Chapter 2986

Chapter 1499: The Different Goddess of the Luo River, Zhen Ji

Although Zu An, with the help of his uncle’s reputation and the introductions of the Lu family and Ju Jun, successfully entered the circle of Hebei’s gentry,

after some interaction, he found that while these gentry were friendly and willing to offer some assistance, it was far from enough to meet his needs.

He could guess their intentions: making friends and building good relationships was fine, but risking their lives to stand by him was absolutely out of the question.

Although he had some reputation, everyone knew that he had been exiled to Hebei after his defeat in the struggle in Luoyang.

The Ju family, on whom he had placed high hopes, was the same. Even though Ju Jun supported him, and many members of the Guangping Ju clan were somewhat tempted, they were rejected by the current head of the family, Ju Shou.

Ju Shou was now Han Fu’s cavalry commander, loyal to his lord and unwilling to switch sides. The fact that

they hadn’t sent troops to arrest him was already out of consideration for Ju Jun.

This wasn’t unexpected for Zu An. A renowned loyal minister like Ju Shou wouldn’t have left such a great reputation in history if he surrendered so easily.

However, the trip wasn’t entirely fruitless. He learned that Tian Feng, due to his upright character, was disliked by Han Fu, who then casually assigned him a minor official position.

Tian Feng declined the offer and went home to live in seclusion.

Zu An was overjoyed. Tian Feng not only came from the Julu Tian clan but was also a man of great talent, historically Yuan Shao’s foremost strategist, also known for his loyalty and fortitude. He had originally thought such a person would be difficult to recruit, but he never expected Han Fu to be so ungrateful, letting such a talent remain unappreciated.

Therefore, he prepared several cartloads of wealth and treasures and sincerely visited Tian Feng to invite him to serve.

Initially, Tian Feng was unwilling to deal with him, either closing his doors to visitors or going out to travel and avoid him.

Zu An didn’t take it to heart. These strategists all followed the “three visits to the thatched cottage” routine. Ultimately, it served two purposes: first, to test the future lord’s character; and second, to exploit human nature—the easier something is to obtain, the less valued it is; the more difficult it is to obtain, the more precious it becomes.

This way, his words would carry significantly more weight in the future.

He naturally gave him ample face, always maintaining a humble attitude. Yun Jianyue, however, was furious, threatening to tear down the Tian family’s house. But this

only made Zu An’s humility stand out even more. In the end, Tian Feng was moved by his sincerity and agreed to come out of seclusion.

However, when Zu An saw the man, he almost lost his composure. The man was tall and imposing, with a dignified appearance, undoubtedly possessing the demeanor of a top-tier scholar.

Yet, Zu An sensed the aura of the God of Wisdom within him; clearly, the man was an avatar of the true God of Wisdom.

Recalling it, it wasn’t so surprising. The true God of Wisdom had already incarnated in countless forms to explore all possibilities.

Tian Feng smiled knowingly. “My lord, there’s no need to worry. The top strategists in each state are all fairly similar in intelligence; their abilities are not differentiated, only in terms of resources and timing.”

Zu An chuckled. This wasn’t a game of Romance of the Three Kingdoms; why would he complain about Zu An’s intelligence being only 93?

After exchanging pleasantries, they quickly got down to business, and Zu An frankly admitted his current predicament.

Tian Feng said in a deep voice, “Ju Shou’s matter is easy to handle, but the key lies with the other aristocratic families. Everyone has to give face to Lord Lu, but to bind them all to my lord’s cause, we need to conduct more careful investigations. All of this takes time.”

“Unfortunately, what I lack most right now is time.” Zu An knew this, of course, but Han Fu was currently mobilizing troops, and Gongsun Zan was sharpening his knives; he had no time for cowardly development.

“Actually, to gain their loyalty in a short time, all you need is the approval of one key family,” Tian Feng concluded.

Zu An was taken aback: “Which family has such power? The Ju family of Guangping, the Cui family of Qinghe, the Cui family of Boling, the Wang family of Taiyuan, or the Shen family of Weijun?”

He named several families in a row, and Tian Feng shook his head slightly: “The Ju family of Guangping has already had a small portion of them pledge allegiance to you, but unfortunately, they can’t influence the other families; the Cui brothers of the Cui family of Qinghe, Cui Yan and Cui Lin, have been observing from the sidelines and won’t easily place their bets; the Cui family of Boling, Cui Zhouping and his son, bet on Yuan Shao early on, but unfortunately, Yuan Shao has just been defeated and killed, and they have suffered heavy losses; the Wang family of Taiyuan is powerful, but they mainly focus their efforts in the capital, and you’ve met Wang Situ and Diao Chan; the Shen family of Weijun, although Shen Pei is a genius, the Shen family and the Tian family of Julu are only on par, and it’s difficult for them to influence the other families.”

“Yuan Hao, stop beating around the bush.” Zu An was a little annoyed. Is this how all strategists talk?

Tian Feng smiled: “The key lies with the Zhen family of Zhongshan. If you can gain their support, other powerful families will naturally side with you.”

Zu An was taken aback: “The Zhen family of Zhongshan is famous, but they’re not considered a top-tier family, are they? How can they have such a large influence?”

The Zhen family’s ancestors were indeed once wealthy. Their ancestor, Zhen Han, was the Grand Protector and Grand Marshal during the late Western Han Dynasty, and was enfeoffed as the Duke of Chengxin. Family members held hereditary official positions of “two thousand shi” for a long time, all at the level of prefects. However, in recent generations, they had declined somewhat, and hadn’t produced any high-ranking officials for a long time, at most only some at the county level.

The most famous member of the entire Zhen family should be Zhen Ji, but considering the timeline, she should still be young, or perhaps not even born yet.

“The Zhen family in history was just a second or third-tier aristocratic family, but the Zhen family in this world is different,” Tian Feng said, his expression also somewhat shocked. “I only learned about the Zhen family’s extraordinary nature after coming to this world for a while. While the Zhen family doesn’t hold any high-ranking official positions, they have accumulated a vast amount of wealth, even comparable to the combined wealth of the other major families in Hebei.”

Zu An was surprised: “How is that possible?”

This isn’t the commercial era of later generations. In this world, wealth is often linked to power. The greater the power, the more wealth one accumulates; conversely, a small act of arbitrariness by someone in power can easily benefit someone else’s fortune.

“Because the Zhen family produced a remarkably talented young lady in their early years. She was extremely skilled in business. The Zhen family had already accumulated considerable wealth over generations, and on that foundation, she transformed the family into a behemoth in just a few years. Many of the major families in Hebei today have benefited greatly from her influence,” Tian Feng replied.

“What’s her name?” Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be…?

“Just as you think, she is Zhen Mi, also known as Zhen Ji in history,” Tian Feng replied with a smile.

“This Zhen Ji is completely unfamiliar to me,” Zu An said with a strange expression. “How come she was born so far ahead of schedule?”

“Because of our arrival, the timeline of this world was already disrupted. Although it’s generally similar to history, there have been many unexpected events, as you should have noticed these days,” Tian Feng explained.

Zu An nodded, indeed noticing that some characters’ ages didn’t match up, but Zhen Ji’s was far too far off.

“Since she’s so powerful, why have I never heard of her before, and there’s been no word about her in Luoyang?” Zu An was curious; the Zhen family was being far too low-key these days.

“Because Miss Zhen later contracted a strange illness.”

“A strange illness?”

“She would fall into a deep sleep every now and then. At first, it was only for a few days, then months, then years, and after her last deep sleep, she never woke up again.”

“Dead?” Zu An was shocked.

Tian Feng shook his head slightly: “No, she’s not. She’s fallen into a state of slumber, neither alive nor dead. After contracting this strange illness, she began making ‘aftercare’ arrangements. The Zhen family gradually became low-key, unknown to the world. Even with my supernatural abilities, it took me many years to detect the anomalies and investigate extensively before I understood the Zhen family’s influence.”

“That Miss Zhen is so extraordinary; she’s probably not from this world.”

“Indeed, I sensed a certain divinity in her. She should also be one of the first true gods.”

“Do you have a portrait of her?” Zu An hurriedly asked.

Tian Feng waved his hand, and an image appeared in mid-air. In

an ice coffin lay a stunningly beautiful woman, with snow-white skin, red lips, and exquisitely beautiful features. Her long, flowing black hair cascaded down her back, and a white dress fluttered in the breeze. A pale blue ribbon lightly bound her slender waist, making her appear like an ethereal fairy from the clouds.

Zu An was startled and immediately recognized the woman: “Chu Yan!”