The Queen in Cao Wei [Three Kingdoms]

Guo Rou was bright and clever from a young age, and her father gave her the courtesy name "Queen." Born into a time of war, she lost her parents and brothers and was reduced to a servant, where she practiced music and dance. Unwilling to spend her whole life that way, she plotted for years until she finally won the favor of a young nobleman: Cao Pi.

The nobleman recited, "At your family's banquet, I have a pipa score."

Guo Rou thought, That's my verse!

The nobleman said, "The jade pick taps out the night, while every inch of my heart goes astray."

At last, Guo Rou found a way into the conversation: "My lord, you have let this maid's heart go astray for far too long."

Serious blurb:

When I was born, the world was still at peace; after my birth, the Han dynasty fell into decline.

Heaven was unkind, bringing chaos and strife; the earth was unkind, making me live through these times.

In the first year of Zhongping under the Han, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out. That same year, Guo Rou was born. Her family had served as officials for generations, and her father was a commandery governor. She grew up in a peaceful, comfortable life.

In a time of chaos, even the emperor could not keep himself safe, let alone anyone else.

Guo Rou lost her parents and brothers at a young age. Adrift amid the turmoil, she was made a servant and trained in music and dance, suffering every hardship. Yet compared with what ordinary people endured, her troubles were nothing.

White bones lay exposed in the fields; for a thousand miles, no cock crowed.

Of every hundred commoners, only one survived; the thought of it rends the heart.

Guo Rou wanted to change this miserable state of affairs. She dreamed of peace for all generations, of a world where no one went hungry or cold!

Besides, she had been bright and clever from a young age, and her father had given her the courtesy name "Queen." Guo Rou knew the weight those three characters, "Guo Queen," carried.

A few notes:

1. "When I... times": The Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute is traditionally attributed to Cai Wenji.

2. "White... heart": The poem "Song of the Artemisia Fields" by Cao Cao.

3. -by25.04.24, left here.

Theme: A life of striving is a happy life.