Chapter 61: The Daughter of the Zhen Family

Upon hearing Liu's words, Yuan Shao said in a cold voice, "This is simply absurd! What kind of behavior is this!"

"I heard he had been doing many outrageous things in Beixin City. At first, I didn't believe it, but I didn't expect it to be true!"

"He hasn't done anything proper in three years, and all he thinks about is women!"

Liu said with a smile, "Xi'er is almost twenty years old. If it were someone else, they would have been married for several years already, so it's no wonder he's like this."

Yuan Shao snorted coldly, "Who told him to run off there!"

"I originally wanted him to get married three years ago, but I didn't expect him to never return. It seems he's living more comfortably in that Beixin City than in Ye City!"

He got agitated and coughed a few times. Liu quickly came over to gently pat his back and said, "Then how should those concubines be settled?"

"It wouldn't be good for the Zhen family to see, would it?"

Yuan Shao thought for a moment and said, "In that case, clear out a residence next to the manor. As soon as those women enter the city, take them in and settle them there."

"Also, have Shang bring that rebellious son to see me directly after entering the city!"

Liu quickly agreed and walked out the door.

She summoned Pang Ji and said, "The Governor wants you to find a nearby courtyard to settle Xi'er's concubines."

"I remember that Zhen Yao of the Zhen family was recommended as a Xiaolian and is working as a clerk under you?"

"Arrange for him to be responsible for this matter."

Zhen Yao was the son of Zhen Yi, the previous head of the Zhen family. Pang Ji understood and went out to send someone to the Zhen family.

Liu looked at Pang Ji's back and sneered in her heart.

That little beast, still dreaming of marrying a daughter of the Zhen family?

The Zhen family's ancestors had served as Grand Protectors and held the hereditary position of Prefect with a salary of two thousand piculs. Although they had declined now, they were still a prominent family in Hebei.

The Zhen family had many branches, and Zhen Yi was one of them. He had served as the Magistrate of Shangcai County and had three sons and five daughters, the youngest being Zhen Mi.

However, Zhen Yi had passed away for many years, and two of his sons had died young, leaving only one male heir, Zhen Yao.

Fortunately, the Zhen family was involved in commerce and was quite wealthy. In this chaotic world, money represented food and soldiers, making them an object of wooing by the lords.

Yuan Shao's current wife, Liu, also came from a prominent family and had imperial blood. Although there were countless people with imperial blood at this time, it still made her a cut above the rest.

Therefore, Madam Liu knew the benefits of relying on her family. What angered her was that Yuan Shao chose to have Yuan Xi marry into the Zhen family instead of Yuan Shang!

The eldest son, Yuan Tan, was born to Yuan Shao's deceased first wife. When Yuan Tan married Wen, Yuan Shao had not yet risen to prominence, so the Wen family did not have a deep foundation. Liu was not too worried about this.

Yuan Xi should have married three years ago, but he ran off to Beixin City. At that time, Yuan Shao had already agreed to a marriage alliance with the Hong family of Hebei.

Yuan Shao originally intended to have Yuan Xi marry Hong. Although the Hong family of Hebei was also a large family, its foundation was still somewhat inferior to that of the Zhen family.

At that time, Yuan Shao had just seized Ji Province from Han Fu and had not yet established himself firmly. He urgently needed the support of the local large families, and only a few families, such as the Hong family, had expressed their willingness to form a marriage alliance.

Since Yuan Xi had run away, Yuan Shao thought it over and finally decided to let Yuan Shang marry Hong. Although Liu was reluctant at the time, she had to put on a virtuous appearance in front of Yuan Shao, so she finally agreed.

Now that Yuan Shao had become a force to be reckoned with in Ji Province, the aristocratic families had flocked to him. Among Yuan Shao's four sons and one daughter, the four sons were still young, and only Yuan Xi was suitable for marriage.

Therefore, Yuan Shao and the Zhen family agreed to have Yuan Xi marry Zhen Mi, the youngest daughter of the Zhen family.

Liu hated it in her heart. Why should Shang suffer a loss!

Just a lowly son of a concubine dared to surpass Shang in marriage!

If Shang couldn't get it, then you shouldn't even think about getting it!

Moreover, the Hong family was becoming increasingly declining and had already become a drag on Shang. In addition, Hong had not yet produced an heir, and Liu even wanted to find an opportunity to divorce Hong and have Shang marry into a prominent family.

Yuan Xi closed his eyes to rest in the carriage. Among those who wanted to deal with him in Ye City, the most difficult to deal with was Yuan Shang and his group.

His mother, Liu, blew pillow talk, and his advisors offered advice. Yuan Shang was good at disguising himself, so he could be said to be extremely difficult to deal with.

The intermittent food shortages in Beixin City over the past three years should be related to Yuan Shang, but Yuan Xi couldn't understand where Yuan Shang's hostility towards him came from.

Logically speaking, it shouldn't be. He wasn't the eldest son, and he was still a son of a concubine, so why was Yuan Shang so wary of him?

Although after transmigrating, Yuan Xi discovered that he had almost been misled by the previous life's Doctrine of the Primogeniture.

The status of a son of a concubine was not good, but it was only relatively not as good as that of a son of the principal wife, but he was still highly valued by the family.

At that time, people had extremely short lifespans, and more infants died young. Many aristocratic families could not have a male heir in their lifetime and were forced to adopt sons from other families. In this situation, how could they not cultivate a son of a concubine?

If there was a son of the principal wife, he would be established as the heir. If there was no son of the principal wife, the eldest son would be established. Even in the Han Dynasty, there were many examples of establishing the virtuous rather than the eldest.

When Liu Bei was almost forty years old, he still had no heir and was forced to adopt Liu Feng as his adopted son. Later, he gave birth to his eldest son by a concubine, Liu Shan. Even the lord of a place was like this, so what did it matter whether he was the son of the principal wife or a concubine?

Yuan Xi temporarily couldn't figure out Yuan Shang's motives, so he stopped thinking about it. After all, his return to Ye City this time was not just for marriage.

The most important purpose was to stir up Yan, Xu, and Yu Provinces into a pot of porridge in advance, so that Cao Cao, Lu Bu, and Liu Bei could restrain each other. This way, Yuan Shao could free up his hands and attack Tian Kai and Gongsun Zan with peace of mind, and Yuan Xi could seize You Province early.

Therefore, Yuan Xi first pretended to be Hidden Tiger, so that Zhang Miao, Lu Bu, and Chen Gong could prepare to rebel early. Then, he prepared to rescue Cao Song's family, so that Cao Cao would have no excuse to attack Xu Province and would fight to the death with Lu Bu instead, incidentally saving the lives of 100,000 people in Xu Province.

This would allow Liu Bei to have more manpower and resources to defend after taking over Xu Province, so that he would not be so embarrassed when facing Cao Cao.

As for the other parties, Liu Biao was already on good terms with Yuan Shao, and Zhang Xiu was still Cao Cao's enemy for several years, all of whom could be used to restrain Cao Cao.

Yuan Xi would connect the four parties through both open and hidden identities to suppress Cao Cao. This was the plan to control Cao that Yuan Xi had come up with.

This plan was too complicated, and the more links there were, the easier it was to have problems. If there was another way, Yuan Xi wouldn't want to do this, but unfortunately, he was just an ordinary person, and this was already the best way he could think of.

Because Cao Cao put too much pressure on him.

Cao Cao commented that Yuan Shao was good at planning but lacked decisiveness, that he thought too much and hesitated when making decisions. This also had something to do with the fact that there were too many factions under Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao was now too big to fail, with too many aristocratic families standing behind him, and he didn't dare to gamble much anymore.

Cao Cao was the opposite. He himself was a master of strategy, extremely decisive in times of crisis, extremely gambling-oriented, and did not let go of any opportunity.

Reflected in the historical process, it was that Cao Cao was at his worst, even though he was beaten to the point where he only had a few cities left, he could always make a comeback and successively occupy the five provinces of Yan, Xu, Yu, Si, and Yong in just three years, surpassing Yuan Shao's four provinces.

By the time Yuan Shao reacted, it was already too late.

Therefore, Yuan Xi tried every means to drag Cao Cao down. He didn't think there was anything unfair about this. On the contrary, this was the greatest respect for Cao Cao. After all, if Cao Cao gained power, the Yuan family would really die out.

Yuan Xi suddenly opened his eyes. The next step was how to find a way to rescue Cao Song in a legitimate way. The key to this was still Yuan Shao!

Even if Yuan Shang made trouble, as long as Yuan Shao nodded, everything would not be a problem!

In a deep mansion in Ye City, faint laughter came from a two-story building.

A helpless voice said, "Sister, I'm still reading. Don't make noise."

Another voice giggled, "You're still pretending. Half of Ye City knows now that your future husband is about to return to the city."

A sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, wearing a bright red Ru skirt, sat upright in front of the window on the second floor, holding a tube of bamboo slips in her hand.

Her hair was piled high in a bun, her beautiful hair hung down lightly, her shoulders were narrow, her waist was thin, her neck was long and white, and her appearance was stunning and dignified.

She raised her head slightly, her beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her bright eyes glanced around. Just this one glance of beauty made the furnishings in the room dim in comparison.