"Crying, crying, sparrows in an empty city, how wretched and harried their struggle to survive."
"They belonged among the wrens, not among the phoenix clan."
"Excellent! Excellent!!"
Inside a luxurious residence in Luoyang, eight oddly assorted scholars sat in a circle, looking at the poem before them and voicing their praise.
A handsome man nearly eight chi tall rose drunkenly and said loudly, "What literary talent His Majesty has! They were poor sparrows, struggling to stay alive, only able to keep company with little birds. How could they dare mingle with phoenixes?"
"You lot are all shameless phoenixes!"
Everyone before him burst into laughter. Only one bright-eyed young man frowned without saying a word.
Ruan Ji rolled his eyes at the drunk and said nothing either.
Another young man, short in stature, stood and called to the drunk:
"Ji Shuye!"
"If you're that sparrow in an empty city, why do you keep company with phoenixes like us? Clearly, you're also one of the phoenixes His Majesty spoke of!"
"You're the phoenix! Your whole clan are phoenixes!"
"I'm a little bird... no, I'm a sparrow in an empty city..."
The man was drunk, his words contradicting one another. This tall, sturdy fellow was none other than the celebrated scholar Ji Kang.
Ji Kang came from a great clan. His father, Ji Zhao, had risen to Master of Documents and Palace Attendant Censor, while his elder brother, Ji Xi, had joined the army early on as a recommended talent and enjoyed the Sima Family's great favor.
He himself had married the Lady of Changle Village, granddaughter of Prince of Pei Cao Lin, and had consequently been appointed a gentleman attendant. Cao Lin was Cao Pi's younger brother, making Ji Kang and Cao Mao members of the same generation. Having married into the