The Ministry of Justice prison looked even more eerie at night. The heavy iron door slowly opened. Even though there were candles lighting the alcoves, people felt inexplicably cold when they walked in. Even a burly man like Yang Zhao couldn't help but take a deep breath.

The yamen runner was holding a paper lantern with the word "prisoner" written on it. He pushed open a door in front of him and said through the gap, "The Zhang family is a serious criminal of the court. We cannot let anyone see them easily. If it weren't for the King Han's order, we would definitely not let them go. In the future, Yang Dianjun must say a few good words for me in front of the King Han."

Everyone in Chang'an knows that the Crown Prince rebelled and was deposed. Now, King Han, as the only legitimate prince of the emperor, is very popular. Who wouldn't want to sell himself in advance?

Yang Zhao patted his shoulder, smiled and bowed: "Okay, okay."

Yang Zhao was the military commander of the Han Wang Palace, a fifth-rank official. He was in charge of the guards and attendants below the rank of colonel. He had about six or seven hundred soldiers under his command. He was considered a close minister of the Han Wang, so saying a few good words was a piece of cake for him. However, as he walked along, he asked the yamen runners about the situation of the Zhang family.

"Let me give you a reminder, Master Yang. The adult men in the Zhang family will be exiled, and the underage men will be exiled as well. As for the women, they will be sent to the Jiaofangsi." The last three words "Jiaofangsi" sounded a bit obscene when the runner said them.

Hearing this, Yang Zhao paused for a moment, then walked forward again with determination.

"Look, it's right here, Yang Dianjun, please come in." The yamen runner took a look inside and quickly turned his head back, sighing in his heart. When the Zhang family was the prime minister, they had thousands of retainers and were extremely glorious and powerful. But now they are prisoners of the lower class. The difference between heaven and earth is unbearable to look at.

This is a solitary cell, used exclusively for the custody of imperial prisoners. Because of this, only the male members of the Zhang family are here. When Yang Zhao came over, his son-in-law Zhang Lingyi, who was cold and arrogant and always looked down upon him, looked at him eagerly for the first time. Yang Zhao couldn't help feeling a little pitiful, but even if he felt pitiful, he still had to say what he had to say.

Yang Zhao squatted down and said, "Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang, I'm Yang Zhao, come to see you."

Zhang Chang, the father of former Prime Minister Zhang Lingyi, suddenly opened his eyes, and when he saw him, he smiled and said, "The only one who can come to see us at this time is probably you, Brother Yang."

Yang Zhao felt a little embarrassed when he heard this. He was not spying on her on his own initiative, but wanted to cancel his daughter's marriage with the Zhang family.

He looked embarrassed, and even a shrewd man like Zhang Chang seemed to understand something at a glance.

Even though he had to bite the bullet, Yang Zhao still said, "Brother Zhang, our family is just a branch of the Yang family. In the past, you and your sister-in-law took a fancy to our little girl Yurong and let my daughter Yang Zhao marry into a wealthy family. We are very grateful. This is a box of gold ingots for Brother Zhang and several nephews to send people off on the road."

Zhang Lingyi and her two brothers were very happy. No matter where they were, money could always make the world go round. Unfortunately, when they were detained, they had already been searched naked.

They looked at Yang Zhao more and more eagerly, as if he could save them.

Zhang Lingyi used to be puzzled as to why her mother decided on this marriage just based on Yang Yurong's appearance. Now she understood how far-sighted her mother was. Yang Zhao used to be just a small captain. Because he saved his cousin, the Princess of Han, he became a general in the palace of King Han. But now that the crown prince has failed, his Zhang family is in trouble, while King Han has taken advantage of the situation to rise. If Yang Zhao, as the general of King Han, can say a few good words in front of the king, they may still have a chance of turning around.

But the next words made Zhang Lingyi and his brothers very angry.

"It's just..." Yang Zhao continued, "My husband and I were almost thirty when we had our little daughter, Yurong. She is beautiful and has been spoiled since she was a child. My husband and I can't bear to let her suffer, so we are here to return this token of love, and the marriage between the two parties is over—"

Before he could say anything, Zhang Chang smiled and said, "Let's stop here. All the men in our family will be exiled, so why should we harm your daughter? Brother Yang, I'm afraid that our engagement token was taken away when our family was raided, and it can't be returned."

Zhang Lingyi's eyes were about to roll with disbelief, but after his father Zhang Chang made the decision, he did not dare to go against it. He just felt disappointed.

I want to criticize the Yang family for their power and their coldness, but has it really come to this? Who would send their daughter to be registered as a prostitute in the Jiaofangsi?

The world is like this, Zhang Lingyi can only blame the world for being unfair.

Yang Zhao walked out cautiously a few more times until the yamen runner urged him to, and then he hurried out.

Only after running all the way to the gate of the Ministry of Justice did Yang Zhao seem to be able to catch his breath.

Yang Zhao was a man who valued friendship and loyalty, and he knew that a promise was worth a thousand pieces of gold. It was because of this that he was valued by Princess Han and had been working in the Han Palace ever since.

But today, for the sake of his daughter, he broke the engagement for the first time.

The Hongnong Yang clan had a total of six branches. The one that stayed in Chang'an was called the Beijuan branch. There were five branches in the Beijuan branch, and they lived together in the east of Jingzhao City. When Yang Zhao went there, the cocks had already crowed three times.

The house was brightly lit, and a woman was sitting in the upper hall with her forehead in her hand. She had fair skin, a slightly plump figure, and was about forty years old. This was Yang Zhao's wife, Zhu.

Zhu usually pays great attention to her clothes, but today she wore a half-worn purple robe inside and a green cloak outside. It was obvious that she was wearing it haphazardly and her mind was obviously not on her clothes.

Seeing her husband coming back, she immediately looked up and asked, "How is it? Is it done?"

"It's done, it's done. Mr. Zhang is a sensible man. Before I even said anything, they said they wanted to cancel the engagement. Well, it's all our fault that we let the Zhang family down." Although Yang Zhao succeeded in breaking off the engagement, he always felt that something was not right.

But the engagement had to be cancelled, not for any other reason but because of the clan rules.

There are three chastity memorial archways at the entrance of the Yang family's northern branch, one of which is for Yang Zhao's aunt, who remained a widow and never remarried, and was praised by the court. Given the Yang family's view of the Yang family's daughters' chastity, they would rather their daughter Yang Yurong commit suicide, or marry directly and stick to the marriage contract, so as not to let down the Yang family's reputation.

But Yang Zhao and his wife Zhu were unwilling to see their daughter die in vain, so Yang Zhao made this trip and got the letter of withdrawal from the engagement from the man, which showed that the two families had no engagement and the clan could not force them.

Zhu was relieved, but she was afraid that her husband would see through her and think she was cold-hearted, so she tried to comfort her husband, "Even if our daughter fulfills the engagement now, she probably won't be able to live with the third son of the Zhang family, and will still be killed. Besides, even if the Zhang family is fine, it will probably be difficult for our daughter to marry into the family."

Um?

Yang Zhao didn't understand.

He didn't come back often, and if the people in his tribe hadn't been too excessive this time, and every word they said seemed to want to kill his daughter, he would not have come back.

Men outside don't understand, but Zhu said: "Zhang Chang is a romantic man, not shy about matters between men and women, and he holds great power. After seeing Yurong in the countryside, he asked about her. But Mrs. Zhang is getting older, and she is afraid that Prime Minister Zhang is not doing well in the inner circle, so she asked the third son to marry our Rongjie in advance. But in recent years, although the Zhang family has given us generous gifts, they don't really treat us as relatives. Have you ever seen an engaged son-in-law who never comes to his parents-in-law's house? They clearly use this status to get engaged first, and then find a reason to cancel the engagement. At that time, Zhang Chang will not force his son to marry a girl who has been canceled, right?"

"Tsk." Yang Zhao was surprised. "Since you knew, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Zhu sneered, "This marriage was arranged by your good mother. Yurong and I only found out it was arranged when we came back. That's all. How could I have looked for you then? Where were you fooling around?"

These words made Yang Zhao feel guilty. Yang Zhao's wife, Zhu, was plain in appearance but very capable. She married into the family with a generous dowry when her father-in-law was a gambler and her husband was only a teenager because she was attracted to Yang Zhao. Yang Zhao also vowed to be devoted to Zhu for the rest of his life.

But there are often many things that are beyond one's control. He was valued by Princess Han and was offered the fifth-rank official position of Dianjun. He could not refuse the beautiful maid given by Princess Han.

When Zhu sent someone to look for him, he was afraid that Zhu would know that he was enjoying the beautiful maid, so he avoided her.

Because she had missed the opportunity, Zhu had no time to bring it up again. After all, Zhang Chang was at the peak of his career at that time, and it would be tantamount to nonsense for her to cancel the engagement.

But Yang Zhao promised: "The past is the past. As for Yurong, don't worry. I will find a good marriage for my daughter even if it means sacrificing my reputation."

In this way, Zhu achieved his goal.

She knew that her husband was a very honest and thin-skinned man. He never made any excessive demands and was only loyal in his work. Because of his honesty, Princess Han and King Han valued him very much.

If her husband had said this, she would have felt relieved.

"Whose family are you sure you can marry me to?" Zhu asked again.

But Yang Zhao laughed and said, "King Han's Crown Prince Li Xun is the most favored of the emperor's grandchildren. He was raised in the palace and is very favored. We don't have to think about making him our principal wife, but a concubine would be good too. Besides, our Yurong is more beautiful than Xi Shi and Nan Wei. If the Crown Prince doesn't like her looks, who would I choose?"

The current emperor has two empresses, one is the original empress Gu, and the other is the current empress Shen.

When the original wife, Gu, was alive, Shen was still a concubine and gave birth to the second son, King Han, for Your Majesty. However, it took twenty years for the original wife, Gu, to give birth to the crown prince and Princess Xin'an. Unfortunately, Empress Gu died during childbirth of Princess Xin'an.

Soon, the emperor appointed Concubine Shen as the empress, and Empress Shen's position in the palace was as solid as a rock. King Han was also favored by the emperor. In addition, the prince Li Xun, born to Concubine Han, was smart and cute, and was raised by the emperor and empress. Therefore, the emperor appointed Li Xun as the King of Jiangxia very early.

Li Xun's wife had already been decided, but it was difficult to decide on a concubine, especially Princess Han. If he had to choose one, he would have to choose a girl from the family. Who could be more suitable than Yurong?

Judging from the current situation, Li Xun is very likely to be named the Crown Prince in the future. With Yurong's appearance and personality, she will have a bright future. Zhu was moved by what she heard.

"In that case, I will bring up this matter with Yurong first. She couldn't sleep these past few days because of the Zhang family's affairs. She finally fell asleep after drinking the tranquilizing soup yesterday. It's so pitiful. She had nightmares and was afraid that she would really be locked up." Zhu felt sad whenever she mentioned it. It's not easy to be a woman in this world, and it's even harder to be a woman of the Yang family.

The three memorial archways were often the pride of the Yang family elders, but in Zhu's view, they were full of cannibalism.