Yuan Xi saw people coming and going in the yard behind him, looked inside the house, and asked, "Can we go in and talk?"
Madam Wu bit her lip and scratched the door with her fingers until her fingertips turned white. Finally, she let go of her hand dejectedly and said softly, "Please come in, envoy."
Cao Xian pulled Cao Ji and hid far away in the corner. When he saw Yuan Xi enter Mrs. Wu's door, he couldn't help but sigh.
Cao Ji asked in confusion: "Sister, if you want to see it, why don't you go in and see it?"
Cao Xian patted Cao Jie's head gently and said, "What do kids know? This is over."
Cao Jie covered his head, not quite understanding, and then he heard Cao Xian's dull words, "Disband, disperse. I thought there was going to be a good show, but this is it?"
"I guess I won't be able to get out for an hour or so, I..."
Before she finished speaking, she was hit on the head. Cao Xian turned around and saw Cai Zhaoji standing behind him. She said to him, "How do you take care of your sister? Is it okay to say that?"
"What if the news gets to Madam's ears?"
"Stop spying on others all day and go back to your room!"
Cao Xian pulled Cao Jie and walked back angrily, then suddenly realized, "How come Sister Zhao Ji is here by chance?"
Cai Zhaoji's face froze instantly. Cao Xian smiled and ran away with Cao Jie.
Mrs. Wu in the room covered her clothes and asked Yuan Xi to sit down first. When she turned around, she found her daughter holding a piece of pine ink and smelling it, babbling: "Fragrant, (╯▽╰) It smells so good~~"
Madam Wu took the pine ink from her daughter's hand and held her in her arms, but she heard Yuan Xi say, "Madam, have you given your daughter a name?"
Mrs. Wu hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Not yet."
Yuan Xi tapped the mat beneath him with his fingers and said, "In that case, I have thought of a good name."
"Seeing that this child likes fragrance so much, how about calling her Shangxiang?"
Mrs. Wu was struck by lightning and her face turned pale in an instant.
She raised her head and said in a hoarse voice: "This is impossible!"
As soon as Yuan Xi said this, Mrs. Wu knew that her identity was exposed.
But she never thought that Yuan Xi would know her daughter's name!
Because a girl's maiden name is only known to her closest relatives such as parents and brothers, and her daughter Sun Shangxiang had only been named for less than a year, and only Madam Wu and Sun Ce knew it. How did Yuan Xi know it?
Mrs. Wu felt more and more short of breath, she simply couldn't figure it out!
If his identity was exposed, it could be that Yuan Xi summoned the civilians and soldiers in the city to interrogate them, but it wouldn't be possible that he even knew his daughter's name, right?
Could it be just a coincidence, and Yuan Xi was just saying it casually?
Don't hope for the best, it couldn't be such a coincidence!
Mrs. Wu was so depressed that she wanted to vomit blood. She really didn't understand!
Seeing Yuan Xi's calm expression, she held on to a last hope and said hurriedly, "This name is good. I will follow your advice and name her Shangxiang."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi sighed and said, "Madam, let's be frank and honest."
"Madam, please think carefully. I have been in Guangling City for several months. How could I not investigate the details of a woman of unknown origin who stayed in the City Guard House?"
"Moreover, on the day the city was captured, I sent people disguised as household slaves into the city to deliver gifts to the mansion. The guards at the gate clearly said that the person in charge was a lady."
"After careful consideration, I concluded that the person who could be in charge of the residence of Sun Bofu, the fierce tiger of Jiangdong, must be a female member of the Sun family, and her status must be not low."
"Later, I searched in Guangling City and finally found a few servants and maids in the mansion at that time and questioned them carefully."
"Although the Madam rarely goes out, and the servants don't know her name, they know her age roughly."
"Sun Bofu is only 20 years old, but his wife is already over 30. In this case, the identity of his wife is almost clear."
"I'm afraid your surname is not Cai, but Wu?"
When Madam Wu heard this, she felt weak all over. She leaned over and asked, "Why is it impossible that I had already escaped when the city was breached?"
Yuan Xi nodded, "It's possible, but I'm not really sure."
"But then a lot of extraordinary things happened."
"Sun Bofu came too quickly, so quickly that no one expected it. This is really not in line with the military strategy."
"You know, although speed is of the essence in war, the soldiers are exhausted within one or two days after a long-distance raid, and their fighting power is at its weakest. But Sun Bofu wants to attack the city, which is too abnormal."
"After that, I released Qiao Rui to test Sun Bofu's reaction, but he was disturbed by Guan Yu's arrival, so I didn't confirm it in the end."
"But from that time on, I began to doubt Madam. After all, Madam was the only one left in the mansion at that time."
"Logically, the person least likely to stay is Madam, but if it were me, and I couldn't run away, choosing to do the opposite might not be a bad strategy."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wu was both annoyed and furious. This ferocious tiger was indeed not ordinary. He had a firm grasp on her thoughts!
She was still unconvinced, "That's fine, but how did you know my daughter's name?"
"Don't even think about asking. Can you ask Bo Fu?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and stammered, "I have a good friend who is good at stargazing. He helped me figure it out."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wu was skeptical. She thought that Yuan Xi's expression was not right and this sentence must be a lie!
Yuan Xi felt quite uncomfortable being stared at by her, so he could only respond: "Really, I once met a master named Yinhu, who was good at stargazing. He occasionally talked about worldly affairs during casual conversations..."
Mrs. Wu sneered, "And then you mentioned Ah Xiang's name?"
"If you don't want to talk about it, forget it. Why do you have to use this excuse to deceive me?"
"This excuse is too lame. I would rather believe that you know the art of stargazing. I remember Zhao Ji mentioned this before."
She said casually: "Hidden Tiger, fierce tiger, this is probably not one person, right?"
Yuan Xi's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly changed the subject, "It's fine if Madam is not able to do it, but do you have any future plans?"
After hearing this, Madam Wu came to her senses and asked, "Doesn't the envoy want to use my identity to blackmail Ce'er?"
"Do you feel that this is an unfair victory, sir?"
Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "It's impossible to say that I haven't had this thought."
"I'm not a good person. I'm actually a despicable person. I want to try anything that can be used."
"The reason why I don't want to use my status as Madam to threaten Sun Bofu is that I feel it would be too cruel to Madam, and it would really make me feel guilty."
"If I really exchange my wife for the land of Jiangdong, I will definitely be regarded as a despicable villain in the eyes of the world. How can I survive as a human being?"
"But the second point is actually the most important."
"I guess Sun Bofu won't agree."
Mrs. Wu was startled: "Why?"
Yuan Xi said slowly: "If I use my wife to threaten him, the best way for him to deal with it is to never acknowledge my wife's identity."
"Only in this way can the madam's reputation be preserved."
"Moreover, Sun Bofu is a man who can accomplish great things. He will never destroy the foundation of the Sun family for this matter."
"He can spend a huge price to get his wife back?"
"Even if I send my wife back directly, how will he face his pregnant mother?"
"Will he take it in stride?"
"Madam, do you want to see what kind of decision Bo Fu will make?"
"I'm afraid Madam doesn't want to face any of these choices, right?"
Mrs. Wu laughed bitterly after hearing this and said, "I was confused as to what was going on. I thought I could conceal my identity and find a chance to escape, but I didn't expect that I was being played around by the young master."
"I'm afraid that night, the envoy also knew that I dared not speak out, so he deliberately came to humiliate me, right?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said seriously, "No, that night was indeed an accident."
"Although I'm not a good person, I still have some bottom line when doing things."
"Although I suspected the identity of the lady before, I was still troubled by how to deal with this matter and couldn't figure it out, so I put it aside for now."
"Since Madam didn't say anything, I couldn't expose her. I thought that if Madam stayed in the mansion, I might be able to make friends with Sun Bofu and turn hostility into friendship."
"I was indeed drunk that night and my mind was confused, which led to unexpected things happening."
"This is absolutely true. If I have ever lied to you, may the heavens strike me."
Yuan Xi thought that the phrase "playing with one's hands" should not count, after all, it really only had a literal meaning at the time.
Mrs. Wu couldn't help but feel tears in her eyes after hearing this. She said sadly, "Now that things have come to this, what's the point of saying all this?"
"As a wife of the Sun family, my dignity is in jeopardy now. If the world knows about this, I can just die. But won't the Sun family become a laughing stock?"
"And now that I'm pregnant, how can I hide it?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "This matter is actually very simple. Madam can continue to use the identity of Madam Cai. After giving birth to the child, I can find a way to send Madam back to Jiangdong and never disclose this matter."
Mrs. Wu heard this and said in a bitter voice, "I don't want this child."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi sighed and said, "Madam, this is my first child. Can you bear it?"
"If possible, I would like to marry a lady.
Mrs. Wu was filled with disbelief when she heard this. "This idea is too absurd!"
Yuan Xi said confidently: "Why not?"
"Anyway, Madam is using the identity of Madam Cai, and it has nothing to do with the Sun family!"
Mrs. Wu listened and said helplessly, "I can't get over this."
"I am already old and ugly, and even if I give birth to a child, I will have to return to Jiangdong. I can't stay by your side!"
Yuan Xi stared into Mrs. Wu's eyes. Mrs. Wu felt her face getting hot. She couldn't help but turn her head away and said angrily, "Don't be rude!"
Yuan Xi made Madam Wu's eyes red and said, "Whoever said that Madam is old is blind."
He suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed Madam Wu's wrist. Madam Wu was very anxious. She struggled several times but failed. She said anxiously, "Let go!"
Yuan Xi did not let go, and asked, "Madam, can you stay?"
Mrs. Wu shook her head and said sadly, "This is impossible."
Yuan Xi released his hand and said softly, "I respect Madam's wishes."
"After you give birth to the child, whether you want to go or stay is entirely up to you. I will never force you."
"But now that things have come to this, why not spend this year happily?"
"I can guarantee that I will never reveal the identity of the lady in the slightest."