NOVPUBZhuge Liang came to find Chen Xi with a few books in his arms after breakfast, only to see Chen Xi drowsily scooping porridge with a spoon.
"Oh, Kongming, come join me for a meal," Chen Xi said, motioning for a nearby maid to serve Zhuge Liang a bowl of porridge as well, seeing as the meals at this household were basically the same.
"Did you write these books?" asked Zhuge Liang, who had not started eating but placed the handwritten books on the table instead.
"Success and diligence? Talent and sweat?" yawned Chen Xi, scratching his uncombed hair. Recently, Fan Jian and Chen Lan had stopped staying at the Chen Family’s home at night; in truth, they shouldn’t have been there during the daytime either. Both parties were supposed to live apart until they got married and returned. In short, with no one bothering about it, Chen Xi became careless about grooming his long hair.
As for the maid who was supposed to groom Chen Xi, she was utterly helpless regarding her young master. Although Chen Xi was easy to talk to, his words were final. If he didn’t let you comb his hair, no amount of coaxing would change his mind.
"I did write them," Chen Xi admitted without a hint of dishonesty; these were indeed written during his idle time, based on knowledge from the past.
"Can you tell me if these theories are correct?" Zhuge Liang’s eye twitched, encountering such an unusual way of thinking for the first time.
"They’re all correct," Chen Xi replied listlessly while drinking his porridge. He wasn’t fully awake yet. Usually, at this hour, someone would have woken him up, and Fan Jian would have tidied the drowsy Chen Xi’s hair. Now without his fiancée, he was indeed not used to it.
"The problem is the content of these writings are conflicting!" Zhuge Liang was obviously frustrated. It was already late; if not getting to work, at least he should have woken up by now. But Chen Xi was clearly still half-asleep.
"Who was it, right, Chen Yue, go to Jian’er’s room and bring the ’Contradiction and Unity’ book here," Chen Xi said, too lazy to elaborate, simply asking a maid to fetch another book.
"What’s that?" Zhuge Liang asked with some curiosity.
"A book that will make sense to you after you read it," Chen Xi said nonchalantly, lifting the bowl to his lips and starting to gulp down the porridge. Normally by this time, either Fan Jian or Chen Lan would have shown up.
"Here it is." Chen Xi handed the book the maid brought over to Zhuge Liang, "Although there are many corrections and contradictions in it, the book itself is called ’Contradiction and Unity’. It’s only natural that there are things that can’t be conveyed in words and must be intuitively understood."
After passing the book to Zhuge Liang, Chen Xi started tying his hair reluctantly. It seemed that today, or even until the wedding, his wife was not likely to step through the door, meaning no one would comb his hair for him, and he had to do it himself.
"Let me do it, my lord," offered Chen Yue, who had been standing by waiting for instructions upon seeing Chen Xi struggle with his hair.
"Alright, fine, it has been quite troublesome lately," Chen Xi said, giving up on the idea of doing it himself as hairstyling wasn’t his forte.
The book was not thick, and by the time Chen Yue finished tying Chen Xi’s hair, Zhuge Liang had already read it, "Do you have any questions?"
"No questions now. Right and wrong are only relative to the person," Zhuge Liang seemed a bit conflicted but did not ask Chen Xi any questions, "Did you write this book as well? How did I learn all this?"
"Yes, I wrote it, but many parts are problematic. As to how you learn, usually, you get the feel of it over time. But since no one summarized it, I did," Chen Xi spoke nonchalantly, as if to say even if he had written something incorrect, future generations would naturally correct it.
"I see." Zhuge Liang was not quite sure what to make of it. Although there were many errors and omissions in the new book provided by Chen Xi, he vaguely sensed that it contained correct theories. Precisely because of this, Zhuge Liang was confused about what was right and what was wrong.
"Those books are fine for a cursory look; treat them as amusement," Chen Xi said of his haphazard theories, adopting a nonchalant attitude. But the cautious Zhuge Liang, having found correct principles within, could hardly approach knowledge with an attitude of mere amusement.
"Do you plan to come with me to the Political Office or stay here to read in the Library Pavilion?" Chen Xi asked casually.
"I’ll get some experience handling political affairs," Zhuge Liang thought for a moment, opting to set the books aside. Areas he didn’t understand could be studied gradually; it was better to start accumulating experience in managing affairs as early as possible.
When Chen Xi, accompanied by Fa Zheng, went to the Political Office, Dian Wei had already walked out with his Great Halberd, and Xuu Chu had tucked away his Great Sword, both planning to give the opposition a harsh beating and properly torment them.
By the time Chen Xi truly took Zhuge Liang to the Political Office, another hour would pass until it was almost noon. This almost drove Zhuge Liang mad. In his mind, one should seize every moment to diligently handle political affairs, maintaining peace and stability, working hard day in and day out, sleeping later than dogs and waking earlier than chickens—that was a diligent and loving official. As for Chen Xi’s relaxed approach, feasting and strolling the streets in the morning, digesting his meal, and then handling affairs close to noon—was this how an official behaved?
Seeing Zhuge Liang’s frowning face, Chen Xi couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. He felt that Zhuge Liang’s biggest issue was being overly diligent, which could surely wear him out. Therefore, the core of Chen Xi’s reform for Zhuge Liang was to abandon the workaholic style and leisurely enjoy life instead.
"Yo! Morning!" Chen Xi greeted upon entry. By this time, those who were supposed to be there had arrived; they were nourishing themselves with a bit of food before formally starting on today’s affairs. After all, bad habits are easy to adopt while good ones are not, and this group had been led astray by Chen Xi.
"Zichuan, not bad, you’re quite early today," Fa Zheng said, yawning while combing his somewhat disheveled hair. "Is this Kongming? Why not let him learn from me?"
Chen Xi saw the gleaming look in Fa Zheng’s eyes and knew exactly what he was thinking—to finally get a junior to train after being tormented by a bunch of people, to feel the thrill of overpowering others.
"Give up that thought, you haven’t even graduated yourself," Chen Xi said nonchalantly. "Kongming, sit here. Help yourself to whatever you want to eat."
"Speaking of which, there’s been something interesting recently. Chen Yuanlong has sent us a message that Tao Gongzu received Meng De’s father and they had a merry time over wine," Jia Xu glanced at Zhuge Liang and said. Compared to Fa Zheng’s eccentric character that made one itch to chasten him, Zhuge Liang was far more composed.
"What did you say?" Chen Xi was taken aback.
"Nothing much, just saying that Tao Gongzu seems to no longer wish to mingle with the Technique Alliance and is looking for a new backer," Liu Ye said indifferently.
"Who was the Xuzhou officer that escorted Cao Jugao away?" Chen Xi inquired.
"..." Fa Zheng paused, then remembered Chen Deng’s unusual behavior, his eyes twitching a bit as he said, "You can’t mean that there’s a force within Xuzhou planning to move against Tao Qian."
"Zhang Kai, a defected Yellow Turban general! We’re too late to intervene," Jia Xu also said, frowning. "However, it does provide us an opportunity. Cao Mengde is not weak, and though Tao Gongzu has the Elite of Danyang and is an experienced conqueror, weakened by old age, he might stand in a stalemate if unopposed. But with internal pressures, it’s more than 90 percent likely that Tao Gongzu will directly turn to us."
As these strategists pondered this prospect, they all believed that clashing with Cao Cao was inevitable. But with the sole exception of Zhuge Liang, everyone held absolute confidence as Liu Bei could afford the drawn-out conflict; Cao Cao could not outlast Liu Bei. The strategic reserve that Chen Xi had been working on wasn’t for nothing!
"Get ready. The outcome will emerge within twenty days at most. The main issue with Xuzhou is its distance from Yanzhou, and with Cao Cao adopting a scorched-earth policy, Zichuan’s wedding will become troublesome again," Jia Xu said with a smile. 𝖓𝔬𝖛𝔭𝔲𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Chen Xi could only smile wryly. Holding control over the Elite of Danyang, the renowned Tao Qian wasn’t seen as one who could easily be defeated in everyone’s eyes. Yet Cao Bao’s performance was a lesson to all: the incompetence of one general could doom an entire army!
In the courtyard behind the post station, Xi Zhicai spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the bed. [Zhuge Kongming’s talent...](To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly votes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)
