Originally, Jian Yong was supposed to travel from Jingzhou to Xuzhou by boat via the Yangtze River, but after Sun Ce mobilized his troops, Zhou Yu immediately blocked the entire Yangtze River route. The initial plan of passing through Yuzhou became impossible.

Moreover, since Huang Chengyan was related to Liu Biao by marriage, it would be difficult for the Huang family to leave once Liu Biao retook Jingbei. The alliance previously discussed with Yi Ji effectively became a dead letter, though Huang Xu had already been sent away in advance.

In the end, at Huang Yueying’s suggestion, the Huang family decided to take a land route through Wancheng to Yuzhou and then to Taishan. This route was much slower, which explained why Jian Yong, who had left for Jingzhou before the New Year, had not yet returned to Taishan.

When Jian Yong and the Huang family arrived in Yuzhou via Wancheng, Liu Bei and Yuan Shao were in the midst of dividing Yuzhou. Naturally, Jian Yong, returning from the south, received a warm welcome. After staying for several days in Jiyin, the Huang family split into two groups.

One group, the main body of the Huang family, headed directly to Taishan, while the other group, led by Jian Yong, included Huang Chengyan, Huang Yueying, and Jiang Wan. This second group was bound for Linyi because Guan Yu had mentioned that Zhuge Liang was also in Linyi.

These three were all exceptionally talented and had their own reasons for wanting to visit Linyi. Huang Chengyan’s intention was simple: he wanted to meet Chen Zichuan, who had not yet reached adulthood but had already joined Liu Bei and achieved great success in just a few years. Jiang Wan also wanted to meet Chen Xi, but his motive was to seek recognition for his talents and serve a worthy lord.

As for Huang Yueying, her reason was straightforward: she wanted to see what kind of person her fiancé, Zhuge Liang, was. Although she was destined to marry Zhuge Liang, Huang Yueying wanted to ensure that her future husband was a good match, even if her findings wouldn’t change the outcome.

Huang Yueying originally wasn’t allowed to go, but fortunately, Chen Xi had previously instructed Jian Yong to accommodate Miss Huang's requests as much as possible, as she was a crucial figure.

In this era, among the renowned women, Cai Zhaoji represented excellence in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and poetry; Wang Yi exemplified strategic and military prowess; and Huang Yueying was undoubtedly the master of mechanical engineering.

When giving Jian Yong instructions, Chen Xi had simply said that out of respect for Zhuge Liang, Huang Yueying should not be slighted. Any of her requests, whether reasonable or not, should be granted within their means.

Because of this, Huang Yueying was pleasantly surprised to find that things she couldn’t attempt at home were suddenly possible, thanks to the tall, thin, kindly-looking, and humorous elder who always made things happen.

When Huang Chengyan and his party arrived, Chen Xi was setting up camp on a site west of Linyi, backed by a hillside and near water. As Xu You had predicted, Chen Xi had no intention of engaging in battle at the new city of Linyi, as that would significantly slow its construction.

Instead, Chen Xi set up camp about ten miles from the new city. He believed that Yuan Shao's forces wouldn’t dare to attack the city, as doing so would invite a double-edged assault from within the city and his camp outside, likely leading to disaster for them. Although Zhang Yan and Wang Xiu weren't particularly strong in battle, defending with the aid of the city and external reinforcements would be easy.

"Kongming, your father-in-law has arrived. Go welcome him," Chen Xi said as he read the letter Jian Yong had delivered.

"Understood," Zhuge Liang replied with a joyful expression and quickly left.

"Is his wife coming too?" After watching Zhuge Liang leave, Fa Zheng turned to Chen Xi and asked.

"You guessed it," Chen Xi responded curiously.

"It’s only natural. What father-in-law visits a military camp just to see his son-in-law?" Fa Zheng smirked, then added with some gossip, "I wonder if Kongming’s wife is beautiful?"

"Have you seen Cai Zhaoji?" Chen Xi asked casually.

"Don’t tell me Kongming’s wife is that beautiful!" Gan Ning exclaimed, stunned. Cai Yan had played the qin for them during the New Year, so everyone had seen her. Her beauty wasn’t just in her looks; it was the aura formed by her experiences that made her so captivating.

"I was just saying," Chen Xi laughed as he noticed Fa Zheng’s eyes practically bulging out.

"I knew it…" Fa Zheng muttered, relaxing a bit.

"But she’s probably just a bit less beautiful than Cai Zhaoji and maybe even more so than the youngest daughter of the Mi family," Chen Xi added before Fa Zheng could finish his sentence.

"Marry a virtuous wife, take a beautiful concubine—hmph! Beauty isn’t everything. If you gave me the youngest daughter of the Mi family, I’d probably lose ten years of my life," Fa Zheng retorted, then shared an example.

Jiang Ying, Fa Zheng's wife, wasn’t particularly beautiful, especially compared to someone like Wang Yi. Therefore, at meals, Fa Zheng would always talk about how one should marry a virtuous wife, not a beautiful one, though it was true that his wife was indeed very virtuous.

"That may not be the case," Chen Xi chuckled.

Gan Ning, who was nearby, shook his head. If it weren’t for Cai Yan’s extremely special status, he might have wanted to court her. He didn’t care about superstitions like being cursed, but considering that Cai Yan was the last descendant of the Cai family, he decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. There were plenty of other beauties in the world.

As Zhuge Liang walked out, he noticed something odd. Although he hadn’t activated his spiritual talent, which usually made him less perceptive of other spiritual talents, he still couldn’t have made such a big mistake. What were these three presences that felt like spiritual talents but weren’t?

At first, Zhuge Liang thought he was confused and had misidentified the direction. But after confirming that the spiritual talents of Chen Xi, Fa Zheng, and Gan Ning were still present inside the main tent, and carefully verifying that these three strange presences were still there, he started to feel a sense of familiarity.

"Isn’t this the same feeling I got from Cai Zhaoji, something similar to a spiritual talent? I even tried copying it with my own spiritual talent," Zhuge Liang thought, finally remembering where he had encountered it before.

Back during the New Year, when Zhuge Liang had sensed something akin to a spiritual talent from Cai Yan, he impulsively decided to try activating it, figuring that with Liu Bei nearby, nothing would go too wrong.

After activating it, Zhuge Liang discovered that while he could indeed access this talent, he couldn’t actually use it. Cai Yan’s talent required the medium of music, and not just any music—it had to be on par with Cai Yan's skill level. That was a tall order indeed. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

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