Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1459 Marriage
Liu Xie's departure was not a big deal, so only a few people who were on good terms with him heard the news and came to see him off.

Liu Xie was talking to Liu He at this time. When he heard that Liu He was still determined to stay, he sighed and asked, "Brother, are you still insisting?"

"Given your status in the Yuan family, if you had stayed to serve, I'm afraid you would be one of the three highest officials in Jin State now, right?"

"It's me who has delayed your brother's future."

Liu He laughed and said, "Why did Lord Shanyang say that? What he insisted on at the beginning was just the position of the Liu clan."

"Jin State has indeed accepted the Mandate of Heaven, but Ji Han's path may not be impossible, so I want to stay and see."

"As for the difficulties of Duke Shanyang, He Ziran knows them all. Duke Shanyang has gone through many ups and downs over the years, and it is time for him to stay away from the vortex and live a peaceful life."

After hearing this, Liu Xie sighed and said, "There won't be many wars in this world anymore."

"I hope you can see the day of world peace soon."

Fu Shou was talking to Madam Xiahou over there. She whispered, "Your Majesty, have you made up your mind to make your daughter a concubine?"

Madam Xiahou said, "I've thought about it and I don't want to let my daughter down."

"So I want to ask you a favor, Madam."

Fu Shou hurriedly said, "Madam, please speak."

Madam Xiahou said, "My late husband's clothes and hats should be returned to his ancestral home in Zhuo County, Youzhou, but due to my status, I cannot go that far."

"So I want my daughter to go north with her clothes and coffin. If possible, I hope Madam can take her along the way. After we get to Yuzhou, let her leave on her own."

Fu Shou was surprised and said, "That's not a problem, but your daughter is only in her teens. Are you willing to let her go on the journey alone?"

Madam Xiahou said, "I will send my servants to escort you. As for the connections along the way, I believe the State of Jin will take care of them as well."

Fu Shou knew that Madam Xiahou was probably unwilling for her daughter to be a concubine, so she came up with this idea, so she said, "Since Madam has asked, I will definitely protect the girl. If I can meet the Emperor of Jin, I will also ask him to take care of the girl."

After hearing this, Lady Xiahou heaved a sigh of relief and said, "In that case, I thank you, Madam, and wish you a safe journey."

The new year has arrived. It is now the eighth year of Cheng Han. Yuan Xi met Liu Xie and his wife and others in Shouchun. He welcomed them into the hall and waited for them to take their seats before he said, "Duke Shanyang is here to bring honor to my humble humble home."

Liu Xie quickly declined, and Yuan Xi smiled and said, "You don't have to be so modest. We are old acquaintances. Jin State's present status is inseparable from you."

"What I admire most is that you can put aside your personal prejudices and put the people of the world first. If I were in your position, I really have no confidence that I could do better."

Liu Xie said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty is too modest. Now that I have come all the way and seen the various livelihoods of the people in the territory, I have to admit that Your Majesty is indeed the best choice for the world."

"The former emperor of the Han Dynasty made many mistakes, which led to chaos and suffering for the people. The Liu clan was to blame. Now that Your Majesty has restored order, you can be considered to have paid the debt for the Liu clan."

Yuan Xi replied, "Thank you, Lord Shanyang, for your consideration. I have ordered people to build the mansion in Shanyang. You can leave at any time. You can follow the Han system for daily life and sacrifices, and you are not included in the list of Jin."

Liu Xie hurriedly expressed his gratitude. Yuan Xi said, "As for the enfeoffment of households, it is a bit unfair to you. Although the standard is the highest 3,000 households, after the Jin State abolished slavery and reduced labor and miscellaneous taxes, I am afraid that you will have to live a hard life."

Liu Xielian said: "It's already too much. Now my husband and I just want to study medicine and cure diseases and save lives. We are already satisfied."

"But there is one more thing I would like to ask Your Majesty."

He mentioned that Lady Xiahou had ordered her maid to escort Zhang Fei back to his ancestral home with his clothes and hat. Fu Shou had already come up with Lady Zhang to pay their respects.

When Yuan Xi saw that the girl from the Zhang family was tall, fair-skinned, and had a heroic look between her brows, he realized that she was a beauty. He thought that this child would be the Empress Zhang of future generations, as she had inherited the good qualities of Zhang Fei and Lady Xiahou.

He said, "I will send someone to escort you on your journey. Did Madam Xiahou tell you whether you should return immediately after you finish your business in Zhuo County?"

After hearing this, Miss Zhang bowed slightly and said, "My mother told me to observe mourning at the grave for a year."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi understood what he meant. He thought that Xiahou had thought of everything. He had previously thought that he should send a letter to discuss it, but it seemed that he had overthought.

He said, "In that case, I will be leaving for Youzhou soon, and we will go together."

He ordered people to call out Yuan Qian and his wife Gongsun, and said to everyone: "This is my second son, who has just been named the King of Chen. He will take my place in Shouchun in the future."

"If Lord Shanyang encounters any difficulties, you can always look for him."

Liu Xie's heart moved. He agreed on the surface, but thought in his heart that the Jin Emperor was really careless. Although there were precedents for his descendants to guard a place, wasn't he afraid that his power would grow too big and cause chaos?
Yuan Xi also saw Liu Xie's expression, but the system of Jin State was quite complicated, and it was difficult to explain it in a short time. He did not say much at the moment, but asked Da Qiao and Bu Lianshi to come up and chat with the ladies. Yuan Xi and Liu Xie started to toast. Liu Xie saw that the wine poured into his cup by the maid was quite clear, and it smelled fragrant. He tried to taste it, but found that it was smooth and refreshing, not as stimulating as the wine he had drunk before. He was surprised and said, "The clearer the wine, the more processes it needs to be steamed and brewed. The purity of this wine must have taken a lot of effort."

Yuan Xi laughed proudly, "Duke Shanyang was also deceived when he drank it for the first time. There is indeed alcohol in it, but the content is quite low. In fact, most of the flavor of the alcohol is mixed."

Liu Xie was surprised and said, "There is such a thing? I am really ignorant."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It's because I can't handle the alcohol that I came up with this idea."

"The recipe is simple, but it took a lot of effort to mix it. Because the original taste was too strong, it took many attempts to succeed. If it wasn't diluted dozens of times and mixed with some wine, I don't think anyone would be able to drink it."

Seeing Liu Xie's growing curiosity, he said, "In fact, the ingredients are very simple. It's just white vinegar and water from the white snake grass, and then diluted with fruit wine. The flavors vary greatly depending on the ratio of ingredients used."

Liu Xie smiled and said, "I know all these materials. I will experiment with them when we get to Shanyang."

Da Qiao, who was standing by, thought that His Majesty was cheating them again. Although these ingredients were easy to obtain, the taste would be very addictive if they were not prepared well. She was afraid that Duke Shanyang would suffer.

A few days later, Liu Xie and his family set off for Shanyang. After Yuan Xi sent them on board at the dock, he returned to the palace and summoned Yuan Qian, saying, "I will be returning to the north soon. You should take good care of Jianghuai for me."

Yuan Qian quickly responded, and Yuan Xi said, "You must be careful not to use your power to cross the line when you are here. Although you are a royal family member, the internal and external affairs are all under the responsibility of officials. You must not judge based on your personal likes and dislikes."

Yuan Qian agreed to all of them. Yuan Xi said, "I named you Qian in the beginning. Do you know why?"

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Yuan Qian replied: "It is to let the child be cautious in words and deeds and assist my elder brother in governing the country."

Yuan Xi said: "More than that, the so-called humility means to consider others, and when governing the world, you are facing the people, so you must think more from the perspective of the people."

"Go to the people more often to understand their sufferings, know their difficulties, and solve their problems, so as to live up to the foundation of our Jin Dynasty. Remember this."

Yuan Qian leaned forward and agreed, saying, "Father, I will keep your words in mind. Please rest assured, Father."

"If I have failed to live up to my father's expectations, I will ask for my punishment."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi patted Yuan Qian's shoulder with relief and said, "That's good. Being born in an imperial family, the burden on your shoulders is naturally heavier than that of ordinary people. You must bear this."

"Duke Shanyang ascended the throne at the age of nine, and he has come a long way. Now that you are a few years older, I believe you will do well."

After a few more days, Yuan Xi was finally ready to leave Shouchun. At that time, Lu Xun had been leading his troops in Jingzhou to Shangyong and Fangling, preparing to attack Hanzhong in the spring. So Yuan Xi did not meet him, but just wrote a letter and asked someone to deliver it, telling Lu Xun to use the troops without worry, not to have any concerns, not to rush for success, and to force the Wei army back step by step.

Afterwards, he took the water route from Shouchun to Yecheng, but found that he had missed Zhuge Liang.

At that time, Zhuge Liang calculated that the road from Wuzhangyuan to Hanzhong was almost completed. Seeing that spring had arrived and the weather was getting warmer, he mobilized supplies and labor and rushed to Chang'an. When Yuan Xi arrived, he had just been gone for less than half a month, so it could be said that they were almost there.

However, Yuan Xi was quite relieved that Zhuge Liang was doing things. He smiled at Zhen Mi who came out to greet him and said, "I spent some extra time in the south. Although things were solved more smoothly than expected at the beginning, I waited a little longer later to prevent any accidents."

"But the original plan was to avoid a confrontation with Prime Minister Zhuge. The Battle of Hanzhong next year is actually what I feel most at ease with. After all, with Kong Ming and Boyan attacking from both sides, no one on the other side would have a chance of winning."

Zhen Mi welcomed Yuan Xi into the house and said, "My husband has worked hard during this period. You should take a good rest for a few days."

She hesitated for a moment before she spoke: "But there is one thing that seems to have gone wrong."

Seeing his tangled expression, Yuan Xi asked in surprise, "What happened?"

Zhen sighed and said, "A few days ago, Qian'er married a wife, so I wanted to arrange a wedding for Rui'er as soon as possible."

Yuan Xi said: "Isn't this a good thing?"

Zhen Mi sighed and said, "This is where the problem lies. I asked Rui'er and Xiang'er separately, but found that they were not as happy as I thought. Instead, they looked strange. Maybe they were opposed to this marriage."

Yuan Xi frowned and asked, "Did they have a fight?"

"That's not right. In all these years, the two of them have never had any conflicts, right?"

"Could it be that Rui'er dislikes Xiang'er because she is a few years older than him?"

Zhen Mi sighed, "I have asked them, but they both refused to tell me, so I am waiting for His Majesty to come back."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Okay, I'll call them over tomorrow and interrogate them one by one and we'll know the answer."

(End of this chapter)