Mi Zhen brought Zhen Mi and Cao Xian into the house and was about to turn around when she heard Zhen Mi say: "We are all women, there is no need to be taboo about girls."
Mi Zhen hesitated for a moment and said softly: "It's too rude for me to do this."
Zhen Mi smiled and said: "I don't care, what does the girl care about?"
Mi Zhen thought the same thing. When she saw Zhen Mi taking off her outer clothes, she took the clothes from Cao Xian and put them on herself easily and neatly.
Mi Zhen was surprised to see that aristocratic women often needed several maids to serve when dressing, but Zhen Mi dressed herself, and she looked familiar, as if she was used to it?
She was full of suspicion and tried a few words, and Zhen Mi listened and smiled and said: "Our husband doesn't like having a large group of people around to serve him, so there are some things I can do myself, so I don't ask for help."
"Is the girl from the Mi family an elder sister or a younger sister?"
Mi Zhen hesitated for a moment and whispered her birth date. Zhen Mi heard this and said, "It turns out that the girl is a year or two older than me. I will call you sister."
Mi Zhen said quickly: "I don't dare. I am a humble concubine. How dare I compare myself to my wife?"
Zhen Mi shook her head and said: "Sister, you are so complimentary. My previous background was not much higher than my sister's."
Mi Zhen said softly: "The envoy is now the lord of a state, madam."
Zhen Mi waved her hand, "Compared with Xuzhou, Youzhou is still a lot worse."
"I would like to ask, what do you think of your marriage to Liu Yuzhou?"
Mi Zhen was startled and said hesitantly: "Madam asked this question, which makes it difficult for me to answer."
"This matter is decided by my parents and brothers. As a woman, I must not make false statements."
Mi Zhen felt slightly unhappy. She felt that Zhen Mi was laughing at her intentionally or unintentionally.
She and Zhen Mi were both merchant girls, and the other one was married to a good man, but she was trapped by her family and had an accident, so she didn't get married.
Not to mention that Liu Bei is almost twice his age and his appearance and family background are not as good as those of Yuan Xi. Did Zhen Mi say this because she wanted to show off?
She lowered her head slightly and bit her lips. She felt a little irritable for some reason.
Listening to Mi Zhen's tone, Zhen Mi knew that she had misunderstood, so she hurriedly smiled and said, "I don't understand the importance of what I said. Sister, don't blame me."
"I just want to ask, how does my sister think my concubine's husband compares to Liu Shijun?"
Mi Zhenxin said, "You still say this is not showing off?"
She said calmly, "I have no other thoughts about Mr. Xianyi. Madam, don't worry."
Zhen Mi smiled bitterly and said, "I didn't explain clearly, which caused my sister to misunderstand. It's my fault."
She lowered her voice and said, "Sister, do you know why your husband is here this time?"
Mi Zhen heard the hidden meaning of some words and raised her head in surprise.
In the front hall, Guo Jia was still trying to make a strong statement to Mi Zhu, but Mi Zhu looked hesitant.
Mi Zhu was struggling, and Yuan Xi was also struggling in his heart.
Guo Jia's strategy is to use Mi Zhen as a bargaining chip in the plan, at the expense of Mi Zhen's happiness.
Regardless of whether Mi Zhu has figured it out or not, he will definitely not express his position now and then ask Liu Bei for instructions on how to make a decision.
However, this played into Guo Jia's heart.
Guo Jia believes that although Liu Bei is also a womanizer, he will never ruin a major event because of a woman.
Now that Liu Bei's wife has been sent back, Liu Bei can no longer lower his face to marry Mi Zhen, but he still needs to give an explanation to the Mi family.
Moreover, Liu Bei's wife was rescued by Yuan Xi. In order to exchange this favor, Liu Bei would most likely go along with the situation and act as a matchmaker for Yuan Xi.
Marrying Mi Zhu, the sister of his capable subordinate, to Yuan Xi, firstly, he could repay the favor, and secondly, he could build an alliance with Yuan Xi. The cost was just a girl from the Mi family, which could be said to be a huge profit for Liu Bei.
As long as Liu Bei nodded, Mi Zhu would have no objection. Even if Mi Zhen was reluctant, she could only agree for the sake of the Mi family.
Even if Mi Zhen refuses to take ten thousand steps back, is it useful?
In this plan, the key is not the attitude of the Mi family, but that of Liu Bei. Even if Liu Bei sees through Guo Jia's intentions, he will not openly oppose it. In the face of interests, he actually does not have many choices.
This is the viciousness of Guo Jia's plan. It's a conspiracy, but the other party has to be led by the nose.
Yuan Xi suddenly felt that this scene was vaguely familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. He raised his hand, rubbed his swollen forehead, and suddenly came to his senses.
Isn’t this just Song Jiang marrying Hu Sanniang to Wang Ying, a short-footed tiger?
Song Jiang promised Hu Sanniang to marry him, but he couldn't marry him, so he took Hu Sanniang as his adopted sister and married her to Wang Ying.
It’s broken, I’ve become Wang Ying’s lustful tiger!
However, this matter was all calculated from beginning to end, and the biggest victim may be Mi Zhen.
Just like Hu Sanniang, she was used as a bargaining chip, as the link between Yuan and Liu, and Liu Bei didn't have to worry about the loyalty of the Mi family. After all, she was just a woman. She was nothing in front of the entire family and could be abandoned by Mi Zhu at any time.
As for what Mi Zhen thinks, who cares?
Yuan Xi felt despicable for using the innocent Mi Zhen as a means of planning. He knew that people who achieve great things do not stick to trivial matters, but he was still too pretentious, but he just felt uncomfortable.
He once again turned his attention to the Mi brothers in the field. Mi Zhu never looked over here, but Mi Fang frequently raised glasses to him. The look on her face made it seem as if she and he were already part of the same family.
Yuan Xi has even more headaches, this person is even more of a heavyweight instability factor!
No matter what the final result is, he will never let someone like Mi Fang work under him. Who knows when this cheater will go crazy and sell himself out?
While the Mi Mansion was hosting a banquet, Liu Bei's Mansion was also hosting a banquet, with only one guest present.
Tian Yu.
He was originally coming tonight to deliver local products from Youzhou to Liu Bei for Yuan Xi. Liu Bei kindly asked him to stay for a drink. Tian Yu agreed after a little hesitation.
Seeing Tian Yu sitting down calmly, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei looked at each other. Seeing Tian Yu like this, are they probably still thinking about their old feelings?
The two of them thought that Tian Yu had been working under Liu Bei for a long time. If they could think of a way to make him an eyeliner with Yuan Xi, they might even pull him over from Yuan Xi's side!
Liu Bei ordered people to serve wine and food, raised his glass and said to Tian Yu: "Be prepared to prepare a small amount of wine to thank the country for saving Yunchang."
Guan Yu also raised his glass and said: "Yu is surrounded by a heavy siege outside Guangling City. If it weren't for the country's surrender, Yu might have died in the battle."
When Zhang Fei saw it, he quickly raised his glass and said, "Me too!"
When Tian Yu saw this, he raised his glass and said in reply: "Yu is just following orders."
The four of them drank it all, and Liu Bei looked up to the sky and sighed: "When Guorang left Qingzhou to join General Gongsun, Bei was quite disappointed at the time and thought he would never see each other again from now on."
"Unexpectedly, two years have passed and things have changed. General Gongsun has turned into ashes, while you and I have turned from the enemies of the Yuan family into allies. It is really an unpredictable world, which makes people sigh."
After hearing this, Tian Yu said in a deep voice: "Yu's abilities are mediocre, he just goes with the flow."
After hearing this, Liu Bei shook his head and said: "Guo Rang is too humble. If your ability is mediocre, how many people in the world would dare to claim to be talented?"
His words came from the bottom of his heart. Tian Yu had a very high level of understanding and could master anything in a short time. He was truly a rare talent.
Moreover, whether on foot, horse, or water, Tian Yu was a talented general. Some time ago, as the leader of the spies, he personally sneaked into Guangling and did an outstanding job, making the first contribution to Yuan Xi's capture of Guangling.
It was impossible for Liu Bei not to be heartbroken when such a person slipped away from him. Today he specially held a banquet just to try to establish a good relationship with Tian Yu and see if he could take advantage of it.
But what made Liu Bei unsure was that Tian Yu left him on his own initiative.
Tian Yu initially served under Gongsun Zan and joined Liu Bei's army since he was a child. He was highly regarded. However, after Liu Bei was appointed governor of Yuzhou by Tao Qian, he actually broke away from Gongsun Zan. Tian Yu asked to return to his hometown in the name of his mother's old age.
That was the break with Liu Bei.
The reason for this is very complicated. Tian Yu's uncle Tian Kai was the governor of Qingzhou, and Liu Bei also fought with him to resist Yuan's army.
But after Liu Bei defected to Tao Qian, Tian Kai could only defend Qingzhou alone. Although Liu Bei also went to help in the battle of Qingzhou, the result was not satisfactory. Tian Kai was still defeated and therefore lost Qingzhou.
Tian Kai later fled back to Yijing and died together with Gongsun Zan when Yuan Shao attacked Yijing.
What Liu Bei was puzzled about was that he did act somewhat unkindly when he left Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan's final downfall had nothing to do with him.
But logically speaking, Tian Yu should hate Yuan Xi even more, right?
As a pioneer of the Yuan clan, Yuan Xi defeated Tian Kai Gong Sun Zan with his own hands and was the direct culprit that led to the death of the two people. Why did Tian Yu vote for him instead?
Liu Bei was full of doubts, but he couldn't ask Tian Yu directly, so he had to hold it in his heart and secretly look for opportunities to find out.
After three rounds of drinking, Zhang Fei couldn't help it anymore and said: "Guorang, I heard that you were attacking the city in Guangling, and Yuan Xi only gave you a few dozen people to infiltrate. Doesn't this mean that you are going to die?"
"If you were under Big Brother, you wouldn't be able to drive alone, and you would be able to lead thousands of soldiers and horses!"
"I heard that Yuan Xi has fought for more than a thousand people from Guangling to now. If you work under him, when will you be able to stand out?"
Liu Bei and Guan Yu's face froze. Zhang Feihua's words were too straightforward. His purpose was clearly written on his face!
However, there are some words that can only be said by Zhang Fei. Now that he has said it, the two of them also want to know what Tian Yu is thinking now.
After hearing this, Tian Yu said calmly: "Young Master has a very good vision. He thinks that I am the most suitable candidate to sneak into Guangling. Facts have proved that Young Master is right."
Zhang Fei snorted coldly: "Young Master, I heard that when he was in Yijing, he was the first to break into the city and forced Tian Kai and Gongsun Zan to death?"
Tian Yu heard this and said, "If you really say that, it's right."
Liu, Guan, and Zhang were in a daze. Tian Kai frankly admitted that he didn't care at this moment, or did he still have resentment towards Yuan Xi?
If it's the latter.
Zhang Fei said happily: "Since there is such a deep hatred, why doesn't Guorang come to help my elder brother?"
Tian Yu listened and shook his head: "General, stop talking. It is impossible for Yu to betray his master."
Zhang Fei heard this and said angrily: "If you turn from the Gongsun family to the Yuan family, doesn't it count as betraying the master?"
Guan Yu shouted: "Third brother!"
Tian Yu waved his hand, "It's okay. To be honest, I quite like General Zhang's straightforward character."
"But if I can sit here and talk to these three people calmly, I must have a clear conscience."
"I have my own thoughts."
Liu Bei sighed in his heart, Tian Yu was a very determined person, and once he made up his mind, no one could change it.
But he was also a little unwilling. Tian Yu abandoned himself and joined Yuan Xi. Could it be that in Tian Yu's heart, he was inferior to Yuan Xi?