Cao Ying did not immediately express his position, saying that he would think about it. Liu Xiu didn't urge him, it's normal for Cao Ying to hesitate, if he patted his chest and said I support you without saying a word, then it's called a ghost.

Cao Ying really thought about it for a few days, but he still didn't make up his mind recently, so he had to reveal some things to his father, Cao Song, the big farmer. After Cao Song heard this, he asked him with fleshy bags under his eyes, if the world is really in chaos, will Liu Xiu be Yuan Shao's opponent?

There was no need to think much about this question, Cao Ying shook his head.

Cao Song smiled, then it's over, if the Yuan family is Mount Tai, he Liu Xiu is not even a small mound, the Yuan family did not deal with him, not that he couldn't deal with it, but he disdained it. But don't worry, with Yuan Shu's dog temper, it is impossible for him to suffer without retaliation. There's no need to rush to make a decision until you've won or lost, wait and see.

Cao Ying was a little worried, Liu Xiu needed his help now, if he didn't make a move, then Liu Xiu would definitely have an opinion on him. In the future, when Liu Xiu is developed, will it be a little late for him to go to him again? As soon as Cao Song heard his worries, he poked his head with his stubby fingers and said, You, you are still young and too impulsive, the more this is the case, the more you can't stay in Luoyang. You go back to your hometown, when will I give you news, when will you come again.

Cao Ying felt that his father was a little too cowardly, but he really couldn't make up his mind, so he asked Cao Luan again.

After Cao Luan listened to Liu Xiu's guidance, she suddenly became enlightened, but after all, she still felt that the "Book of Songs" was too serious, and she had a sense of solemnity when she held it, and she couldn't relax, so she changed it to Yuefu. Yuefu is a folk song collected in this dynasty, and no one has done an analysis of Yuefu's scriptures, so the psychological barrier to reading is much smaller. After just a few days of hard work, Cao Luan took on a new look, the smile on his face increased, he stopped walking, and his body that had developed like a flower showed full vitality.

"Ah Luan, you are really a beauty now." Cao Ying picked his thumb and said, "Song Qi's shaft must not believe it." ”

Cao Luan smiled, did not answer his words, and after listening to Cao Ying's doubts, she expressed her agreement with Cao Song's opinion. It doesn't matter if you take over Liu Xiu, but it would be too risky to stand with him against the two major forces of the family and the eunuchs. It might be safer to take it slow and see where he can go.

Cao Ying heard Cao Luan say the same, no longer hesitated, and asked someone to send a letter to Liu Xiu, saying that there was an urgent matter in his hometown, and he would go back to deal with it, and if there was anything, he would talk about it when I came back. Then he took a few house slaves and left Luoyang quickly.

Liu Xiu received Cao Ying's letter and felt a little regretful that he failed to win over people for the first time. Fortunately, he didn't pin all his hopes on Cao Ying, and he still had time, far from the moment of life and death, so he was not in a hurry, and ran the Luofu Noodle Restaurant, which was becoming more and more prosperous, with peace of mind. Although it is not as fierce as the Jindoujin, the lives of more than a dozen people are seeing nourishment, and in addition to each expense, there can be a lot of surplus.

Not to mention anything else, at least Liu Bei and Mao Zong don't have to feel distressed when they lose a few dollars when they gamble with the Queen Mother.

In the blink of an eye, it was late April, the weather began to heat up day by day, but it has not rained, there has not been a drop of rain since the winter last year, the drought has seriously affected the spring ploughing, the poor harvest has become a foregone conclusion, the most direct reaction in the market is that the price of food has begun to rise, and many of the customers who come and go in the noodle restaurant are too students, so in addition to the price of grain, I also feel more and more nervous public opinion.

Some people say that the great drought is because the Son of Heaven is not sympathetic, and the two party incidents have hit countless gentlemen and virtuous ministers, villains flooded the court, eunuchs were in power, and they were expropriated violently, so the heavens sent disasters to warn, if the Son of Heaven did not make effective measures, there would be more serious disasters than the drought, and there might even be serious civil unrest, affecting the life of the Han Dynasty.

Maybe it was because he knew that the owner of the Luofu noodle restaurant had dealings with the palace, so the students didn't talk about these topics in the noodle shop, but from the news revealed in their words, Liu Xiu still felt the hidden crisis behind this. He was in a hurry, but he couldn't come up with any good solution, he didn't know when the drought would end, and all he could do now was to stock up on food for the already expected famine. Fortunately, he now has money, and although the price of food has risen a lot, he can still afford it.

On this day, after accompanying a scholar who came from afar to study the stone drum text, he politely sent him out the door and saw a familiar face. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled again.

"Healed? It's out of the way, right? ”

The smirk on Yuan Shu's face froze, his teeth itched with hatred, and Bao Hong, who was behind him, was also blue and red for a while, and he couldn't wait to step forward and demolish this Luofu noodle restaurant, but thinking that Liu Xiu's martial arts skills were far above them, he could only be ruthless in his heart.

"Thank you for your concern, all right, all right." Yuan Shu exaggerated his chest expansion exercise to show that he had no sequelae at all, then laughed and slowly walked into the noodle restaurant. The shopkeeper Luo had long known that Liu Xiu and Yuan Shu had fought, and when he saw that they were unnatural, he couldn't help but feel his heart pounding, and he couldn't avoid it, so he had to walk up with a forced smile and bend his body to give a salute:

"It turned out that Yuan Gongzi was here, please upstairs."

"Don't." Yuan Shu looked at the brightly dressed Luo, glanced at the timid Hu waitress next to him, and waved his hand: "You guys are busy with your own going, I'll talk to your host." ”

When Luo heard this, he didn't dare to say more, and asked Liu Xiu with his eyes. Liu Xiu nodded and asked them to get busy. Those who come are not good, those who are good do not come, Yuan Shu really wants to find trouble, even Luo and these people can't stop it, not to mention that Yuan Shu has a good attitude, it doesn't look like he is in the next life.

"I'm not the kind of person with a chick's belly." Yuan Shu laughed, shook his head, Bao Hong understood, took out an official document from his arms and handed it to Liu Xiu, and said enviously: "You have good luck." Yuan Gong doesn't care about your mistakes, but also takes a fancy to your talent and learning, and wants to make you a official. ”

Liu Xiu frowned, took the paperwork and glanced at it, and couldn't help but be a little surprised. This is actually the book of Situ Fu that opened him as the main book, and more importantly, it is signed with the autograph of Situ Yuan Kui. Yuan Kui is Yuan Shu's uncle, and his wife is Ma Rong's daughter Ma Lun, who just sent someone to send a snack to his wife Zhang a few days ago, and Zhang was flattered, and went to thank him the next day.

This book is a worthy honor in the hands of anyone, and if he receives this before he comes to Luoyang, he will definitely be grateful. It's like a recent college graduate receiving a letter of appointment from the premier of the State Council, and there's no reason not to be ecstatic.

Unfortunately, he doesn't think so now. This book is equivalent to a deed of sale, as long as he accepts it, he will be branded with the Yuan family, and when he sees the people of the Yuan family in the future, including Yuan Shu in front of him, he will be three points shorter in momentum, and more importantly, he is very uninterested in the Yuan family now, especially this Yuan Kui.

Yuan Kui's father, Yuan Tang, gave birth to three sons, and Yuan Kui was the youngest son. The eldest son Yuan Cheng used to be a popular man in front of the general Liang Ji, and there was a proverb in Beijing that "things are not harmonious, ask Wenkai", which is Yuan Cheng, which means that Yuan Cheng is very influential in front of Liang Ji, and there is nothing that cannot be done. I don't know if it's because I did too many bad things, Yuan Cheng died when he was young, and the official only became a general in Zuozhonglang, and he didn't even have a son, so he let Yuan Shu's cousin Yuan Shao inherit his bloodline.

Yuan Shu's father Yuan Feng is the second, this person is one of the more generous of the three brothers, of course, the official is also the slowest to rise, and the highest position he has done is the servant of one of the nine Qings, and he was pressed by his brother Yuan Kui.

The most paradoxical of the three brothers of the Yuan family is the third Yuan Kui. Since Yuan An, the Yuan family has been developing relatively steadily, and it really began to enter the fast lane of development from Yuan Kui. Yuan Kui did not marry only Ma Lun, and also got into a relationship with Yuan Yu, the regular servant in the palace, and colluded inside and outside. And he is also the youngest of the three princes in the Yuan family, and he has just become a commonplace in his early forties.

According to the usual custom, Yuan Cheng died, Yuan Feng inherited the title, and he was the head of the Yuan family's generation, and there should be an order for this promotion, but Yuan Kui's ability in officialdom is obviously far greater than Yuan Feng, and he has been taking the lead step by step since he joined the office.

Maybe it's in the dark, there is retribution, Yuan Chengren is not good, so he died early without even having an heir, although Yuan Kui did not die early, but now he is in his forties, and he has no son. His wife Ma Lun is a powerful character again, she manages him well, her son is not born, but her wife's position is stable, don't look at the Ma family has been defeated, but Yuan Kui doesn't even dare to have the idea of taking a concubine.

Yuan Shu took Yuan Kui's handwriting to open the book, obviously not having any good intentions. I took it myself, and I will be the former official of the Yuan family in the future, and of course I have to be polite when I see Yuan Shu, and I have to wait in front of him and behind the horse. If you don't take it, you will not only offend the Yuan family, but even Ma Lun will be offended.

As you can imagine, he will definitely have to face Maren's wrath next.

Although Liu Xiu was ready to keep his distance from the Yuan family, he still hesitated when the Yuan family took the initiative to come to the door. He is not only facing a family, but also a behemoth with two major forces: a family and a eunuch. Once he rejects the olive branch they throw, he must be mentally prepared to meet the next challenge, if he can't withstand the pressure in the end and is forced to bow to the Yuan family, he might as well bow his head now.

Yuan Shu looked at Liu Xiu's flickering eyes, and his heart was extremely relieved. He hid in Yang's house for a few days, and his sister finally became suspicious, saying Why don't you go home yet, why are you tossing my son every day? Yuan Shu was finally forced to be unable to do it, and heard that his brother-in-law Yang Ci went to Liu Xiu's Luofu noodle restaurant to cheer, knowing that he couldn't hide this matter in the end, so he told his sister the truth.

His sister was very upset and finally gave him an idea. Isn't Liu Xiu a student of Lu Zhi, you go to your uncle and ask your uncle to come forward to dismiss Liu Xiu as an official and see how Liu Xiu copes. If he answers, then won't you toss it as you want in the future? If not, that's great, don't you know our uncle and aunt?

When Yuan Shu heard this, he immediately smiled, and immediately rushed to Yuan Kui's mansion and directly found his uncle Ma Lun. Maren himself did not give birth to a son, and he has always been a regret in his heart. There are three brothers in Yuan Shu, the eldest brother Yuan Jina will definitely inherit the title, the cousin Yuan Shao has already passed on to Yuan Cheng, and Ma Lun doesn't want Yuan Kui to take a concubine, so the only choice left is Yuan Shu. What's more, Yuan Shu is also a talent, although he is as stubborn as a vicious dog outside, he is as well-behaved as a cat in front of Ma Lun, which is quite popular with Ma Lun.

As soon as Yuan Shu's words were revealed, Ma Lun understood, not only did he have no opinion on Yuan Shu going to Liu Xiusheng, but felt that Yuan Shu was very graceful in doing so, she first gave Lu Zhi's wife Zhang a good idea, and then asked Yuan Kui to write a book to clarify Liu Xiu's officials.

In Yuan Shu's opinion, Liu Xiu has been firmly pinched in his hands, as long as Liu Xiu is not a fool, he should accept the book. In fact, Yuan Shu still felt a little pity, he hoped that Liu Xiu would not accept it, so that he could clean up Liu Xiu in the future. Losing the last time was just a horse for Yuan Shu, there are many masters among the guests of the Yuan family, and he can always find a master to get the field back, and he has now found a very ideal master.

"Deran, what happened last time, it was my fault." Seeing Liu Xiu's hesitation, Yuan Shu lowered his posture even more, and persuaded him with good words: "As for me, I misheard the stupid words of the Xu family, thinking that you really don't know how to learn." Now I know that you are really learned. Don't hesitate, my uncle is seeking talents for the country, and if you enter the Situ Mansion with your knowledge, you will definitely be able to prosper in the future. There are many talents in the Situ Mansion, and my Yuan family's protégés and former officials are all over the world......"

Listening to Yuan Shu's seemingly low-key words, but in fact he couldn't be more high-profile, seemingly a corporal of Lixian, but in fact containing threatening and contemptuous words, Liu Xiu couldn't help laughing, and gently put the book back into Yuan Shu's hand: "Thank you for your love, I dare not be ashamed." In the quality of the lower tile, it is not of great use, thank you Lord Situ for your kindness. ”

Yuan Shu raised his eyebrows, and almost laughed out loud, but it took a lot of effort to show his disappointment: "Don't think about it anymore? ”

"Don't think about it." Liu Xiu laughed: "Thank you Brother Highway for not caring about my rudeness, if you are interested, don't bother to go to the second floor to rest, I don't have anything else here, a glass of water and wine, and a bowl of topping noodles." ”

Yuan Shu also smiled and winked at Bao Hong: "The opportunity is rare, let's bother Deran once." ”

Bao Hong understood, Liu Xiu rejected the kindness of the Yuan family, this noodle restaurant can't be open for a long time, don't eat it now, there may not be a chance in the future, smiled at the moment, followed Liu Xiu upstairs, happily ate a meal of famous covered noodles in Luoyang City, and then wiped his mouth, sighed with some regret, and walked away.

After sending Yuan Shu away, Liu Xiu's mood was a little heavy, and the choice was made, but he was not relaxed at all. The trouble behind this is big, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire. He has inquired these days, not to mention far away, the market where he is located is the former official of the Yuan family, the Luoyang Ling Zhou Yi who was scared away by him as a tiger skin is also the former official of the Yuan family, Zhou Yi's great-grandfather Zhou Rong is the former official of Yuan An, uncle Zhou Jing and Yuan Cheng are good friends, and they are both confidants of the general Liang Ji, and the relationship between the two families is not generally good.

By the way, he also just learned that Zhou Yi just gave birth to a son named Zhou Yu last year. That baby was so beautiful! As soon as he thought that he was going to have a conflict with the father of this handsome guy of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Xiu felt that his nose was sour, it was really fucking hard, the Han Dynasty, I have made too many sacrifices for you, if you can't stand me, don't blame me for turning my face.

"What's the matter, your noodle shop is not open, blocking the door and not letting people in?" A voice interrupted Liu Xiu's grief and indignation, Liu Xiu looked at it, and there was a young man in his early twenties standing in front of him, wearing a light Confucian shirt, with delicate eyebrows and eyes, polite and polite, speaking with a smile, followed by a tall and strong young man, with horizontal eyebrows and vertical eyes, at first glance, he was a thug with outstanding force.

"Please come in, please come in." Liu Xiu immediately recovered the face of a businessman, and while welcoming the master and servant in, he said with a smile: "When I saw Your Excellency, I knew that he was a scholar, who came to see Shiguwen?" ”

"Hehehe......" The young man smiled, waved his hand, walked to the wall where the beauty was painted, looked at it leisurely, and said as he looked at it: "You don't have to worry about me, go about your own business." I'm here to see the stone drum text, but it's not just to see the stone drum text, I've long heard that this Luofu noodle restaurant is not only delicious soup cakes, but also calligraphy and painting are quite tasteful, I came this time, to appreciate it carefully, to see if it is a false name or really have the ability. ”

Liu Xiu laughed and clenched his fists again and again: "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed, most of the rumors are a bit false." In that case, take your time and take a look, I won't bother, if you need to say hello. ”

The young man nodded, looked at the calligraphy and paintings on the wall, looked at them one by one, and finally took the entourage upstairs, and did not come down for a long time, the entourage came out once in the middle of the way, ordered two bowls of noodles, a bucket of wine, and a few things to eat.

Luo didn't dare to let Liu Xiu greet him, so he personally brought the wine and food, and quietly said to Liu Xiu after coming down: "Dongjia, this young man is probably not small, I think his demeanor is by no means an ordinary scholar." ”

"What's so strange about this, there are more big names in our noodle shop." Liu Xiu smiled slightly and covered the account book in his hand: "Shopkeeper, you're busy, I'll go out first." I may not be here in the next two days, if there is anything, you will ask people to go to Buyun to find me. ”

Luo Shi answered and sent Liu Xiu out of the door with admiration. She has been in Luoyang for so many years, and she has seen a lot of big and small characters, but it is rare for Liu Xiu to be able to do this career in less than twenty years. Luofu Noodle Restaurant has only been open for a month, and its reputation has spread all over Luoyang City, and there are many customers every day, and those students who have always looked at people with their nostrils have become frequent customers here, and the people in the palace have come and gone, and the court with a dead face all day and night makes Bi Lan laugh twice when he sees the owner.

People are more angry than people. With such an owner, her status in the family has risen a lot, and her husband An Quan no longer dares to beat and scold her, and everyone boasts that his wife is a beautiful and capable woman. The soldiers of the Yue cavalry battalion came to eat noodles, and as soon as they entered the door, they called An Jia's sister-in-law, clamoring for a discount, and An Quan was very majestic in front of his colleagues.

It's a pity that the owner is still too young, he actually rejected the kindness of the Yuan family, he didn't know the prestige of the Yuan family. When Luo Shi thought of Liu Xiu's words to Yuan Shu just now, his heart was a little heavy, and he always felt a little uneasy. Although she didn't ask anything, it could be seen from Liu Xiu's face that Liu Xiu's mood was not very good.

The owner is a good man, I hope he can turn evil into good fortune and become auspicious in trouble. Roche prayed a few words in his heart.

(To be continued)