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Pei Ze said, "In every battle, fight as if it\'s to the death."

That was the military training of the Pei troops - to treat every fight as a battle of annihilation.

The elders and young masters of the Ye family were quite impressed.

Even Tengyang was not clamoring anymore about having to beat up Zhao Jingwen.

Trading Zhao Jingwen for Pei Ze now looked like a hugely profitable deal in hindsight. Only now did they realize the prescience of their sixth sister\'s decision back then.

Yan Xiao reported to Pei Ze, "They\'ve rotated their defenses. A whole bunch of new green troops came in. Some veteran battalions went back to Dengzhou."

Pei Ze mused, "The Ye family should have about six thousand troops."

Yan Xiao snarked again, "Can they afford to feed so many?"

If the two prefectures were managed well, they certainly could afford it.

Yan Xiao crossed his arms. "Wow, she\'s raising an army now?"

"Of course," Pei Ze said. "There are no seasoned troops without plenty of drills. War itself is the best training."

Now Dengzhou and Tangzhou were stable, so for training purposes, all the bandits and thieves had been cleared out. The cities barely even shut their gates at night. With the fighting in Junzhou, taking the hardest obstacle Dingcan had paved the way for relative ease later. Ye Suijin naturally wanted to blood all the new recruits.

Walking a lap around the battlefield, seeing the severed limbs and ruptured bellies, vomiting a few times gets you used to it. Those who completely break down mentally can be pulled back to go home and peacefully farm. Deserters when the war drums sound get beheaded by axe squads at the front.

This way, the new recruits become veterans.

What concerned Pei Ze was, "Are all her troops now completely off the fields?"

Yan Xiao said, "Can\'t be fully right?"

Pei Ze\'s troops were completely taken off production. Because he faced so many immediate geopolitical disputes around him, his men were professional soldiers. This was also partly why Fangzhou was not thriving, with two to three thousand young and able-bodied men fixed in the military and not engaging in production.

But the quality of half-farmer half-soldier troops truly could not compare to full-time forces. Yet farming also enabled prosperity in an area.

Pei Ze was not unaware of these basic principles. He was, after all, the heir to a military governor\'s mansion.

Knowing and being able to do were two different things entirely. His circumstances simply did not allow it.

Yan Xiao said, "Father, once we stabilize Junzhou, we\'ll coordinate properly with the Emperor. The north will be secure. We can also establish some military colonies then."

And so, Ye Suijin\'s proposal to cooperate on Junzhou was agreed to with acclaim top to bottom in Fangzhou. Interests drove actions, far more effectively than empty promises and pie in the sky rhetoric.

After taking the city, the spoils still had to be divided, cough, not divided...allocated.

The Pei troops had contributed no small amount. Without their involvement, the Ye family army may not have been able to take the city gates while Dingcan focused its strength on defending one side.

The seat of Junzhou prefecture was in Dingcan. With the treasury here, Ye Suijin tallied up and divided the spoils very generously after the capture.

Yan Xiao looked over a few of the ledgers, and indicated satisfaction.

Looking forward to continued cooperation next time.

Ye Suijin really had thick skin.

"Lord Pei," she oozed affectionately, "My family\'s sons all profoundly admire and revere Lord Pei, wishing for nothing more than for Lord Pei to be their elder.

Pei Ze was very wary of Ye Suijin\'s smoldering gaze. He kept his face stiff. "What is it you want?"

Ye Suijin laughed radiantly. "Since they treat Lord Pei as elder, I was thinking, for the next campaign against Quxiang, to have them accompany Lord Pei, so they may witness Lord Pei\'s magnificence."

Pei Ze\'s own son wasn\'t even grown tall enough to shoulder height for Pei Ze to directly mentor on the battlefield, yet he was now supposed to mentor others\' sons first.

Yet somehow, Pei Ze felt a twitch in his heart and an itch in his hand.

He put his hands behind his back. "Not too many."

"Not many," Ye Suijin promised, "Just three at a time."

Each time...

The first batch to come over were naturally the third and fourth young masters. The older ones had to come first, and they brought along little Tengyang to pair up.

Yet Tengyang was already grown to a man\'s height.

The three stood respectfully before Pei Ze. Pei Ze imagined for a moment they were all his sons...

How delightful that would be.

But in reality, Pei Dingxi only came up to Tengyang\'s shoulder height.

An exasperating thing.

Pei Ze knew why Ye Suijin was sending these youths over.

The Ye family troops were decent, but still just decent. This decency was drilled into them.

But they were still far from battle-hardened soldiers.

Especially since the Pei family troops were truly an army alone. Though they held Fangzhou, it was still difficult to truly take root compared to a native family like the Yes.

Under these circumstances, a wolfish nature was bred.

This was something the youths did not experience in their own home forces.

Eyes alone could not convey it. Ye Suijin sent them to live among the Pei family troops, to personally experience things.

Each brought a hundred personal guards, so three hundred men came over in total.

Very good - not only helping to mentor the children, but to train the troops as well.

After Tengyang arrived at the Pei camp, he looked around and asked Yan Xiao, "Little Lang\'s not here?"

Yan Xiao said, "Little Lang\'s still young."

Tengyang put his fists on his hips. "That\'s right, he\'s still a kid."

Yan Xiao asked, "Did you need him for something?"

Tengyang said, "I wanted to tell him about how I climbed the walls of Dingcan."

Had to let the brat appreciate his elder brother\'s magnificence.

The elder brother was an adult now, able to lead troops and fight battles, heh heh.

After the two families divided up the spoils, they regrouped at Dingcan, replenished their supplies, and advanced west.

With the capital already taken, it would be much smoother going forward.

They advanced from Quxian to Fenglie. Junzhou was pacified.

Yet Ye Suijin said, "Now that we\'re here already..."

Pei Ze was used to this by now. He asked, "What is it now?"

Ye Suijin said, "If Lord Pei trusts me, I will assist Lord Pei in taking Zhushan and Shangyong."

These two places were in the west of Fangzhou.

The further west, the more they left the Nanyang Basin, and the higher the mountains rose. The geography was completely different from Dengzhou and Tangzhou.

The two families working together would take less effort and casualties than attacking solo. It just required paying out some spoils as thanks for the cooperation.

But for Pei Ze, he could spare each one of his elite soldiers of course it was worth it.

Pei Ze said, "No need to make excuses between our two families."

Ye Suijin guffawed loudly.

The two led their troops on the expedition. Naturally they were not completely out of contact with home. There were periodic messengers back and forth to relay news. This allowed the home front to feel reassured as well.

Especially Pei Ze, who was kept constantly updated on Pei Dingxi\'s condition back home. Only this allowed him to feel at ease.

And so, Pei Dingxi also knew about the front line situations. When Pei Lian asked, he would of course tell her, "Junzhou has been taken and the spoils allocated. Our northern borders are now stable, and things will be easier going forward."

Of course Pei Lian did not come ask on her own initiative.

She did not understand military affairs. It was Zhao Jingwen who had her ask. After she asked and got the news, she relayed it to Zhao Jingwen.

Zhao Jingwen bowed his head silently for a long while.

He had taken the risk of marrying Pei Lian to break free of being nailed down as a "bedside ornament" in the Ye family manor. Yet now he was still trapped by the status of "son-in-law".

How could Zhao Jingwen sit still for slaughter? He had to break free of this situation. There was more than one path for breaking the dilemma, and he could not just try one. He had to take a multi-pronged approach.

With Pei Lian, the most important thing was for her to conceive soon.

Pei Ze was already long past the age where he should have upgraded to being a grandfather. But Pei Dingxi\'s late birth still left room for anticipation.

There was a saying about skipped generations being close.

Although the child Pei Lian bore would not be surnamed Pei, it would still have half Pei blood. With the Pei family numbers so paltry, the daughter and son-in-law had to be kept close. If there really was a third generation, surely he would dote on the child.

Emotions were not perfectly reliable, but often formed cracks that could be leveraged.

These days, Zhao Jingwen had been very diligent, with Pei Lian lost in his tender love, obediently following his every word.

At this moment, seeing him bow his head wordlessly, she quickly grasped his hand. "What is it, Zhao Lang?"

Zhao Jingwen raised his head and gazed at her for a moment.

She was sixteen now.

But back when Ye Suijin fought for family head, competed in wrestling on the platform, and invited suitors in trials of martial skill, she was only seventeen then.

Zhao Jingwen sighed internally.

He asked Pei Lian from the depths of his heart, "Lian Nang, I want to know, what exactly are your hopes towards father-in-law and second brother?"

Pei Lian was shocked.

Zhao Jingwen said, "I know you had a pitiful wandering childhood, and father-in-law and second brother ought to compensate you. What I want to know is, exactly what must they do? To what degree, before you can be satisfied?"

Pei Lian said, "I..."

She said "I..." twice, but her eyes grew confused.

Zhao Jingwen knew that Pei Lian\'s heart was bound by resentment, but actually had never seriously thought over this issue with her brain.

He said, "If you really can\'t let go of your resentment towards your father-in-law and Er Lang, then come with me. I\'ll take you away. We can go anywhere, wander far, far away from your father-in-law and Er Lang, so you won\'t be reminded of them and get angry and upset. What do you think?"

"That\'s impossible," Pei Lian blurted out.

Zhao Jingwen knew it.

Deep down, Pei Lian had never thought of leaving Pei Ze, and might even plan to never leave Pei Ze for the rest of her life.

No matter how willful a person is, as long as they\'re not a fool, deep down they know what their willfulness relies on.

They just won\'t admit it out loud.

Resenting this reliance, yet unable to leave it or dare not leave it, a person becomes twisted as a result.

And so, she hoped a new reliance would appear for her to borrow its power.

Pei Lian didn\'t think any of this through consciously, it was all pure instinct.

"I knew you still love your father after all. Blood ties can\'t be erased." Zhao Jingwen said approvingly, "You\'re not an unfilial person."

Pei Lian lowered her head silently.

"Lian Niang, I truly ache for the suffering you went through when you were young. In the future, I will treat you well and compensate you properly." Zhao Jingwen held Pei Lian\'s hand and spoke earnestly.

How could Pei Lian not be moved by such an understanding and gentle husband? "Zhao Lang!"

Zhao Jingwen embraced her. "I understand, I know it all."

Pei Lian\'s eyes brimmed with tears, and her throat tightened slightly.

Zhao Jingwen patted her back gently, nuzzling his chin against her temple, full of tenderness.

"From now on, I will take care of you and protect you. I won\'t let you suffer the tiniest grievance." He said, "But Lian Niang..."

Zhao Jingwen held Pei Lian away to look into her eyes. "A virtuous wife brings honor to her husband. I can\'t keep going on like this."

"I eat and drink off your father now, yet I contribute nothing to him. What right do I have to tell him to trust me with you?"

"Your father\'s adopted sons see me as a useless sponge. How could they respect my wife?"

"Lian Niang, this can\'t go on. I must...go out into the world."

"Nowadays, military power and achievements are paramount. I...can\'t just stay home obediently like Er Lang."

"For you, I must go fight for a chance out there."

"I\'m going to tell your father I want to serve in his army and win merits for him!"