—174 A.D.——

"I couldn't have imagined that behind such a scene, there were countless hidden battles." "yes."

Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are standing side by side on the roof of a restaurant in Luoyang's West City, watching the sunset that is gradually setting, the city dyed orange and the people gradually thinning.

Although Emperor Ling likes to collect wealth, be incompetent, favor eunuchs, issue government decrees indiscriminately, and eliminate dissidents, the life of the people of Luoyang is not much different from before, and it can even be said to be better.

Because the intrigue in the court, the armed duel of the unparalleled warriors, and the game between the center and the local government have nothing to do with them at all, and those official eunuchs who are clever and oppressive of the people, once they are seized by the opponent and send the evidence to the emperor, they can wait to be raided.

This is naturally not Emperor Ling to protect the people, he simply believes that "corrupt officials must have a lot of money", and the harvest after raiding the house also proves this, the result is that the officials in Luoyang, there is no problem if they want to get power, after all, when any official has to pay money to the emperor, but if you want to collect money, it is best to use means that will not be caught, otherwise there is only one punishment for this: "confiscation of all personal property".

The strange situation in Luoyang made many officials have to be "simple", even if the family has money, they can't enjoy luxury, otherwise who will be deducted from the hat of "greedy ink" or "embezzlement", Emperor Ling didn't look at the evidence and directly sent the ten permanent servants to investigate, and it was verified that there was indeed money - not guilty, and after that, the money was all the emperor's.

Moreover, even if he can win the Ten Standing Servants, there is Wang Yue behind him, and it is completely impossible to make waves by force.

Because of the emperor's strange behavior, Cao Song became outstanding, he is the only official who can make money and spend money without being raided - after all, Dasi Nong himself is in charge of money for the emperor, and Cao Song has done a very good job over the years, and Emperor Ling is satisfied and even exempts him from the "official money" that he needs to pay every year as a big Si Nong.

The consequence of this situation is that the matchmakers who came to propose marriage to Cao Cao almost had to flatten the threshold of Cao's mansion, from the Taishou to the Three Princes and Nine Emperors, almost all of the people who had school-age concubines in the family were eyeing Cao Cao.

Although there are many factors to consider when marrying, such as family background, camp, and personality, which parent doesn't want her to live better when marrying her daughter? Although Cao Cao is the "grandson of the eunuch", the Chong Cao family is currently the only family in Luoyang that dares to be extravagant on the bright side, and this flaw can be recognized by pinching his nose.

"Mengde, ......" Yuan Shao said with a bitter face: "Do people have to get married?" My mother has been asking me what kind of girl I like. ”

Cao Cao, who is now nineteen, already has his own word "Mengde", Confucius and Mencius, which is very in line with Cao Song's character, and Yuan Shao, who is the same age, also obtained his own word, "Benchu", which seems to be the era name used by the former Han Dynasty.

"The law doesn't govern men," Cao Cao replied, looking at his childhood friend, who was old but not very intellectual, "but if a woman becomes an adult, her mother's family will be taxed." ”

"Huh? Isn't Zhen Ji going to pay taxes? Yuan Shao was surprised.

At this time, Cai Yong was the official to the imperial history, the author of "Dongguan Hanji", and began to unite a cadre of literati to engrave the "Xiping Stone Scripture", very famous, his eldest daughter Cai Wan, also in the name of the talented woman in Luoyang, earlier there were many people to try to see if they could get married, Cai Yong handed over this matter to Cai Wan to decide, and those matchmakers every time they talked to Cai Wan, they would hide their faces and leave.

A few years ago, Cai Yong's old tree bloomed, and his wife gave birth to a daughter Cai Yan, and Cai Wan stayed at home to take care of her young sister, refusing to see anyone who proposed marriage.

"How?" Cao Cao glanced at Yuan Shao, "You like Zhen Ji?" Want to marry her? ”

"Wow!" Yuan Shao took two steps back in horror and almost fell off the house: "Absolutely impossible!" When I was a child, I was fine, but when I talked to Junghime recently, I always felt like a monkey! ”

"It's not just like ......" Cao Cao shook his head and did not continue to hit Yuan Shao's IQ.

The Yuan family has a large population, although Yuan Shao himself is a son-in-law, but he is a passive, whether it is a former father or a stepfather, he does not have much expectation for him to pass on the lineage, so the pressure is not very great, but Cao Cao is different.

Although it is not good to say bad things about grandpa, but the eunuch's dedication to the offspring is not many times that of ordinary people, because the ten permanent servants are favored by the Ling Emperor, many elderly eunuchs of Cao Teng's generation will consciously no longer appear in front of the emperor, and spend a leisurely life in the relatively deserted palace, Cao Cao occasionally goes with Cao Song to visit his grandfather, he will encounter a group of old ministers of the four dynasties or even the five dynasties forced to marry......

Cao Cao himself is actually not very resistant to getting married, although the beautiful shadow in his heart has never disappeared, but he himself knows that it is almost impossible to meet her, so when his parents arranged for him to meet those concubines of the family, he never refused.

But what's going on with those young little girls? Thirteen or fourteen years old, right? The eldest is only sixteen, how poor are those families? Afraid that they can't pay taxes, they generally have to marry them off as soon as possible?

So far, Cao Cao can barely accept his mother Ding's niece, about eighteen years old, who seems to be called "Ding Yi"?

"It's Ding's 'dependence', and the little bird depends on people." At that time, the girl retorted, and made a funny "little bird according to people" gesture, which made a slight impression on him, and at the same time he had a rough idea of what she would be left to be eighteen years old...... If it really doesn't work, it's better to choose her, it's better than those little girls who look like they might cry.

————

"Hey! How long are you two going to stand on the rooftop? There was a disgruntled call from the room in the restaurant below.

"Oh, is it coming so fast?" Cao Cao and Yuan Shao glanced at each other, walked to the edge of the roof and jumped straight down, put his arm on the eaves, and jumped in through the window of the restaurant.

Sitting in the room are the friends Cao Cao and Yuan Shao have made in Luoyang over the years, most of them are children of the family, such as Zhang Miao, Xu You, Yang Hong, Wang Xu, and Yuan Shu - this does not count.

This dinner is to celebrate the send-off banquet of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao who are filial piety and honesty and will be appointed to the official office on the next day.

Cao Cao glanced at his "stand-in", he sat by the window in a dignified manner, eating and drinking, but others completely ignored his existence.

Over the years, although Cao Cao has not deliberately exercised, his strength and skills have grown on their own at a strange speed, and it is thought that he has been pulled up because of the growth of this stand-in.

The stand-in did not appear the possibility of "replacing himself after growing up" as Cao Cao expected, although the two of them were exactly the same in appearance, their personalities were completely different, for example, it was obviously "he" who proposed to hold a banquet in this restaurant with the best view, but just now he resolutely refused to watch the sunset.

Cao Cao, who has no brothers and sisters, has now regarded the "stand-in" as a brother that others can't see - maybe it was originally?

"Now can you tell me why you have to hold a banquet here?" After a few rounds of wine, Cao Cao sat down next to the "stand-in" and asked in a low voice.

"Of course, I want to surprise you~" The voice of the "stand-in" is exactly the same as Cao Cao's, but the tone has a strange pride and upliftment: "Ding Yi...... Just barely to your liking, right? ”

"Knowingly asked." Cao Cao's tone remained the same, after all, the two "people" fought side by side at the beginning, and they knew what they saw, so they didn't have to say it.

"Look over there, listen." The "stand-in" raised his hand and pointed out the window.

There are many houses around Luoyang West City, most of which are inhabited by merchants or artisans in order to maintain the operation of the market nearby, at this time, as the sky gradually darkens, the houses are lit up.

And the direction pointed by the "stand-in", at the end of the bluestone alley, is an ordinary courtyard, from the not very bright lights, it can be seen that its owner is not very wealthy, but faintly, there seems to be a singing voice.

"[The ancient street behind the alley ~ next to the green wall, you look at the sunset from afar~]"

"[Just because it's a casual glimpse~Disturb my thoughts, and I can't give up day and night~]"

This-Cao Cao's body almost froze, and he turned his head to look at the "stand-in" little by little.

"Don't be too excited, although the voice is seven or eight points like, but the face is only three or four points" The stand-in shrugged: "That's a family of singers and dancers, surnamed Bian, as for the young lady who sings, it seems that Zhang Rang took a fancy to it, and bought it to make 'right food' (the title of the eunuch's wife)." ”

"Damn the eunuch!" Cao Cao pinched off his chopsticks.

The people around the banquet ...... instantly quiet, what to do, Meng De scolded his grandfather.

Cao Cao was about to explain a thing or two, but he saw a palace style, a small green cloth sedan chair tied with a red flower at random stopped at the door of the courtyard, a servant stepped forward, said something arrogantly, and then the singing stopped, and a woman wearing a red and white dance dress and covering her face with a folding fan walked out of the house.

Cao Cao could barely see what she looked like because of the distance, but his long snow-like hair made his eyes instantly narrow dangerously.

"Remind you, this young lady is twenty-four this year, and because she suffers from 'whitehead', she is regarded as an unlucky person, and she is not allowed to show her face," the stand-in paused: "Because the influence of 'her' charity in Luoyang in recent years has gradually been accepted." ”

"Huh...... Violent Destruction of Heavenly Things," Cao Cao snorted and turned to the friends at the banquet: "Everyone, after today, we will probably go our separate ways, why don't you take advantage of this last time to make a big fuss?" ”

"Good!" Yuan Shao was the first to respond: "Let's go and beat Zhang Rang?" ”

“…… No," Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shao, who was quite stupid but could hit the right one from time to time: "We are going to snatch away the 'right food' he just married." ”

"Hehe, I heard that Zhang Rang has a private house nearby," several people were still stunned, but Xu You had already found a handkerchief to tie on his face: "Do it, Meng De!" ”

That night, the first of the ten permanent servants let the palace outside the palace go to the water and was robbed, the servants all fled, and the singer who had just bought did not know where to go, Zhang Rang was furious, and appointed Cao Cao, who had just raised filial piety, as the northern lieutenant of Luoyang, to investigate the matter thoroughly.

————

Cao Fu.

"[I want to turn into Zhuang Zhou and become a butterfly ~ drive the purple smoke through the heavenly palace ~]"

"[I never know how sad parting in the world ~ blowing the fallen leaves and scattering the autumn breeze to cut ~]"

The white-haired singer sang a song and saluted Cao Cao: "Little girl Bian Aya, thank you to Gongzi Cao for rescuing, but she is alone and has nothing to repay, she is willing to give up her name and play the person she likes for Gongzi." ”

"No......" Cao Cao closed his eyes slightly, and then opened them: "You, it's you." ”