Zhou Shen was astonished by Fen Ling’s clarification.
He admired, "My younger brother is amazing."
Fen Ling glanced at him.
Hurriedly, Zhou Shen said, "Lady Su Qi is also amazing."
Fen Ling thought this was more like it. She indeed acknowledged that her brother-in-law was amazing, but her sister was too. Without her prescription, could things have gone so smoothly? 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
If she hadn’t been severely injured and unable to fight, her sister could have charged into the military camp with them.
Zhou Shen turned his head to look at Su Rong’s carriage, then asked Fen Ling out of belated realization, "When you called me ’brother-in-law’... is my younger brother...?"
He wanted to know when his younger brother became someone else’s brother-in-law.
Fen Ling nodded, "The Fourth Master sought my sister for a marriage pact. They have committed to each other, so he naturally became my brother-in-law."
Zhou Shen was shocked, "Didn’t Lady Su Qi already have a marriage agreement with the Second Young Master Ye? How could she give my younger brother a marriage pact?"
It wasn’t that he was thinking too much, but the fact that Su Rong was the Nanchu Princess, the future Nanchu King, made him wonder. Was she planning to be with both?
Fen Ling was very clever. Seeing Zhou Shen’s expression, she guessed what he was thinking. After a moment of silence, she explained, "Before the Second Young Master Ye left the Capital City, my sister broke off her engagement with him."
Zhou Shen breathed a sigh of relief. So, they had broken off the engagement. He wasn’t one to gossip, but he was still curious, "Why?"
Ye Guixue, the second master of the Ye Xiang residence in Nanchu, had exceptional qualities and appearance. He had met him personally before, and at that time his younger brother was sulking all day because of him. Su Rong broke off the engagement with his younger brother and immediately engaged Ye Guixue. No one in the Duke Residence is a fool. Although they felt sorry for his younger brother, from Su Rong’s perspective, choosing Ye Guixue was justifiable. After all, the Duke Residence couldn’t give her the same benefits as the Ye Xiang Residence in Nanchu. Compared to Ye Guixue, his younger brother had no advantages in terms of family background, and so on.
Fen Ling sighed, "What else could it be? My sister felt sorry for the Fourth Master! She didn’t want him to follow her without a proper status and become the laughing stock of everyone."
"So, she broke off her engagement with Ye Guixue?" Zhou Shen was surprised.
Fen Ling nodded, "Yes."
For a moment, Zhou Shen didn’t know what to say. If this situation were for anyone else to choose, weighing the pros and cons, they should choose Ye Guixue. Not because Zhou Gu was his younger brother, did he think Su Rong had to choose him. But now that Su Rong has chosen him, he could foresee that she has given up the support of the Ye Xiang Residence.
How hard that must be was very obvious.
He became more solemn, "Lady Su Qi has treated my younger brother well, and our Duke Residence will go through fire and water for her if required."
Fen Ling laughed, "That won’t be necessary. My sister fell for the man my brother-in-law is. Moreover, my brother-in-law saved my sister’s life a few days ago. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have easily given him the marriage pact to tie him down so soon."
If it were the Su Rong who had just broken off her engagement with Ye Guixue, she would have waited for Zhou Gu to firmly decide to stay with her in Nanchu, and only then would she have taken action and tied him down. After all, once tied down, it would be for life. The path set for the young master of the Duke Residence, Zhou, was truly irreversible.
As expected, Zhang Ping quickly captured Qinghshan City and Longxi County, then rested for a day before marching towards the Capital City.
Zhang Ping was undefeated in all directions on this journey. He marched on, attacking cities along the way. Because each city had few soldiers, he barely had to lift a finger to either force the city lords to surrender or kill them.
So, Zhang Ping felt that capturing the Capital City was inevitable.
One day, he led his soldiers marching towards Changzhou.
Midway, a troop of cavalries approached from the side. This troop, numbering forty thousand, and after contacting the scouts, reported to Zhang Ping that it was the third son.
Zhang Ping was puzzled, "The third son? Why is he here?"
The scout shook his head, "It is indeed the third son."
Zhang Ping ordered the army to pause their march and summoned Zhang Yun to see him.
Zhang Yun, shrouded in a thick cloak, looked pale, coughing as he walked. He came before Zhang Ping, fell on his knees, and said, "Father, I never thought I would live to see you again..."
After saying this, he knelt on the ground, crying uncontrollably.
Zhang Ping frowned, "What happened? Why are you crying? Why are you in this state?"
Zhang Ping had many sons, he did not lack sons. Except for Zhang Mao, the eldest and legitimate son, whom he treated with extra regard, he treated his remaining sons as tools. Those who were competent and could help him were given a bit more attention, while those who were incompetent were left to fend for themselves.
Zhang Yun, this son, was undoubtedly competent. Zhang Ping found him very useful, and Zhang Yun was also cooperative. Therefore, Zhang Ping cared a little more about Zhang Yun, but just a little. It couldn’t be more.
Zhang Yun wept bitterly, seeming extremely distressed, and could not speak.
"What happened? Speak up!" Zhang Ping asked twice and then lost his patience, becoming angry.
Zhang Yun looked up at Zhang Ping, his vision went black, and he fainted, falling to the ground.
Zhang Ping was shocked and quickly called for someone, "Call the doctor!"
The doctor arrived quickly. After checking Zhang Yun’s pulse, he withdrew his hand in shock, "General, the third master has been poisoned with a potent poison. It seems that he just recently started detoxification, but the method was too aggressive, and it seems to have harmed his body. He also did not have a proper rest and was overworked, and the despair and sadness just now has damaged his lungs, causing him to faint..."
Zhang Ping interrupted, only interested in the part he cared about, "Can he recover?"
The doctor replied, "If carefully nursed for a year or half a year, he should be able to recover, but his body will be much weaker afterwards."
Zhang Ping waved his hand, "Then take him away and take good care of him, let him rest."
The doctor nodded, and someone came to carry Zhang Yun away.
Zhang Ping did not get any information from Zhang Yun, but he had others to inquire from. He ordered someone to bring one of Zhang Yun’s men and asked, "What happened? How was he poisoned?"
This man quickly narrated how his master had helped Nangong Yu to kill Su Rong, and how, when the second master hesitated to attack Nanping City, he had urgently gone to the Jibei Army camp to urge the second master to assist, all for the sake of the general’s great cause. But unexpectedly, before the second master had made up his mind, Zhou Gu had led a night raid on the Jibei Army camp, killing the fifth master, and severely injuring the second and third masters. Moreover, the Jibei army was poisoned, etc. In the end, the second master was killed, more than a hundred thousand Jibei soldiers were immobilized by paralysis poison, and the third master had desperately led a group of soldiers who were able to move to fight their way out of Nanping City. However, on the way, they encountered the Imperial Court’s reinforcements sent to Nanping, which were soldiers from the Duke Residence. He had been poisoned and had desperately led his men to fight their way out, holding on to his last breath to meet up with the general.
Zhang Ping was stunned as he listened. He was shocked, angered, and anxious. Blood welled up in his chest and his face turned pale. He grabbed the man, "What did you say? Zhang Cheng is dead? The Jibei army of two hundred thousand has been defeated? Not to mention that they didn’t capture Nanping, but they lost more than a hundred thousand soldiers in the process?"
The man solemnly nodded, "General, the second master was truly too indecisive. My master did his best, he was almost killed too."
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