Chapter 136 The Willing One Takes the Bait

Yuan Xi's visit to Xu Province this time was indeed with his own calculations in mind.

The area south of the Yangtze River aside, if he wanted to develop maritime trade, the line from You Province, Qing Province, to Xu Province had to be opened up first, especially Xu Province.

In the future, half of the Zhen family would belong to Yuan Xi, so taking advantage of the opportunity to come to Xu Province, he wanted to settle this trade route in advance.

As for avoiding suspicion, he didn't care. Mi Zhu was an official under Liu Bei, and he would definitely inform Liu Bei of the contents of their discussions without reservation, so he openly brought it up to help Mi Zhu avoid suspicion.

Otherwise, if he were to contact Mi Zhu in private, the other party most likely wouldn't dare to agree, because he wouldn't be able to explain it to Liu Bei.

Now that Yuan Xi had brought it up openly, it was difficult for Liu Bei to refuse.

Sure enough, Mi Zhu secretly glanced at Liu Bei, who nodded slightly to him, and only then did he feel relieved, quickly replying, "Thank you for looking favorably upon me, young master. If the young master doesn't mind my humble abode, I will gladly welcome you."

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "In that case, I will trouble you, sir. I have long heard that the singing and dancing girls of Xu Province are very famous. Now, Xi will have the pleasure of seeing them."

Liu Bei and the others thought of the rumors about Yuan Xi and secretly thought that it was good that this son had weaknesses!

Previously, the strategists of Xu Province had carefully studied Yuan Xi's past experiences and finally discovered that Yuan Xi was not invulnerable.

He was lecherous!

He had raised dozens of concubines in Beixin City, and after returning to Ye City, he was said to have been intimate with several women.

What was even more outrageous was that after he brought Cao Cao's family to Ye City, he actually snatched Cao Cao's concubines and daughters and openly kept them in his inner residence.

Even more outrageous, according to the news brought by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Yuan Xi had come to Tancheng in the same carriage as Kong Rong's wife and daughters!

Kong Rong did not attend the midday banquet because after he heard this news, he couldn't even stand up and had to be carried home.

In this era, lust among the gentry was not a major flaw; on the contrary, it was considered a good story, but it was rare for someone to be as indiscriminate as Yuan Xi.

Could this son be dealt with using a beauty trap?

Yuan Xi got into the carriage and, seeing that Taishi Ci was still following closely on horseback, he finally relaxed. After a day, his energy and physical strength had reached their limit, and now he just wanted to rest well.

He rubbed his temples, feeling that it was really inconvenient without Wu Zhao by his side.

Before leaving, he visited Wu Zhao and saw that she seemed to have caught a cold, but the medicine didn't seem to be helping, so he had to let her rest and recuperate.

He wondered what the medical skills of this era were really like. Was Hua Tuo really that amazing, and could Zuo Ci really perform magic?

But according to the previous rumors, although the Zhang Jiao brothers were touted as being miraculous, they were mostly limited to prophecies and omens, and they probably couldn't summon wind and rain.

Mi Zhu's carriage led the way, and soon they arrived in front of the Mi family's gate.

The gate opened, and Yuan Xi looked out from the carriage, seeing tall buildings and wide mansions everywhere, extremely imposing, even surpassing the Zhen family in some respects.

He got out of the carriage and saw carved beams and painted rafters, flying eaves and brackets everywhere, no less impressive than the palaces he had seen in his previous life.

It was already night, but red lanterns hung under the eaves of each house, and looking from afar, there were lights everywhere, like a paradise on earth.

Damn it, no wonder the order is scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Sooner or later, I'll make you bleed.

He exclaimed, "The wealth of the Mi family is truly seen with my own eyes today, and I now know that the rumors are true. I'm afraid that even the legendary imperial palace is far from being like this, right?"

Mi Zhu was welcoming him when he heard Yuan Xi's words, stumbled, and almost fell.

His face was bitter. This Second Young Master was definitely going to make things difficult for him and was determined to kill him, right?

He quickly came up to grab Yuan Xi's sleeve, his face full of apologies, and said, "Let's talk inside, let's talk inside."

Mi Zhu led Yuan Xi and Taishi Ci inside. Maidservants had already set up a banquet, and Mi Zhu smiled and said, "I have prepared a simple meal and hope that the young master will forgive me."

Yuan Xi saw that the utensils brought up by the maids were luxurious and the dishes were exquisite, far surpassing those in the Yuan residence, and thought that if this was considered a simple meal, had he been begging for food before?

He smiled slightly, exchanged pleasantries, and sat down.

For a time, the host and guests began to converse. On one side, Yuan Xi was making up stories, on the other side, Mi Zhu was cautiously dealing with him, on one side, Yuan Xi was probing everywhere, and on the other side, Mi Zhu was desperately resisting. After a few rounds, the honest man Mi Zhu was already sweating on his forehead.

He thought that he had really brought a wolf into his house, and quickly summoned the singing and dancing girls, and for a time, the room was full of Yingyingyanyan, many leaning close to Yuan Xi to persuade him to drink.

Yuan Xi smiled at Mi Zhu and said, "I always vomit when I drink alcohol, and I hope Brother Zizhong won't blame me."

Mi Zhu quickly smiled apologetically and said, "No, no."

He saw that Yuan Xi hadn't touched the plate of exquisite fish sashimi in front of him and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Young master doesn't seem to like fish sashimi?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I'm a little afraid of death."

Mi Zhu blushed and said, "Is the young master suspecting that I poisoned the fish sashimi?"

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Brother Zizhong misunderstood. What I mean is that there are inherently some bad things in raw fish, and it has nothing to do with you, sir."

Mi Zhu was confused. Thinking of what Yuan Xi had said to Chen Deng during the day, he vaguely thought of something, but he hadn't yet connected the two.

He saw that Yuan Xi didn't seem to be interested in the maids around him, and he was even more headache. Why was this man's performance so different from the rumors?

Yuan Xi was a little regretful. Originally, he came to the Mi family to discuss trade routes on one hand and to lure out Chen Deng on the other hand, but he didn't expect Chen Deng to be so calm and actually didn't appear.

However, Yuan Xi wasn't in a hurry. He had plenty of time and didn't believe that Chen Deng could keep enduring.

During the banquet, Yuan Xi again talked about the trade route, and Mi Zhu sighed, "This matter cannot be decided by me alone. It requires discussion among many members of the Mi family. Can you please wait two days, young master, so that I can give you a reply?"

Yuan Xi thought that you are the head of the family, how could you not be able to decide? You are clearly going to ask Liu Bei for instructions.

However, he also knew that he shouldn't push too hard, so he nodded and agreed.

After finishing his meal, Yuan Xi, having not seen Chen Deng, prepared to retire for the night.

Mi Zhu quickly hinted that Yuan Xi could choose concubines, to which Yuan Xi turned to Taishi Ci and asked, "Ziyi, are you interested?"

Taishi Ci quickly replied, "Ci already has a wife, please forgive me, young master."

Yuan Xi nodded and said to Mi Zhu, "These women are beautiful, but not as good as the ones in my own residence. Let's leave it at that for today."

Mi Zhu sensed Yuan Xi's dissatisfaction in his tone, but dared not show it on his face. He could only send Yuan Xi and Taishi Ci to their respective lodgings.

He then left the mansion that night, found Liu Bei, and told him everything about their conversation.

Liu Bei listened, pondered for a long time, but couldn't detect anything amiss. He could only say, "In that case, I'll have to trouble Zizhong to deal with it carefully."

Mi Zhu wiped his sweat and hurried back.

The next day, when Mi Zhu went to invite Yuan Xi to discuss matters with Liu Bei, Taishi Ci came out and said that Yuan Xi was not feeling well and would not be attending today.

Mi Zhu didn't know what Yuan Xi was up to and reported back to Liu Bei in a daze. Liu Bei, who was waiting to continue the discussion, had no choice but to give up.

Liu Bei didn't expect that Yuan Xi's illness would last for three days, leaving him hanging for three days!

Frustrated, Liu Bei gathered his strategists and said, "What is that Yuan family son trying to do?"

Jian Yong thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we wait and see what happens?"

Sun Qian nodded in agreement, "Now he wants to test our patience, to see who gives in first. If we go to him, we'll be at a disadvantage."

The others agreed.

After everyone dispersed, Guan Yu said to Liu Bei, "Brother, there was something that I was concerned about the other day, so I investigated it."

He told Liu Bei about the situation at the city gate where Tao Qian drove away the crowd. Liu Bei listened and said, "I know about that. They should be the families of Yangzhou generals who are friendly with Yuan Shu. There may be spies mixed in. I originally asked people to send them out of the city properly, but I didn't expect the soldiers to be so rough."

Guan Yu shook his head and said, "That's not what I'm talking about. It's that after Sun Polu was ambushed and killed by Huang Zu, his family lived in Xuzhou and may be among those people."

Liu Bei listened and sighed, "Sun Polu, ah, he was the fierce general who killed Hua Xiong. It's a pity. It's my fault that I didn't treat his family well."

Guan Yu remembered the woman riding a horse and felt that something was not right. He had heard that Sun Jian's family was previously in Guangling County, so why would they come to Xiapi?

But the people had already left, and besides, Sun Jian was dead, and his children were said to be young. What waves could they make?

He shook his head and put the matter aside.

Taishi Ci saw Yuan Xi take a green bamboo pole and start fishing in the large pond in the Mi family mansion. He thought to himself that his lord's actions were truly unpredictable.

Yuan Xi watched the fishing line tremble continuously and sink downwards. He jerked his hand, and a fat koi carp was caught.

He took the fish off the hook, threw it back into the water, sighed, and said to Taishi Ci, "This fish has been in the pond for too long. It eats any bait it sees, which is really stupid and makes my fishing so boring."

Taishi Ci heard this and said, "When I was young, I lived by the sea. The sea fish were much more agile and didn't bite the bait easily. It's better to be direct and stab them directly."

"But this method often requires waiting for half a day to find a momentary flaw before you can succeed in one fell swoop."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "The principle of what Brother Ziyi said is actually the same between people."

"Now both sides are testing each other's patience, and the variable is the third party."

Taishi Ci vaguely understood.

Yuan Xi thought to himself that it was not wrong for Liu Bei to want to bargain with him, but he still hadn't fully grasped the situation.

He originally thought that the situation in Xuzhou should have softened by now, but seeing that Liu Bei was still evasive and the officials' attitudes were ambiguous, he knew that the internal officials of Xuzhou were still somewhat resistant to the negotiations.

Since they won't shed tears until they see the coffin, then let them wait and see who gets anxious first.

Yuan Xi was confident in doing so.

In history, after Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei actually didn't dare to immediately take over as the governor of Xuzhou, because he knew that although the fat of Xuzhou was very tempting, it was also very likely to choke him to death.

Even if he had the support of most of the Xuzhou gentry, he was still indecisive. Even at this time, Tian Yu, whom he greatly appreciated, left.

Until he had Chen Deng write a letter to Yuan Shao.

Pei Songzhi's annotation to "Records of the Three Kingdoms: Book of Shu, Volume Two: Biography of the Former Lord" quotes "Spring and Autumn Annals of Emperor Xian" and contains the following record.

Chen Deng and others sent envoys to Yuan Shao and said, "Heaven has sent down disasters and calamities, and misfortune has befallen our humble state. The state general has passed away, and the people have no leader. We fear that treacherous heroes will take advantage of this opportunity, causing concern for the alliance leader day and night. Therefore, we respectfully support the former Chancellor of Pingyuan, Liu Bei, as our leader, so that the people will always know who to rely on. At present, the bandits are rampant and we have no time to remove our armor. We respectfully send a subordinate official to report to you."

Shao replied, "Liu Xuande is magnanimous, elegant, trustworthy, and righteous. Now the people of Xuzhou are happy to support him, which is truly as expected."

This was the decisive factor. Not long after Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei secretly turned to Yuan Shao, saying that he could help Yuan Shao deal with Yuan Shu.

After receiving the letter, Yuan Shao directly expressed his agreement. Therefore, at this time, Yuan Liu had already secretly joined forces, far earlier than the open alliance a few years later.

This was Yuan Xi's confidence. He knew clearly that Liu Bei had already leaned towards Yuan Shao in his heart, so he dared to come to Xuzhou as an envoy so boldly.

Now Liu Bei is happy in his heart, but he doesn't dare to show it to his subordinates. Therefore, what Yuan Xi has to do is to wait for an opportunity that will leave Liu Bei's subordinates speechless.

He leisurely fished, and in the distance, on a small building, a maid turned her head and said to Mi Zhen, "That young master has been fishing for several days, causing the young lady to have to stay in the small building these days."