When Yuan Xi saw Mrs. Hou sitting in bed, her daughter was sleeping on a small bed on one side, and there was no one else in the room, she couldn't help but wonder: "Didn't Madam have two maids assigned to her earlier?"
Mrs. Hou walked aside, gently lifted the teapot, filled the teacup, walked over, raised it in front of Yuan Xi and said: "There is a new baby in the house, and the maids are rotating day and night. They are very tired. I told Mrs. Cai to let her go."
They went to help the two ladies in their room."
"When I was in Beixin City, I learned a lot of cooking and cleaning skills from Mrs. Cao. I can get used to having no one to serve me."
Yuan Xi took the teacup handed over by Mrs. Hou, and their hands touched each other. Mrs. Hou subconsciously retracted her hand as if she was electrocuted. Yuan Xi took the teacup with one hand, pulled up Mrs. Hou's wrist with the other, and said:
: "I feel wronged, madam."
Mrs. Hou heard the meaning of these words, lowered her head and said: "My mother's life depends on the young master, so what's wrong with me?"
Yuan Xi pulled her hand, pulled Mrs. Hou into her arms, and said, "No, I'm talking about the future."
Mrs. Hou's body felt hot and she seemed to be unable to stand. Yuan Xi leaned down and whispered in her ear: "Madam, do you still remember what happened on the wooden floor of Beixincheng Mansion?"
As soon as these words came out, Mrs. Hou couldn't resist anymore, her limbs became weak, her palms weakly pushed Yuan Xi's chest, and said in a trembling voice: "Don't be seen."
Only this time Yuan Xi remembered that there was a voyeur Cao Xian in the house, especially since she had recently learned some hiding skills from Lu Lingqi, and her behavior became more and more aggressive. She quickly got up and went to the window to look around.
He looked around and found no trace of Cao Xian. He felt relieved, then closed the window, walked to the door, and locked the bolt.
When Mrs. Hou saw it, she was even more at a loss. However, she was alert but did not resist in her heart. Not only did she secretly curse herself, had she been a widow for a long time and was in desperate need of support and comfort?
When she was in a state of confusion, Yuan Xi had already walked to her side and pulled her into his arms. When Mrs. Hou turned her head, she saw Yuan Xi's face coming up to her, and her eyes suddenly widened.
The snowflakes from the sky outside slowly fell, accompanied by the howling north wind, covering up the sounds inside the house.
The white snow melted into fine beads of sweat on the back of the slender neck. The north wind suppressed the faint echo in the throat. The snow-covered wintersweet branches outside the house bounced in the wind, and the buds at the ends of the branches were bright red.
In Donghai Qucheng, Mi Zhen was on a small building, holding up a small cylinder and looking at the Guangling Haixi Port in the distance, where merchant ships were sailing out of the port and heading north.
Mi Zhen learned that this was the ship used by the Zhen family caravan to transport goods to Youzhou. She couldn't help but wonder. The New Year's Eve is the time when pirates are most rampant. Isn't the Zhen family caravan afraid of it?
She mentioned this matter to Mi Fang the day before yesterday. Mi Fang, who was in a bad mood recently, said angrily: "Who knows, maybe the Zhen family is colluding with pirates!"
Mi Zhen asked doubtfully: "No way?"
"I heard that the Zhen family caravan has also lost several ships these days."
Mi Fang said bitterly: "Who knows what's going on? I'm afraid the protection fee isn't enough, or maybe I'm just acting for others to see!"
Mi Zhen shook her head, "Brother seems to be very prejudiced against the Zhen family caravan?"
After hearing this, Mi Fang said dullly: "Little sister, I am not worth it for you. When you met Yuan Xi, he had not yet married!"
"I have always felt that my brother was too hesitant and missed such a good opportunity. Now that he occupies two states, he is also a famous prince in the world!"
"So much so that you adopted your younger sister as your foster sister, and in order to please that fierce tiger, you even married your younger sister to him as his concubine. How can you not make me feel uncomfortable when these days are so different?"
Mi Zhen listened and said calmly: "Everyone has his own destiny. Madam Zhen is indeed much stronger than me. The Zhen family is also willing to make a bet. However, the Mi family must not betray Liu Shijun at that time. The two families are in different situations, so it doesn't matter.
That’s easy to talk about.”
Mi Fang said unwillingly: "Sometimes I wonder if it was my brother's wrong decision to follow Liu Shijun."
When Mi Zhen heard this, she hurriedly said: "Brother, be careful what you say!"
"The Mi family was just a merchant's home at the beginning. Without Liu Shijun's favor, how could the Mi family be where it is today?"
"Don't say it's time to help. We merchants have no ability to protect ourselves. If other princes want to ransack our homes, isn't it just a matter of words?"
"The eldest brother did the right thing, the second brother needs to think clearly!"
After hearing this, Mi Fang shook her head and said, "That's true, but Liu Shijun's two brothers are really difficult to deal with!"
"Guan Yu is training the navy in the East China Sea these days. He has very strict requirements on the expenditure of weapons and food. If I show any slightest neglect, he will use military laws to suppress me!"
"That Zhang Heitan is also a bitch and looks down on others. I went to Xiapi several times and never looked at me. He is just a butcher. He is a merchant like us. What the hell!"
Mi Zhen advised: "Second brother, it's time to rein in your temper. Now that we are at odds with each other, what will we do if we encounter foreign enemies in the future?"
Mi Fang listened and said dullly: "My little sister has a tough temper?"
"If my little sister hadn't rejected Yuan Xi..."
When he saw Mi Zhen lowering her head and saying nothing, he knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he stood up and walked out, "I'm going to the pier, little sister, think about what to do in the future."
"I heard that there are many women around the fierce tiger now, and each one has a higher status than the last. I'm afraid that my little sister will be offended if she marries him."
Mi Zhen retracted her thoughts and remembered what Mi Fang said yesterday, but she lowered her head and looked at the bamboo tube in her hand.
A few days ago, Yuan Xi sent someone to bring this to her from Youzhou, along with a letter with a few words.
The girl Su Wen often climbs high to look into the distance, so I gave her a pair of telescopes to help her relax and relieve her worries. I sincerely recommend her.
Mi Zhen flipped her fingers, and the bamboo tube spun dexterously in her hand. What was she thinking about relieving her worries? How did he know that she was unhappy?
Just a guess!
She became more and more angry, and the bamboo tube spun faster and faster. As a result, with a flick of her finger, the telescope flew out of the window.
Mi Zhen exclaimed, stretched out her bare hand, and held the bamboo tube in her hand. Her heart was pounding. She touched the cold sweat on her forehead and held the thick bamboo tube tightly for a while before turning back.
God comes.
She opened the front of her clothes, carefully put the bamboo tube into her arms, and then retracted her sweaty palms. She didn't know what she thought of, and her face turned slightly red.
Jicheng, Youzhou.
Lu Xun stood in front of the Azabu map, pointing to the sea outside Donglai, and talking about the locations where pirates might be encountered. Yuan Xi couldn't help but nodded frequently, thinking that Lu Xun was indeed right.
Seeing Lu Xun hesitate to speak several times, he said, "Bo Yan, what other worries do you have?"
After hearing this, Lu Xun said, "Those in superior positions do not take risks. I don't understand. Why do you always go on expeditions in person without worrying about the dangers you encounter?"
"Just like this time, it's enough for Xun and General Tian, but if you go with me, Xun will feel the pressure increases sharply, fearing that something will go wrong."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "This is my fault. Unexpectedly, it caused trouble to Boyan."
"Why go to the battlefield in person?" Yuan Xi said to himself: "Actually, I am very afraid of death and don't like the battlefield at all."
"How can I, who have no martial arts talent and poor command in battle, like to fight on the battlefield?"
"But I have to go, because as the lord, I can play two roles."
"The first is to boost morale, and the second is to ensure that orders given directly on the battlefield will not be changed beyond recognition because of the layers of transmission."
"A slightest mistake can make a thousand miles difference. Among all the princes in the world, which one is hiding behind?"
"Even Yuan Jiujiu, I heard he personally led troops to fight?"
“If you want to succeed, you must first pay.”
"This is true for military orders on the battlefield, and even more so for domestic political orders."
"Originally, many government decrees had good intentions, but after being passed down from level to level, they completely changed. Therefore, I have to listen to the voices at the lowest level so as not to lose my original intention."
"I want to personally see the suffering of all sentient beings in the world so that I can not forget my original intention."
Lu Xun was thoughtful after hearing this.
"Of course, there is one more thing," Yuan Xi said with a smile: "I still have many shortcomings. I need to continue to learn and improve myself so that I can catch up with the footsteps of the heroes in the world and compete with them."
"If I hesitate to move forward, sooner or later I will be pulled down by someone who is far more talented than me."
"So I am more eager to become stronger than Boyan, because I have to bear as much burden as Boyan."
Lu Xun was moved in his heart. He faced Yuan Xi and bowed down and said: "Listening to your envoy's words will help you a lot. I will teach you today as a spur in the future and I will not let you slack off at all times."
Yuan Xi laughed, "Bo Yan's talent is much higher than mine."
"Given time, Boyan will surely leave his name in history."
Just as Lu Xun was about to give in, he heard Yuan Xi say, "Bo Yan and I hit it off right away, how about we become sworn brothers?"
Lu Xun was stunned, how could he make you think that it was the same thing?
For Lu Xun, who was born in a noble family in the south of the Yangtze River, this kind of sworn worship that was full of the customs of the northern border people was really uncomfortable. However, when he saw Yuan Xi's serious expression when he spoke, he didn't seem to be hypocritical, so he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "I still don't know.
What do you appreciate about me?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Bo Yan will gradually find out in the future."
"But I can guarantee that Boyan will be much better off in the future if he is with me than with others."
Lu Xun asked curiously: "Young Master really knows how to watch stars?"
Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Bo Yan, you need to find the answer to this matter yourself."
Lu Xun seemed to understand, but he didn't understand. Didn't you really come to amuse me on purpose?
In the end, under Yuan Xi's hard and soft tactics, Lu Xun was defeated and promised to call him his adopted brother when no one was around in private.
Yuan Xi's heart was filled with the pleasure of an overlord forcing his bow, and he thought that his treatment of Lu Xun should be no worse than that of Sun Quan in later generations, right?
The next day, Youzhou posted a notice and issued an order to celebrate the birth of a son by the governor of Youzhou and the engagement of his second son to the noble daughter Gongsun Zan. The whole Youzhou celebrated for three days and distributed some rice and meat.
At the same time, he granted amnesty to the remnants of Gongsun Zan who were still resisting in Youzhou, promising that they would surrender now and forget about the past.
As soon as the order was issued, the remnants of Gongsun Zan in several counties in Youzhou lost the right to resist and surrendered one after another. As a result, the whole territory of Youzhou was at peace, and everyone's faces were filled with joy.
While the people of Youzhou were busy celebrating the New Year, Yuan Xi had quietly led people out to sea from Yuyang Port.