The Three Great Han Dynasties: Awaken Liu Bei with a scolding; you weave mats and sell sandals.

Chapter 156 Jizhou, Luoshen Zhenmi

"You two each do this task. Whoever succeeds will have rendered a great service to the Yuan family, and the entire Yuan family will naturally favor that person in the future."

Yuan Wei resorted to such a method to motivate the two men, demonstrating his good intentions.

"Yes."

The two answered in unison.

Even now, since the Yuan family has no external enemies, they are at most just competitors, as long as they play by the rules.

There will be no problems for the Yuan family.

Furthermore, the Yuan family has long since given up any desire to ascend to the throne, so all they seek is to maintain the status quo.

At least for now.

Their desire to soar to great heights is not much different from wishful thinking. On the contrary, only by being content with their lot can they continue to maintain the glorious title of the Yuan family, which has produced three dukes for four generations.

Otherwise, the clans below and the retainers of the Yuan family would be keeping a close eye on them and would never give them an opportunity so easily.

soon.

Both of them, members of the Yuan family, went downstairs. It was clear that the competition between them was quite intense.

"Well done, Yuan Benchu, you're determined to fight me to the bitter end."

Yuan Shu watched Yuan Shao's departing figure and gritted his teeth.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

Yuan Shao left expressionlessly. Now it was a matter of whether to choose the legitimate heir or the virtuous one. If it was the virtuous one, then Yuan Shao was the better choice. But if it was the legitimate heir, then Yuan Gonglu in front of him was just a better-born son.

You may win for a time, but you may not win forever.

If you can't shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Yuan family, do you really think they'll wait for you forever?

The heavy burden of family responsibilities should be placed on those who are truly capable of shouldering the responsibility; everyone else is completely unworthy.

Without a doubt, this is the current trajectory of clan development and the true situation.

These are just the two top clans in the current imperial city of Luoyang.

The fact that these two top clans are vying for the position of principal wife doesn't mean that others have no interest in it either.

Since he couldn't take the position of principal wife, he naturally set his sights on the concubines. After all, there was already a precedent of the Duke of Weining marrying Cai Dan, the daughter of the great Confucian scholar Cai Yong, a woman who was once famous throughout the imperial city of Luoyang.

Nowadays, it's likely that like father, like son. Even if they marry their own daughter off to the past as a concubine, she might not necessarily suffer any mistreatment. In this way, it's hard to say whether they'll gain or lose, and at least they can get some good connections.

There are so many wonderful aspects to this.

The Zhen family of Jizhou.

While Zhen Mi stayed in her boudoir, news of what had happened in Luoyang, the imperial capital, reached this place after more than a month.

-

The Zhen family and the Mi family of Xuzhou were both prominent merchant families, existing across various historical timelines.

Both families have always enjoyed a high reputation.

Unfortunately, they were just a merchant family, not a noble family, so they had always sought to transform themselves, but the results were really mediocre, which is why they have ended up like this.

At this moment, discussions arose throughout the Zhen family, with almost everyone discussing the matter.

"Now that this son of the Duke of Weining, a fine general under the Great General, has such ambitions, our Zhen family absolutely cannot let him slip through our fingers."

"As the old patriarch often says, 'Like father, like son.' This General Liu Xuande is a true strongman who rose from Youzhou step by step. His status is by no means low, so we must not miss this great opportunity."

"Marrying my Zhen family's eldest daughter to them would be a step above the Mi family of Xuzhou, so what's wrong with that?"

"It may not be 10% higher. After all, they were the wives and concubines of Duke Weining. It still depends on which direction you look at it from."

"Come on, is this the time to be so particular about these things?"

Now, it's uncertain whether my daughter, Zhen, can break through the encirclement and stand out.

Ultimately, this General Liu Xuande was sincere and not someone who coveted beauty. Otherwise, wouldn't marrying my Zhen family's eldest daughter to him have ruined her life?

"This is absolutely unacceptable."

As the sounds subsided, it was clear that the Zhen family at least had some principles, much like the Mi family of Xuzhou, whose family traditions were quite good.

However, there is no doubt that its clan members are far more numerous than those of the Mi family.

Soon someone arrived at Zhen Bi's courtyard and specifically inquired about her.

Holding the scripture scroll, Zhen Bi's pretty face, unadorned, was flushed with a faint blush, revealing a hint of shyness. At this moment, her delicate eyebrows were slightly raised, and a touch of helplessness lingered on her cheeks. She slowly spoke, "Now that this matter has been decided, how could I, a mere woman, possibly disobey it? It is the will of my parents, the words of the matchmaker, and a matter of family. I will do my utmost."

Zhen Mi's voice was melodious and clear.

After she said this, most people in the Zhen family were at least relieved.

Meanwhile, the maidservant beside her was somewhat indignant, feeling sorry for her mistress: "Miss, do you really want to marry General Liu Xuande as a concubine?"

General Liu Bei is indeed a good man, but Miss is also capable of being a principal wife. Wouldn't it be better to be a principal wife?

The family's treatment of you, Miss, is far too selfish.

Upon hearing this, Zhen Bi shook his head. Though simple-minded, he understood the family's predicament and did not immediately throw a tantrum.

"In these chaotic times, our family is walking on thin ice, which is no easy task."

Moreover, Luoyang, the imperial city, is a place of fashion and style throughout the land. For the Zhen family, being able to go there would be a truly wonderful thing. How could we allow anyone to have wild thoughts and act recklessly?

"You must never have such thoughts again."

"Understood, Miss."

The little girl said with a pitiful expression.

Zhen Bijian was helpless to do anything about it.

She was ultimately just a minor legitimate daughter, which sounded incredibly noble, but in reality...?

Deep down, he was generally aware of the situation. Although he held a noble status, he ultimately had no real power, which led to many helpless situations.

I only hope that General Liu Xuande is a person who can treat me with respect. If so, I would rather be his concubine.

She was content, and that was the greatest wish of a woman like her, who was powerless to change her fate in this chaotic world.

Time flies, and it's already around the hottest period of summer, almost the end of the year.

At this moment, Liu Hong sat firmly on a square chair in the Liuyuan Garden, and in front of him was his adopted son, Liu Bei.

Liu Hong glanced at him indifferently and said irritably, "Didn't you want to get married and have children to enhance the prestige of my Liu family? Now, these names are the noble ladies from various aristocratic families, including the Yang family, the Yuan family, and other Wang family women."