C24 Zhao Yunquan's Story about Changli(part I)

As nightfall approached, the interior of Marquis Jin's residence was brightly lit.

In the backyard of Gongsun Zan's residence, a family of three sat around a round table for dinner. A large pot of burning charcoal was placed under the table. The temperature and atmosphere in the room were both very warm.

Before the Han Dynasty, people generally only ate two meals, one at the beginning of the set time, which was to say that it was early morning food, and the other at the beginning of the set time, which was to say that it was supplementary food. As the saying goes, 'From time to time, you don't eat.' You can't eat unless you have something to eat. Of course, there were exceptions, for example, the higher ups would reward the people below, sometimes they would reward them with some delicious meals, and the people who received the rewards would be able to eat at any time without being ridiculed, the most common method was' reward the three armies', which was one of the most effective ways to raise the morale, including the famous Overlord Xiang Yu, many generals had done this before.

In the early days of the dynasty, when Gauguin, Liu Bang, was poor and hungry, and when most of the time he returned without success because others had already eaten, he resented the fact that he could only eat two meals a day, so after he became emperor, he ordered an additional meal every night in the palace, which was soon followed by three meals a day.

However, the Han Dynasty people still took the kneeling posture when they were eating: the Han people wore wide robes and big sleeves, they did not have any underwear to wear, it would be 'indecent' for them to sit on the ground. Other than those poor commoners who would sit and eat like this, rich and powerful families would never do something like this. Otherwise, they would be ridiculed.

The reason why Gongsun Zan's family had surrounded the round table as a group to eat dinner was because of Gongsun Xu's suggestion — Gongsun Xu hadn't been reborn for a long time, but it had changed many traditional customs in Liu Steel Manor. The family did not need maids to serve the round table for their meals, which was one of them. He also made it clear that since they were a family, they were both lively and able to enjoy family life together. In fact, the main reason was that he wasn't used to sitting on his knees, Gongsun Rui praised Gongsun Zan for his comments, and there was nothing Gongsun Zan could do about it.

Gongsun Rui finished eating a bowl of rice in twos and threes, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and stood up, "Father, Mother, please enjoy yourself slowly. Your daughter will take her leave first."

Gongsun Zan sighed, "She has a crude manner, without the slightest bit of ladylike demeanor. How will she marry out of this world in the future?"

"Humph!" Gongsun Rui made a face, curled her lips and said: "If I can't marry, I won't! Your daughter will be with your parents for the rest of her life. "

Hou Yue asked flatly, "It's already dark. Where are you going?"

Gongsun Rui quickly flattered with a flattering smile, "Heh heh, mother is indeed amazing. I could already guess that my daughter was going out."

"Don't try that!" Hou Yue waved her hand. "Go back and rest. Don't run around!"

"Mother!" Gongsun Rui hugged Hou Yue's shoulder and shook it vigorously.

"Tell me where you're going first!"

"Oh, Cui Er had an interesting rare animal a few days ago. I didn't expect that she would accidentally get injured. Daughter wants to go take a look." Father, please help me speak up for my daughter! "

"Alright, alright!" Gongsun Zan lovingly rubbed Gongsun Rui's head and said with a smile, "Madam, let her go, otherwise it'll be hard for us to eat properly."

"Old master, you only know how to spoil Rui Er!" Hou Yue rolled her eyes at Gongsun Zan, but she still agreed, "Bring a few more guards with you and come back earlier."

"Here!" "Thank you mother, thank you father. Your daughter promises to be back soon." Gongsun Rui smiled and curtsied, then turned and ran out.

Hou Yue sighed, "It looks like this child has to properly teach etiquette!"

Gongsun Zan finished half of his tea in one gulp and said with a smile, "Hehe, Madam, you make the decision …"

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud bang suddenly came from outside, followed by Gongsun Rui's surprised exclamation and a man's apology.

"Aiyo!" How come you don't have eyes for walking? "

"I'm sorry! Please punish me, Young Miss. "

'Seems to be Zhao Yun's voice. 'Gongsun Zan was shocked. Did something happen to his people in Changli?

"What's going on?" Hou Yue asked the others outside.

The maidservant outside replied, "Reporting to Madam, I accidentally bumped into someone."

"Are you hurt?" Hou Yue was shocked.

"Alright, alright, stop bowing and apologizing! I'm fine, please go ahead. "

After Zhao Yun respectfully saw Gongsun Rui off, he bowed outside the door and said, "Subordinate Zhao Yun requests to see the Marquis."

Gongsun Zan said softly, "There must be something important for Zhao Yun to come here. I'll meet him here."

Hou Yue nodded and stood up, walking quickly behind the screen.

"Come in." Gongsun Zan shouted.

The maidservant lifted the curtain, Zhao Yun walked in with his head lowered and knelt down to pay his respects.

"Get up and speak." Gongsun Zan waited for Zhao Yun to stand up and immediately asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhao Yun took out a letter from his chest pocket and held it out with both hands: "This subordinate has a letter from the young duke here, I would like to invite the marquis to read it first."

Gongsun Zan's heart relaxed, since this subject can write back, it definitely won't be a big deal. Thus, he opened the envelope and took out the letter to read. After reading a few paragraphs, he suddenly stood up and continued to pace back and forth as he read the letter.

'Master Hou is so shocked, just what has happened? ' Hou Yue, who was behind the screen, felt her heart tighten. She had to endure for a while before she was able to not ask. Unexpectedly, Gongsun Zan's first sentence that finished reading the letter shocked her to her core!

"Where's Qiu Liju's head?"

"Reporting to the duke, it's at the door."

Gongsun Zan quickly walked to the door and saw a one-foot wide wooden box wrapped in black cloth on the ground.

Zhao Yun quickly followed and pulled down the black cloth to open the box.

Inside the box was a huge head with long hair and beard, eyes wide open and a stunned expression on his face. It was Qiu Liju, who was beheaded just because he was confused.

Gongsun Zan laughed proudly: "Haha, good! Great! It really was this fellow! "Old Sixth!"

The middle-aged guard that had secretly investigated Gongsun Xu last time came over quickly and cupped his hands, "Please give your instructions, Master Hou."

Gongsun Zan handed the letter over and sneered, "Send this letter along with Qiu Liju's head to Elder Liu Yu. Let that old man see what he has exchanged for the many years he spent with the Hu Clan!"

"Here!" The sixth brother took the letter and put it away, picked up the box and walked out.

"Zi Long, come in and speak with this old man." Gongsun Zan walked to the doorstep and looked at Zhao Yun admiringly.

"Here!"

After entering the room, Gongsun Zan sat back on the round stool and thought to himself, "Zhao Yun joined my team a few years ago, but he never did anything outstanding. He did not expect his people to pay him so much attention and even look for him at night. If my son hadn't recovered Zhao Yun in time, wouldn't he have lost a great general? Something was not right! Zhao Yun had followed Liu Xuande for many days. That Big Ear Buster was meticulous and had always been good at recognizing people, how could he not know the capabilities of Zhao Yun? He knew that Zhao Yun was a peerless general, yet he did not tell me. Could it be that this damned Big Ear Buster, while I was helping you while you were down, you wanted to dig me up?! "How hateful!"

The character "Liu Bei", Xuan De, had once studied under the tutelage of Lu Zhi with Gongsun Zan. His ears were big and long, and he looked honest and honest, but his heart was cunning as a thief. A few years ago, when Liu Bei was serving as the official of Gaotang County, the city was captured by bandits and he had nowhere to go so he went to Ji County.

Gongsun Zan gladly accepted Liu Bei, appointed him as the other division Sima, gave him a lot of money and food, and also gave Pingyuan County to Liu Bei garrison troops. Of course, Gongsun Zan did not have any good intentions. At that time, he was preparing to start a war with Yuan Shao, and Pingyuan County was where Yuan Shao had to go to the north. Gongsun Zan gave up Pingyuan County because he wanted Liu Bei to be his cannon fodder.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei was not fooled, he took advantage of the opportunity of Cao Cao to attack Xuzhou, Xuzhou Mu and Tao Qian coming to ask for help, he managed to trick Yuan Shao into going south to enter the Xuzhou, and he quickly gained Tao Qian's trust. Tao Qian and the imperial government made Liu Bei the Yuzhou prefectural governor (Liu Bei's Yuzhou Mu is a remote leader, just like how the previous article described a simple scripture being a Yanzhou Mu is a fake job), and also sent Liu Bei's army to the Xiao Pei to fight against Cao Cao. Not long after that, Chen Gong and Lv Bu attacked Cao Cao's Yanzhou. Cao Cao quickly withdrew his troops while Liu Bei had been residing in the Xiao Pei ever since.

Now, there were over ten thousand elite soldiers under Liu Bei, and there was a high chance that he would take over the position of Xuzhou's Master from Tao Qian. Gongsun Zan was immediately angered when he thought of 'Big Ear Buster'.

"Cough." Hou Yue, who was behind the screen, was eager to know about her son's situation. Seeing that Gongsun Zan was lost in thought, she couldn't help but cough.

Zhao Yun was shocked. He didn't expect there to be someone behind the screen. It was probably the marquis' wife, and the expression on her face was even more respectful.

"Oh?" Gongsun Zan came back to his senses. He pointed to an embroidered pier near the window and smiled, "Zi Long, sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Master Hou." Zhao Yun thanked him and sat down on his knees.

"What I said in the letter was extremely concise. There are some details that I do not know. I would like to trouble Zi Long to tell me everything that happened in Changli from the beginning to the end."

Zhao Yun did not dare to say that out of the blue, he started to recount the details of the event starting from the day he arrived at Changli's County City.

Gongsun Zan listened quietly with no expression on his face. It was only when Zhao Yun mentioned how the Liu brothers had repeatedly provoked Gongsun Xu that he asked with a dark face, "If I'm not mistaken, Xianyu Fu and Xianyu Yin, the two thieves, were promoted by Liu Yu, right?"

"Exactly." Zhao Yun nodded and answered after a moment's hesitation.

"Humph!" If he is not of my race, then his heart must be different! Old man Liu Yu, however, didn't understand this logic. How foolish and laughable it was to talk all day about righteousness and morality with the Hu! What does Zi Long think? "

Zhao Yun quickly lowered his head and did not dare to answer the question.

"Go on." Gongsun Zan didn't force Zhao Yun to answer and waved his hand to let him continue.

"Here!" The young duke announced the plan when they went to the barracks afterwards.

After Gongsun Zan heard what Gongsun Xu had done in the military camp, he felt gratified but also relieved. With so many old, weak, and handicapped people handed over to Liu Yu, it would be strange if the old man didn't worry about vomiting blood! He proudly decided that if Liu Yu came to request for more military rations when he couldn't hold out any longer, he wouldn't agree to it no matter what.

Hou Yue, who was behind the screen, finally felt relieved when she heard this. "Looks like my trip was smooth!" However, the question in her mind was even more intense: Since I didn't do anything dangerous, how did Qiu Liju die?