I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 280 A Tribute to Cai Yong
The boat bobbed up and down in the river, and Gu Yong quickly stepped forward and stood on the dock to wait.

After the boatman docked, an elderly maidservant came out of the cabin and bowed to Gu Yong.

Gu Yong stared at the other person for a long time before recognizing him: "Back then, were you serving by my teacher's side?"

It wasn't that Gu Yong was blind; it was simply that the other party had changed too much.

When Gu Yong first studied under Cai Yong, she was a lively and lovely young girl. Her graceful figure often moved among the crowd like a magpie, making anyone who saw her feel happy and marvel at her youthful beauty and charm.

But now, the other person is hunched over, moves slowly, has a thick layer of calluses on their hands, and even their once tender and smooth face is now wrinkled from years of hard work, completely devoid of its former radiance.

The other party also felt somewhat flustered and uneasy after hearing Gu Yong's question.

The three years she spent with the Xiongnu were probably longer than her entire life.

Seeing old friends again should be a joyous occasion, but fear and embarrassment, along with the three years that have passed, have formed a thick wall, completely separating the two sides. Meeting, yet it's as if we never met.

Seeing the other person like this, Gu Yong felt a lump in his throat for some reason.

It wasn't until a soft sigh that Gu Yong was pulled back from his grief.

Gu Yong peered nervously into the cabin and cautiously called out—

"Sister?"

A tall, slender figure slowly emerged from inside the cabin.

She was so thin and small that if a sudden gust of wind were to blow her back into the bottomless cabin, she would probably be blown away again.

She was wrapped in a large mink coat, like a swaying reed. The fur of the coat brushed against her cool, aloof face, making her skin appear even whiter and more serene.

This is why the delicate beauty of ordinary Han women did not appear on her face; instead, there was only an unyielding and stubbornness like weeds.

Gu Yong quickly stepped forward, about to reach out to help, but then suddenly realized that he shouldn't disregard etiquette.

Cai Yan, on the other hand, was poised and graceful. She grabbed Gu Yong's hand and stepped off the boat. She then looked around and finally fixed her gaze on Gu Yong.

"I heard that Yuan Tan is now the Chief Clerk of the General of Chariots and Cavalry, and also governs a province?"

Cai Yan's lips also curved into a smile: "Back then, my father praised you for your quick wit, calm and focused mind, and daily progress in your art, so he admired you greatly. That's why he gave you the courtesy name 'Yuan Tan'."

"Looking back now, my father's judgment was really good."

When Cai Yan mentioned the deceased Cai Yong, she showed no sadness whatsoever, nor did she display the melancholy and self-pity typical of women. Instead, she spoke as casually as if she were mentioning someone else's father.

Seeing this scene, Gu Yong felt even more heartbroken.

Even Cai Yan didn't shed a tear, so how could he be the first to cry in front of her?

Moreover, looking into Cai Yan's calm and serene eyes, Gu Yong couldn't even utter a word like "Senior Sister, you've suffered." He simply stared respectfully at his toes, just as he had done when studying in front of Cai Yong, not daring to say a single word.

Cai Yan was more outgoing than Gu Yong, and asked him many questions and asked him many questions.

When Cai Yan heard that Gu Yong wanted to bring her to Jiangdong, she remained silent for a moment, but then she also looked forward to it with delight.

“My father spent twelve years in Jiangnan. Those days were actually quite peaceful, much better than in the North.”

"If Father had stayed in Jiangnan, perhaps..."

Cai Yan finally hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself.

The joys of her childhood were sharper than her current suffering, finally cracking a fissure in Cai Yan's completely closed heart, plunging her into confusion.

Gu Yong quickly said, "Don't worry, Senior Sister, Jiangdong today is completely different from Jiangdong before!"

"Liu Biaoqi has already prepared a house in Jiangdong. When the time comes, Senior Sister can just focus on recuperating and will not have to worry about anything else!"

Cai Yan was also somewhat curious when she heard Liu Miao's name again.

"Who exactly is this General Liu?"

For Cai Yan, the name Liu Miao already held too much weight in her heart.

Right here in Huying.

I thought this was how my life would be.

Unexpectedly, one day she heard that someone was going to ransom her from the Xiongnu.

Even until the moment before she met Gu Yong, Cai Yan could hardly believe that she had actually returned to Han territory from the north.

All of this was thanks to Liu Miao, with whom he had never had any prior dealings.

Therefore, Cai Yan couldn't help but wonder: "Is Liu Miao an old friend of Father's?"

"My lord has never met the teacher."

"Then... could it be that he was a great lover of literature and had a close relationship with my father?"

"That's not entirely true."

Gu Yong didn't know how to explain Liu Miao to Cai Yan.

"Once Senior Sister returns to Jiangdong and meets with the Lord, she will naturally find out!"

Cai Yan was even more curious about Liu Miao than Gu Yong could explain it.

"When I get back, I will naturally see him and thank him."

Cai Yan was standing at the ferry crossing when she suddenly turned around.

But after just one glance, Cai Yan immediately stopped looking north.

There is no need to say goodbye to suffering.

Suffering is suffering; once it's over, it shouldn't be celebrated or reminisced about. Since Liu Miao, Gu Yong, and others have already paved the way for a bright future, why hesitate and waver?

Cai Yan turned back, her eyes no longer filled with confusion, and her voice even became cheerful: "In that case, let's go back as soon as possible."

But at this moment, Gu Yong felt a little embarrassed—

"Actually, the emperor had previously issued an edict saying that he missed his teacher and wanted to see his senior sister."

"So, I'm afraid Senior Sister will have to go to Xuchang first."

When Gu Yong said this, he didn't even dare to look at Cai Yan.

After he finished speaking, Gu Yong immediately added, "If Senior Sister doesn't want to go, I can take her back to Jingzhou right now! We'll ignore the Emperor!"

"..."

"What are you saying, Yuan Tan?"

"Loyalty to the emperor and love for one's country are the principles that Father has always upheld. Now that the emperor has issued an edict, how can a subject refuse?"

Cai Yan did not actually harbor any hatred towards the Han Dynasty.

and……

"Since it was Yuan Tan who asked for it, how could I, as his senior sister, refuse?"

The last sentence was even a little playful.

It was only then that Gu Yong realized that although he kept calling her "Senior Sister," Cai Yan was actually much younger than him.

It's just that Cai Yan studied under Cai Yong from a young age and developed the temperament of a great Confucian scholar, which makes it easy for people to overlook this point.

Hearing Cai Yan's rare display of genuine emotion, Gu Yong felt even more guilty.

Normally eloquent and articulate, he was speechless in front of Cai Yan, only able to nod in agreement, as wooden as a block of wood.

"However, now that we have returned to Han territory, we should first go and pay our respects to our father."

Cai Yan asked Gu Yong uncertainly, "Is this alright?"

"of course can!"

Gu Yong's answer was unusually decisive!
"I'll go with my senior sister!"

"That emperor's side..."

"Let him wait!"

Gu Yong's words surprised Cai Yan: "Why has Yuan Tan become so irritable these days? I'm afraid this will displease the superior."

"Don't worry, Senior Sister. If our Lord were really here, he would do the same thing!"

Emperor?

How many soldiers does the emperor have?
These former officials under Liu Miao showed absolutely no respect for the emperor and the court!

Let alone a puppet emperor, even if he were an emperor with real power, in the hearts of people like Gu Yong, he would still be far less worthy of loyalty than Liu Miao!

Upon hearing this, Cai Yan became even more curious about Liu Miao.

Gu Yong immediately went to find Xiahou Dun.

Xiahou Dun hesitated, "That might delay the event and make the Southern Xiongnu think we are disrespecting them."

So what if it's disrespectful?

Gu Yong's tone left no room for argument.

"If you're in such a hurry, you can lead the Southern Xiongnu to Xuchang yourself. Why are you talking to me here?"

After a moment's thought, Xiahou Dun felt that it would be in accordance with etiquette to let Cai Yan go to pay respects to Cai Yong first, so he stopped objecting.

First, head west to Chang'an.

After Cai Yong was imprisoned and punished by Wang Yun, he took the initiative to apologize and offered to accept the punishment of "tattooing the head and cutting off the feet" in order to complete the compilation of the history of the Han Dynasty. However, Wang Yun refused and still sentenced him to death.

At that time, all the officials and scholars wept for him. Although Cai Yong was executed, some people still secretly stole Cai Yong's body and buried it. After Wang Yun died, they began to openly commemorate him.

Gu Yong and Cai Yan came to Cai Yong's grave to mourn his death and comfort his spirit in heaven.

Even when she arrived at Cai Yong's grave, Cai Yan did not shed a tear. Instead, she squatted down at the grave and talked to Cai Yong for a long time.

On the contrary, Gu Yong was crying his eyes out and even needed help to walk. Anyone who didn't know better would probably think that Gu Yong was the one who had returned from the Hu region.

Although Xiahou Dun had no prior acquaintance with Cai Yong, he was aware of Cai Yong's reputation.

“Back then, Cai Zhonglang revised the text of the Six Classics, so that later Confucian scholars and students would use it as the standard text. When the stone tablet was first erected, thousands of scholars would come to see it and make copies every day, which often caused traffic jams and made it impossible to move an inch.”

“Cai Zhonglang’s actions can serve as a model for the world. It is precisely for this reason that after Cai Zhonglang passed away, portraits of him were painted in Yanzhou and Chenliu County to commemorate him.”

Regardless of whether Emperor Ling supported Cai Yong's creation of the "Xiping Stone Classics" in order to break the monopoly of aristocratic families over Confucian classics and concentrate imperial power, Cai Yong's actions did indeed allow countless scholars to bypass aristocratic families and fully engage with Confucian classics for the first time, which was a great favor to the scholars of the time. Therefore, Xiahou Dun also held a memorial service for Cai Yong and even specially left some soldiers to guard Cai Yong's tomb and prevent it from being damaged.

The only ones who were impatient were probably the Southern Xiongnu people.

Liu Qubei was somewhat disdainful when he saw so many people going to such lengths just to commemorate a dead person.

"That's just how Han people are! They don't know how to cherish life while they're alive, so what's the point of doing all this after they're dead?"

Liu Qubei, and most of the Southern Xiongnu cavalry, had already set their sights on Xuchang and the Central Plains.

"I wonder what kind of gift the Emperor of Han has prepared for us this time! Hehe!"

(End of this chapter)