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Chapter 1138: The Three Parties About to Meet
🕑 Added 2024-12-01 14:23:24 +0000 UTCBecause of how well they got along, Li You felt that maybe his daughter should still marry Zhuge Liang, even if it meant becoming a concubine. After all, his daughter was quite beautiful. Thus, Li You prepared to marry his daughter off as a concubine to Zhuge Liang. However, once again, Li You’s hopes were crushed.
When Huang Yueying, Zhuge Liang's legitimate wife, appeared, Li You was thoroughly defeated. Not only was Huang Yueying virtuous and intelligent, but she was also incredibly beautiful. Li You had initially thought he could convince Zhuge Liang to take his daughter as a concubine by appealing to Zhuge Liang’s desires, but this idea was soon crushed as well.
Nonetheless, Li You genuinely liked Zhuge Liang and believed he had the potential to become the prime minister. So, he set aside thoughts of his daughter. After all, in this era, having a capable disciple was far more valuable than a daughter.
"Kongming, have a seat." After having the clothes Cai Yan had gifted him taken away, Li You invited Zhuge Liang to sit as he usually did.
Zhuge Liang then slowly recounted what he had seen and heard in Yuzhou. Some things had deeply disturbed him. Although Zhuge Liang was part of that social class, even he could not tolerate certain behaviors exhibited by those people.
"You just need to observe these things. If you find something unbearable, remove them. Just make sure it doesn’t implicate others," Li You said calmly.
Li You was highly tolerant of the current social environment—it was much better than it had been before. Compared to the past, at least the lowest class of people now had a way to survive. As for societal reforms, those would have to wait until the empire was stabilized.
"Kongming, when you have time, you should spend more of it with Zi Chuan. What he can teach you is essential to mastering governance," Li You said, after chatting with Zhuge Liang for a long time. Seeing that it was getting late, he did not keep him any longer.
Zhuge Liang nodded calmly, not needing to ask what he needed to learn. He trusted Li You’s judgment. Although Li You was not the best in any single field, he was the most comprehensive and well-rounded person Zhuge Liang had ever met.
"Thank you for the guidance, Teacher Li," Zhuge Liang said, bowing deeply. He was already planning to study with Chen Xi for some time. Since Li You hadn’t specified what to learn, Zhuge Liang quickly grasped that it would likely involve Chen Xi’s deepest knowledge.
"Go and learn well. Once you've mastered that, governance will no longer pose any challenges for you. After that, I’ll have nothing left to teach you. Just make sure to keep records of your work," Li You said with a smile. He was extremely satisfied with Zhuge Liang but also filled with regret, wishing they had met earlier.
After ordering his housekeeper to escort Zhuge Liang out, the gates of the Li residence slowly closed. Li You knew that after Zhuge Liang, he would likely never meet another disciple as suitable. He sighed inwardly, feeling disappointed that Zhuge Liang was neither his disciple nor his son-in-law.
"Suddenly, I feel a bit disheartened," Li You thought, sipping tea to calm his emotions before leaving.
Meanwhile, Wu Yuan, looking at the Chen family carriage before her, smiled. It wouldn’t be long before the Wu family in Yizhou received this news. For now, she was safe, at least in the short term.
In the eyes of the aristocratic families, Wu Yuan was just a daughter, and even Wu Yi, the head of the family, could be sacrificed if necessary.
The reason the Zhen family maintained such apparent warmth and affection was partly due to Chen Xi's firm control over this generation. Otherwise, promises wouldn't be made so easily.
"Uh..." After the carriage stopped, Wu Yuan slowly stepped down and saw the large residence of the Liu family before her. What was going on?
"Miss Wu, Lord Xuande has already arranged accommodations for you. Please follow me," a butler from Liu Bei's household greeted her respectfully.
"Please lead the way," Wu Yuan replied with a gentle smile, showing no sign of surprise.
"Chen Zi Chuan, you bastard!" Wu Yuan cursed inwardly. She hated old men the most. If not for that, she wouldn’t have snuck away from Yizhou.
It was worth noting that Liu Zhang was slightly younger than Liu Bei, and due to the high-quality bloodlines over the generations, Liu Zhang was considered quite a handsome man. In terms of appearance alone, Liu Bei didn’t quite match up to Liu Zhang.
Now that she was standing at the gates of Liu Bei's residence, leaving would surely offend him to death. Even an ordinary person couldn’t endure such an insult, let alone a noble lord.
"Just you wait! If I suffer here at Liu Bei’s place, I’ll make sure you regret it!" Wu Yuan fumed inwardly as she crossed the threshold into Liu Bei’s residence, feeling like she was stepping into a den of dragons and tigers.
"Well, at least the arrangement is tasteful, and it doesn't seem like they're paying me any special attention. That's a good sign," Wu Yuan thought, relieved when she entered and saw no host waiting to meet her. She was also pleased by the elegant and understated courtyard design.
That night, Chen Xi was banished to the study to sleep, and Chen Yun was borrowed by Fan Jian to begin making new clothes for him under the guidance of Chen Lan. After all, Fan Jian’s sewing skills were so bad that Chen Lan had lost all hope.
Around the same time, Zhang Hong finally arrived safely in Chang'an. Unlike Liu Bei, who had spontaneously decided to attend the grand court assembly, Zhang Hong had carefully laid out a series of strategies shortly after joining Sun Ce’s camp.
Attending the grand court assembly in Chang'an was a key part of his plan. The reason he arrived so late was simply due to some miscalculations in his travel plans.
Zhang Hong didn’t travel via Nanyang but instead took a route through Xuzhou under the banner of paying respects to the Emperor. After all, Xuzhou was his homeland, and even though he had left, many of the aristocratic networks remained.
Zhang Hong came to observe the changes in Xuzhou, and he had seen them all. Chen Deng didn’t obstruct him. After all, Zhang Hong came under the Emperor's flag, and they shared some familial connections.
Other than matters of critical importance, Chen Deng generously allowed Zhang Hong to observe everything and even escorted him out of Xuzhou with courtesy. However, what Zhang Hong saw left him deeply troubled. Xuzhou now had formidable defenses, and the people's hearts leaned toward Liu Bei. Even the Tao brothers had aligned themselves with Liu Bei.
The more Zhang Hong saw, the heavier his heart grew. He realized how foolish it had been to reject Liu Bei back then. Yet, the past could not be undone. Even with such a vast gap between them, after bowing once, Zhang Hong was unwilling to bow a second time.
"I must forge alliances with Cao Cao and Yuan Tan. Only by cooperating and sharing resources can we have any chance of resisting Liu Bei's military might. Otherwise, if Liu Bei breaks through one direction, no one will be able to stop him," Zhang Hong thought, staring at the towering gates of Chang'an.
"Sun Bofu’s man has finally arrived. We need to have a proper discussion with him," Xun Yu said as he glanced at the report from the city gate. He marked a circle on the map before him, and within the circle was the word "Ye."
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