In fact, Liu Bei had a very difficult time during this period.
Because he keeps hitting walls and failing.
He started his career by wiping out the Yellow Turbans, and formed a small team with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. There were twists and turns in the process. When he whipped the postal governor for committing crimes and was dismissed from office, he was almost thirty years old and could almost be said to have accomplished nothing.
It wasn't until he defected to Gongsun Zan and became the Prime Minister of Pingyuan that his development got on track. Then he defected to Tao Qian and was promoted as the governor of Yuzhou. He recruited a group of officials and counselors and truly had his own team.
After that, he took over Xuzhou from Tao Qian and truly occupied a state. With his own territory, Xuzhou nobles came to join him one after another, and he became famous for a while.
At that time, he was in his thirties and had become the lord of a state and one of the few princes in the world. He was very high-spirited and felt that his dream of achieving great things was within reach before his eyes.
However, the cruel facts soon taught him a lesson. First, Qingzhou was defeated, and then Xuzhou was attacked continuously. Both Cao Cao and Sun Ce suffered a lot from Liu Bei.
Although Liu Bei took refuge in the Yuan family, he sadly discovered that at the critical moment, the only one he could rely on was himself.
But it was already too late, Xiapi was lost, his wife and daughter were captured by Sun Ce, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were the enemy of thousands of people, and there was nothing they could do against Sun Ce who was at the height of his power.
If not for Yuan Xi's surprise attack on Guangling, which caused Sun Ce to lose his hometown and lost his position, and then joined forces with Yuan Tan to help drive Sun Ce away, Liu Bei would have almost given up struggling and made plans to leave Xuzhou.
Although Liu Bei was very happy to survive the disaster, he was already severely weakened and many people had left.
Liu Bei looked around at the remaining people and found that there was no one who could convince everyone and turn the tide.
Liu Bei couldn't help but fell into serious self-doubt. Was he lacking something?
He turned his attention to Yuan Xi.
During the two most difficult years for me, the opponent suddenly emerged and became the winner of several battles. He gained a great reputation and became the fierce tiger of the Yuan family. He was able to occupy Youzhou and became an equal to himself.
Not only that, Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, and Tian Yu, whom he was optimistic about, all defected to this person.
Of course Liu Bei understood that Yuan Xi definitely did not do this just relying on the name of Yuan Jiazi.
What did Zhao Yun and others see in him?
So today when Tian Yu came to visit, Liu Bei took the opportunity to serve wine, just to clarify this doubt.
After three rounds of drinking, the atmosphere became a little dull. When Liu Bei saw that Tian Yu was only briefly tasting the wine in the glass, he smiled and said, "Bei remember that Guorang was a very good drinker in the past. Why doesn't he drink anymore? Is this wine bad?"
After hearing this, Tian Yu smiled and said: "Wine is good wine, but drinking can cause trouble, so I rarely drink it now."
Guan Yu spoke out for the first time: "The state has changed a lot."
Tian Yu nodded slightly, "Yes, during the Battle of Yijing, my uncle died in front of me, which shocked me greatly."
Liu Bei was surprised when he heard this: "What's going on?"
"Speaking of which, you were still under General Gongsun during the Battle of Yijing. What happened?"
Tian Yu listened and told the situation at that time in a few words.
Gongsun Zan fell into madness and wanted to kill all his relatives, but Tian Kai stopped him. Gongsun Zan set himself on fire, and Tian Kai died subsequently.
This was the first time that Liu Guanzhang heard about the secret, and he was filled with sadness for a while.
Tian Yu said: "In the beginning, I hated the young master very much. I also assassinated him, but was captured by him."
"But the young master is very committed to his promises and tried his best to fulfill his promise to me. My uncle also appreciates him very much."
"After my uncle's death, I have been thinking about who to follow to fight for world domination, and what it means to me."
"Actually, I haven't figured it out yet, but the young master told me that I can see it with my own eyes. If one day I feel that I can't stay any longer, I can leave, but he won't stop me."
"So I want to keep reading, but now I have some vague answers in my mind."
"To pacify the world, there are too many things that need to be done, and it cannot be accomplished by just a moment of ambition or brotherly loyalty."
"Young Master has many ideas about future plans, and he often tells people around him, including me, to listen."
"Some of them I agree with, some I don't understand, but the young master took the trouble to make me understand, and he didn't have to bother so much."
"This is what surprises me the most. I originally thought that the young master just needs me to be able to fight."
"I would like to ask Mr. Xuande, what are your plans for the future?"
Liu Bei was sweating profusely after hearing this.
Yes, over the years, for the sake of official salary, food and fodder for soldiers, and territory expansion, I have made great plans, but I have neglected my original intention.
It was not that he had no ideals in his heart, but in the face of the cruel reality, he temporarily buried his ideals.
When I formed a sworn alliance with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in Taoyuan, didn't I want to bring peace to the world and bring peace to the Han Dynasty?
In the end, I relied too much on my two brothers, but neglected a lot of other subordinates.
These people also have their own ambitions!
Thinking of this, Liu Bei bowed deeply to Tian Yu: "Thank you so much for your help. I'll keep this in mind for waking up the dreamer!"
Tian Yu heard this and bowed deeply in return: "I am sincerely grateful for the kindness you have given me over the years, and I will never forget it."
"Please take good care of me and bid farewell!"
Tian Yu left the mansion and faced the cold night wind, riding a horse on the streets of Tancheng. He raised his head and looked at the brilliant stars in the sky.
What Yuan Xi wanted to tell Liu Bei in what he said just now is also what Tian Yu said from the bottom of his heart. Liu Bei is indeed a very good lord, but if he misses it, he misses it.
From now on, both Yuan Xi and Liu Bei will move forward towards their ideals. Sooner or later, they will meet again in the distant future.
Mi Fang sent Yuan Xi and others away and couldn't wait to return to the house. She said to Mi Zhu: "Brother, why don't you agree to such a good thing? If you miss this village, you won't have this shop!"
"You don't need a dowry, but you can still give me such a good status. Isn't this a huge profit?"
"What a waste of money!" Mi Zhu cursed, "Can't you use your brain?"
"It seems like it's a matter of taking advantage of me, why should I get your turn?"
"Do you think these conditions are all for free? Our Mi family will not have to pay the price in the future?"
"Being attached to the Yuan family will surely make you stronger than being attached to the Lord?"
"Look at the noble families in Jizhou. Some of them are not as good as our family!"
"Being greedy will lead to backlash!"
Mi Fang listened and said calmly: "I don't understand what brother said. I really don't think about the long term like brother."
"I admit that I am indeed greedy. I am a businessman at heart. I have unrealistic dreams and am incompatible with the nobility."
Mi Zhu thought Mi Fang was submissive and sneered: "It's good if you know!"
Mi Fang said: "But I also know that with my little sister's current situation, what should we do? Should we still marry her to the lord?"
"What will be her fate?"
Mi Zhu heard this and said, "We are from the Mi family, and my little sister is also from the Mi family. Since we were raised by the Mi family, we naturally have to do our best for the Mi family."
Mi Fang listened and looked directly at Mi Zhu, "My little sister is watched by our brothers and grows up day by day."
"Actually, I think the revitalization of the family can be left to us two brothers. Wouldn't it be good if my younger sister could marry into a good family, get involved in less troubles, and live a peaceful life?"
"Brother, you understand that Xuzhou won't be safe next time, right?"
"My lord is indeed a good man, but this time he can't even protect his wife and daughter. Will he be able to do it in the future?"
"If my little sister marries him, what will happen if she is kidnapped by the enemy in the future?"
"When the time comes, will anyone be able to rescue her?"
"If she doesn't come back, can you imagine what the rest of her life will be like?"
"Shijun and Yuan Xi, no matter how you look at it, Yuan Xi is the one who can protect her better, right?"
Mi Zhu's originally angry face now showed a bit of bitterness. He slowly sat down, picked up the wine bottle in front of the table, poured himself a glass, and drank it all in one gulp.
The burning feeling went from the throat all the way down, and then fell into the stomach, but there was another cup.
When Mi Fang saw him, he also sat at the table and started drinking together.
The two brothers drank seven or eight glasses of wine and became a little tipsy.
Mi Zhu suddenly stood up and walked out unsteadily, "Let me think about it again."
Mi Fang stared at Mi Zhu's back, stretched out her hand, and opened another jar of wine.
Yuan Xi was sitting in the carriage and saw Zhen Mi covering her mouth with her sleeves, staring at him with a strange expression, and wondered: "What do you think I am doing?"
Zhen Mi's eyes curled up and she chuckled, "I heard the girl from the Mi family said something about her husband."
Yuan Xi sweated profusely, "How is that possible? I have only met her a few times in total, and there are people around her."
Cao Xian couldn't help laughing next to him, and Zhen Mi said with a smile: "Why are you so anxious to clear up the relationship? I didn't say anything."
Yuan Xi thought that after Zhen Mi came back from changing clothes, Mi Zhen had not come out, fearing that something had happened, and asked: "What on earth did you say?"
"Madam, you won't say bad things about me anymore, right?"
Zhen Mi's eyes widened even more after hearing this, "My husband has a bad heart. He asked me to send away the girl from the Mi family. I'm afraid this marriage is also taking advantage of him, right?"
"The Mi family girl is very pitiful."
"But the Mi family girl sees things very clearly."
Yuan Xi thought that there was indeed something inside, so he broke the jar and said: "I told you earlier, I am not a good person."
Zhen Mi giggled, "Why is your husband not a good person? Didn't he return Liu Shijun's wife and daughter, as well as Kong Beihai's wife and daughter to Zhao intact? He didn't add insult to injury."
"I heard that there is General Gongsun's widow in Beixin City, but her husband has not interfered with her."
After Yuan Xi heard this, he couldn't help but look at Cao Xian. After a long time, there was a fire around him. Cao Xian had become Zhen Mi's spy?
He coughed and said, "Cao Xian, I will go back later and have a good talk with you."
After hearing this, Cao Xian turned pale and looked at Zhen Mi as if asking for help.
Zhen Mi hurriedly said: "Don't bully her, I forced her to say it."
The three of them returned to their house, but Zhen Mi felt a little unwell and said, "I can't accompany you tonight, please help yourself."
Yuan Xi didn't know whether it was true or not, and wondered whether Zhen Mi was angry with him?
However, Zhen Mi didn't have an awkward temperament. She just wanted to take a nap. Thinking of this, he said, "Then you should have a rest first."
After a while, Zhen Mi fell asleep. Yuan Xi tucked the quilt in for her and walked out of the room.
He heard the voices of Cai Zhaoji and Mrs. Cai talking in the study, probably discussing classics again.
Suddenly, the door creaked and Cao Xian came out of the study.
Yuan Xi went over and grabbed her wrist, "Let's go into the house with me."