In August of the fifteenth year of Jianxing, news of the fall of Shangdang reached Xuchang, and Wei General Cao Shuang was furious.

On the grounds that Sun Li, the governor of Jizhou, failed to assist Shangdang, which led to the fall of Shangdang, Sun Li was dismissed from his official position and demoted to a commoner.

Then Cao Shuang wanted to let Huan Fan, a fellow countryman, take over as the governor of Jizhou.

Moreover, Huan Fan had a violent temperament. Although he was talented, he often relied on his talents to dominate others.

After the Xiahou clan was jealous of Cao Rui, Xiahou Mao was recalled to Luoyang by Cao Rui. Huan Fan, as the general of Zhenglu and the general of Dongzhonglang, envoy Chijie to succeed Xiahou Mao as the governor of Qing and Xu Zhujun.

During his tenure, he had a housing dispute with Zou Qi, the governor of Xuzhou, and he tried to use his power to kill Zheng Qi.

Huan Fan learned that Cao Shuang intended to appoint him as the governor of Jizhou instead of the shepherd of Jizhou...

The former Jizhou Mu Lu Zhao was the general of Zhenbei, but he did not even have a general title.

Huanfan thought he had been insulted and said to his wife Zhongchang:

"I would rather serve as the ninth minister in the court and kneel to the three princes than to serve under Lu Zizhan (i.e. Lu Zhao)."

Lü Zhao, the shepherd of Jizhou before Sun Li, became an official after Huan Fan, and Huan Fan considered himself to be more talented than Lü Zhao.

Now Cao Shuang asked him to serve in Jizhou, but the official position was not even comparable to that of Lu Zhao. How could he be convinced?

Huanfan's wife Zhongchang was very knowledgeable and advised him:

"In front of you, you are in charge of the military affairs of Qing and Xuzhou in the east. They want to kill the governor of Xuzhou, but everyone thinks it is difficult for you to do it."

"The general now regards you as a fellow countryman, so he appointed you as the governor of Jizhou. He actually believes in you. But you are ashamed to be subordinate to the general of Zhenbei, so it is difficult for you to do it."

"If you make things difficult for everyone above and below you, who will be willing to be your colleague in the future?"

Huan Fan was originally complaining to his wife, but he never thought that his wife would actually say these words, which directly touched his sore spot.

Huan Fan, who had a violent personality, became angry and cursed on the spot:

"You are just a woman, what do you know?"

After scolding him, he was still not relieved, so he turned around and took off the saber hanging on the wall, took the knife with his backhand, and hit Zhong Changshi in the abdomen with the handle of the knife.

Zhong Chang didn't expect that Huan Fan would hit him as soon as he said so.

Unprepared for a moment, he was hit in the abdomen by the handle of the knife on the spot.

She only heard a scream and was knocked to the ground.

At the same time, he covered his abdomen with his hands, and his face suddenly turned pale.

Huan Fan originally wanted to hit her a second time, but seeing her like this, he couldn't do it again, so he snorted, turned around and left.

Mrs. Zhong Chang stretched out her hand to stop Huan Fan. She opened her mouth, but her strength seemed to be exhausted, and in the end she couldn't make a sound.

It was not until Huan Fan left that the servant girl dared to come over and help the mistress.

"Madam, you are bleeding!"

The servant who helped Fan's wife up saw blood oozing out of her mistress' lower skirt and couldn't help but exclaimed.

Fan's wife covered her abdomen and said weakly:

"Quickly, call the doctor..."

Before he could finish speaking, he fainted.

It turned out that Fan's wife was pregnant. Huan Fan's blow not only caused her to have an abortion, but also caused bleeding.

Within two days, Fan's wife collapsed and died.

Huanfan refused to go to Jizhou to take office on the pretext of dealing with the funeral of his late wife.

After Xu Yun, Cao Lang, who was chosen by the minister, learned about this, he went to persuade Cao Shuang:

"Huan Yuanze (i.e. Huan Fan) became an official before Lu Zizhan (i.e. the former Jizhou Mu Lu Zhao), and his talents far exceeded Lu Zizhan. Lu Zizhan served as the Jizhou Mu as the general of Zhenbei."

"But the general asked Huan Yuan to serve as the governor of Jizhou after Lu Zizhan, without the title of general."

"The general's move is nothing more than telling the world that in the eyes of the general, Huan Yuan is far inferior to Lu Zizhan. This is not the way to employ people."

This was the time for Cao Shuang to win over people's hearts. Xu Yun was from the Xu family in Jizhou, and was on par with the Cui family in Qinghe.

Huan Fan, on the other hand, was born in the Huan clan of Longkang, Qiao County, and was also from a local wealthy family.

Moreover, although Huan Fan was not as close to Cao Shuang as the Three Dogs in Taichung, as a fellow countryman of Cao Shuang, he was also trusted by Cao Shuang.

By wooing Huan Fan, Cao Shuang was actually wooing the Huan family and consolidating his home territory.

This is why he wanted Huan Fan to go to Jizhou.

At this time, when Cao Shuang heard Xu Yun's words, he suddenly realized and asked:

"Huan Yuan has a great talent. I already knew it. I didn't expect him not to go to Jizhou. It turns out that there is another reason. So what should I do?"

"In the land of Hebei, the general of Zhenbei has always been appointed. Since Lu Zizhan has returned to the court, it is not easy to serve as the general of Zhenbei again. He can be given another position."

The implication is that at least Huan Fan cannot be allowed to succumb to Lu Zhao.

When Cao Shuang heard this, he nodded and said, "That makes sense."

So he re-started the emperor's campaign and asked Huan Fan to become the general of Zhenbei and lead the shepherd of Jizhou.

After Huan Fan was appointed, as Xu Yun expected, he set off for Jizhou to take office.

When Cao Shuang learned that Huan Fan had taken over the post of Jizhou Shepherd, he happily said to Xu Yun: "Everything is as you expected."

Xu Yun said modestly: "Yun just happens to know what Huan Yuanze is thinking."

Why does Xu Yun know Huan Fan’s thoughts?

It's just because Xu Huan and I have been close friends for a long time.

In his early years, Xu Yun married the daughter of Wei Wei Ruan Gong. After paying homage and entering the bridal chamber, Xu Yun discovered that Ruan's daughter was extremely ugly. He was so frightened that he ran out of the new house and did not dare to stay inside.

Everyone in the Xu family was deeply worried, but no matter how much they tried to persuade her, Xu Yun just refused to step into the new house.

Later, when Huan Fan came to visit, Ruan's daughter learned about it and said happily: "I don't have to worry about Mr. Huan coming to visit. He will definitely persuade A Lang to move into the new house."

After Huan Fan learned about Xu Yun's bride, he persuaded Xu Yun:

"The Ruan family is a well-established family after all. If you marry an ugly girl to a minister, there must be a reason for it, and you should investigate it."

Xu Yun listened to Huan Fan's words and entered the new house again that night.

But when he saw the bride's face, the courage he finally mustered up suddenly disappeared, and he wanted to run out again.

Ruan's daughter knew that if he was allowed to run out again, there would really be no chance for him to look back in this life.

So she quickly grabbed Xu Yun's clothes and prevented him from running out.

Xu Yun struggled for a long time but couldn't run, so he had to ask:

"A woman has four virtues (namely, a woman's virtue, a woman's speech, a woman's appearance, and a woman's merit). How many of them do you have?"

Ruan's daughter replied: "The bride lacks only grace. However, if a scholar has hundreds of things, how many do you have?"

Xu Yun thought to himself, "My reputation has spread to Jizhou since I was young. Don't you know that?"

So he replied: "I am ready for everything."

Ruan's daughter retorted eloquently: "My husband's first line of conduct is virtue. If you are lustful but not virtuous, what do you mean by having everything in place?"

Xu Yun, a well-known scholar, was speechless when asked by his bride.

Recalling the persuasion of his good friend Huan Fan, he immediately came to his senses and couldn't help but look at his gentleman with admiration.

So, I slept in the new house that night.

In his early years, Xu Yun served as a official in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. During this period, he recommended many fellow villagers as officials. Someone reported to Cao Rui that he was nepotistic, so Cao Rui sent Huben to arrest him.

When the matter was urgent, Ruan's daughter didn't even bother to put on shoes, she ran out barefoot and said to Xu Yun:

"The Lord of Ming can reason and argue, but it is difficult to ask for mercy."

Xu Yun nodded in understanding. After meeting Cao Rui, he calmly answered the emperor's question:

"I know my hometown best. Your Majesty, please send someone to check whether the school is competent. If it is not, I will be punished."

After Cao Rui inspected the school, he found that it was true, so he released it.

Seeing that Xu Yun's clothes were shabby again, he gave him new clothes.

After Xu Yun was taken away, everyone in the Xu family was wailing. Only Goddess Ruan remained calm and comforted everyone:

"Don't worry, Alang will be back home soon."

Then he cooked corn porridge himself.

After the porridge was cooked, Xu Yun returned to the house.

After this incident, Ruan's daughter completely won the respect of everyone in the Xu family.

Whenever Xu Yun was in doubt about something, he would discuss it with Ruan's daughter.

On this day, Ruan's daughter was very happy to see her husband coming back from duty, and she couldn't help but ask:

"Why is Alang so happy today?"
To be continued...