Chapter 108 Rumors in Yecheng

Yuan Xing wanted to speak, but stopped, realizing that she shouldn't have said that, and said, "I misspoke. Just pretend I didn't say anything."

Zhen Rong was annoyed and complained, "Sister, you are heartless. I still wanted to hear about the Third Young Master being frustrated."

Yuan Xing sighed and said, "Stop it. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to cause you trouble. Your husband is still working under the Third Brother, so you have to consider his reputation."

Zhen Rong wanted to say something, but when she saw Zhen Mi give her a look, she realized and immediately shut her mouth in embarrassment.

The Zhen family's secret allegiance to Yuan Xi and their plan to move their base from Ji Province was still a secret. If it were revealed in conversation, and too many people knew, it would be difficult to guarantee that nothing would go wrong.

Although Yuan Xing was reliable, the maids and servants around her might have spies. For safety's sake, Zhen Mi still hinted that Zhen Rong, the bigmouth, should talk less.

Yuan Xing, however, keenly noticed something and wondered, "What are you two doing, being so sneaky?"

Hearing this, Zhen Mi quickly changed the subject and said, "Regarding the Second Young Master, I did hear the shop assistants of the Zhen family's merchant house talking about him."

Yuan Xing teased, "It seems that my sister cares a lot about the Second Brother."

Zhen Mi said in annoyance, "If you make fun of me again, I won't say anything."

Yuan Xing quickly laughed and said, "I was wrong. Don't mind me, sister. What rumors about the Second Brother are circulating in the merchant house?"

Zhen Mi then said, "I heard that the Second Young Master's reputation among the gentry in Ye City is mixed."

"On the good side, they say that he rode alone into Xu Province, killed Zhang Kai, a military officer under Tao Qian, repelled Liu Bei, the Governor of Yu Province, rescued Cao Taigong, and protected the people of Xu Province. He's practically a legend."

As Zhen Mi spoke, her eyes lit up. Zhen Rong, seeing this, sighed secretly in her heart. Her little sister was completely smitten.

Yuan Xing said, "These rumors existed before the Second Brother left the city, but recently they have become more and more intense. I even thought someone was fanning the flames behind the scenes."

Zhen Rong asked in confusion, "Did the Second Young Master do it himself?"

At that time, it was common for the gentry to elevate their reputation by finding relatives and friends to spread various fabricated stories.

Zhen Mi bit her lip and said, "The Second Young Master is not that kind of person."

Zhen Rong thought to herself, 'Here we go. My little sister is deeply poisoned. She's already blindly defending her future husband before even marrying him.'

Unexpectedly, Yuan Xing also nodded and said, "I also don't think it's the Second Brother. He doesn't know many gentry in Ye City. Who would help him spread rumors?"

Zhen Rong asked strangely, "That's odd. Who could it be?"

At that time, the three women didn't know about the alliance between Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi. Now, most of the people secretly promoting Yuan Xi's reputation in Ye City were instructed by Yuan Tan.

Zhen Mi's heart stirred, but she didn't say anything.

It seemed that Yuan Xi was hiding many things from everyone?

What could it be?

How curious!

Zhen Rong continued, "But I also heard that some people are spreading rumors that are detrimental to the Second Young Master."

"They say he is disloyal and unfilial, making poisonous oaths in the name of his family and elders, which is a major taboo among the gentry."

Yuan Xing sighed and said, "I also asked the Second Brother, and these things are indeed what he did."

"He spoke without restraint when he was in Beixin City. The main thing is that he offended the local gentry. I'm afraid that's why the gentry in Ye City are slandering him."

"Some people also say that he is very greedy for money. He went to Xu Province to rescue Cao Taigong, but in reality, it was for the Cao family's wealth. After rescuing him, he took all the wealth for himself."

Zhen Mi and Zhen Rong thought to themselves that this was absolutely true, as most of the wealth was still lying in the Zhen family's vault.

Zhen Mi said softly, "There are also bad people who say he is lecherous, and they even spread rumors that he brought dozens of concubines, but in the end, it turned out that they were all rescued gentry women. Isn't that all nonsense?"

Yuan Xing wondered, "Obviously, there is a group of people helping the Second Brother, and there is also a group of people who want to ruin the Second Brother's reputation. So, the Second Brother's reputation among the gentry is mixed."

Zhen Mi said to Yuan Xing, "Is it because the Third Young Master told the Governor about these rumors that you are so unhappy, Sister?"

Yuan Xing nodded and said, "That's right. I don't know why, but the Third Brother wasn't as wary of the Second Brother as he used to be."

She suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "I was tricked by you! This is our Yuan family affair, so it's not good to tell you."

Zhen Mi huffed and said, "I don't care about anything else, but this Third Young Master is still unwilling to give up. First, he deceived the Fourth Sister, and then he put pressure on the Zhen family. He doesn't want the Zhen family to marry into the Yuan family, does he?"

"I don't even know how the Zhen family offended him!"

Yuan Xing and Zhen Rong nodded in unison. They couldn't figure out this point either.

Wu Zhao, who had been listening quietly, spoke up at this moment, "This concubine--"

She suddenly realized that her status as a servant was not appropriate for speaking in such a setting, and she quickly closed her mouth.

Seeing this, Zhen Mi spoke up, "Sister, do you know something?"

She had long felt that the relationship between Wu Zhao and Yuan Xi was unusual, definitely not a normal master-servant relationship.

Zhen Mi was originally quite insightful and cheerful, but for some reason, whenever she thought of the scene of Wu Zhao and Yuan Xi looking at each other, she felt a slight twinge of jealousy in her heart.

Wu Zhao looked at Yuan Xing and saw her nod, so she finally spoke, "This concubine thinks that it is possible that the Third Young Master is very interested in the Zhen family."

The three women were simultaneously shocked, "What do you mean by that?"

Wu Zhao said softly, "That day, when I accompanied the Young Master to the banquet, although I stopped her at the door, I saw the Third Young Master talking to his wife, Hong."

"It seemed that Madam Hong had to look at the Third Young Master's face for every move she made, and she was very afraid of the Third Young Master."

Yuan Xing shook her head and said, "Hong's personality is very gentle, so that doesn't explain anything, right?"

Wu Zhao thought to herself, 'But when Yuan Shang spoke to Zhen Rong, his eyes always looked at certain parts of her body.' This made Wu Zhao suspect that Yuan Shang was a very controlling person and might have originally wanted to do something untoward to Zhen Rong.

However, this idea was unfounded, so Wu Zhao could only say, "Perhaps this concubine is overthinking things, but I always feel that the Third Young Master is not satisfied with Madam Hong."

Zhen Rong remembered that when Yuan Shang seduced her that day, he even said that he wanted to take her as a concubine. Her face changed, and she wondered if what Wu Zhao said was true?

She bit her lip, thinking that Yuan Shang had drugged her, and when she followed Yuan Xi back to the room, she seemed to have been taken advantage of in a daze.

Thinking of this, a sense of guilt arose spontaneously, and she felt even more unable to raise her head in front of Zhen Mi.

She didn't know what kind of sin she had committed in her previous life, but she had such a karmic entanglement with the Yuan family!

Yuan Xing asked in confusion, "If that's really the case, could it be that the Third Brother has some ideas about Mi-mei?"

"He already has a wife. Could he divorce Hong?"

Zhen Rong said softly, "In recent years, the Hong family has declined, but the Yuan family has been rising, and the two sides are no longer a good match."

"On the contrary, the Zhen family, as a wealthy merchant, has strong financial resources, and Little Sister is so beautiful. If the Third Brother becomes the head of the family in the future--"

Everyone was stunned. In that case, it was really possible!

Yuan Xing suddenly realized and said, "No wonder I heard people say that Father and Mother mentioned the marriage between the Second Brother and the Zhen family several times, but Mother always found excuses to delay it!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhen Mi and Zhen Rong's faces changed. Thinking of the rumors in Ye City that were unfavorable to Yuan Xi, how could they not guess that Yuan Shang and his biological mother, Madam Liu, must be behind the marriage between the Zhen family and the Yuan family!

For the marriage between the two families, Madam Liu, as the original wife and Yuan Xi's nominal mother, had to nod her head. If she didn't agree, the marriage between the two families would not be successful!

Zhen Rong was even more worried. If Madam Liu continued to obstruct the marriage between the Second Young Master and Little Sister, would her mother, Zhang, finally have no choice but to marry Zhen Mi to Yuan Shang, who had divorced his wife?

After all, Yuan Shang was currently the most promising candidate to become the head of the Yuan family. If the Yuan family were to seize the world in the future, he would be the supreme ruler!

Compared to Yuan Xi, a son of a concubine, at most he would only be the ruler of a province in the future. The difference between the two sides was incomparable!

What Zhen Rong could think of, Zhen Mi could naturally think of as well. She felt somewhat uneasy in her heart.

She was also not sure whether her mother would change her mind for the sake of the Zhen family.

What should she do then?

Zhen Mi lowered her head, and her hands in her sleeves clenched tightly.

She didn't hear a word of what Zhen Rong and Yuan Xing said afterward. After a long time, she raised her head.

Seeing that Zhen Mi had been lowering her head for a long time and her movements were strange, Wu Zhao couldn't help but stare at her. But she saw Zhen Mi raise her head and wink at her.

Wu Zhao was puzzled. What did this mean?

She saw Zhen Mi wink at her again, and then she stood up and said, "Two sisters, you talk first. I'll go to the back for a moment."

Yuan Xing and Zhen Rong knew that Zhen Mi was going to wash her face, so they didn't take it to heart. Wu Zhao, however, saw Zhen Mi look at her again before standing up and walking out.

Wu Zhao realized that she was being asked to follow and that she had something to say to her?

Qing Province.

Liu Bei and his two brothers, leading five thousand infantry and cavalry, were leaving Tai Shan County in Yan Province and entering Ji Nan State in Qing Province.

Zhang Fei muttered on horseback, "Big Brother, now is a good opportunity to raid Cao Cao's rear! Cao's army is attacking Lu Bu. If we can attack from both sides, we will surely be able to destroy him in one fell swoop."

Hearing this, Liu Bei said calmly, "Tian Kai and I have always been on good terms. Now that Qing Province is in dire straits, how can I stand by and watch without helping?"

Zhang Fei said with regret, "It's a pity. Yuan Shao is so cunning that he attacked Tian Kai at this time. But he wouldn't have thought that we could take control of Xu Province so quickly."

"When the time comes, watch me defeat them completely!"

Guan Yu spoke at this time, "Several of Yuan Shao's generals are not easy to deal with."

"We couldn't beat them two years ago. Don't be careless."

Zhang Fei said triumphantly, "But we have been getting stronger!"

"A few years ago, when we first started riding horses to fight, we had no chance of winning against Zhang He and those people."

"But now, I am already invincible, and I may even be able to kill the opponent under my horse!"

Guan Yu stroked his long beard and said, "That's right. In the past two years, we have all become stronger."

"But it's still not enough."

"Last time you saw it too. Three against three, although there were enemy cavalry restraining us on the side, we still couldn't defeat them."

Hearing this, Zhang Fei said dejectedly, "Then what should we do?"

"After all, those people have been fighting on horseback for ten years more than us. It's not like we can kill them just by saying so."

Guan Yu pondered for a moment and said, "I do have an idea."

"If things go smoothly, it is not impossible to kill their generals."

Zhang Fei was overjoyed when he heard this and said, "Tell me about it!"