Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Du Qiong, being of advanced age and high moral character, had faced academic scrutiny more than once. Even when confronted with Liu Shan's trembling question, he only paused for a few seconds before preparing his response:
"Your Majesty, we used these apocryphal texts to urge you to ascend the throne back then, and today we are offering our advice based on prophecies. The prophecies are in the apocryphal texts, but times have changed. Please, Your Majesty, heed my words."

"Speak," Liu Shan sighed weakly.

Du Qiong slowly said, "The prophecy in the Spring and Autumn Annals says that the one who will replace the Han Dynasty is Dangtu Gao, and Dangtu Gao is Wei. This is the word of Zhou Qun. The so-called 'Wei' means 'que' (阙), which means towering. The sages just used the same meaning to express it."

Liu Shan snorted coldly: "Dangtu Gao, it's that Dangtu Gao again! Minister Du is being far-fetched!"

Du Qiong continued, "In ancient times, people did not refer to official positions as 'Cao'; but since the Han Dynasty, official positions have been called Cao, lower-ranking officials are called 'Shu Cao', and clerks and soldiers are called 'Shi Cao'. And the one who replaced the Liu family was called the Cao family. This is probably the will of Heaven."

"Absurd! Minister Du is the Grand Master of Ceremonies, how could he utter such absurd words!" Liu Shan became furious, grabbed a bundle of bamboo slips from the side and threw it out, the sound particularly jarring in the empty hall.

Du Qiong sighed and said in a persuasive tone, "As Your Majesty's subject, I should do my duty to serve you faithfully. When the late Emperor wanted to become emperor, Li Zhengfang found a yellow dragon auspicious omen for him in Jianwei County. We also found apocryphal texts for him to use as evidence."

“We have studied prophecies and apocryphal texts all our lives. Do you think we don’t know whether the words of prophecies and apocryphal texts are far-fetched or not? It’s just that people in this world believe in prophecies and apocryphal texts, and we are just using these words to serve our monarch.”

Liu Shan retorted, "Are you also serving me today?"

Du Qiong nodded: "That's right. Cao Zihuan's 'Discourse on the Classics' says that from ancient times to the present, there has never been a country that did not perish, nor a tomb that was not dug up. The tyrannical Qin Dynasty is gone, the Former Han Dynasty is gone, and the Later Han Dynasty is gone. Now that the Prime Minister is dead and the army is scattered, the Wei army's iron cavalry is heading straight for the walls of Chengdu. As we have reported truthfully, the Shu Han Dynasty has now been destroyed. Whether Chengdu is opened or not will actually have little impact on the Wei Kingdom."

"Jianye and Xiakou have the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, but now they are in the hands of the Wu people. The plains outside Chengdu are flat, and all the counties of Shu Commandery have fallen in an instant. What use is it to deploy 20,000 troops in Chengdu? In the past, Gongsun Shu had 100,000 troops and Liu Jiyu had 30,000 troops, but they were never able to defend Chengdu."

"Your Majesty, I am old and have received great favors from the late Emperor and Your Majesty. It is my duty to serve Your Majesty. At this time, I do not wish to feign loyalty to Your Majesty. To continue to hold out like Lord Jiang is nothing but self-deception. We report truthfully: if Your Majesty were to communicate with Wei and surrender now, Your Majesty could still preserve your clan. But if the city is opened, and if Wei were to follow the example of Wu and Han, how would Your Majesty then conduct yourself?"

"I am truly a loyal subject!" After saying this, Du Qiong slowly bowed down in the hall and kowtowed to the ground.

"We are truly loyal subjects." Meng Guang, Lai Min, and Pei Jun also followed Du Qiong's example and bowed down together.

Liu Shan smiled faintly, quietly looking at the four ministers kneeling in the hall.

Time passed slowly, and Liu Shan remained silent, as did the four others. The already dim light gradually dimmed, and the eunuch in charge of the lamps peered into the palace again and again from outside the gates.

Liu Shan finally let out a long sigh: "My ministers are all getting old, and the weather is damp and gloomy. Stand up. Tell me, will Wei perish? When will it perish? And what will be the cause of its demise?"

The four of them stood up.

It is said that walls have ears. Although the group shared the same stance on persuading Liu Shan to surrender, it was hard to guarantee that they would not develop ulterior motives or disagreements later on.

How can such a question be answered? If it were to reach the ears of the Wei rulers and ministers in the future, and if the Wei people took it seriously, they would be accused of cursing the dynasty's fate and be executed along with their entire clan!

It was Du Qiong again. He had just been the one persuading Liu Shan to surrender, and now he had no choice but to answer. If he didn't, it was uncertain whether he would even be able to leave the palace today, let alone in the future.

Du Qiong sighed softly: "From ancient times to the present, there has never been a country that did not perish. These are Cao Zihuan's original words. If we follow this logic, the Wei Kingdom will surely perish as well."

"The State of Wei claims to have inherited the abdication from the Han Dynasty, but its virtue cannot be compared with that of Emperor Gaozu who destroyed the Qin Dynasty and punished the tyrannical. Judging from this, the State of Wei will not last more than two hundred years." "As for how the State of Wei will perish in the future, I believe it will not escape the lessons of the Former Han and the Later Han Dynasties. It will be nothing more than the people rising up in rebellion, ministers usurping power, and separatism."

"I have answered truthfully without concealing anything."

There was no concealment, but it was all just clever talk.

Liu Shan sighed, "Minister Du's consideration for me is very gratifying. But if we were to surrender to Wei, what should we do?"

Lai Min then spoke up, saying, "If you want to surrender, you should surrender directly to the Wei ruler and not get too involved with the Wei generals, so as not to lose the last vestige of dignity of the court."

“Your Majesty, the Grand Master of Ceremonies is from Hedong. His elder brother, Pei Qian, is currently the Attendant-in-Ordinary of Wei and is highly favored. I believe that the Grand Master of Ceremonies could serve as an envoy to the Wei camp to discuss Your Majesty’s future position with the Wei ruler.”

"Is that so?" Liu Shan gave a wry smile. "Pei Qing, are you willing to go?"

Pei Jun cupped his hands in respect: "If Your Majesty does not despise me, I am willing to go through this ordeal for Your Majesty!"

At this moment, Chen Zhi slowly walked out from behind the curtain on the side of the hall.

Du Qiong and the others were startled when they saw Chen Zhi's figure, but after seeing Liu Shan's calm expression, they realized that Chen Zhi had been listening to their conversation for a long time.

Chen Zhi walked to Liu Shan's side and stopped, then asked directly, "What conditions does Lord Pei wish to negotiate for Your Majesty? Pei Qian, the Attendant-in-Ordinary of Wei, is Lord Pei's elder brother. Can Lord Pei use this position to seek more for Your Majesty?"

Pei Jun stood ramrod straight, meeting Chen Zhi's gaze, and said frankly, "We are at the mercy of others. If Your Majesty does not surrender, will the Wei army be unable to take Chengdu?"

"All I can do is first find out the attitude of the Wei ruler, then show him the respectful attitude of the Shu Han court, try to win his favor, and then ask the Wei ruler to consider the overall situation so that His Majesty will not end up like Sun Quan, and do his best to protect the ancestral temples and tombs."

"Not a single lie!"

Chen Zhi sighed deeply: "I have nothing to say about what Lord Pei said. If His Majesty orders me to go on this mission, this is all I can do. What other choice do I have?"

Having said that, Chen Zhi turned and bowed to Liu Shan: "Your Majesty, the words of Du Gong and the others are all well-intentioned, and I have nothing more to say. I implore Your Majesty to appoint Pei Gong as the chief envoy and me as the deputy envoy, so that we may go to the Wei camp together and do our utmost to secure something for Your Majesty!"

Liu Shan shook his head and smiled bitterly: "You have all made arrangements for me, what can I say? Duke Du, Duke Lai, and Duke Meng are all great Confucian scholars, and the State of Wei will only treat you well. Duke Pei has an elder brother who has been granted the title of Duke, so there is no need to worry about the future."

"I'm counting on the two of you to do your best. My safety is not important; I only ask that the ancestral graves be preserved. I ask for nothing more. Anything more is a bonus."

"By the way, you must not let the Lord know that you have left the city."

"Your Majesty, we obey!" everyone responded in unison. (End of Chapter)