Chapter 84: Withdrawal from Handan (2)

  As he walked, he thought to himself, and before he knew it, Gao Yuan had already returned to his own mansion. At this time, Geng Zhong and others were waiting for him at the door because they all knew that Gao Yuan had taken troops to protect Li Mu into the palace early in the morning, saying that if things went wrong, they might have even killed their way into the palace. This was no trivial matter, so everyone was sweating with anxiety, not even having time to eat lunch.

  Fortunately, they never fought, and Gao Yuan is back, so everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but also wanted to know what happened today. So everyone's eyes fell on Geng Zhong, although Gao Yuan had only been living in the mansion for less than three months, Geng Zhong had already gained his trust, now he was the only one qualified to ask Gao Yuan questions.

  Geng Zhong took a step forward, just about to speak, when Gao Yuan asked: "Uncle Zhong, has the noon meal at the mansion started yet?"

  It's almost two o'clock in the afternoon now, and by rights they should have finished lunch long ago. Gao Yuan only asked casually, but Geng Zhong replied: "Reporting to Your Excellency, we are waiting for your return and haven't had lunch yet."

  "Alright, everyone go have lunch. After you're done, gather in the main hall. I have something to say. Have my lunch sent to my quarters and have Yan Yu accompany me while I eat."

  Geng Zhong nodded and said: "Yes, sir, please rest in the inner hall first, lunch will be sent over immediately."

  Gao Yuan had arrived at the inner chamber, where Geng Yan Yu was busy collating and copying various books. Although Gao Yuan had only stayed in Handan for more than three months, he had purchased a large number of books and borrowed many from Li Mu, totaling over a hundred volumes.

  Among them, nearly half are military books, including more than a dozen that have been lost in later generations, such as the famous "Simafa", which originally had 20 volumes and 155 articles, but only three volumes and five articles were passed down to later generations. Similarly, there is also "Wuqibingfa", which has only six articles handed down to later generations, but actually has 48 articles. However, in this era, these military books can be collected in their entirety. As for the others, they are all works of various schools, and among them, there are also rare books and incomplete works that have been passed down to later generations.

  So Plateau sometimes also has a sudden idea, if he brings all these books back to modern society, what kind of sensation will it cause.

  However, before the invention of papermaking, over a hundred books were not a big deal, and they could all be packed in a large trunk, weighing no more than a few hundred kilograms. But in this era, all books were bamboo slips, and over a hundred books would fill up a small study room, with a weight that might reach several thousand kilograms, and it would take two or three carts to move them. Therefore, later generations left behind the idiom "sweating cows filling the house", which means that the books of this era were extremely heavy, very difficult to transport, and could exhaust a cow to death.

  Because these books were all handwritten, it was inevitable that there would be some misidentifications, and a portion of them were borrowed. Therefore, the task of organizing these books naturally fell on Geng Yan's shoulders, especially for the borrowed books, which needed to be copied by hand. The books that were worth copying no longer used bamboo slips, but instead used silk to copy them. Writing books on silk was an extremely luxurious thing, as silk books at that time were equivalent to finely bound books.

  Jian saw the highland return and immediately stood up to welcome him, saying: "Husband, you're back."

  Gao Yuan nodded and said, "Have you finished copying all the books that were borrowed?"

  Geng Yan Yu said: "It has all been copied. Now I am copying other books."

  Gao Yuan squeezed her hand and said, "You've had a tough time lately."

  Geng Yan's face lit up with a smile and she said: "Serving the Heavenly Lord is my duty, where does the word 'hardship' come in?"

  Although Geng Yan Yu was only the concubine of Gao Yuan, since there was no wife in the manor yet, she became the mistress of the inner house. In these two months, Gao Yuan had been training troops outside the city almost every day and left all matters within the manor to Geng Yan Yu and Geng Zhong to handle. External affairs were managed by Geng Zhong and others, so Gao Yuan didn't need to worry about them. As the mistress of the inner house, Geng Yan Yu also managed the inner house in an orderly manner, allowing Gao Yuan to rest fully when he returned to the manor without worrying about trivial matters within the manor.

  Previously, Gao Yuan's feelings for Geng Yan Yu were mainly sympathy, and of course, he also admired her beauty. However, after spending more than two months together, he discovered that Geng Yan Yu was not only beautiful but also knowledgeable, gentle, and considerate, with meticulous thoughts, and completely obedient to him, so Gao Yuan gradually developed some real affection for her.

  At this time, Geng Zhong had already ordered someone to bring lunch over. During their meal, Gao Yuan also told Geng Yan Yu about the events that occurred in the palace that morning and Li Mu's decision, including the formal engagement of Li Xing Hong.

  After listening to Gao Yuan's words, Geng Yan Yu was also greatly shocked. Li Xuan Hong's engagement to her was not unexpected, after all, this was a matter of time, and Li Xuan Hong had also acknowledged her position. However, she did not expect the situation to develop to this point. Although Gao Yuan did not attack the palace, Li Mu was assassinated and nearly lost his life. Even Li Mu was forced to leave Handan and go to Dai Prefecture to establish himself, and naturally, Gao Yuan would also follow Li Mu's actions. It can even be said that Li Mu's current situation was largely due to Gao Yuan's efforts.

  Gao Yuan said: "I have received the kindness of General, and he has also promised to marry me to Yinghong, so I must follow General, leave Handan together, and settle in Quyang. But after leaving Handan, the future is uncertain, it may be very dangerous, and life in Quyang will definitely not be as comfortable as Handan. So if you don't want to leave with me, I won't..."

  His words were not yet finished, when he was interrupted by Geng Yan Yu, saying: "Husband, I already belong to you, naturally I will follow you together, no matter what kind of hardships and difficulties we may face, I am willing to endure them all. I do not seek wealth and honor, but only ask that you let me stay by your side and serve you, that is enough for me. If you want me to leave you, unless the mountains collapse, the rivers dry up, thunder in winter, or snow in summer, please don't ask me such questions again."

  Gao Yuan gently pulled her into his arms and said, "Alright, I was wrong. From now on, I will never ask you such questions again."

  "Geng Yan Yu hastily said: 'It's there, I was wrong. Actually, husband is also considering me, I shouldn't speak to husband like that.'"

  Gao Yuan smiled and said, "How is it your fault? It was clearly me who said something I shouldn't have. Alright, since you're certain about leaving Handan with me, after dinner, start packing up your things and gathering your belongings. We'll be leaving early the day after tomorrow, especially these books, we need to bring them all along."

  "Yes, I will start packing immediately."

  After dinner, Gao Yuan went to the front hall. At this time, more than 40 middle and upper-level officials in the mansion had also gathered in the main hall. Gao Yuan briefly told everyone about what happened that morning, and everyone was shocked.

  Gao Yuan said, "After I withdrew from Handan with Wu An Jun, I was no longer a minister of Zhao State. It is even possible that I will be considered a rebel by Zhao State. Therefore, if there are people among you who do not want to leave with me, it is also reasonable. You can choose to stay or leave as you please."

  Geng Zhong was about to speak, but Gao Yuan waved his hand and stopped him, saying: "I don't need you to express your opinions now. Those who want to leave don't need to bid farewell to me, just go to the accounting room to find Mr. Han Sheng to receive five taels of gold, and then you can leave. However, you must leave today, and tomorrow morning, those who stay will gather here, and I will assign tasks to you." He turned to Han Sheng and said: "Mr. Han, if someone comes to the accounting room to receive gold, you must distribute it to them as is, but do not allow any abusive language, understand?"

  Han Sheng hastily replied: "I understand, sir."

  Gao Yuan nodded and said, "Alright, it's settled then."

  Now in the mansion on the plateau, Yan Zhong, Han Sheng, Guo Chen and Yao Shaosi were originally Li Mu's door guests. Their loyalty can be guaranteed, of course. As for the special identities of Zhong Sunqi, Wu Zhanpeng, Wu Honglian and others, their stay or leave needs to be consulted with Wu Lie, and does not need to be handled by Gao Yuan originally.

  The method of the high-ranking officials is mainly aimed at the family members of this mansion in the past. In fact, in this era, the vast majority of family members are the vassals of the master, and their status is not much better than that of slaves. They basically listen to the master, even if the master asks them to go to death, they can only obey. Moreover, family members are also required to have absolute loyalty to the master. Therefore, when a high-ranking official wants to rebel, he usually uses his own family members.

  But the plateau's ideas are different from this era, and he has only been in charge of the mansion for less than three months. He doesn't have a deep emotional connection with these people, so it's hard to say if they're all willing to follow him on an adventure. If their hearts aren't aligned, even if they're forced to follow him now, who knows when they'll find an opportunity to escape? The impact would be even greater then. Therefore, the plateau decides to let each person choose for themselves: those who want to follow him can stay, and those who want to leave will be given a withdrawal fee, allowing them to leave on their own.

  Although the number of people will decrease, the benefits are that everyone is united and the strength is even stronger. Moreover, those who stay can prove to be trustworthy, and in the future, they can be entrusted with important tasks. However, Gao Yuan also knows that some people may not want to lose face, so he lets them leave without having to bid farewell, and tells Han Sheng not to speak ill of these people.

  Gao Yuan had just left the main hall when Geng Zhong immediately followed him and said: "Sir."

  Gao Yuan stopped in his tracks and said, "Zhong Shu, what's going on?"

  Geng Zhong said, "I am willing to follow you, sir, until death. I only ask that in the future, you will treat Miss kindly." Although everyone in the mansion now respectfully addressed Geng Yan as Mrs., Geng Zhong still called her Miss. Neither Gaoyuan nor Geng Yan had asked him to change his address. Moreover, Geng Yan always respectfully addressed Geng Zhong as Uncle Zhong, and even Gaoyuan followed suit.

  Gao Yuan nodded, although he also knew that Geng Zhong was willing to follow him largely because of his relationship with Geng Yan Yu. However, it also proved Geng Zhong's loyalty, which was indeed rare. It seemed that this old man could be trusted in the future, so he nodded and said: "Don't worry, I will definitely treat Yan Yu well from now on. If you want to follow us and leave together, then hurry up and pack your things, prepare your luggage, and take care of the aftermath at the mansion. Tomorrow's events will be numerous."