As the sky brightened, Yuan Xi opened his eyes.
Zhen Mi in his arms had disheveled hair, a few tear marks at the corners of her eyes, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly from time to time, adding a touch of charm to her beauty.
Yuan Xi felt that his arm, which was resting under Zhen's head, was extremely sore, as if it had lost consciousness. He thought to himself that whoever said this posture was romantic should try it himself to see what it felt like to have his arm resting under his head all night.
However, it was also because Zhen Mi was extremely tired and did not turn over after falling asleep. Yuan Xi was recalling the aftertaste of last night until the sky brightened and the morning light shone in through the window, covering their faces.
The warm sunlight made Zhen Mi react. She finally moaned and slowly opened her eyes.
Zhen Mi raised her head slightly, and their eyes met. Her face turned red instantly, and she whimpered and retreated back into Yuan Xi's arms.
Yuan Xi took the opportunity to pull his hand back and put his arm around Zhen Mi's shoulders. Zhen Mi's body trembled and she said in an inaudible voice, "Sure enough, not everything is written in the book."
"My husband was so scary last night."
Yuan Xi was speechless. He drank too much last night and seemed to be acting like a beast.
Zhen Mi seemed to suddenly remember something, looked at the sky, and said in a lost voice: "Today I have to attend the ceremony of becoming a wife, and I have to meet my uncle and aunt. I was too sleepy and ruined everything!"
Yuan Xi thought to himself, what uncle and aunt? They are just the tablets of Yuan Ji and his wife. I forgive you on their behalf.
However, he had to save face, so he had to let Zhen Mi get up and put on her clothes. From behind, her slender, white back was clearly visible, and Yuan Xi almost couldn't control himself.
Zhen Mi put on three layers of inner clothes and got off the bed. She went to the box beside the bed to look for the skirt she wanted to wear. However, as soon as her toes touched the ground, her legs went limp and Yuan Xi hurriedly supported her.
Zhen Mi fell into Yuan Xi's arms, turned her head and glanced at Yuan Xi with resentment. Yuan Xi was sweating and said hurriedly: "I will be gentler next time."
Zhen Mi blushed, stood up, opened the box, and took out a set of ruqun.
The upper part of this skirt is a vermilion cross-collared short skirt, and the lower part is a moon-blue waisted long skirt that reaches the ground. The waist is tied with layers of silk ribbons in the middle, which makes Zhen Mi's figure extremely graceful.
When Yuan Xi saw Zhen Mi struggling to put on the silk stockings on her jade feet and bending over with difficulty to put on her silk shoes, he naturally leaned over to help.
Zhen Mi retracted her foot and blushed, "Is this something a husband should do?"
Yuan Xi realized that women of this era were not used to this practice, and asked, "Did you send all your maids to serve Huan? Did you not keep any for yourself?"
Zhen Mi finally put on her silk shoes, then raised her head and said, "I have asked about my husband's affairs."
"It is said that the two concubines of my husband will also serve as maids. How dare I bring more people to serve, so as not to ruin my husband's reputation."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "Does my behavior seem to be a way of seeking fame?"
Zhen Mi smiled and said, "I don't think my husband is pretending."
Yuan Xi became interested, "Why?"
Zhen Mi whispered, "My husband's hands have a lot of calluses. He must have suffered a lot."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi sighed and said, "Indeed, whether it is practicing martial arts or doing farm work, it is very hard."
"My situation is still considered good. In places like Beixincheng where there is a shortage of farm tools, many farmers who have been working on the land for years have cuts all over their hands, and even their nails are broken."
"If possible, you can go with me to have a look then."
After hearing this, Zhen Mi responded, "I will definitely do it."
Zhen Mi sat in front of the bronze mirror and watched Yuan Xi drawing her eyebrows. She then inserted a tortoise-shell comb, yellow hairpins, hairpins, hairpins with flowers and other ornaments into her hair, and then put on earrings and a waist pendant.
Looking at the intricate ornaments, Yuan Xi thought that although clothing, jewelry, and decorative items had undergone tremendous changes over the past thousands of years, the only thing that had not changed was the amount of time women spent putting on makeup.
After they finished packing, they went out hand in hand. Wu Zhao and Cao Xian were already waiting outside the door.
Cao Xian asked, "My lord and his wife, are you all dressed up?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Everything is fine. Thank you for waiting."
He turned to Wu Zhao and said, "From today on, you should change your name back to Cai Yan Cai Zhaoji."
After hearing this, Cai Yan nodded slightly, feeling mixed emotions.
Yuan Xi took Zhen Mi to worship Yuan Ji's tablet and completed the post-wedding ceremony. At this time, the two were considered a real couple.
The two men went to visit Huan again. At that time, Huan was holding Cao Hua and feeding her. When she heard the knock on the door, she quickly covered her clothes, asked Cao Jie to open the door, and welcomed the two men in.
Looking at the two people kneeling, Huan felt complicated.
Now she has become Bian Rang's widow again, adopted the girl from the Zhen family as her adopted daughter, and became Yuan Xi's aunt. However, her three daughters are still members of the Cao family. It has to be said that the relationship is a mess.
In a small house in the corner of the courtyard, Dong got up early and urged Guo Yi to practice calligraphy, while Guo Jia's two concubines were grinding ink and serving water.
Guo Jia sat up on the couch and was about to go to the table to pour wine. Dong said, "Drinking on an empty stomach is harmful to your health. My husband should drink a bowl of porridge first."
Upon hearing this, a concubine hurriedly washed her hands, scooped a bowl of porridge from the pot, and presented it to Guo Jia.
When Mrs. Dong saw that Guo Jia actually took a mouthful of porridge and a sip of wine, she was speechless. Why did Guo Jia's addiction to alcohol become more and more serious?
She said, "Husband, please take care of yourself."
Guo Jia shook his head and said, "You don't know, that damn place in Beixin City is too cold. I can't survive without drinking."
Dong said softly, "I heard that Master Xianyi hardly drinks."
Guo Jia said awkwardly: "How can I compare with him?"
"He doesn't look like a child of an aristocratic family at all."
Dong recalled the scene of the two fighting in the snow that day, and couldn't help but smile: "Indeed."
"But once the young master gets married, he will naturally have children. My husband doesn't need to worry that Guo Yi will become your son."
Guo Jia thought that this was just a woman's opinion, and maybe Guo Yi missed a great opportunity.
He took a sip of wine and said with a smile, "You have to work harder these nights and give me another child. If you miss this opportunity, I don't know when we will meet next time."
Dong's face flushed, and then she was shocked, "Why, are you going back to Beixin City again?"
"Young Master just got married, he will have to wait for at least three to five months, you are not in such a hurry, right?"
Guo Jia shook his head and said, "How is that possible? Youzhou is not peaceful right now. The situation is extremely chaotic. The young master has just been appointed as the governor, so he must be in a hurry to go back."
After hearing this, Mrs. Dong asked worriedly, "Another war?"
After hearing this, Guo Jia fell into deep thought. It's really hard to say.
Moreover, from Guo Jia's point of view, he did not agree with having such a close relationship with Liu He. He was a man of the Han Dynasty. How could he possibly help the prince's cause in the future?
However, when thinking about the situation in Youzhou, Guo Jia was also very worried. The Wuhuan, Xianbei and Gongsun Du all had strength that could not be underestimated. With Yuan Xi's current strength, he could not force his way in for the time being.
If Yuan Xi wanted to expand rapidly now, he had to rely on the power of Yuan Shang in Jizhou, especially the help of Chunyu Qiong who was stationed in Yijing.
The key point is that Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi are now at loggerheads, so it would be good if he doesn't hold them back. If they want him to help attack Yuyang and Guangyang counties north of Yijing, I'm afraid that even if he agrees, the conditions will be extremely harsh.
Guo Jia was depressed. Up to now, Yuan Xi only had him as his military advisor, and he had to do everything by himself!
Although Ju Shou was demoted to the position of military officer, he was still very arrogant and Guo Jia did not want him to surpass his own status.
Everyone has his or her own calculations, and top strategists are no exception. Yuan Xi naturally understands this.
He was used to seeing the eight counselors under Yuan Shao fighting each other. Now Guo Jia and Ju Shou were both his subordinates, but Yuan Xi had no idea how to make them cooperate sincerely in the future.
However, unlike what Guo Jia had expected, Yuan Xi did not rush back to Beixin City. Instead, he took advantage of this opportunity to take Zhen Mi to visit the major families in Yecheng. Yuan Xi went to meet the heads of the families, and Zhen Mi went to meet the ladies and maids.
It is necessary to return the gifts when meeting, after all, these nobles sent people to send gifts to him when he got married.
But compared to the return gifts to the host, the gifts that Zhen Mi gave privately to the ladies were the bulk of the money. Yuan Xi spent a lot of money this time, and even Zhen Mi's eyes widened when she saw the gift list.
At that time, Han women were open-minded and the ladies of the gentry were very fond of new things.
The new and novel things that are popular in Jizhou all come from outside trade routes, one is the Western Regions, the second is Annan and Siam, and the third is the coastal trade routes.
This was the overseas goods that Yuan Xi exchanged for some of the wealth he had previously robbed from Cao Song, which were of considerable value.
Zhen Fu looked at the gift list and asked, "Isn't it a little too expensive?"
Yuan Xi said: "It is indeed a bit wasteful, but these things cannot be exchanged for food, so using them to open up the joints is also a good use of them."
Yecheng will also be crucial in the future. If we can win the favor of the gentry, it will be worth it even if only one or two useful pieces of information come out.
What the two of them gave today was the most valuable one.
Because the person they wanted to see was Yuan Shao.
When the two men met Yuan Shao, he was alone in his study.
The maid welcomed the two in. Yuan Xi led Zhen Mi to kneel and said, "Thank you for the gift the other day. Today, Xi is grateful for your kindness and has come to express his gratitude."
After hearing this, Yuan Shao said calmly: "No need to be so polite. Now you are the head of a branch family, you can be on an equal footing with me. Xiansi and Xianfu should all show respect to the younger generation."
Yuan Xi lowered his head quickly and said, "I dare not. I will follow your orders."
Zhen Mi lowered her head and listened to the awkward conversation between the father and son. She always felt that the two were trying hard to hide something.
Yuan Xi added, "My sister... Miss Yuan Xing and Xi are no longer siblings, so it is difficult for them to meet. Please ask my wife to greet you on my behalf."
Yuan Shao nodded and said, "Yes."
At that moment, a maid came in and led Zhen Mi away. Zhen Mi knew that Yuan Xi had something to say in private, so she said goodbye to Yuan Shao and left.
When Yuan Xi saw Zhen Mi leaving, he said straight to the point, "Xi came here to ask you something else."
When he saw Yuan Shao nod, he said, "I came here this time to ask for Miss Yuan Xing to marry Zhao Zilong, my general."
When Yuan Shao heard this, he said firmly, "No."
He then said, "I heard that Zhao Yun is a brave general, but firstly, he is a general who is good at charging into battle, so his life or death is unpredictable. Secondly, his family background is not high, so it is difficult for him to be a match for Yuan."
"If she wants to marry, her family must be at least a noble family with a hereditary grain of 2,000 koku."
Yuan Xi thought that it was not going to be that easy, but he still wanted to try, so he said: "A hero is not judged by his origin. Even Emperor Gaozu was born in a humble family. Marquis Huaiyin (Han Xin) started out as a commoner. Grand Marshal and General Wei Qing was once a horseman. Among the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai, how many were from noble families?"