The carriage moved arduously on the muddy road. The three people inside were preoccupied and silent.
Yuan Xi was thinking, if this chaotic world could end a few years earlier, wouldn't many fewer people die?
Qu Yi was wondering, just how many unknown things was Yuan Xi, who had pulled him back from the gates of hell, still hiding?
Wu Zhao sat in the cramped space. The carriage swayed and bumped, her body constantly colliding with Yuan Xi beside her, causing her face to flush red. Fortunately, the marks concealed it.
However, in recent days, Yuan Xi had repeatedly brought her surprises, from his never-before-seen talent to his different understanding of some things, all of which increasingly touched Wu Zhao's heart.
She seemed to be gradually getting used to this kind of journey, even hoping that these days could be extended for a few more.
But after arriving in Ye City, these days would be gone forever, right?
She didn't know that Yuan Xi was actually trying his best to endure, lest the bulge in his robe be discovered.
Wu Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It seems that there are no major problems in Yanzhou."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Let's hope so."
"But even if the matter in Yanzhou is settled, it's only half done."
"There are two more difficult steps below."
First, he had to return to Ye City and persuade Yuan Shao to let him take people to Qingzhou to find an opportunity to rescue Cao Song's family, putting Cao Cao in a dilemma.
Second, he had to ensure that Cao Cao, Lü Bu, and Liu Bei restrained each other, maintaining a balanced situation. Then, Yuan Xi could take the opportunity to help Yuan Tan conquer Qingzhou, so Yuan Tan could free up his hands to help him attack Youzhou.
If these two things were accomplished, Yuan Xi's reputation and power would greatly increase. If all went smoothly, Yuan Shang would feel threatened and try to find ways to have Yuan Xi adopted.
As for the excuse, Yuan Xi had already thought it out for Yuan Shang.
Unfilial.
His dark history in Beixin City was probably already being collected by Yuan Shang.
As for Yuan Tan, he would definitely be happy to see it happen and would help fuel the flames.
If Yuan Shao's three sons were all working together to promote something, then adoption would be difficult to avoid.
The Han Dynasty governed the country with filial piety. Yuan Xi wanted to be adopted, but he couldn't bring it up himself; he could only rely on others.
This matter was too convoluted, but only in this way could he deceive everyone.
Yuan Xi felt his tense body gradually relax at this time. Chen Gong and Lü Bu were both extraordinary people, one skilled in civil affairs and the other in military affairs, putting great pressure on him. Even with the knowledge of later generations, he found it extremely difficult to cope.
Especially when facing Lü Bu, he felt a sense of breathlessness at all times.
He lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw people in the fields on both sides of the road tending to the last wave of crops in late autumn, which would soon be harvested.
He hoped that Lü Bu and Chen Gong would take his locust plague prediction to heart and have the people harvest the crops early to avoid a locust plague that would result in a complete loss.
"Records of the Three Kingdoms": "Locusts arose, the people were greatly hungry, and Lü Bu's food was also exhausted, so they each withdrew."
This was something that happened in 194 AD in later generations. A locust plague occurred during the battle between Lü Bu and Cao Cao, and both sides ran out of food.
Although this Yanzhou Rebellion was unavoidable, it was better to push it to happen sooner rather than later.
Yuan Xi put down the curtain, moved his neck, and said to Wu Zhao, "It's really great to have you here. Chen Gong's questions were very tricky. If I had answered them, I would have revealed my flaws long ago."
Wu Zhao's face turned red, and she said, "It is my honor to be able to share the burden for the lord."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Although I am a son of the Yuan family, I really don't understand the gentry clans of Qing and Yan. I didn't even understand what you and Chen Gong were saying about the Yang family of Mount Tai."
Wu Zhao said softly, "It's like this…"
She explained softly, completely unaware of how much the carriage was bumping. How many years had it been since she had been so happy?
Her father was a great scholar of the time, and the scriptures he spoke were sought after by the gentry clans. Not to mention dissent, even fewer agreements would be criticized.
At one point, Wu Zhao felt that the things she had learned from her father's teachings since she was a child must be correct, right?
Even after experiencing the tragic events of her husband's recent death and her father's murder, she still retained the gentry's reserve and arrogance.
It wasn't until she was captured by the Xiongnu that she realized that what she knew was not the entirety of this world.
Unlike the gentry's high-and-mighty attitude towards the common people, she had personally experienced suffering, hunger, and cold, wearing thin clothes and ragged shoes on the road, and gradually understood the cruelty of life.
The women who were captured together were arbitrarily humiliated and trampled upon, and Wu Zhao could only shiver helplessly, and her cognition began to gradually collapse.
So it turned out that she had only been talking about things on paper before.
She had to admit that suicide was a very difficult thing.
It was easy to talk about sacrificing oneself for righteousness, but how difficult was it to do?
On the one hand, Wu Zhao was ashamed to face her own idea of living in humiliation, and on the other hand, she supported herself with her last remaining self-esteem, looking forward to a miracle.
Then a miracle really happened.
Although she helped a little by chance, if Yuan Xi hadn't personally led his troops over to kill the Xiongnu, she might have been taken away long ago and lived a life worse than death.
Her almost shattered hope was finally rescued from the sinking.
Then she fell into confusion again.
Yuan Xi's family background was among the best among the gentry clans. Logically speaking, the other party's ideas should be very similar to her own, but after getting along, Wu Zhao was surprised to find that the other party was completely different from her, almost like two opposing sides.
Yuan Xi looked like a son of a noble family on the surface, but his ideas were incompatible with the gentry, which was completely opposite to Wu Zhao. Although she pretended to be a servant, she still had the ideas of the gentry in her heart.
But Wu Zhao had to admit that Yuan Xi did a very good job in Beixin City and was extremely popular, better than anyone she had ever seen.
This was completely different from the so-called reputation spread by the gentry among the people. The common people really supported Yuan Xi from the bottom of their hearts.
Wu Zhao had seen too many gentry who were fishing for fame and reputation, with a hypocritical appearance on the surface and doing dirty things in private.
Could it be that, as Yuan Xi said, the gentry, who should have been responsible for educating the people and leading them to make a living, had almost all become big thieves who scraped the marrow of the people?
But her most respected father had never said these things!
Was it her father, whom she regarded as a role model, who was wrong, or was Yuan Xi wrong?
If she admitted the former, then had she been going down the wrong path all these years?
So Wu Zhao couldn't accept it at first, and didn't dare to accept it, but Wu Zhao was unwilling. Although she was in pain, she wanted to know the answer.
Her father said that becoming is the right clothing, to rule the people with morality.
Wu Zhao wanted to see what Yuan Xi's Dao was.
If Yuan Xi was right, in order to end this chaotic world, she would uphold her father's righteousness of becoming Dao with his body and fully assist him.
She came back to her senses from the chaotic thoughts and found that Yuan Xi was looking at her quietly. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly lowered her head and said softly, "I was distracted, please forgive me, my lord."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "You've been very preoccupied recently. Are you homesick?"
Wu Zhao mustered up her courage, raised her head, and said, "If I want to leave, will the lord be sad?"
Yuan Xi thought for a while, "I won't be sad."
When Wu Zhao heard this, she felt empty in her heart and a little breathless in her chest.
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Because I changed my mind and don't want to let you go."
Wu Zhao's heart was filled with mixed feelings of surprise and joy, but her face remained calm. She glared at Yuan Xi and said, "Then wouldn't the lord be breaking his promise?"
Yuan Xi laughed and said, "So be it, I'm not a good person anyway."
Wu Zhao murmured, "No, the lord is a good person."
The carriage fell silent again, but an unknown aura was flowing within.
Qu Yi swayed and drove the carriage back the way they came, preparing to reunite with the previous convoy and enter Ye City.
At this time, in Beixin City, Yuan Tan was slandering Yuan Xi in his heart.
Gao Lan was gone, Yuan Xi left a mess and ran away, he brought troops to practice, he thought there would be no danger, but he was almost harvested by the White Horse Cavalry!