Chapter 26 Bargaining for Books

Zhao Yun sat on the ground, staring at Yuan Xi and asked, "Does the young master wish to restore the Han Dynasty?"

Yuan Xi sighed inwardly as he looked at Zhao Yun's solemn expression. In this chaotic world, how many people can truly uphold their ambitions throughout their lives?

But he couldn't give Zhao Yun a promise right now.

Seeing Yuan Xi's silence, Zhao Yun's face, which had been full of anticipation, gradually dimmed.

Yuan Xi suddenly spoke, "Brother Zhao, what does it mean to restore the Han Dynasty?"

Zhao Yun was taken aback. Just as he thought Yuan Xi was going to try to persuade him, he heard Yuan Xi ask, "Brother Zhao, have you ever farmed?"

Zhao Yun replied, "I did when I was young."

Yuan Xi listened and said, "I'm not good with words. If Brother Zhao can come and see when we harvest the wheat tomorrow, you will understand what I want to say."

Zhao Yun was full of doubts, but he still nodded. Seeing that Yuan Xi was mentally exhausted and knowing that his injuries hadn't healed, he got up, bid farewell, and left.

After a while, Wu Zhao walked in carrying a wooden tray with two bowls of porridge on it. Seeing that Yuan Xi was the only one in the room, she was stunned and said, "Has General Zhao left? I cooked an extra bowl…"

Yuan Xi smiled when he heard this, "Then you can eat it."

Wu Zhao lowered her head upon hearing this, "How can that be? There isn't much food left in the manor."

These past two days, Yuan Xi was unconscious, and the servants in the manor were too busy. Qu Yi asked her to take care of Yuan Xi. Fortunately, she had taken care of her father before and had done these things, so she was able to cope.

However, she was surprised that there were only a few bags of grain stored in the entire manor, which she couldn't understand.

Later, she heard the servants say that this young master Yuan Xi, as the defender of Beixin City, had gathered the city's grain in the city's granary and distributed it equally to the people of the city every day, so even the manor didn't have any extra grain.

Because of this frugal use of grain, there were very few servants in the city lord's mansion, and most of the chores were done by Yuan Xi's personal guards, Sun Li and others.

So these past few days had been very tiring for Wu Zhao, but thinking about how she still had to find a way to get back her father's collection of books, she gritted her teeth and persevered.

Seeing her conflicted expression, Yuan Xi thought she was reluctant to eat the porridge, so he smiled and said, "It's okay. After we harvest the wheat outside the city tomorrow, at least the people in this city will be able to live well this winter."

He picked up a bowl of porridge and got up, signaling Wu Zhao to take the other bowl herself. Wu Zhao had no choice but to pick up the bowl and drink it in small sips.

Seeing that Wu Zhao was preoccupied, Yuan Xi thought she was missing her hometown and said, "Don't worry. Since you saved my life, I will repay this kindness no matter what."

"After a few days, I will go back to Ye City. When the time comes, I will have someone send you back to your hometown."

Wu Zhao felt that she should be happy, but she didn't know why she felt a trace of loss in her heart, and her face showed a conflicted expression.

Yuan Xi, however, misunderstood and said, "Are you still thinking about the women who were abducted with you that day?"

He sighed, "I was also very conflicted at first. If these women were to be married to soldiers by me, there would be hundreds more willing to die for me."

Wu Zhao didn't expect Yuan Xi to admit it so straightforwardly, and lowered her head, saying, "We were saved by the young master, and we have no choice and no right to speak."

Yuan Xi smiled upon hearing this, "You may say that, but you must have a lot of resentment in your heart."

"Do you think that I am no different from Dong Zhuo, who initially condoned his soldiers to plunder women from the people?"

Wu Zhao said softly, "Young master, please don't belittle yourself. One saves people, the other harms people, how can they be compared?"

Yuan Xi shook his head, "Your expression can't fool me."

"By the way, tomorrow is the wheat harvest, and everyone in the city who is willing to go will be provided with food, including those women."

"I also told Brother Zhao just now that he can go and see at that time, and maybe he can find the answer he is looking for."

Wu Zhao nodded lightly upon hearing this.

Seeing that Wu Zhao's appearance was disfigured, but her posture was exceptionally elegant, and the curves of her body were accentuated by her ruqun skirt, Yuan Xi's heart stirred and he said, "Are you a native of Luoyang?"

"Which household were you in before?"

Wu Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly said the name of a minor official. She thought that this person was Yuan Shao's son, and he might have stayed in Luoyang before, so could it be that she had revealed herself?

Unexpectedly, Yuan Xi just said "Oh." He was already in Ye City when he traveled over, and his earlier memories had become very vague.

Wu Zhao's mind was racing. Now was a great opportunity. If she couldn't get back her father's relics, she might not have another chance in the future.

She said, "My master liked to collect books. At that time, the Xiongnu bandits entered the city and killed my master, taking away some precious books with them."

"Some of them are rare editions. Now that they are in the general's possession, I wonder how the general will handle them?"

Yuan Xi smiled upon hearing this, "You are quite interesting, still thinking about these things."

Wu Zhao said softly, "Some books are of immeasurable value."

Yuan Xi sighed, "It's a pity that they can't be eaten."

"I had Mr. Dong look at those books a few days ago, and some of them are indeed quite rare."

Wu Zhao listened and quickly asked, "Then how will the young master dispose of them?"

Yuan Xi said without hesitation, "I plan to take them back to Ye City, give them away as a favor, or sell them for money."

Wu Zhao couldn't help but say upon hearing this, "How can you do that? These are extremely precious things!"

Her heart was bleeding. Of the more than 4,000 volumes of books her father had given her, most were either destroyed or missing when she was abducted, and only a few boxes contained the most precious hundreds of volumes of silk books that were left behind.

Her goal was to find a way to get them back, otherwise, how could she face her dead father?

And Yuan Xi actually said he was going to sell them?

She stammered, "Many of those books are rare editions. If they are lost, it will be a loss to the scholars of the world!"

Yuan Xi nodded upon hearing this, "What you said is not unreasonable. If I have a literate person copy a few copies, then they won't be rare editions anymore, right?"

Wu Zhao was dumbfounded. Could it be done like this?

"But those are the originals," Wu Zhao insisted.

Yuan Xi said, "The value of the original lies in someone willing to pay a high price to buy it, but I only need the words on it."

"The value of a book lies in the knowledge it contains, not in the original."

"It is precisely because of this kind of thinking that knowledge cannot be widely spread and the people cannot gain access to it."

Wu Zhao was speechless and said, "Young master is very different from the scholars I know."

Yuan Xi smiled, "That's right, otherwise, I wouldn't be in Beixin City at all."

Wu Zhao looked at the injuries on Yuan Xi's body and fell silent.

After a while, she hesitated and said, "If I can help the general transcribe and copy them, can the general give me some of the originals?"

Yuan Xi was surprised upon hearing this, "You can read?"

Wu Zhao nodded.

"How much do you know?"

"I should know quite a bit."

Yuan Xi listened, thought for a while, and smiled, "How could a literate person be an ordinary servant?"

"Miss, I'm afraid your background is not ordinary, right?"

Wu Zhao panicked when she heard this, and quickly covered it up, saying, "I learned some words from my husband, but my husband died early."

Wu Zhao's expression dimmed as she said this.

Yuan Xi sighed upon hearing this, "Madam's fate is also ill-fated. Very well, as long as Madam helps me do some things, I will give those books to Madam. Why not?"

Wu Zhao was overjoyed and quickly asked, "What things?"