Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1431 Temptation
When Yuan Xi walked into the yard, he saw ladies Lu Lingqi, Cai Zhaoji and others holding children and waiting on the ground. When they saw Yuan Xi coming, they all bowed and saluted.

Yuan Xi said, "Madams, there is no need to be so polite."

He saw Cai Zhaoji and Cao Xian holding the young children, both boys and girls, the oldest was five or six years old, the youngest was only one or two years old, and they could barely stand. He couldn't help but feel mixed emotions. He walked over, squatted down, touched their heads, and said to the girls, "I have been away for the past few years. My face must be unfamiliar to them."

"I'm really incompetent when it comes to being a parent."

After hearing this, the ladies all consoled him, saying, "Your Majesty is busy with state affairs and has a myriad of affairs to attend to. This is what everyone in the world expects of you. It is our responsibility to raise the children in the inner house."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said to Lu Lingqi, "It's fine if they say that, but you are the most lively and lively person, and you can't stay at home. Why have you been so obedient in the past few years?"

Lu Lingqi is now in her twenties. The childish look on her face in the past few years has completely disappeared, replaced by a calm and peaceful look. She smiled and said, "Since I had a child, I have gradually cultivated my mind and temper in the process of raising him. I am indeed not as impetuous as before."

Yuan Xi stroked his chin and said jokingly, "What a pity. I always thought you were very cute back then."

Lu Lingqi couldn't help laughing, "Your Majesty just likes young girls, right?"

She unconsciously glanced at Cao Jie who was hiding behind Cao Xian. Cao Jie quickly shrank back when he met her gaze. Yuan Xi seemed to notice this and quickly changed the subject, saying to Lu Lingqi, "It's fine no matter what the Madam becomes."

"I've been busy with official duties for most of the day and haven't had a bite to eat yet."

The ladies quickly responded, "It has already been prepared and we are just waiting for Your Majesty."

They hurriedly led Yuan Xi into the house. To be honest, Yuan Xi's palace, which was converted from an old house, might be the smallest and most shabby one among the three cities. Many houses were not big, and the room where more than a dozen people were eating now seemed a bit crowded.

But in Yuan Xi's opinion, this somewhat chaotic and noisy scene is more down-to-earth and more like a home than the empty huge hall.

During the banquet, all the younger sons came up to toast and congratulate. Yuan Xi's alcohol tolerance had improved a little over the years, and the sake he drank was of very low alcohol content, so he was so happy that he unconsciously drank a few more glasses.

Seeing that Yuan Xi's body was a little shaky, the girls did not dare to persuade him anymore. Yuan Xi was indeed in higher spirits and simply pulled Lu Lingqi and Cao Xian, who were the most relaxed, to play drinking games with him.

Before he knew it, he felt dizzy and his eyelids began to twitch, which meant he had drunk too much. He could hardly stand up, and the girls saw this and helped him to the inner room to sleep.

At that time, Yuan Xi was already an emperor and slept alone in a room. When the women saw that Yuan Xi was drowsy, they chose people to take turns to keep watch at night, and then they all dispersed.

The moon was at its zenith when Yuan Xi sobered up. He had been busy with military affairs over the years and slept too much, so he would wake up naturally. In addition, the alcohol made his stomach churn, so he stood up and sat up.

His movement startled Mrs. Feng, who was on duty beside the bed. She quickly got up, lit a lamp, picked up the kettle beside her, and poured a bowl of warm water for Yuan Xi to sober him up.

Yuan Xi took it and drank it, then he felt better. He said to Madam Feng, "It's great that you still remember that I like to drink warm water to sober up."

Madam Feng smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I remember everything very clearly."

Yuan Xi put the tea bowl aside and said, "I don't have anything to do. I don't need you to keep watch."

Madam Feng said, "All the ladies are very concerned about your Majesty's health, and they all came here just now. However, I saw that they all had children to take care of, so I persuaded them to go back."

Yuan Xi just realized that most of his wives were now in Jicheng. Among these ladies, including the marquis' wife, all gave birth to Yuan Xi's children. Only Feng had never told him about it because she had rarely met Yuan Xi.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi felt a little guilty. He reached out and held Mrs. Feng's hand and said, "It has not been easy for you over the years."

"If I hadn't attacked and destroyed Yuan Shu, maybe you would still be the queen."

Madam Feng shook her head and said, "I can see clearly that that person was the enemy of the whole world. If it wasn't Your Majesty, there would be someone else."

"Moreover, the world said that it was a battle between the two Yuans, but in fact, that person was far inferior to Lord Benchu. From Cao Mengde to Sun Bofu, and then to Liu Xuande, almost all of them lost, not to mention Your Majesty."

"But when Shouchun was conquered, I really didn't expect that I would have such a fate with Your Majesty."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Compared to marrying a general as his principal wife, being my wife is a shame, isn't it?"

Madam Feng smiled and said, "The principal wife has so many things to do, I can't bear it, it's better to be free and easy now."

"When that man was destroyed, I was hated by others. If it weren't for your majesty's rescue, I would have died." "Now all I want is to live the rest of my life in peace. Your majesty's harem is extremely peaceful. There is no intrigue or infighting. It is really a good place to live in seclusion."

Hearing what Feng said, Yuan Xi couldn't help but laugh, "According to what you said, my inner house has become a place for you to hide away from the world?"

Feng smiled mischievously, "Why, Your Majesty, do you regret finding such a lazy person like me?"

Yuan Xi pulled Feng into his arms and said viciously, "I don't keep idle people here. I have to find something for you to do."

"Other ladies have children, but you want to stay out of it. That's not okay. I'll give you one right now."

Feng's eyes moved, and she looked charming. "Then it depends on whether Your Majesty has the ability to do it."

As the days passed, with the spring breeze blowing across the grasslands outside the Great Wall, all things regained their vitality. The Xianbei tribe, who had barely survived the harsh winter, took the time to recover their strength and prepare to seize the initiative in the next grassland battle.

It has been more than a year since Kobineng was assassinated, the million-strong army was defeated in Dai County, and hundreds of thousands of Xianbei people fled to the plains outside the Great Wall. The situation on the grassland has once again undergone earth-shaking changes.

Some tribes, facing food shortage and imminent destruction, had no choice but to seek refuge with the Eastern and Western Xianbei and join their tribes in order to seek protection.

There were also tribes that were unwilling to live under the protection of others and had high aspirations. They wanted to maintain the traditions of the Zhong Xianbei, and some were even more ambitious and intended to succeed Kebinen's throne. So after these tribes returned to the outside of the Great Wall, they immediately began a life-and-death struggle for annexation and conflict.

They constantly absorbed small tribes that were unable to resist to strengthen themselves, and at the same time attacked hostile forces that were at odds with them. Brutal fights and even large-scale fires occurred from time to time, and the grassland was in chaos.

Among these, of course, there were the ambitions of the clan leaders, but there were also various forces including Yuan Xi who fanned the flames, with the aim of causing the Xianbei to kill each other and waste their energy.

There is nothing wrong with this idea, but Yuan Xi and his advisers ignored the driving force brought by the wave of tribal annexation and the deterrent effect of the already strong tribes on other tribes.

With the formation of several powerful forces within the tribes, the speed of expansion and annexation of these tribes became faster and faster, and behind them there were extremely powerful driving forces.

Several major forces of the Eastern and Western Xianbei also participated in it, wanting to get a piece of the pie, and even take the food and the pots away. Although they seemed to be confronting each other on the surface, they were actually cultivating their own strength by avoiding conflicts.

This cruel environment for breeding Gu gave birth to several tribes that posed great threats and were secretly supported by someone behind the scenes. Of course, they did not know each other's true background. Due to various concerns, the major forces on the grassland did not engage in an all-out war, and even had the desire to compromise and cooperate.

This was not an ideal situation for Yuan Xi who was in Jicheng. What he wanted to see was that the tribes would fight to a standstill so that both sides could suffer heavy losses and the State of Jin could enter the grassland and settle the matter once and for all.

In fact, on the grassland, some tribes were secretly supported by the State of Jin, and the situation changed hands several times, so that most people in this tribe always thought that it was the Yuwen tribe that supported them.

Behind other tribes stood the powerful Xianbei forces. They not only received support in terms of food and supplies, but also received some of the equipment and weapons that had been eliminated by the Jin State.

But here Yuan Xi made a second misjudgment. The Xianbei people used weapons that had been eliminated by the Jin State, but achieved extremely obvious results. Many tribes surrendered without even resisting.

The greatly accelerated pace of grassland annexation also made Yuan Xi realize the danger of the situation getting out of control. He also couldn't guarantee how Budugen would react when the news of his trying to win over the Eastern Xianbei and annex the Central Xianbei tribe reached him.

Budugen had been badly corrupted by Yuan Xi's sugar-coated bullets in recent years, but he also had his ancestral ambitions. However, the Western Xianbei had suffered losses at the hands of Yuan Xi before, which caused serious damage to their vitality. Seeing that this great opportunity was missed, Budugen became anxious and quickly sent people to discuss cooperation with the State of Jin to divide the Central Xianbei tribe.

He never thought that Yuan Xi had already made plans ahead of him. Seeing that Yaoguo was unmoved by the conditions he proposed, he had to reluctantly make concessions.

But who is Yuan Xi? He had a clear goal from the beginning. In the future, not only will there be no Central Xianbei on the grassland, but there will be no Eastern Xianbei either. They can join the Jin State as a tribe, but the country will never give their tribe a chance to revive.

Yuan Xi tried every possible means to make the several groups of people who raised Gu from the grassland kill each other, and then take advantage of the opportunity to swoop in and nip this dangerous trend in the bud.

During this process, Yuan Xi had to guard against himself at all times, so as to prevent the emergence of forces on the grassland like the Jurchens and Later Jin in later generations, which would become too powerful to be eliminated and in turn threaten the survival of the Central Plains.

After much consideration, Yuan Xi finally used his trump card against each tribe.

It was announced that a new Xianbei king could be born on the grassland, and the State of Jin would enthrone the vassal king in the name of the emperor, and would remain friends with him forever, while also providing a lot of support and assistance.

Compared with the benefits he gained, what the new king paid was extremely simple, which was to expand the territory to the north. Whoever conquered the farthest would be more qualified to be enfeoffed.

(End of this chapter)