Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

"I was loyal to him, but because I gave him a woman and two young men, he dismissed me from office on the grounds of corruption..."

Song Yuan, the former magistrate of Loufan County in Yanmen Commandery, sat in the hall of the Xun Mansion, his face filled with grievance and sadness as he recounted his unfair treatment. "I may not be erudite, but I've read a lot of classics. I simply wanted to leave a good impression on him so I could better serve the Tang Empire. Unexpectedly, he was such a weirdo, unwilling to accept women of either sex. Later, after much inquiry, I learned that he had already rejected several women for fear of angering the princess. I've never seen such a henpecked man. And he's the king of a country, yet he doesn't even dare to take a concubine. I've never heard of or seen such a thing!"

Song Yuan's mouth was dry from talking. He picked up the bowl on the table, took a sip of tea and continued to complain, "That princess is also a rare jealous woman. In this world, any man with a little power has three wives and four concubines, but she won't let them! If I were the king, I would divorce a woman like her long ago."

"Divorce her?" Guo Jia looked up at him. "If your king really wants to divorce her, the Tang Kingdom will be finished. You know that the Tang King is in this situation because of her, and..."

Guo Jia paused for a moment, a smile breaking across his handsome face. "There are many men waiting to marry her. I actually hope that the King of Tang will truly break with her one day. That would be a real treat to watch!"

Song Yuan smiled awkwardly, "I know that the Tang Kingdom's current status is almost entirely due to her contributions. What I just said was just a casual remark in a fit of anger. Given the Tang King's love for her, he wouldn't divorce her even if he divorced me! Well, enough small talk, I can't make it in the Tang Kingdom anymore. I'd like to seek a position with Lord Cao. Could you two recommend me?"

Xun Yu said, "My lord is eager to seek talented people. Mr. Song is willing to serve, so we welcome him. However, you should also know that Tang is currently at war with Yan, and Cao Gong is an ally of Yan. During this special period, we must be cautious. If you want to gain Cao Gong's trust, you must show some sincerity in surrendering."

After all, he had served as an official in the enemy country, and everyone happened to be talking about the internal traitor yesterday. Xun Yu couldn't help but suspect that this was an undercover agent sent by the Tang Dynasty.

"This is a must!" Song Yuan said with an expression that said, "I understand." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is a three-bow crossbow, unique to our Tang Empire. I saw it once before on the top of Loufan City and drew this from memory."

Yesterday he was regretting that he couldn't get the sample of the bed crossbow, but today someone sent him the blueprint. Xun Yu was overjoyed, stood up suddenly, walked over and took the blueprint and looked at it carefully. He saw that the crossbow was equipped with three bows, two upright and one reversed. It was indeed a brilliant idea!

Song Yuan explained, "There may be some mistakes in the painting, but the general structure should be correct. Minister Xun can find a craftsman to study and adjust it according to this, and it should be possible to make it."

"Good! Good! Excellent! Excellent!" Xun Yu grinned, "Mr. Song has made great contributions to the Han Dynasty. I will take you to see Lord Cao and the Emperor today!"

"No hurry!" Song Yuan said calmly with a smug look on his face, "I also brought a piece of news that may be helpful to Lord Cao."

"Sir, you are truly my lord's lucky star!" Xun Yu's face was full of smiles.

As long as it is news about the Tang Dynasty, no matter what it is, it is useful to Cao Cao now.

Song Yuan said, "Before I came down here, I heard that the Zhen family originally wanted to marry the Fifth Lady to the King of Tang as a concubine."

"Is there such a thing?" Guo Jia looked surprised. "Hasn't the Zhen family already married into the Wang family?"

The implication is that the two families are already relatives, so is there any need to become relatives again?

Song Yuan said, "I heard that when the fifth lady was young, a fortune teller read her fortune and said she would become extremely noble in the future. Since the Tang King defeated Yuan Benchu ​​and occupied Jizhou, the Zhen family has defected to the Tang King. I guess they think the Tang King will conquer the world in the future, so they are determined to marry him. When his fourth lady got married, the Zhen family sent the fifth lady to Bingzhou as well. However, the princess is jealous and refused to agree to the king taking a concubine."

Xun Yu's smile faded, and he pressed on, "When did the Zhen family propose marriage? Was it before the Tang Dynasty began collecting grain and fodder from the people?"

"How would I know? I only know that the princess went to inspect Shanzhou and didn't immediately issue an order to collect grain and fodder after returning. During this time, she might have been negotiating with the Zhen family about grain and fodder. The Zhen family might have used this to threaten the princess and force the king to marry the fifth lady. The princess probably disagreed."

After hearing this, Xun Yu and Guo Jia exchanged glances and suddenly understood something. Far from being traitors, the Zhen family, despite having offended the Tang King and his wife, would choose to completely surrender to Gongsun Zan in order to preserve their family's wealth. But if Gongsun Zan arrested the Zhen family...

Thinking of this, Xun Yu turned and walked out the door. He took two steps but suddenly stopped, looking hesitant. Song Yuan was a little puzzled and asked, "What's wrong with this?"

Xun Yu shook his head, but Guo Jia understood what he meant and said, "It's better not to wrongly accuse the Zhen family at this time."

Xun Yu nodded and simply took Song Yuan to see Cao Cao. After hearing the whole story, Cao Cao hesitated for a while, but finally sent someone to retrieve the messenger.

His first thought was the same as Xun Yu's, to make the best of a bad situation and let the Zhen family become enemies with both Yan and Tang at the same time, so that they would have no choice but to surrender to Yanzhou. However, in this situation, perhaps they might jump back to Lu Bu's side. To be on the safe side, it would be better to resolve the misunderstanding.

"Since it's not the Zhen family, then who could it be?" asked Cao Cao.

"I really have no clue about this. All those families that initially refused to surrender to Gongsun Bogui are possible. However, there are so many forces, big and small, that it is difficult to sort out." Xun Yu shook his head.

"Forget it! Let them fight it out!" Cao Cao sighed and asked Song Yuan, "Is the fate of the fifth lady of the Zhen family truly invaluable?"

Song Yuan said uncertainly, "I also heard it from others. Who knows whether it is true or not? If you want to confirm it, you can find the person who read her fortune and ask in detail."

"Is she in Jinyang now?"

Song Yuan replied, "She is at the Jinyang Wang family, but the Tang King refused to take her as a concubine. The Zhen family should take her away."

"Have the Zhen family send her to Yanzhou someday so I can see what kind of noble appearance she has." Cao Cao asked again, "Does the Princess of Tang really forbid Lü Bu from getting close to any woman?"

He knew that the woman was different from others, but in this era of male dominance, it was difficult for Cao Cao to understand her "unreasonable" request to Lu Bu.

Song Yuan had experienced this firsthand. He nodded confidently, "That day, I sent him a stunning beauty, and she had even taken off her clothes. Any man would have been unable to resist. But the moment the King of Tang entered, he had the woman thrown out. He even replaced the bathtub she had been in. This shows just how henpecked he is."

Cao Cao frowned and pondered for a moment, then asked, "What would Princess Tang do if Lu Bu really slept with another woman?"

Song Yuan shook his head. "I don't know much about her character, so I don't know. But apart from not allowing concubines, judging from the various policies implemented by the Tang Dynasty, she is actually quite generous and open-minded."

Cao Cao looked at Xun Yu and Guo Jia and said with a smile, "Why not give it a try?"

Guo Jia understood that Cao Cao wanted to drive a wedge between Lü Bu and his wife, so he said, "According to Mr. Song, Lü Bu won't be affected unless he's given medicine. And if you want to use medicine on Lü Bu, the chances are as slim as assassinating him!"

Cao Cao said, "Make a note of this and try it out when the opportunity arises. If it works, it might give us an unexpected surprise!"