Yuan Xi's motorcade arrived ten miles outside Tancheng.
Yuan Xi was telling Kong Rong's daughter in the car a folk tale spread in the North. The black blind man came to the village at night to eat people.
The girl turned pale with fright, and crawled into Mrs. Kong Rong's arms, her body trembling.
Mrs. Kong Rong hugged her daughter helplessly, with a look of sadness and helplessness in her eyes.
Taishi Ci saw smoke and dust billowing in the distance, and a troop of soldiers and horses approaching. He rode to the carriage window, knocked on it, and whispered: "Master, someone is coming."
Yuan Xi stopped the carriage, put on his robe and got out of the carriage, waiting quietly.
He suddenly thought of something, opened the curtain, and said to the girl inside: "Remember to take good care of yourself, drink more hot water, and eat less raw food."
The girl didn't know why, but she nodded and lowered her head shyly.
Not long after, two generals led hundreds of cavalry troops to the convoy. Yuan Xi took a closer look, wasn't this Guan Yu and Zhang Fei?
It's just that Guan Yu's arm is still wrapped with several layers of cloth. It seems that the injury is not fully healed yet.
Zhang Fei was the first to jump off his horse and said to Yuan Xi: "Sima Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide from other departments, in the name of the lord, come to greet Yuan Zhoumu and his party!"
Yuan Xi also dismounted and returned the greeting: "Yuan Benchu's son Yuan Xi and Yuan Xianyi have met General Yide."
"I am now ordered to return Kong Beihai's wife and daughter to show Yuan's sincerity."
Before Zhang Fei could answer, Guan Yu turned over and dismounted, his face a little ugly, "Guan Yu, the other commander, Guan Yunchang, have met the young master."
He changed the topic and his face turned cold: "I heard that the young master is here, and he rides in the same car with Wen Ju Gong's wife and daughter. Isn't it a foul on one's honor?"
Yuan Xi had already known about the moral integrity, so he smiled and said: "If we talk about reputation, Kong Beihai abandoned his wife and son and fell into the hands of his enemies. Did he ever think about his wife's reputation?"
Mrs. Rong Mianrong in the carriage sighed. Sure enough, the second young master Yuan looked down on his husband because of this matter.
Guan Yu didn't expect Yuan Xi to be so cunning with his words. He almost choked and said coldly: "People's hearts are as different as their faces."
Yuan Xi thought to himself, "What a bastard!" It turns out that a gentleman like Guan Yu also engages in personal attacks.
This saying comes from the Spring and Autumn Period, and it means that people's hearts are different, just like their appearance.
But Guan Yu's words at this time made it clear that he was attacking Yuan Xi with a white face and no beard, and was faintly mocking Yuan Xi for being like a eunuch, with no appearance or virtue.
Yuan Xi was so angry that he retorted, "A gentleman is magnanimous, but a villain is always worried."
When Guan Yu heard this, the boy actually became reasonable, and said again: "If you do too much rudeness, you will get it yourself."
Yuan Xi immediately retorted, "You should not be ashamed of heaven, and you should not be ashamed of others."
Zhang Fei suddenly flashed his big leopard-like eyes, wondering what the two of them were talking about?
(Zhang Fei is good at calligraphy and painting. It is said by a certain literati family in the Ming Dynasty. There is no other documentary record, so it cannot be proved in isolation.)
Guan Yu didn't expect Yuan Xi to react so quickly. In the conversation between the two of them just now, they used sentences from the Analects of Confucius, Spring and Autumn Period, Mencius and other books. They were back and forth, tit for tat.
Originally, Guan Yu was well versed in the Spring and Autumn Period and was quite proud of himself. He wanted to give Yuan Xi a blow, but when he saw that the other party showed no sign of weakness, he realized that the other party was an heir of poetry and calligraphy. It was not good for him to find anyone to touch such a nail!
He could only snort coldly, get on his horse and say: "Please come into the city, sir!"
But he was secretly wary. Yuan Shao was a good fighter, and his literary and eloquent talents were also extraordinary. Is this the heritage of his family?
In fact, Guan Yu didn't know that Yuan Xi could only remember a hundred sentences in the Four Books. As long as Guan Yu continued to press, Yuan Xi would show his chicken feet after a while.
Yuan Xi breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't show weakness in the negotiation. Now that the two parties were negotiating peace, Guan Yu would not cut off his head in such a scene, so he had the courage to insult each other.
It was not suitable for him to return to the carriage, so he asked for a horse to ride on, and he and Tai Shici followed Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's horse.
The young girl Kong was in the car, knowing that they would never see each other again, her face showed a look of disappointment.
Mrs. Kong Rong hugged her daughter and thought that this unexpected encounter was one of the few memories in her daughter's life. She was afraid that when she returned to her husband, the husband would be afraid of criticism and would marry her off soon.
Thinking that the situation of her mother and daughter was entirely caused by Kong Rong, Mrs. Kong Rong couldn't help but feel a little aggrieved.
When she thought about the days she spent with Yuan Xi in the car, she felt a slight sense of revenge.
After the motorcade entered the city, the mother and daughter's carriage was pulled to another location. The girl heard the voices drifting away and couldn't help but want to open the curtains to take a look, but was stopped by her mother's stern eyes.
There were tears in the corners of her eyes, full of grievances, and she turned her head away in anger.
Yuan Xi sighed and was about to follow Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to leave. A group of soldiers over there drove a large group of men and women towards the city gate. Their attitude was quite rough. The group of people could not stand firmly and fell down one after another, blocking the city gate. Living.
Zhang Fei was anxious and shouted: "What are you doing? Didn't you see the guests?"
A sergeant quickly replied: "These are the people Tao Zhou Mu wanted to drive out earlier. Because of the delay some time ago, they were driven out of the city today."
After hearing this, Zhang Fei shouted to the group of men and women: "Get out of here quickly and don't block the door, otherwise your life will be at risk!"
Upon hearing this, the group of men and women hurriedly rushed out of the city. In the panic, many people were pushed to the ground, and they suddenly started crying. Zhang Fei became even more irritable when he saw it.
Yuan Xi originally didn't want to meddle in other people's business, but when he saw a masked woman in the crowd holding a swaddling baby with her shoes squeezed out, sitting helplessly on the ground, he casually said to Tai Shi Ci: "Ask her what she knows. If you don’t know how to ride a horse, bring her a horse.”
Taishi Ci heard this, went over to ask, and asked his attendants to lead a horse to the woman. The woman bowed three times to Yuan Xi, tied the swaddling clothes to her chest, and rode off.
Guan Yu's eyes flashed and he asked the soldier: "A woman can actually ride a horse. She must be extraordinary. Whose family member is this?"
After a round, all the soldiers said they didn't know, so Guan Yu had no choice but to give up.
Yuan Xi didn't pay attention to such trivial matters. When the convoy arrived at the city lord's mansion, he saw Liu Bei leading his people to greet him.
Yuan Xi dismounted, took a few steps forward, and bowed to Liu Bei: "Young man Yuan Xi, I have met Mr. Xuande."
Liu Bei quickly held Yuan Xi's arm and said with a smile: "Yuan Benchu, the tiger father, has no sons. Bei and the young master are equals."
At that time, Liu Bei was thirty and Yuan Xi was twenty. What he said was not outrageous.
Yuan Xi hurriedly said: "I don't dare. Mr. Xuande praises me too much. I still know very well how much this kid weighs."
When Liu Bei saw that Yuan Xi's attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, he felt envious and jealous at the same time. How could Yuan Shao's sons be so capable?
On the other hand, several of his first wives died young, and only one of his current wives was left. Apart from two daughters, he had no male heirs, which made him constantly worried.
You must know that as a lord, you are always facing wars and chaos. It will be very troublesome for you to have no male heir at this age.
Liu Bei introduced everyone to Yuan Xi one by one. Seeing that he responded politely, he felt more and more uncomfortable. He wished he had an adopted son with half the abilities of Yuan Xi!
Liu Bei privately collected a lot of information about Yuan Xi and found that whether in battle or in diplomatic planning, the other party showed maturity that was beyond his age.
Especially after Liu Bei suffered a big loss from Feixian County to Qingzhou, he still dared to come to Xuzhou alone. This courage alone is enough to surprise people.
Even Zhao Yun and Tai Shici defected to Yuan Xi, which made Liu Bei a little worried.
These two people could have been used for themselves!
Especially Zhao Yun, Liu Bei knew that he was definitely not someone who trusted people easily. What happened?
Liu Bei welcomed Yuan Xi and Tai Shici in with complicated emotions, and everyone took their seats one by one. Yuan Xi saw that most of Liu Bei's subordinates had unkind expressions, and thought that he might be in trouble now.
Do you want to argue with other scholars?
Although this trip was proposed by Yuan Xi, Yuan Shao did not send any advisers. It was obvious that he wanted to test his diplomatic ability.
After passing this level, Yuan Xi can truly prove that he can take charge of a place on his own.
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi always felt that something was not quite right.
Even as a lord, he does not actually need to be so versatile. He is required to be able to go into battle and be able to speak like a lotus flower. The former has military commanders and the latter has counselors.
The most important quality of the lord is the ability to recruit talents. Naturally, someone will do these things for him instead of doing everything himself.
But Yuan Shao's seemingly testing behavior is actually a bit outrageous.
Yuan Xi even thought, if according to Yuan Shao's requirements, if he was proficient in civil and military affairs and good at battle tactics, wouldn't he be a combination of Liu Bei and Cao Cao?
At this time, someone under the main seat who had not come out to greet him spoke.
Kong Rong.
He looked unkind, stared at Yuan Xi and said: "Boy, although you sent my wife and daughter back, this matter happened because of you. I will not be grateful to you!"
Yuan Xi thought to himself that Kong Rong was indeed a great troll in the late Han Dynasty. He dared to troll even when Cao Cao was at his most powerful, let alone himself.
He smiled slightly and said: "I heard that after Beihai was conquered, the Taishan bandits hid in the mountains and did not dare to come out. The people were very happy."
Kong Rong felt dizzy for a while, this kid had such a poisonous mouth!
He prides himself on loving the people as his own son, but the Yellow Turban thieves are raging in Beihai. However, he does not know how to fight and is helpless to deal with the Yellow Turban thieves. He can only pretend to be deaf and mute, but he is exposed by Yuan Xi mercilessly.
Yuan Xi pointed to Taishi Ci next to him and said: "I really feel sorry for Duke Wenju. Ziyi is both civil and military. The official position I give him now is not high. The Sima of other departments is still low. But before, he could only serve in the Beihai Navy." To be ranked among the centurions is to be like a pearl covered in dust.”
When Liu Bei heard this, he couldn't help but glance at Zhang Fei. He knew that Taishi Ci and Zhang Fei didn't get along. In front of his brothers, he could only reluctantly make a choice, but he was still very unhappy when he saw a general running to the opposite side. .
Zhang Fei was also choked badly. At first he looked down on Tai Shi Ci, but now he was a Sima from another department just like himself!
Kong Rong was speechless after being sprayed, turned his head and sulked.
Everyone looked at each other, Yuan Xi was difficult to deal with!
Originally, they wanted to give Yuan Xi a slap in the face, so that negotiations would be easier, but now it seems that things are not simple!
Mi Zhu said aloud: "Master, is it because the situation in Jizhou is not good that you want to join forces with Xuzhou?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "On the contrary, Xuzhou is about to overthrow. I am here to show you a clear path."
As soon as these words came out, most people showed disapproval on their faces, and Sun Qian even said: "Scaremongering!"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "The Yuan family rebelled against Dong and helped the Han Dynasty, and the heroes of the world joined him. However, you are against the Yuan family and are isolated and helpless. Forgive me, who else in the world is on the side of Duke Xuande?"
Jian Yong stood up at this time and said: "Confuse right and wrong!"
"Everyone knows that the Kwantung Allied Forces established a new puppet emperor. How can you say it is to help the Han Dynasty!"
"Moreover, Yuan Jiujiu, Gongsun Bogui, Wen Jugong, etc. are all friends of Xuzhou. How can they be isolated and helpless?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "The Emperor of the Han Dynasty was held hostage by Li Jue and Guo Bang. Government orders cannot be enforced in the world. The establishment of a new emperor is also dictated by circumstances. Dong Zhuo can establish it, why can't we, the heroes of Guandong, establish one?"
"Gongsun Zan wanted to kill the elders of the clan, and Yuan Shu had evil intentions and plotted against Xuzhou. As for Duke Wenju, I don't doubt that he was loyal to the Han Dynasty, but in other respects, hehehe."
Kong Rong was hit hard again for no reason and was almost knocked unconscious.
Yuan Xi's skills learned from Tian Feng finally came in handy, and the reason why he was so confident was because Xuzhou was indeed in trouble, and Liu Bei's officials knew it.
Without Yuan's intervention, Xuzhou would definitely be targeted and fall into war!
(End of chapter)
