Chapter 45 Late Night Visitor

Yuan Xi first said to Qu Yi: "This time going south, I plan to only take Brother Qu and twenty personal guards, along with some women."

Qu Yi listened and, without asking what for, nodded and said, "I respectfully obey your command, Young Master."

He remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was extremely pleased. He glanced sideways at Zhao Yun, a smug look in his eyes.

See? Although you're temporarily stronger than me in martial arts, the Young Master is still taking me!

However, Qu Yi noticed that Zhao Yun had no reaction and his expression was as usual, which made him feel somewhat disappointed.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Xi's next words stunned both Qu Yi and Zhao Yun.

Yuan Xi took out the city defense seal and handed it to Zhao Yun: "During my absence, I will trouble Brother Zhao to act as the city defender on my behalf."

"I have already discussed it with my elder brother, you don't need to be controlled by him. All matters will be decided by Brother Zhao, and all the soldiers in the city will be at Brother Zhao's disposal."

Zhao Yun was stunned.

Qu Yi was also stunned.

This was equivalent to entrusting the lives of tens of thousands of people in Beixin City to Zhao Yun!

"I object!" Qu Yi couldn't help but speak out.

"He is a surrendered general, and he has only recently surrendered. What if he has ulterior motives and defects to Gongsun Zan? Wouldn't this city be lost?"

"At that time, the Yuan family will inevitably hold the Young Master responsible, and the crime will be no small matter!"

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "If that's the case, I'm afraid I will never be allowed to lead troops again, and I will be a carefree young master for the rest of my life."

Qu Yi hurriedly said, "Since you know that, why..."

Yuan Xi said decisively: "If I am not good at recognizing people, then my future achievements will be limited."

"Use people without suspicion, and don't use people you suspect. Now that I have Brother Zhao as my general, I will trust him wholeheartedly."

"Moreover, Brother Qu, do you think there is anyone more suitable than Brother Zhao?"

Qu Yi was speechless for a moment.

Zhao Yun held the seal, feeling its weight in his hand.

If he were to decline modestly, it would be looking down on Yuan Xi and himself.

He didn't decline as Qu Yi had expected, but instead said in a deep voice, "Young Master's trust, Yun will repay with utmost loyalty!"

Yuan Xi clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Good!"

"The people of this city are all entrusted to Brother Zhao!"

He was secretly delighted.

Only this kind of method can deal with Zhao Yun!

Zhao Yun had served several lords in his life, and finally spent his life under Liu Bei.

But even after joining Liu Bei, Zhao Yun often expressed different opinions.

When Liu Bei wanted to attack Wu, Zhao Yun was the first to stand up and object, saying that the national traitor was Cao Cao, not Sun Quan. Although Sun Quan killed Guan Yu, Liu Bei and Guan Yu were brothers, but that was a personal matter, and it should not affect the restoration of the Han Dynasty and delay national affairs.

You should know that even Zhuge Liang didn't dare to say such a thing!

From this, it can be seen that Zhao Yun's will is extremely firm. Gaining his allegiance does not necessarily mean gaining his complete approval.

Gaining Zhao Yun's loyalty does not mean that he will agree with his lord in everything, but rather that he will insist on being loyal and speaking frankly.

Therefore, it takes a lot of effort to gain Zhao Yun's sincerity. Now Yuan Xi is handing Beixin City over to Zhao Yun, and even taking Qu Yi away, just to make Zhao Yun feel the grace of being appreciated.

Moreover, Yuan Xi is doing this so that even if Zhao Yun intends to leave, he will not leave when Yuan Xi is away, but will instead do his best to prove that he does not disappoint Yuan Xi's trust.

Just now, Yuan Xi could see the change in the other party's mentality from Zhao Yun's address. Since surrendering a while ago, he has always addressed Yuan Xi as General, which was actually deliberately keeping a distance.

Now the address has become Young Master, which is obviously closer to Yuan Xi!

Plan success!

But in fact, Yuan Xi has no other choice. After all, if Qu Yi appears too many times, it will be easy to reveal flaws. Yuan Tan and others have seen Qu Yi!

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi always felt that Yuan Tan and Xun Chen should not have recognized Qu Yi yet, because Qu Yi was a military general and did not have much contact with the Yuan family's sons and strategists.

But Gao Lan's reaction was a bit strange. In order to avoid complications, Yuan Xi decided to set off in the next few days to prevent Qu Yi from being exposed.

Qu Yi muttered, "General Zhao is really lucky, with dozens of dancing girls in the mansion, tsk tsk tsk..."

Yuan Xi glanced at Qu Yi, and he reluctantly shut his mouth.

Yuan Xi then turned to Wu Zhao and said, "This time I'm going, it may be a bit dangerous, so you can stay here in peace."

"When I come back after finishing my business, if you really want to return to your hometown, I will send you back."

Wu Zhao listened, hesitated to speak, and nodded silently.

Yuan Xi finished his arrangements, Qu Yi went to pack his luggage, Zhao Yun went to summon his generals to inspect the camp, and Wu Zhao went to rest.

After seeing the three off, Yuan Xi sat in the house thinking. This time he left Beixin City to do a major thing that would stir up the world. A slight mistake would put him in mortal danger.

If possible, he didn't want to take such a risk, but only by making arrangements early could he get more opportunities to breathe and develop.

Now he has two military generals, Qu Yi and Zhao Yun. Although it is not many, it is enough for the time being in a city.

What Yuan Xi lacks now is strategists.

Although he is a little stronger than some strategists in terms of knowing the general trend of the world and predicting the future, he is far inferior to those native strategists from aristocratic families in understanding the local situation and formulating strategies according to local conditions.

It seems that Xun Chen has already colluded with Yuan Tan to some extent, so he doesn't want to think about it. Moreover, the other party is Xun Yu's clan brother, and most of the Xun family's children have joined Cao Cao, so Yuan Xi doesn't dare to completely trust the Xun family.

While he was thinking, the door of the house was suddenly knocked on.

He casually said, "Come in."

A young maid with a rather delicate appearance walked in and bowed to Yuan Xi: "Greetings, Master."

When Yuan Xi saw her, he was quite surprised and said, "It's you?"

"It's so late, what's the matter?"

This woman, Ma, is a servant in the city lord's mansion, and also the mother of Sun Li, Yuan Xi's personal guard. She also took care of the injured Wu Zhao a few days ago.

Ma lowered her head and said, "I heard that the master is going to leave Beixin City with some personal guards. I came for Sun Li's matter."

Yuan Xi understood and said, "Brother Qu selected Sun Li?"

"That's really nonsense. This trip is a bit dangerous, how old is he? You go and tell Brother Qu not to take Sun Li, let him stay in the mansion to watch the house."

When Ma heard this, she knew that Yuan Xi had misunderstood, and hurriedly stepped forward and knelt on the ground, whispering, "Young Master is mistaken. General Qu doesn't want to choose Sun Li, but as the Young Master's personal guard, not being able to follow is considered useless, so that child Sun Li quarreled with General Qu."

Yuan Xi then understood and suddenly said, "Sun Li wants to go with me?"

He glanced sideways, but saw Ma lowered her head, and a deep gully was revealed in front of her skirt, a piece of white constantly rising and falling with her breathing, and he couldn't help but twitch his thigh.

He pretended to be nonchalant and said, "The personal guards that I asked Brother Qu to train are all specially arranged to have families and leave descendants behind."

"But Sun Li is still young and has just married, and has not yet had a son or daughter. If something unexpected happens, how can I be worthy of you?"

Ma whispered, "Young Master saved our mother and son's lives. If we don't know how to repay, wouldn't we be ungrateful people?"

"To be able to die for the Young Master is also Sun Li's honor."

Yuan Xi began to have a headache. This Ma was quite stubborn in the first place. After he and Qu Yi rescued their mother and son, Ma kept saying that she wanted to repay the kindness, and later followed them to the city lord's mansion to work as a servant.

Later, Yuan Xi talked with Ma a few times and found that she should be from the Ma family of Fufeng. Her clan produced many heroic women, and Ma's words and knowledge were not bad, and she was obviously quite educated at home.

Just as he was thinking about how to persuade Ma, the door was knocked on again.