When Yuan Xi entered, he saw Cai Zhaoji sitting at the top with a black lacquered lyre in front of her. Sitting at the bottom were Zhen Mi, Lu Lingqi and other girls. It was Cai Zhaoji who was teaching the girls how to play the piano.
Cai Zhaoji's movements are like flowing clouds and flowing water, her fingers are graceful and nimble, and the sound of the piano flows wherever she brushes, like the sound of nature. Even a layman like Yuan Xi can hear the extraordinaryness of it, which shows that Cai Zhaoji is proficient in this art and has extremely high attainments.
Among the people who came down, Cao Xian and others were still quite satisfactory. Only Zhen Mi and Lu Lingqi behaved differently from the others.
Due to physical inconvenience, Zhen Mi could only sit slightly sideways, but her fingers were extremely flexible. She flicked her hands and moved her fingers everywhere, and the sound of the piano was not bad at all. Although it was not as spiritual as Cai Zhaoji, it was extremely accurate.
But Lu Lingqi's days were like a year. She was restless, scratching her head, and had difficulty controlling the weight of her fingers. She would often hit the room with a powerful palm, like thunder exploding in the room, forcibly suppressing the sound of everyone's playing.
The girls were holding back their laughter, but because of Lu Lingqi's face, they tried to keep their composure on their faces. As a result, Yuan Xi burst into laughter and said to Lu Lingqi: "My lady's charm is as deep and moving as the cowhide drums on the battlefield, and it has the sound of gongs and gold." It’s soul-stirring and truly unforgettable.”
Lu Lingqi didn't want to practice the piano at first, but now she saw that Yuan Xi was still laughing at her, and she couldn't help but blush with anger. She just had an excuse, and she jumped up and shouted: "Bold!"
Everyone watched dumbfounded as Lu Lingqi chased Yuan Xi out. After a while, Yuan Xi came in with two bags on his head and said with a smile: "Mrs. Lu said she felt uncomfortable practicing the piano, so she went to the backyard to practice martial arts."
Everyone couldn't help laughing, Cai Zhaoji laughed and said: "It's a pity. In terms of physical talent alone, Mrs. Lu is probably the best. Her ears and eyes are far better than mine. It's a pity that she is not interested in piano art."
Yuan Xi heard about Cai Zhaoji's ability to distinguish sounds when she was a child, and said: "Everyone has their own ambitions. She thinks about killing enemies on the battlefield all day long."
Cao Xian looked at the time, slapped his head, and said, "I forgot about my studies, so I forgot to go to the kitchen. Master, please wait a moment. I will send my wife back to rest first, and then I will go to the kitchen to bring out the food."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said: "You go first, I will stay to help Zhao Ji pack her things."
After hearing this, Cao Xian helped Zhen Mi go back first. Yuan Xi helped Cai Zhaoji put the qin away one by one and said smoothly: "I heard that Cai Zhonglang once had a Jiaowei qin?"
Cai Zhaoji was surprised and said, "Young Master, have you even heard of this?"
She then sighed: "In the turmoil in Chang'an, when my father was killed, many things including the Jiaowei Qin were lost."
"Although I have had the idea of searching for him, in troubled times, it is difficult to save my life, let alone the things outside me."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said: "I will ask the caravan to look for it and pay attention. Maybe there will be an unexpected surprise."
Cai Zhaoji shook her head and said: "It's not necessary. Looking for something in troubled times is like looking for a needle in a haystack, which is a waste of manpower and material resources."
"When the world is peaceful, the young master has established his foundation, and the world's talents will join him. The same is true for rare and exotic objects. When the time comes, you don't need to deliberately search for them, the things will come to the young master himself."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi praised: "Zhao Ji's statement is quite reasonable."
He took Cai Zhaoji's hand and said, "Now that I have two wives, Zhen and Lu, the remaining one is you, who has the highest status and the most senior qualifications. If I don't give you a status, I'm afraid it won't be easy to arrange for the others. "
"How about I marry you in a few days?"
"I know I have wronged you. When the time comes for me to make you a king and a duke, I will be able to give you the name of my wife."
After hearing this, Cai Zhaoji whispered: "Don't worry about me. My identity is too sensitive. My late father was Dong Zhuo's vassal, which is quite criticized by the world. At this time, it only affects the great cause of the young master."
Yuan Xi heard this and said indifferently: "Who cares about this now? There were many people in the world who accepted Dong Zhuo's reward. Aren't they still living well now?"
He talked about his preparations to join forces with Gongsun Du, and finally said: "The sky is high here in Youzhou and the Yellow Emperor is far away. Who can control us?"
After hearing this, Cai Zhaoji said worriedly: "Master, do you think that the people you are close to in Youzhou now are all members of Dong Zhuo's party, which is contrary to the original foundation of the Duke. If someone is taking advantage of him, it will be hard to say."
Yuan Xi was horrified. Thinking about it, this was really the case. Gongsun Du was just a subordinate of Dong Zhuo. Cai Yong was also regarded as a member of Dong Zhuo's party. Liu Yu and Liu He had an inexplicable relationship with Dong Zhuo. The root of all this, Or because Liu Xie relied on Dong Zhuofa to ascend the throne.
Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu wanted to eradicate and suppress all Dong Zhuo's old tribes and carve up the world. The Yuan family was killed because of Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji, and they were natural moral enemies with Dong Zhuo. Now that Yuan Xi has passed to Yuan Ji, if someone takes this If he comes out to talk about things, he will give Yuan Xi a reputation as unfilial.
Yuan Xi discovered that Mrs. Hou was the widow of Gongsun Zan, which would have some influence. Strictly speaking, Gongsun Zan was also an ally of Dong Zhuo. If he really wanted to marry Mrs. Hou, would there be some disadvantages?
However, if you want to incorporate the remnants of Gongsun Zan in Youzhou, this is really the most direct way. Yuan Xi’s advisers didn’t say it, not because they didn’t understand, but because they knew that Yuan Xi would establish his own business sooner or later, so they didn’t care whether Youzhou and Dong Zhuo Something is involved.
Everything has pros and cons. I just want to get the benefits, but don't want to face the negative consequences. How can there be such a thing in the world that has the best of both worlds?
Thinking that Zhao Yun will return to Jicheng soon to discuss the subjugation of You Beiping and the remnants of Gongsun Zan in western Liaoning, it would be much easier if he had the name of the Hou family.
Thinking about it, Zhen Mi and Mrs. Wu will give birth in a few months. As long as one of the two children is a boy, there should be hope. By then, the Hou family's daughter will be betrothed to him, and then the news will be revealed. After the news spread throughout Youzhou, Yuan Xi could legitimately take over Gongsun Zan's subordinate generals.
Yuan Xi also knew that he was taking advantage of Mrs. Hou in this way, but now that he had two states, he had to consider everything from the perspective of his lord. Under this premise, everyone had to make sacrifices, even Yuan Xi himself. exception.
Yuan Xi suddenly realized Yuan Shao's dilemma. The more he and Yuan Shao valued reputation and had a bottom line in their actions, the more hesitant they were and were not as decisive as Yuan Shu's wanton style of acting.
However, in less than a year, Yuan Shu will be able to stand on his own feet. Before that, he wants to calm down the situation in Youzhou, and time is really tight.
Now the situation is gradually becoming clearer. Among the several forces, the most critical one is Gongsun Du.
As long as an agreement is reached with Gongsun Du, Wuhuan Chanyu and the remnants of Gongsun Zan inside the Pass will naturally not cause any trouble. When the time comes, the Xianbei outside the Pass will be divided and ruled. At least for a few years, Youzhou can ensure the stability of the rear.
Seeing that Yuan Xi was worried, Cai Zhaoji said softly: "I just said it casually. Master, please don't think too much."
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "No, you said it very well. I heard that you are sorting out history books these days?"
Cai Zhaoji nodded, "I wrote some based on memory. I also collected a lot of books here in Youzhou, and I gradually sorted out the clues. Cao Jie helped me a lot among them."
Yuan Xi thought of Cao Jie, a little girl who was always angry, and couldn't help but smile: "She has grown a lot in the past six months."
"Everyone's mentality has changed a lot during this time."
Cai Zhaoji glanced at Yuan Xi, "We've been on tenterhooks all day, but we can only be anxious. Can't we find something to do?"
"Even though Mrs. Zhen and Mrs. Wu don't say anything, they are often very worried in private."
"But now I'm bringing back three at a time, and the young master is becoming more and more capable."
Yuan Xi sweated profusely and defended: "Mrs. Du has nothing to do with me, and Mrs. Hou's matter has not been decided yet."
Cai Zhaoji laughed out loud, "I'm just joking. The master takes my words seriously every time, which makes me very touched."
"Every time I think about how I met the young master, I think it was the best thing that happened in these years."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi took Cai Zhaoji's hand and said with a smile, "How should Madam thank me?"
Cai Zhaoji glanced at Yuan Xi and blushed. Yuan Xi understood and whispered: "I will go to your room to read your history books tonight."
Cai Zhaoji's face turned redder. She naturally knew what Yuan Xi meant, but when she saw that Zhen Mi and Mrs. Wu were both pregnant, she felt very envious.
A few days later, Zhao Yun's squadron returned to Yecheng, leaving only Xian Yufu and his younger brother Xian Yuyin to guard the frontier to prevent Wuhuan Shanyu from fishing in troubled waters.
Gongsun Du also responded quickly and agreed to send envoys to Jicheng for negotiations. This made Yuan Xi deeply feel that his status was no longer what it used to be.
With the Yuan family behind him and nominally in charge of the two states, Gongsun Du must have felt a lot of pressure.
Yuan Xi had already sent letters to Yuan Tan and Liu Bei regarding the matter of taking over Xuzhou's pastorate, saying that the matter would not affect the division of power between the three parties in Xuzhou. The two parties' replies were quite satisfactory, and they did not seem to care too much.
But on the contrary, the conflict between Yuan Tan and Liu Bei became more and more intense. The two sides continued to clash around the port of Qucheng in the East China Sea. Of course, Yuan Tan would not admit it and only said that it was the pirates of Qingzhou Taishan Bandit.
This left everyone speechless. When did the Taishan bandits have the ability to build sea ships?
But Yuan Tan pretended to be stupid, and Liu Bei had no choice but to reply to Yuan Xi saying that he had adopted Mi Zhen as his adopted sister, and was willing to betroth her to Yuan Xi with Qucheng Port and Mi's trade route as a dowry.
When the female relatives of Yuan Xi's house found out, they all joked that their husband had become the most sought-after man.
Although Yuan Xi was secretly happy, after discussing with Guo Jia and others, he decided to put the matter aside for now. After all, he now has Qucheng Port and Mijia Trade Road, which will inevitably make Yuan Tan wary.
However, Yuan Xi's port layout in Youzhou has not yet been completed, so it is really not the right time.
As Gongsundu's envoys came to Jicheng, negotiations between the two sides officially began. Yuan Xi's ultimate goal was to control all the coastlines in the inner circle of the Bohai Sea.
But what he didn't expect was that Gongsun Du sent envoys to negotiate, and the leader dared to be his son.
Gongsun Kang!
When Yuan Xi went out to meet him, he couldn't help but feel a little dazed when he saw this young man, who was not much older than himself, announcing his home address.
Is this the person who will kill him in future generations?
(End of chapter)
