Chapter 170 The Eve of the Covenant
"A true gentleman, who follows his own will and prides himself on being unrestrained and romantic."

At dusk, the black bear had returned to its home outside the Lantian camp.

In the low two-story earthen building, he and Zhen Mi talked about what they had seen and heard today: "I don't like this kind of indulgent character."

In addition to the two of them, there was also a fifteen-year-old Ma Yun in the earth building. Fortunately, she was a pretty woman with a tall figure, an oval face, big eyes and a bright temperament.

Ma Yun wore a brightly colored embroidered robe, with her hair hanging down her back in a pretentious manner, a layer of starch smeared on her face, and a strange heart-shaped red lipstick painted on it.

What made Black Bear even more uncomfortable was Ma Yun's eyebrows, which were also covered with starch, and two tadpole-like eyebrow lines were dotted one inch above her eyebrows.

There are also two small black dots in the middle of the cheek, one symmetrical on the left and one on the right on both sides of the nose bridge.

Maybe this way, people can ignore her actual age.

But his thin body could not support the clothes he was wearing, and he tried hard to straighten his back and act like an adult, which made him look even thinner.

She is a little silly... You can't say that about Ma Teng's daughter, she is obviously cute and adorable.

Zhen Mi's skin was fair and delicate due to her abundant blood and qi, and her complexion was rosy and shiny, so she only wore light makeup and even painted dark blue eye shadow.

She frowned: "What does Wang Zhongxuan want to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe he wants to do something after escaping from the cage."

Black Bear picked up his glass and smiled: "They have a huge misunderstanding of me."

Zhen Mi also laughed and shook her head: "Yes, how can they know your ambition?"

Ma Yun looked at the two people smiling and also smiled slightly, without showing her teeth. But through the starch on her face, people felt that she was really smiling.

The black bear glanced at her sideways, and the little girl immediately became nervous and her smile disappeared.

After thinking for a while, Black Bear said to Zhen Mi: "Let Jinhua work with you in the future, and let her not be so nervous. I don't eat people."

Zhen Mi also went to see Ma Yun, whose nickname was Jinhua.

For a moment, Zhen Mi's complex and urgent emotions once again entangled her heart, and she nodded and agreed: "Yes, I will guide you with all my heart."

Seeing Zhen Mi's nervous look, Black Bear said, "I will double your monthly share from now on, and let Jinhua take good care of her health."

"Yes."

Zhen Mi breathed a sigh of relief for some reason, yet felt a little reluctant, not wanting this little girl to enjoy the same treatment as her.

As the youngest of five sisters in the family, Zhen Mi was well aware of the dangers of younger concubines and sidekicks.

But when I think about the benefits and improvements that fairy peaches and spiritual fruits bring to the body, I feel that this little competitor will not be able to get pregnant in the future.

She was aware that she had excellent physical fitness. If she was given a sword, she would be confident that she could defeat the two soldiers with the self-defense sword skills she had learned.

Therefore, she attributed the current inability to get pregnant to the strengthening of the body by the fairy peach. She really wanted to stop taking the spiritual fruit to test her guess, but she was reluctant to give up her physical state after taking the spiritual fruit.

Black Bear looked at Ma Yun again and said, "You are beautiful, like a lotus emerging from water. Why do you ruin yourself with heavy makeup? From now on, you can wear light makeup at home, and wear a mask and a cage scarf when you go out."

"Yes, Langjun."

Ma Yun answered with a pinched voice, and Black Bear couldn't help but shook his head and smiled: "Ma Shoucheng's daughter, Ma Mengqi's sister, are outstanding and heroic, why should she learn to behave like a little girl?"

Ma Yun held back her words; she would never forget the temporary education she received before getting married.

Although Ma Teng's branch calls itself the Maoling Ma family, everyone knows what its actual background is.

The more this happened, the more Ma Teng cared about his daughter's family education, fearing that his daughter's frivolous behavior would be looked down upon by Black Bear, a famous man from Kanto.

If there were any jokes, it wouldn't just be his daughter who would laugh, but the hundreds of people in Ma Teng's group.

Seeing her shyness, Black Bear said, "Rules are always there to constrain the people below. As for the revelry at the Longshou Mountain banquet today, if an ordinary person came to Wang Can and brayed like a donkey, he would probably be beaten to death on the spot."

Zhen Mi also said, "That's right. Jinhua doesn't need to restrain her nature. With your ability, why would you care about what the outside world says?"

Ma Yun looked at Black Bear again. Black Bear raised his right hand, stretched out his left hand and gathered his right sleeve: "I'll show you an illusion... Transform!"

In the middle of the empty palm, two plump chrysanthemums appeared and were placed in the fruit plates in front of Ma Yun and Zhen Mi respectively.

Ma Yun quickly reached out and picked it up, smelling it. Zhen Mi had seen the royal chrysanthemum before, so she picked it up and said with a smile, "This is really a golden flower."

Although Ma Yun was surprised and happy, she still controlled her emotions.

Black Bear was not in a hurry about this, and said to Zhen Mi: "From now on, she will be in your care. I am in a dilemma now."

"But what about Hebei?"

"Correct."

Black Bear moved his fingers and said, "It doesn't matter if they exchange Jingzhou's grain and cloth or not. If they are not happy, I will find a way to get it from other places. Then, if the imperial envoy from Xudu delays in sending troops, I will lead my troops to Luo and let Cao Cao know how powerful I am."

"There is also the matter of establishing an official school. Wang Can and Zhong Yao thought I wanted to follow Liu Biao's example and rebuild the Imperial College. Little did they know that I just wanted to teach the use of characters and arithmetic commonly used in daily life."

"These three things seem to have a big impact, but none of them are urgent. I am worried that Ju Hu will be controlled by others and will not be able to reach an agreement as soon as possible."

The matter of the Hebei envoy was very important. Reaching an important alliance would help him to win over and integrate the hearts of the people in Guanzhong faster.

In terms of diplomacy, choosing a suitable enemy will help increase cohesion; choosing a suitable ally can also deter internal instability factors.

Once you have a clear idea of ​​your external enemies and friends, internal affairs will be easier to handle.

Seeing Hei Xiong and Zhen Mi discussing such an important topic, Ma Yun instinctively wanted to stay away.

She thought Zhen Mi would avoid suspicion, but she didn't expect Zhen Mi to look thoughtful: "My dear, are you going to replace Yuan Tan?"

She had heard the strategic plan that Black Bear initially made for the brothers Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, which was that Yuan Shang would be in Hebei and Yuan Tan would split Guanlong.

Whether the brothers join hands to conquer the world, or form an alliance to become the King of Qin or the King of Zhao, both are more promising than a civil war between brothers for Hebei.

Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang did the same thing. Before the war, Yuan Tan recruited his old subordinates from Qingzhou and waited for the weather to turn cooler.

As a result, in just two or three months, Black Bear and the captured Qingzhou soldiers completed the ultimate overtaking.

He also cited the power of Yuan Tan and Hebei to force Zhong Yao to surrender, thus paving the way for the annexation of Guanzhong.

So now, it is our side that has replaced the territory and status that Yuan Tan expected.

For Yuan Shang, the strategic goal of cutting off Cao Cao's western line has been achieved, so there is no need to expect that it is not Yuan Tan who controls this place. How should I put it? If it is not Yuan Tan, it will be better for Yuan Shang and the stability of Hebei.

Otherwise, after Yuan Tan secured his control over Guanlong and Hebei began to decline, would Yuan Tan have other thoughts?
"Even you think so, what will Yuan Tan think?"

"Only one of me and Yuan Tan can survive now. It's not that I have to kill him, but for Yuan Shang, a dead Yuan Tan is better. It depends on whether Yuan Shang can figure it out. It doesn't matter if he can't figure it out. As long as Shen Pei, Ju Hu, Qian Zhao, and Cui Yan can figure it out, then the alliance will be easy to sign."

"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's drink and have fun today."

Black Bear picked up the wine glass and looked at Ma Yun: "You can just drink lightly, three cups is the limit."

Instead, Ma Yun seemed somewhat unhappy, as if she looked down on her.

Three glasses of wine meant nothing to her.

Zhen Mi raised her wine glass and said, "I wish you the best in unifying the three prefectures and establishing a new foundation."

"I also hope that you two can be as close as brothers and be healthy and free of disease."

Ma Yun held the wine glass and looked at Black Bear: "I wish you great power in Western Province and invincibility in the world."

"I also wish you all your dreams come true and don't be burdened by mundane matters."

After that, Black Bear raised his glass again and said, "Drink it up."

"Drink it full."

The three of them held up their wine glasses with both hands and drank the first drink of this banquet symbolizing a family gathering.

The feeling of drinking with two people is completely different from drinking with three people.

After all, gathering for a banquet with more than three people for no reason is already a crime.

This night, in Xinfeng City, in a building.

Ju Hu was uneasy and always worried that Yuan Tan would cause trouble.

If Shen Pei were here, he could naturally judge Yuan Tan on behalf of the people of Hebei.

But he is the one who can make the decision here for the time being. He has obtained the latest authorization from Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang hopes that he can represent Hebei and reach a brotherly alliance with Black Bear.

I hope that the two families can have a deeper marriage, preferably marrying each other's sisters to ensure that the next generation will have each other's blood.

This put Ju Hu in a difficult position, because in order to achieve this, the black bear's true origins had to be uncovered.

Even if Black Bear is willing, he has to find a way to transport the other clan out of Liangpei area.

If this matter leaks out, Cao Cao will definitely try his best to sabotage it.

The possibility of endangering the Black Bear clan is not high, but it is possible to replace the Yuan family and force a marriage with them.

Under the influence of blood ties, if the unified Guanzhong was completely pulled over to the Xudu court, the morale of Hebei would be severely damaged.

Morale is something that exists all the time. When morale is there, the county magistrate of a small county town dares to lead hundreds of people to fight to the death, because there is hope.

If this hope was dashed, there were many examples of cities with thousands of defenders surrendering easily or their generals abandoning their troops and fleeing.

As long as the morale is high enough, we will not be afraid of the siege of Cao's army.

After he has recovered from this shock, it will be Cao Cao's turn to defend.

Therefore, as long as Hebei can stabilize Guanzhong, a good ally, and does not need the allies to send troops to help, it has the confidence to continue to fight with Cao Cao.

But he was afraid that Yuan Tan would cause chaos, and there was no good opportunity to assassinate him.

It was impossible for Yuan Tan to stay in Pingyang obediently, and it was also difficult to persuade Yuan Tan to attack Xiahou Dun in Luoyang.

As long as Yuan Tan attacks Xiahou Dun, whether he successfully recaptures Luoyang or rebels and joins Cao Cao, it will be better than the current situation of being neither good nor bad.

Ju Hu didn't know how to describe Yuan Tan. He was probably like a tumor, an abscess, or a malignant sore.

If it doesn't work, join forces with Black Bear, launch a surprise attack on Pingyang, and wipe out Yuan Tan!

If the Southern Xiongnu tribes have already supported Yuan Tan, then destroy them all together!
So many people in Ju Hu's family had died, he didn't mind the death of another pillar of the Yuan family.

And this is the upper limit of Hebei’s sincerity in forming an alliance!

However, in Lantian County, the acting county magistrate Sun Qian was not in a good mood either.

He came to find Zhao Yun at night, and it happened that Zhao Yun was not asleep.

The two of them slept on the couch with their feet touching, their backs against the wall, and an oil lamp burning beside them.

Sun Qian briefly recounted what happened to him today. He did not expect that Yuan Tan would actually send an envoy to invite his lord to lead troops to advance into Guanzhong.

Yuan Tan respected Liu Bei very much, and now he invited Liu Bei to advance to Guanzhong with full sincerity.

Because Yuan Tan sent a letter written in blood, the messenger who delivered the letter committed suicide by drinking the sword in front of Sun Qian after completing his mission.

In the blood letter, Yuan Tan described his dangerous situation.

He was willing to give up the post of Inspector of the Imperial Capital to Liu Bei, only asking Liu Bei to help him out of danger.

Even if that is not possible, I hope Liu Bei can persuade Liu Biao to mediate this war that may break out at any time.

Yuan Tan had no choice but to be afraid. Qian Zhao and the Wuhuan Yicong were stationed in Taiyuan. Although Cui Yan in Hedong had only 5,000 troops, it was impossible for Yuan Tan to defeat Cui Yan quickly, and it was even more impossible for him to obtain boats to cross the river without angering Hedong.

It is impossible to cross the river from Hedong. If you cross the river from Fenshui, you will be intercepted by Gan Ning in Tongguan. Gan Ning is currently the best at naval warfare in the north.

Therefore, Yuan Tan's actual situation was very bad. As long as the food supply was cut off, his old subordinates in Qingzhou would immediately fall into chaos.

As Liu Bei's envoy, Sun Qian naturally had certain arbitrary powers; but the scale of this authorization was difficult to judge, especially at this critical juncture.

The envoys from Hebei are about to meet and form an alliance with Black Bear; however, Sun Qian is unable to obtain the latest instructions from Liu Bei.

If Yuan Tan was rescued and returned to Jingzhou, there would be more than 4,000 people from Qingzhou following Yuan Tan; if we add the miscellaneous Hu servants that Yuan Tan has gathered during this period, he would be able to take away at least a thousand cavalry.

This was enough to change Liu Bei's situation in Nanyang from strategic defense to waiting for an opportunity to act.

In response, Cao Cao would have to send at least 10,000 more troops to the vicinity of Wankou!

(End of this chapter)