Yuan Xi rode on his horse and looked at the streets on both sides of the road. Compared with the last time he married Zhen Mi, there was not much change when he left Yecheng. Yuan Xi could vaguely remember many shop fronts.
There is no change, which is actually a good thing. It represents a stable life. For ordinary people, the days of getting rich overnight are too far away, and the days of being destitute overnight are too scary. Only ordinary days can last long.
When Yuan Xi saw Shen Pei leading him all the way to Yuan Shao's residence, he thought to himself that he was going to see Yuan Shao directly. He originally wanted to turn around and let Lu Lingqi's carriage go back to his residence first, but after thinking about it, he did not speak and still let him go. The carriage followed.
Seeing that Zhao Yun was about to speak but hesitated, he said, "Brother Zilong is going with us."
Zhao Yun listened, nodded and stopped talking.
When everyone entered the mansion, they saw Yuan Shao standing at the door of the hall. Yuan Xi was shocked and quickly got off his horse.
He said solemnly: "I have met Mr. Ben Chu..."
Yuan Shao said aloud: "When the two envoys arrive, Shao will naturally come out to greet you."
Seeing the sarcasm in Yuan Shao's words, Yuan Xi couldn't help but smile bitterly. He suddenly looked at the carriage behind him, rolled his eyes, opened the door, and welcomed Lu Lingqi out.
He pulled Lu Lingqi's sleeve and whispered: "That's my former father over there. You go and meet him as a bride."
Lu Lingqi was confused and followed Yuan Xi forward, but she greeted Yuan Shao as if she were meeting her parents-in-law.
As expected, Yuan Shao's eyes softened a lot and he said to Yuan Xi: "It's a good thing. Even the world-famous Marquis Wen is willing to entrust his daughter to you."
Yuan Xi breathed a sigh of relief. As expected, Yuan Shao still missed the old relationship between father and son and was quite satisfied with his marriage. He even deliberately blurred Lu Lingqi's identity in his words, which was a great honor.
For Yuan Xi, he has passed this level. After all, Yuan Shao is not big-minded. To flatter the emperor is to be stabbed in the back by Yuan Xi. It is already very rare not to have an attack on the spot.
Yuan Xi saw that Lu Lingqi was a little embarrassed and knew that the following occasion was not suitable for her, so she said to Yuan Shao: "The eldest lady has taken good care of me. Can I let my wife pay her a visit first?"
After hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded and said, "Yes."
A maid came over and saw Lu Lingqi leading her away. Yuan Shao turned around and walked in, but he ignored Zhao Yun. Yuan Xi smiled bitterly, winked at Zhao Yun, and the two of them followed in.
Several people sat down in the room. Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Yuan Xi smiled at Yuan Shaopian and said, "Father... are you okay, sir?"
Yuan Shao said coldly: "It's good, I'm not mad to death yet."
Yuan Xi choked and said in embarrassment: "I have to take care of everything. The Yuan family relies on you to control the overall situation. Please take care of yourself."
Yuan Shao snorted coldly, "Do you consider yourself a member of the Yuan family?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Of course, I have always been a member of the Yuan family."
Yuan Shao's tone became colder and colder, "Have you ever asked me about the things you did in Huaicheng?"
He pointed at Zhao Yun, "How generous are you to give Youzhou to him?"
"Youzhou was conquered by the Yuan family, you are not the one who can make the decision!"
Yuan Xi saw that Yuan Shao was very angry and said: "Let your anger calm down."
"I was guarding Huaicheng at the time and was unable to greet him in person. I didn't know what the result would be. This was all Cao Mengde's plan to alienate him."
"He has made up his mind to let Brother Zilong accept the position of Youzhou Mu, so that the Yuan family will be suspicious of him. This will cause civil strife in the Yuan family, and he will have no time to take care of it, so you must not fall into the trap."
Yuan Shao snorted coldly, "You didn't know these things in advance?"
"I do not believe!"
"Don't think that I don't know your little thoughts. Why didn't you personally welcome the emperor, which led to the current situation?"
"What you did was too sneaky, as if you were deliberately avoiding the Emperor!"
"And Zhao Shijun can accept the emperor's edict without your nod?"
"I don't believe you didn't expect these things!"
Yuan Xi sweated profusely and knew that his son was no better than his father. Yuan Shao guessed his thoughts very closely!
But now he was determined not to let go, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Shijun Mingjian, I stayed in Huaicheng that day to help Marquis Wen defend the city. After all, I am not good at fighting."
"During this period, I helped Marquis Wen uncover the traitorous generals. How could I possibly manipulate the emperor's edict when I had too much time to take care of myself!"
"What's more, I understand that there are many Cao Mengde's informants lurking around the emperor, and their ambitions are not small. This is the result of compromise and wrestling between all parties. How can I control the emperor's thoughts?"
When Yuan Shao heard this, he nodded and said, "Yes, I did hear something."
He coughed a few times and continued: "I didn't expect that Cao Mengde was so powerful. I underestimated him before."
When Yuan Xi saw the meaning of Yuan Shao's words, he was afraid that Liu Xie would also have Yuan Shao's spies around him.
Seeing that Yuan Shao began to agree with his words, he struck a chord while the iron was hot: "So this reward from the emperor is really Cao Cao's trick and has nothing to do with me."
Yuan Shang snorted coldly: "Emperor?"
"Isn't he afraid that he will side with Cao Cao?"
Yuan Xi hurriedly said: "Cao Cao ordered Brother Zilong to be the shepherd of Youzhou and me to be the shepherd of Xuzhou. It was clear that he wanted to alienate Jizhou. The emperor was deceived by his slander, so he issued the edict."
"But I think the emperor is still willing to trust the Yuan family. However, there were some entanglements before that made him trust Cao Cao now more than the Yuan family."
"If Jizhou openly defies the emperor, I'm afraid the world will criticize him. This is exactly what Cao Cao wants."
Yuan Shao heard this and was quite disapproving, "What prestige does the Han court still have now?"
Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "Xi doesn't think so."
"The remaining power of the Han Dynasty is still there. If you underestimate it, you will definitely suffer a backlash."
"After hearing that Yuan Gongdao is trying to stand on his own feet, you will understand how many people are still on the side of the Han Dynasty."
After hearing this, Yuan Shao sarcastically asked, "Including this Ambassador Zhao?"
"As your subordinate, I have known for a long time that he has always been interested in the Han Dynasty, right?"
After hearing this, Zhao Yun cupped his hands and said, "Yun does not deny this."
Yuan Shao sneered at Yuan Xi and said, "Listen!"
"Even with your consent, did he ever take you seriously when he accepted Youzhou Mu?"
"Is he still one of your subordinates?"
Yuan Xi said: "Brother Zilong is a man of faith."
"In my eyes, Brother Zilong is much more than just a subordinate."
He signaled to Zhao Yun: "Brother Zilong, if you have anything to say, just tell Benchu Gong, don't worry."
Zhao Yun sat up straight, cupped his hands to Yuan Shaolue, and said, "Young Master entrusted Youzhou to me because, in Young Master's eyes, I have the ability and willingness to protect Youzhou."
"In Yun's eyes, Youzhou belongs not only to the Yuan family, nor to the emperor, but also to the people of Youzhou."
"In order to protect them, Yundang did his best and died."
After hearing this, Yuan Shao sneered: "It's quite simple. If I, Xian Yi, conflict with the emperor's order, who should you listen to?"
Zhao Yun glanced at Yuan Xi and said solemnly: "Young master entrusted Youzhou to me because he believed in Yun's own judgment."
"Yun will follow his heart. If the young master orders the massacre of the city in Youzhou, Yun will become the young master's enemy, not to mention the emperor and the envoy."
"Bold!" Yuan Shao was furious, "After all, you don't want to be a prince!"
Zhao Yun's expression remained unchanged: "Please believe me, Lord Ben Chu, that Yun's ambition is not about personal honor or disgrace, but about world peace."
"Yun believes that the young master's ambition is more ambitious and does not conflict with Yun, so he will follow the young master to the death."
"In Yun's opinion, Young Master is the most suitable lord."
Yuan Shao sneered: "More suitable than me?"
Zhao Yun's eyes were firm, "Yes."
Yuan Shao snorted angrily and coughed again. He picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, which finally calmed him down a little.
He put the tea bowl down heavily, and the room fell into silence.
Yuan Xi saw Yuan Shao's uncertain expression and thought that he was very angry with Zhao Yun. However, Zhao Yun's response was so straightforward, which was beyond Yuan Xi's expectation.
It seems that during this period, Zhao Yun also figured out a lot of things.
After a while, Yuan Shao's voice sounded again, "As an outsider, Ambassador Zhao, I really don't feel comfortable handing over the door behind Jizhou."
"The north of Youzhou refuses foreigners. Once it is lost, the Central Plains will be devastated by war. Now Zhao Shijun does not believe me, and I do not believe Zhao Shijun."
"Do you understand, Ambassador Zhao?"
After hearing this, Zhao Yun nodded slightly and said, "Yun understands."
"If the emperor orders Youzhou to be returned to the young master, Yun will soon go to the Han court and resign as the pastor of Youzhou."
Just as Yuan Shao was about to speak, Yuan Xi's voice rang out, "Benchu Gong Mingjian, Han Lv does not allow one person to be the master of two states. Brother Zilong is the best person to control Youzhou."
Yuan Shao sneered and said, "Don't forget, the Yuan family lets their children run the states because they are all relatives!"
"When the merger of the states is completed, I will hand it over to the Gao family, Yuan's wife's family. This is a rule and I cannot break it!"
"If this rule is broken, disputes and troubles will immediately arise within the Yuan family!"
Seeing that the time had come, Yuan Xi said: "This is not easy. Wouldn't it be enough to turn Brother Zilong into a relative?"
"My sister is not married yet, right?"
"Do you still remember what I said when I proposed marriage for Zilong two years ago?"
Yuan Shao was stunned, then realized what he was doing and said angrily: "So that's what you had in mind!"
"I really didn't expect that such a major event that affects the general trend of the world would have such a trivial cause!"
He connected the events before and after he welcomed the emperor, and he suddenly became enlightened and thought things through.
Two years ago, when Yuan Xi came to Yecheng for the first time, he mentioned to Yuan Shao that Yuan Xing was betrothed to Zhao Yun. At that time, Yuan Shao sneered. Zhao Yun was from a middle-class family, not even a nobleman. Where could Yuan Xi come from? Do you have the confidence to propose marriage to him?
So at that time, Yuan Shao casually said something and waited until Zhao Yun became the lord of a state to talk about it.
He just made an excuse to refuse at the time, didn't take it to heart at all, and then forgot about it.
Unexpectedly, two years later, Zhao Yun became the shepherd of Youzhou and was granted the title of marquis. There are only a dozen or so people like him in the world, who are worthy enough to be like Yuan Xing!
No wonder Yuan Xi didn't take action himself and let Zhao Yun lead the army independently to perform meritorious service and perform in front of the emperor Liu Xie!
When Yuan Shao thought of this, his face was full of disbelief, and he said to Yuan Xi: "For a word, can you really do this?"
After working on it for a long time, Yuan Xi gave this Youzhou to Zhao Yun through himself and the emperor as a betrothal gift to marry Yuan Xing!
Taking Yuan's own things and marrying Yuan's girl?
Yuan Xi, a naughty boy with such shrewd calculations, was he really born by himself?
(End of chapter)
