Chapter 1749: Marrying Two Daughters, General of Chariots and Cavalry

June.

Su Mingzhe went to Nishan Academy to marry Wang Lan.

Although Wang Shiyu, the father-in-law, did not look happy, he did not say much. He just pulled Su Mingzhe aside and warned him for a long time, asking his favorite disciple not to bully his daughter.

……

After the wedding with Wang Lan.

Su Mingzhe rushed to Shangyu again.

The day when the son-in-law pays homage to the cabinet.

Su Mingzhe led the wedding procession and just arrived at the door of Zhu's house, he saw Zhu Yingtai's eight brothers holding up sticks and insisting on going through the process of "beating the son-in-law".

Beating the son-in-law is a part of the wedding process, also known as the "make-up urge show".

What this means is that from the moment the groom enters his father-in-law's house, the bride's relatives and friends start beating the son-in-law with sticks, and the beating will not stop until the bride gets on the groom's sedan chair.

This custom has been passed down since the Han Dynasty and can be said to have a long history.

Most people just pretend to fight and don't really fight.

However, Su Mingzhe saw that his eight brothers-in-law were looking at him with eager eyes, and it was obvious that they were ready for a real fight, which made him "cowardly before the battle even begins".

……

The beating never came.

In other words, Zhu Yingtai's eight brothers were just pretending to scare their future brother-in-law, and they didn't really want to fight.

Su Mingzhe didn't want to lose face, so he quickly bowed and thanked his uncles.

Not long after.

Zhu Yingtai was wearing a red veil and was led out by her maid Yinxin, holding her hand.

Amid the sound of gongs and drums.

Su Mingzhe rode a tall horse and led the team back to the Su Mansion in Yuyao.

……

The night of flowers and candles in the bridal chamber.

When Su Mingzhe walked into the bridal chamber, he saw the bride and her maid Yinxin holding two white porcelain bottles and admiring the patterns on them. He couldn't help but smile:
"Yinxin, go down and have a rest."

"Yes, uncle."

When Yin Xin saw the man, she seemed frightened and threw the porcelain bottle directly into her young lady's arms. Then, ignoring Zhu Yingtai's pleading eyes, she lowered her head shyly and walked out.

Su Mingzhe locked the door and returned to the bed, only to see that the bride had hidden the porcelain vase with beautiful patterns painted on it under the quilt.

Without exposing the woman's little trick, Su Mingzhe poured two glasses of wine, came to the bedside, and chuckled:

"Madam, let's drink the wedding wine first."

"Who is your wife!"

Seeing that she had nowhere to retreat, Zhu Yingtai decided to throw away the red scarf on her head and angrily shouted at the man:

"Su Mingzhe, tell me the truth. When did you find out that I was a girl? Why did you force me to marry you?"

"Yingtai, I only found out that you were a girl when I visited your home before the Spring Festival and heard people say that the Zhu family had eight sons and one daughter. But I like you... I think I started to fall in love with you when I took care of you when you were infected with the winter plague."

Su Mingzhe looked down at the red thread between himself and Zhu Yingtai. He had long been deeply in love with her. He guessed that the woman was asking this question out of shame and anger, so he immediately answered politely:
"When I was sure that I liked you, I thought I had a tendency to be a traitor. So, when the dean told me that the governor of Wuxing wanted to recruit me as an assistant official, I didn't think too much about it and directly agreed to accept the recruitment and left the academy in order to avoid you... Later, when I found out that you were a girl, I realized that I didn't have a tendency to be a traitor..."

The true and false confessions instantly made the girl, who was easily moved, feel better.

However, Zhu Yingtai was not stupid, and soon continued to ask:
"But why did you ask me to marry you when you already have a wife and concubine? Don't you know that it's very unfair for me to share a husband with other women?"

"It's really not my fault!"

Su Mingzhe had a painful look on his face and explained helplessly:
"When I was in Langya, I just told the then Langya King about this as a joke. Who would have thought that within a few months, the Langya King would become the emperor and even help me get married... An opportunity to spend my life with the woman I love is right in front of me. I can't refuse it, right?"

Seeing that the man had given an explanation and that Zhu Yingtai was not really opposed to the marriage, she reluctantly complied with the man's advances.

A beautiful night.

the next day.

Su Mingzhe brought the bride to pay respects to his parents-in-law.

Su's father and mother followed the etiquette and said a few words before letting the two leave. After returning to her residence, Zhu Yingtai asked her maid Yinxin to accompany her to catch up on her sleep.

Last night, after the two of them performed the Zhougong ceremony, Zhu Yingtai kept chatting with the man for most of the night and now she is almost dying of sleep.

"Yingtai, you can't sleep now."

Su Mingzhe stopped the woman.

Zhu Yingtai asked in confusion:
"Why can't you sleep?"

"You haven't gone to greet Wang Lan yet!"

Su Mingzhe's words reminded Zhu Yingtai.

The emperor granted the marriage, and Wang Lan's name was placed before Zhu Yingtai's.

Moreover, Wang Lan got married a month earlier than Zhu Yingtai. The Wang family of Taiyuan was of higher status than the Zhu family of Shangyu, and Wang Lan was two years older, so she was naturally the older sister.

After hearing this, Zhu Yingtai had no choice but to follow the man to the courtyard where Wang Lan lived to visit her sister.

When Wang Lan met Zhu Yingtai, she was naturally very happy, after all, she was an acquaintance.

The two girls addressed each other as sisters and had a cordial conversation.

Wang Lan simply let Zhu Yingtai rest at her residence.

As for Su Mingzhe, after returning to Zhu Yingtai's courtyard, he was served by the maid Yinxin.

……

A month later.

Su Mingzhe brought his family back to Kaiyang County of Langya State and began to recruit soldiers.

His current title is General of Conquering the Enemy, an official of the third rank. According to the military system, he can have 2,000 soldiers under his command and command an army of 50,000 to 100,000.

Langya State is located on the border between the two countries, and its people are relatively tough.

Su Mingzhe quickly selected two thousand soldiers from his own army (royal guards), and then recruited another 50,000 troops to prepare for war.

……

After the death of Emperor Murong Jun of Yan, the new emperor ascended the throne and vowed to inherit the great achievements of the previous emperor. He led his army south to attack Jin.

After Jin Emperor Sima Pi learned the news, he had no choice but to continue recruiting soldiers and sending them to the northern border.

……

A few months passed in the blink of an eye.

The second year of Sima Pi's accession to the throne.

In early March, during the farming season, a million Yan troops marched south again.

Because last time, Su Mingzhe's guerrilla warfare made the Yan people extremely embarrassed. This time, the Yan people simply bypassed the Langya Kingdom and only placed 50,000 troops in Taishan County as a tie down force, and did not plan to attack Langya.

Su Mingzhe was overjoyed when he heard the news.

When the main force of the Yan army attacked the heartland of the Central Plains, he immediately led his army to launch a surprise attack on Taishan County.

The Yan people never expected that Su Mingzhe would launch a counterattack. They were caught off guard and their 50,000-strong army was easily destroyed.

After occupying Taishan County, Su Mingzhe sent people to attack the Yan army's food supply route while organizing the Han people in Yan to migrate south.

After the food supply of the million-strong army was cut off, the Yan people had trouble getting food and had to return in a hurry.

Su Mingzhe was one step ahead in skills, and he used the tactic of clearing the enemy's territory while they were on their way back.

The Yan army had not received effective supplies for half a month and its combat effectiveness continued to decline.

Early June.

In the Donghai County and Yanci County of Yan State, Su Mingzhe launched two surprise attacks, annihilated nearly 200,000 Yan troops and captured more than 50,000.

Unfortunately, Su Mingzhe had too few troops and the enemy had too many, and the area was also Yan State’s territory, so the results of the battle could not be expanded indefinitely.

Even so, Su Mingzhe took the opportunity to expand the territory by thousands of miles and took the entire Qi and Lu land into his possession.

When the news reached Jiankang City, Sima Pi was delighted and directly promoted Su Mingzhe to Duke of Qi, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Governor of Yanzhou and Youzhou.

(End of this chapter)