When Yuan Xi entered, he saw Cai Zhaoji sitting at the top with a black lacquered seven-stringed zither in front of her, and Zhen Mi, Lu Lingqi and other girls sitting at the bottom. It turned out that Cai Zhaoji was teaching the girls to play the zither.
Cai Zhaoji's movements were like flowing clouds and running water, her fingers were graceful and agile, and the sound of the piano flowed wherever she touched the strings, like the sound of nature. Even a layman like Yuan Xi could hear the extraordinary in it, which showed that Cai Zhaoji was an expert in this field and had achieved a very high level of attainment.
Among the people sitting below, Cao Xian and others were still behaving well, except for Zhen Mi and Lu Lingqi, whose performance was different from the others.
Because of her physical disability, Zhen Mi could only sit slightly sideways, but her fingers were extremely flexible. She would flick her hands and wherever her fingers went, the sound of the piano would be exactly the same. Although she did not reach the spiritual level of Cai Zhaoji, she was extremely accurate.
But Lu Lingqi felt like she was living a year in a day. She was restless, scratching her ears and cheeks. She had trouble controlling the strength of her fingers and often gave a powerful strike, which sounded like a thunder explosion in the house and drowned out the sound of everyone else's playing.
The women were originally trying to hold back their laughter, but for Lu Lingqi's sake, they forced themselves to remain calm. As a result, Yuan Xi laughed and said to Lu Lingqi, "Madam's charm is as profound and moving as the bull drums on the battlefield, and as soul-stirring as the sound of gongs and bells. It is truly unforgettable."
Lu Lingqi didn't want to practice the piano in the first place, and now seeing Yuan Xi actually laughing at her, she couldn't help but get angry. She just had an excuse, so she jumped up and shouted, "How dare you!"
Everyone stared in amazement as Lv 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 that practicing the piano was boring, so she went to the backyard to practice martial arts."
Everyone couldn't stop laughing. Cai Zhaoji said with a smile, "What a pity. In terms of physical talent alone, Madam Lu may be the best. Her ears and eyes are much sharper than mine. It's a pity that she is not interested in the art of playing the zither."
Yuan Xi had heard about Cai Zhaoji's skill in learning the zither when she was young, and her ability to distinguish the sound of broken strings. He said, "Everyone has their own aspirations. She spends all day thinking about killing enemies on the battlefield."
Cao Xian looked at the time, slapped his head, and said, "I was so absorbed in studying that I forgot to go to the kitchen. Sir, wait a moment. I'll send my wife back to rest first, and then I'll go to the kitchen to bring out the food."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "You go first, I will stay and help Zhao Ji pack her things."
After hearing this, Cao Xian helped Zhen Mi back first. Yuan Xi helped Cai Zhaoji put the zithers away one by one and said casually, "I heard that Cai Zhonglang once had a pair of Jiaowei zithers?"
Cai Zhaoji was surprised and asked, "Master, have you even heard of this?"
She then sighed, "There was unrest in Chang'an, and my father was killed. Many things, including the Jiaowei Qin, were lost."
"Although I have thought about looking for him, in troubled times, it is difficult to even save one's life, let alone one's belongings."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "I will ask the caravan to look around and keep an eye out. Maybe there will be some unexpected surprises."
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. It's a waste of manpower and resources."
"When the world is pacified and you have established your career, all the talented people in the world will come to you. The same goes for rare treasures. You won't have to look for them deliberately. They will come to you."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi praised: "What Zhao Ji said makes a lot of sense."
He held Cai Zhaoji's hand and said, "Now I already have two wives, Zhen and Lu. Among the remaining people, you are the one with the highest status and the longest qualifications. If I don't give you a status, I'm afraid it will be difficult to arrange for others."
"How about I marry you in a few days?"
"I know this has wronged you. When I am crowned a king or a duke, I will be able to ask for the title of Madam for you."
Cai Zhaoji heard this and whispered, "Don't worry about me. My identity is too sensitive. My father was a subordinate of Dong Zhuo, and there was quite a bit of criticism in the world. This will only affect your great cause at this time."
Yuan Xi listened and said indifferently: "Who cares about this now? There were many people in the world who accepted Dong Zhuo's rewards, and they are still living well now, aren't they?"
He told Gongsun Du about his plan to join forces, and finally said, "Here in Youzhou, the sky is high and the Yellow Emperor is far away, who can control us?"
After hearing this, Cai Zhaoji said worriedly, "My lord, do you feel that those close to Youzhou are all Dong Zhuo's party members, which goes against the foundation of Lord Benchu. If they are used by someone with ulterior motives, I'm afraid it will be hard to say."
Yuan Xi was horrified. Come to think of it, it was true. Gongsun Du was one of Dong Zhuo's subordinates, but Cai Yong was also considered to be a member of Dong Zhuo's party. Liu Yu and Liu He had unclear relationships with Dong Zhuo. The root of all this was that Liu Xie himself relied on Dong Zhuo to ascend the throne.
Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu wanted to eliminate and suppress all of Dong Zhuo's former subordinates in order to divide the world. The Yuan family was a natural moral enemy of Dong Zhuo because of the killings of Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji. Now that Yuan Xi was adopted by Yuan Ji, if someone brought this up, Yuan Xi would be labeled as unfilial.
Yuan Xi discovered that Lady Hou was the widow of Gongsun Zan, and was afraid that it would have some influence. Strictly speaking, Gongsun Zan was also an ally of Dong Zhuo. If he really married Lady Hou, would there be some disadvantages?
However, if one wanted to incorporate the remaining forces of Gongsun Zan in Youzhou, this was indeed the most direct way. The reason why Yuan Xi's advisers did not say anything was not because they did not understand, but because they knew that Yuan Xi would set up his own faction sooner or later, so they did not care whether Youzhou was involved with Dong Zhuo.
Everything has its pros and cons. If you only want to get the benefits but don't want to face the negative impacts, how can you have the best of both worlds?
Thinking that Zhao Yun would return to Jicheng soon to discuss the matter of conquering Youbeiping and the remnants of Gongsun Zan in Liaoxi, things would be much easier if the name of the Hou family was used.
Think about it, Zhen Mi and Madam Wu will give birth in a few months, and as long as one of the two children is a boy, there should be hope. Then betroth Hou's daughter to him, and spread the news throughout Youzhou, Yuan Xi will be able to take over Gongsun Zan's participating generals with justification.
Yuan Xi also knew that this was taking advantage of the Marquis's wife, but he now owned two states and had to consider everything from the perspective of his lord. Under this premise, everyone had to make sacrifices, even Yuan Xi himself was no exception.
Yuan Xi suddenly realized Yuan Shao's dilemma. People like himself and Yuan Shao, who valued their reputation the most and had a bottom line in their actions, became more hesitant. On the contrary, they were not as decisive as Yuan Shu, who acted recklessly.
However, in less than a year, Yuan Shu will declare himself emperor. Before then, I want to pacify the situation in Youzhou, so time is really tight.
Now the situation has gradually become clear. Among the several forces, the most critical one is Gongsun Du.
As long as they could reach an agreement with Gongsun Du, the Wuhuan Chanyu and the remnants of Gongsun Zan inside the Great Wall would naturally not be able to cause any trouble. Then they could divide and rule the Xianbei outside the Great Wall. At least for a few years, Youzhou could ensure stability in the rear.
Cai Zhaoji saw that Yuan Xi was worried and said softly, "I was just saying it casually, please don't think too much about it."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "No, you said it very well. I heard that you have been sorting out history books these days?"
Cai Zhaoji nodded, "I wrote some based on my memory, and I also collected a lot of books in Youzhou, and slowly sorted out the clues. Cao Jie helped me a lot."
Yuan Xi thought of Cao Jie, the always grouchy little girl, 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 period of time."
Cai Zhaoji glanced at Yuan Xi and said, "We are worried all day long, but we can only worry about it. We have to find something to do."
"Although Madam Zhen and Madam Wu don't say it, they are always worried in private."
"But now you've brought back three at a time. You're becoming more capable, young master."
Yuan Xi was sweating and defended himself, "Mrs. Du has nothing to do with me, and the matter of Mrs. Hou has not been decided yet."
Cai Zhaoji burst out laughing, "I was just joking, but you always take my words seriously, which really touches me."
"Every time I think of my first encounter with you, I feel it was the best thing that happened to me in all these years."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi took Cai Zhaoji's hand and said with a smile, "Then how should Madam thank me?"
Cai Zhaoji glanced at Yuan Xi and blushed. Yuan Xi understood and whispered, "I'll go to your room tonight to read your history books."
Cai Zhaoji's face turned even redder. She naturally knew what Yuan Xi meant, but when she saw that Zhen Mi and Madam Wu were both pregnant, she was also very envious.
A few days later, Zhao Yun returned to Yecheng, leaving only Xianyu Fu and his brother Xianyu Yin to guard the border to prevent the Wuhuan Chanyu from taking advantage of the situation.
Gongsun Du also responded quickly and agreed to send an envoy to Jicheng for negotiations. This made Yuan Xi deeply feel that his status was no longer what it used to be.
With the support of the Yuan family and nominally in charge of two states, Gongsun Du must have felt a lot of pressure.
Regarding the matter of becoming the governor of Xuzhou, Yuan Xi had already sent people to deliver letters to Yuan Tan and Liu Bei respectively, saying that this matter would not affect the division of power among the three parties in Xuzhou. The replies from the two parties were quite conventional and it seemed that they did not care too much.
But on the contrary, the conflict between Yuan Tan and Liu Bei intensified. The two sides continued to clash over the port of Qucheng in the East China Sea. Of course, Yuan Tan would not admit it and only said that it was the work of pirates from Taishan in Qingzhou.
This left everyone speechless. When did the Taishan bandits have the ability to build ships?
But Yuan Tan played dumb, and Liu Bei was helpless and could only say in his reply to Yuan Xi that he had adopted Mi Zhen as his sister and was willing to marry her to Yuan Xi with the port of Qucheng and Mi's trade route as a dowry.
When the women in Yuan Xi's inner chambers found out, they all joked that their husbands had become the most sought-after commodities.
Although Yuan Xi was secretly delighted, he decided to put the matter aside for the time being after discussing with Guo Jia and others. After all, he now had control of the Qucheng Port and the Mi family trade route, which would inevitably make Yuan Tan alert.
However, Yuan Xi's port layout in Youzhou was not yet complete, so it was not the right time.
With the arrival of Gongsun Du's envoy in Jicheng, negotiations between the two sides officially began. Yuan Xi's ultimate goal was to control all the coastlines of the inner circle of Bohai Sea.
However, what he did not expect was that when Gongsun Du sent envoys to negotiate, the leader was actually his son.
Gongsun Kang!
When Yuan Xi went out to greet him, he couldn't help feeling a little dazed when he saw this young man who was not much older than himself introducing himself.
Is this the person who killed me in the future?