The Taiping Taoist alchemist led Yang Feng to a courtyard. When Yang Feng entered, he saw several guards at the door, all of whom seemed to have martial arts skills. He couldn't help but take a few more glances.
When the alchemist saw it, he explained: "These people were all from the Qingzhou Army before, and they were all our own people."
He invited Yang Feng to sit down, and then asked people to serve food and wine. Yang Feng picked up a piece of noodle cake, put it in front of his nose and smelled it. He found that there was a fragrance of rice noodles in it, and there was no other peculiar smell. He bit it. After taking a bite, I carefully identified it and judged that it was an ordinary noodle cake, so I ate it with confidence.
When the Taiping Taoist alchemist saw it, he raised his wine cup and said with a smile: "I didn't arrive in time and let the alchemist eat those unclean things. I came here to offer you wine to apologize."
Yang Feng waved her hand and said, "I don't drink. What on earth is going on in this city?"
The alchemist put down the wine prince and said, "Master Fang is not from Yanzhou, right?"
Yang Feng admitted generously, "I have stayed in Qingxu one after another."
The alchemist said happily: "Nowadays, many of the Taiping comrades in the city came from Qingzhou, and the alchemist will come to Pengcheng. This is not a good place. I don't know if the alchemist is good at refining elixirs, refining qi, or preaching?"
Yang Feng knew that the other party was testing him, so he immediately said: "I know some superficial things. When I meet someone with the same path, I should share my thoughts."
The alchemist was not polite, and immediately asked some questions about the secrets and preaching of Taiping Dao, and Yang Feng answered them one by one.
At the end, the alchemist sighed in admiration and said, "You are indeed a good teacher, I respect you."
Seeing the other party's trust, Yang Feng said, "Why do you say Pengcheng can't come?"
"And when I entered the city, I found that the population was depleted. Where have these people gone?"
"Did they all go to the battlefield to fight?"
The alchemist looked around and then smiled bitterly and said: "Master alchemist, be careful, this is something that cannot be said."
He lowered his voice and said, "Master Fang, does he know where the west of Lu County is?"
Seeing Yang Feng shaking his head, he continued: "It's Dong'a!"
Yang Feng didn't react for a moment and asked in confusion: "What's wrong with Dong'a?"
The alchemist sighed: "Isn't Master Fang living in seclusion all the time?"
"Years ago, Shi Jun went to war with Marquis Wen, and Yanzhou was in flames of war. In the end, food was exhausted. Shi Jun had a counselor surnamed Cheng from Dong'a under his command, so he returned to Dong'a."
"I can't say what happened, but Dong'a City became a dead city after that."
"As soon as this incident came out, people in Lu County also fled one after another. Those who were left behind were those who could not walk and were barely clinging to their lives."
Yang Feng picked up the half dog leg on the plate and said, "It seems like you are living a good life in the city?"
The alchemist smiled and said: "Of course we are different, because we work for the city guard, so we can have enough to eat."
"But except for the people in Taiping Road, other people who have no support can only survive."
"The vast majority of people can't even eat the rancid cake."
"I'm afraid we'll have to wait until after the autumn harvest. Maybe the people in the city can have a few full meals."
Yang Feng suddenly felt that the flour cake she was chewing in her mouth was no longer fragrant. She chewed hard for a few times, swallowed it, and said, "How could this be?"
The Taiping Taoist alchemist shook his head and said, "It's not because of the war."
"Now that all the food that can be requisitioned has been sent to the front line, there is naturally a shortage of food in the city."
Yang Feng said doubtfully: "But when I was in Xuzhou, I never saw the people in such hardship."
The alchemist yelled, "Master Fang, don't compare Xuzhou with this place. Even I am envious of my colleagues over there."
"If the city guard here hadn't been able to take care of us, I would have gone over there and become a spy."
Yang Feng's heart moved, "Are there many spies over there?"
The alchemist said proudly: "Of course, we can eat double portions over there. With the money here, we can still make a fortune by going to preach there."
He reacted immediately and forced a smile: "It's not convenient to talk about this."
"Master Fang is very knowledgeable. Would you like me to introduce him to the city guard?"
Yang Feng hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. She wanted to understand how Yanzhou became like this.
In Qingzhou, which borders Yanzhou, Yuan Tan is discussing with his advisers how to give Yuan Xi an excuse.
Yuan Tan spoke up: "Xian Yi was not notified in advance of sending troops this time, which makes me feel like adding insult to injury. Now he has sent several letters asking me to help send troops to attack Cao Cao. What do you think?"
Xin Ping asked curiously: "Master Xianyi didn't mention the envoy's occupation of the East China Sea?"
Yuan Tan shook his head and said, "I didn't mention it."
Xin Ping was even more surprised: "Is this giving away Donghai? What a big gesture!"
Guo Tu smiled and said: "He has a good plan. Is he afraid that he will use this to make the envoy lose face and refuse to send troops?"
"Besides, Donghai was brought down by the commander, so what does it have to do with him?"
He turned to Yuan Tan and said: "My brother is still settling the scores. There is no benefit in helping send troops. It is not advisable to act rashly."
"Even if we send troops, we have to wait until Yuan Shu and Cao Cao are both defeated, and then we can take advantage of the opportunity."
"Yuan Shu's army is now strong and Cao Cao's army still has some strength left. It would be unwise to enter the army at this time."
Yuan Tan was silent and said to a young scribe sitting next to him: "What do you think?"
The man quickly bowed and said, "I dare not comment on your family affairs."
Yuan Tan waved his hand and said: "But it doesn't matter."
He then smiled and said: "In any case, you are considered related to Xianyi, and you are not considered an outsider."
The man smiled bitterly and said, "I am really frightened by your words."
Guo Tu looked over, secretly alert in his heart. Was this an unintentional remark, or was it a hidden reference?
Because the scribe who spoke was born in the Yang family of Taiyang, he was the second son of Yang Xu, the former Nanyang prefect, Yang Di.
In order to win over the Taiyang family, Yuan Tan recommended his children to serve as officials. The current head of the family is Yangxu's eldest son, Yangmi. Knowing that if he doesn't take sides, he will offend Yuan Tan, who is the governor of Qingzhou, and there will be no good end, he sends his second brother Yangmi to the throne. He was pushed out and became a subordinate of Yuan Tan.
Yang Xi was originally engaged to Kong Rong's daughter. However, because Kong Rong's wife and daughter were kidnapped twice and were later rescued by Yuan Xi, rumors spread widely. The Yang family, as a wealthy family, could not afford to lose face, so they came to Hua. Tuo acted as a shield and wanted to break off the engagement.
As a result, after Hua Tuo checked, he unexpectedly discovered that Kong Rong's daughter was suffering from a serious illness. Kong Rongdao simply agreed to break off the engagement.
This incident immediately became a topic of discussion among the gentry. Because the Yang family obviously did not do things properly, someone took the opportunity to ridicule the Yang family, which caused a lot of damage to the Yang family's reputation.
In order to calm the situation, the head of the family, Yang Mi, betrothed Cai Zhenji, who was adopted by the Yang family, to Yang Di, and the two got married a few days ago.
In fact, this thing was done in a somewhat unkind manner. Cai Zhenji was fostered in the Yang family because Cai Yong had a good relationship with the Yang family. Now she married her daughter without telling the Cai family, which seems a bit unjustifiable.
But the Yang family also has their own reasons, that is, Cai Yong was killed, and Cai Zhenji's eldest sister Cai Zhaoji was said to have been abducted by the Huns, and her whereabouts are unknown. Since Cai Zhenji's family members are no longer here, it seems that the Yang family who adopted her has no problem in making the decision. Appropriate.
After that, almost at the same time, rumors that the concubine Yuan Xina married was actually Cai Zhaoji gradually spread among the Yecheng nobles.
It is said that it has a nose and eyes, and it is said that Yuan Xi personally admitted that it was passed down by a descendant of the Yuan family, so it is very credible.
This time, the Yang family was very embarrassed, because not only did this make them the center of attention again, but it also involved another marriage.
The daughter of Xin Pi, she was once engaged to Yang Dan, the youngest son of the Yang family and the third younger brother of Yang Xuyang. The affairs of Cai Zhaoji and Cai Zhenji were fine, but the marriage to the Xin family involved a lot of siding. Problem.
Because Xinpi is on Yuan Tan's side!
Now the Yang family is like sitting on a candle. They had already turned to Yuan Tan, but the Cai Zhaoji incident happened. The key is that they don't know what Yuan Tan thinks!
If Yuan Tan wanted to win over Yuan Xi through connections, the situation would be much simpler for the Yang family. However, because Yuan Tan had a tense relationship with Yuan Xi in order to take over the East China Sea, the Yang family was even more unsure.
Not only did Yang feel guilty, but Xin Pi was also upset. He hinted several times that he would cancel the engagement with Yang. The retribution for Yang's previous breach of contract with the Kong family seemed to have returned to the Yang family.
The Yang family can only wait one day at a time to see if things turn around. Anyway, Xinpi's daughter is only six years old now. Maybe the situation will change in a few years?
Yang Di was also in a state of confusion at this time, and he did not dare to be careless about Yuan Tan's seemingly intimate words, because after getting along with him for a period of time, Yang Di had already seen that Yuan Tan was not a generous person at all. !
He thought about it for a while and then said: "Since Yuan Xianyi was named the Mu of Xuzhou by the emperor and has been recognized by Yuan Jizhou, it is best to give him an explanation for this matter in Xuzhou."
"The main enemy of the Yuan family at present is Yuan Jiujiu. If the two envoys are at odds now, it will only allow outsiders to take advantage of it."
After hearing this, Yuan Tan wondered whether it was okay or not. He turned to Guo Tu and Xin and commented, "What do you think, gentlemen?"
Guo Tu smiled and said: "I think it's good."
Xin Ping heard some yin and yang meaning in it, and thought that the Yang Di was still too tender, and He Xini didn't say so, so he carefully replied: "Whether you send troops or not, the top priority is to be careful with Mr. Xianyi." Explain clearly."
Yuan Tan listened and nodded: "Okay!"
He pointed at Yang Xi and said, "You are now going to Guangling for me to meet with Xian Yi and explain this misunderstanding."
Yang Di was a little confused and said, "Your Majesty, I speak lightly, I'm just afraid."
Yuan Tan waved his hand, "I believe you will fulfill your mission."
Seeing Yang Xi agreeing with a grimace, Yuan Tan added, "Bring your wife with you when the time comes."
"I'll first send a letter to Xianyi and ask her to bring her concubine Cai Zhenji. When the time comes, it will be a beautiful thing for the sisters to meet."
After hearing this, Yang Di felt uncomfortable. His real wife was the sister of the other concubine. If this happened in the past, it would not only be a problem that he was a head shorter, but also Yang's face!
But now he was riding a tiger and couldn't get off, so he had to bow his head and accept orders.
Guo Tu could see clearly from the sidelines and thought that he did things dishonorably just to save face, and in the end he lost face.
Yuan Tan's move was based on the identity of Cai Zhaoji's sisters. It was obviously that Yang Xi was inferior to Yuan Xi, but in fact it implied that Yang was nothing more than a concubine in front of Yuan.
(End of chapter)
