Chapter 29 Cai Jia Zhenji
In the Cai family courtyard, Yuan Huan talked with the elders from various branches of the Cai family.

Yuan Huan asked about last year's harvest and recent life, and these people asked Yuan Huan about the situation in the outside world.

People are generally concerned about this year's war against Hebei, which is the first round of counterattack after two years of tug-of-war between Yuan and Cao.

The struggle between the two sides and the fact that one side gained and the other side lost has led to more than two unfavorable situations.

The black bear sat beside Yuan Huan, as if he was a student following Yuan Huan.

The women from each branch of the Cai family also came here to help with the cooking, and they all brought food with them.

Soon a banquet was prepared and they dined together.

After Yuan Huan gave a brief introduction, Black Bear also had a seat at a table next to Yuan Huan.

Outside the gate of the house, the driver sat on the shaft of the cart, extremely anxious after feeding the cows, not knowing whether he should shout to warn the police.

Under the eaves of the main room, Lu Bu, who was wearing a white robe and dark brown leather armor, had his face covered the whole time. He stood straight at the door, motionless.

The white veil covering their faces made the servants at the gate always feel like they were being watched and they dared not act rashly.

How could he know that even if Lu Bu had eyes at this moment, they were unfocused.

Seeing that Lu Bu had a tall and strong figure and was dressed in expensive clothes, some of the Cai family women who came to help wanted to tease him. Unfortunately, the white-robed warrior did not react at all every time they passed by them. He would only move his legs slightly or twist his neck to look around when he was tired of standing.

During the banquet in the house, unlike the slaves who ate the dry food they brought with them, there were also women who brought dishes to Lu Bu.

The quality of Lu Bu's white robe is not something that an ordinary poor family can afford.

He was Yuan Huan's bodyguard and was so meticulous that naturally the women from the Cai family treated him as one of their own.

Sensing the movement outside the door, Black Bear stood up from his knees, leaned forward slightly and approached Yuan Huan. Yuan Huan, who was talking, stopped and asked in a low voice: "What's the matter?"

"There's something small happening outside the door. I'll be back soon."

After Yuan Huan nodded, Black Bear smiled back at the Cai family men standing near Yuan Huan, then stood up, walked around them and walked out the door.

He said to the woman who brought the food, "Thank you for your care, Madam. I, as a guard, suffered a loss in my early years, so I have long since given up drinking and vowed not to eat or speak while on duty."

"There is such a great man in the world!"

The woman sighed, and when she saw the white-robed warrior nodded slightly to her as if to express his gratitude, she looked at the black bear again: "This is too harsh."

"He swore to abide by this precept, and I cannot change it."

The black bear bowed slightly, and the woman had no choice but to give up and took away the dishes and rice on the wooden plate.

Hei Xiong returned to his seat in the house in a low-key manner. He smiled back at Yuan Huan who looked back at him. He did not participate in their conversation and just ate.

The banquet was not sumptuous; it was just a gathering of the various Cai families to entertain guests by pooling their supplies.

Not to mention entertaining guests, people also have dinner like this during everyday celebrations.

Especially in Chenliu and Chen State, which lacked forests and had a dense population, fuel was very precious.

Living together as a clan and eating from a big pot can effectively save fuel.

If you save more fuel in the summer, the probability of freezing to death or suffering from frostbite in the winter will be lower.

As the young men from each family cleared away their bowls, chopsticks and plates, some of the heads of the families, village heads and representatives of other families who were of lower status or more distant blood ties stood up and said goodbye.

The person in charge of the Cai family who stayed behind was Cai Yong's nephew Cai Mu. This person deliberately looked at the black bear several times, but the black bear sat at the table and pretended not to see it.

Yuan Huan made a glance and asked, "How is Envoy Liu these days?"

Cai Mu was still observing the strange young man, and he said, "When I left Wankou, the envoy's Zhao Zilong was building a mansion in Wancheng. According to Xiangyang people, there are about 3,000 soldiers under the command of envoy Liu now."

"It's still three thousand. Can Liu Jingsheng increase the envoy's troops?"

“I have never heard of such a thing.”

Cai Mu said with a sigh: "Last year, Nanyang was unprepared, which was a good opportunity."

During the decisive battle of Guandu the year before last, Zhang Xiu, under the persuasion of Jia Xu, rejected Yuan Shao's offer and led his troops to surrender to the imperial court in Xudu, and withdrew his forces from Nanyang.

The imperial capital of Nanyang County, with a population of two million, had long been shattered, and after Zhang Xiu evacuated, Liu Biao failed to take over immediately.

Liu Biao had no choice. At that time, the officials and people of the four counties in southern Jingnan elected Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha, as their leader and followed the court of Xudu from afar to compete with Liu Biao.

Last autumn, Cao Cao had the idea of ​​leading his army into Jingzhou, but Zhang Xian died of illness. The four counties in southern Jingzhou then supported Zhang Xian's son to continue resisting Liu Biao, but they had no support for a long time.

Because of the news blockage, it was impossible to judge the actual situation in southern Jing. When Cao Cao was hesitating and weighing the situation, he was persuaded by Xun Yu to withdraw his troops.

Just as he was hesitating, Liu Biao broke through Changsha, killed and wiped out the stubborn resistance elements, and issued an edict to pacify Jingnan.

He also sent 10,000 troops to sweep the northern part of Nanyang and expelled a large number of county magistrates appointed by the court in Xudu.

It was also because Zhang Xian led the four counties of southern Jing to fight against Liu Biao and did not have enough strength to support Huang Zu, which led to Sun Ce's defeat of Huang Zu that year. More than 30,000 of Huang Zu's subordinates and reinforcements were killed or drowned.

Cai Mu described in detail the competition among various parties at that time, and was also deeply moved.

So many things happened that year that looking back, I always feel that life is unpredictable.

After Sun Ce defeated Huang Zu, he hurried back to Jiangdong with his people. While he was mobilizing troops to attack Huang Zu, he also defeated Liu Xun who was entrenched in Lujiang and annexed tens of thousands of troops.

They killed too many people in one go and took too much spoils, so they needed to withdraw to digest and regroup, and send troops to nibble at Guangling to lay the foundation for the battle to the north, so as to observe the success or failure in the Central Plains and make bigger plans.

As a result, Sun Ce was assassinated and his grand ambitions for hegemony were shattered in an instant. Zhang Xian, who was responsible for tying down Liu Biao's main force in Jiangdong, also died unexpectedly of illness, allowing Liu Biao to regroup his forces.

Liu Bei, who retreated from Runan to Jingzhou, strengthened Liu Biao's northern defense line, allowing Liu Biao to escape from the predicament of being attacked on three sides in a blink of an eye.

It was also because Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao again in the Battle of Cangting last year, and his army gathered and stationed around Chenliu, preparing to attack Jingzhou.

Upon hearing the news, Cai Mu, who had been avoiding the chaos in Jingzhou, hurried back to the Central Plains, wanting to serve in the army. However, before he arrived in Chenliu, Cao Cao disbanded his army and returned to Xudu to spend the winter.

Since he could not serve in the army, Cai Mu gave up the idea of ​​making quick achievements and returned to his hometown to manage his family business.

He is Cai Yong's nephew, and naturally a younger blood relative of Yuan Huan.

"It's good to come back. Now the offensive and defensive situation between Cao Gong and Hebei has changed. Optimistically, Hebei can be conquered within five years. Then the whole country can be conquered by issuing an edict." Yuan Huan said as he turned to look at Cai Zhenji, the grandson of Cai Yong, who was beside Cai Mu. Cai Zhenji lost her father when she was two years old, and she escaped the disaster because she lived in Chenliu.

There was chaos in the Central Plains during Cai Zhenji's childhood, and the fact that she did not starve to death was already a rare act of kindness from the Cai clan; now, at the age of fourteen, she was thin and small, only about five feet four or five inches tall, more than half a foot shorter than other girls of the same age.

Perhaps it was because she had suffered too much and had depended on her sister-in-law and nephew since childhood. Now that her brother and sister-in-law had passed away one after another, Cai Zhenji and her seven-year-old nephew were even more lonely.

As a result, both of them have somewhat withdrawn and dull personalities. Looking at Cai Zhenji's temperament, it is obvious that she cannot be compared with her spirited sister.

Cai Yong even gave all his collection of books to Wang Can during his lifetime. Who could have thought that his eldest daughter and son, who were masters of Cai's school of thought, would follow him?

In just over a decade, Caixue, which embodies all of Cai Yong's learning, has been lost.

Behind Cai Mu, Cai Zhenji, who was wearing a green half-worn dress and holding her nephew, was just watching the two people talking.

But Black Bear felt that when her eyebrows moved, they would pause for a moment on his face, and when he took the initiative to look at them, his eyes would glance away as soon as they met.

The other person's face also appeared in his mind. She was not a stunning girl, and her skin was even a little dark.

She is very small, with a small face, but her eyes are of normal proportions.

It's not a round face, but an oval face.

As long as he closed his eyes, Cai Zhenji would overlap with some vague figures in his memories of his previous life, giving him a harmless, safe and peaceful feeling.

After thinking for a while, Black Bear leaned slightly towards Yuan Huan and whispered, "Mr. Yuan, please excuse me for leaving for a moment."

Yuan Huan nodded, and Black Bear smiled at Cai Mu again, and also smiled at Cai Zhenji and his niece, then slowly stood up and went out.

After he left, Cai Mu asked, "Who is this person?"

"Not a good man."

Yuan Huan's gentle attitude towards others was just an attitude towards things. When it came to doing things and killing people, he was never soft-hearted. He said to Cai Mu: "I have some bad karma with him, you don't have to worry about it. Since the spring plowing is over and Cao Gong is stationed in Junyi, why don't you go and join him?"

Cai Mu smiled bitterly: "If we were stationed somewhere else, we would go there by ourselves, but it has to be Junyi. If I go there, I will become a laughing stock in the county and the people."

Junyi is a water transport hub in the Central Plains and the hometown of Bian Rang, a famous scholar who initiated the Yanzhou rebellion.

Cao Cao stationed in Junyi, and the main force of the army was digging canals in Chenliu County. If the scholars of Yanzhou wanted to join him, they could go to Junyi.

Yuan Huan nodded to this. Although his hometown Fule and Yu County were only half a day's journey away, one was Chenliu in Yanzhou and the other was Chen State in Yuzhou, and the cultural differences were huge.

While the two were talking, Black Bear came back, holding in each hand a shallow vermilion plate from the kitchen. Inside the plates were blood peaches that had been cleaned of their fur.

He ignored the looks from Yuan Huan and Cai Mu, and approached the curious-looking aunt and niece Cai Zhenji, squatted on the ground two steps away from them, and reached out to place two small plates on their table.

He lowered his head to look at the blood peach: "I have a friend from Jiangdong. This peach comes from the overseas islands of Jiaozhou. It is a rare treasure that is hard to find in the Central Plains."

His eyes fell on Cai Zhenji's unnatural face: "This is called blood peach. It's best to eat it now, otherwise it will attract people's covetousness."

Cai Mu looked at Yuan Huan with an unhappy expression, and Yuan Huan shook his head slightly at him with an expressionless face.

Cai Mu frowned even more, and Yuan Huan raised his index finger on his thigh and shook it left and right to signal the other party to restrain and be patient, and said: "Zhen Ji, my friend has an extraordinary origin. Since it is given to you, you should eat it."

"Yes."

Cai Zhenji then spoke. She reached out and grabbed the blood peach. She saw that it had been washed clean, but there were still water stains on it. She handed it to her nephew and took another one for herself.

She lowered her head while eating the peach, and the sweetness of the peach made her unable to help but raise her eyebrows to look at the black bear opposite.

The black bear smiled at her, his eyes and brows showing a warm, gentle and friendly expression. For a moment, the house was filled with a rich peach scent.

"When I visited the Laozi Temple, I got some yellow plums, so I tried them too."

Black Bear smiled and said this, he clenched his right fist and gently opened his palm, and two round, ripe yellow plums the size of ping-pong balls appeared in his hand.

Rotten peaches, apricots and plums are difficult to store and transport, and many ripe fruits begin to rot while hanging on the branches.

A huge plum suddenly appeared in the black bear's hand. Cai Zhenji and her nephew had just finished eating peaches and were so frightened that they didn't know what to do for a moment.

Not only them, Yuan Huan and Cai Mu were also feeling a little uneasy.

Even though Cai Mu was a commoner, he was very knowledgeable and naturally knew what the plum would mean to the world if it was really a magical plum.

"I am happy to give it to you. Eat it. It will be good for you."

After saying that, Black Bear stood up and bowed to Cai Mu. Cai Mu didn't know how to respond to this awkward etiquette.

Black Bear casually bowed to Yuan Huan and said, "Mr. Yuan, I'll go wait outside the door. Don't keep me waiting."

Yuan Huan frowned: "Mr. Sun, what kind of method is this?"

"Illusion is also a kind of magic. As long as my hand speed is fast enough, you won't be able to see clearly how I took out the plum."

Black Bear explained seriously: "When he was young, he had quick reactions and could learn it. But Mr. Yuan is middle-aged and his blood and energy are declining. His mind is becoming increasingly dull, so he can't learn it."

After saying that, he took a few steps back, glanced at Cai Zhenji, turned around and walked out.

Yuan Huan and Cai Mu looked at each other and shook their heads slightly: "If this is an illusion or a technique, it would be a good thing, but I'm afraid it's not."

"Who is this person?"

"He claims to be from Jiangdong, but he speaks with a Liangpei accent, which is very suspicious."

Yuan Huan turned his head and looked at the two yellow plums on the table in front of Cai Zhenji and his nephew: "It seems that the Cai family will not be at peace unless this man is dead. It's all my fault for attracting this little thief."

"It's not my uncle's fault. Judging from his behavior and appearance, he should be a descendant of the family name. Why is he so eccentric?"

As Cai Mu spoke, he picked up the yellow plum, sniffed it, and passed it to Yuan Huan for observation.

After observing for a while, Yuan Huan also felt that plums of this color and texture were rare. He resisted the urge to taste it and handed it back: "This is a strange man, and he came here for me. When Cao Gong sends someone to inquire, just tell me the truth."

Seeing that Cai Zhenji and her nephew were at a loss, Yuan Huan said, "Don't waste their kindness. Keeping these things will definitely lead to trouble. Keep the peach and plum pits. If Cao Gong's envoy comes to ask, give them to him. If there are any questions, blame this man."

(End of this chapter)