Yuan Xi saw that Hou had closed the door and her daughter was sleeping on a small bed. There was no one else in the room. He couldn't help but wonder, "Didn't you assign two maids to the Madam?"
Hou walked to the side, gently picked up the teapot, filled the teacup, walked over slowly, held it in front of Yuan Xi and said, "There is a new addition to the mansion, and the maids are working day and night, and they are very tired. I told Madam Cai and asked them to go to the two ladies' rooms to help."
"When I was in Beixin City, I learned a lot of cooking and cleaning skills from Madam Cao. I can get used to living without anyone to serve me."
Yuan Xi took the teacup handed over by Madam Hou. When their hands touched, Madam Hou felt as if she had received an electric shock and subconsciously wanted to withdraw her hand. Yuan Xi took the teacup with one hand and pulled Madam Hou's wrist with the other hand, saying, "I am sorry, Madam."
The Marquis's wife heard the implication of these words and lowered her head and said, "My mother and I owe our lives to you, young master. There is nothing wrong with that."
Yuan Xi pulled Madam Hou into his arms and said, "No, I mean later."
Madam Hou felt hot and seemed unable to stand. Yuan Xi leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Madam, do you still remember what happened in the wooden building in Beixincheng Mansion?"
After hearing this, Madam Hou could no longer resist. Her limbs became weak and she pushed Yuan Xi's chest with her hands weakly. She said in a trembling voice, "Don't let anyone see us."
Only then did Yuan Xi remember that there was a peeping Tom Cao Xian in the mansion. Especially since she had recently learned some skills of hiding from Lu Lingqi, her behavior became more and more rampant. He quickly got up and went to the window to look around.
He looked around and didn't see Cao Xian, so he felt relieved. He closed the window, walked to the door and bolted it.
When the Marquis's wife saw this, she was at a loss as to what to do. However, she was aware that she did not have the slightest resistance in her heart. She secretly cursed herself for being a widow for too long and was in desperate need of support and comfort.
While she was feeling anxious, Yuan Xi had already walked up to her and pulled her into his arms. When the Marquis turned her head, she saw Yuan Xi's face approaching her, and her eyes suddenly widened.
Outside, snowflakes slowly fell from the sky, accompanied by the whistling sound of the north wind, covering up the sounds in the house.
The white snow melted into fine beads of sweat oozing out from the back of the slender neck. The north wind suppressed the faint echo in the throat. The snow-covered wintersweet branches outside the house swayed in the wind, and the buds at the end of the branches were bright red.
In Qucheng, Donghai, Mi Zhen was on a small building, holding up a small cylinder, looking at the Guangling Haixi Port in the distance. There, merchant ships were sailing out of the port and heading north.
Mi Zhen learned that this was the ship used by the Zhen family caravan to transport goods to Youzhou. She couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. The end of the year was the time when pirates were most rampant. Wasn't the Zhen family caravan afraid?
She had mentioned this to Mi Fang the day before. Mi Fang, who had been in a bad mood recently, snorted, "Who knows, maybe the Zhen family is colluding with the pirates!"
Mi Zhen asked doubtfully, "No way?"
"I heard that the Zhen family caravan also lost several ships these days."
Mi Fang said sourly: "Who knows what's going on? I'm afraid the protection fee was not paid in full, or it's just an act for others to see!"
Mi Zhen shook his head. "Brother, you seem to have a prejudice against the Zhen family caravan, right?"
After hearing this, Mi Fang said sullenly, "Little sister, I feel sorry for you. When you first met Yuan Xi, he hadn't married yet!"
"I've always felt that my brother was too hesitant and missed such a good opportunity. Now that he has occupied two states, he has become a famous prince in the world!"
"So the envoy took me in as his adopted sister, and in order to please that fierce tiger, he even wanted to marry me to him as a concubine. This is a world of difference. How can I not feel uncomfortable?"
Mi Zhen listened and said calmly: "Everyone has their own destiny. Madam Zhen is indeed much better than me. The Zhen family is willing to bet on her, and the Mi family could never betray Envoy Liu. The two families are in different situations, so there is nothing to say."
Mi Fang said unwillingly, "Sometimes I wonder if following Envoy Liu was a wrong decision for my brother."
When Mi Zhen heard this, he hurriedly said, "Brother, be careful with your words!"
"The Mi family was just a merchant family in the beginning. Without the favor of Envoy Liu, how could the Mi family have reached the point where they are today?"
"Don't even talk about helping someone in need. We merchants don't have the power to protect ourselves. If other princes want to confiscate our property, isn't it just a matter of a word?"
"Big brother did the right thing, second brother, think it over carefully!"
Mi Fang heard this and shook his head, saying, "That's true, but Envoy Liu's two brothers are really hard to deal with!"
"Guan Yu has been training the navy in the East China Sea these days, and his requirements for military equipment and food expenses are extremely strict. If I neglect them, he will use military law to suppress me!"
"That Zhang Heitan is also a dog who looks down on others. I went to Xia Pi several times, but he didn't even look at me. He is just a butcher, and he comes from a merchant family like us. What a piece of shit!"
Mi Zhen advised: "Second brother, you should control your temper. If you are causing discord between the two sides now, what will you do if you encounter an external enemy in the future?"
After hearing this, Mi Fang said sullenly, "My little sister is also stubborn, isn't she?"
"If I hadn't rejected Yuan Xi back then..."
Seeing Mi Zhen lowering her head and keeping silent, he knew he had said something wrong, so he stood up and walked out, "I'm going to the dock now, little sister, think about what to do in the future."
"I heard that the fierce tiger has many women around him now, and each one is of higher status than the other. I am afraid that my little sister will be bullied if she marries him."
Mi Zhen withdrew his thoughts and recalled what Mi Fang had said yesterday, but he lowered his head and looked at the bamboo tube in his hand.
This was brought to her by Yuan Xi from Youzhou a few days ago, along with a letter with just a few words on it.
I have heard that you often climb high places to see far into the distance, so I have specially sent you a pair of telescopes to help you relieve your worries. Respectfully presented.
Mi Zhen flipped her fingers and the bamboo tube began to spin deftly in her hand. She thought to herself, what does it mean to relieve one's worries? How does he know that you are unhappy?
Blind guess!
She became more and more angry, and the bamboo tube spun faster and faster. As a result, with a flick of her finger, the telescope flew out of the window.
Mi Zhen screamed, stretched out her white hand, and barely grasped the bamboo tube. Her heart was pounding. She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and held the thick bamboo tube tightly for a while before she came to her senses.
She opened the front of her shirt, carefully placed the bamboo tube in her arms, then pulled it back into her sweaty palms. Her face flushed slightly, as if she was thinking of something.
Jicheng, Youzhou.
Lu Xun stood in front of the linen map, pointing to the sea off Donglai and talking about places where pirates might be encountered. Yuan Xi nodded repeatedly, thinking that Lu Xun was indeed right.
Seeing that Lu Xun hesitated several times, he asked, "Bo Yan, do you have any other concerns?"
After hearing this, Lu Xun said, "A man of high rank should not go into danger. I don't understand why you always lead the army in person without any concern for the danger you may encounter."
"Like this time, Xun and General Tian were enough, but with you, Xun felt the pressure suddenly increased, fearing that something might go wrong."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "This is my fault. I didn't expect that it would cause trouble to Boyan."
"Why do I have to go to the battlefield in person?" Yuan Xi said to himself, "Actually, I am very afraid of death and I don't like the battlefield at all."
"How can I, who has no talent for martial arts and is bad at commanding in battle, like fighting on the battlefield?"
"But I have to go, because as the lord, I can play two roles."
"One is to boost morale, and the other is to ensure that orders given directly on the battlefield will not become unrecognizable due to being passed down through layers of authority."
"A slight mistake can lead to a great error. Among all the princes in the world, who is hiding behind?"
"That's Yuan Gonglu. I heard he personally led his troops into battle?"
"If you want to succeed, you must first pay."
"This is true for military orders on the battlefield, and even more so for domestic political orders."
"Many policies were originally well-intentioned, but after being passed down through layers of government, they completely changed their flavor. So I have to listen to the voices at the bottom so as not to lose my original intention."
"I want to personally see the suffering of all living beings in the world so that I can remember my original aspiration."
After listening to this, Lu Xun seemed to be thinking about something.
"Of course, there is one more thing," Yuan Xi said with a smile, "I still have a lot of shortcomings. I need to keep learning and improving myself so that I can catch up with the heroes of the world and compete with them."
"If I shrink back, I will be overtaken by people with far greater talents than me sooner or later."
"So I am more eager to become stronger than Boyan, because I have to bear no less burden than Boyan."
Lu Xun was touched. He turned to Yuan Xi, bowed and said, "I have learned a lot from your words. I will take your teachings today as a spur in the future and never slack off."
Yuan Xi laughed, "Bo Yan's talent is much higher than mine."
"Given time, Boyan will surely go down in history."
Lu Xun was about to give in, but he heard Yuan Xi say, "Bo Yan and I hit it off right away. How about we become sworn brothers?"
Lu Xun was stunned. Why did the envoy do whatever he wanted?
For Lu Xun, who was born in a southern gentry family, this kind of sworn brotherhood full of northern border customs was really not something he was used to. However, seeing that Yuan Xi spoke in a serious manner, he could not help but smile bitterly and said, "I still don't know what the envoy appreciates about me."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Bo Yan will slowly find out in the future."
"But I can guarantee that Boyan will have a much better life in my hands than under someone else's."
Lu Xun asked curiously, "Does the young master really know how to observe the stars?"
Yuan Xi laughed, "Boyan, you need to find the answer to this question yourself."
Lu Xun seemed to understand, and thought to himself, the envoy is really not here to make fun of me?
Finally, under Yuan Xi's soft and hard tactics, Lu Xun was defeated and agreed to call him his sworn brother when they were alone.
Yuan Xi's heart was filled with the pleasure of raping someone, and he thought that the way he treated Lu Xun should not be worse than that of Sun Quan in later generations, right?
The next day, Youzhou posted a notice and issued an order to celebrate the birth of the Youzhou governor's son and the engagement of his second son to Gongsun Zan's daughter. The whole of Youzhou celebrated for three days and distributed a certain amount of rice and meat.
At the same time, he granted amnesty to the remnants of Gongsun Zan who were still resisting in Youzhou, and promised that if they surrendered now, their previous deeds would be forgiven.
As soon as the order was issued, the remnants of Gongsun Zan in several counties of Youzhou lost their right to resist and surrendered one after another. As a result, the entire Youzhou was at peace and everyone's face was filled with joy.
While the people of Youzhou were busy celebrating the New Year, Yuan Xi had already quietly led his men out to sea from Yuyang Port.