Just like Zhou Gu, he also inferred that Zhang Mao had infiltrated the Eighteen Strongholds through the stronghold’s leader.
"This person is not only intelligent and wise, but also skilled in planning. He knows when to push and when to pull back. He has so many virtues that they are hard to find." Su Rong said, "If you agree, I would write a letter to him personally."
Zhang Mao felt complex, even more so than when Ning Ze gave him a cup of water and called him brother. Zhang Yun was his half-brother, whom he had always been wary of when he was the legitimate son of the Zhang Family. Zhang Yun neither revered nor disrespected him greatly. He admitted that Su Rong had a keen eye for talent and he was indeed the most capable person in the Zhang Family. More so than him.
He did not expect that Su Rong, after taking him in, would also want to bring in Zhang Yun. However, Zhang Yun was different from him. He had no other options left.
He nodded to Su Rong, "Alright, I will contact him right now."
Seeing him act so swiftly, that he didn’t feel threatened when she wanted to take in Zhang Yun as well, she admired his generous spirit. She preferred open-minded people, and so, she elaborated more, "If Zhang Yun joins us, the blame and criticisms thrown at you would lessen. People might even speculate that it’s not an issue with you two brothers, but the ambition of Zhang Ping that has brought disaster to the citizens of Daliang, weakening the country, even his own sons can’t bear to watch."
She added, "Also, once you two leave the Zhang Family, you’ll be on equal footing as brothers, able to help each other. That’s always better than having outsiders."
"Of course, the most important point is that Zhang Yun himself is well worth the trouble." Su Rong continued, "Or maybe, let’s think of it in another way, after all, an army of a hundred and fifty thousand men has surrendered. Being as clever as he is, he should have seen that the Zhang family’s defeat is equivalent to losing the emperor’s favor. Daliang can no longer accommodate the Zhang family. If he doesn’t want to die, besides Nanchu, he can only go to Dawei. If I don’t take him in, he would end up joining Dawei."
Zhang Mao came back to his senses, nodding earnestly, "Miss Su is right. I will also write him a letter personally. I will give him both our letters."
Zhang Yun must not go to Dawei.
Seeing that she had made her intentions clear, Su Rong said no more, "Contact him as soon as you can, the sooner the better, while he hasn’t gone far."
When she just woke up, she had heard that Zhang Yun, along with tens of thousands of soldiers, had retreated and given up attacking Nanping. She guessed that he must have gone to find Zhang Ping.
She had used the hawk messenger to tell Zhou Che to intercept him. She didn’t know if Zhou Che would be able to correctly guess his route. Zhou Che was not Zhou Gu after all.
Zhang Mao also came to the same conclusion, and rushed off to summon Jiang Zhu once Su Rong left.
Jiang Zhu was also recovering from injuries, but he was able to move. Upon hearing that Zhang Mao needed him, he quickly went over. After hearing about the need to reach out to their contact and to send a letter to Zhang Yun briefly from Zhang Mao, Jiang Zhu gave a thumbs up, "Miss Su is very wise."
Zhang Yun, under the circumstances of yesterday, was clearly poisoned with paralysis poison, yet he was able to retreat with his troops. This was indeed not simple.
He could see the overall trend. Even though he had tens of thousands of soldiers, their morale was in chaos due to the death of their main general. He couldn’t move. Keeping as much strength as he could and retreating with as many men as he could was the smart thing to do. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
This kind of person was valuable to have, whereas ignoring him would be a waste.
Jiang Zhu said, "Alright, I will help you get in touch with him."
Zhang Yun was unaware that Su Rong also planned to take him in. He retreated from Nanping with more than four thousand soldiers, feeling regret and absurdity. An army of two hundred thousand soldiers from Jibei was defeated. It was utterly ridiculous.
He believed his father likely didn’t have the mandate of heaven; because his eldest and legitimate son, who was least likely to betray him, had turned against him. He clearly remembered Zhang Mao killing Jibei army soldiers from the city building. His own brother, as the main general with two hundred thousand soldiers, was thoroughly killed by Zhou Gu who had stormed into the military camp; one of his sons had also died. Although his son was not particularly talented, he was not completely useless either. Plus, he, this son, was fleeing in a panic with these four thousand men after being poisoned.
This huge failure happened in Nanping City. He found everything, ridiculous and amusing.
But the fact was, they had failed.
Fifteen thousand soldiers were lost outside Nanping City. Even if he went to join his father with these four thousand men, he could not take the throne of Daliang anymore.
They had failed before they could even start and lost in Nanping.
But no matter what, he must join his father. Otherwise, he didn’t know what path to take at the moment.Speaking of Zhang Mao, false one step at a time. Anyway, he couldn’t fall into the hands of Su Rong and Zhou Gu, as he knew that those two wanted to kill him.
Because of him, Su Rong was nearly killed by Nangong Yu.
While retreating, he sent his men to scout the imperial court’s reinforcements. He knew he had to stay clear of them. If he crossed paths with the reinforcements from the imperial court coming to aid Nanping, he was not sure he could win them.
After marching for three days, he heard from his scout that the imperial court’s reinforcements were just a hundred miles ahead, but ten miles ahead, there was a fork in the road which could lead them away from the reinforcements.
He asked, "Who leads the imperial court’s soldiers?"
"It seems to be Zhou Che, the third son of the Zhou Family."
Zhang Yun nodded, "Oh, he is also a child of a concubine."
Compared to him, Zhou Che was not something to be feared.
He asked, "How many soldiers?"
"One hundred thousand."
Zhang Yun was silent, "Avoid them."
With a hundred thousand soldiers, twice his own number, it was something to be feared.
So, he led his men, deliberately detouring ten miles away, and carried out a sweeping operation to hide their tracks for fear of being detected by Zhou Che.
Zhou Che indeed didn’t notice, but two days after Zhang Yun left, another scout reported, "Third Master, there are more imperial court reinforcements a hundred miles ahead."
Zhang Yun was startled, "Again? Who’s leading the soldiers this time? How many are there?"
"It seems to be the second son of the Zhou Family, Zhou Shen, who is leading the troop. One hundred thousand, coming from the Capital City."
Zhang Yun asked, "Can we avoid them this time?"
"It may be a bit difficult because the forest in this area is sparse, but it’s not completely impossible."
Zhang Yun gritted his teeth, "Figure out a way to avoid them."
If it really doesn’t work, they can retreat to the dense forest and avoid them.
Just as he was giving orders, a man in black chased him from behind. This man faced tens of thousands of soldiers without changing color and bowed, "I am Zhao Li, I wish to see the Third Master."
Zhao Li was a man of the Eldest Master, Zhang Mao, who had always helped Zhang Mao quietly. When Zhang Mao left Jibei, he did not take him with him, but left him in Jibei.
Someone reported this to Zhang Yun, and Zhang Yun raised an eyebrow, "Is it really Zhao Li?"
"Yes."
"Let him come and see me." Zhang Yun had already gotten rid of the paralysis poison and put away his waist knife.
Zhao Li was brought in front of Zhang Yun after his sword was taken away. He saw Zhang Yun, weary and sitting on a boulder, the mountain wind was biting cold, and he looked desolate.
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