Tiger Guards

Chapter 223 Two Short Poems
Pingyang, a small palace.

After being turned away, Fu Wan left in disappointment.

The other ministers were not in a position to intervene in the matter, and even writing letters to advise the queen was extremely inappropriate, so they could only pretend to be ignorant.

After Fu Wan left, Zhuge Jin came to pay a visit to Concubine Zhao and presented her with a set of wine-making utensils.

Concubine Zhao applied white powder on her face and observed Zhuge Jin bowing his head in greeting. She only felt that this man's face was a little long.

During this period, Zhuge Jin had a full stomach, his face had some flesh, and his image had become much more normal.

Concubine Zhao Guifei flipped through Zhao Ji's letter and looked at the short poem at the end. She asked Zhuge Jin, "Does the Marquis of Zhao have any instructions?"

"No, I just ordered my servant to carefully select and make sure to choose the best wine vessel."

"Well, I will reply later. You can come and get the letter when you go north to Jinyang."

"Here."

Zhuge Jin bowed deeply and turned to leave from the threshold under the guidance of the palace servants. The fact that he came to the threshold to answer was already a great honor to Zhao Ji.

After watching Zhuge Jin leave, Concubine Zhao heard the sound of the door closing, so she stood up and went to see Fu Shou with Zhao Ji's handwritten letter.

The handwritten note is not important; the key is the wine-making utensils.

Making wine from grapes takes time, and Zhao Ji's sending of wine utensils meant that he tacitly agreed to let them stay in Pingyang.

If they leave here, their lives will be in danger.

It wasn't that Fu Shou was making malicious guesses. She had read a lot, so she always felt insecure.

She read the handwritten letter forwarded by Concubine Zhao, and at the end of the letter, she looked at the short poems exchanged between Zhao Ji and Concubine Zhao, and said, "The two short poems written by Marquis Zhao are meaningful, the words are concise and straightforward and easy to understand, and their attainments are no less than Cao Cao and Chen Lin."

These two short poems, one is called "The Silkworm Woman" and the other is called "The Pottery Husband", correspond to the male and female poems.

Although Fu Shou and Concubine Zhao were sentimental, they also knew where the fine clothes they wore and the tall houses they lived in came from.

During this time, they also spun and wove, which was more of a pastime than a means of making a living, and no one would exploit them.

There is also the short poem that Fu Shou had previously exchanged with Zhao Ji in the identity of Concubine Zhao. Now we understand Zhao Ji's original intention of killing people of noble birth in Taiyuan.

There was really no grudge, nor was it revenge for the legendary widow of Wei. It was simply that the land under Zhao Ji's rule could not accommodate these well-dressed and powerful people.

Rather than rebelling or becoming hostile in the future, it is better to seize the opportunity and kill them directly.

This also meant that in this Shangdang battle, the Shangdang gentry would fight to the death... No matter how these people resisted, they would most likely be wiped out by Zhao Ji.

If we don't resist and cooperate, there will still be room for negotiation and mediation.

To resist is to oppose the emperor. Even if one succeeds, one will be branded with bad reputation. If one fails, the only way to justify the appearance fee of the emperor of the Han Dynasty is to exterminate all nine generations of his clan.

Under this dilemma, the powerful and well-off people of Shangdang could not exert even half of their full strength.

Seeing Fu Shou lost in thought after reading the short poem, Concubine Zhao asked, "Empress, how should I respond to these two short poems?"

"No need to reply. He has lofty ambitions, and it's difficult for us to compare with him."

Fu Shou handed the letter back to Zhao and said, "Write to the widow of the Wei family in your name and exchange poems with her. I want to see if she knows these short poems."

Fu Shou smiled as she spoke. She didn't believe that Zhao Ji would keep such an exquisite and short poem to himself.

If Zhao Ji and the widow of Wei were really as the rumors said, then they would have exchanged these short poems long ago.

Concubine Zhao thought of the embarrassing situation and was not afraid of the consequences. She was also curious about the specific relationship between Zhao Ji and the widow of Wei.

These two short poems with profound meanings are a great gift for meeting someone. They are like throwing a stone to test the waters, and they will immediately make a splash.

Fu Shou was enjoying herself here, while Zhao Ji's second brother also returned to Tongxiang.

Dressed in gorgeous gilded armor and leading a dozen or so cavalrymen, he immediately sparked public opinion among the villagers.

Although it was inevitable that Zhao Ji would raise his two brothers after becoming prominent, Zhao Yuan changed a little too quickly after all.

But after hearing that Zhao Yuan was going to Hanoi as a hostage, no one discussed it much.

The village elders were well-informed and took this opportunity to tell the villagers the reasons why Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan fell out and fought.

However, the information given by these village elders was also distorted. According to them, five years ago, Gongsun Zan sent his cousin Gongsun Yue to lead thousands of knights to Nanyang to help fight against the Yuan family. As a result, the two Yuans fought each other, and Gongsun Yue was shot and killed by Yuan Shao's men during the battle, which triggered the Battle of Jie Bridge and the War between You and Ji Provinces.

If Zhao Laoer died unexpectedly in battle under Zhang Yang's command, it would very likely trigger a war in Hedong and Henei.

In short, the village elders are not optimistic about Zhao Laoer.

They influenced public opinion, and no one envied Zhao Yuan's official position.

Inside the Tongxiang Lord's residence, Pei was delighted to see her second son prosper. However, upon hearing that her eldest son was still serving as a soldier, she could no longer control her emotions and burst into tears, cursing, "This brat is determined to kill my eldest son!"

The eldest son was the apple of her eye, and she couldn't stop her tears from flowing: "How could he be so heartless!" Little Pei was standing by, very nervous. She could only drive away the servants, fearing that her aunt's words would be heard in Taiyuan.

Zhao Yuan also advised: "Mother, please stop talking. If someone spreads this to Aji, my brother will be in real trouble."

"He dares!"

Pei stared, but when she thought of that kind of thing happening, she panicked and lost her balance. She fell to the ground, kicking her legs in her loose brocade robe, crying and shouting, feeling sad, helpless, and very angry, and she kept cursing.

Zhao Yuan felt nervous after hearing this. He glanced at his pregnant wife holding their son's hand, and then at Ah Xi who was looking at him nervously.

Gritting his teeth, he said to Xiao Pei: "I'll leave Mother here in the care of my sister-in-law. I'll write a letter and ask someone to take care of my brother. Aji is not that kind of person, so don't worry."

Xiao Pei could still hold it in, but now her ears were filled with her aunt's curses, and she was afraid that her aunt would curse her man to death.

Zhao Yuan immediately turned around and left, his wife quickly followed, and Ah Xi picked up Zhao Yuan's son and followed closely behind.

After running to the side yard, Zhao Yuan finally found some peace and quiet. He carefully untied his helmet strap, placed it on the table, and casually looked around the house: "How is mother these days?"

His wife and Ah Xi remained silent. Looking at their expressions, Zhao Yuan could imagine his mother's arrogant look.

He then said to his wife, "Aji gave me a family background through Zhang Yang. You will only cause trouble if you stay here. Ah Xi, come with me to Hanoi. I will arrange for someone to escort you and your son to your great-grandfather's place."

His wife nodded repeatedly. She had had enough.

She used to do the work of a servant in the house. Now that her family business has grown and she has become famous, Pei Shi hired a servant but was reluctant to use her. Instead, she was forced to work more frequently.

It would be fine if he suffered a little, but the key point was that his son was not loved by the Pei family.

Now that the backbone is back and arrangements have been made, how can we refuse?

Thinking that she was about to escape from the sea of suffering, she immediately threw herself into Zhao Yuan's arms with red eyes and cried bitterly, wishing to vent all the grievances she had suffered during this period.

Zhao Yuan just endured it silently and didn't say anything to comfort her.

He has lived for twenty-two years. Doesn't he know the character of everyone in his family?

Originally he had to look at the faces of his mother and the boss, but Zhao Ji gave him a chance. He was about to gamble his life as a hostage, so why should he endure this grievance?
If he goes out and becomes a hostage, he will die. There is no point in suffering injustice now. If he becomes prominent because of this and helps Zhao Ji do something in the future, he can also start his own branch. Why should he bow his head and become a slave to the boss?
After his wife finished crying, Zhao Yuan asked, "Why didn't mother go with father when he went north to Dai County?"

His wife looked hesitant. Zhao Yuan turned to look at Ah Xi, who was hesitant to speak. "Go ahead."

"My father brought two young widows with him. My mother kept arguing with him, and my father didn't hold back. He closed the door and beat her."

Ah Xi lowered his voice: "My mother and Alan's mother also followed my father. Now these are the only ones left in Tongxiang."

"It's better to break up and live our own lives, so that we don't get wiped out overnight."

Zhao Yuan had nothing good to say, and sat there slouched. "There's nothing much to clean up here. Let's all go. Otherwise, Mother might chase us out, and if others get to know about the commotion, it wouldn't be pretty."

He said this, but he wanted to stand up, but his legs were too weak to move.

He felt particularly happy today, even though his bones were a little soft.

He was the one who got beaten the most since he was a child, and the reasons for his beatings were different from Zhao Ji's.

Zhao Ji was indeed naughty and had his own ideas. Old Zhao beat him, but he was old and didn't use such harsh force.

Zhao Yuan was different. Although obedient, he wasn't very quick-witted. This actually made Old Zhao even more angry, and he would take action whenever he got the chance. Old Zhao was still in his prime, so he stopped taking action until Zhao Yuan turned eighteen.

Although he didn't take action, he often showed his displeasure on a daily basis, which had formed a conditioned reflex in Zhao Yuan.

Sometimes a look could bring more pressure to Zhao Yuan than a beating.

When Zhao Ji was almost fifteen years old, he escaped the beatings and moved out to live on his own out of spite, not even paying attention to the other person's face.

Especially when Zhao Ji was able to shoot birds and beasts in the mountains to supplement his family's income, he dared to challenge Old Zhao, but Old Zhao could still tolerate it.

Just like that, when Xiao Pei heard the news and ran over, there was no one in Zhao Yuan's small courtyard, not even his underwear.

If Zhao Yuan hadn't still retained his sanity, he would have wanted to burn everything in front of him.

Zhao Yuan brought his wife directly to Tongxiang Ferry and stayed in a small military camp with a capacity of 100 people at the ferry.

He had a premonition that after the boss got the official position, he would definitely run away with his wife.

Zhao Ji must have a way to get the eldest brother away from Hedong. By then, in the huge fiefdom and mansion of Tongxiang Jun, except for her mother Pei, she will be alone and will not be able to find any old friends to talk to.

Zhao Yuan participated in the Battle of Jinyang and knew how cruel the battlefield was.

He didn't want to suffer all this. Zhao Ji was under so much pressure, how could he possibly put himself in such a difficult position?
He is five years older than Zhao Ji and has basically watched Zhao Ji grow up.

Is Zhao Ji really afraid of being beaten by Old Zhao?

If you are not afraid at all, how much resentment can you hold?

(End of this chapter)