Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1447 Visit
Huang Yueying finished speaking, but she saw Yuan lowering her head, and then she reacted and said, "I'm not talking about you, but this dish is not easy to prepare, and I'm afraid my husband won't be home early today, so let's eat first."

Zhuge Liang's elder sister said absentmindedly, "Speaking of this His Majesty, we three once met him when we were fleeing in Xuzhou."

The second sister also nodded and sighed, "Yes, how many years has it been?"

"Fifteen years? Or seventeen years?"

"I didn't expect that so much time had passed in a blink of an eye. It's really sad."

Huang Yueying and Yuan's curiosity was also aroused, and they asked in unison: "Sister has actually met His Majesty?"

"Why haven't I heard you two talk about this before?"

Zhuge Liang's second sister smiled bitterly and said, "You didn't ask. Besides, it happened a long time ago."

Huang Yueying became curious, "When Xuzhou was fleeing, that was when Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou for the second time, right?"

"I heard that many people died in Xuzhou at that time, and the Zhuge family declined because of it. No wonder my husband hates the Cao family so much."

Zhuge Liang's elder sister said, "It's not just Xuzhou. How many people in the world don't hate Cao? Xuzhou was massacred twice. The Zhuge family was sparsely populated. Although they settled in Yangzhou and Jingzhou successively and gradually expanded, this pain is remembered by all Zhuge family members."

Huang Yueying knew that Zhuge Liang's two sisters had not yet recovered from the grief of losing their husbands, so she quickly changed the subject and said, "It was all caused by the war. Now that your husband has helped His Majesty to pacify the world, perhaps in a few years, there will be no more wars and tragedies in the world."

The ladies were all worried and had no appetite. The food in front of them soon became cold. Seeing this, Yuan stood up and said, "I will go to the kitchen and heat up the food again."

Huang Yueying hurriedly stood up to stop him and said, "Don't, you're just pregnant. If you get pregnant, how can I be worthy of my husband?"

Yuan smiled and said, "It's okay. It's still early. The doctor said that more exercise will be good for the fetus."

As the two were talking, they heard a guard coming hurriedly and saying that after the emperor got off the boat, he suddenly decided to come to Zhuge Liang's house with the queen. Zhuge Liang then ordered his men to come back early to pack up and prepare to welcome him.

After hearing this, Huang Yueying thought that His Majesty's mind was really hard to predict. She was really afraid that this sudden decision might just cause more trouble.

She quickly called out the servants and quickly tidied the hall again. Soon, Zhuge Liang led Yuan Xi and Zhen Mi's carriage into the mansion.

All the ladies came out to greet them. Yuan Xi got off the carriage and said to everyone, "It's cold outside. Let's go inside and talk."

After hearing this, Zhuge Liang led everyone into the house. After Yuan Xi sat down, he smiled and said to all the family members: "Prime Minister Zhuge has worked hard and made great contributions. I came here today just to talk to you."

The ladies hurriedly gave way, but Yuan Xi said to Huang Yueying: "Madam Huang, I haven't seen you for several years."

Huang Yueying replied, "It has been four or five years since I last paid my respects to Your Majesty."

"I saw him a lot in the early days. At that time, my husband and I had just gotten married, and His Majesty often came to our house to discuss things."

Yuan Xi was a little absent-minded and said: "Yes, when I met Kong Ming and you, you were still young, and now more than ten years have passed."

Zhen Mi smiled and said, "When your majesty is not here, I often invite Madam Huang to the palace to chat and relieve my boredom. Madam Huang is very knowledgeable and knows a lot of interesting anecdotes. When I talk to her, a whole day often passes by without me noticing."

Yuan Xi joked, "You better keep your mouth shut and don't tell her about my embarrassing stories. Madam Huang is very interested in anecdotes and secrets. Maybe one day our names will appear in unofficial history."

Huang Yueying said with a bitter face: "During the years when your majesty exiled me to Jicheng Charity School, I have already changed my ways."

Everyone couldn't help laughing. Yuan Xi then noticed that there were two young ladies in plain clothes looking at him anxiously in the distance. He looked at their positions and said to Zhuge Liang, "Who are these two...?"

When Zhuge Liang saw this, he explained in a low voice, asked the two sisters to come up, and said, "My sister and I were fleeing with our uncle in Xuzhou, but we were blocked in the city by the army sent by Tao Qian to hunt down Cao Song. We were about to be killed by the enemy, but Your Majesty showed up with the army and saved us."

"My two elder sisters have always wanted to thank Your Majesty, but have never had the chance. If Your Majesty had done the same thing back then, you wouldn't be waiting for me today."

He and his two sisters saluted Yuan Xi solemnly. Yuan Xi stood up and supported Zhuge Liang and said, "I remember that when I led Jun Yi to intercept Cao Song's troops, I happened to meet Zhang Kai sent by Tao Qian. It was an unexpected encounter."

"Looking at Zhang Kai's actions at that time, I knew that Tao Qian was not a simple person either. Otherwise, how could he defend Xuzhou among several forces?"

"I saved Cao Song at that time in order to prevent Cao Cao from having an excuse to massacre Xuzhou. I really didn't expect to save the prime minister by chance. And the prime minister in turn helped me to pacify the world and destroy Cao Wei. I can only say that it was fate and there were too many coincidences."

When he saw what Zhuge Liang's two sisters were wearing, he remembered that the husbands the two girls married were both well-matched choices, but they were not very lucky and died one after another in the Jingzhou Rebellion. It can be said that they had a tragic fate.

Because the occasion was not suitable, the two women came up to thank him and then took their leave and retreated to the back room. When Yuan Xi saw them leave, he sighed, "Jingzhou is really a weird place."

"In the past ten years, almost half of the world's famous people have died here."

Zhuge Liang felt the same way. "Indeed, Jin is doing fine. Wei, from Xiahou Yuan to Sima Yi, all suffered defeat in Jingzhou."

"But when it comes to the most tragic battle, it must be the battle between Wu and Hannan. In the battle of Chaisang, hundreds of generals from both sides died on the battlefield. They never recovered from the defeat, and even Lord Xuande died from his injuries."

Yuan Xi asked, "The commander at that time was the Prime Minister's brother Zhuge Jin?" "I heard that he personally fought against Lord Xuande in the Battle of Chaisang, and his whereabouts were unknown after that?"

Zhuge Liang said sadly, "That's true. I also sent people to look for him. Later, we found several soldiers who had escaped. According to their accounts, my brother must have died in the fire."

"It is God's will. Brother has lived a loyal life to the end. It is just that the actions of the Wu Kingdom before and after are really beyond praise."

Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "Sun Quan is suspicious, and the Jiangdong nobles are too powerful to be eliminated. Both sides are wary of each other, which means that people like your brother and Lu Ji have no choice but to die."

"We should take this as a lesson to avoid repeating the same mistakes."

Zhuge Liang agreed, and only then did Yuan Xi come up to see him cautiously. Zhen Mi whispered a few words to Yuan Xi, and Yuan Xi realized that Yuan Xi was pregnant. He said to Yuan Xi, "The Prime Minister is a pillar of our Jin Dynasty, and Madam Huang is also a rare and extraordinary woman. I feel relieved when you are here."

"Ask Madam Huang for advice on everything, and never rely on the Yuan family's status to do anything out of line."

Yuan quickly agreed, and Huang Yueying smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, I am even more scared when you say that."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Madam, why have you become so timid in recent years? I still prefer the storyteller on the street back then."

Everyone couldn't help laughing, and the chill of winter seemed to be diluted a lot.

Yuan Xi and Zhen Mi had a simple meal at Zhuge Liang's house and did not want to disturb them any further, so they went back to the palace. Zhuge Liang sent them to the door and came back. When he saw Huang Yueying and Yuan Shi cleaning up the dishes, he stepped forward to help. The two women were used to it and did not stop them. While the three of them were busy, several maids came in and quickly took over the work from everyone.

Zhuge Liang asked, "Have you delivered the food to the two sisters?"

The maid replied: "It has been delivered. The two ladies have finished eating."

Zhuge Liang then nodded and asked Yuan to go back to her room to rest first. He then took Huang Yueying back to the study, and the two began to sort out the recent memorials together.

This was Yuan Xi's usual practice. After arriving in Yecheng, he would listen to officials' reports the next day. Now, he had arrived two days early and Zhuge Liang's memorial had not been finished yet, so he could only ask Huang Yueying to help work overtime.

Huang Yueying said as she copied out important government documents: "Your Majesty is touring the south at this time. I'm afraid that in the spring tomorrow, Jin will launch a full-scale attack on Wei, right?"

Zhuge Liang nodded and said, "Madam, your guess is correct. I have already asked about the emperor's previous visit. His Majesty is worried that Wei and Hannan will join forces, so he is in a hurry to go to Shouchun."

"Your Majesty has a good eye. If Hannan has some ideas, it will only add a lot of variables."

Huang Yueying shook her head and said, "Then at least we can say that they are stupid. If they join forces with Wei, can they defeat Jin?"

"I heard that your friend Xu Yuanzhi seems to be quite hostile to the State of Jin?"

Zhuge Liang sighed, "Each of us serves his own master. He has received favors from Lord Xuande and wants to restore the Han Dynasty. Although his philosophy is different from mine, if I were there, I would probably do the same."

Huang Yueying said: "But if this happens, I'm afraid that countless people will be dragged into the war again."

"Moreover, the border of the three kingdoms is in Jingzhou. Could it be that as what was said just now is true, Jingzhou is probably a cursed place?"

Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "It depends on how we deal with it next."

"One of the problems your majesty has given me is how to get Hannan to stand on the side of Jin State so that Jingzhou can't start a fight."

"So I'm afraid I'll have to rack my brains in the next few days."

Huang Yueying said, "Isn't it possible that the in-laws of your two elder sisters had the foresight to send them to Yecheng in advance to avoid the war?"

Zhuge Liang snorted coldly, "Madam, you are very smart, so there is no need to test me. We both know what the Kuai and Huang families are thinking. They have clearly found out about the relationship between me and Your Majesty, and they are thinking of selling out the two elder sisters to get closer to Your Majesty."

"As the prime minister, how can I sell my sister for fame? If that is the case, how can I stand in the court with dignity?"

"So I said that the Jingzhou family is short-sighted. They don't know where to stand in the overall situation, but instead think of using these despicable means. No wonder Liu Jingsheng couldn't even conquer Jingzhou under their constraints."

Huang Yueying whispered, "But my husband, have you ever thought about whether your two sisters will be widows for the rest of their lives?"

Zhuge Liang said, "Of course not. Nowadays, the society is open and women are not prohibited from remarrying. No matter who my sister falls in love with or which family is interested in her, I will not stop her."

Huang Yueying said cunningly, "What do the two elder sisters like about Your Majesty?"

Zhuge Liang almost choked. He coughed twice and said angrily, "Why do you always give me problems?"

Huang Yueying laughed triumphantly, "Even the resourceful Prime Minister Zhuge has such a difficult time?"

(End of this chapter)