Chapter 23: Fleeing from the Yellow Turbans

  On that day when coming down from Fuzong Mountain, Jun had asked: "Seventh Brother said to Gan Hui: 'Your sister...' What does it mean?"

  "This is a curse of the Eastern Barbarians. My brother was deeply resentful at the time, so it slipped out."

  Who would have thought that after that fight, Jun suddenly learned this phrase? Everywhere in and out of the house, he's shouting it loudly. Even his family can't stop him. But who would have thought that in just a few short months, he'd even learn to curse and swear? Swearing is one thing, but cursing is not like something a well-behaved person would do.

  He rushed over to mediate, only then did he understand that they were not scolding each other, but rather discussing "your younger sister" - referring to the second young lady of the house. It turned out that Yi had entrusted his daughter's marriage to his two sons, asking them to find a suitable family first and then discuss it with him. However, one son heard that Zheng Yi had recently lost his wife and was planning to marry their younger sister as his second wife, which the other son refused to agree to. He had set his sights on Wang Zhong and Wang Zi Chun, so the two brothers began arguing about this.

  As soon as Xun returned, the two brothers dragged him over to discuss the matter - although Jun was their biological brother, when it came to something big like this, they hadn't even considered listening to that kid's opinion.

  Yi Shi said, "Although there are no officials in Zheng Yien's family, Mr. Kang Cheng is a great Confucian scholar of the current era. Yien is also a loyal and honest person, he can definitely become a good match for my younger sister." Yi Xun listened to this and thought it made sense, so he asked Yi Shi, "Why doesn't Fourth Brother agree? Is it because Yien has been married before?"

  He thought wrongly, at that time everyone had no discrimination whether it was a second marriage or not. For the aristocratic families, as long as their daughter married properly and wasn't sent out to be a concubine, it wouldn't affect the family's reputation. The reason for choosing him is: "Zheng Yi'en is indeed an honest gentleman, but he is too honest and dull, lacking adaptability. In this chaotic world, his own life may not even be guaranteed, let alone his sister? Wang Zichun is practical, clever and wise, only he can be a good husband for my sister."

  To put it bluntly, the bookworm wants to find a fellow bookworm as a brother-in-law, while someone with more social experience like Si Yu thinks it's better to entrust his sister to someone who can survive in a chaotic world. At first, Xun thought that if he could really become Zheng Xuan's nephew, wouldn't it be easier to get into Teacher Zheng's good graces? But after hearing Si Yu's words, he reconsidered and thought that Zheng Yi didn't end up well after all, while the situation with the Wang family was unclear. However, based on observations at Fushan Mountain, saying that Wang Zhong is "versed in practical matters, clever and astute" is not a bad evaluation, and might be more suitable for the second miss of the Wang family.

  Before his eyes, he couldn't help but think of the second young lady of the Zhao family, her slender figure and beautiful appearance... Unfortunately, they had only met once, and the more he thought about it, the more vague his impression became. He was also undecided, so he asked the Zhao brothers: "Have you inquired about your sister's intentions?"

  "What's with the miss? You're calling her sister!" Yu Xi opened his mouth, almost getting a slap from Xun Yi. "Why be so formal?" It turned out that back then, most people lived in extended family households, and even distant cousins were not much different from biological siblings in terms of closeness. So since Xun Yi had returned to live with them, he could directly acknowledge Er Xi as his own sister.

  "Women should obey men, respect their father's orders. If the father is not around, then the elder brother takes his place. Why must we listen to her opinions?" The second son was dissatisfied: "Although you are the elder brother, this matter is something that Father wants us two brothers to discuss and handle together. Can you just make a decision with one word? This means you should also listen more to my opinion as your younger brother. As for our sister's own wishes... what's the big deal about that?"

  It's heartbreaking to think about the fate of women in this era. Although the Han Dynasty didn't have such a distorted hierarchy between men and women, and chastity wasn't emphasized as much, with peaceful break-ups and widows remarrying being common occurrences, the clan system was already very strict, so women's marriages were completely not their own decision... Actually, thinking about it carefully, men's marriages weren't often their own decision either. In the end, Xun relied on the clan system to resolve the conflict between the two brothers: "Since each of you has your own opinion, and both candidates have been reported to our eldest uncle, let him make the final decision." The meaning is: the old man is still alive, and his daughter's marriage is not something for you two brothers to quarrel about; you only have the right to suggest, but the power to make the final decision is still in his hands. What's the point of arguing?

  His brothers at home heard this and had to temporarily suspend their argument. But then he immediately glanced at Xun: "Since Hongfu has already come of age, shouldn't he get married now?"

  I'm dizzy... I didn't expect the topic to turn around and end up on myself. My physical body is only 17 years old, still in high school, how can I get married? He quickly waved his hand: "Third brother, fourth brother are not yet married, how can it be my turn?"

  Yi Hwang said, "Third brother is still drifting around, I don't know where he's going; although I haven't taken a wife yet, I've already settled on a family. Hongbo should also take care of the marriage first - I heard that Ping Shoutting has a daughter who is about the same age as Hongbo, but I don't know if she's already engaged, you can go and ask."

  He opposed it, saying: "There is a good match in the county, why go to a neighboring county to find one? Moreover, Ting's status is too low, how can he be equal to our family door? The county has a niece of County Lieutenant, who can be paired with Hongfu."

  The two brothers almost quarreled again over this matter. Zixun had no choice but to gloss over it, asking if the marriage between you two was arranged by yourselves or a result of discussion among your family members? Stop dragging on! "Perhaps Uncle has already made arrangements, let's just ask him to make the decision." The ball was kicked back to Yishi.

  He didn't believe that Yi had ever thought about his own marriage, and now Yi was busy like an old dog, probably without the American time to ponder this issue. Let's just drag it out for one more day... As a soul from the year 2000, he really disliked arranged marriages, although he understood that he would eventually have to fall into that big trap anyway...

  Returning to his bedroom, Yue'er came up to pay her respects and helped him take off his dusty outer coat, changing into casual clothes. Xun was still thinking about the topic of getting married and couldn't help but sneak a few more glances at Yue'er - hey, after not seeing her for several months, this little girl has become even more lovely... It's said that the first wife must be chosen by the elders, while concubines can be selected personally? Is it true that after marrying the first wife, one needs to get her consent before taking a concubine? If that's really the case, then why not take advantage of the time before marrying the first wife and...

  In her mind, she was thinking, and in her eyes, she was looking... XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Unexpectedly, the moon seemed to have been prepared early, with a soft laugh, she twisted her waist and dodged away, then took advantage of "I'll go get water for you to wash your face" and hastily hid out of the door.

  This little girl, her movements are quite agile... Zhen just couldn't help but think of another little Lori who was not only agile, but also exceptionally intimidating. He rubbed his shoulders and thighs, silently cursing: "They're all scarred, how can this little girl be so ruthless!"

  He didn't know that on that day, Guan Mei only chose the lightest feather arrow to shoot him, and it was just a slight touch, moreover, it was a new arrow, not rusty, otherwise, he would have suffered even more, and the probability of wound infection would be over 70%.

  "Both are lovely lolis," Xun couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "I'm not a monster, I really can't bring myself to do it...... No, one of them is just hard to bear, the other one I completely dare not touch..."

  He stayed in the mansion at Yingling for more than two months, reading books and listening to gossip during his free time - because he could speak and ask questions, the efficiency of gossip was even higher. Occasionally, he would also go out to visit Zheng Yi, Wang Zhong and others, but never took the initiative to find Shen Yuan. Because that guy's character is too inferior, although it's not necessary to turn against him like Zheng Yi and Wang Zhong, it's still better to keep a distance from him.

  In August, the situation suddenly became precarious. It turned out that Liu Bei was appointed as the governor of Pingyuan by Gongsun Zan again, with a larger jurisdiction and more troops under his command, and he also launched a more swift campaign against the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou. So the Yellow Turban bandits took advantage of the approaching autumn harvest to leave the area around Bo Ping and Fan Ping on the border of Pingyuan and Dongjun, cross the Yellow River, and finally return to their hometown in Qingzhou.

  They first plundered the State of Ji, then entered the State of Qi, and wherever they went, they swept away all the ripe and unripe crops like locusts, taking with them the vast majority of refugees who had lost their land and food. By the time they reached the capital city of Linzi in the State of Qi, it is said that they had gathered a crowd of 500,000 to 600,000 people.

  Linzi was also the provincial capital of Qingzhou, and Governor Focal's army was strong and powerful, with sufficient food and money inside the city. Who would have thought that this Governor Focal was scared out of his wits by the overwhelming Yellow Turbans, closed the city gates tightly, and dared not to fight? The hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban troops had surrounded Linzi for just over a dozen days when Governor Focal could no longer hold on. He sent someone to secretly negotiate with Zhang Jue, offering more than 100,000 stones of grain in exchange for the Yellow Turbans to lift the siege and leave.

  Qingzhou Yellow Turbans left Linzi and entered the Beihai State in one step, first breaking through Dong'anping, killing the county magistrate and county lieutenant, and then rushing straight to the national capital, Ju County. When the news reached Yingling, the brothers were not calm, packing their things and preparing to flee. Si Xun advised them: "The national capital is still nearly a hundred miles away from Yingling, the more Yellow Turbans there are, the slower they march, and they hate Kong Xiang, the Prime Minister of the State, so it's unlikely they will kill him if they don't break into the national capital. Don't rush to escape for now, besides, where do you plan to escape to?"

  "Let's flee to the east," said one of them, "since the bandits are coming from the west." But the "Mixed-up Devil King" was more decisive. He said, "Why go east? It would be better to head south. Many people from Qingzhou fled to Xuzhou and Langya to escape the Yellow Turbans, and Zheng Kangcheng is also in Langya. Since we were planning to seek refuge with him anyway, let's travel together."

  I haven't even discussed the general direction with you, what are you in a hurry to collect? In fact, Xun was also quite worried, but he felt that at least in the county town there were city walls to rely on. Once out of the city, they would be completely helpless and vulnerable. If they encountered the Yellow Turbans head-on, 99% of them would be doomed. Finally, he turned his gaze to the most reliable among his brothers, only to see that he had been pondering for a long time before slowly raising his head: "We must pack up the food and valuables at home, leave immediately, and head south. We won't rush to leave..."

  "What I'm afraid of is that the Yellow Turbans will arrive suddenly, and if we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"

  "Father is still in the capital, where does brother want to abandon father and go?!"

  One sentence can thoroughly debunk it.

  I am a sincere divider line

  They say that getting on the front page of ads, every day can get hundreds or thousands of collections? Why is my difference so far away? Is it a rumor that cannot be trusted, or is it because of the attitude is not sincere, so readers do not want to give me? Then I will make a deep bow here and ask for collection and recommendation again... By the way, it's not that I'm greedy, but writing needs motivation, needs inspiration, needs to move forward every day and never retreat. It also needs your comments, including typos, if you see any, please point them out, I will definitely correct them.