Yuan Xi rode on his horse and looked at the streets on both sides of the road. Compared with the last time he married Zhen Mi and left Yecheng, there were not many changes. Yuan Xi could vaguely remember many of the shop facades.
The absence of change is actually a good thing, which means a stable life. For ordinary people, the days of becoming rich overnight are too far away, and the days of becoming extremely poor overnight are too scary. Only ordinary days can last long.
When Yuan Xi saw Shen Pei leading him all the way to Yuan Shao's mansion, he thought that they were going to see Yuan Shao directly. He wanted to turn around and let Lu Lingqi's carriage go back to his mansion first, but on second thought, he did not say anything and still let the carriage follow.
Seeing Zhao Yun hesitated to speak, he said, "Brother Zilong should also go together."
After listening to this, Zhao Yun nodded and stopped talking.
When everyone entered the mansion, they saw Yuan Shao standing at the door of the hall. Yuan Xi was shocked and quickly dismounted.
He said in a hoarse voice: "Greetings, Master Benchu..."
Yuan Shao said, "Since the two envoys have arrived in person, I will naturally come out to greet them."
Yuan Xi noticed some sarcasm in Yuan Shao's words and couldn't help but smile bitterly. He suddenly looked at the carriage behind him, his eyes turned, and he opened the door and welcomed Lu Lingqi down.
He pulled Lu Lingqi's sleeve and whispered, "That's my former father over there. Go and meet him as a bride."
Lu Lingqi was confused and followed Yuan Xi forward in a daze, but she greeted Yuan Shao with the etiquette of paying respects to one's parents-in-law.
As expected, Yuan Shao's expression softened a lot, and he said to Yuan Xi: "You are really capable. Even the world-famous Marquis Wen is willing to entrust his daughter to you."
Yuan Xi breathed a sigh of relief. As expected, Yuan Shao still remembered the old relationship between father and son and was quite satisfied with his marriage. He even deliberately blurred Lu Lingqi's identity in his words, which was considered a great respect for him.
For Yuan Xi, this was considered a hurdle he had passed. After all, Yuan Shao was a narrow-minded person. Welcoming the emperor was tantamount to being stabbed in the back by Yuan Xi, and it was a rare opportunity for him not to get angry on the spot.
Yuan Xi saw that Lu Lingqi was a little uneasy and knew that the following occasion was not suitable for her, so he said to Yuan Shao: "The eldest lady has taken good care of me. Can I let my wife visit first?"
After hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded and said, "Yes."
A maid came over and saw Lu Lingqi being led away. Yuan Shao turned around and walked inside without paying any attention to Zhao Yun. Yuan Xi smiled bitterly, winked at Zhao Yun, and the two followed him in together.
After several people sat down in the room, Yuan Xi noticed the awkward atmosphere and said to Yuan Shao with a smile, "Father...is the envoy all right?"
Yuan Shao said coldly: "It's good that you haven't been mad to death yet."
Yuan Xi choked and said awkwardly: "Your Excellency is busy with many affairs every day. The Yuan family depends on you to take control of the overall situation. I hope you take care of yourself."
Yuan Shao snorted coldly, "Do you still consider yourself a member of the Yuan family?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Of course, I have always been a member of the Yuan family."
Yuan Shao's tone became colder and colder, "Have you ever asked me about what you did in Huaicheng?"
He pointed at Zhao Yun and said, "How generous of you to give Youzhou to him?"
"Youzhou was conquered by the Yuan family. You can't make the decision alone!"
Yuan Xi saw that Yuan Shao was very angry, so he said, "Calm down, my lord."
"I was guarding Huaicheng at the time and was unable to welcome the emperor in person. I didn't know this would be the result. This was all Cao Mengde's plan to alienate us."
"He has made up his mind to let Brother Zilong accept the position of Youzhou Mu, so that he will be suspected by the Yuan family. This will cause internal strife in the Yuan family, and they will have no time to take care of other things. You must not fall into his trap."
Yuan Shao snorted coldly, "Don't you know these things in advance?"
"I don't believe it!"
"Don't think I don't know your little thoughts. Why didn't you personally welcome the emperor, leading to the current situation?"
"What you did was too sneaky, as if you were deliberately avoiding the emperor!"
"And can Envoy Zhao accept the emperor's decree without your approval?"
"I just don't believe you didn't expect these things!"
Yuan Xi, the Great Khan, knows his son better than his father. Yuan Shao guessed his thoughts almost exactly!
But he was determined to hold on to his words, so he had to bite the bullet and said, "Your Excellency, I stayed in Huaicheng to help Marquis Wen defend the city. After all, I am not good at fighting."
"During this period, I helped Marquis Wen to catch the rebel general, but I was still busy taking care of myself. How could I possibly manipulate the emperor's edict!"
"Moreover, you know that there are many Cao Mengde's spies around the emperor, and they have great ambitions. This is the result of compromise and struggle among all parties. How can I control the emperor's thoughts?"
When Yuan Shao heard this, he nodded and said, "Yes, I did hear that."
He coughed a few times and continued, "I didn't expect Cao Mengde to be so powerful. I underestimated him before."
When Yuan Xi saw what Yuan Shao meant, he thought that perhaps Yuan Shao had spies around Liu Xie.
Seeing that Yuan Shao began to agree with what he said, he struck while the iron was hot and said, "So this reward from the emperor was really a trick of Cao Cao and has nothing to do with me."
Yuan Shang snorted coldly, "Son of Heaven?"
"I'm afraid he has sided with Cao Cao, right?"
Yuan Xi hurriedly said, "Cao Cao appointed Brother Zilong as the governor of Youzhou and me as the governor of Xuzhou. This is clearly intended to alienate Jizhou. The emperor was deceived by his slander, so he issued the decree."
"But I think the emperor is still willing to trust the Yuan family. However, due to some disputes in the past, he now trusts Cao Cao more than the Yuan family."
"If Jizhou openly defies the emperor, I'm afraid the world will criticize it, which is exactly what Cao Cao wants."
Yuan Shao was quite dissatisfied when he heard this, "What prestige does the Han court have now?"
Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "Xi doesn't think so."
"The Han court still has its prestige. If you underestimate it, you will be retaliated against."
"I heard that Yuan Gonglu was trying to establish himself. When the time comes, you will understand how many people are still on the side of the Han Dynasty."
Yuan Shao listened and said sarcastically, "Including this envoy Zhao?"
"As your subordinate, I have long known that he has always been loyal to the Han Dynasty, right?"
Zhao Yun heard this and said, "I don't deny this."
Yuan Shao sneered at Yuan Xi and said, "Listen!"
"Even with your consent, did he take you seriously when he accepted the post of governor of Youzhou?"
"Is he still your subordinate?"
Yuan Xi said, "Brother Zilong is a trustworthy person."
"In my eyes, Brother Zilong is much more than just a subordinate."
He signaled to Zhao Yun, "Brother Zilong, if you have anything to say, just tell Lord Benchu. Don't worry."
Zhao Yun sat up straight, bowed slightly to Yuan Shao, and said, "My lord, you entrusted Youzhou to me because in your eyes, I have the ability and willingness to protect Youzhou."
"In Yun's eyes, Youzhou not only belongs to the Yuan family, nor only to the emperor, but also to the people of Youzhou."
"In order to protect them, Yun Dang did his best, even until his death."
After hearing this, Yuan Shao sneered and said, "That's easy to say. If I, Xian Yi, conflict with the emperor's orders, who should you obey?"
Zhao Yun glanced at Yuan Xi and said in a deep voice, "My lord, you entrusted Youzhou to me, which means you trust my own judgment."
"Yun will follow his heart. If the young master orders a massacre in Youzhou, Yun will become his enemy, not to mention the emperor and the envoy."
"How dare you!" Yuan Shao was furious. "After all, you just want to be a local lord!"
Zhao Yun's expression remained unchanged: "Please believe me, Lord Benchu, my ambition is not to achieve personal honor or disgrace, but to bring peace to the world."
"Yun believes that your ambitions are greater and do not conflict with Yun's, which is why he swears to follow you until death."
"In Yun's opinion, you are the most suitable lord."
Yuan Shao sneered: "More suitable than me?"
Zhao Yun's eyes were firm, "Yes."
Yuan Shao snorted angrily and started coughing again. He picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, then he calmed down a little.
He put the tea bowl down heavily, and the room fell into silence.
Seeing Yuan Shao's uncertain face, Yuan Xi thought that he was very angry with Zhao Yun. However, Zhao Yun's straightforward response was also beyond Yuan Xi's expectations.
It seems that Zhao Yun has figured out a lot of things during this period of time.
After a long while, Yuan Shao's voice sounded again, "As an outsider, I really don't feel comfortable handing over the gateway behind Jizhou."
"Youzhou is defended against foreign invaders in the north. Once it is lost, the Central Plains will suffer from war. Now Envoy Zhao does not believe me, and I do not believe Envoy Zhao either."
"Does Envoy Zhao understand?"
Zhao Yun listened and nodded slightly, "Yun understands."
"If the envoy orders that Youzhou be returned to you, I will submit a petition to the Han court soon to resign as governor of Youzhou."
Just as Yuan Shao was about to speak, Yuan Xi's voice rang out, "Mr. Benchu, please be wise. According to Han law, one person cannot be the ruler of two states. Brother Zilong is the best candidate to control Youzhou."
Yuan Shao sneered: "Don't forget, the Yuan family let their children run the states, they are all relatives!"
"Once we conquer Bingzhou, I will hand it over to Yuan's wife's family, Gao. This is the rule, and I cannot break it!"
"If this rule is broken, disputes and troubles will immediately arise within the Yuan family!"
Yuan Xi saw that the time had come and said, "This is easy. Why not just make Brother Zilong a relative?"
"My sister is not married yet, right?"
"Do you remember what I said when I proposed marriage for Zilong two years ago?"
Yuan Shao was stunned, then reacted and said angrily: "So this is what you are planning!"
"I really didn't expect that such a major event that affects the world's situation would have such a trivial cause!"
He connected the events before and after welcoming the emperor, and suddenly everything became clear to him.
Two years ago, when Yuan Xi came to Yecheng for the first time, he mentioned to Yuan Shao that he wanted to marry Yuan Xing to Zhao Yun. At that time, Yuan Shao scoffed at him. Zhao Yun was just from a middle-class family, not even a member of the gentry. How could Yuan Xi have the confidence to propose to him?
So Yuan Shao casually said at that time that they would talk about it again when Zhao Yun became the ruler of a state.
He just found an excuse to refuse at the time, didn't take it seriously at all, and then put it out of his mind.
Unexpectedly, two years later, Zhao Yun became the governor of Youzhou and was also granted the title of marquis. There are only a dozen or so people like him in the world, and he is worthy of Yuan Xing!
No wonder Yuan Xi did not take action himself, but let Zhao Yun lead the army independently to perform meritorious deeds and show off in front of Emperor Liu Xie!
Yuan Shao thought of this and said to Yuan Xi in disbelief, "For a word, you can really go to such lengths?"
After all this time, it turns out that Youzhou was given to Zhao Yun by Yuan Xi through himself and the emperor as a betrothal gift to marry Yuan Xing!
Take Yuan's things and marry a girl from the Yuan family?
This damn kid Yuan Xi is so shrewd, is he really his own son?