NOVPUBChen Xi, accompanied by Zhuge Liang and Lu Yu, arrived at the inner court, where Zhuge Liang naturally headed to his own room, while Chen Xi could only ask Lu Yu to rest in the guest room for the time being.
"Greetings, Old Master." After Chen Xi returned, a chorus of greetings chimed in harmoniously; the inner court might not have much else, but it certainly had plenty of maids.
"Chen Yun, are you getting used to staying at home?" Chen Xi looked at the somewhat bored Chen Yun and asked helplessly.
"Greetings, Old Master." Originally pretending to read, but actually daydreaming, Chen Yun was startled and quickly stood up when she realized it was Chen Xi.
"I’m asking you, are you used to staying at home and taking care of things?" Chen Xi asked, hoping she wasn’t really being bullied by Fan Jian.
"To answer Old Master, I am quite comfortable at home," Chen Yun replied, head bowed.
"Here, take this." Chen Xi handed a jade plaque to Chen Yun, "With this, you can go freely to and from the inner and outer courts. Jian’er won’t bother you. She’s just a bit bored. Just do whatever you enjoy."
"Thank you, Old Master." Chen Yun accepted the jade plaque and responded with a deep curtsy.
"Who set fire to my book room?" Chen Xi inquired.
"Miss Mi and Miss Zhen were in your book room looking for something last night and accidentally left the oil lamp there. We maids are not allowed to enter your book room, so we only discovered the fire later on," Chen Yun said, her head still lowered, without omitting a single detail, clearly knowing what should and shouldn’t be said.
"Oh, I see, Jian’er is really... You can simply get whatever book you want to check by yourself from now on, just try not to burn down my book room again," Chen Xi responded with a smile upon catching Chen Yun’s implication.
"Zichuan!" Just as Chen Xi was planning to lie down for a bit of rest, Liu Bei’s voice could be heard from the outer court. With Liu Bei visiting, Butler Chen certainly couldn’t stop him, but Liu Bei was interesting in that he never stepped foot into Chen Xi’s inner court.
Flipping up from his resting position, Chen Xi muttered a few words and headed towards the outside, while Chen Yun also carried tea and snacks towards the front court.
"Lord Xuande, it’s been a long time," Chen Xi greeted Liu Bei with a smile as soon as they met, now behaving more casually than ever with him.
"Zichuan looks spirited, Physician Hua was right, you’re just too frail, haha," Liu Bei laughed heartily, showing a tendency to become somewhat roguish lately, "I went to pick you up earlier, but after waiting for a while when you didn’t show up, I figured you’d been lazy and ran straight home."
"Lazy? I merely came home on time," Chen Xi defended with a chuckle, "But thank you for the trouble, Lord Xuande."
"You rascal," Liu Bei shook his head helplessly, "This must be the Chen Yun who portrayed Bai Suzhen, indeed she possesses an ethereal aura."
"This servant, Chen Yun, greets General of the East," Chen Yun quickly bowed in greeting.
"Alright, you may go now," Chen Xi gestured for Chen Yun to leave with a wave of his hand.
"Lord Xuande, have you come for an urgent matter?" After Chen Yun left and Chen Xi poured a cup of tea for Liu Bei, he asked.
"There’s no urgent matter, but Zijing said that if you don’t go to the Political Office, he will have a breakdown." Liu Bei said with a smile on his face.
"Really? Is Zijing that delicate? Aren’t there Wen He, Wen Ru, Ziyang, Gong Youu, Xianhe, Zhongyu, Shuzhi, Gong Xi, Hanmou, and Boran?" Chen Xi said with a curl of his lip, "With so many people, what can’t be managed?"
"Gong Youu is busy with construction, Xianhe and Weishuo are sorting out the rituals for establishing the office, Zhongyu and Boning are improving the laws, Shuzhi needs to operate Zijing’s plan, and Gong Xi I sent to Qingzhou. After Zilong left, Hanmou was completely immobilized, and Boran has just surrendered; he’s not at all familiar with our way of working," Liu Bei said with a bitter smile.
There were plenty of capable people under his command, but none of them was free, as Chen Xi had delegated tasks to all of them before leaving.
"What about Wen He, Wen Ru, and Ziyang? Those three together should be more than capable!" Chen Xi asked, puzzled.
"Ziyang just returned from Qingzhou, Wen Ru only got back from Xuzhou yesterday, and as for Wen He, he said he’s not good at handling such matters and didn’t want to make a mistake, so he didn’t go," Liu Bei said, recalling with resignation the situation with Li Youu, who had just finished dealing with the affairs of an entire province.
"...You’ve got to be kidding!" Chen Xi was first stunned, then began to slam the table, "Jia Wenhe is being sneaky, first, I’ll send him to handle the governmental affairs; he actually ignored Zijing’s hard work!"
"..." Looking at Chen Xi pretending to be dead in front of him, Liu Bei felt a sense of helplessness rising within him, "Never mind, we will deal with Wen He’s issue later. I came to find you for another reason."
"How about I send someone to help, someone who won’t be much inferior to me, and is as diligent as Zijing?" Chen Xi said helplessly, wondering how suddenly a bunch of strong people could all be insufficient.
"Kongming?" Liu Bei smirked and said, recalling how Fa Zheng had been caught by Chen Xi and put to work on various tasks under the guise of training. Although Fa Zheng had indeed developed excellently in all aspects, Liu Bei couldn’t help but feel somewhat reluctant.
"It’s only him. It’s time he got involved in governmental matters anyway. Give him a chance and let’s see how he deals with it," Chen Xi said with a look of consideration for Zhuge Liang’s future, but Liu Bei knew Chen Xi well enough to realize that he was probably just looking for an excuse to be lazy.
"That will do. If you don’t want to handle political affairs, then you’ll soon be leading a campaign to Yanzhou to rescue the Black Mountain Army alongside Yide and Zijian," Liu Bei nodded in seemingly reluctant agreement to Chen Xi’s suggestion, and before Chen Xi could show his pleasure, Liu Bei quickly tasked him with another matter.
"Cough cough cough, perhaps not, I think I’d better stay in Fenggao and think about how to manage the affairs of the Lu Family," Chen Xi coughed twice, hastily declining the task of leading the army. How many days had he spent at home this year? Besides the Lunar New Year, there had always been something to do.
"The Lu Family, you’ve already arranged to station them at the posthouses, and Lub Boyan has already taken you as his mentor. The Lu Family is now firmly tied to us. Let me deal with the remaining matters. Tonight, we’ll welcome you and the Lu Family, and also let Zijing report on the work progress of the past period," Liu Bei said calmly.
To be honest, Liu Bei did not yet see the significance of the Lu Family, despite the inputs from Chen Xi and Lub Su, but still his understanding of war remained land-based, traditional, and he completely lacked any conception of the naval battles that lay ahead.
Just like Cao Cao before Red Cliff, Liu Bei too, unless someone enlightened him, probably wouldn’t realize this until after suffering a significant defeat. It’s just the difference in awareness between Southerners and Northerners.
"Is it possible that Zijing hasn’t reported to Lord Xuande about work progress during this time?" Chen Xi asked, confused. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
