Zhou Yuanfu was completely desperate. He originally wanted to help Cai Yong and his daughter escape from their shells, but now it seemed that Zhang Jiao had guessed what he was thinking.
After a quick lunch, Zhou Yuanfu went to see Cai Yong. Xu Yuanzhi wanted to follow him when he heard about it, but Pei Yuanshao had no choice but to lead his troops to patrol the city alone.
Cai Yong was anxiously waiting here, while Zhou Yuanfu explained the matter hesitantly.
"Don't even think about it! Even if we die in the city, we will not do such a conciliatory thing. It is simply unreasonable!"
Zhou Yuanfu did not expect Cai Yong to be so fierce, and he was in a stalemate for a while.
"Uncle Cai can pretend to persuade you to surrender. If you fail to persuade him to surrender, I will think of other ways and delay it for a few days."
"Thank you, General Zhou, for your kindness. I can't bear it. It is a great evil to persuade people to become thieves. I will never do anything that goes against morality!"
Zhou Yuanfu suddenly had an idea and said, "If it doesn't violate morality, can Mr. Cai help?"
"What's the matter?" Cai Yong was already a little hostile.
"The massacre of the city has spread a lot. Can Mr. Cai go outside the city to persuade the officers and soldiers to give up this idea? In this way, the people of the city can be saved."
Cai Yong's expression softened after hearing this.
"By the way, bring me a letter to Guan Yu."
"What letter? Are you still stubborn and want me to be the messenger?"
Xu Yuan heard Cai Yong keep talking about thieves, and he couldn't hold back his anger for a long time.
"My brother is kind enough to save you, but you won't even bring a letter?"
Zhou Yuanfu quickly smoothed things over and said, "It's just a letter of greetings. I can't write, so I have to ask Miss Cai to help me write it."
Cai Yong felt relieved and was about to call Cai Zhenji to come over when he suddenly heard the tinkling sound of the piano, which was very sweet.
Zhou Yuanfu felt his mind sway when he heard this, and asked casually: "Is this the Jiaowei Qin?"
Cai Yong was surprised and said: "I have only had this Qin for more than a year. Usually we, my father and my daughter, call it Jiaowei Qin. How did you know about it?"
Zhou Yuanfu argued: "I heard it from businessmen who came and went, so I kept it in mind."
Cai Yong looked suspicious.
"I just don't know why it's called Jiaoweiqin. I'm lucky enough to meet it today. Can you take a look?"
"If that's the case, then please come and take a look."
Several people walked into the room. Cai Zhenji was playing. The melodious sound was intoxicating. The few people did not interrupt but just stood aside and listened carefully.
After playing the song, Xu Yuanzhi was so happy that he scratched his head and ears. He didn't know how to describe his feelings, so he just clapped his hands and applauded.
Zhou Yuanfu said loudly: "The piano is played in a mixed manner, big and small beads fall on the jade plate. It is really a good piano, and the girl can play the piano well."
Cai Zhenji blushed for a while and hurriedly stood up to return the greeting.
Cai Yong was very happy, "General Zhou's praise is very appropriate. He is indeed a person who knows how to play the piano."
Xu Yuanzhi saw that his elder brother was in the limelight, so he joked: "My brother praised the piano and praised Miss Zhenji for playing well, so which one is better?"
"Of course, both are good. If you insist on distinguishing between superior and inferior, there is a poem that says it well: If there is sound on the piano, why not put it in the box? If the sound is on your fingers, why not listen to it on your fingers?
.The third brother said which one is better, the piano or the playing?"
Cai Wenji said: "Brother Black Face is very talented. The four lines of the poem you just mentioned are very interesting. Did you write it yourself?"
Zhou Yuanfu waved his hand and said casually: "No, no, I remembered it from "The Collected Poems of Su Shi"."
""The Collected Poems of Su Shi"? Why haven't I read it? Can you lend it to me?"
It turns out that Cai Wenji was a bookworm. She would borrow and read the original copies of famous authors, and she had a photographic memory that she would not forget for many years. Therefore, many orphan classics also benefited from Cai Wenji and were circulated.
Zhou Yuanfu was in trouble, and Cai Yong thought he didn't want to borrow it.
"I believe that "Su Shi's Collected Poems" must be very rare. Since General Zhou doesn't want to borrow it, Wenji should not embarrass General Zhou."
Cai Yong is also a bookworm, so he naturally wants to borrow it to read, so this sentence is very euphemistic. It would be stingy for Zhou Yuanfu not to borrow it.
"It's not that I don't want to borrow it. This book has been burned in the fire. Alas, what a pity."
When Cai Yong and Cai Wenji heard this, they both shook their heads.
"Brother Black Face must still remember some of it, right? Can you give me some excerpts for my little sister? Please."
Cai Wenji is quite charming and naive, her eyes full of expectation as she speaks.
Zhou Yuanfu almost felt soft-hearted, but when he thought about his current situation, he had no time to do such romantic things, so he declined and said: "I have disappointed Sister Wen Ji. I am stupid and really can't remember anything else."
"Wen Ji, don't force yourself to do anything difficult. General Zhou, please come over and take a look at this Jiaowei Qin."
The entire piano was covered in tung paint and was dark and shiny. As expected, there were traces of fire damage at the end of the piano that could still be identified.
So Zhou Yuanfu asked with great interest: "How did Mr. Cai get this piano?"
"After Tian'en granted me amnesty, I wandered around the world. One day, I traveled to Wudi and stayed at a farmhouse. During dinner, his wife was lighting a fire. I heard a crackling sound in the fire, and the sound was sonorous. I suspected that it was a piece of cake.
Good material for the piano. I ran over and saw that it was indeed a rare top-grade sycamore tree, but it was burnt."
"I heard from farmers that this sycamore tree grows on the mountain peaks and absorbs the essence of the sun and the moon. For many years, it makes a melodious sound when it is cut down. However, the sycamore tree is too soft to be used as roof beams, so it is used as firewood. Alas,
It's a pity that such a high-quality sycamore tree is used as fuel for stoves because people don't know how precious it is."
After telling the whole story, Cai Yong's words were very meaningful and he looked at Zhou Yuanfu with burning eyes.
"This Qin is just like General Zhou. He was a talented person, but...he was buried here!"
Zhou Yuanfu thought to himself, you might as well say to me, 'How can a beautiful lady like you be a thief?'
Xu Yuanzhi also heard the rebellion in Cai Yong's words and was about to reprimand him.
Zhou Yuanfu saw that Xu Yuanzhi was about to have another attack, so he quickly interrupted: "Old man Cai is serious. I am not a talented person. I am just a fool. I have to hire someone to write my letter."
Cai Yong said again: "With Yuan Fu's great talent, why should someone else do the writing for a letter?"
Zhou Yuanfu smiled bitterly and said: "I am just a rough reader, and the words I write are simply not worth mentioning."
Cai Yong knew that he had difficulties in his heart, so he stopped being embarrassed and asked Cai Zhenji to prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone.
After finishing preparations, Xu Yuanzhi stepped forward and touched the light jute paper spread on the table.
"Is this Cai Hou Zhi? I've heard people talk about it before, but I didn't expect to see it here."
Cai Yong stroked his beard and smiled, "This piece of paper is indeed hard-earned, but General Zhou is our savior, so this piece of paper is nothing."
Zhou Yuanfu also stepped forward and touched it, secretly thinking that this kind of rough hemp paper was no better than the toilet paper used to visit graves. It was really ridiculous that these people still regarded it as a treasure.
Zhou Yuanfu dictated it and Cai Zhenji wrote it in one stroke. The content of the letter is:
General Guan Yu, my brother of Changsheng, you and I are fellow countrymen. I saw the general's style on the battlefield recently and admired him very much, so we made an appointment to meet. When we meet on the battlefield in the future, please show mercy to the general and show our friendship with fellow countrymen. My brother Huangjin General Zhou Yuanfu respectfully
.
Seeing Cai Zhenji's beautiful handwriting, Zhou Yuanfu couldn't help but praise: "Miss Zhenji has a beautiful heart, and her handwriting is very beautiful. It is true that the words are like the person, no, the person is more beautiful than the words."
When Cai Zhenji heard this, her face turned red with embarrassment. People in ancient times usually did not praise people so directly. This was considered flirting.
Cai Yong only cared about the content of the letter, but did not pay attention to what Zhou Yuanfu said. Although Zhou Yuanfu's letter was vague, it also had the intention of soliciting Guan Yu. If he sent the letter, wouldn't he be helping Zhou Yuanfu's evil?