Chapter 13: Calamity of No Cause

  In the first year of Jianping, Liu Biao went to Jingzhou alone, with Yuan Shu and Sun Jian watching from outside, and local tyrants and bandits causing trouble inside, making it difficult for Liu Biao to take a step.

  It was with the support of various local aristocratic families in Jingzhou, including the Cai family of Xiangyang, the Kuai family of Nangong, the Huang family of Jiangxia, and the Pang family of Xiangyang, that Liu Biao was able to overcome his difficulties, pacify Jingzhou, and become a regional warlord.

  Out of gratitude and also to consolidate his position in Jingzhou, Liu Biao married Cai's eldest daughter as his second wife a few years after the death of his first wife, Lady Chen. This is the famous Lady Cai in the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

  Lady Cai is only twenty-six or seven years old this year, while Liu Biao is nearly fifty years old. The age difference between the two is more than twenty years. This age gap makes Liu Biao even more doting on his new wife, almost to the point of being completely obedient. As a result, the Cai family gradually becomes the number one aristocratic family in Jingzhou, with high status and heavy power.

  Although Liu Biao doted on his new wife in every way, Cai had one great sorrow: she was slow to become pregnant.

  But this summer, Mrs. Cai finally became pregnant, which made her overjoyed and carefully nurtured herself, afraid of the wind when opening windows and afraid of falling down when going out.

  Perhaps it was fate, just a few days ago, Mrs. Cai had a miscarriage and ultimately failed to save the fetus.

  This heavy blow made Mrs. Cai sad until today, and her emotions have just slightly recovered.

  In a lavishly decorated room filled with the faint scent of incense, Mrs. Cai sat on a soft rug, at the time of deep autumn, when the weather had already turned chilly. She wore a luxurious white fox fur coat, and over it, a large, deep-collared robe that tightly wrapped her slightly thin body.

  She had her hair done up in a bun, with six two-inch long jade pins inserted densely, some emerald green and translucent, some white jade flawless, or fiery red.

  Madam Cai was petite and slender, with a beautiful face, eyes like dots of lacquer, lips like vermilion, skin as smooth as jade, but if you looked closely, there were still some flaws in her appearance.

  Her lips were slightly thin, her cheekbones were high and prominent, making her look a bit stern. Her small nose and mouth also made her seem not very majestic. Her skin lacked luster, but none of this mattered. What was important was that she was the eldest daughter of the Cai family, representing the union between the Cai and Liu families through marriage.

  In the Han Dynasty's aristocratic era where marriage was like politics, the role played by wives was often that of a family representative, and their status was especially important among the noble families.

  At this time, Mrs. Cai was sitting upright and listening to the witch's explanation of the unexpected miscarriage. The technique of witches and ghosts was very popular during the Qin and Han dynasties. In the Yangtze River Valley, there was a saying that "Jing people have ghosts and Yue people have machines". When encountering strange things, they would inevitably ask a witch to explain in detail.

  Mrs. Cai's unexpected miscarriage left her baffled, as she hadn't fallen or bumped into anything, nor had she taken any medication carelessly, so how could this have happened?

  But Lady Cai also knew that her husband was most averse to such witchcraft, so she could only take the opportunity of her husband's departure from Xiangyang to welcome Liu Bei and secretly summon the witch to perform the ritual.

  The one who performed the witchcraft on her was a female witch named Qiū Niáng, who was over fifty years old and extremely famous in the Jing-Xiang area. Although she was already over fifty years old, she had the art of preserving her youth, so she looked like she was only thirty or so, except that there was always an inexplicable strangeness in her eyes.

  At this time, the female lead was singing and dancing in the room, welcoming the gods and ghosts. Several maids stood on either side, holding lacquer trays, seeing her movements were comical and strange, wanting to laugh but not daring to, they strongly held back their smiles and turned their heads away.

  The woman suddenly sat down with her legs crossed, her whole body trembling, her eyes tightly closed, and suddenly shouted, "Yin and yang are mutually destructive, the same clan is at war."

  After shouting, she was drenched in sweat, her face deathly pale. Even the several maids beside her were terrified and covered their mouths. After a while, she slowly opened her eyes, exhausted, and asked: "Just now when the god possessed my body, did you remember what I said, madam?"

  "I remember, yin and yang are mutually destructive, people of the same clan will fight each other."

  Mrs. Cai's sharp eyes stared at Qiuniang, "What does this mean?"

  "As I expected."

  The woman sighed and kowtowed: "But I dare not say."

  "Speak!" Madam Cai glared at her with a face full of anger.

  The woman trembled with fear and said, "You must spare my life first, then I dare speak."

  "As long as you're not making things up, I won't blame you." Madam Cai's tone softened slightly.

  The woman hesitated, and then slowly said: "When the mistress first became pregnant, I told you that the child in her womb has a extremely yin fate, most afraid of being restrained by people with yang fate. Does the mistress still remember?"

  Mrs. Cai nodded, of course she remembered, so she carefully kept it, no one saw it, but unexpectedly her child was not kept, and was said by Qiuniang, could it be the reason for the incompatibility of yin and yang?

  "Go on!"

  The woman trembled with fear and said: "Just now I performed divination, seeking the words of the earth god, which indeed indicated that the conflict between yin and yang led to the miscarriage of the child in the lady's womb."

  "What does it mean for the same clan to wield a spear?"

  "That is to say, there must be someone with a very strong yang destiny in your mansion. I don't know if there's been any new additions to the household recently... What I'm saying is, it's the son or nephew of the provincial governor."

  "What does this have to do with Pastor Zhou's nephew?" Mrs. Cai was somewhat displeased, she didn't want her family involved.

  The words have been said to this point, and Qiū Niáng can only continue with a hard heart. "Madam, the words of the gods have it that 'same clan wielding weapons' is actually saying that same clan children are killing each other. This must be related to the governor's nephews, but I've already investigated the five nephews of the governor and they're not involved. It should be a newcomer, I don't dare to speak recklessly."

  "Newcomer! Newcomer!"

  Mrs. Cai muttered to herself, her face suddenly changed, and she suddenly remembered something, her husband told her the day before yesterday that her nephew Liu Xuan came from her hometown, could it be him?

  She immediately turned her head and ordered the maid: "Bring me that Liu Xuan's Yu Jian!"

  Soon, the maid took out a divination slip from the box, on which was written Liu Xuan's birth eight characters, given to her by her husband yesterday, letting her prepare to propose to the Cai family.

  "Look at these eight characters on the fortune-telling paper. Is this going to overcome my child's yang destiny?" She handed the fortune-telling paper to Qiuniang.

  The fortune teller, of course, had to look at the eight characters of destiny. After taking over the Yuanshanzi, she carefully calculated for a moment, and suddenly her eyes widened in horror, trembling with fear, saying: "Madam... it's this person!"

  。。。。。。。。

  Qiong Nu hastily walked down Cai Furen's bedroom building with two golden leaves in her arms, when suddenly a loud "crack" sound came from above her head, startling her and making her heart skip a beat.

  "I must leave Xiangyang quickly!"

  She muttered to herself in a low voice and quickened her pace towards the outside of the mansion. She had just left for a short while when Liu Bei walked into the courtyard.

  Liu Biao had just welcomed Liu Bei from the banks of the Bi Shui River, and Liu Bei temporarily stayed in Fan City. The next morning, he entered Xiangyang, while Liu Biao hurried back to his mansion to visit his wife due to concerns about her health.

  At this time, Liu Bei also heard a loud "crash" sound coming from the second floor. He was somewhat surprised in his heart, what had happened?

  He quickly walked up to the second floor and entered his wife's boudoir, only to see several maids cleaning up fragments on the ground. His wife had smashed a white jade cup, the dressing table was overturned, and various cosmetics were scattered all over the floor.

  "Asha, what's wrong?"

  Liu Bei saw his wife lying on her side on the couch, with tears all over her face. Several maids were comforting her. He was shocked and quickly knelt down, holding his wife in his arms, "Tell me, what's going on?"

  "Old Master!"

  Mrs. Cai fell into her husband's arms, crying, "My child... died so unjustly!"

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  The world-renowned Liu Xuande has arrived, causing a sensation in Xiangyang City, attracting crowds from all over the city to gather on both sides of Jianghan Street, singing and dancing, cheering and jumping for joy, welcoming Liu Bei's arrival.

  At the same time that Liu Bei was being warmly welcomed into the city, Liu Shao quietly entered the provincial governor's residence.

  Liu Biao was the lord of Jingzhou, and his residence was naturally grand and magnificent, matching his status. Liu Biao's residence consisted of a main house and an annex, with the annex serving as stables and living quarters for servants.

  The main house is divided into two courtyards, both with corridors surrounding them. Although the structure is relatively simple, there are many pavilions and towers, covering an area of hundreds of acres. A small river flows through the mansion, and there is a garden in the backyard. It's September now, and it's the season when autumn is in full swing. The mansion is filled with fruit trees, fragrant flowers, and the scenery is breathtaking.

  "Ajue, this is the East Wing, where the Liu family's children live. The courtyard we went to earlier was a guest house. Father means that from now on, you will also be living in the East Wing."

  The person who accompanied Liu Xuan to visit the government house was actually Liu Biao's eldest son, Liu Qi. Liu Biao had three sons and one daughter: his eldest son Qi, second son Qiong, third son Xu, and except for Liu Xu being born by a concubine, the other two sons and one daughter were all born by his previous wife Chen Shi.

  Liu Qi was about twenty years old, quite tall in stature but very weak and thin, looking like a bamboo pole. He liked literature and disliked martial arts, and he took Xiangyang scholar Pang De as his teacher. His personality was gentle, warm and generous, and he also showed great care for his new younger brother.

  Liu Qi paid respects to Pang De as his teacher and had been studying at the Lumen Academy for half a month. Today, he heard that the world-renowned Liu Xuan De had arrived, so he rushed back to the mansion, where he met Liu Xuan De, and his father handed Liu Xuan De over to him.

  Liu Qi saw that Liu Cong had no luggage, only carrying a leather bag, and didn't even have any spare clothes to change into. He wore a coarse linen garment, looking just like some rustic fellow, completely lacking the demeanor of a member of the imperial family.

  Liu Qi didn't like Liu Xuan's getup, but he also didn't think it was Liu Xuan's problem. When encountering chaotic soldiers, being able to escape with one's life was already a great fortune.

  At this time, Liu Qi's heart was filled with sympathy for his younger brother.

  "I have a few good clothes on my side, all of which are newly made. You and I are similar in build, if you don't mind, you can take them and wear them first."

  "Thanks a lot, little brother!"

  Liu Xuan smiled and casually patted Liu Qi's shoulder. Liu Qi was shocked, can a gentleman's friendship also involve putting one's arm around the other's shoulder?

  Liu Jiong's hand also stopped on Liu Qi's shoulder, and a hint of awkward smile appeared on his face.

  Regarding the transformation of roles, Liu Xuan did not adapt quickly and sometimes he would intentionally or unintentionally exhibit some habits of a young hunter.

  These habits cultivated in the mountains and fields would occasionally reveal themselves unintentionally, and Liu Xiu would also remind himself to be careful, pay attention to his identity, and never casually scratch Liu Qi's head or something like that.

  He casually patted Liu Qi's shoulder, a common gesture among ordinary people in the countryside, but unthinkable between scholars, who were supposed to be dignified and courteous in their behavior.

  Fortunately, Liu Qi just smiled and didn't take this small matter to heart. However, he felt that Liu Xuan should go study and learn etiquette, as his elder brother, it was his responsibility.

  "This is the yard where you live."

  The two brothers walked to a small courtyard, Liu Qi pushed open the door, and an old servant came forward and knelt down to pay his respects. "Your humble servant greets the young master."

  "Get up!"

  Liu Qi introduced the old man to Liu Cong, "This is Meng Shu, also from our hometown, he has been following us for over a decade. When you were a child, he took care of you too."

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