Mi Zhen turned a nonchalant look and asked what happened without leaving any trace. Mi Zhu was upset at this time and explained a few words casually, looking absent-minded.
Mi Zhen's heart was in turmoil. Yuan Xi actually came to Tancheng?
As Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi deliberately blocked the news of Liu Bei's recapture of Xuzhou, only a few confidants on Liu Bei's side, such as Mi Fang, knew the inside story, so Mi Zhen only learned some fragments of the matter at this moment.
Mi Zhu said that after their conversation in the morning, Yuan Xi specifically mentioned to him that because Guangling had changed its owner, he would visit the Mi family again to discuss the redivision of maritime trade routes.
Mi Zhu was already the deputy governor of Xuzhou and had donated most of his property. He was becoming less and less interested in the trade route, so he dealt with it with just a few words. Mi Zhen, on the other hand, was excited. Wasn't it possible for her to see him again?
She grew up in the Mi family. As she grew older, her appearance became more and more beautiful, and her reputation gradually spread. The young scholars who came to visit the Mi family were all shocked when they saw her, and their flattery was overflowing.
Mi Zhen had long been accustomed to the fiery gazes of scholars, so when she met Yuan Xi, who treated her indifferently, she found that he was completely different from others.
Moreover, Mi Zhen saw in the other person's eyes a calmness as peaceful as the sky and the sea, without any of the burning desire in the eyes that other people saw when they looked at her.
Mi Zhen couldn't help but become interested. Was the other party being mysterious, or trying hard to cover it up, or was he really not interested in her at all?
In fact, Mi Zhen didn't know that it was not entirely untrue to say that Yuan Xi did not appreciate her appearance at all. It was just that Yuan Xi was thinking about how to open up a sea route at that time, so when he treated Mi Zhen, he did not behave as inappropriately as other people did.
Moreover, given his character, he would never be greedy and lose the big picture, and would not disrupt important future plans for a woman. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, and aroused Mi Zhen's interest in him.
After Yuan Xi left, Mi Zhen began to inquire indirectly about what Yuan Xi had done, and found out that at such a young age, he had already earned the reputation of being a fierce tiger and was already a leader among his peers.
But this is only relative to people of the same age. Compared with the princes at that time, he is still too young. It may take him many more years of accumulation before he can be compared with people like Liu Bei and Tao Qian.
However, what happened next was far beyond Mi Zhen's expectations. Yuan Xi defeated the Black Mountain Army in succession, destroyed Gongsun Zan, was appointed Governor of Youzhou, and became a local lord with a similar status to Liu Bei. He was like a tiger out of the cage and became famous throughout the world.
This time he saved Xuzhou from danger. Mi Zhen thought that his reputation would become even more famous after the news got out.
But when the news of Yuan Xi's marriage came, Mi Zhen didn't know why, but her heart seemed empty. Moreover, she heard that the new bride was extremely beautiful. She thought to herself, could it be that the other party simply looked down on her?
Moreover, according to rumors, Yuan Xi also took in Gongsun Zan's widow, which left Mi Zhen dumbfounded. Is this considered lustful?
Am I not even as good as a widow?
Mi Zhen was in a very complicated mood. On the one hand, she was looking forward to Yuan Xi's visit, but on the other hand, she felt even more uncomfortable. What would be the problem if she met him?
Mi Zhu didn't know what Mi Zhen was thinking. He was confused and was waiting for Mi Fang to come back to discuss things, but Mi Fang had disappeared!
Mi Zhu and Mi Zhen both had something on their minds, so they just sat there in silence. They didn't know how long it had been before Mi Fang came in excitedly.
Mi Zhu got angry when he saw it. "There have been a lot of things going on in the Mi family these days. Where have you been?"
Mi Fang heard this and asked, "Brother, is there something wrong?"
"I went to Chen's house."
Mi Zhu heard this and cried out, "What are you doing at Chen's house?"
"Every move you make at this time will arouse suspicion. How dare you go to a place like the Chen family?"
Mi Fang said nonchalantly: "I am now a state official. Why can't I go to Chen's house to congratulate Chen Deng?"
He said mysteriously: "And I am just getting ahead of the others to get some benefits for the Mi family."
"Chen Deng is going to Guangling to be the governor. Many of the Chen family's children will follow him. They will definitely need to spend money to build houses and purchase land."
"In this way, the Chen family won't need as much land and property in Xia Pi. They have good farmland, and we still have a lot of wealth left. It's a good opportunity to buy them so that they won't be taken advantage of by others!"
"So as soon as the morning work was over, I saw Chen Deng coming home, so I went to his house and discussed a lot of things with him!"
"Am I amazing?"
Seeing Mi Fang's smug look, Mi Zhu was furious. "Second brother, you have already taken this position, why are you still doing things with a businessman's mindset!"
"Do you know that doing this at this time will cause criticism?"
Mi Fang was not convinced after hearing this and said, "Why are you criticizing us? If we don't buy it, others will buy it too, right?"
Mi Zhu said angrily, "Second brother, when will you finally wake up?"
"Yuanlong has already lost his power. Do you think he wants to leave Xiapi?"
"Our Mi family and Chen family are originally from the same family. Moreover, we have been criticized for this matter in Xuzhou. We should have kept our heads down and behaved ourselves!"
"You also saw that Yuanlong openly surrendered to Yuan Xi today. The lord must be unhappy. Now that Yuanlong is gone, our Mi family will be the target of public criticism!"
"We can't do it alone, so we should give some benefits to other subordinates of the lord, but you still want to buy land and snatch the good things they have set their eyes on!"
"Tell me, have you lost your mind?"
Mi Fang then slowly came to his senses and lowered his head in silence.
He said in a hoarse voice: "Brother, that's what you said, but Yuan Xi used the sea trade route to tie the Mi family to him. How does the lord view us?"
Mi Zhu sighed, "You finally figured it out a little bit. Yuan Xi is a very evil person!"
"Unless we don't want to stay in Xuzhou anymore, we have to find a way to cut off our relationship with him!"
Mi Zhen listened to her two brothers arguing, and finally she began to understand.
Her face turned slightly pale. It turned out that Yuan Xi had such intentions?
At that time, he came to the Mi Mansion to discuss cooperation, and he was quite happy. After all this fuss, he was just taking advantage of the Mi family?
What about yourself?
In the other party's eyes, am I just a fool who is easily deceived?
Mi Zhen suddenly laughed at herself. What was there to be cheated about? The other party hadn't promised anything from the beginning to the end, right?
She felt a little cold in her heart. Whether it was doing business or being an official, there was always intrigue. The reality was so cruel, and she still had too many beautiful fantasies.
But who can escape? I heard that Liu Bei's wife and concubine Gan disliked each other and fought openly and secretly. If I really wanted to marry them at that time, wouldn't I be drawn into this vortex?
Yuan Xi sent Liu Bei's wife back, ruining my marriage. Should I thank him or hate him?
Just when the Mi family was getting anxious about Yuan Xi's visit, Yuan Xi had already arrived at the Chen family.
As soon as he entered the room, Chen Deng was already waiting there. There were two old men sitting at the main seat and the guest seat respectively. After Chen Deng introduced them, they turned out to be Chen Deng's father Chen Gui and Hua Tuo.
Yuan Xi first said to Chen Gui respectfully: "Xi greets Mr. Han Yu."
He thought that judging from the handwriting, he must be a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. The ancients attached great importance to their own handwriting and often used it as a reflection of their philosophy of life.
No wonder that after Chen Deng and his son defected to Cao Cao in later generations, they were initially taken seriously, but were later gradually marginalized until they disappeared from history books.
It will take some effort to get this father and son to be completely loyal.
The old man sitting at the top was Chen Deng's father, Chen Gui, who was selected as a filial and honest official. He once served as the magistrate of Beihai County in Qingzhou, but later resigned. The Chen family was also a prominent family. It was said that Chen Gui had been friends with Yuan Shu since he was a child.
It is natural for others, including Liu Bei, to have concerns about the Chen family and even Chen Deng. Xuzhou borders Yangzhou, so who knows whether the Chen family will become Yuan Shu's accomplice?
Only Yuan Xi, who knew the history of later generations, dared to use this father and son with confidence.
Because Yuan Xi knew that when Yuan Shu usurped the throne, he tried to recruit Chen Gui and threatened him with Chen Gui's two sons, but was directly rejected by Chen Gui.
Afterwards, Chen Gui personally persuaded Lu Bu to destroy the marriage between Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, and then used a trick to alienate Han Xian and Yang Feng, and defeated Yuan Shu's army. He can be regarded as Yuan Shu's nemesis.
That was why Yuan Xi dared to recruit Chen and let Chen Deng govern Guangling.
Chen Gui quickly stood up and returned the greeting, saying, "I have done nothing, and I am ashamed to receive such a generous gift from you, my Lord."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "No way, the old gentleman was able to teach a talent like Mr. Yuan Long, which is worthy of my respect."
Chen Gui was surprised and asked, "My son is just a lieutenant of agriculture, how can he be called a talent?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Someone told me that Mr. Yuanlong will go down in history."
Chen Gui thought Yuan Xi was joking, but Hua Tuo, who was standing next to him, said, "I heard from Yuan Long that you once met a stargazer who told you about Yuan Long's hidden disease?"
After Hua Tuo said this, Chen Gui and his son Chen Deng listened attentively. After all, this matter was too unbelievable.
At that time, there were several famous fortune tellers in the world, but I have never heard of anyone who could determine a person's fortune or misfortune through the astrology without seeing his real face. Doesn't this mean he has gained a glimpse into the way of heaven?
Yuan Xi laughed, "This person does exist, but he is a dragon god that is hard to find. I have only seen him once."
Hua Tuo asked, "Does this person have a name?"
Yuan Xi could only say: "I only know his name, Hidden Tiger."
Chen Gui's eyes gleamed, "But is it the Hidden Tiger who offered advice to Marquis Wen and almost pushed Cao Mengde into a dead end?"
Yuan Xi was stunned and wondered how Chen Gui knew this inside story?
This seemingly honest old man is not simple.
He had to cover up and said, "I only know that this person can observe celestial phenomena. As for what he did, I don't really understand."
Chen Gui naturally didn't believe it.
If the fierce tiger and the hidden tiger were not familiar with each other, how could they discuss Chen Deng's illness who was thousands of miles away?
At that time, Chen Deng and Yuan Xi didn't know each other at all!
There must be a reason!
Yuan Xi's name, Xionghu, is so similar to Yinhu. Yuan Xi also has a name that fulfills the prophecy. Is it that Yinhu observed the stars and thought that Xionghu has the aura of an emperor, so he assisted him?
If you think about it this way, this ferocious tiger came thousands of miles to save Chen Deng's life and entrusted him with an important task. Is Chen Deng also the key person in the prophecy?
Is it true that the Han Dynasty has run out of luck?
If Yuan Xi knew that Chen Gui had made up so many things in his mind, he would definitely vomit three liters of blood.
Sometimes things may reach an ideal result, but in fact they take a completely different path than expected.
This is the unpredictable nature of life.