Cao Song's eating appearance was like a starving ghost reincarnated, which made Yuan Xi feel that even if he put a pig in front of Cao Song, he could swallow it alive.
In the end, Cao Song ate almost all the food on the table and rolled his eyes. At this time, several concubines dared to walk over, silently picked up the bones thrown on Cao Song's table and started licking them.
When Yuan Xi saw it, he felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.
For a woman who is completely dependent on a man, the man is prosperous, the woman is rich, the man is in poverty, and the woman is begging for food.
Now that Cao Song is in such a situation, this is all these concubines can do.
Yuan Xi suddenly didn't want to stay any longer. When he was about to go out, Cao Song was still burping and speechless.
Yuan Xi got on the carriage, feeling somewhat satisfied, but also a little regretful.
The problem of Huan's identity has been solved, but the three Cao Xian sisters are in a bit of trouble.
Although the Huan family was driven out of the Cao family with Cao Song's endorsement, the three sisters of Cao Xian had previously changed their surname to Cao as stepdaughters when they were acquired by Cao Cao along with the Huan family.
Expelling children from the clan requires the consent of the clan leader. Cao Song is no longer the clan leader, so he can only put the matter aside for the time being.
Fortunately, Cao Cao probably wouldn't argue with Yuan Xi about these insignificant stepdaughters.
Yuan Xi returned to his mansion and told the Huan family the news. Cao Xian and Cao Jie's sisters were surprised and happy.
But beyond Yuan Xi's expectation, Huan looked hesitant.
He thought to himself that this was strange. Could it be that the Huan family didn't want to leave the Cao family?
He said, "What worries do you have, madam? Are you unwilling to leave the Cao family?"
The Huan family dismissed the Cao Xian sisters, paused and said: "I deeply feel the kindness of the young master, and I think about leaving the Cao family day and night."
"But my original concern was the safety of my three daughters, and I wanted to entrust them to the young master. As for my own situation, I didn't think much about it."
"Now the young master is taking risks to rescue the concubine, but the concubine is afraid of causing rumors, which will be detrimental to the young master's reputation."
Yuan Xi understood Huan's meaning. When he brought Huan's mother and daughter into his mansion, there were unbearable rumors in Yecheng about his mother and daughter taking both sides.
Now that he has brought the Huan family out of the Cao family, it is estimated that such rumors will become even more widespread, which will greatly damage his reputation for rescuing the Bian Rang family.
He said: "Madam, there is no need to worry too much. You are Cao Xian's mother, and there is no way I will abandon my wife."
"I have already made arrangements for Madam's identity, and I will definitely put an end to these rumors when the time comes."
However, the Huan family misunderstood and thought that Yuan Xi wanted her to remarry someone from a wealthy family, so she whispered: "After this incident, I have decided that I will never marry anyone again."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "I'm afraid I'm wrong, madam, but don't worry, just let nature take its course."
After hearing this, Huan felt relieved and nodded lightly.
She sent Yuan Xi away, feeling quite uneasy, and finally escaped from the Cao family's den of tigers and wolves. It was impossible to say she was unhappy.
But when she thought that the fate of mother and daughter would be firmly tied to Yuan Xi, her mood became a little complicated.
From what she saw these days, Yuan Xi really wasn't interested in young girls.
Not to mention that Wu Zhao was already in his twenties, she also heard from Cao Xian that after the Battle of Yijing, Yuan Xi brought Gongsun Zan's widow, Hou Shi, into the mansion!
The Yuan family and the Gongsun family had such a big feud, but Yuan Xi was able to protect the Hou family, which must have cost a lot of money.
Huan heard that Wu Zhao was also a widow before, and thought of Hou's situation, she felt that she had found something in common between the two.
Yuan Xi has never touched a young girl, so it seems likely that Yuan Xi likes not a married woman, but an older widow!
Huan felt more and more that her thoughts were closer to the truth. She felt a little flustered and involuntarily raised her hands to suppress her chest that kept rising and falling due to shock.
If Yuan Xi knew what Huan was thinking, he would probably vomit three liters of blood, but he had no time to worry about such minutiae now.
Because since he entered Yecheng, every step he takes next has been carefully considered, and the achievement of each goal requires the cooperation of many conditions to finally lead to the result he wants.
But the more sophisticated the strategy, the more links there are, and the easier it is for unexpected variables to occur.
Yuan Xi often uses a sentence he said when playing Tetris in his previous life to remind himself to get rid of the inflated mentality of trying to control all variables.
Mistakes will accumulate and successes will disappear.
Every step you take is a new beginning, and every trivial mistake may cause all your efforts to be wasted.
It would naturally be much easier if everyone else were like wooden stakes, waiting blankly for him to lay out the plan. Unfortunately, it is impossible. Everyone is not a fool, and they will not be willing to be chess pieces. Everyone wants to sit in front of the chessboard.
In this depressing atmosphere, the day of Yuan Xi's adoption finally arrived.
The whole process was unremarkable. Yuan Shao presided over the ceremony as the patriarch, although Yuan Shu, who was far away in Yuzhou, would not recognize Yuan Shao's status as the head of the family.
Almost all the men of the Yuan family were present. Also present as witnesses were the patriarchs of several aristocratic families in Jizhou.
When he saw that his name was changed from the family tree to the Yuan Ji branch, Yuan Xi felt quite complicated.
Forget it, just change it if you have another father. It’s not like you didn’t change it when you were reborn.
He walked to Yuan Ji's memorial tablet, knelt down according to etiquette, offered incense and congratulated him.
When he got up, everything seemed the same, but everything was completely different.
From then on, he severed the father-son relationship with Yuan Shao.
He turned to Yuan Shao, bowed and said: "Greetings to the master of the family."
Yuan Shao opened his mouth, but in the end he just nodded slightly and said, "A good nephew doesn't need to be polite."
Yuan Xi felt that his body was a little stiff, but also a little relaxed.
From then on, he was no longer protected by Yuan Shao, but at the same time he also lost a shackle.
But he is an orphan now and can decide on his own marriage.
He turned his head and looked at the people with different thoughts. He clearly saw a smile of unknown meaning appearing on the corner of Yuan Shang's mouth.
Yuan Xi stepped forward, picked up Yuan Ji's tablet, and placed it squarely on his chest.
Previously, Yuan Ji's line was extinct, and the tablets were stored in the Yuan family's ancestral hall. Now that Yuan Xi has inherited this line, he has to take the tablets back for worship.
He walked out of the ancestral hall and walked into the courtyard, which was already full of people.
In addition to Yuan Shao's advisers and generals, Yuan Xi's people also arrived.
Although Zhao Yun, Tai Shici, Guo Jia, Tian Yu, and Sun Li seemed to be few in number, judging from future generations, no one would dare to underestimate this power.
When everyone saw Yuan Xi coming out, they all came up to congratulate him. Now Yuan Xi's identity is no longer the concubine of Yuan Shao, but the legitimate son of Imperial Servant Yuan Ji and the heir to Marquis Anguo Ting!
After all, Yuan Ji is also the elder brother of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. Regardless of his seniority or status, he cannot be underestimated.
At the same time, everyone also praised Yuan Shao's righteous deed. After this incident, Yuan Shao at least publicly washed away the stain of Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji's death. As for what everyone thought privately, it didn't matter.
Unlike Yuan Shao's subordinates, Yuan Xi's subordinates, Zhao Yun and others, obviously looked more relieved, because from now on, they could justifiably be regarded as the lords of Yuan Xi, and the control of the Yuan family was greatly reduced!
Guo Jia's eyes were flashing with a different meaning, and there was a faint light of ambition.
Yuan Xi smiled and nodded to everyone, feeling full of pride in his heart.
This is the most important thing he has done since his rebirth. For this reason, he worked hard and made many efforts and concessions before his dream came true.
From Lu Bu to Cao Cao, from Liu Bei to Gongsun Zan, from Qingzhou to Jizhou, from Xuzhou to Yanzhou, he personally worked in dangerous situations, went into battle, fought bloody battles, and gave up the credit just for the sake of changing the court today.
However, there is no such thing as a free lunch. In the coming days, he may be deprived of many well-deserved benefits.
Sure enough, the next day, someone came from Yuan Shaochu and asked him to come over to discuss the matter of being awarded the official position in Youzhou after the Battle of Yijing.
When Yuan Xi arrived, he found that the people were so neatly organized that not only the Liu family, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were there, but also a group of counselors including Liu He.
After Yuan Shao revealed Yuan's arrangements for Youzhou, although Yuan Xi had expected it, some officials still surprised him.
So much so that Yuan Xi couldn't figure out for a while whether Yuan Shao wanted to help him or suppress him.
As a hero before and after the Battle of Yijing, Yuan Shao did not treat Yuan Xi badly on the surface. He expressed his gratitude to the Han court who was still on the run and did not know where he was, and declared that Yuan Xi was the governor of Youzhou.
This means that Yuan Xi has the title to be in charge of Youzhou affairs, although so far, Yuan Xi has not occupied even half of Zhuo County.
Then there are the deputy governor's positions. The first few most important ones are only for people who are directly related to Yuan Xi. They are all assigned to people from Yuan Shao.
The governor is engaged in Xu You, the Biejia is engaged in military affairs and Cao Cao is engaged in Jushu, and the Cao Cao is engaged in Liu He!
Xu You is actually Yuan Shang's man, and his position as first deputy is tantamount to Yuan Shang's trusted confidant in Youzhou.
When Yuan Xi heard this, he felt vaguely unhappy. If only he could be replaced by someone who was honest and upright. If he were replaced by someone like Xu You, he would not only make huge profits, but also install corrupt cronies. Wouldn't Youzhou become a mess?
As for Jushou, it's even more interesting. This was a rise in power and a fall in secret, which made Jushou completely disappear from the power circle of Jizhou, which was equivalent to being sent away by Yuan Shao!
No wonder Ju Shou complained so much in the later period. It seems that Yuan Shao had already made up his mind to weaken the power of the Jizhou gentry and make way for Yuan Shang.
Of course, the high-sounding reason on the surface is that Youzhou will be in constant war, and it needs experienced counselors like Jushu to be in charge.
But Yuan Xi felt very happy. Was he afraid that I couldn't dig the Jushu brick, so he pried it loose for me to dig?
This is not a biological father. What is a biological father?
Then there is Liu He.
After all, Liu He's identity is really embarrassing. Since Liu Yu's death, Liu He's use value has disappeared.
But by leaving him in Yecheng, Yuan Shao was afraid that others would criticize him for imprisoning members of the Han Dynasty clan, so it was most ideal to get this hot potato out of Jizhou.
As a result, Youzhou has become a place of exile for marginalized people.
This reflects Yuan Shao's extremely contradictory thoughts. After Yuan Xi adopted Yuan Xi, Yuan Shao not only wanted Yuan Xi to be effective, but also wanted to be wary of him, so he inserted people from different factions.
Just like the officialdom of later generations, if people with different thoughts are put together, although it will not cause bad things, it will be difficult to achieve great things.
Despite the internal slander, Yuan Xi still bowed his head respectfully and said, "I will obey your envoy's arrangements in everything."
Yuan Shao also felt that this arrangement was a bit excessive, but a powerful Youzhou was not currently in line with his pace of training Yuan Shang.
After all, Yuan Xi's performance over the past year was really beyond his expectations, so he temporarily adopted this expedient measure to aggrieve Yuan Xi.
He opened his mouth and said, "In that case, what else does my nephew have to ask for?"
Yuan Xi raised his head: "Report to the envoy, I am ready to get married."