I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 278 Cai Yan Returns to Han
With Liu Miao's support, Zhen Yan shook off his previous depression and began to actively contact his colleagues in the north.

It is somewhat difficult to directly contact Hebei from Jiangdong.

but it does not matter.

With one person in the Central Plains, it would be easy to contact Hebei.

This person was not Cao Cao, but Xu You, who had previously defected from Yuan Shao's camp!
Xu You truly deserves to be called a renowned scholar, and even more so, a mutual friend of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

Even after joining Cao Cao's forces, he remained acutely aware of the situation in Hebei.

What Zhen Yan wanted to inquire about was no problem for Xu You at all! In just one month, Xu You had already obtained the secret formula and handed it over to Zhen Yan.

Zhen Yan, who came from a gentry family in Hebei, knew best Xu You's greedy nature.

Zhen Yan was prepared to be extorted by Xu You, but Xu You surprisingly did not charge any fees!

This unusual behavior immediately made Zhen Yan realize that Xu You probably had other intentions.

So Zhen Yan sent his younger brother Zhen Yao to Xuchang to meet with Xu You and find out what Xu You was really up to!

Not surprisingly.

After Zhen Yao finally arrived in Xuchang after many hardships, he discovered that Xu You indeed had something to ask of him.

However, the person they were asking for was not them, but Liu Miao!

Xu You greeted Zhen Yao with a cheerful smile, but his words were full of self-deprecation.

"How have you been? I never imagined we'd meet again in Xuchang!"

An advisor to Yuan Shao.

He almost became related to Yuan Shao.

Logically speaking, both of them should have become loyal to Yuan Shao, but they ended up in this situation, which is truly regrettable!

"Master Xu is still as spirited as ever."

"Alas~ It's not as carefree as you are in Jiangdong! I've heard that Jiangdong is prosperous now, and Jinling City has even surpassed Luoyang in its heyday! If it weren't for serving the Emperor, I really wouldn't want to stay in Xuchang for even half a day!"

That statement is only half true and half false.

When Xu You was young, he did plot to depose Emperor Ling, Liu Xie's father, from the throne. It's hard to say that the relationship between the emperor and his minister was harmonious.

However, Cao Cao, a close friend of Xu You, was now in power in Xuchang, so Xu You was living a comfortable life and there was no need for him to leave Xuchang.

This puzzled Zhen Yao: "Since Lord Xu is unwilling to leave Xuchang, what is he communicating with Liu Biaoji about?"

"Oh~~~"

Xu You said that young people are still too superficial!
“I had previously made an agreement with Liu Biaoqi that if I helped him with something, I would receive a sum of money.”

"Now that the matter has been accomplished, and I have even been forced to come to Mengde's place, surely General Liu should keep his promise?"

Although Xu You spoke frankly, Zhen Yao still felt awkward listening to him.

I only understood after thinking about it carefully.

Liu Miao had previously agreed to Xu You's request because Xu You was a confidant of Yuan Shao, so the price he offered was naturally high.

but now……

Xu You had already joined Cao Cao's forces, and Liu Miao's relationship with Cao Cao was far better than his relationship with Xu You. Moreover, in the Central Plains, Cao Cao's words clearly carried more weight than Xu You's.

In Liu Miao's eyes, Xu You is clearly not worth that much... but Xu You still wants the original price, which is why he is willing to help the Zhen family find the technique of applying glue for free, so that the Zhen family will ask for the money that Xu You himself finds difficult to ask.

Although Zhen Yao has a volatile temper, he is not stupid.

He couldn't help but want to politely decline: "This... Lord Xu, we are not familiar with Liu Biaoji, how can we ask him for this?"

"..."

Xu You narrowed his eyes: "How can you say we're not familiar with each other?"

“Your sister is representing Hebei in a marriage alliance with Liu Miao. Even though I’ve heard that Liu Miao has many wives and concubines, you should still pay a little more attention to her.”

"Moreover, you also obtained armor for heavy cavalry. Aren't these achievements enough to convince Liu Miao to agree to this?"

Zhen Yao was immediately frightened.

Xu You actually knew that they had obtained the heavy cavalry armor!
Just how deeply entrenched was Xu You in Hebei?

However, Zhen Yao still dared not agree easily, and Xu You then used his trump card.

"I went to the north to inquire and learned that paper merchants in Handan nowadays not only have the technique of applying sizing to make paper transparent and bright, but they have also mastered a paper dyeing technique that can kill insects and prevent moths, making the paper easier to preserve..."

Upon hearing this, Zhen Yao's breathing immediately became rapid!

The South is great in every way, except for the abundance of mosquitoes!

It was common for paper to be infested with insects. If Zhen Yao could truly master the "paper dyeing technique," he was confident that he could take a huge cut into the Lu family's papermaking business and ensure that the Zhen family would thrive in Liu Miao's territory from then on!

Zhen Yao... was smitten!

Xu You smiled upon seeing this.

"If you can get Liu Biaoji to say these things, then I will naturally offer you this 'paper dyeing technique' with both hands!"

Zhen Yao was extremely conflicted, but when he thought about the huge profits to come, he couldn't help but agree to it!

When Zhen Yan found out, he was somewhat helpless: "Money can be earned anytime, but once favors are used up, it's hard to get them back!"

Especially for a feudal lord of Liu Miao's caliber, personal relationships were extremely rare and precious.

But since Zhen Yao had already agreed to Xu You's request, Zhen Yan had no choice but to accept it.

However, since this matter was somewhat official, Zhen Yan did not go directly to Zhen Mi to ask her to relay the message to Liu Miao. Instead, he went to Lu Su and asked him to pass on the message. Lu Su also knew the background of the matter, but he did not dare to make a decision on his own. He could only go to Liu Miao to discuss the matter.

"..."

"What's there to say?"

"a man of his words!"

"Give him whatever amount of money and grain you have! Am I, Liu Miao, the kind of person who reneges on debts?"

Lu Su's gaze was strange, making Liu Miao feel uneasy.

"Why? These are my heartfelt words!"

"..."

Lu Su's still suspicious gaze deeply hurt Liu Miao.

"Fine, fine! I'll tell you the truth!"

"Xu You did come from Yuan Shao's side, and the Zhen family incident shows that he still has influence in Hebei. Keeping him around might come in handy sometime!"

Upon hearing Liu Miao's explanation, Lu Su nodded in satisfaction!

Yeah!

Liu Miao's true nature was to act without self-interest!
What "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond"? Is that your poem, Liu Miao?

Lu Su immediately agreed: "Your subject will take care of it right away!"

"But I wonder, who should be the messenger to greet us..."

“Naturally, it should be Yuan Tan! After all, he is his teacher’s daughter, so sending him is the most suitable!”

Lu Su nodded in agreement: "Otherwise, people would probably think that our lord has caused such a commotion again because of lust!"

"..."

Originally, Liu Miao was not very interested in Cai Yan.

But after hearing Lu Su's words, Liu Miao suddenly had a bad feeling...

------

Cai Yong's daughter, Cai Yan, was imprisoned by the Xiongnu for three years. Liu Biaoqi spent a fortune to ransom her and bring her back to Han territory!
Under the shadow of war, the hearts of too many officials and ordinary people were already exhausted.

Now that we've finally found something to have fun with, why wouldn't we go and check it out?
Compared to the story of "Liu Biaoqi sympathized with Cai Yong's daughter, a great Confucian scholar, who had fallen into the hands of the Xiongnu, and thus accepted Gu Yong's request to bring Cai Yan back to the Central Plains," the story of "Liu Biaoqi, lusting after Cai Yan's beauty, redeemed her from the Xiongnu" is clearly more likely to generate lasting gossip!
Especially considering the previous "Langya Alliance" which also involved the marriage of Yuan Xi's fiancée Zhen Mi, officials and common people were convinced that Liu Miao was only after Cai Yan's beauty, which was why he specifically ransomed her from the Xiongnu!

"Why don't you guess how much Liu Biaoqi spent?"

"I heard that Cai Yan was abducted by the Left Wise King of the Xiongnu to be his wife. There must be a lot of money involved!"

"Could it be that he has ten thousand taels of gold?"

"It's definitely more than that! I'd guess 100,000!"

"Hiss—Liu Biaoqi will stop at nothing for beauty!"

Liu Miao's fame had long been known throughout the land.

Cai Yong was a great Confucian scholar who also presided over the compilation of the "Dongguan Hanji" and the production of the "Xiping Stone Classics". He was also very famous among scholars!

Furthermore, the fact that it involved a word that is most sensitive to the Han people—the Xiongnu—made the matter the focus of public attention!

In the end, even Emperor Liu Xie, who was under even tighter surveillance by Cao Cao after the secret edict was revealed, heard about this and couldn't help but wonder: "Is this Cai Yan really the daughter of Cai Zhonglang back then?"

Liu Xie was always a puppet emperor, so there weren't many ministers he remembered or were deeply impressed by.

unfortunately.

Cai Yong, that just happens to be one.

It wasn't just because Cai Yong had a good relationship with Dong Zhuo during his lifetime, and there were many scholars who opposed Dong Zhuo, but also because Cai Yong himself had been kind to the emperor.

In the first year of the Chuping era, after the capital was moved to Chang'an, Dong Zhuo's advisors wanted the court to honor him with the title of Taigong (Grand Duke), and to have the emperor address him as Shangfu (Grandfather). Dong Zhuo consulted Cai Yong for his opinion, who advised, "Taigong assisted the Zhou dynasty and was ordered to overthrow the Shang dynasty, hence the title Taigong. Although your prestige and virtue are high, I believe you are not yet worthy of being called Shangfu. We should discuss this matter again after the Guandong region is pacified and Your Majesty returns to the old capital!"

It was because of Cai Yong's dissuasion that Liu Xie did not utter the word "Shangfu" (a title of respect for the emperor).

If this were to be spread, the Han dynasty and its emperor would lose all face!

Therefore, Liu Xie still felt some gratitude towards Cai Yong, and immediately tentatively asked Cao Cao, "Could the Minister of Works allow Cai Yan to go to Xuchang so that I can see the descendants of my old friend again?"

Cao Cao originally had no interest in paying attention to the emperor.

Since the imperial edict in the belt, Cao Cao's relationship with the emperor had reached a freezing point. He wouldn't even rebuke the emperor, let alone agree to his demands.

However, at this moment, Xun Yu came to mediate between the two.

"Since this was proposed by His Majesty, Your Excellency, as his subject, should do your best to accommodate it. In this way, harmony between ruler and subject will naturally bring peace to the realm!"

"and……"

Xun Yu was not without consideration for Cao Cao's feelings; in fact, it could be said that Xun Yu's subsequent strategies were entirely based on Cao Cao's interests.

"If Cai Yan is able to come to Xuchang this time, she will surely be accompanied by people from the Southern Xiongnu."

"The Xiongnu cavalry has always been a powerful weapon for Yuan Shao! If we can persuade the Southern Xiongnu to pledge allegiance to you, it would be tantamount to cutting off one of Yuan Shao's arms!"

Cao Cao's eyes flickered, but in the end he still agreed to the matter.

"In that case, let Zhongshan's envoy bring Cai Yan to Xuchang as well!"

(End of this chapter)