Chapter 502: Bloody Plot
Luoyang Government Affairs Office
After a long journey, Guo Hao finally returned to Luoyang before the New Year.
At this moment, Luoyang was a gathering of heroes. Except for Ma Chao and Liu Hua who were far away from home, and Ju Yi who was wandering in the wilderness, most of the generals and counselors ran back to Luoyang.
These divine horses and other things finally had to work overtime at this time. They had no place to vent their energy normally, so they had been flying a lot in the past two days as a means of transportation.
Even Liu Bei and others in Yizhou returned to Luoyang to reunite with their families.
As for the security of the border, it is naturally the responsibility of the local generals. Moreover, the north is covered with ice and snow, and it is impossible to start a war easily.
If there were any, they were only small-scale skirmishes, and these local border generals were fully capable of handling these troubles.
"Zichuan! Let's go!"
Guo Hao squatted at the door of Chen Xi and yelled, "There are only five days left until the New Year. I don't know whose lady instigated this, but the princess is planning to hold an extremely grand banquet."
After all, in this era, Chinese New Year is basically about eating and drinking.
The banquet hosted by the eldest princess herself is also a very good entertainment project.
As for work, you’re just kidding. Shutdown for two days is no big deal. Some modern superpowers can shut down for a month without any problems, not to mention the festive atmosphere like now.
Even the Huns didn't provoke the Han Dynasty during the New Year, so who would make trouble for themselves at such a time?
Today is the day of the banquet, and as the general, Guo Hao must arrive early. He does not need to pack anything and can directly prepare to set off for the palace.
Chen Xi opened the door with an embarrassed look on his face and looked at Guo Hao standing at the door.
"It's only noon now, is there any need to go so early?"
"Stop talking nonsense and follow me quickly!"
Guo Hao had to pull Chen Xi away with gritted teeth. What else could he do? He couldn't face the princess alone.
Guo Jia told him all about Xun Yu's past, which clearly meant he was going to urge him to get married. He was also aware of the political significance of marrying the eldest princess, but now he had to support two families at once.
The eldest princess is fine, but what about Dong Bai?
Guo Hao was overwhelmed, so he urgently needed a good brother to help him resist the thunder.
Chen Xi turned around helplessly and waved to the old housekeeper. The eldest princess was very understanding and said that it was okay to bring family members along.
But Chen Lan didn't want to go at all. There were too many people. Staying at home for so long made her a little socially anxious, and she didn't want to go to places with so many people at all.
"Okay, put me down. People who don't know would think it's a big deal!" Chen Xi broke free from Guo Hao's pull with contempt on his face.
"How can you be better than me? I guess Mr. Cai won't even let you in!" Guo Hao stabbed Chen Xi expressionlessly.
Chen Xi's expression froze and he rolled his eyes. You all know about this kind of gossip. How free is Guo Fengxiao!
In fact, when they reach their position, everything they do will be recorded by others, and there is nothing that can be done about it.
However, Chen Xi did not expect that Guo Hao, who had just returned, could see his gossip first among so much intelligence. Guo Fengxiao definitely contributed a lot to this.
"At worst, I can ask the eldest princess for a reward and marry two wives!" Chen Xi looked annoyed and finally gave up. When it comes to feelings, it is not something that can be solved by simple wisdom.
"Tsk! You should get past Mr. Cai first!" Guo Hao continued. "Also, I remember you have an engagement with the Fan family, right?"
Chen Xi felt even more suffocated. He had three wives and four concubines. It was ok for him to have two concubines, and he could use the reward from the princess to fool people, but as for three concubines, he had no way to deal with it even with the princess's endorsement.
This is also the reason why he is irritated. This thing cannot be solved by ordinary methods. He has to subvert the marriage system of the Han Dynasty to deal with it.
However, subverting the system would bring even more chaos, and by then he might just give it up for nothing .
Thanks to Guo Jia's efforts, Guo Hao quickly grasped all the information that happened during his absence.
The one at the top of the list was naturally the gossip that Chen Xi was kicked out of the house by Cai Yong.
Once he understood the whole story, Guo Hao was delighted, and sparks flew between Chen Xi and Cai Zhaoji.
Actually, this was nothing. Chen Xi was not married in the strict sense, and he was the prime minister of the dynasty, so he was certainly a good match.
Although Cai Wenji was going to marry Wei Zhongdao of the Wei family before, she was directly kicked out of the court meeting because Cai Yong and Lu Zhi openly opposed Guo Hao last time.
Later, both Cai Yong and Lu Zhi were dismissed. The Wei family was worried about being implicated and immediately regretted breaking off the engagement.
To be honest, this kind of behavior of openly singing a different tune from the real power is basically tantamount to seeking death.
Especially those who were kicked out of the court meeting and subsequently dismissed from their official positions. Even the reputation of great scholars could not withstand the reality of human nature.
Originally, the Wei family was still very hesitant, but when Wei Zhongdao died, the Wei family had no reason to insist and directly broke off the engagement.
To offend a powerless scholar and possibly be implicated and have the entire family exterminated, the choice of the aristocratic family is obvious.
But later, Lu Zhi and Cai Yong were fine. Not only did Guo Hao not punish them, he also reinstated them. This move directly stunned the aristocratic families.
Why was he so ruthless when dealing with them? He was even so ruthless when dealing with Cai Yong and Lu Zhi.
It's obvious that they want to promote a hundred schools of thought, so why are they still so polite to the great Confucian scholars?
After going through a lot of troubles, Cai Zhaoji simply changed her name to Cai Wenji, which meant she had cut off all ties with the past. She still worked as an administrator at the Great Library.
Cai Yong was happy to see it happen at first. Chen Xi's abilities and achievements were so obvious that how could a great scholar like Cai Yong discredit Chen Xi because of his stance? On the contrary, these great Confucian scholars were the ones who praised Chen Xi the most.
The whole thing about the bright moon in the sky was all made up by them. Some people even wrote obituaries for Chen Xi and publicly offered sacrifices to him on various occasions every year, as if they were treating Chen Xi as a living saint.
The man was in love and the concubine was willing, and given Chen Xi's status and position, even if Cai Yong knew about Chen Lan, he would have no objection, because having three wives and four concubines was considered politically correct in ancient times.
However, when the two parties were discussing marriage, Cai Yong found out that Chen Xi was still engaged to the Fan family, so he turned against her and drove Chen Xi away.
Chen Xi finally learned this from the old housekeeper, and also found it deep in his memory. He said that their family had no source of income before, so how could they afford his medical treatment and recuperation.
It turns out that before their family became rich, they were sponsored by the Fan family, and later the Fan family had been waiting for him to return to fulfill the marriage contract.
It was not until the Fan family heard about the Cai family's affairs that they could no longer sit still. Among the many families in Yingchuan, many knew about this matter. Their family was also a prominent family and they also wanted to save face.
What's more, they have always regarded themselves as Chen Xi's family, but in the blink of an eye, their family has become a clown, and this matter has been spread by some noble families.
Chen Xi was so confused that he didn't know whether he had traveled through time or awakened his innate wisdom.
Anyway, he had no way to deal with the matter and could only drag it out. No one dared to force him given his status and position.
