Su Rong divided the rack of lamb into four portions, and picked the best roasted piece for Zhang Yun.
Zhang Yun was delighted immediately, pointing at his lamb rack, he asked, "Miss Su, is this special treatment just for today, or can I expect this in the future too?"
Su Rong gave a grunt, "It’s just for today. Maybe it will be there sometimes in the future."
You earn rewards by making achievements.
Zhang Yun nodded his head, he was indeed hungry and he started to eat slowly and deliberately.
Jiang Zhu curiously asked, "Brother Yun, could you tell us, how did you manage to steal 250,000 troops of the Jibei Army from your father?"
Zhang Yun nodded and gave a brief account.
His story was simple and brief, but to Jiang Zhu, who was listening, it seemed that everything had gone smoothly without any glitches from his meeting with Zhang Ping to taking over the entire Jibei Army. It showed that his strategic planning was deep and well-calculated.
He raised a glass to Zhang Yun, "I offer a toast to you, my brother."
Zhang Yun laughed and drank a glass with him.
Jiang Zhu explained, "Lord Thursday and the third lord had led a hundred thousand troops to Changzhou. Only after they left, Miss Su received your letter. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made this futile effort."
Zhang Yun glanced at Su Rong and smiled, "Even if my letter had arrived earlier, Lord Thursday would still probably have led the hundred thousand troops to Changzhou. People like him, unless there is no way out, will not place all their hopes on others."
Jiang Zhu laughed heartily, "That seems about right."
Su Rong also laughed and nodded at him, "He has had several years of prudent company in the Eastern Palace and has remembered a principle very well. Fear everything and hence make every possible calculation."
Zhang Yun nodded, "Considering the Crown Prince’s noble status, any mishap would be catastrophic."
As someone who was also deep in strategising, he naturally could understand Zhou Gu’s mindset very well. After all, if Zhou Gu was not so careful, Nangong Yu would have killed Su Rong that day.
He initially thought that Nangong Yu would have had a high chance of succeeding, but later, when he received the news, he found out that Zhou Gu had surprisingly appeared out of nowhere in the wastelands a hundred miles away, when he should have been at Eighteen Villages.
He raised a glass in respect to Su Rong, "Miss Su, I owe you an apology for what happened before. Let me make it up to you today."
"Your troops of 250 thousand are the best apology I could have." Su Rong clinked her glass with Zhang Yun’s, drained her glass, and laughed at him, "It was just a difference in path earlier, there’s no need to worry about it. From now on, we are brothers. Your future will be wherever mine is."
Zhang Yun laughed and also drained his glass, "Agreed."
Zhang Mao looked at Zhang Yun and saw a sincere smile on his face. It was very rare. He seemed to have never seen such a sincere smile on his face before. He sighed in his heart and raised his glass.
Su Rong stopped him with her hand, "Hey, you can’t drink."
Zhang Mao had no choice but to put it down and said seriously, "Your injuries together with those of Brother Jiang have not healed yet."
Jiang Zhu immediately refuted, "Can you compare with us? Your injuries are more serious. Our injuries are almost healed."
Zhang Mao helplessly conceded, "Alright!"
He poured himself a cup of tea and toasted with Zhang Yun, "Then let me use tea in place of alcohol, and let me toast to you, Brother."
Zhang Yun smiled, "Elder brother, you should take good care of your injuries and obey the doctor’s advice."
Zhang Mao: "..."
When Feng Ling, Ning Ze, Zhou Shen and others who were busy organising the military came to the central army tent, they saw three of the four people were a little tipsy. The floor next to the fireplace was littered with stripped bones of lamb, and the aroma of the lamb still lingered.
Feng Ling was immediately displeased, "Sister, you didn’t even save a piece of lamb for me?"
Su Rong felt guilty, "I drank a bit too much."
Feng Ling snorted.
Ning Ze sniffed the air and asked, "Was the lamb tasty?"
Su Rong felt even more guilty, "Not tasty."
Ning Ze couldn’t help but also snort.
Zhou Shen laughed, "Are there any lamb ribs left to be stewed?"
You should know that he had been on the road day and night since leaving the Capital City, and had been gnawing dry food along with the soldiers. He probably hadn’t tasted meat for a long time.
"Yes, yes. Since you guys are already here, let’s start the banquet!" Su Rong quickly responded.
She quickly fetched a broom and swept up all the bones on the floor, lifted the furnace lid and dumped all the bones into the furnace. With a humming sound, the fire blazed even higher.
She had successfully disposed of the evidence. Throwing away the broom, she ran to wash her hands.
Feng Ling snorted a few times more. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
Zhang Yun couldn’t help but chuckle.
Feng Ling put his hand on his shoulder, "Come here, brother. I’ve long admired you."
Zhang Yun complied graciously, "Good. I’ve also long admired Master Feng."
Everyone took their seats. Of the twenty-one tables, apart from the main seat which was Su Rong’s, there were two positions at each of the other twenty tables. People were free to choose their seats. Half of the seats were occupied by officers from the Nanping army, and the other half by officers from the Jipei army.
The cookhouse soon brought meals and a huge pot of wine. Except for the empty space in the middle where there was no singing or dancing a traditional activity in Chinese banquets, everything else was quite perfect.
Feng Ling looked at the large piece of lamb ribs that had been stewed to perfection, and his resentment lessened slightly.
In the beginning, the officers were a bit restrained, but after a while, they became acquainted with each other and started to loosen up. The atmosphere suddenly became lively and warm.
After three rounds of wine and five different dishes, a young officer from Zhang Yun’s group asked Su Rong, "Miss Su, may I ask you a few questions?"
"Sure." Su Rong looked at him.
The young officer asked, "I heard from the third lord that Lord Thursday and the third lord are both planning to follow you to Nanchu. How confident are you about taking the throne?"
"About 80-90 percent!" Su Rong didn’t exaggerate and claim a hundred percent.
Then the young officer asked, "Will you accept anyone else besides Lord Thursday and the third lord?"
Someone else interjected, "Zheng Xi, you might as well ask Miss Su directly if we are qualified to pledge allegiance to her?"
Zheng Xi was a bit embarrassed and refuted that person, "It’s my question, Wang Chong, why are you including yourselves?"
"I’ve been having the same idea!" Wang Chong immediately responded.
Su Rong laughed, "As long as you are loyal to me, all are welcome."
She put loyalty first, because she knew that everyone, even the most useless person, had a role to play. Of course, for outstanding talents, she would personally recruit them, like Zhang Yun, and Ning Ze who she hoped would join voluntarily.
Zheng Xi asked again, "What if we choose not to follow you and want to stay in Daliang and stay in the army? Will you help us plead our case to the Crown Prince?"
"I will." Su Rong answered.
Zheng Xi nodded, then scratched his head, "I want to join Lord Thursday and the third lord in pledging allegiance to Miss Su, will you agree?"
"I will, but you need to think it through. Staying in Daliang, the Crown Prince also highly appreciates talent. As long as you are loyal to Daliang and loyal to the Crown Prince, he will not let talent go to waste. Following me is different. I have never been to Nanchu since I was a child. Now that I am going to Nanchu and planning to take and secure the throne, it will not be easy. Assassination attempts have been incessantly thrown at me even before I have set foot into Nanchu. It’s hard to imagine how much killing awaits me once I enter Nanchu. By my side, it is a dangerous path. Of course, if I succeed, the rewards will be great." As Su Rong raised her glass, she saluted towards Zheng Xi from across several seats.
Zheng Xi nodded and quickly picked up his wine glass, "Understood. I am an orphan, and I wish to serve Miss Su."
"Good." Su Rong cheerfully nodded her head and agreed.
"And me." Wang Chong said immediately, "Although I’m not an orphan, I don’t want to live in the shadows of my brothers back home. I would like to join Miss Su in venturing to Nanchu."
"Alright." Su Rong agreed cheerfully again and drank with the two, finishing her glass.
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