Cao Cao, having arranged all these matters, then thought about his current domain and reflected on his father. Stroking his beard with a face full of pride, he realized that the son his father had once called "sturdy and troublesome" had become one of the noteworthy Feudal Lords in the world. He had just defeated Yuan Shu, which could be considered both an accomplishment and a path to fame.
"It’s time to bring my father back. He would probably be very satisfied if he knew of my current situation. My uncles and brothers would definitely be shocked," a smile emerged on Cao Cao’s dark complexion; surpassing the achievement of returning home in silken robes, he had transcended that level.
He gestured for Xun Yu and the others to leave and began to arrange for his subordinates to welcome his father to Chenliu. Meanwhile, Wancheng was entrusted to Cao Ren and Cheng Yu for defense, while he himself planned to lead the main force back to Chenliu.
"Zhicai, it’s all on you this time. Hurry up and remove Fengxiao’s talents that we can’t use," Cheng Yu said briskly.
"Zhicai, let me put it this way, we have had a pretty clear idea of the celestial phenomena these past two years. It’s obvious that the celestial phenomenon in Qingzhou is not normal, normal years around Mount Tai would turn into bumper years, and bumper years would turn into extremely bountiful ones. This effect only covers the region governed by Liu Bei," Xun Yu said without further comment, trusting that Xi Zhicai understood the rest.
"I will pay attention to this talent. If there really is such a spiritual talent that can change the celestial phenomena on a large scale, I will not miss it," Xi Zhicai nodded, saying, "I will record the spiritual talents of each one of them and choose three to bring back. This time my sneak through relied on Gong Da’s spiritual talent. I will leave all three spots open."
"Hmm, sometimes it’s good to appear a bit dull and clumsy, coupled with a layer of camouflage, it’s hard for others to notice you. But speaking of which, Chen Zichuan is actually our fellow townsman, how come I have never heard of him before?" Xun Yu remarked, aware that Xi Zhicai’s approach was correct. They had several people here who could replace each other at any time, while a place like Mount Tai, once visited, might never be visited again.
Xun You tugged at his mouth, feeling somewhat frustrated, but since it was his uncle who had spoken, he did not retort; he was only pretending to be duller than he was, not truly dull.
"Chen Zichuan’s legal wife is the legitimate daughter of the Fan Family, and a descendant of a distinguished family at that. So it’s not as simple as Changwen described," Cheng Yu mentioned with a wry twist of his mouth, having trouble getting along with someone like Chen Qun, who wore his family’s arrogance on his sleeve.
"It is indeed odd that he married the legitimate daughter of the Fan Family and yet we have never heard about it. By all accounts, considering his status, he should be of the direct lineage," Xi Zhicai said, curious. Although he was not of noble birth, he still had some understanding of noble family matters—marriages were expected to be between equals!
"Who knows? Maybe the Chen Family intentionally hid one. After all, at this time… hmm, hmm, hmm!" Cheng Yu intoned ominously, leaving Xun Yu and the others with no graceful way to continue and forcing them to offer awkward laughs to smooth things over.
Chen Xi looked at the robe made for him by Chen Lan and didn’t know what to say. As his legal wife, Fan Jian had forgotten to prepare his formal attire, but Chen Lan, his concubine, had remembered to hand-embroider a robe with a black base and golden pattern for him, appropriate for a Feudal Lord; was this a matter of the age difference? After all, had the legal wife been prepared, the robe embroidered by Chen Lan would have been relegated to the bottom of the trunk.
"The embroidery is nice. Help me put it on to try," Chen Xi patted Chen Lan’s shoulder, saying, "These things are difficult to wear; I’m counting on you."
"My lord, it’s better to put it on when the time comes," Chen Lan shook her head as she folded the robe and put it away. Aside from the question of propriety, based on the effort she had put into the golden cloud pattern, she didn’t want Chen Xi to wear it before they were married.
"Try it on and see how it fits; you never know if it might be the wrong size," Chen Xi said with a playful grin. Instantly, Chen Lan’s face fell, and she pouted as she looked at Chen Xi.
"Alright, I misspoke," Chen Xi said, helpless. "But it feels so strange. Don’t you rest every day? When did you embroider your wedding dress and my robe? Even the beads for the Feudal Lords’ attire have been strung together. Do you really have so much free time? I remember you always resting."
"Your concubine has been diligently embroidering clothes at night," Chen Lan said proudly. She was not like Fan Jian, who did nothing; Chen Lan was very clear about her status. Although Chen Xi doted on her, and she had shared hardships with him, there was a saying, ’take a concubine for beauty.’ After watching Fan Jian for a long time, she realized that only her breasts were more ample than Fan Jian’s; everything else was more or less the same. But Fan Jian was only fifteen, and she was already twenty…
"Keep up the good work. The document for ’Madame’ has come down. You can rest assured now. Moreover, it’s ’Madame Marquis,’" Chen Xi said with a smile. He also remembered that Chen Lan was not slow in embroidery. It turned out that she had needed his reminder to hurry up and finish the wedding dress, indicating that she had started with the Marquis robe intended for him.
Meanwhile, Jia Xu and Liu Ye were busy organizing Xiliang intel. As for the work Liu Bei had assigned to Liu Ye, he was collecting and organizing it while helping Jia Xu with the Xiliang information. After all, the so-called administrative templates could not be processed in a short time. Liu Bei definitely would not be conducting any surprise inspections, so Liu Ye did not need to change his usual relaxed work attitude.
"Wen He, you’re really going overboard with this one." Liu Ye looked at the intel from Xiliang, which incredibly suggested sending Ma Teng and Hann Sui to support the king!
"It’s quite believable. If Li Que and others saw it, they would definitely think it was an Imperial Edict from His Majesty. If His Majesty saw it, he would definitely suspect Li Que and the others of issuing a false Imperial Edict. In any case, neither party will be forthright but will remember this matter and settle the score when the opportunity arises," Jia Xu said indifferently.
"Are you saying His Majesty doesn’t think the same way?" Seeing that Liu Ye was lost for words, Jia Xu feigned a stupefied expression, leaving Liu Ye almost speechless.
"Fine. Li Que is also of the same mind. It’s inevitable. Xiliang is their homeland, and their desire to take over the place is a given," Liu Ye said disdainfully. He had come to realize that Jia Xu, the scoundrel, did not take Liu Xie of Chang’an seriously at all.
"That’s why I am helping them out. It would be terrible to let Ma Teng and Hann Sui keep fighting, especially with winter coming and the Qiang People coming again. So, it would be nice to have Ma Teng and Hann Sui lead the Qiang People to rescue His Majesty," said Jia Xu, wiping away a nonexistent tear from the corner of his eye.
"You’re ruthless!" Liu Ye admitted he was outmatched.
"It’s nothing. By giving Ma Teng and Hann Sui a just cause to fight over, and with the help of the strong arms of the Qiang People, saving the Little Emperor shouldn’t be too difficult," Jia Xu said, his face full of hypocrisy, which drew continuous contempt from Liu Ye. However, he couldn’t help but admire Jia Xu for being able to say such things.
"Forget it, I will also fan the flames. Ma Teng and Hann Sui are definitely no match for Li Que and Guo Si, even with the Qiang People they’d just be lambs to the slaughter," Liu Ye said with a wave of his hand, unable to cope with Jia Xu’s expression anymore.
"Defeating Ma Teng and Hann Sui, Li Que and Guo Si will inevitably face internal strife with no threats from the Four Directions. There’s no need to hasten this process," Jia Xu outright rejected Liu Ye’s notion. He didn’t want to simply make life difficult for Liu Xie; he wanted to obliterate the Yang Family. Taking advantage of the Yang Family’s slow reaction, he aimed to kick out this potential giant in Yongliang and Hanzhong, just like the Yuan Family, before they had the chance to awaken! (To be continued. If you work, welcome to to cast your votes for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)