Chapter Ten: Heroes of the Realm

  Xiang De left Chen Deng's house with a pleased smile and returned to tell Xiang Kuan, who agreed that Chen Deng would move in with them until the new year and also agreed to meet Xiang's sister to decide whether they should get engaged.

  It's wide and astonishing, busy asking you how did you tell Chen Deng?

  Ximen simply repeated the conversation, and then said that someone like Chen Deng, who is arrogant, would naturally despise ordinary scholars. So I said that ordinary scholars look down on my sister for liking to read books, which moved his heart a bit.

  He sighed and said: "Huang Fu is indeed a great talent - then let Chen Yuanlong meet with my little sister, I'll take care of it."

  It's only natural that you'd be the one to take care of this, Director. You're the most skilled at handling such scripts, aren't you? Before his eyes, he couldn't help but recall the slender figure and beautiful face of Shi's second young mistress. If he couldn't have her for himself, giving her to a renowned scholar like Chen Deng was acceptable - it was better than letting her fall into the hands of some unknown tomcat or mutt. And considering future developments, it would be even better than marrying that short-lived ghost Zheng Yi.

  But wait, it seems that Chen Deng's life is also short... It's a good opportunity to advise him to eat less raw fish slices.

  Alas, if Miss Cao Jiao's family could be as beautiful as the second miss of this family, I would have reluctantly acknowledged it, but unfortunately...

  After returning home, he began to study "Fan Sheng's Book". This book has only 18 articles and is very short. He memorized it overnight. The problem is that he doesn't understand farming - in the ravine of Lewang, what is called farming? It's just sowing seeds and waiting for them to sprout and grow on their own, completely relying on heaven for food. So many contents are not understood, and more content is known but not understood. Therefore, he often ran to Chen Deng, pretending to be humble and eager to learn, and politely asked for advice. Chen Deng was indeed knowledgeable and articulate, so he took this opportunity to successfully narrow the distance between them.

  Since the distance has been shortened, there's no need to limit the conversation to just farm work. It's a good opportunity for Xun to ask Chen about his understanding of the overall situation in the world, and then discover... that the great Chen Yuandong is nothing more than this after all.

  Chen Deng, although talented, ultimately spent his entire life without leaving Xuzhou and didn't meet many famous people. Moreover, the situation in these two years was chaotic, unlike Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Plan" later on. At least then, "Now Cao Cao has a million troops, holds the emperor hostage and commands the vassals, this is indeed not something to be contested", which even someone with a bit of brains who reads books can see.

  Alright, then let's take advantage of the situation and copy the wisdom of our predecessors to pretend to be a genius who can see through everything. He said: "Dong Zhuo is rebellious and has no good deeds, Gongsun Zan is violent and has no benevolence, both are hard to last long. Yuan Shao is good at plotting but lacks decisiveness, Yuan Shu is extravagant and reckless, neither of them can achieve great things. In my opinion, the heroes of the world, only... can bring peace to the world, that is, the two virtuous ones from Guandong."

  At that time, the four families mentioned above were the most powerful in the Central Plains. Tao Qian and Liu Biao were relegated to secondary positions, while Sun Ce had not yet risen to prominence, and Liu Yan was far away in the southwest, so they didn't need to be mentioned. Indeed, after hearing his words, Chen Deng became very interested and asked: "What do you mean by 'Two Virtuous Ones of Guandong'?"

  He raised two fingers: "Dongjun Cao Cao Cao Mengde, Pingyuan Liu Bei Liu Xuande."

  Chen Deng pressed on, asking: "Has Hong Fu seen these two before? What did he see that made him say so?"

  Xu Shu said: "Last year, the Yellow Turbans besieged Kong Rong in Douchang. I was ordered to go to Pingyuan to seek rescue troops and met Liu Xuan De. He is a man of great virtue, with a strong sense of justice, who values talent and loves scholars. Although his name is not yet renowned, he will surely become a pillar of the state in the future. As for Cao Mengde, I have not yet had the chance to meet him, but from what I know, when he was the North Commandant of Luoyang, he executed the uncle of Bian Rong, showing his hatred for evil; when he petitioned to pardon the party members, it showed his commitment to the right path; when he destroyed the corrupt temples in Jinan, it showed his ability to govern the people; and when he fought bravely at Xiangyang and Ziwu, it showed his courage and selflessness. From this, we can see that he has a strong ambition to rise to greatness and the talent to bring peace to the Han dynasty."

  Xun Yi thought to himself as he spoke, would this speech reach Cao Cao's ears? Unfortunately, there were too few listeners, and it was a bit like throwing pearls in the dark...

  Chen Deng stroked his beard thoughtfully and after a while said, "Hong Fu's words make me also want to see the elegance of these 'two virtues'."

  On the third day of the new year, Kuang Xi rushed over to report that he had finally arranged for Chen Deng to meet his sister. Both parties were quite satisfied with each other, and Chen Deng was about 80% pleased. He said that once he took office in Tan County, he would report back to his father, Chen Gui, and send someone to arrange the engagement. Kuang Xi was also very happy, as his sister was already 19 years old and could finally get married. He hurriedly went back home to write a letter to his father to report the news.

  After the fifth day of the first month, various government offices began to open, so Kuang and Chen Deng left their home in Shizhuangyuan and set out for Tancheng. Kuang also dragged Xun along, who said, "You're going to pay respects to your superiors and take up official posts; what's the point of me, a commoner, going with you?" Kuang meant that this trip was about finalizing the marriage alliance between the three families of Cao, Zhen, and Mi. This time, when they met with Tao Qian, it would be settled, so Seventh Brother, as one of the parties involved, should also go to pay respects to Tao Qian and express his gratitude.

  I'm fed up with your impatience, thinking to yourself that I'm the "person involved" after all. So for such a big matter like marriage, did you ask for my opinion as the "person involved" beforehand? You've already taken charge of everything, what's the point of me showing up?

  However, there was no way to disobey his brother's orders, so he had to follow him to the prefectural government of Taoyuan County. As soon as Tao Qian saw them, he asked about this matter, and Kuan replied that his father, Yi, had already agreed to everything and would soon send someone from the Wang family in Linyi to propose a marriage with the Cao family. Tao Qian stroked his white beard and nodded repeatedly: "I have already spoken with Miao Zizhong, and we will go to propose the marriage in a few days - you should also hurry up and prepare the betrothal gifts."

  During the Han Dynasty, when a marriage was arranged between two families, the main steps were: matchmaking - betrothal gifts - asking for the name - divination - engagement - choosing a date. Among them, the betrothal gift was when the man's family asked someone to go and take a look at the woman, to observe her appearance, but generally it was just a formality, unless the girl had some kind of disability or was extremely ugly, otherwise the marriage was mainly based on social status, which had already been considered during the matchmaking stage. After the betrothal gift, they would ask for the name, similar to later generations' "matching eight characters", to calculate whether the ancestors of both families shared the same surname (same surname not allowed to marry), and whether this marriage was auspicious or not - but because it was rare for the diviner to intentionally say that it was very inauspicious, it was just a formality. The divination was when the man's family went to inform the woman's family that the divination had been successful, and they could get married; then after that, the engagement gift was when the man's family sent gifts to the woman's family.

  Yes, the marriages of the Cao, Zuo and Mi families have been supported by Tao Qian, the highest official in the province. All previous stages went smoothly, so the families should quickly prepare the betrothal gifts.

  Xun XiXi was overjoyed, then told Tao Qian: "There is still one more piece of good news to report to you, Yuan Long has also discussed marriage with my sister, and it's just waiting for the approval of both families."

  Tao Qian was overjoyed: "This is a good thing, I will send a letter to Han Yu, it's a family matter with the Chen family, please ask him to agree." The Han Yu he mentioned refers to Chen Deng's father, former Marquis of Pei, Chen Hanyu.

  Chen Deng hastily bowed his hands in gratitude. Tao Qian continued, "Originally I wanted a double happiness, but unexpectedly it can be triple happiness. Why not let's all quickly arrange the betrothal gifts and divination to confirm, and hold the wedding before spring arrives?"

  Is it necessary for you to be so anxious? He understood that Tao Qian wanted to hurry through the marriage between Cao, Mi and Zhen families to resolve the contradictions between Cao Hong brothers and Mi Zhu brothers, so as not to let his son lose control after he died, leading to chaos in Xuzhou. But there's no need to rush, does this old man think he can't even hold on for a few more months?

  He hastily knelt down on the ground and apologized: "Please forgive me, Third Brother and Master. I dare not get married yet."

  Both Kuang and Tao were puzzled, asking what he meant. Xun had long been prepared, pretending to wipe away tears as he reported: "Less than three years have passed since my father's passing, I am still in the mourning period, and truly do not dare to marry."

  "Alas, all this is brother's fault!"

  During the Eastern Han dynasty, scholars and officials attached great importance to filial piety. After their father's death, they had to wear mourning clothes, observe a three-year mourning period, and were not allowed to get married or have fun during that time. Stricter rules even required them to live in a hut by the grave, reduce food intake, and avoid any entertainment activities. However, as Xun Yu was fleeing from Lelang, it was impossible for him to guard his father's tomb, and he couldn't find suitable mourning clothes on the road. It wasn't until they arrived at Beihai that his cousin Shi Yi, who had no affection for him, suggested that he didn't need to wear mourning clothes for a long time, just until the end of the year would be fine. He advised Xun Yu to wait until he could move his parents' coffins back to their hometown and then live in a hut to mourn, which would truly show his filial piety.

  On the one hand, Master Yi is a respected elder, and whatever he says goes. On the other hand, this isn't really about mourning, but rather about appearances. Shi Yi doesn't have much feeling for it either, and wasn't willing to wear mourning clothes for three consecutive years, so she agreed on the spot. As time passed, everyone gradually forgot about the matter, especially Shi Yi, who probably never even thought about it again.

  It was only when Xun Xu himself was at a loss to think of an excuse for the marriage with the Cao family that he finally remembered this - otherwise, he could have used this as a reason to decline Tao Qian's offer earlier, rather than pretending to be humble and eager to learn. After explaining the circumstances, Tao Qian asked, "When should I stop mourning?" Xun Xu replied, "My father passed away at the end of the first year of Yuan Kang, just over a year ago."

  Tao Qian's face immediately fell, and he turned to look at Shi Kuan. Shi Kuan was a bit flustered, but Chen Deng quickly came up with an excuse, saying: "Since the mourning period will be made up for later, then we can settle the marriage now and hold the ceremony two years from now - unless the two families are going to regret it during these two years?" Tao Qian nodded: "It's the only thing to do."

  When Chen Deng saw him off at the door, he pulled Zuo Xuan aside and asked him straightforwardly: "Hong Fu, you don't want to marry Cao's daughter, what's the reason?"

  Xuan heard this and was shocked, thinking that Chen Yuanlong was indeed worthy of his reputation, for his mind worked incredibly fast!