Wu Zhao suddenly woke up with a start and quickly sat up.
She subconsciously tightened the collar of her ruqun dress, and after finding that Yuan Xi beside her was also asleep, she felt slightly relieved.
She cursed inwardly, 'I'm a widow, and I don't even know if my appearance can be restored. Why do I always have such wild thoughts?'
Wu Zhao turned her head, and the sunlight outside the window shone in, illuminating Yuan Xi's face, making even the fine hairs around his mouth clearly visible.
In the past few days, they had left Puyang City and traveled north day and night, finally encountering the Beitong City convoy hundreds of miles outside Ye City, and taking advantage of the night, they had returned to their original carriage.
However, after these days of traveling day and night, both Yuan Xi and Wu Zhao were exhausted and were catching up on sleep in the carriage.
Wu Zhao was filled with Heartbroken , Yuan Xi seemed unconventional, unrestrained, and didn't like composing poems or appreciating music. The words he spoke were shocking and different from what her father, Cai Yong, had said, yet she had been slowly attracted to him without realizing it.
Her father, Cai Yong, was the standard of all the world's scriptures and a model for the gentry. Wu Zhao used to think that her father's words represented the principles of the world.
However, this idea had quietly changed after meeting Yuan Xi.
What made Wu Zhao even more conflicted was where she would go in the future.
Yuan Xi was about to get married soon. It was said that the bride was a woman from the Zhen family, a famous family in Ji Province, with excellent status and appearance.
When that time came, she definitely wouldn't be able to stay by his side like she was now.
Wu Zhao thought that there would be no more journeys like this, and her mood became even more complicated, feeling a faint stuffiness in her chest.
She gently spoke, singing:
From the moment of birth, one journeys on.
The Milky Way above, countless stars.
The night sky bright and dim, as if whispering.
Bewildered and lost, a gentle breeze passes.
Destiny is hard to say, what is the guide?
My heart is in turmoil, the road ahead is uncertain.
Hesitantly searching, the journey is coming to an end.
At this moment, the wheel ran over a stone, and the carriage bumped violently a few times. Yuan Xi's head hit the wall, and he woke up instantly, looking towards Wu Zhao.
Wu Zhao quickly turned her head away.
Yuan Xi rubbed his eyes, sat up straight, looked out the window, and pointed to the distance, saying, "In another day or two, we will be able to reach Ye City."
Seeing Yuan Xi's worried expression, Wu Zhao said, "Is it that the young master is afraid of seeing Yuan Zhoumu, and feels it will be difficult to persuade him?"
Yuan Xi rubbed his brow, "Although Father is quite strict in words, he is quite tolerant to us in private."
"As long as I can convince Father that the trip to Mount Tai is not dangerous, the possibility of him agreeing is still very high."
"What I am worried about is my third brother, Yuan Shang."
"He may be the most difficult to deal with in Ye City."
Wu Zhao was surprised to hear this, "Young Master Yuan is a few years younger than you, right?"
"Is he such a big threat to you?"
"Is he even more powerful than Young Master Yuan?"
Yuan Xi sighed after hearing this, "In terms of scheming, Big Brother is just a younger brother in front of him."
Ye City.
Yuan Shao heard Yuan Shang mention Yuan Xi's killing of the gentry in Beitong City, and his expression was a little unhappy, "That's why I said he was too rigid, and insisted on using the most drastic methods to deal with it."
"So I am somewhat dissatisfied with his performance in the past two years."
"In the past two years, the You and Ji borders have been attacking each other. Beitong City is not an important place, but he is obsessed with the people and has been unable to break the situation, which is really a loss of face for our Yuan family."
"If it weren't for the recent two great victories, I would really be disappointed in him."
At this time, a counselor at the bottom suddenly spoke, "I heard that Beitong City has often been short of food in the past three years."
Yuan Shao raised his eyebrows, "Is what Zhongzhi says true?"
Xin Ping, courtesy name Zhongzhi, Yuan Shao's counselor.
Before Xin Ping could answer, Yuan Shang cupped his hands and said, "What Mr. Zhongzhi said is absolutely true."
"The poor transport of grain is my fault."
Yuan Shao waved his hand, "You are not wrong. You have been transporting grain all the time. It passes through the territory of the Black Mountain bandits, and the White Horse Righteous Army often ambushes the grain routes, which is indeed difficult to defend against."
"Moreover, I heard people say that Xianyi is distributing grain to the people in the city, so no matter how much grain there is, it is not enough."
"The grain and grass are originally for the use of soldiers. Although his move is to win people's hearts, it is somewhat putting the cart before the horse."
Yuan Shang smiled and said, "Second Brother treats his subordinates with kindness, has the style of his father, and I heard that he has recently raised dozens of maids, which is even more romantic than Big Brother."
"Nonsense!" Yuan Shao slapped the table after hearing this, "If the Zhen family finds out about this, they will think he is dissolute and immoral!"
"I even found him a good marriage!"
Yuan Shang smiled and said, "Father, calm your anger. Second Brother is also old and anxious to leave offspring, which is normal."
Yuan Shao's anger remained, and he snorted coldly, "Our Yuan family values reputation the most. Xianyi's move is too muddled!"
Xin Ping interjected, "Rumors are just rumors, and may not be true. The lord can wait for the Second Young Master to come back and investigate carefully. If there is really such a thing, it is not too late to reprimand him."
Seeing Xin Ping speaking for Yuan Xi twice, Yuan Shang's expression remained unchanged, but he understood in his heart.
It seems that Big Brother and Second Brother have joined hands, otherwise Xin Ping would not speak for Second Brother!
Yuan Shang sneered in his heart, Big Brother and Second Brother, do you really think that you can deal with me by joining forces?
Especially Second Brother Yuan Xi, who has no counselors and no great generals. For the past three years, I have been secretly hindering him, but I didn't expect that he would still persevere in the end.
If Second Brother returns with a bruised face, it will save me a lot of effort.
Pick the soft persimmon first. Since Second Brother is going back to Ye City, I will let him fall into the dust forever.
Thinking of this, Yuan Shang cupped his hands to Yuan Shao and said, "Father, calculating the time, Second Brother will return to Ye City within three days."
"This child remembers that Second Brother led troops to kill many Southern Xiongnu people some time ago, and I am afraid that the You and Ji borders are not very stable."
"I heard that Second Brother is not bringing many people back to Ye City this time. Apart from a dozen soldiers, there are dozens of maids."
When Yuan Shang said this, Yuan Shao's face showed some anger, "He is obviously coming back to get married, but he is still bringing so many women, which is really outrageous!"
Yuan Shang smiled and said, "I want to gather some people to meet Second Brother, so as to avoid danger."
Yuan Shao nodded, "You have a good heart, go ahead."
Yuan Shang respectfully got up and walked out backwards.
Seeing this, Xin Ping sighed secretly. Yuan Shang is so scheming, I am afraid that Yuan Xi will be difficult to defeat him.
Although there are messengers reporting that Yuan Xi has joined forces with Yuan Tan, Xin Ping does not think that Yuan Xi can help Yuan Tan much.
After all, among the three Yuan brothers, Yuan Xi is now the one who looks the least capable, after all, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang are already able to lead troops on their own.
And Yuan Xi has been trapped in a city for three years, and has not seen anything outstanding about him.
Yuan Shang returned to his room and said to the servant, "Go and invite Mr. Yuan Tu (Pang Ji) and Mr. Zheng Nan (Shen Pei) over."
After a while, two counselors dressed people came in, it was Pang Ji and Shen Pei.
Yuan Shang sat up straight and respectfully said, "This boy wants to ask the two gentlemen, Second Brother is about to return to Ye City."
"If he tells Father about the shortage of food, how should we deal with it?"
Pang Ji said, "The son does not need to worry about the food, there will never be a problem found."
"What I don't understand is, why does the son have to target the Second Young Master so much?"
That poem by Cai Zhaoji was adapted from the ending song lyrics of an animation from my childhood. Are there any 80s friends who recognize it? :)