Now in Youzhou area, in addition to Yuan Xi, Yan Rou, Xianyu Fu, and Shanyu Tadun, there is a fourth force.
The remnants of Gongsun Zan.
Now they are scattered in various counties and occupy many cities, but they have no leader. In order to integrate them, Yuan Xi has another person in his hand besides Tian Yu, a former general under Gongsun Zan.
Gongsun Zan's widow, Hou.
But if he were to use the Hou family, the method would be somewhat unpresentable, which made Yuan Xi quite hesitant.
As long as he married Hou and adopted Gongsun Zan's child as his adopted son, the remnants of Gongsun Zan in Youzhou would have no excuse to continue resisting and would have no choice but to submit to him.
The key is, is it appropriate to do so?
Yuan Xi felt that he had not been pushed to that point yet, so he suppressed the thought for the time being.
When he saw Xian Yu Fu off and returned to his mansion, he found the atmosphere strange.
Zhen Mi was still there to greet him at the door as usual, but Yuan Xi always felt something was wrong.
He was too familiar with Zhen Mi's habitual movements, so when Zhen Mi lowered her head slightly and saluted Yuan Xi, Yuan Xi felt a sense of alienation and disharmony in his heart.
He reached out his hand without changing his expression, took Zhen Mi's hand and asked, "How is Madam's health?"
Zhen Mi's hand shrank slightly, then returned to normal, and she said softly, "I'm fine, my husband, don't worry."
Yuan Xi felt puzzled. He whispered a few words to Zhen Mi, but saw Cao Xian coming in with a wooden tray with a teapot and teacups on it, pouring tea for them.
When Cao Xian turned his back to Zhen Mi, he winked at Yuan Xi and glanced out the window.
Yuan Xi thought that something must have happened!
He spoke a few more words to Zhen Mi calmly, then turned around and left, making an excuse to go talk to Cai Zhaoji about something.
As soon as he turned the corner, he saw Cao Xian hiding behind the corner. When he saw Yuan Xi coming, he quickly pointed in the direction of Mrs. Wu's room and ran away.
When Yuan Xi saw this, he was completely confused and wanted to follow him, but found that Cao Xian had run back to Huan's house.
He thought about it and walked towards the study where Cai Zhaoji was.
At this time in Madam Wu's room, Hua Tuo saw Yuan Xi going to the study through the crack in the door. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to Madam Wu who was sitting on the bed and said, "At your age, if you take the medicine rashly, I'm afraid it will cause great harm to your body and may even endanger your life."
"Please consider this carefully, Madam."
Mrs. Wu nodded woodenly after hearing this and said, "I have already thought about it. Please write me a prescription, sir."
Hua Tuo wiped his sweat again and said, "The north is bitterly cold, and the medicine used is quite different from that in Jiangdong. Let me go back and think about it carefully, and then send someone to send the prescription to Madam tomorrow, how about that?"
Mrs. Wu was skeptical, but since Hua Tuo said so, she could only nod helplessly and said, "Thank you for your help, sir. I am waiting for your news."
Hua Tuo said hurriedly: "In that case, I'll just go back and prepare the medicine and bring it directly to Madam."
After saying this, without waiting for Mrs. Wu to respond, he pushed open the door, squeezed out sideways, changed his feet, used the monkey flying and bird pouncing techniques from the Five Animal Play, and after a few leaps, he was out of the mansion and disappeared.
At this time, Mrs. Wu's daughter on the bed stood up shakily, threw herself on Mrs. Wu's back, and said with a toothy voice, "Mother, hug me, hug me."
Mrs. Wu turned sideways and hugged her daughter, tears rolling down her eyes. She thought to herself, how could this be such a coincidence!
As soon as Yuan Xi entered the room, he saw Cai Zhaoji looking at him and smiling.
He thought to himself that today was really weird. Everyone was acting so weird. What on earth happened?
He didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "What happened in the mansion?"
Cai Zhaoji tried hard to hold back her laughter, but she couldn't help it. Her face turned into a half-smile. "Sir, have you met Madam?"
Yuan Xi said helplessly: "It's because I've seen her before and thought she looked strange, but I couldn't ask her directly, so I came to you."
Cai Zhaoji said with a smile: "Did you do something wrong, sir? If you didn't feel guilty, why would you come to me?"
Yuan Xi was furious. He grabbed Cai Zhaoji and thrust his hand into her clothes. He didn't stop until Cai Zhaoji begged for mercy. He said angrily, "Don't play dumb. Tell me now!"
Cai Zhaoji glanced at Yuan Xi with a seductive look and panted, "That's what I said. The young master has become more and more violent recently. No wonder he caused trouble."
Yuan Xi was stunned. What does it mean to cause trouble?
Cai Zhaoji whispered, "A few days ago, Cao Xian and I cooked some mutton soup. Madam Cai happened to be in Madam's room, so I served her a bowl."
"As soon as Mrs. Cai drank it, she hurried out of the house and vomited it out."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Is this because you are used to the taste of mutton?"
Cai Zhaoji lowered her voice, "But Madam Cai was retching non-stop. Seeing that she was unwell, Madam Cai immediately sent someone out and invited Mr. Hua Tuo to come."
"When the master came, he took Mrs. Cai's pulse and exclaimed, 'This seems to be a pregnancy pulse!'"
"We didn't react for a moment, and then after a while, Madam and Mrs. Cai's expressions changed immediately."
Yuan Xi was also so surprised that his mouth opened wide, "No way?"
"Could it be that I saw it wrong?"
Cai Zhaoji sighed, "Mr. Yuanhua's face also changed drastically, and he quickly said that he might have seen it wrong, and Mrs. Cai might just be unwell."
"Later, the lady asked the gentleman to go back to the house together, and then the young master came back."
Yuan Xi thought carefully about the cause and effect, and suddenly realized: "You suspect I did it?"
After hearing this, Cai Zhaoji covered her mouth and laughed, "How dare I think so? I'm afraid Madam will think too much."
"I dare not interfere in this matter. I can only wait for the Master and Madam to explain it clearly."
Yuan Xi stood up suddenly and said angrily: "I don't know which shameless person did this and made me take the blame!"
"No, I have to find him out!"
He paced back and forth angrily, "Mrs. Cai has always lived in the inner house, and only a few people can come in."
"Taishi Ci, Tian Yu, Sun Li, Guo Jia!"
"The first three are obviously impossible. They must have been done by Guo Jia!"
"This Guo Jia is so bold that he actually put his hands on the widow!"
"I'll go find him!"
After hearing this, Cai Zhaoji quickly pulled Yuan Xi back and said, "Sir, don't be anxious. Don't lose your sense of proportion."
"I just want to ask, even if it was really done by Mr. Fengxiao, what if the two of them were in love?"
"Let's take a step back. If Mr. Fengxiao threatens Madam Cai, what should you do?"
"If this matter were to spread, it would be very damaging to Madam Cai's reputation. Please consider it carefully, young master."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi calmed down a little. He sat down angrily and said with a headache: "Guo Jia is good in every way, except that he is too lustful!"
"If it was a singer or dancer from outside, it would be fine, but how can I explain to the Cai family if something like this happened to Madam Cai in our house?"
He still held on to a glimmer of hope, "Do you think Mr. Yuanhua really made a mistake?"
"Or in other words, Mrs. Cai was already pregnant before we conquered Guangling City?"
Cai Zhaoji heard this and said, "I don't know about this. You'd better go and ask the master directly."
Yuan Xi sighed, "I took the blame very well. I'm afraid Zhen Mi will think it was me who did it and will be unhappy."
"No, this is too disgusting, I have to get to the bottom of it!"
When Cai Zhaoji saw Yuan Xi leave, she thought to herself, seeing Yuan Xi so angry, could it be that she and Zhen Mi had guessed wrong?
But even though Guo Jia was lustful, would he really be so blatant as to touch the women of the aristocratic families?
Yuan Xi came out of Cai Zhaoji's room and hesitated.
If it was really Guo Jia who did it, how could I punish him?
And in this matter, don't we have to ask the wishes of the parties involved?
Thinking of this, he walked to Mrs. Wu's room, knocked on the door, and said, "Is the madam here?"
Mrs. Wu was holding her daughter sadly. When she suddenly heard Yuan Xi's voice, her body trembled. She quickly wiped her face and stood up.
She walked behind the door and whispered, "Is there something wrong, sir?"
Yuan Xi looked around and said, "It's not convenient to talk here. Can we go inside and talk in detail?"
Madam Wu said quickly, "I am a little inconvenienced. Please forgive me, Your Excellency."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "I just wanted to come over and ask if Madam is in trouble. Is there anything I can help you with?"
Madam Wu was in a complicated mood. She whispered, "Thank you for your care, sir. I am fine. Please go back."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi could only say, "No matter what the difficulty is, Xi will definitely do justice for Madam."
Madam Wu felt even more upset after hearing this, and said softly, "I really have nothing to do. Your Excellency is very busy and is responsible for the prosperity and decline of a county. Please don't waste your energy on trivial matters."
Seeing that Madam Wu insisted, Yuan Xi said, "Well, if Madam has anything you want to say, you can come to me anytime."
Mrs. Wu felt unhappy as she listened to Yuan Xi's footsteps fading away. It seemed that the other party had not yet remembered what happened that night, but how long could this be concealed?
Yuan Xi returned to the room and saw Zhen Mi leaning on the couch. He smiled and said, "My husband is back?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said helplessly: "I know what Madam is thinking, but I'm really not that kind of person. This is really an unprovoked disaster."
Seeing Yuan Xi's calm face, Zhen Mi sighed and said, "I do blame my husband a little, but not in the way he thinks."
"Mrs. Cai is indeed very beautiful. When she was young, she should have been no less beautiful than a concubine. If my husband really likes her, just marry her."
"But if my husband really wants to have a relationship with her, but doesn't give her a name, isn't that too much?"
"Or maybe my husband is relying on the grace of saving others to force me to submit, which would make me even more unhappy."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi hurriedly said, "How is that possible!"
"I must give an explanation to the girl I like. Why would I do such a meaningless thing?"
"I think Madam Cai must have some difficulties. I will find a way to find that man."
"If there really was coercion, even if it was Guo Jia, I would not condone it and would definitely punish him."
After hearing this, Zhen Mi asked in confusion, "From what my husband said, this matter may really be related to Mr. Fengxiao?"
"But Mr. Fengxiao is my husband's adviser, I'm afraid..."
Yuan Xi sighed, "Feng Xiao and I will shoulder the responsibility together. Besides, I am also responsible for what happened to Madam Cai in my house."
Guo Jia was hugging his beautiful concubine, holding a wine jug in one hand and busying himself with the other hand. Suddenly he sneezed violently and thought to himself that it was really cold in the north.
Thinking that he would have to stay in Youzhou for several years to come, he couldn't help but miss the warm Xuzhou.
At this moment, a concubine came in and said, "Mr. Yuanhua is visiting outside and wants to see my husband."
After hearing this, Guo Jia asked in confusion: "Yuan Hua? Why did he come to see me?"
"Please ask him to come in."
In a few breaths, Hua Tuo had already rushed in. Guo Jia stood up and said with a smile: "Mr. Yuanhua is a rare guest. Would you like to have a drink with me?"
Hua Tuo was in no mood, and said bluntly: "Tuo has ruined things now, please save me, Mr. Fengxiao!"