Although Dongwuyang is a large city in Dongjun, after the war, there are collapsed houses everywhere in the city, which is far less well-run than Juancheng.
Therefore, the Cao family members who are now trapped in a large mansion are mostly dissatisfied on the surface, but they are also sighing and frowning in private.
They all understood what they were sent to Yecheng for, but what was waiting for them made them afraid to think about it. This fear of the future made them feel uneasy.
Moreover, they spontaneously divided into two groups, one group had more than 20 people, and the other group had more than 40 or 50 people.
The small group consisted of Cao Cao's own family members, mostly concubines, concubines, and adopted sons and daughters from other branches.
The largest group was headed by Cao Song, and most of them were the wives and family members of the deceased Cao De.
Cao Song sighed and muttered curses. He did not expect that Cao Cao would send himself and Cao De's family to Yecheng to serve as hostages!
But Cao Cao, a rebellious son, told the outside world that because Juancheng was attacked by the enemy and was in danger of being breached at any time, Cao Song and his brother Cao De's family were sent to Yecheng for refuge first.
Cao Song cursed the danger in his heart. If it was really dangerous, how could these hostages come out of Juancheng?
He understood Cao Cao's plan in his heart, and also knew that Cao De died in an unknown manner, but he had been sidelined and had nothing to do.
What makes Cao Song even more uncomfortable is that in the end, the Cao family will probably have to rely on Cao Cao to pass it on!
The more Cao Song thought about it, the more irritated he became. He turned a blind eye to the deliberate teasing of the concubine beside him, pushed her aside, and wanted to go out of the house to relax.
When he opened the door and went out, he heard voices and footsteps outside, and a group of people came into the yard.
Cao Song recognized Cheng Yu, Yu Jin and others among them, but they all carefully accompanied the young master in the middle.
When the young master saw Cao Song, he walked up quickly and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for many days, and I see that Grand Duke Cao is getting stronger and stronger."
Cao Song took a closer look and almost lost his breath. Isn't this the robber who robbed him of all his wealth in Feixian County, Yuan Shao's son Yuan Xi!
He was so angry that he didn't dare to say anything. Yuan Xi had saved his life no matter what, and he would have to live under someone else's roof in the future. How could he dare to offend Yuan Xi now?
He was smiling all over his face and said flatteringly: "When we said goodbye that day, the young master was also so handsome that I almost didn't recognize him."
Yuan Xi laughed and said with a smile: "It's easy to talk about. Mr. Cao deserves the reward."
He turned to Cheng Yu and Yu Jin and said, "Meng Degong even sent his father, which shows his trust in the Yuan family. But I still want to see the other family members."
Cheng Yu and Yu Jin listened to Yuan Xi's words full of ridicule and pretended not to know. They only ordered the soldiers to open the doors of each room and call out the people inside.
After a while, more than 40 people came out one after another. Cheng Yu smiled and said, "These are all members of Ming Gong's family."
Yuan Xi walked around, asked a few questions casually, and suddenly sighed: "Mr. Zhongde, is Mr. Meng De deceiving me because I don't know people?"
"Are these people the family members of brothers Cao Taigong and Meng Degong?"
Cheng Yu's expression remained unchanged, "Of course that's the case, but it's true that they are members of Duke Ming's family."
Yuan Xi shook his head, and Tian Feng took the opportunity to mock at the side: "Cao Cao thought well, are these people worth the soldiers, horses and food?"
As soon as these words came out, Yu Jin couldn't help but look at Cheng Yu. Cheng Yu could only say: "In the other courtyard, there are all Ming Gong's children."
Yuan Xi nodded and said, "In that case, let's go and have a look. I hope Mr. Zhongde won't disappoint me."
He turned to Cao Song and said, "If Cao Taigong feels that Yecheng is not good, I can make the decision and let Grandpa Cao return to Juancheng now."
Just kidding, what does he want Cao Song to do? Keeping him with Cao Cao can make Cao Cao disgusted. If he really wants to take him to Yecheng, he must provide it well to avoid being criticized by the nobles. After all, Cao Song has also been a three-gong.
When Cao Song heard this, his eyes rolled up and he didn't know what he was thinking.
When Cheng Yu heard this, a hint of fear flashed in his eyes.
Everyone came to the yard next door, and under the supervision of the soldiers, more than 20 people came out one after another, most of them young men and women.
Some of the women were quite good-looking, especially two of them, who were slender and light, with particularly outstanding looks. They were quite different from most of the other short and short figures. Yuan Xi couldn't help but take a second look.
Yuan Xi questioned his identity one by one, and towards the end, his face became more and more ugly.
Although there are some of Cao Cao's concubines, they are all extremely ignored. There are also some adopted sons and daughters, that is, the children that Cao Cao brought over when he snatched other people's wives.
But there is no important person.
Yuan Xi turned his head and sighed to Cheng Yu, "There's no way to talk about it."
"On that day, I said that I could keep my wife and legitimate son. Mrs. Ding really didn't need to come, but Meng Degong didn't even send a few of my legitimate sons."
"I remember Cao Ang, Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi. These are not legitimate sons, right?"
"Also, Mrs. Bian is not the official wife. I haven't seen it either. Does Mrs. Cao really think that I, Mrs. Yuan, are easy to fool?"
Cheng Yu and Yu Jin looked at each other. They had known that Yuan Xi was difficult to deal with, but they didn't expect that Yuan Xi knew the inside story of the Cao family so well!
Cao Cao had many concubines and a mixed bag of children. Unless he deliberately inquired, it would be impossible to understand them in such detail!
Is there a tip from a traitor?
Cheng Yu thought about it, how to deal with it?
Moreover, his wife, Ding, has nothing to do, and Cao Cao has no legitimate son at all!
The most valued eldest son, Cao Ang, was not born to his wife Ding, but the son of the deceased Mrs. Liu. He was raised by Ding and loved like mother and son. He was also trained by Cao Cao as his successor and would never be sent to him. .
And further down is Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, the youngest son born to Mrs. Bian.
Although Mrs. Bian was born in a wealthy family, she was Cao Cao's right-hand man. She took care of all the affairs of Cao Cao's back house and was quite favored by Cao Cao. She and her two sons could never be sent over.
Cheng Yu knew that Yuan Xi was clinging to this point, but the internal affairs of Cao Cao's family were complicated, but he couldn't explain it clearly.
Yuan Xi pointed at the adopted sons and daughters among them and said: "Not to mention these people, they are not the biological children of Meng Degong, so what are they used for?"
"Please also ask Mr. Zhongde to send them all back and replace them with more useful people."
As soon as he said this, some of them looked happy. They knew that they were going to Yecheng as a hostage, and they didn't know what would happen when they got there. Of course, it would be best if they didn't go!
Only the two pretty girls with slender figures looked at each other, unhappy instead of worried, holding their sleeves tightly with their hands.
Cheng Yu and Yu Jin knew that Yuan Xi was difficult to deal with, but they had already prepared for it. They were bargaining, and they had no intention of fooling him so easily.
Anyway, Dongwuyang and Juancheng are only two days away, so we can just bring some people over to top up the numbers.
Cheng Yu smiled and said: "Talk, you can talk about anything. Don't be angry, sir."
Yuan Xi smiled: "I'm not in a hurry. Let's talk slowly. I can afford to wait for a month or two."
Cheng Yu's face stiffened. Yuan Xi could wait, but Cao Cao couldn't!
If Lu Bu's desperate offensive in the previous chapter were to come again, Juancheng would be in danger!
Thinking of this, Cheng Yu smiled and said, "Please tell me, sir, what kind of family members you want, so that I can go back and report to Duke Ming."
Yuan Xi said: "I actually don't know anything about Meng Degong's family affairs, and I have to rely on Mr. Yuan Hao and Brother Zhongde to talk to me. I'm just messing around."
You know nothing about this!
Cheng Yu cursed secretly in his heart.
Tian Feng agreed immediately. He was still not satisfied with scolding Cheng Yu just now, so he continued to spray!
Yuan Xi turned to Yu Jin: "Brother Wen Ze, they talked about each other. The two of us hit it off immediately. How about we find a place to have a drink and talk?"
Feel like old friends at first sight!
Yu Jin's head almost exploded, and he hurriedly covered his stomach and said, "Young Master favors me, and I'm very grateful. I have no choice but to suffer from the cold, but I still forgive you for being rude. I'm sorry to accompany you!"
Seeing Yu Jin running away like a frightened rabbit, Yuan Xi shook his head helplessly. It seems that Cao Cao's subordinates are very powerful. Yu Jin can be so frightened that he can't poach him for the time being.
He was half-motivated and wanted to turn around and leave, preparing to go back to find Cao Song, hoping to let him go in exchange for some information about Cao Cao's family.
The two girls were so anxious that they raised their hands involuntarily and wanted to speak out, but they were afraid of being discovered, so they had to wink as hard as they could.
Yuan Xi saw it from the corner of his eye and thought that this was interesting. What did these two girls want to say?
He said to everyone: "You all go back to your room first. I will ask you some questions alone later."
After hearing this, Cheng Yu knew that Yuan Xi wanted to inquire about the Cao family, but he didn't care. These were people who were not valued in the Yuan family. What could he ask?
Tian Feng and Cheng Yu went back to have a verbal spat, and Yuan Xi escaped. Yuan Xi walked into each house and pretended to ask some questions. After asking more than a dozen people, he entered the house of the two girls.
As soon as he entered, he saw the two girls kneeling on the ground. Knowing that something was going on, he closed the door and said, "What do you want to say?"
The two looked at each other, and the girl who was a few years older kowtowed and said, "Please don't let us go back to Yecheng, sir. I have something else to ask of you."
"If the young master agrees, we sisters are willing to be cows and horses, and we will never forget it."
Yuan Xi heard this and asked, "Can you tell me first?"
The girl bit her lip and said, "Our mother is Cao Cao's concubine, and we have a one-year-old sister who is still in her infancy. Please find a way for them to go to Yecheng."
When Yuan Xi heard this, he laughed and said, "Do you know what you are going to do in Yecheng?"
"If you do this, wouldn't you be harming your mother and sister?"
The two of them raised their heads at the same time and said with tears: "Young master, I don't know, this is actually saving my mother and little sister."
After saying that, the two of them kowtowed again and again, with blood coming from their foreheads.
Yuan Xi was a little confused and said, "I don't understand. Tell me the inside story."
When the two sisters heard this, they quickly explained. Yuan Xi became more and more surprised the more he listened, because the two girls were not Cao Cao's biological children, and their biological mother was also raped by Cao Cao a year ago.
The original identities of these two girls were actually the daughters of Bian Rang, a famous scholar in Yanzhou who was killed by Cao Cao last year!
(End of chapter)
