Chapter 504: Don't Want to Respect Yourself

Yuan Xi looked at the ceiling with a heavy heart. He was actually very hesitant about the marriage between Lu Xun and Liu Bei's daughter. Should he let Lu Xun and Liu Bei establish such a close relationship? Would it affect his future strategy?

I have finally discovered a talent with potential that can be considered among the top three in the world. If he is abducted by Liu Bei, wouldn't I cry to death?

He felt Lü Lingqi beside him move a little and her breathing became heavier. He thought Lü Lingqi had woken up, so he said, "The matter that Madam Liu Bei mentioned has been resolved."

"Mr. Gong and Mr. proposed to select Bo Yan."

"But I was very hesitant."

He felt Lv Lingqi beside him move a little, as if trembling a little, so he stretched out his hand and said, "You don't have a fever, do you?"

Mrs. Du's mind went blank.

I was sleeping soundly, but suddenly I woke up and felt someone lying on the bed behind me!

When she heard the other person's voice, she suddenly realized that the other person was the ferocious tiger, but he mistook her for Lu Lingqi!

Mrs. Du was in tears. Can't you tell the difference between Lu Lingqi's body shape and yours?

Can you admit your mistake?

Or is it intentional?

She noticed that the other party was talking to himself, and Mrs. Du gradually realized that the other party might have really made a mistake.

When she carefully looked at the wall in front of her and saw the pattern on it, she realized that it was obviously not her bed!

The place where everyone was was a three-story building with bedrooms on each floor. Mrs. Du usually rested in a bedroom on the ground floor, but definitely not this one!

Mrs. Du then realized that she had stayed in Lu Lingqi's second-floor bedroom to pack her things and had fallen asleep on the table without realizing it.

While she was drowsy, Lu Lingqi helped her onto the bed, covered her with a quilt, and then went upstairs.

Mrs. Du was now completely clear-headed. This was most likely a misunderstanding, but what should she do now?

Pretending to sleep?

Give a audible reminder?

But I heard that ferocious tigers are lustful. If I speak out, will it be counterproductive?

When Mrs. Du hesitated, she felt her limbs stiffen and her breathing stopped.

She bit her lip, feeling her body was out of control. The words were on the tip of her tongue but were swallowed back. She bit the tip of her tongue and finally mustered up the courage to speak, but the other person's hand suddenly stopped.

Yuan Xi's voice came, "Are you Mrs. Du?"

"Why are you on Lingqi couch?"

Mrs. Du stammered, "This is a misunderstanding."

She felt Yuan Xi's hand slowly loosen and slowly retract. She couldn't help but feel relieved, but for some reason, she felt a little lost.

Then Yuan Xi said, "Since I've already made a mistake, let's just make it a little longer."

Mrs. Du's face turned red and she bit her lips. This vicious tiger was so shameless!

The two of them lay there quietly.

The weather in Xuzhou is obviously much warmer than that in Youzhou. There may still be occasional snow and wind in Youzhou at this time, but Xuzhou has already entered early spring.

After the ravages of a severe winter, the branches of the flowering trees in the garden had long since dried up, but as the weather warmed up, the roots absorbed nutrients from the soil, and new life began to emerge under the cracked bark, and tender green buds began to bloom on the branches.

After a while, Mrs. Du's voice, as soft as a mosquito's, with a hint of embarrassment and annoyance, sounded.

"Sir, please respect yourself!"

Yuan Xi whispered, "I already respect myself very much."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Du couldn't help but pull her skirt down again.

She felt the other person's breath brushing across the back of her neck, and her body couldn't help but tremble again. Did the other person want to take advantage of her here?

Lu Lingqi is upstairs and may wake up at any time!

Fortunately, Yuan Xi stopped at the last step and whispered, "Lingqi is upstairs?"

Mrs. Du nodded and felt that Yuan Xi finally pulled his hand away. Then she heard Yuan Xi sitting up behind her and going upstairs with a stalk.

Only then did her body relax, she let out a long breath, and then stared motionlessly at the wall in front of her. After a long time, she turned over, looked up at the roof and started to stare blankly.

Yuan Xi went upstairs, but saw that Lu Lingqi had already gotten up and was dressing up in front of the window with her back to him.

His heart skipped a beat and he walked forward, took the tortoise-shell comb from Lu Lingqi's hand and started to comb her hair.

Through the reflection of the bronze mirror, Lu Lingqi saw Yuan Xi's guilty look behind him, and said with a half-smile, "You have the intention to do it, but you don't have the courage to admit it?"

Yuan Xi thought to himself, it's over, Lu Lingqi's ears are too sharp!

From now on, no matter what I do, I won't be able to hide it from her. Is this just a waste of time?

Hmm, thinking about it this way seems even more exciting?

Seeing that Yuan Xi didn't say anything, Lu Lingqi said bitterly: "Forget it, if she can really follow you, it may not be a bad thing."

"I understood a lot from the battle a few days ago. There is no need to talk about reason or justice in war. Whoever has the bigger fist and survives is naturally right."

"I don't want to be a commoner who is bullied by others, but Cao Cao is a bastard and has gone too far."

She said with concern: "He has great influence in the court. Will my father be in trouble?"

Yuan Xi said, "Don't worry, Marquis Wen has led his troops to Yuzhou to attack Yuan Shu."

"But Cao Cao will definitely take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble. I have already sent an urgent letter to ask Wen Hou to be careful and on guard."

"After all, if Cao Cao attacked him from behind while he was attacking Yuan Shu, it would be difficult for Marquis Wen to handle it."

Seeing that Lü Lingqi looked even more worried, Yuan Xi comforted her, "Don't worry, Chen Gongtai has some ways to deal with it. Cao Cao is not omnipotent. The emperor is still very sensitive to those who want to covet his power."

"But the officials in the Han court, the monsters and ghosts are probably going to jump out."

"We are too far away to be of much help. What we can do now is to try our best to improve the defense of Guangling County, and then use Guangling as a springboard to plot against Shouchun."

"But others think so too. It's hard to deal with any of the three parties, Cao Cao, Yuan Tan and Sun Ce."

Lu Lingqi also knew that Yuan Xi had too many things to take on, so she took the opportunity to change the subject and asked, "Mrs. Liu Bei is looking for a husband, does your husband have any candidates?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi told Lu Xun about it. Lu Lingqi said, "I think the two of them are very suitable. Why would my husband hesitate?"

Yuan Xi thought to himself, I can't say that because Lu Xun is Liu Bei's nemesis, I am using him as a trump card, right?

Lu Lingqi thought for a moment and said, "My husband has made some progress in Youzhou, but Xuzhou is really difficult."

"Let alone Cao Cao and Sun Ce, even Yuan Tan is probably problematic. He stood by when my husband was in danger and took the opportunity to occupy the East China Sea. He is even more excessive than an outsider."

"This is too despicable. They are still brothers. It is far inferior to General Guan who rushed into the battle alone to help his husband."

"If you ask me, as an ally, the most reliable ones right now are only Liu Yuzhou and his people, right?"

Yuan Xi suddenly came to his senses.

Yes, given my current situation in Xuzhou, am I still qualified to be picky?

It is true that Liu Bei likes to win people's hearts and it is possible that he can gain some small advantages from it, but generally speaking, he is one of the few princes with the highest moral standards in this chaotic era!

If I want to rely on Xuzhou to break the deadlock, the best option is to stick together with Liu Bei. At the very least, Liu Bei will not stab me in the back now!

If one day he were to become an enemy of Liu Bei, the situation would probably have become extremely bad, and he would most likely have done something that would enrage God and man. At that time, relying solely on Lu Xun would probably not be able to play a decisive role.

Even if I have relatives in Zhou, they are not as good as a benevolent person. If the people have faults, it is my fault.

A blacksmith must be strong himself.

As long as you do the right thing, what do you have to fear?

Thinking of this, he smiled and said, "We should be thankful to have an ally like Liu Bei at this time."

"I will send a message to Guangling in a moment, asking all parties to search for Liu Yuzhou's whereabouts."

As secret orders were issued one after another, Guangling began to make intensive plans, but before that, Liu Bei's wife had collapsed.

After obtaining her consent, Yuan Xi acted as a matchmaker for Lu Xun and Liu and arranged for them to get married.

Then, Liu Bei's wife died on the second day after their marriage.

Yuan Xi could only arrange the funeral of Liu Bei's wife and bury her according to her will. When Liu Bei was found in the future, whether to take out the coffin and send it back to Zhuo County was a matter for the future.

However, during this period, there was still no news from Liu Bei, and Yuan Xi's letter requesting a meeting with Yuan Tan fell on deaf ears and received no reply.

Yuan Xi looked at the ruined Qucheng City across the Huai River and thought that Yuan Tan's actions were so obvious and disregarded the face of both parties. Was he really starting to be suspicious and wary of him because of the issue of male heir?

Yuan Tan's army occupied most of Donghai County, leaving only Qucheng. When Mi Fang fled, the city was ravaged by bandits disguised as thieves from Cao's army, and it had almost become a ruin.

Yuan Xi sent people to the city to help Mi Zhen check the situation of the Mi family mansion, and found that it had been almost looted. The only valuable things of the Mi family were the damaged ships at the dock.

Because the situation was urgent at that time, the traitor only damaged the rudder, so after repairs, most of the ships of the Mi family merchant caravan were able to be put into use again. However, Mi Fang, the head of the Mi family, had already fled, and there was no cargo to be transported.

The only thing to be thankful for is that most of the critical box of cotton seeds has been safely delivered to Youzhou and trial sowing has begun.

Yuan Xi found himself in a dilemma. The only land route to attack Shouchun from the south was through Xia Pi, which was now in Cao Cao's hands.

He understood that Cao Cao was more anxious than himself because he was watching Cao Cao's rear.

Now is the time to test patience. Whoever loses patience first will lose half the battle, so Yuan Xi had to be patient and prepare for military training while restoring local production.

Until one day, the imperial edict from the Han court arrived.