Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1334 Bottom Line
The sound of firecrackers popped. Now that the Spring Festival is approaching in Chang'an city, there is a rare festive and peaceful atmosphere in Cao Wei's mansions and thatched huts. Every household burns bamboos at the door to welcome the spring, making Chang'an city shrouded in smoke, like a fairyland in the clouds.

Although Cao Wei suffered successive defeats in the past two years, resulting in the Spring Festival in the 13th year of Jian'an and the 2nd year of Huangchu not being celebrated with such fanfare, the worship exchanges between the gentry became more frequent at the turn of the year.

Sima Yi, the current military advisor general, minister of state, and general of the army, is naturally a hot figure. Although everyone with a discerning eye knows that he has suffered a lot of suppression, there are still many people who are very optimistic about his prospects.

It’s simple, Sima Yi is too young.

Now he is less than 30 years old, but he has already reached a position that many people cannot reach in their entire lives.

Although he was also criticized privately for his poor personal ethics, such as keeping death squads, but in fact, in this era, only a very small number of nobles did not have private soldiers. Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu of Jiangdong even had tens of thousands of private soldiers during their lifetime. There were many generals of Cao Wei who kept thousands of private soldiers. In comparison, hundreds of death squads were nothing.

Moreover, in the past few years, Sima Yi has proved on his own that he may be the only candidate who can fight against Jin in the future. For such a person, Wei may suppress him a little to prevent his power from becoming too great, but it will never cut off its own arms. If Wei is destroyed by Jin, it will be a real loss of the big for the small.

Therefore, Cao Wei officials now predicted that as long as the Wei Kingdom was not destroyed, Sima Yi would be at the forefront of the court in the next 20 years. So at the turn of the year, Sima Yi's mansion was crowded with people and officials from the gentry came and went continuously.

But today they all returned disappointed, because Menzi said that Sima Yi had gone to visit his father and was not at home today.

While the officials were leaving with sighs, Sima Yi was talking contentedly with his new bride in the inner room of the mansion.

Half a year ago, Wei State moved its capital. Sima Yi escorted the Cao Wei clan all the way back to Chang'an. At the same time, he was appointed to be responsible for repairing the palace. He no longer led troops to fight. The leading generals of the outer defense line became people like Xiahou Shang and Li Dian.

Sima Yi was calm and even took the opportunity to arrange his marriage.

He is now 28 or 29 years old, which is considered very late for marriage. Although there are many people who propose marriage to him, he has been stuck in the military camp for the past few years, so the marriage has been delayed.

Of course, some people also say that Sima Yi is now in a high position and has great power, so naturally he has higher standards, and there are fewer and fewer families that can match him. Some people even suspect that Sima Yi wants to marry a woman from the royal family.

However, when Sima Yi got married a few months ago, when the officials in Chang'an learned the identity of Sima Yi's new wife, they almost couldn't believe their ears.

Sima Yi married Zhang, the daughter of the magistrate of Suli County in Henei County, Sili. In terms of status, the Zhang family was at most a good family, not even qualified to be a member of a poor family!
As for the relationship between Zhang and Sima, it may be that they were both from Henei County and had a long-standing friendship. Many people suspected that this was a marriage arranged by Sima Yi since he was a child, so even though there was a huge gap in the family wealth between the two sides, Sima Yi still completed the marriage as planned.

Many of the nobles who wanted to marry their daughters to Sima Yi were disappointed, thinking that it was better to do it early than to do it later. Zhang was really lucky!

Now Sima Yi helped his new wife Zhang Chunhua to sit down slowly, unable to hide the joy on his face, "Madam, be careful of the miscarriage."

Zhang Chunhua smiled and said, "Don't worry, my husband. I'm not that precious."

"Many of the people who come to visit are friends of your husband. Is there anything wrong with turning them away?"

Sima Yi said with full concern: "My refusal to see anyone now may not be a bad thing for them."

"I'm sure there are spies from the school government watching every corner of our house."

Zhang Chunhua said angrily, "If I wasn't afraid of causing trouble for my husband, I would have pulled the bolt and beaten them one by one."

Sima Yi laughed and said, "Madam, you have been famous for your talent and virtue since you were young, but few people know that you are also very good at boxing and kicking."

"I remember when I first met Madam, she was just a young girl, and her eyes were shining brightly, which showed that she would be extraordinary in the future."

Zhang Chunhua was touched when she heard this, "I'm so glad that my husband still remembers that scene."

"In fact, I almost gave up. Three years after I came of age, my husband became famous all over the world. Zhang knew that we were no longer a good match and wanted to break off the engagement several times, but my husband insisted on marrying me."

Sima Yi smiled and said, "Since we made a promise, we must fulfill it."

"Besides, in terms of being well-matched, there are only a few in Wei who can match me. And if I marry her, I'm afraid it will only bring me trouble and unrest in my family. It's better to be at peace now."

Zhang Chunhua said: "Although my husband is not the most powerful official in the country, he is already far superior to his peers. There are not many people ahead of him. Are you trying to hide your shortcomings and keep a low profile?"

Sima Yi nodded and said, "That's right. If we go any further, we will end up at the abyss. It would be better to let those who want to leave do so."

"Besides, Jin State will not make any major moves in the next few years, so we can live a peaceful life for a few years."

Zhang Chunhua asked curiously, "I have heard a lot about the King of Jin. He has been fighting for ten years without stopping. If it is true as my husband said, is there something wrong with his health?"

Sima Yi shook his head and said, "That's not the case. It's just that the situation in Jin is already determined. It would be more troublesome for him to send troops on a long expedition."

"The territory of Jin is larger than that of Wei, and the land is more fertile than that of Wei. What the King of Jin needs to do now is to develop the territory step by step. Naturally, he can rely on his strong strength to drag Wei to death." Zhang Chunhua worriedly said, "If Wei is destroyed, won't we also..."

Sima Yi said nonchalantly: "The King of Jin was extremely cruel when facing the enemy on the battlefield, but after the battle, he did not retaliate against the enemy's arrival."

"Look, even the son of the previous emperor is living well in the north, not to mention others. Even Sun Quan, who caused him a lot of trouble several times, was only exiled to the north."

"So in the past few years, I have been happy to live a leisurely life. What's the point of fighting for life and death? I hope that the world will be peaceful as soon as possible."

"As for the King of Jin, he is in good health. At least he is much better than the one now. I heard that he fainted briefly the other day after eating two kilograms of maltose..."

He realized that he had said something out of turn, so he stopped talking, but in his heart he already vaguely understood why Cao Cao's health had inexplicably deteriorated in the last few years of his life.

Thinking of this, he smiled and said, "What I like most is that Madam lives a simple life and can be content with simple meals. This suits me best."

"It is said that the Prince of Jin also has a simple harem, and his concubines do everything themselves. People say that he is good at observing the stars and calculating, and has inherited the true teachings of the Taiping Dao. Although these are rumors, they may not be without reason. At least he has come to where he is today, so he must have some merits. We can emulate him."

"As for the extravagant and lavish lives of the nobles who are always consuming molasses and five stone powder, let them enjoy them. We should live frugally, which is the way to longevity."

Sima Yi guessed some truths unknowingly. Of course, all this was just a coincidence.

And he also had some guesses. For example, Yuan Xi was now rubbing his sore lower back, looking at the person beside him with lingering fear. Mrs. Cai was naked, curled up in the quilt and sleeping soundly.

As for how the two got together, Yuan Xi could only say that after he became emperor, his bottom line had been lowered a lot. Anyway, one was intentional in collusion, and the other accepted anyone who came. The two hit it off immediately, and after a few days, they became what they are now.

Yuan Xi could even guess that his affair with Madam Cai must have been discovered by his personal servant Bu Lianshi. After all, how could such a thing be concealed?
He suddenly felt a headache. There were so many ladies in the harem, but he still couldn't stand the test. Was he too bold, or was he just a bad person?

Thinking that Mrs. Cai would take the opportunity to ask him to take her away, Yuan Xi became more depressed. Would this be considered heartless after sleeping with him?
Moreover, Madam Cai was the widow of Liu Biao, and Liu He and Yuan Shao were of the same generation. Would this be considered giving to Liu Biao...

At this moment, Mrs. Cai noticed the movement around her and slowly opened her eyes.

What caught her eyes was Yuan Xi's complicated face. Mrs. Cai understood what was going on as soon as she saw it, and said, "Your Majesty, you don't have to promise, and I won't say a word."

"I am just lonely. When I leave, I will be like a stranger to the king."

After she said that, Yuan Xi felt a little guilty, "Madam, are you trying to comfort me?"

Mrs. Cai laughed and asked, "What are you trying to comfort?"

"What do you think I am after?"

"When I married my late husband, he was already over fifty years old. I had just reached the age of marriage at that time. It has been nearly fifteen years now."

"Although they gave birth to a son, husband and wife only have sex a few times a year. It's really ridiculous that they only had sex last night."

"After all these years, I have done my best to serve my late husband. I am just a lewd person by nature. Your Majesty, don't think too much about it."

Mrs. Cai was so frank that Yuan Xi was speechless for a moment. He was stunned for a long time before he smiled bitterly and said, "Madam... you are quite open-minded."

"It's a pity. With Madam's abilities and means, she could have made a difference no matter she was in Jin, Wei, or Hannan, Wu. But she had to be in Jingzhou."

"The nobles in Jingzhou have been living in comfort for a long time. They have not been forced to face the life and death and bloodshed of other places, so they can only become pawns on the chessboard. Even though Madam has been able to make great efforts, she is still constrained by the general situation. It is really bad luck."

Madam Cai shook her head and said self-deprecatingly: "I have been through so many things, I no longer have any ambitions. I just want to live the rest of my life in peace."

"Even if I was born in the Central Plains, who can guarantee that I won't become someone else's plaything?"

"It's good like this now. Dong'an is a quiet place. There is no intrigue among officials like in Jingzhou. I will be satisfied as long as I can raise Cong'er."

Yuan Xi sighed: "It's good that you think so."

"I will be leaving in a few days. Take care of yourself and you can write to me anytime."

As he was speaking, Madam Cai pressed against his back and said, "It is still early. I don't think about the future, I only focus on the present."

(End of this chapter)