CHAPTER 1460: CHAPTER 1408: THE TERRIFYING WEB OF CONNECTIONS

"Sorry for the wait, I had some discussions with the clan elder." Chen Xi greeted the waiting group.

"Elder Chen had matters to discuss with Marquis Chen, so it’s only right that we wait a while." Chen Liang said with a smile. As for those from the Xun Family and Fan Family, they were all of the same generation, and in such matters, there was nothing much they could say.

Chen Xi cupped his hands and smiled wryly, indicating his apologies for his rudeness. Seeing this, the others had nothing more to add, and so followed Chen Xi to the Yangzhai Government Office.

Midway, Butler Chen escorted Chen Xi’s family back to the original Chen Family residence. Looking at the once modest household, both Fan Jian and Chen Lan, as well as Zhen Mi who was visiting for the first time, felt quite nostalgic. Chen Xi had lived here for more than ten years back then.

"It seems like people regularly come to clean, but the arrangements haven’t changed at all." Chen Lan said, looking at the clean floor and the barely noticeable scent in the air, indicating that it hadn’t been hastily cleaned before their arrival.

"It feels so small." Zhen Mi said resignedly after looking around for a long time.

"Yes, it didn’t feel like it back then, but now it really does seem small." Fan Jian agreed, brushing her hair, nodding in affirmation, while Chen Lan remained silent.

"This was the study where my husband taught me to read." Chen Lan slowly opened the study door, where there was only a small desk and a sitting mat, and the books on the shelves were still curled up as they were.

"But back then, there weren’t many books, and when we left, my husband didn’t bring these books with him." Chen Lan picked up a scroll and slowly unrolled it. Memories of Chen Xi holding her while reading, tricking her that it was about to rain, vividly flashed before her eyes, as if it were yesterday.

"How lovely." Zhen Mi said with a hint of envy.

Fan Jian could only recall Chen Xi’s image at twelve or thirteen years old, but soon after, Chen Xi had transformed remarkably, shedding his youthful immaturity for a confidence that dominated the world.

"But my husband was very interesting, always telling me stories when teaching me, though I’ve forgotten many of them." Chen Lan said with a slight awkwardness, "Later my husband got very busy."

How wonderful, Zhen Mi glanced at Chen Lan and suddenly realized that neither she nor Fan Jian had as many shared memories as Chen Lan did.

"And you, Sister Jian’er?" Zhen Mi asked, smoothing her hair.

Fan Jian was silent for a moment, suddenly realizing that during those three years, her opportunities to meet Chen Xi were few and far between, and she couldn’t help but look at the bracelet on Chen Lan’s wrist, where within the red jade, Chen Xi’s name faintly appeared.

"When husband was in mourning for three years, I also had few chances to interact with him." Fan Jian said calmly, without any intention of hiding.

"Was life very hard back then?" Zhen Mi asked, puzzled. Even in the worst times, the Zhen Family hadn’t suffered as much, except during the time when Chen Xi entered Jizhou to quell a region.

"Yes." Chen Lan nodded lightly, saying nothing more. Back then, in the vast old Chen Family mansion, only she and Chen Bo accompanied the family head. Perhaps the maids and servants who left the Chen Family at the time regretted it deeply.

This is also probably why Chen Xi now doesn’t pay much attention to maids at home. As for Chen Yun and Chen Ying, one took on the tasks Chen Lan used to do, and the other looked after Chen Xi’s meals. As for other maids, Chen Xi probably just knows their names.

Elsewhere, Chen Xi and Hua Xiong did not decline the wine banquet prepared by the Governor of Yangdi. After dusk arose, the representatives of the various great aristocratic families gradually began to attend the banquet.

It was also then that Chen Xi saw the representatives from various Yingchuan families. Though these were not the family heads, they still held considerable influence in their main families.

If we considered familial ties, Chen Xi had connections with more than half of them. The Xun Family needs no further mention, as the Chen Family and the Xun Family didn’t have few intermarriages. The Zhong Family, for example, Chen Shi’s legal wife was Zhong Hao’s sister, and Zhong Hao’s great-grandson was Zhong Yao...

Incidentally, in terms of generational rank, Zhong Yao should actually call Chen Xi ’Uncle’, but Chen Shi and Zhong Hao were of different generations, and in this time, close allies often married off a sister or daughter to renew bonds. Like Zhuge Jin marrying off his daughter to a friend’s continued marriage.

In the beginning, Chen Xi was quite curious about what to call a daughter married into a main wife’s position, but after seeing it once, he didn’t have any more questions.

Usually in private, each called the other whatever, but in formal occasions like grand assemblies or sacrifices, it would be ’Lady Such-and-Such’ instead of calling her by her first name.

So, when looking out over the gathering, Chen Xi realized that, it seemed nearly half of them were within five generations of familial ties. The reason five generations are considered is because of traditions, like how Chen Xi is a branch of a branch of Yingchuan, meaning Chen Xi’s great-great-grandfather was once the family head.

However, the virtue of a nobleman dictates severing ties after five generations, making it quite distant. Though five generations ago, Chen Xi and Chen Qun shared a common ancestor, they essentially don’t know each other.

There’s also a saying that wealth brings distant relatives closer, and as Chen Xi rose, previously unknown relatives gradually became known, whether initiated by the other party or by Chen Xi himself; either way, now looking around, Chen Xi found that almost everyone was a relative.

This is the perplexing network of the aristocratic families, and now Chen Xi stands as a node within this network.

[More than half are relatives; previously, when they were not together, it didn’t seem like much, but now, sitting together, even counting the absent Sima family, over half of the renowned ministers of Cao Wei are related to me, but thinking it through, doesn’t this mean they are also related to Xun Yu?] Chen Xi thought silently while raising his cup in a long-distance toast.

[As a responsible monarch, once the worldly situation becomes clear, not eliminating potential hidden threats among subordinates is impossible. Xun Yu, the poor fellow, probably got caught in the crossfire because of this.] Chen Xi thought, smiling wryly while sipping his wine.

After all, even Chen Xi himself was somewhat shocked by this realization; if half of a dynasty’s strength is linked intricately to one’s most capable subordinate, even an emperor with remarkable courage would have to be wary.

Perhaps while the state of the world remained unclear and power was still needed, the other party would be tolerated, but once the situation became clear, any emperor would likely be intolerant.

[Thankfully, I pointed out the state of the world early on, and I have been guiding the aristocratic families down another path, while Lord Xuande’s ambitions are too grand for him to bear alone.] Chen Xi suddenly wore a smile, sometimes Liu Bei was indeed quite foolish.

In this chaotic world, always striving toward something unattainable but never crossing a moral line for personal ambitions, perhaps only Liu Bei was capable of that.