Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Zhang Liao and a few other generals whom she didn't recognize, came out to meet them. Cao Pi parted from her to meet his father in a single armed hug.

"My son, we are victorious, all that's left is to is take Yuan Shao's main camp. We will storm it in the morning and the Yuans will be no more."

"Excellent father, even the mighty Yuans cannot match the strength of Wei."

Cao Cao's eyes fell on her. Cao Pi noticed and held out his hand for her. She approached him, he put his hand on her back.

"This is Lady Zhen." Cao Pi introduced.

Cao Cao looked back and forth between her and Cao Pi. A few of the generals looked at each other in uncertainty, but then Cao Cao smiled.

"It's good to have you among us Lady Zhen."

x

She and Cao Pi were in his chambers. She was sitting on his bed as he took his armor and weapons off in front of her. She tried not to watch too much.

"Lord Cao Cao seems to approve of me." She stated.

"He has, but it helps that you're the wife of Yuan Xi."

"How would it?"

"It will prove the Cao family's domination over the Yuans."

"Oh." She was disappointed. "Is everything in your personal life related to politics?"

"For the most part, yes."

He pulled a bracer off his wrist and threw it in the trunk. She noticed a small pocket book on the table next to her. She went over and picked it up.

"May I?"

Cao Pi looked up at her and saw she had his book in her hands.

"Of course."

She opened the book and sat back down on the bed. It was a book of poems. The first few were about Lady Bian. She skimmed over the ones about his brothers since she didn't know anything about them anyway. Then she came to a poem about a battle.

She didn't even notice that Cao Pi had taken a seat next to her and was leaning over her shoulder.

"I wrote that one a few days ago."

"I didn't know that you were a poet."

He smiled.

"A gift that Zhi and I inherited from our father."

She continued to read. When she got to the last page with writing on it, she found that the poem was about her.

'Her hair is like a veil of black silk flowing after her and covering her face of marble that's somehow hiding the emotions I know she is feeling

With every gaze from her gold like eyes comes a breath stealing wind that captivates my soul.'

"When did you write this one?" She asked.

"Yesterday morning before we started wagering on the archers." He explained. "I didn't have enough time to finish it yet."

"You have a gift Cao."

Cao Pi laid down on the bed and watched her read from his poem book. He choose every so carefully to keep the flow of the poems flawless. She was amazed by his attention to even the slightest of all details. Even his writing was perfect. Every character was carefully written to be perfectly clear. Her writing was never as beautiful.

After a few minutes, he took the book from her hands.

"These are only a few incomplete thoughts, just things that came to mind at random times. I may use them later on."

She laid down next to him. He held the book up above his face and flipped through the pages to refresh his memory of what he had written. She watched and tried to read as much as she could from every poem before he would turn the page.

After a while, he reached over and put the book on one of the tables and put his arm around her. She cuddled into him and rested her head on his chest. She took in his scent and closed her eyes. His body was well built and covered with tone muscles. His skin was soft from not being left to dry in the sun. She gently ran the tips of her fingers along his ribs. His muscles tensed and he took her hand in his to stop her, but he had a grin of his face. When he gave her hand back, she placed it on his chest.

x

She didn't quite know how he did it, but when she woke up, Cao Pi was standing by his trunk putting his armor on. How did he not wake her up when he got out of bed? She sat up and pulled the blankets off.

"Where are you going?"

He tightened his breastplate and wrapped his belt around his waist.

"We still have to secure Yuan Shao's main camp."

"That's where Yuan Xi is?"

"Yes."

"I wish there was something that I could say to make you stay, but I'm afraid I couldn't find any words that could match yours."

He smiled and turned around to face her.

"I know what's going through your head right now. It will be hard for you to see me off to battle, but don't worry. I'll be with father in the back the whole time, and this won't be an open battle, we're only securing a castle we've already surrounded."

She went over to him and took his hands in hers.

"Just promise me a few things."

"What?"

"That Yuan Shao will be dead before the sun sets and I want to see Yuan Xi kneeling at your feet, then I want you to take me back to Xu Chang."

"Yuan Shao and his sons will die, and I will bring you to Xu Chang to become my wife." He promised.

He dropped her hands and started toward the door. When she caught up with him, he turned to face her.

"My father won't want you among his war council, at least not until you are a Cao. Wait for me here. I'll have your handmaidens sent to you."

He went out the door and closed it behind him. She listened to his footsteps go down the hall until they couldn't be heard. Then she went over to the balcony and looked out, just in case they moved out before having their meeting. She found that the sun hadn't risen yet. This time of year it should be up early. It must be earlier in the morning than she thought it was.

She went over to the table next to the bed and picked up his poem book. Then she curled up on the silk bed and started to read. There must have been a hundred different poems in the little leather bound book varying from people to horses, to battles and to love.

When the sun rose above the mountains, she heard some commotion outside. She placed the book on the bed and went to the balcony. She leaned over the railing and saw a hundred men lined up behind the front gate. There were a dozen men on horses at the front. She recognized Cao Pi's long white sleeves. Then the gate opened. Cao Pi turned in his saddle and waved. She stood on her toes and waved back.

The hoof Yuan Shao's camp could be seen just in front of the rising sun and over the tree line. She could safely guess it was his camp since his yellow banners hung from the walls.

Then Cao Pi and the others disappeared into the trees, but she waited, for what, she did not know. She hoped he would have turned his horse around come riding back to her, but she knew he wouldn't. His duty was far too important. She then hoped that she could at least see him, but the trees and the distance made that impossible.

This is when she realized that she had completely forgotten about Wang Bo for the last day and a half. She couldn't have really loved him if she had forgotten about him already. Now that she had Cao Pi, she didn't miss him anymore. In fact, she was glad that Yuan Shao came to take her. Sure it was terrifying at the time, but if he hadn't, she would have never met Cao Pi.

She smiled and sat down on the bed.

There was a gentle tap on the door. She stood up and started toward the door. She hesitated before opening the door. What if they expected Cao Pi and found her instead?

"Zhen, are you there?"

She opened the door. Len and Jia where standing in front of her.

"Zhen!"

Jia jumped toward her and embraced her in a hug with such energetic force that it almost knocked her over.

"We were so worried about you."

Jia stepped away from her. Len came in the room and shut the door.

"Why would you be worried about me?" She asked.

"Well, we haven't seen you for a full day and night." Jia explained.

"Oh, ah… Well, there is no need to worry about me when I'm with Cao Pi."

Jia had a look of awe on her face. Len on the other hand had her hands on her hips and a skeptical expression.

"Right, like you would expect us to believe that a man like him would want you."

Zhen felt her face turn red.

"What would it take for you to trust Cao Pi?"

Then there was another tap on the door. Zhen felt a little more confident with her handmaidens here and opened the door. There was a tall woman standing in the doorway. She had dark waist long hair held up with a gold headdress with red and blue jewels. She had very fair and soft looking skin that was complemented by her pale pink cheeks. Her dark eyes were filled with a gentle kindness.

"I'm Lady Bian. Cao Pi is my son."

Zhen guessed that the woman was in her forties, she had to be anyway, but nothing in her appearance betrayed her age.

"I'm Zhen Ji."

Lady Bian smiled.

"Would you like to join me for breakfast Lady Zhen?"

x

Her future mother in-law seemed to be a good person. She was always genuine and polite in her words and actions, which seemed to be hard to find in a word of politics. Although Lady Bian only invited her for breakfast, they ended up spending most of the afternoon together. Lady Bian was one of the more interesting people she had ever met.

"My eldest son has been very quiet lately. He can't seem to put his poem book down. He's always writing something. I think it's because of you." Lady Bian told her.

"Me?"

"Yes, I have seen many of my husband's sons fall for a consort, but I have never seen any of them act like my Cao Pi is now. He's in love."

She was taken back. This was the first time all afternoon that Lady Bian became serious.

"But what about Lady Guo?"

Lady Bian laughed.

"When it comes to Lady Guo, you won't have to worry about competing with her for Cao Pi's love. She was given to Cao Pi two years ago and he never called on her once. In fact, he had her moved to Hei Bei a few months ago. I was glad to see her go. She's a serpent of a woman."

"What about the other consorts?"

"There are no others. Cao Cao on the other hand, he has six wives, including myself, and he has a whole group of consorts."

There was a pause before she asked;

"Do you love him?"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, I shouldn't ask…"

"No, it's alright. I do love my husband, but it's hard to share him with other women. I just have to remember that he's a man of rank. He needs a suitable number of heirs in case something would happen to one of them."

To her, having two dozen sons was more than enough.

She hoped Cao Pi wouldn't expect four sons from her. The fact that her mother died when giving birth always haunted her. She hoped she wouldn't suffer the same fate.

"Zhen?" Lady Bian asked.

She had been so absorbed in thought and worry that she had completely forgotten about Lady Bian.

"Sorry, my mind was running away with me."

She tried to smile.

"It's alright. I should go outside anyway, this air isn't much good."

She followed Lady Bian out of the castle. Their handmaidens followed behind. Every once in a while she would look toward the east where Yuan Shao's camp was.

"Don't worry." Lady Bian assured her. "He'll be fine, and it will get easier for you to see him off."

It wasn't just that. He could die! Or get hurt. If the Yuans won, she would be executed, or she would have to go back to Yuan Xi.

Then they heard a horn blow. She ran over to the front gate to find the entire Wei war party entering the courtyard. None of them looked pleased. Cao Pi climbed off Storm and walked right past without even noticing her.

"Cao wait!"

She put her hands on his arm.

"What's wrong?"

She looked around, there were a significantly smaller number of soldiers, but all the generals returned, including Cao Cao.

"Yuan Shao thwarted our attack with his catapults. We lost over a hundred men."

"What is Cao Cao going to do?"

"We're going back to Xu Chang. Too many men have deserted our camp. I'm sorry."

He led Storm to the stable. She watched him go, knowing that there wasn't anything she could do to stop him. She only wished she could help.

Then she saw Cao Pi stop in his tracks. He turned around to face her. She ran into his arms and hugged him tight.

"I have an idea." He told her. "I'm not sure if it would work, and it would be dangerous."

"What do you need me to do?"