Chapter 51: Chapter 50 Rules, Changes Chapter 51: Chapter 50 Rules, Changes “Make way, make way!”
The scolding voice grew closer and closer, and Yang Zhenshan quickly pulled Yang Mingzhi aside to avoid the road.
He then saw a group of soldiers rushing over, dispersing the onlookers who were watching the commotion.
At the same time, he caught sight of the scene amidst the crowd.
A young man dressed in dark purple brocade was lashing two people with a whip.
The two being beaten were a male and a female. The male seemed to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, while the girl appeared to be only about ten. The boy had the little girl protected in his arms, allowing Young Master Zhang Si to whip his back, emitting one muffled scream after another.
Around them, seven or eight Qingyi-clad house servants were menacingly glaring at the bystanders.
Quite a fine spectacle of power abuse!
Yang Zhenshan shook his head and averted his gaze.
But as he looked away, he suddenly felt someone staring at him.
Following the sensation, he revealed a look of surprise.
Zhou Lan!
Amidst the crowd of soldiers, Zhou Lan rode on horseback.
The person he had been waiting for three days and had not found, he had now unexpectedly encountered.
Zhou Lan nodded slightly at him as she passed by solemnly on her horse.
“Make way!” the soldiers shouted.
“Where did this idiot come from? Daring to disturb this young master’s business?” Zhang Chen stopped whipping and glowered viciously at the approaching soldiers.
However, as soon as his words fell, a whooshing sound of something cutting through the air followed.
Snap!
A black whip harshly struck his body.
The dark purple brocade tore open, revealing a bloody wound.
Zhang Chen let out a piercing shriek, tumbling heavily onto the cobblestone street.
“Young Master, Young Master!”
For a moment, the previously menacing house servants all changed their expressions, rushing forward in panic to lift Zhang Chen.
Taking a while to stop his wailing, Zhang Chen finally stood up.
He looked at Zhou Lan on the horse with eyes full of viciousness.
“You bitch, you dare to hit me?”
Whoosh, the familiar sound of a whip cutting the air sounded again.
Zhang Chen shuddered violently and stumbled backwards.
But this whip did not land on him, instead, it was caught by a house servant standing beside him.
Zhou Lan looked sternly at the house servant holding the whip.
Yang Zhenshan, in the distance, was also sizing up that house servant.
To be able to catch Zhou Lan’s whip, he must be a Postnatal Martial Artist.
“Let go!” Zhou Lan said indifferently.
The house servant hurriedly released the whip, bowing and saying, “My young master is young and ignorant, I beg the General’s pardon!”
But as he spoke, the sound of the whip whooshing through the air came again.
This time he couldn’t block it, and the whip landed once more on Zhang Chen’s chest.
His clothes were torn to shreds, exposing the bloody wound underneath.
Zhang Chen let out another agonized scream.
“If you spout nonsense again, I will whip you to death!”
“Get lost!”
Zhou Lan said coldly.
The seven or eight house servants, no longer caring for anything else, dragged and pulled Zhang Chen to the side of the road to clear the path.
Zhou Lan, without giving Zhang Chen another glance, rode off with a group of soldiers.
Behind them, Yang Zhenshan’s gaze lingered back and forth between Zhang Chen and Zhou Lan.
Duke Ning Mansion, the garrison eunuch!
Tsk tsk~~
The waters of Chongshan Pass City are indeed deep!
We small fry had better not get involved!
“Let’s go!”
Yang Zhenshan said in a low voice to Yang Mingzhi.
Afterwards, the two quickly left.
When gods wage war, mortals suffer.
In such a situation, it’s better to leave first.
Lest the Zhang family vent their anger on innocent bystanders later.
Whether the Zhang family took their anger out on bystanders or not, Yang Zhenshan didn’t know; after they returned home, they shut themselves in.
As dusk neared, Zhou Lan came over as Yang Zhenshan had expected.
“Greetings, General Zhou!”
“Greetings, General Zhou!”
In the front courtyard of their residence, Yang Zhenshan led the others in a respectful welcome.
“No need for such formalities!”
Zhou Lan said with a light smile, waving her hand.
“General Zhou, please come in,” Yang Zhenshan invited her into the main house in the inner courtyard.
Zhou Lan observed the residence as she followed Yang Zhenshan into the inner courtyard.
“This estate was purchased by me four years ago when I first arrived and urgently needed a place to live, so I bought this house.”
“However, later on I bought another larger estate, so I’m giving this one to you!”
She said casually.
Yang Zhenshan’s expression paused slightly, as he said, “Isn’t this too valuable?”
Zhou Lan waved her hand nonchalently, “It’s not that valuable, rest assured and accept it!”
The two entered the main house, and two soldiers carrying food boxes also followed. After a moment, a lavish spread of food and drink was laid out in front of Yang Zhenshan.
“Let’s eat and talk!” Zhou Lan said, turning to look at the group of young men around.
“Yang Hundred Households, things are different now, it’s time to establish some rules around you!”
Yang Zhenshan was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant, and said, “You may all leave now.”
The group of young men, having grasped the hint from Zhou Lan’s words, bowed and retreated.
“These are the juniors from our clan, they are a bit more familiar with me on regular days, General Zhou must find it amusing!” Yang Zhenshan said with a smile.
Rules.
For many noble families, rules are an insurmountable chasm.
Even though Zhou Lan had always been approachable, she was, after all, born into the Duke Ning Mansion.
The presence of soldiers and attendants around her made it clear that she maintained significant decorum.
Compared to them, the young men from the Yang Family seemed to lack the awareness of such etiquette.
Yang Zhenshan hadn’t minded these things before, but now, with Zhou Lan’s reminder, he understood.
As a superior, one naturally needs to possess their own prestige.
The so-called rules are established to uphold the authority of the superior.
Zhou Lan didn’t mind much; she was merely reminding Yang Zhenshan and did not intend to blame.
She held up her wine glass and drank heartily with Yang Zhenshan.
“Tomorrow let Zhao Yuan take you to the Governor’s Office to report duty, and by the way, have the deed to this house changed!”
“When should I go to Linguan Castle?” asked Yang Zhenshan.
Zhou Lan pondered for a moment and said: “As soon as possible, let Zhao Yuan take you there!”
“I have told you before, training troops at Linguan Castle is a test for you, but now the situation has slightly changed!”
Yang Zhenshan frowned, “What changes?”
Zhou Lan lifted her drink and drank it down in one gulp, her hearty manner without a single trace of feminine frailty.
“The court intends to launch a campaign against the East Sea Hu Clan!”
Yang Zhenshan’s glass shook slightly, he raised his head in astonishment.
A campaign against the East Sea Hu Clan?
This wasn’t hard to comprehend.
With the Northern barbarians invading, Da Rong naturally wouldn’t just let it be.
“When?”
“I don’t know yet,” Zhou Lan shook her head.
Yang Zhenshan’s eyes lowered slightly.
It was now April, the time when all things in the Northern regions revive.
Logically, this should be the best time for Da Rong to campaign against the Hu Clan.
If it drags on until June or July, the war could carry into the winter season.
Winters in the Northern regions are both cold and long, making large-scale warfare extremely challenging.
Don’t assume that just because the Hu Clan invaded during the winter, they prefer fighting in it; in reality, they were forced by lack of food, otherwise they would definitely not choose to invade in the winter season.
If it isn’t decided yet, that means an April campaign is impossible.
Even if it gets decided now, mobilizing troops and supplies takes time, and probably the campaign won’t start until the end of May or beginning of June.
So calculated like this, the time remaining for him is indeed very little.
“Do I need to join the military campaign?” Yang Zhenshan inquired.
“Not necessarily, it depends on the court’s decision!” Zhou Lan shook her head, then added, “You just focus on training the troops! Even if you are needed for battle, I will arrange for you to be in the rear.”
She had only received some information, but she was still unsure about the court’s specific intentions.
However, based on her estimation, the court was very likely to make a decision to launch a campaign against the Hu Clan.
Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment, feeling that he did not need to worry about this matter.
He was now just a Trial Hundred Households of no importance, whatever he did, he had to follow Zhou Lan’s arrangements.
As for the rest, even if he wanted to manage, he wouldn’t be able to.
To put it unpleasantly, he was now just a low-ranking soldier under Zhou Lan’s command; whatever Zhou Lan asked of him, that’s what he should do.
As for leaving or breaking away from Zhou Lan,
Yang Zhenshan just pondered the thought and immediately dismissed it.
Unless he wanted to continue staying in Yang Family Village, he could only follow Zhou Lan’s lead.
To stand out, one must take risks.
And now, as a Martial Artist, going into battle was an inevitable path.
Success in war comes at the cost of thousands of lives.
If the Yang Family wanted to grow and strengthen, it would have to step over countless corpses.
Those corpses included the enemy’s, those from the Yang Family, and even possibly his own.
“I’m willing to train troops, but I have one request!” Yang Zhenshan said.
“What request?”
“Food, enough food! If the soldiers can’t even eat their fill, how can we talk about training troops?” Yang Zhenshan said.
Previously, Zhou Lan had said that Linguan Castle was a newly established garrison, and being new meant there was no food in storage.
Furthermore, the military households within Linguan Castle were all newly recruited refugees; without going into detail, one could guess the state these refugees were in.
“No problem! I will have Zhao Yuan transport a batch of food over to you!” Zhou Lan agreed without hesitation.