The next morning, everyone came to the outside of the city and paid homage in front of Qu Yi's tent.
Zhao Yun, Tian Yu, Guo Jia, Ju Su, and even Gao Shun came with the soldiers from the Xianzhen Camp.
Qu Yi was the most senior general under Yuan Xi. Yuan Xi made a lot of efforts to improve his reputation after his death and secured a title for Qu Yi in the Han court, which was noticed by other subordinates.
Yuan Xi read out the title letter from Liu Xie and then burned it in front of Qu Yi's tomb. Although Yuan Xi's subordinates knew that this was inappropriate, they did not say anything.
Yuan Xi pulled Lv Lingqi to bow three times. Lv Lingqi whispered, "I bow to the master, what is your name as the master?"
Yuan Xi said helplessly: "Your generation is downgraded."
He then turned his head and sighed, "Brother Qu, you have gone to the underworld to serve as a pioneer for us. Let's meet again in a hundred years."
He raised the wine bowl in front of him and flicked it three times towards the sky, the earth and the tombstone, then sprinkled it in front of Qu Yimu, and everyone stood up.
Yuan Xi turned around and said to the generals, "I know that in the days ahead, no one can guarantee that they will return safely from the battlefield."
"But I still hope to see everyone return safely every time."
When the generals heard this, they all shouted, "Yes!"
The sound echoed through the mountains, rivers and fields, startling a flock of wild geese, which flapped their wings and flew towards the distant sky.
When everyone returned to the city, Yuan Xi asked Lu Lingqi to go back to the mansion to rest first, and he went to the city lord's mansion to redistribute official positions with Zhao Yun.
Xu You's escape was a surprise to Yuan Xi. He had originally wanted to use Xu You to set a trap for Yuan Shang, but he didn't know why the other party ran away secretly. It can only be said that things are unpredictable.
To Yuan Xi, Xu You was both important and unimportant. He was important because he played a key role in the Battle of Guandu and proposed the strategy of raiding Wuchao to Cao Cao, which turned the tide of the battle.
The reason why he is said to be unimportant is that the Battle of Guandu was both accidental and inevitable.
Yuan Shao's army attacked Cao Cao by crossing the river, and the battles took place in Yanzhou, including the grain-stored Wuchao. This made it very difficult for Yuan Shao to supply the front line. Even if Wuchao could defend against one surprise attack, it might not be able to defend against the next one.
To take a step back, even if Cao Cao lost the Battle of Guandu, he could retreat to Yuzhou. Even if he was forced into a corner, he could disperse his troops to Jingzhou and Sili to reorganize, and Yuan Shao might not be able to defeat him all at once.
Of course, the losses in the Battle of Guandu were relatively limited for Yuan Shao. Although Yuan Shao suffered a defeat, he had the four northern states behind him. As long as he held the Yellow River line firmly, he would surely be able to make a comeback within three years.
But God didn't give him this opportunity.
What really had a decisive impact on the outcome of the Battle of Guandu was the death of Yuan Shao two years later.
This is what Yuan Xi is most worried about. Faced with this result, he has not come up with any good ideas until now.
His original idea was extremely naive. He wanted to have the three sons fight each other to decide the winner before the Battle of Guandu, thus avoiding the tragedy of brothers fighting each other. But it turned out that his idea was too simple.
Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, with the assistance of great advisers, are not paper men who can be easily defeated by a blow. On the contrary, they will grow in adversity, adopt strategies based on their own positions, and continue to strengthen themselves.
This made Yuan Xi feel deeply that no one who could still sit in front of the chessboard of the world and play chess was an easy person to deal with. If he showed even a little contempt, he might suffer a big setback.
So far, the situation of the three sons fighting each other has not changed. On the contrary, the entanglement has become more complicated. This gives Yuan Xi a headache. The time left for him is still too short!
He now needs to find an opportunity to break the impasse. The conflict between Cao Cao and the Yuan family is irreconcilable. Sooner or later, the two sides will turn against each other and fight until one side is completely defeated.
So Yuan Xi could only look for other allies, including Lu Bu, Liu Bei, and...Sun Ce.
Yuan Xi didn't know whether Sun Ce would listen to him and not kill Xu Gong after he wrote the letter to him, thus saving him from disaster. However, considering that he would always charge into the front in every battle and would kill the entire family of the nobles at will, it was probably only a matter of time before he would make enemies in Jiangdong, right?
On that day, Taishi Ci brought a secret letter from Sun Ce to Yuan Xi. Ostensibly, it was a thank you for saving Qiao Rui and asking him to serve as the emperor's envoy and issue an edict with Sun Ce, but the meaning behind the letter was quite intriguing, and even contained a subtle warning.
Sun Ce's letter was filled with awkward hints, warning Yuan Xi not to do anything that would cross the line.
This was related to Yuan Xi's previous letters. When Yuan Xi had no other options, he used some hints to let Sun Ce know that Madam Wu might be in Yuan Xi's hands.
After receiving the letter, Sun Ce quickly guessed the truth and became furious, but there was nothing he could do because Yuan Xi's concealment of Mrs. Wu's whereabouts was the best outcome for Sun Ce.
Once the matter was exposed, it would have been a devastating blow to the Sun family's reputation, so both sides wisely chose not to mention it at all.
Thinking of the women around him, Yuan Xi found it quite absurd. He married Lu Lingqi and had a child with Madam Wu. Liu Bei also wanted to marry Mi Zhen to him. In addition, Cao Xian was nominally still Cao Cao's daughter. Doesn't this mean that he is related by marriage to almost most of the heroes of the late Han Dynasty?
Is it possible that my road to world domination can be achieved in this way?
Yuan Xi gathered his thoughts and asked Guo Jia and Ju Su to assist Zhao Yun in arranging the appointments of officials in Zhuo County, while he and Tian Yu left the house.
On the way, he whispered to Tian Yu: "Is it confirmed?"
Tian Yu listened and lowered his voice and said, "My spies have confirmed it again and again, so it should be correct."
"After Madam Du escaped from the mansion the day before yesterday, she wanted to leave the city early in the morning, but she didn't have the identity token to leave the city, so she was forced to return."
"She didn't know that the moment she left the house, she was being watched by the secret agents I had arranged."
"Young Master Bei Xincheng's mansion is full of female relatives. How can I not arrange for someone to protect them in advance?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi praised: "Guorang does things perfectly."
Tian Yu added: "The spy knew Madam Du's identity and did not dare to force her, so he pretended to provide her with a place to stay and arranged for her to stay in a small courtyard."
"The spy lied to her that the city was searching for her and told her not to show up in public for the time being and wait for the right opportunity. Madam Du was obedient and has been staying here peacefully for the past two days."
"As for why he ran away, I haven't asked anyone to ask."
Yuan Xi nodded slightly, thinking that this was a bit strange. Cao Xian had also told Madam Du about his marriage to Lu Lingqi, so Madam Du's reaction shouldn't have been so big, right?
And it seemed inappropriate for him to meet her as Yuan Xi. Thinking of this, he said, "I will change my identity and meet her, and find out what's going on."
"By the way, where did Guo Rang place her?"
Tian Yu pointed in a certain direction and said, "That day, the spy pulled her into a carriage, drove around the city, and returned to the small courtyard half a street away near the young master's mansion."
"It was originally a place for spies to stay nearby. In case of any changes in the mansion, they can rush to the mansion as quickly as possible. Now it is in use."
Yuan Xi thought to himself, after running away for so long, Mrs. Du's feelings have changed again?
He was speechless and could only give Tian Yu a thumbs up.
In a small courtyard in the city, Mrs. Du heard the noisy sounds outside and became more and more uneasy.
She found that she had thought things too simply. She escaped from Lu Bu's mansion that day because someone helped her, but this time it was her turn to escape, and she shortsightedly discovered that she had not considered many things.
For example, the token to leave the city, the travel expenses, and the route back to Bingzhou.
Mrs. Du found herself to be really incompetent. Since getting married, she had almost lost the ability to do things on her own. Moreover, this time she ran away inexplicably. She couldn't understand why she ran away, as she could clearly meet Lu Lingqi!
But she had a vague feeling in her heart that maybe she was too embarrassed to share a husband with Lu Lingqi?
These days, Mrs. Du has learned more or less about the character of the fierce tiger of the Yuan family from Cao Xian. She heard that Lu Lingqi's husband is the best among his peers in terms of both appearance and talent.
Mrs. Du didn't care at first. What does this have to do with her?
But there was something Cao Xian said that made her very concerned.
In her memory, no matter a woman's status, once she met the ferocious tiger, she could not escape his clutches.
Combined with the previous rumors about Xionghu being lustful, and the restless look on Gongsun Zan's widow, Madam Hou's face every time she mentioned Xionghu, Madam Du became more and more certain that Xionghu was absolutely indifferent to women!
Mrs. Du was very aware of her appearance. She knew that if she was seen by the fierce tiger, she would most likely be taken as his concubine.
That would be fine. People in troubled times are forced to do things of their own accord. From the perspective of age and status, it doesn't seem like a bad choice for Xionghu to become his concubine.
Mrs. Du's concern is still with Lu Lingqi, who is also Xionghu's concubine. If she were taken in by Xionghu, how would she face Lu Lingqi?
Are the two of them still competing for favor?
Thinking that Lu Lingqi was proud and would definitely not accept it, Mrs. Du panicked and quietly escaped. Thinking about it afterwards, she felt a little regretful. Did she overreact?
She was also worried that the kind-hearted people she met would really dare to risk being punished and beheaded for harboring a woman of unknown origin?
Could it be that the person has already filed a complaint with the authorities?
Just when she was feeling restless, she heard the sound of the mansion door. Frightened, she quickly closed the door and secretly looked out through the window.
The courtyard gate opened, and the old man who brought him came in with the young scholars. The old man pointed at the door here, then went out of the yard and closed the door from the outside.
Mrs. Du couldn't see clearly through the window, but she always felt that the young scholar looked quite familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere. Then she saw him walking towards her, and she was so scared that her heart started pounding, and she quickly moved away from the window.
A moment later, there was a knock on the door.
Mrs. Du hesitated for a while, but finally bit her chewed tongue, walked forward and opened the door.
Now that things have come to this, where else can I escape to?
When Mrs. Du opened the door and saw the young man standing at the door, she was stunned for a while before she asked, "Mr. Yinhu...?"
"Where's your beard?"