Chapter 119: Trouble

Only when the shattered wood splinters scattered and hit Yuan Xi's face did he suddenly realize that Lu Lingqi seemed delicate and weak, but was actually very powerful and had obviously trained!

He did enjoy his rant, but the price was that he had triggered her.

He hurriedly rolled several times on the ground, trying to escape, but Lu Lingqi refused to let him go, striding forward and punching him again.

Wu Zhao and Du Shi were stunned. They didn't expect the two to suddenly start fighting. Moreover, the opponent was Lu Bu's daughter. These two weak women had never seen such a battle where a punch could break through a wall. Their minds went blank for a moment.

Seeing that Lu Lingqi's attacks were reckless, Yuan Xi's battlefield training came into play at a critical moment. He suddenly pounced to the ground, grabbed Lu Lingqi's ankle with his hand, and pulled hard.

Lu Lingqi's steps were extremely steady, and her body only swayed a few times, but she didn't fall.

Seeing Yuan Xi lying on the ground, his hand touching the skin of her ankle, she felt both ashamed and angry. She raised her other foot and stomped fiercely towards Yuan Xi's head.

Yuan Xi was waiting for this moment. Lu Lingqi had obviously practiced martial arts and was difficult to find flaws when standing, but she didn't have much experience dealing with someone like him who was lying on the ground and acting shamelessly.

In the blink of an eye, Yuan Xi stretched out another hand, grabbed Lu Lingqi's ankle with both hands, twisted his body, and used the momentum to roll over.

Using the force of the roll, Lu Lingqi finally lost her balance, cried out, and fell backward.

Seeing Lu Lingqi fall, Yuan Xi breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't expect Lu Lingqi to become even more angry. Lying on the ground, she kicked fiercely towards Yuan Xi's face.

Yuan Xi hurriedly raised his arm to block, feeling like a sledgehammer had hit his arm, causing him excruciating pain.

Lu Lingqi took the opportunity to kick wildly with both feet. Yuan Xi felt a great force and weight. Caught off guard, he took a kick to the forehead, and his head became dizzy.

Now his anger also rose. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he twisted Lu Lingqi's leg with one hand, pulled off Lu Lingqi's stockings with the other, and tickled the soles of Lu Lingqi's feet.

Lu Lingqi had never seen such a vulgar trick before. Her body shrank suddenly, her strength dissipated, and Yuan Xi took the opportunity to press down on her, rolling her around on the ground a few times, taking the opportunity to pin down Lu Lingqi's thigh joint.

He pressed on Lu Lingqi and shouted, "Stop it now! Don't be silly!"

Lu Lingqi was pinned down by Yuan Xi, struggling a few times but unable to move. The pain in her joints became more and more intense, so painful that she kept hitting the floor, and said with shame and anger, "You are despicable and shameless!"

"Let me go!"

Yuan Xi didn't expect this grappling technique to be so effective, and said triumphantly, "Admit defeat first!"

Lu Lingqi gritted her teeth, but the pain in her thigh was excruciating. She was both angry and annoyed, and couldn't help but whimper in her mouth, about to cry.

Only then did Yuan Xi realize that he had gone too far, and quickly got up and retreated, shrinking beside Wu Zhao.

Lu Lingqi got up from the ground, sniffed a few times, forcibly held back her tears and stomped her feet, whimpering as she rushed out the door, disappearing without a trace.

Du Shi stared blankly at this scene, her head spinning. Had something big happened?

Would the house be in chaos in a while, and a bunch of soldiers rush in and arrest them?

The three stood blankly for a long time, but the mansion was still quiet, as if nothing had happened.

Only then did the three feel slightly relieved. Wu Zhao thought to herself that this was really a good show.

Du Shi's face was pale. Since she knew that she had been tricked by Lu Lingqi, she didn't want to stay any longer, so she hurriedly bid farewell and left.

Yuan Xi and Wu Zhao looked at each other, and finally Yuan Xi blurted out a sentence.

"Why don't we leave overnight?"

The noisy gale howled all night long. The two huddled together in fear, shivering under the covers all night, and in the end, no ravenous tigers or wolves of soldiers rushed in.

As soon as the sky was bright, Yuan Xi came to bid farewell to Lu Bu. Lu Bu, who knew nothing about the inside story, saw that Yuan Xi was determined to leave, so he didn't insist on keeping him. He immediately arranged for Qin Yilu to send Yuan Xi out of the city.

It wasn't until the carriage was a dozen miles away from Puyang City that Yuan Xi and Wu Zhao felt a sense of relief.

Yuan Xi made up his mind that he would never come to Puyang City again. If Lu Lingqi revealed the matter in the future, wouldn't he be torn apart by Lu Bu?

Seeing that the carriage was a dozen miles away from Puyang City, they heard the carriage window being knocked. Yuan Xi's heart tightened. He opened the curtain and saw Qin Yilu standing awkwardly outside the window, while the soldiers of Lu Bu's army were staying in the distance.

Yuan Xi was stunned and said, "General Qin, what can I do for you?"

Qin Yilu hesitated for a moment, cupped his fists and said, "I'll send you here, sir."

"I am not talented, but I would like to ask sir to point out a clear path."

Seeing Qin Yilu's hesitant appearance, Yuan Xi thought for a moment, and then suddenly realized: "General Qin is still brooding over the matter of your wife?"

Qin Yilu gritted his teeth and said, "That's natural. How can a wife be allowed to show her face in public?"

Yuan Xi said, "Then why didn't the general directly refuse Marquis Wen?"

Qin Yilu said, "How can that be? What if Marquis Wen blames me and vents his anger on me?"

Yuan Xi thought to himself, damn it, it's your own wife, you don't speak up, but you want me to think of a way?

He pondered for a moment, "Does the general want to take his wife and find a way to survive?"

Qin Yilu shook his head and said, "I can't control her. Who knows if she has hooked up with someone else? I'm just looking for a way out for myself."

As soon as these words came out, Wu Zhao was so angry that her blood rushed to her head.

Pushing his own wife out to accompany him in drinking, and in the end, he still thinks it's Du Shi's problem!

Yuan Xi sighed, "What will happen to your wife if the general leaves?"

Qin Yilu said, "When disaster strikes, everyone flies separately. At that time, it would be good enough if I can save my own life, how can I manage so much."

Yuan Xi was speechless. Madam Du still has the status of Qin Yilu's wife. If Qin Yilu leaves, wouldn't she be like a sheep entering a pack of wolves?

Yuan Xi thought for a while and said, "The general does have a few paths to take."

"But I observe the stars, and if the general does not arrange a way out for his wife, I am afraid that it will also bring disaster to himself."

Qin Yilu was overjoyed to hear there was a way out and didn't care about Madam Du at all. He immediately agreed, "No problem, I only ask for your guidance, sir!"

Yuan Xi could only say, "General, your path to survival lies to the south. If you have the chance, seek to be sent on a mission."

Qin Yilu listened, seemingly understanding but not quite. He wanted to ask more, but Yuan Xi waved his hand and said, "That's all I can say. Remember to treat your wife well and settle her properly."

He sighed inwardly. In these chaotic times, he couldn't possibly achieve perfection. After all, he was just an ordinary person.

Qin Yilu agreed readily, and watched as Yuan Xi's carriage gradually disappeared into the distance.

Wu Zhao said softly, "That General Qin clearly didn't take your words to heart. I'm afraid Madam Du's situation is precarious."

Yuan Xi nodded, then shook his head. "I can only gamble that he still has some conscience left."

"After we return, once the two sides start fighting, I'll probably have to go to Dongjun again."

Wu Zhao knew that Yuan Xi was planning this to encourage Lu Bu to attack Cao Cao, and said, "Is Cao Cao really that difficult to deal with?"

"He once studied under my father. Back then, I was still young and only felt that he acted a bit rashly. I didn't see him as particularly fearsome."

Yuan Xi sighed, "People change."

"If you put me in his environment, I wouldn't be as good as him."

"What was he like when he was young?"

Wu Zhao thought for a moment, recalling, "That was more than a decade ago. He often argued with my father. He wrote poetry very well, but his behavior was a bit strange..."

A gust of cold wind blew, drowning out Wu Zhao's words. It swept across the vast land, rising into the sky, piercing the heavens, and scattering snowflakes in a flurry.

By the time Yuan Xi returned to Wei Commandery and changed into hunting attire outside Ye City, pretending to enter the city, news of the rekindled war in Yan Province had arrived.

This time, Lu Bu's army seemed to be going all out, bringing ample supplies and soldiers. Several major battles erupted around Juan City, and both sides suffered heavy losses.

Inside the Juan City manor, Cao Cao sat at the head of the table, with two factions facing each other below – a row of strategists and a row of generals.

At the head of the strategists was Xi Zhicai. He was about to speak when he burst into a violent cough. He quickly covered his mouth with his sleeve, and after a while, when the coughing stopped, he lowered his sleeve.

Several sharp-eyed people had already noticed a few spots of blood on Xi Zhicai's sleeve.

Xi Zhicai took a breath and then said, "Our army is about to run out of food."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall became even more tense.

The two sides had been fighting for three months. Cao Cao's strategists and generals were clearly more skilled, using encirclement tactics to attack Lu Bu's cities, besieging points and striking at reinforcements. They had once forced Lu Bu's army to retreat back to Chenliu Commandery.

Originally, they thought that Lu Bu's army, having suffered several major defeats, would definitely not launch another war before the New Year. But unexpectedly, Lu Bu disregarded the cold weather and launched a large-scale attack again!

This attack completely exceeded the expectations of Cao Cao's strategists, and the area around Juan City immediately fell into an extremely unfavorable situation.

At this time, Cheng Yu slowly said, "How about I go back to Dong'a again?"

Everyone tasted bitterness in their mouths. Xun Yu said, "Zhongde, this method is too damaging to one's karma, we can't use it again."

Cheng Yu said in a deep voice, "As long as I can relieve Lord Cao's worries, I can't care about so much."

Cao Cao sighed deeply and was about to speak when Xi Zhicai said decisively, "This is a self-destructive move. If this continues, it will be difficult to gather people's hearts."

"Now, Yuan Benchu has sent another letter, saying that he can send us three thousand soldiers and five thousand shi of grain."

Cheng Yu snorted coldly, "Does he still want Lord Cao to send his family to Ye City?"

"Isn't that being at someone else's mercy?"

Xi Zhicai said, "They said that Lord Cao's legal wife and The legitimate son don't have to be sent, only half of the family."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the hall was somewhat moved.

Cao Ren exclaimed, "Absolutely not! If we do this, Lord Cao's reputation will be tarnished. How can we subordinates have the face to see anyone?"

Xun Yu sighed, "Can the general conjure up food?"

Cao Ren choked.

Cao Cao said in a deep voice, "I have made up my mind to accept Benchu's conditions."

Everyone listened and bowed, saying they were ashamed.

Xiahou Yuan frowned and said, "Although it's said to be half of the family, if they are used to threaten us, wouldn't we be put in a passive position?"

Xi Zhicai said, "That's indeed the case. Therefore, we can try to send Bastard and Concubine, or even concubines, but we can't just send unimportant people, lest Jizhou uses it as an excuse to ridicule our sincerity."

Cao Hong slammed the table hard, "The Yuan family is really cunning! I wonder which strategist came up with such a vicious idea!"

Xun Yu said calmly, "I do know this."

When everyone heard this, they thought, was it Tian Feng or Ju Shou?

These two were highly suspected, being staunch anti-Cao members among Yuan Shao's gentry.

But Xun Yu slowly said, "It's Yuan Benchu's second son, Yuan Xi, Yuan Xianyi."

As soon as these words were spoken, Xiahou Yuan exclaimed, "Is that the one who rescued Cao Taigong in Fei County?"

Xi Zhicai looked grave, "This son is no ordinary person. Every move he makes is to trip up our Cao clan. It is said that he is also the one sent from Ye City to negotiate with us this time."

Cao Chun roared, "Let's find a chance to chop him to death!"

Cao Cao glared at Cao Chun, and Cao Chun quickly shut his mouth.

Cao Cao said, "To have family members as hostages, how could that be something Cao Mengde would do!"

Cao Cao's generals were about to cheer when they heard Cao Cao sigh, "But Juan City may be breached at any time, and the lives of the family members left behind are in danger. On the contrary, Ye City is safer."

"Since my father has an old friendship with that Yuan Xi, he will definitely not be troubled by him. I plan to have my father take some family members to Ye City to take refuge."

"Of course, not as hostages, but as a delaying tactic to protect the lives of my Cao family members."

"Ye City is much safer than Juan City, and it can be considered a show of filial piety to my father."