In the afternoon, Yuan Xi asked Sun Li to drive the carriage, and he took Cao Xian and Cao Jie to Guangling City to buy New Year's goods.
Before leaving, he went to see Zhen Mi, but Zhen Mi was more seriously ill than Cai Zhaoji, and it took more than ten days for her to fully recover. The two talked for a while, and Yuan Xi asked Zhen Mi what she wanted to bring back.
Zhen Mi smiled and said, "My husband, you can buy whatever you want, but you must be careful about safety to avoid anyone with bad intentions."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Don't worry. Ever since Yuan Long became the governor, he has established connections with most of the noble families in the city. Now the city is much more stable."
"It's a pity that you need to rest now and can't go out for the time being. You won't be able to see the bustling scene in the city."
Zhen Mi also showed a look of regret on her face and said, "Then please ask my husband to take a look for me."
Cao Xian and Cao Jie sat in the carriage, looking curiously at the scene inside Guangling City through the window.
Although the two women had seen the New Year scenes when they were in Yecheng, there were many differences in the customs of the two places, which made the two women feel quite novel.
Especially since there is a custom of worshipping ancestors during the New Year here, bustling crowds of people carrying offerings in their hands are walking out of the city, making the streets of the entire Guangling city seem extremely crowded.
At this time, yamen runners wearing linen clothes of the same color came out and stood on both sides of the road to maintain order. When Yuan Xi saw this, he vaguely felt a sense of familiarity.
Roadside stalls were lined up one after another, selling all kinds of local specialties, embroidery, velvet flowers, jewelry, cosmetics, lacquerware, malt sugar, snacks... There was a dazzling array of things, and Cao Xian and Cao Jie leaned on the car window, his eyes shining.
When Yuan Xi saw it, he stopped the carriage and said with a smile, "Get off and have a look. Buy whatever you want."
The two women cheered, opened the car door and rushed out.
Yuan Xi looked at the joyous people in the city and found it hard to imagine that this was a city that had changed hands several times within half a year.
The people's thinking is actually very simple. They will support whoever can make their lives good.
If someone takes this city away from Yuan Xi in the future and treats the people better, the people will be content.
Yuan Xi thought there was nothing wrong with this, who doesn't want things to get better and better?
While the city of Guangling was welcoming the new year in peace and harmony, several major battles broke out in Caoyang, Sili, thousands of miles away.
Since the battle between Li Jue, Guo Si and Yang Feng in Hongnong last month, in which many officials were killed, Yang Feng was defeated and fled with Emperor Liu Xie.
Li Jue and Guo Si pursued relentlessly and caught up with Yang Feng in Caoyang. The two armies fought for dozens of days, with continuous battles in between. Gradually, Dong Cheng and Yang Feng were defeated.
Inside the tent of Emperor Liu Xie, Dong Cheng was standing on the ground, bowing his head slightly and saying to Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, the situation is urgent, I'm afraid we should be prepared to escape alone!"
When the people in the tent heard this, they were all shocked. Dong Cheng's words clearly meant that except Liu Xie, no one else could be taken away!
After hearing this, Liu Xie glanced sideways and saw Fu Shou beside him with a look of panic on her face.
His eyes swept across and fell on another young concubine.
Concubine Dong, daughter of Dong Cheng.
At this moment, her face was much calmer, and when she looked at Fu Shou, there was even a hint of sarcasm at the corner of her mouth.
As soon as Liu Xie saw it, he knew what was going on and thought it was a good plan.
If Dong Cheng takes her away, he will naturally not abandon his daughter. If he leaves Fu Shou behind, the position of Queen will be vacant, and Concubine Dong can naturally take the opportunity to ascend to the throne.
Liu Xie felt a little angry. At this time, he was still thinking such petty things. He really didn't take him seriously.
However, he had no other options now, so he could only ask, "General, how long can we hold out?"
Dong Cheng hesitated for a moment and said, "At most three to five days, at least one or two days."
After hearing this, Liu Xie said, "How about moving camp at night?"
Dong Cheng replied: "The terrain here is complicated. If you make a mistake on the road at night, your life will be in danger."
After hearing this, Liu Xie asked again, "Last month, I announced to the world that I wanted all the princes to come and protect the emperor. Is there any news?"
Dong Cheng lowered his head and said, "No."
He thought to himself that the Han Dynasty was already in name only at this time, would anyone really come to help?
Moreover, Your Majesty is also a wild idea. He has issued edicts not only to the princes of all parties, but also to the Baibo bandits, the Black Mountain bandits and other remnants of the Yellow Turbans, and even the Southern Xiongnu!
After listening to this, Liu Xie sighed and thought that the Southern Xiongnu would probably not come. Now that the Chanyu Yufuluo had died in unclear circumstances and his brother Huchuquan had succeeded him and was waiting and watching, how could he express his stance so quickly? What if he died, wouldn't all his efforts be in vain?
The other princes are too far away, and I'm afraid the imperial edict has not yet arrived. The only ones we can rely on now are the Baibo bandits hundreds of miles away. The key is whether they will really come?
In fact, Yu Fuluo had a close relationship with the Baibo bandits during his lifetime. According to Wang Shen's "Book of Wei", "Yu Fuluo then left his people in China. When the country was in turmoil, he joined forces with the Baibo bandits in Xihe, destroyed Taiyuan and Henei, and plundered various counties as bandits."
While Liu Xie was thinking, he heard the sound of a horn in the distance. It was Li Jue and Guo Si coming to attack again!
Dong Cheng cursed inwardly and without time to talk to Liu Xie, he turned and walked out of the tent, ordering the soldiers and generals to go out of the camp to meet the enemy.
Not long after, Liu Xie heard the deafening shouting and screaming outside, and he stood up and said to Fu Shou, "Come with me to take a look."
The two of them walked out of the tent together. Behind them, Concubine Dong saw that Liu Xie ignored her and a trace of resentment flashed in her eyes.
Liu Xie ignored the dissuasion of his personal attendants and took Fu Shou to the watchtower, where he saw a melee between the two sides in the distance. Yang Feng and Dong Cheng had already joined the battle, while Li Jue and Guo Si were also riding their horses forward, neither of them giving in.
The generals of Bing and Liang were all extremely brave. Guo Si had fought against Lu Bu in a duel and was no mediocre fighter. At this moment, he and Li Jue personally charged into the battle. Yang Feng and Dong Cheng were unable to hold out and were beaten back step by step.
Even Liu Xie could see that the defeat was evident and he was afraid that the situation was hopeless.
At this moment, a general rushed out from Yang Feng's army, holding a long axe, and attacked Li Jue and Guo Si's camp. Li Jue and Guo Si were caught off guard and were approached by the general. They were so scared that they quickly rode their horses away and ordered their men to surround the man.
Liu Xie recognized that it was Xu Huang, a general under Yang Feng. He failed to hit the enemy with his first strike and was surrounded. He charged left and right but did not show any sign of weakness.
But that was where it ended. More and more people surrounded Xu Huang, and seeing that he could no longer escape, Liu Xie felt regretful. Was this brave general going to die here?
At this moment, the troops on both wings of Li Jue and Guo Si began to get into chaos.
The chaos slowly began to spread to the central army. Li Jue and Guo Si also began to realize that something was wrong and quickly ordered the army to retreat. However, the collapse of the two wings was faster than they had imagined!
Liu Xie took a closer look and was overjoyed. It turned out that Li Jue and Guo Si's wings were attacked by two armies that suddenly appeared. One side was flying the flag of the Baibo Army, and the other side was flying the flag of the Southern Xiongnu!
The person he was waiting for finally came!
"Book of the Later Han: Biography of the Southern Xiongnu" - Chanyu Huchuquan was established in the second year of Xingping. Because his brother (Yufuluo) was expelled, he was not allowed to return to his country and was repeatedly attacked by the Xianbei. In the first year of Jian'an, Emperor Xian returned east from Chang'an. Youxian Wang Qubei and Baibo bandit leader Han Xian and others guarded the emperor and resisted Li Jue and Guo Si.
The disintegration of the two wings of Li Jue and Guo Si had spread to the central army. They tried several times to reorganize the army, but found that the situation was hopeless. They had to lead their subordinates to resist the pursuit and slowly retreat.
Liu Xie laughed while standing on the watchtower.
The title of emperor is still of some use after all!
Everyone thought that the Han Dynasty was about to end, but he, Liu Xie, would never give up!
Guangling City finally ushered in the New Year's Day and Spring Festival.
During the day, Yuan Xi, accompanied by Chen Deng, Taishi Ci, Tian Yu and others, first inspected the barracks and distributed New Year gifts to the soldiers, and then returned to the city defense office to meet with the officials from the aristocratic families who came to visit.
After that was the seven-day spring break. Except for the officers and soldiers on duty, everyone else went home happily to celebrate the New Year.
However, Yuan Xi, together with Taishi Ci, Tian Yu and others, patrolled outside the city again. During the late Han Dynasty, many major battles took place during the New Year's Day period. The purpose was to catch the enemy off guard, so Yuan Xi did not dare to be careless.
After all the spies came back and said that they had found nothing unusual, Yuan Xi returned with peace of mind. By this time, the sun was about to set.
When Yuan Xi returned to the mansion, he found that everyone there was waiting for him to have the New Year's Eve dinner.
Everyone gathered together, and Huan, as the only elder in the family, was naturally responsible for preparing the banquet.
As soon as Yuan Xi came in, he found that everyone was looking at him and smiling. The scene seemed familiar. He thought to himself, no matter how he looked at himself, he didn't look like Kong Yiji, right?
He glanced over and saw Zhen Mi pouring wine for Huan. She had just recovered from an illness and was still a little weak, so she had to support the wrist of one hand with the other to hold the wine jug steadily.
Cai Zhaoji sat at the bottom, with several bamboo slips beside her. By now, most of the classics had been copied, with only a few obscure ones left. Except for Cai Zhaoji who could understand some of them, everyone else was confused.
Even Cai Zhaoji took several days to come up with some clues, so she kept the bamboo slips with her as she pondered.
Cao Xian and Cao Jie were squatting aside, playing with Cao Hua and Madam Cai's daughter.
Yuan Xi turned around and found that Mrs. Cai was also present, and he thought that she was invited by Huan.
His gaze lingered on Mrs. Cai for a moment, and he was actually attracted to her for a moment.
In terms of figure, Mrs. Cai is somewhat similar to Cai Zhaoji, perhaps even slightly more curvaceous. As she is well maintained, she looks less than 30 years old, which is the most attractive time for a woman.
Although Mrs. Cai's appearance was slightly inferior to Zhen Mi's, she was also extremely outstanding, and the mature charm in her gestures and even her eyebrows were something that Zhen Mi did not possess.
Yuan Xi thought to himself that it was no wonder that Madam Cai was abducted by Sun Ce. In this era, if a woman with such beauty could not protect herself, she would bring misfortune upon herself.
Yuan Xi stepped forward and bowed to Lady Huan, then pulled Zhen Mi to sit down again. At this time, Madam Wu came up with a wine pot and poured wine for the two of them.
Seeing this, Huan asked hurriedly, "How can you let Madam do this?"
Madam Wu whispered, "Young Master, you saved my daughter and me. I have never had the chance to thank you. Please allow me to express my gratitude."
Yuan Xi also declined, saying, "I appreciate your kindness, madam, but I can't drink this wine."
Madam Wu said apologetically, "Does the young master want to patrol the city again? I am sorry for being rude."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I have already inspected the place during the day. I won't go out tonight, but I really can't drink."
Zhen Mi also laughed and said, "Madam, you don't know, my husband really can't drink."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wu's heart began to beat. In fact, she had heard that Yuan Xi had a low alcohol tolerance, so she came up to persuade him to drink, with the purpose of seeing if she could make Yuan Xi drunk!
Because things were somewhat different from what she expected, and if Yuan Xi didn't patrol the city, wouldn't that mean he would stay in the mansion all night?
That would be a big trouble because she was planning to escape tonight!