"Master Guo, you just said there was still room to maneuver. Do you already have a plan in mind?"
Yuan Shang asked Guo Jia respectfully.
Guo Jia smiled. "Getting our lord to agree to let you marry the Zhen Clan's daughter would be very difficult, Third Young Master-practically impossible. But stopping the Second Young Master from marrying her would be quite simple."
"Please enlighten me, sir!"
Yuan Shang's eyes lit up, and he hurried to ask.
In truth, he had no real interest in marriage alliances. Whether he married the Zhen Clan's daughter made no difference to him. The main thing was that he could not let his second brother, Yuan Xi, marry her!
Rather than answer directly, Guo Jia asked, "If my guess is correct, the daughter the Second Young Master intends to marry is Zhen Mi, the youngest daughter of Zhen Yi, the former head of the Zhen Clan?"
"That's her."
Yuan Shang nodded.
Hearing that name, Shen Pei said with some surprise, "So it's her?"
Yuan Shang asked in confusion, "Have you heard of her too, Master Shen?"
Feng Ji, who stood nearby, explained, "You may not know this, Third Young Master, but this daughter of the Zhen Clan is quite famous in Ji Province. Not only is she extraordinarily beautiful, she is also exceptionally intelligent."
"I've heard that Zhen Mi already loved reading at nine years old. She was widely read and had a remarkable memory, grasping any passage she read at once. She was also very mature for her age. When the realm fell into chaos a few years ago and the people were suffering, she advised her elder brother to open their granaries and distribute grain to help their neighbors. This earned the Zhen Clan tremendous prestige, and afterward, their wealth actually grew rather than diminished. She truly is a remarkable young woman."
Feng Ji briefly told Yuan Shang about the achievements of this daughter of the Zhen Clan.
It was Yuan Shang's first time hearing any of this. Besides feeling astonished, he grew even more jealous of his second brother, Yuan Xi.
"Just as I thought, Father favors him!"
He was giving such an outstanding woman to Yuan Xi in marriage.
What was that if not favoritism?
Taking a deep breath to suppress his resentment, Yuan Shang continued, "Then how do you intend to stop this marriage, Master Guo?"
Guo Jia smiled and asked Shen Pei, "Administrator Shen, have you heard a certain rumor concerning Zhen Mi?"
"The prophecy? Yes, I have."
Shen Pei nodded. Then, suddenly realizing something, he looked at Guo Jia in astonishment. "Don't tell me you intend to..."
"Exactly."
Listening to their cryptic exchange, Yuan Shang was completely bewildered.
What prophecy?
What are they planning?
What are they talking about?
Speak plainly, will you!
Yuan Shang could only turn to Feng Ji for help, but Feng Ji wore a wry smile and spread his hands, indicating that he did not understand either.
This was the sort of unspoken understanding and conversation that belonged to clever men.
Shen Pei gave Guo Jia a complicated look before explaining to Yuan Shang, "Aside from the stories of this Zhen Clan daughter's precocious intelligence, there is also a very widely circulated prophecy about her."
"A famous physiognomist once read her face and said her future nobility was beyond words. She bore the Phoenix Destiny and would surely become an empress."
"What?!"
Yuan Shang's eyes widened at those words, his shock impossible to conceal.
The Phoenix Destiny, the features of a future empress!
Did that not mean Zhen Mi could become empress one day?
Guo Jia continued, "This prophecy is very well known, and you can use it to prevent the Second Young Master's marriage alliance with the Zhen Clan."
"You need only spread word of the marriage, then hire people to discuss the prophecy and stir up public opinion. Given how carefully our lord guards his reputation, he will certainly no longer allow the Second Young Master to marry Zhen Mi."
In this era, people still held divination, physiognomy, fortune-telling, and similar arts in considerable awe and firmly believed in them. There were indeed some extraordinary individuals with remarkable abilities.
An empress destiny meant either marrying an emperor or marrying someone who would become an emperor in the future.
Yuan Shu had only just proclaimed himself emperor, and now Yuan Shao was having his son marry Zhen Mi, a woman with an empress destiny. What was that supposed to mean?
Did he want to become emperor too?
If no one mentioned the prophecy, it could pass unnoticed. But once someone brought it up and deliberately spread it around for people to discuss, Yuan Shao would be thrust straight into the teeth of the storm!
"An excellent plan!"
Yuan Shang was delighted, but he still had reservations. Hesitating, he said, "But wouldn't that break off the marriage alliance between our Yuan Clan and the Zhen Clan?"
"If Father finds out I was responsible, he'll be furious."
On the one hand, Yuan Shang wanted to stop the marriage alliance. On the other, he felt doing so would harm the Yuan Clan's interests, and he feared being reprimanded by Yuan Shao.
After all, he was still a son of the Yuan Clan.
"That's simple."
Without even pausing to think, Guo Jia offered a solution. "Your goal is to prevent the Second Young Master's marriage alliance with the Zhen Clan without harming the Yuan Clan's interests."
"In that case, when the time comes, simply propose presenting Zhen Mi to the Son of Heaven. That will naturally draw the Zhen Clan to your side as well. Who could find even the slightest fault with you then?"
If Zhen Mi were presented to the Son of Heaven, who was now under the Yuan Clan's control, and the Yuan Clan ruled Ji Province besides, who else could the Zhen Clan turn to?
"You are truly gifted, sir!"
After hearing this, Yuan Shang considered it carefully. The more he thought about it, the more perfect Guo Jia's proposal seemed, leaving him thoroughly satisfied.
Then he said to Guo Jia with heartfelt admiration, "With such brilliant strategic insight, why have I never heard your name before?"
Guo Jia replied modestly, "Our lord has many advisers. I am truly insignificant among them. Administrator Shen and Deputy Governor Feng both possess talents far beyond mine."
"I merely happened to have a suitable plan this time. So long as I can ease your concerns, Third Young Master, that is enough."
Hearing this, Yuan Shang admired Guo Jia even more. He smiled. "Then I shall have to rely on you more often in the future."
"Heh, I will certainly do everything in my power."
Nearby, Shen Pei watched Guo Jia and Yuan Shang chatting so happily, his brows tightly furrowed.
It was not jealousy or envy. He simply felt, for some reason, that there was something strange about Guo Jia's proposed scheme.
Yet it was clearly a perfect plan.
Where exactly was the problem?
Chapter 59: Does His Majesty Like Married Women Too?
In the end, Yuan Shang adopted Guo Jia's plan.
Although Shen Pei felt there might be something wrong with it, he could not identify any flaw, so he did not object.
After all, if Yuan Xi really married Zhen Mi and formed a marriage alliance with the Zhen Clan, that would hardly be good news for them.
They had to stop it.
Thus, through Yuan Shang and Shen Pei's efforts, rumors that Yuan Xi would form a marriage alliance with the Zhen Clan and marry Zhen Mi gradually began circulating in Ye City.
Spreading alongside them was the prophecy of Zhen Mi's "empress destiny."
This was precisely the sort of thing ordinary townsfolk loved discussing.
So there was scarcely any need to fan the flames. Within a few days, the news had spread throughout Ye City, and everyone was talking about it.
"Hey, have you heard? The Yuan Clan is forming a marriage alliance with the Zhen Clan!"
"Seems they're marrying that youngest Zhen daughter? What's her name again?"
"I know! Zhen Mi!"
"Zhen Mi? Isn't she that famous budding beauty from the Zhen family? I hear she's a child prodigy and a talented scholar too. She's only fourteen this year, isn't she?"
"The Zhen family has climbed onto the Yuan Clan's lofty branch now."
"I wouldn't exactly call it climbing onto a lofty branch. The Zhen family is one of our own great houses here in Ji Province. Their fortune is enormous-they're practically dripping with wealth!"
"But they still can't compare with the Yuan Clan. That's a mighty aristocratic house with Four Generations of Three Excellencies."
"True enough."
"But didn't a physiognomist read the youngest Zhen daughter's face before? Said she had the Phoenix Destiny and would become empress someday? Why is she marrying a son of the Yuan Family now? Could it be..."
"Tsk, tsk. I thought Yuan Shao was different from Yuan Shu. Now it looks like they're no different at all."
"Shh! Quiet! Quiet! Can you just say things like that?"
"Why can't I? Zhen Mi has the Phoenix Destiny, and the Yuan family is marrying her anyway. Doesn't that mean they want to become emperors?"
"I'm done talking. My wife's about to give birth. I'm heading off."
Such discussions grew more and more common, until even Liu Xie heard about them.
At the entrance to the Imperial Palace, Liu Xie munched on melon seeds while listening to Zhang He and Gao Lan recount the gossip from outside.
"...It's spread everywhere now. People are saying Yuan Shao wants to rebel too, since he's having his son marry a woman with the Phoenix Destiny."
Gao Lan craned his neck to look around, then lowered his voice.
"To be honest, I think it's possible. I hear the physiognomist who read that Zhen Clan daughter's face is very famous. If he said she could become empress, there's a good chance she really has that destiny."
"I think she'll definitely become your empress someday, Your Majesty."
No sooner had Gao Lan finished than Zhang He slapped him on the forehead and glared at him. "What nonsense are you spouting! His Majesty already has an empress. She's just in Xu County!"
"You even dare make things up about His Majesty? Do you want to lose your head?"
Gao Lan held his head, angry but not daring to speak.
Seeing this, Liu Xie pulled Zhang He aside. "Hey, hey, hey, no hitting, no hitting! We're just chatting. Why so serious? Here, have some melon seeds."
He stuffed a handful of melon seeds into Zhang He's and Gao Lan's hands.
The three of them basked in the sunshine and chatted, utterly at ease.
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