Chapter 70 Changes in Xuzhou

Wu Zhao's breathing quickened a bit when Zhen Rong mentioned Gao Lan's name.

She quickly held her breath and lowered her head.

That night, Zhao Yun came to Yuan Xi and told him about Gao Lan's escape. The two of them hurriedly went out.

Wu Zhao saw everything. The next day, the news of Gao Lan's disappearance spread.

Seeing Yuan Xi and Qu Yi's expressions when they returned, she could guess that Gao Lan had most likely been killed.

However, she didn't take it to heart. After all, seeing Yuan Xi's hurried appearance, it was clear that Gao Lan knew something unfavorable to him. If he didn't strike hard at this time, he would be harming himself.

But Wu Zhao didn't expect that Gao Lan was actually Zhen's family's son-in-law!

Now things were really bad. The news of Gao Lan's disappearance would eventually spread back to Ye City. How could Yuan Xi's relationship with the Zhen family be good?

Yuan Xi's face stiffened. After a while, he said, "I have indeed seen him."

Zhen Rong wanted to ask more, but seeing Yuan Xi's hesitation, she realized and smiled, "I'm confused. He's following Yuan Gongzi, it must be a major military matter. How could we women inquire about it? I'm being rude."

Yuan Xi took the opportunity to cover up the matter. Yuan Xing didn't notice the inside story and excitedly pulled Zhen Rong, asking Yuan Xi to talk about the things in the north.

Yuan Xi had no choice but to pick a few exciting and intriguing stories from the past three years of leading scouts to hunt, encountering Xiongnu bandits, and defending the city, which caused the two women to exclaim in surprise.

Zhen Mi knelt behind Zhen Rong, her unease growing stronger.

From appearance to speech, Yuan Xi was much stronger than ordinary aristocratic sons. The three years of life in the north had added a sense of fortitude to him, making him impressive at first sight, and he was very different from three years ago.

But Zhen Mi keenly noticed that when her sister Zhen Rong mentioned her brother-in-law Gao Lan, Yuan Xi's hand shook obviously.

The maid behind him, who had changed her face, looked extremely unnatural.

Looking at Zhen Rong happily chatting with Yuan Xing, Zhen Mi's heart slowly sank.

She felt as if she had fallen into a deep pool of water, feeling a little breathless, and couldn't help but pull at the collar of her clothes.

Zhen Rong saw it and thought she was a little impatient, so she made an excuse to leave.

Yuan Xing listened and asked Yuan Xi to send Zhen Rong out.

Yuan Xi sent the two women into the carriage, stood behind the door for a while, and then turned to leave.

Zhen Rong lowered the curtain and smiled at Zhen Mi, "How is it? You saw him with your own eyes today, are you satisfied?"

"I think his temperament and conversation are not like an aristocratic son, but a bit similar to your brother-in-law. It seems he has indeed fought battles."

Zhen Rong then sighed, "But military generals also have their difficulties. They go out to fight all day and don't know when they will return. I've been married to him for more than a year, and the days we've been together haven't even reached three months."

"The battlefield is dangerous with swords and blades. Every time he goes to war with the army, I'm always worried."

"But our Zhen family has now declined. Father is just a county magistrate and died early. It's just that the family has some surplus wealth from doing business, but the noble families pretend to be aloof and are unwilling to marry us. My marriage to your brother-in-law is a great help to the Zhen family, which is very good."

Zhen Mi listened and lowered her head, "Sister is wronged."

Zhen Rong took Zhen Mi's hand and smiled, "What's wronged? Your brother-in-law is very good to me."

"Little sister, you are different. You are knowledgeable, reasonable, and outstanding in appearance. I'm afraid there is no one in the entire Ji Province who can compare to you."

"Moreover, the fortune teller gave you a fortune when you were a child, saying that you will be extremely noble in the future. Isn't this reflected in this Yuan Xi Gongzi?"

"My brother-in-law will at least be a provincial governor in the future. If the Yuan family wins the world, it won't be a problem to be crowned a king."

"The future of our Zhen family will depend on little sister."

Zhen Mi smiled reluctantly, "The matter is not yet settled, and mother has not agreed."

Because her third brother Zhen Yao was still young, Zhang, the mother of the Zhen family siblings, took over the position of head of the family. Zhen Mi's marriage was ultimately decided by Zhang.

Zhen Rong smiled and said, "Little sister, don't worry. As long as the Yuan family proposes marriage, mother will be happy before it's even proposed."

"I think if it's fast, I'm afraid the Yuan family will have news in the next few days."

Zhen Mi felt even more uneasy. She had a feeling that things would definitely not go so smoothly.

Sure enough, before the Zhen family could wait for the Yuan family to propose marriage, news came that was beyond the expectations of most people in Ji Province.

Cao Cao, the governor of Yan Province, raised all his troops and attacked Xu Province!

Within a few days, tens of thousands of soldiers arrived in the Langya and Taishan Commanderies adjacent to Xu and Yan Provinces, and captured Fei County on the same day, slaughtering the entire city.

The reason Cao Jun declared to the outside world was that Tao Qian, the governor of Xu Province, had detained Cao Song's family.

Inside Yuan Shao's mansion, more than a dozen counselors had been gathered and were discussing heatedly.

Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang sat behind Yuan Shao, listening to the counselors' suggestions.

Seeing Yuan Shang's calm expression, Yuan Xi knew that he was used to it, and understood that Yuan Shao must have let Yuan Shang participate in discussing major issues in peacetime, so he could absorb the ideas of these resourceful counselors. No wonder Yuan Shang was good at planning.

However, Cao Cao's dispatch of troops this time was very sudden, and I don't know how Zhang Miao and Lu Bu are preparing.

Moreover, the excuse for starting the war was even more strange. It was not that Cao Song was killed by Tao Qian, but that he was detained by Tao Qian.

This shows that Cao Song's family may not have been killed yet!

Yuan Xi couldn't figure it out. This reason seemed a bit far-fetched?

If his father was in someone else's hands, shouldn't he talk to them first to ensure his safety?

Coming up with a large army and slaughtering the city like this, aren't you afraid that Tao Qian will really get anxious and chop up Cao Song's family?

It's like he's afraid he can't find a reason to start a war!

Yuan Xi suddenly remembered that his plan to save Cao Song's family and spread his fame had only been mentioned to Yuan Tan.

At that time, Yuan Xi just said this idea casually, and didn't think that he would definitely be able to do it.

Besides Xun Chen, Yuan Tan was unlikely to tell others.

Could it be that Yan Province learned of this news and was afraid that Cao Song would be rescued by him in advance, so they rushed to send troops?

Did his casual remark trigger the Second Battle of Xu Province in advance?

Yuan Xi shook his head. This idea was a bit absurd. He didn't have that ability, right?

In Xu Province, Tao Qian looked at the urgent report handed up by his subordinates, his face extremely ugly.

Fei County was slaughtered, and almost no one survived!

He was so angry that he threw the urgent report on the ground. Last year, Cao Cao attacked Xu Province, from Pengcheng in the south to the East China Sea, and several cities along the way suffered disasters.

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty · Biography of Tao Qian": "Cao Cao attacked Qian and broke Pengcheng Fuyang. Qian retreated to protect Tan, and Cao attacked it but could not overcome it, so he returned. He conquered and captured Luxu, Juiling, and Xiaqiu, all of which were slaughtered."

There were already enough people who died that time. This time, Cao Jun also changed the northern route, clearly wanting to do the same thing as last year and kill Xu Province clean!

Tao Qian was a little regretful. If he had known this, why would he have provoked this fierce god!

Just then, the guard hurriedly entered and said, "Liu Yu Province requests to see you!"

Tao Qian was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly said, "Please come in quickly!"

After speaking, he quickly jumped onto the couch, covered himself with a quilt, rubbed his face a few times, and pretended to be sick.