Cao Song's eating manner was like a starving ghost, which made Yuan Xi feel that even if he put a live pig in front of Cao Song, he would be able to swallow it alive.
In the end, Cao Song ate almost all the food on the table and rolled his eyes because of his fullness. Only then did several concubines dare to walk over, silently picked up the bones thrown on Cao Song's table and began to lick them.
When Yuan Xi saw this, he felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.
For a woman who is completely dependent on a man, when the man is prosperous, the woman becomes wealthy; when the man is poor, the woman becomes a beggar.
Now that Cao Song has fallen into such a situation, all these concubines can do is this.
Yuan Xi suddenly didn't want to stay any longer. When he was about to leave, Cao Song was still burping and unable to speak.
Yuan Xi got on the carriage, feeling somewhat satisfied but also somewhat regretful.
The problem of Huan's identity was solved, but the three sisters of Cao Xian were in some trouble.
Because although Huan was driven out of the Cao family with Cao Song's endorsement, when Cao Xian's three sisters were taken by Cao Cao along with Huan, they changed their surname to Cao and became stepdaughters.
Expelling children from the clan requires the consent of the clan leader. Cao Song is no longer the clan leader, so the matter can only be put aside for the time being.
Fortunately, Cao Cao would not bother with Yuan Xi because they were just insignificant stepdaughters.
Yuan Xi returned home and told Huan the news. The sisters Cao Xian and Cao Jie were surprised and happy.
But contrary to Yuan Xi's expectations, Huan looked hesitant.
He thought to himself that this was strange. Could it be that Huan didn't want to leave the Cao family?
He said, "Madam, do you have any concerns? Are you unwilling to leave the Cao family?"
Huan sent Cao Xian and his sister away, bowed her head and said, "I am deeply grateful for your kindness, and I have been thinking about leaving the Cao family day and night."
"But what I was concerned about at the beginning was the safety of my three daughters. I wanted to entrust them to you, sir. As for my own situation, I didn't think about it."
"Now you have taken the risk to rescue me, but I am afraid that it will cause rumors and harm your reputation."
Yuan Xi understood what Huan meant. When he brought Huan and her daughter into his mansion, there were rumors in Yecheng that he and her daughter were having an affair, and the rumors were very unbearable.
Now that he has brought Huan out of Cao's house, such rumors will probably spread even more, greatly damaging his reputation for rescuing Bian Rang's family.
He said, "Madam, don't worry too much. You are Cao Xian's mother, and I can't abandon you."
"I have already made arrangements for the identity of the Madam, and I will certainly put an end to these rumors when the time comes."
Huan, however, misunderstood and thought that Yuan Xi wanted her to remarry someone from an aristocratic family, so she whispered, "After this incident, I have decided that I will never marry anyone again in my life."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Madam, I'm afraid you are wrong. Please don't worry and just let things take their course."
After hearing this, Huan finally felt relieved and nodded slightly.
She sent Yuan Xi away, feeling quite uneasy. She had finally escaped from the den of tigers and wolves of the Cao family. It was impossible for her to say that she was not happy.
But when she thought that the fate of mother and daughter would be firmly tied to Yuan Xi's branch, she felt a little complicated.
From what she had observed these days, she found that Yuan Xi was really not very interested in young girls.
Not to mention that Wu Zhao is already in her twenties, she also heard from Cao Xian that after the Battle of Yijing, Yuan Xi also brought Gongsun Zan's widow Hou into the mansion!
Even though the Yuan and Gongsun families had such a huge feud, Yuan Xi was able to protect the Hou family. This must have cost him a lot of money.
When Huan heard that Wu Zhao was also a widow, and thought of Hou's situation, she felt that she had found common ground between the two.
Yuan Xi has never made a move on young girls. From this, it seems that Yuan Xi may not like married women, but older widows!
Huan felt more and more that her thoughts were close to the truth. She felt a little flustered and her hands were raised involuntarily to hold down her chest which was rising and falling due to shock.
If Yuan Xi knew what Huan was thinking, he would probably vomit three liters of blood, but he had no time to worry about these details now.
Because since he entered Yecheng, every step he took was carefully considered, and the achievement of each goal required the cooperation of many conditions to ultimately lead to the result he wanted.
But the more sophisticated the strategy, the more links it has, and the more likely it is that unexpected variables will arise.
Yuan Xi often used a sentence from when he was playing Tetris in his previous life to warn himself, in order to get rid of the inflated mentality of trying to control all variables.
Mistakes made accumulate, and successes achieved evaporate.
Every step you take is a new beginning, and every trivial mistake may lead to all your previous efforts being wasted.
It would be much easier if everyone else was like wooden stakes, waiting for him to make the arrangements. Unfortunately, that is not possible. Not everyone is a fool, and no one will be willing to be a chess piece. Everyone wants to sit in front of the chessboard.
In this depressing atmosphere, the day of Yuan Xi's adoption finally arrived.
The whole process was uneventful. Yuan Shao, as the clan leader, presided over the ceremony. Although Yuan Shu, who was far away in Yuzhou, did not recognize Yuan Shao's status as the head of the clan.
Almost all the male members of the Yuan family were present, and also present as witnesses were the patriarchs of several aristocratic families in Jizhou.
When Yuan Xi saw that his name was changed from the family tree to Yuan Ji's branch, he felt quite complicated.
Forget it, just change your father. It's not like I've changed my father before when I was reborn.
He walked up to Yuan Ji's tablet, knelt down according to etiquette, burned incense, and offered blessings.
When he stood up, everything seemed the same, but everything was completely different.
From then on, he severed his father-son relationship with Yuan Shao.
He turned to Yuan Shao, bowed and said, "Greetings, Master."
Yuan Shao opened his mouth, but finally nodded slightly and said, "Nephew, there is no need to be polite."
Yuan Xi felt his body a little stiff, but also a little relaxed.
From then on, he was no longer protected by Yuan Shao, but at the same time he was also free of a shackle.
But he is an orphan now and can decide his own marriage.
He turned his head and looked at everyone with different thoughts. He clearly saw a meaningless smile on Yuan Shang's lips.
Yuan Xi stepped forward, picked up Yuan Ji's tablet, and placed it upright in front of his chest.
Before, Yuan Ji's branch had no descendants, and the tablet was placed in the Yuan family ancestral hall. Now that Yuan Xi has continued this branch, he must take the tablet back for worship.
He walked out of the ancestral hall and into the courtyard, which was already full of people.
In addition to Yuan Shao's advisers and generals, Yuan Xi's men also arrived.
Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, Guo Jia, Tian Yu, and Sun Li, although they may not seem like a large number of people, when looking back at it from later generations, no one dares to underestimate this force.
When everyone saw Yuan Xi coming out, they came up to congratulate him. Now Yuan Xi's identity was no longer Yuan Shao's illegitimate son, but the legitimate son of Grand Coachman Yuan Ji and the heir to Marquis Anguo Ting!
After all, Yuan Ji is the elder brother of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. He should not be underestimated in terms of seniority or status.
At the same time, everyone praised Yuan Shao's righteous act. After this incident, Yuan Shao at least washed away the stain of Yuan Kui and Yuan Ji's deaths on the surface. As for what everyone thought privately, it didn't matter.
Unlike Yuan Shao's subordinates, Yuan Xi's subordinates such as Zhao Yun obviously had a look of relief, because from now on, they could legitimately serve Yuan Xi as their lord, and the control they were subject to by the Yuan family was greatly reduced!
There was a different meaning flashing in Guo Jia's eyes, with a hint of ambition.
Yuan Xi smiled and nodded to everyone, his heart filled with pride.
This was the most important thing he had done since his rebirth. He put all his efforts into it and made many efforts and concessions before his wish came true.
From Lu Bu to Cao Cao, from Liu Bei to Gongsun Zan, from Qingzhou to Jizhou, from Xuzhou to Yanzhou, he did everything himself, risked his life, went into battle, fought bloody battles, and gave up all his credit, just to change his fate today.
However, there is no free lunch in the world. In the next period of time, many of the benefits he deserves may be taken away from him.
Sure enough, the next day, someone came from Yuan Shao and asked him to come over to discuss the matter of granting him an official position in Youzhou after the Battle of Yijing.
When Yuan Xi arrived, he found that the crowd was incredibly crowded. Not only were Liu, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang there, but all the advisers including Liu He were also there.
After Yuan Shao told Yuan Xi about the Yuan family's arrangements for Youzhou, although Yuan Xi had expected it, he was still surprised by some officials.
To the extent that Yuan Xi couldn't figure out for a moment whether Yuan Shao wanted to help him or suppress him.
As a meritorious official before and after the Battle of Yijing, Yuan Shao did not treat Yuan Xi badly on the surface. He submitted a memorial to the Han court, which was still on the run and whose whereabouts were unknown, recommending Yuan Xi as the governor of Youzhou.
This meant that Yuan Xi was now in charge of the affairs of Youzhou, although so far, Yuan Xi had not even occupied half of the territory of Zhuo County.
Then came the positions of deputy governors. The most important ones were not given to Yuan Xi's direct descendants, but were all filled by Yuan Shao's people.
The Zhizhong official was Xu You, the Beijia official and Bingcao official was Ju Su, and the Bookkeeper official was Liu He!
Xu You was actually Yuan Shang's man, and the position of the first deputy was equivalent to being Yuan Shang's confidant placed in Youzhou.
When Yuan Xi heard this, he felt slightly unhappy. It would be fine if he was replaced by an honest and upright person, but instead he was replaced by someone like Xu You, who would not only make huge profits, but also place corrupt confidants in the position. Wouldn't Youzhou be in chaos?
As for Ju Shou, it was even more interesting. This was a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality, which made Ju Shou completely fade out of the power circle of Jizhou, which was equivalent to being exiled by Yuan Shao!
No wonder Ju Su complained so much in his later years. It seemed that Yuan Shao had already made up his mind to weaken the power of the Jizhou gentry and make way for Yuan Shang.
Of course, the apparent reason is that Youzhou will be involved in wars one after another and needs a strategist like Ju Su who has rich combat experience to take charge.
Yuan Xi was delighted. Was he afraid that I couldn't dig out Ju Shou's brick, so he loosened it for me to dig?
If this isn't my biological father, then what is he?
Then there is Liu He.
After all, Liu He's identity is really embarrassing. Since Liu Yu died, Liu He's value has disappeared.
But if he left him in Yecheng, Yuan Shao was afraid that others would criticize him for imprisoning members of the Han royal family, so it would be most ideal to move this hot potato out of Jizhou.
As a result, Youzhou became a place of exile for marginalized people.
This reflects Yuan Shao's extremely contradictory mind. After Yuan Xi was adopted, Yuan Shao wanted Yuan Xi to play a role, but at the same time he wanted to be wary of him, so he placed people from different factions in the throne.
Just like the officialdom in later generations, putting people with different thoughts together may not lead to bad things, but it will be difficult to accomplish great things.
Although he was complaining in his heart, Yuan Xi still bowed his head respectfully and said, "I will follow your instructions."
Yuan Shao also felt that this arrangement was a bit excessive, but a powerful Youzhou was not currently in line with his pace of training Yuan Shang.
After all, Yuan Xi's performance over the past year was really beyond his expectations, so he had to resort to this expedient measure temporarily and put Yuan Xi in an awkward position.
He said, "In this case, what else do you want, my nephew?"
Yuan Xi raised his head and said, "My Lord, I am ready to get married."