Inside the main hall, distinguished guests filled the seats.
Zhen Yan and Zhen Yao were entertaining the guests when they saw Zhen Yi and Dong Zhao walk in, one after the other.
Zhang Chun, the Prefect of Zhongshan, was the first to bow to Zhen Yi and say, "Lord Zhen, it has been many years. Hearing of your esteemed daughter's marriage, this official and my colleagues have come specifically to offer congratulations. May your esteemed daughter and Lord Envoy be forever united and grow old together!"
"Zhang Chen, you are too kind," Zhen Yi said. "This Zhen is but a retired official. I am deeply grateful for your care over the years!"
"Ah, Lord Zhen, what are you saying? Your esteemed daughter is now the Lord Envoy's wife. In the future, this official will still need Lord Zhen to speak well of me before Lord Envoy."
As Zhang Chun spoke, he saw Dong Zhao behind Zhen Yi and quickly stepped forward, saying, "Lord Dong! This official, Zhang Chun, Prefect of Zhongshan, greets Lord Dong. I have not yet had the chance to congratulate Lord Dong on his promotion."
Seeing this, Dong Zhao quickly said, "Zhang Chen, there is no need to be so polite. We are both Prefects with the same rank, why be like this?"
Zhang Chun said, "Ah, Lord Dong is someone heavily relied upon by Lord Envoy, how can it be the same? I heard that when Lord Dong was the Magistrate of Yingtao County, he already had a relationship with Lord Envoy. Now, as soon as Lord Envoy took office, he promoted Lord Dong to Prefect of Wei Commandery. This fully shows how much he relies on him!"
"Zhang Chen, you may not know," Dong Zhao said. "In the past, this official was the Magistrate of Yingtao County and was besieged by the Black Mountain Bandits' army, in imminent danger. At the critical moment, it was Lord Envoy, who was then the Magistrate of Guangping County, who led his army to rush here and defeated fifty thousand bandit soldiers with just a few thousand troops, thus saving this official and the people of the entire city! Just for this kindness and righteousness, I, Dong Zhao, will surely serve Lord Envoy faithfully and diligently for the rest of my life!"
Dong Zhao spoke loudly, causing the surrounding people to look sideways and start discussing among themselves.
"That's right, I've heard about this too. I didn't expect it to be Lord Envoy!"
"Lord Envoy defeated fifty thousand bandit soldiers with merely a few thousand troops. His mastery of warfare is truly extraordinary!"
"I heard Lord Envoy is skilled in both civil and military arts. He can fight on horseback and govern when dismounted. With Ji Province under his command, we will surely have good lives from now on!"
...
For a time, everyone was talking animatedly, mostly with words of praise for Zhang Chen.
After a short while, a servant announced that the wedding procession had arrived at the gate.
Zhen Yi was overjoyed and quickly led the guests out to personally welcome them.
When the crowd arrived at the gate, they saw at the head of the procession a young man wearing a magnificent wedding robe, seated on a horse.
The young man on the horse was none other than Zhang Chen's top fierce general, Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong.
Zhao Yun had studied arts in the mountains since he was young and rarely appeared in public. Moreover, since Zhang Chen took office, he had not yet met with officials from various commanderies, so they had never seen Zhang Chen.
Now, using a fake to pass as real could also deceive others.
Among everyone present, only Dong Zhao recognized Zhao Yun.
Immediately, Dong Zhao stepped forward and bowed to Zhao Yun, saying, "This official, Dong Zhao, greets Lord Envoy."
None of the people had seen Zhang Chen, but they knew that the seat of Wei Commandery was in Ye City. Since Dong Zhao lived in the same city as Zhang Chen, he must have met him.
At once, the crowd had no doubts and bowed one after another, saying, "This official greets Lord Envoy."
"You may dispense with the formalities," Zhao Yun cupped his hands on the horse, then dismounted.
Zhao Yun looked around and saw that Dong Zhao was winking at someone.
Zhao Yun immediately understood, knowing that this person must be the head of the Zhen family, so he stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your humble son-in-law greets his father-in-law."
"Good! Good!"
To avoid being seen through, Zhen Yi also put on a joyful expression at this time.
Soon, a maid helped Zhen Tuo, wearing a wedding dress and a veil, walk out.
Zhen Tuo and Zhen Jiang were already similar in stature. With the veil covering her face now, how could others tell them apart?
The maid then helped Zhen Tuo into the carriage. Before long, the ceremonial music played, the carriages and horses set off, and the wedding procession grandly left the Zhen Residence and headed straight for Ye City.
Zhen Yan and Zhen Yao rode their horses ahead, escorting their sister for her marriage, followed by hundreds of carriages carrying a full dowry.
Zhang Chen used half of his family's wealth as the betrothal gift, so the Zhen family naturally put on a grand display.
"Ten miles of red dowry" might be a bit exaggerated, but the amount of this dowry was at least ten times Zhang Chen's betrothal gift!
The foundation of an aristocratic family is indeed extraordinary!
Half an hour later...
On the mountain path in Zhongshan, hundreds of mountain bandits were gathered in the forest, each with a Yellow Turban tied around their head.
"Boss! They're here, they're here! That Zhen family girl's sedan chair is coming this way!" a bandit subordinate excitedly ran back and said.
A bandit leader quickly asked, "How is it? How many people are there? Did you see the goods?"
"Saw it, saw it! It's just a wedding procession of a few dozen people, and there are hundreds of carriages of dowry!"
"Hahahaha! Good! Heaven is truly helping me!" the bandit leader said excitedly. "The Zhen family is a wealthy aristocratic family, their dowry will definitely not be small. If we seize this dowry, we'll have no worries about food and drink for the rest of our lives!"
"But Boss, Zhang Shuai only told us to start an uprising and ordered us not to cause trouble..." another bandit leader said with a frown.
"Nonsense! We are bandits, what kind of trouble is robbing homes and looting?" The bandit leader slapped the subordinate on the head. "Today, I'm going to rob this girl's dowry. If anyone is timid and afraid of trouble, they can damn well get out of here!"
"We obey the Boss's orders!"
"That stretch of mountain path ahead is the only way to Ye City. Ambush them for me. Once they arrive, hmph, I want both the dowry and the people! As for that Zhang Chen, chop him up and feed him to the dogs!"
"Yes!"
The subordinates responded in unison and went to prepare.
"Boss, we mustn't mess up the important matter. Zhang Shuai ordered twelve bandit strongholds in Zhongshan to rise up simultaneously and attack the government offices and commanderies. But we are going to rob the Zhen Residence's dowry. Isn't this disobeying Zhang Shuai's order?"
"Second Brother! Stop your damn nonsense. Who told him to make the people from 'Heavenly King Fort' the main force and suppress me?" the Boss said angrily. "Moreover, he clearly knows that the Boss of Black Tiger Fort was my brother, and he died at Zhang Chen's hands back then, yet he won't let me get revenge. What sense does that make! I must personally kill Zhang Chen!"
"Boss..."
"Shut up! Or I'll chop you first!"
...
In an instant, it was the beginning of the Si hour (9-11 AM).
At this time, earth-shattering changes had already occurred throughout Ji Province.
In Bohai, Zhongshan, Changshan, Hejian, Great Deer, and other places, bandits rose up one after another, plundering commanderies and counties.
For a time, beacon fires rose everywhere, and military reports came in frequently from all regions.
At this moment, Zhang Chen was in the Yingtao County main camp, gazing at the map of Ji Province in front of him.
"Report! Bandits have risen up in Bohai, attacking various counties! General Xu Huang is leading troops to suppress the rebellion!"
"Report! Bandits are causing trouble within Ganling! Lord Liu Yu, the Chancellor of the State, is leading troops to suppress the bandits!"
"Report!..."
...
Listening to the reports from the scouts constantly entering and exiting, Zhang Chen's brows were tightly furrowed, as if water could be wrung out.
Beacon fires rose everywhere. Zhang Yan had finally made his move!
"Lord." Just then, Guo Jia walked into the tent.
"General Zhao sent a carrier pigeon. The wedding procession has set off."
"How are the preparations on Zhang He and Gao Lan's side?"
"Lord, rest assured. Zhang He and Gao Lan have completed their deployment. If the bandits dare to act, we will ensure they never return!"
