Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 162 We Are Not Suitable
"Marriage?" Bai Tu looked at Liu Ye in front of him in surprise.
Listening to Bai Tu's tone, Liu Ye began to worry about his "mission" for the first time.
…
A month after the Yuedan meeting, Liu Ye came to Jinling again.
Xiahou Dun’s proposal was actually not the key. Although Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were theoretically Xiahou Juan’s uncles, it was obvious that only Xiahou Yuan could make the decision on Xiahou Juan’s affairs.
However, Xiahou Dun did remind Cao Cao that Xiahou Juan was a more suitable candidate. After all, Cao Cao's father was a member of the Xiahou clan by blood, but he was adopted by his grandfather Cao Song. Therefore, both the Cao and Xiahou clans could be considered Cao Cao's "clan."
As for the other women of marriageable age from the Cao and Xiahou families, either their age, personality or appearance were not suitable, or they had no close relationship with Cao Cao - you couldn't just adopt a girl from a side branch as your daughter in marriage, right?
It is possible to win over some subordinates in this way, but marrying into the family with Bai Tu seems too hasty.
Xiahou Juan meets all the requirements. Although Xiahou Juan's biological parents have an average relationship with Cao Cao, Xiahou Yuan, who has a father-daughter relationship with her , is Cao Cao's right-hand man.
Xiahou Yuan also gradually relaxed...
He was just unhappy about Xiahou Dun's rejection of him, but after thinking about it carefully, he would be willing to do it if Bai Tu became his son-in-law...even if he was Cao Cao's son-in-law in name, as long as it could give Juan'er a good home.
However, what others don’t know is that there were actually some “small waves” in this matter, which was that Xiahou Juan himself was unwilling at first.
Of course, Xiahou Juan, who grew up in a clan in Pei County, was not rebellious and wanted to choose his own son-in-law. What was more important was that... he did not want to suddenly change his name to "Cao Juan".
After all, in her eyes, Xiahou Yuan is her father.
Fortunately, Xiahou Juan had a gentle personality. After Xiahou Yuan's persuasion, she did not cry, make a fuss, or even threaten to commit suicide. Liu Ye's trip was finally carried out.
When leaving Xu Du, Liu Ye had no worries about this contact - for both Bai Tu and Cao Cao, this should be a win-win situation for both sides.
Even Guo Jia only gave a reminder and did not strongly oppose it.
Because even if there is an "extremely small chance" that Bai Tu is really ambitious and will have a fierce conflict with Cao Cao in the future, according to the moral standards at that time, there is no need to worry about embarrassment.
A married woman follows her husband. In history, Xiahou Yuan's niece married Zhang Fei, and even the two daughters of Xiahou and Zhang Fei successively became the queens of Liu Chan...
Although Xiahou Yuan died at the hands of Shu general Huang Zhong, but...
After Sima Yi completed the purge of Cao Shuang and other generals from the Cao and Xiahou families, Xiahou Ba, who was stationed outside, knew that if he returned to the capital, the best outcome would be imprisonment for life, so he angrily defected to Shu. When Liu Chan met him, he specifically pointed to his son and said, "He also has the blood of the Xiahou family."
This point was certainly emphasized in order to appease Xiahou Ba, but it can also be seen that Zhang Fei's wife, Xiahou, or Xiahou's daughter would not suffer any grievances because of their Xiahou birth.
This is also related to the Confucian thought that was popular at that time. The Confucian "ritual" came from the "Zhou Li", and in the "Book of Changes", the "husband and wife" relationship came first with the "father and son".
At this time, in order to receive the envoy from the Sikong Mansion, Lu Su, Chen Gong, Lu Kang, Zhang Zhao and other staff members in Jinling were also in the central hall.
When they heard that Cao Cao wanted to marry their daughter to another clan, except for Chen Gong who frowned and Lu Su who remained calm, everyone else was interested.
If Bai Tu really marries Cao Cao, it will be beneficial to both sides in the short term, not only on the issue of Huainan, but also after Yuan Shao unifies Hebei in the future, the Cao-Bai alliance will have a long-term basis for existence.
Only Chen Gong, who cared more about Lu Bu's interests than Bai Tu and had a deep prejudice against Cao Cao, was strongly opposed to this matter.
In the long run, even if Bai Tu and Cao Cao really come to blows in the future, after Cao Cao captures him, he can, because of the "father-in-law and son-in-law" relationship, and after imprisoning him, suffer less public resentment caused by Bai Tu's popularity.
As for Bai Tu defeating Cao Cao? Liu Ye had never thought about this kind of thing...
But now, something happened that Liu Ye had never expected!
…
"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Cao... Hmm? No, Lord Cao wouldn't be..." At this moment, Bai Tu even suspected that Cao Cao was going to take advantage of him.
But if you think about it carefully, Cao Cao shouldn't be so boring, and... according to the current "customs", the "father-in-law and son-in-law" relationship in this situation obviously cannot be extended to diplomacy.
"This... Mr. Bai, what I just said... do you need to discuss it with your staff again?" Liu Ye looked at Bai Tu in surprise, who did not play by the rules.
So all those benefits he mentioned before were in vain?
At this moment, Liu Ye even began to doubt his talent as a strategist...
Failed again?
Two diplomatic missions to Baitu, and... in Liu Ye's opinion, both missions were the easiest ones - after all, he sincerely believed that the opinions he brought were truly beneficial to Baitu.
"There's nothing to discuss. I haven't even met Miss Cao Juan. No, no." Bai Tu shook his head.
"The lord's daughter is naturally as beautiful as a fairy..." Liu Ye looked at Bai Tu in confusion, thinking: Could it be that Lord Bai is also a "face control" like Miss Cao Jing?
"It's not just a matter of looks. If we want to get married, I think it's better for both parties to love each other..." Bai Tu once again brought out the "love view" that almost angered Chen Gong to death.
Liu Ye felt that he might have learned a fake strategy...
Why did the two missions with the lowest difficulty both end in unexpected failures?
The first time was because Bai Tu was still holding on to the pedantic and dogmatic idea of moral education in this chaotic world; the second time was even more exaggerated... free love? What on earth was this person talking about?
After Lu Kang and the others were dumbfounded, they looked at Bai Tu with resentment, but... they also understood that when Bai Tu was stubborn, there was no way to reason with him.
Chen Gong was laughing secretly on the side . The reason why he had resisted in his heart but did not speak out was exactly because of this - he had already experienced Bai Tu's eccentricity in this regard.
The reason why Lu Su did not change his expression was because he understood Bai Tu's character. It would be a waste of time to analyze the pros and cons with him at this time.
One month later…
In Xudu, Xiahou Mansion, a woman in green was seen complaining to herself in front of the mirror.
After the maid rushed in and informed her that "Liu Ye is back", her face looked even more miserable.
Seeing Miss Juan like this, the maidservant also felt heartbroken. Ever since she knew Uncle Cao's thoughts and her initial resistance was persuaded by Xiahou Yuan, Miss Juan has been in a bad mood...
After that, she was absent-minded for half a day, until the afternoon... When Xiahou Yuan, who was not supposed to return home today, suddenly came back, Xiahou Juan felt uncomfortable, but with awareness and determination, she asked Xiahou Yuan: "Uncle, when should I leave?"
"Hahaha, Juan'er, good news! Bai Tu actually refused... Hahaha..." Xiahou Yuan couldn't help laughing out loud.
Xiahou Juan: !!!
In fact, he was still somewhat reluctant to let his "daughter" marry far away, but after weighing the pros and cons he felt that this was a good idea, so he persuaded Xiahou Juan. However, when Liu Ye came back with a shattered face and told him about Jiangdong's reaction, Xiahou Yuan's emotional side determined his excitement.
But he didn't notice that Xiahou Juan was stunned at first, and then... a complex look flashed in his eyes that he had never seen before.
