After rebirth, the Queen and I are on the run.

Chapter 1193 Recruiting troops
"Well done, Master Ye is very thoughtful." Zhang Songyu praised, and winked at the head maid beside her.

Xie Lu immediately walked towards Ye Acheng and the others, and handed a box to Ye Acheng: "This is a reward from the Marquis and his wife. Please accept it."

The Ye brothers hurriedly stood up, bowed, and said, "We are grateful for the kindness of the Marquis and his wife."

Since it was a gift from a noble person, saying even half a word of dissent would be considered disobedience, so Ye Acheng remained silent.

"Open it and take a look," Zhang Songyu said.

Upon receiving the order, Ye Acheng opened the box and saw that it contained deeds to houses and land in the capital, as well as six letters of recommendation for admission to the Imperial Academy. He was so shocked that he hurriedly knelt down and said, "My Lord, my Lady, this is too precious. I dare not accept it."

Ye Awen then knelt down.

Zhang Songyu smiled: "The capital is the central hub of the nation. You young people from Lingnan Prefecture should go and see it... Your generation has come from Lingnan Prefecture to Jiangnan Prefecture. Your next generation should come to the capital. Otherwise, you will be stuck in your ways."

This?
To be honest, neither Ye Acheng nor Ye Awen had any intention of going to Beijing to make a living.

Firstly, they valued their clan; secondly, if they went too far away, their influence would be weakened, and if they encountered trouble, they would have no relatives to help them. They also couldn't get used to the food and were afraid of the cold, so they might die far from home.

Therefore, the Ye family only wants to develop in Lingnan Prefecture, based on their own strength, and then manage the "living waterway" in Jiangnan Prefecture.

"My lord and my lady, my family's capabilities are limited, and I dare not presume to establish myself in the capital," Ye Acheng refused again.

Unfortunately, now that I've given it to you, how can I allow you to refuse?

Xie Jing said in a deep voice, "Since the Madam has bestowed it, you may accept it. Do you intend to disobey the Marquis's mansion?!"

Those barbarian commoners from the south, they didn't even know how to accept the Xie family's kindness, they really don't know what's good for them!

"This humble subject thanks Your Excellency and Madam for your generous reward." Ye Acheng did not want to die in Jiangnan Prefecture, so he wisely accepted.

He then tactfully said, "This humble subject dares to ask Madam Hou for her instructions."

“Master Ye is indeed a man who can make his business in Jiangnan Prefecture. He understands things very quickly.” Zhang Songyu didn’t keep him in suspense and said directly: “Your Lingnan Prefecture loves male offspring. Every household has at least two male offspring, and as many as five. There are even seven brothers.”

"Now that a powerful enemy is invading Wei territory, the southern troops have been transferred to the north to fight the enemy, resulting in insufficient troops in the south. The Ye family can raise more martial arts instructors and need not worry about money and food."

The Xie and Zhang families will provide money and food; you only need to provide manpower.

But when he said this, Ye Acheng and Xie Jing were all taken aback.

Xie Jing grasped Zhang Songyu's hand, looking at her with delight, and called her by her nickname, "A-Qiong..."

Zhang Songyu blushed and quickly withdrew her hand, scolding, "There are still guests here."

Xie Jing, a powerful scion of a prominent family, loved to act against conventional norms and refused to listen. He forcefully pulled Zhang Songyu's hand and held it in his large palm.

Granny Zhang, who was standing nearby, was delighted. That was the right way; only by acting spontaneously could more bloodlines be born from the Xie and Zhang families.

Zhang Songyu felt quite disgusted and wanted to disinfect her hands, but for the sake of the greater cause, she endured it and continued to say to Ye Acheng: "I have prepared a group of people. Master Ye can take them back to Lingnan Prefecture, become sworn brothers with them, add them to the Ye family genealogy, and visit relatives for three generations, so as to facilitate the actions of the Zhang and Ye families."

How can we not send our own people to supervise such an important matter?
Ye Acheng and Ye Awen were shocked to hear this.

Ye Awen said, "Madam, I'm afraid this won't work. For sworn brothers to be included in the family genealogy, all the relatives and close associates must acknowledge them."

Xie Jing was furious and directly questioned Ye Acheng: "You're the head of the Ye family, can't you even handle this little thing? Besides, don't you people like forming alliances over there? What's so difficult about this? Didn't the former head of the Huang family successfully form an alliance with Zheng Nandan and even get her listed in the family genealogy? If the former head of the Huang family could do it, why can't you?" What?
Ye Awen was stunned and wanted to tell them that this was not something that could be accomplished with just a few words or a few kowtows.

You must hold a banquet, and you must invite the clan head of a prominent local clan to sit at the banquet. If someone doesn't come, it means that clan doesn't recognize your relationship.

After the banquet, they had to lead people to visit various relatives and clan leaders to recognize each other and fully inform the Ye family that they had gained a sworn brother who was practically a blood relative.

Therefore, forming a bond is not so easy.

and……

The purpose of the Xie and Zhang families sending people to form a pact with the Ye family was not simple. They clearly wanted to use this relationship to get the Ye family to recruit soldiers for them in Lingnan Prefecture!

The Ye brothers were truly terrified and regretted associating with the Xie and Zhang families... Such powerful backers were not easy to climb. Now, their backers wanted them to repay them!
"Master Ye, the Western Rong and Eastern Mo allied forces are bringing a rat plague and are coming with great force. Our Great Wei's border line is very likely to be pushed back. And where it will be pushed back is uncertain. Therefore, we Southerners must make preparations for our descendants so that we will not be powerless to protect ourselves when war sweeps across the south."

"Master Ye, everything is available in this villa. You can eat, drink, and have fun here in peace. When you are about to return to Lingnan Prefecture, just let me know the result of your consideration." Zhang Songyu's voice was gentle, but his words left no room for negotiation.

“Husband, let’s go home.” Zhang Songyu smiled, stood up first, and looked at Xie Jing.

"Okay." Xie Jing naturally doted on her at this moment, got up, and took her hand to leave.

Zhang Er Mama, Xie Lu, Xie Shuang and other trusted servants left together, leaving only the head steward of the other courtyard.

The head steward smiled and said, "Master Ye, a banquet has been prepared in the villa. Shall we use it now? And what about the musicians? Shall we summon them to sing a song for Master Ye?"

"No, no, thank you for your kindness, Steward." Ye Acheng declined, then tentatively asked, "Steward, we came here today to pay our respects to the Lady of the Marquis. Now that we have done so, and the caravan still has matters to attend to, may we return to take care of them?"

Ye Acheng was afraid of being locked in the other courtyard until he gave in and agreed.

The head steward laughed: "The master said that Master Ye is a distinguished guest, and we old servants should just listen to the distinguished guest."

That's like saying nothing at all. Couldn't you be more specific?
Ye Acheng simply took the initiative and said, "Then we won't stay any longer and will go back to get busy."

"Yes, I will see Master Ye off." The head steward, still smiling, respectfully escorted the Ye brothers out of the villa gate.

The mule cart sped along until the villa was out of sight, and only then did Ye Awen dare to speak: "Brother, I was so scared! I thought I was going to die in there."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think the Marquis and his wife of the imperial court would kill us personally?" Ye Acheng scolded him, feeling very annoyed. He then reminded Ye Awen, "Shut up. If you have something to say, let's talk about it back at the guesthouse."

"Ah."

The two brothers remained silent the entire time, only daring to speak after entering the house the Ye family had bought and closing the doors and windows.

"Brother, should we proceed with taking people back to our hometown and sending them to the Lady of the Marquis?"

Ye Acheng was also unsure, so he said, "Don't rush, let's put it aside for now..."

"Huang Liu and the others will definitely go to find Brother Bai, Boss Zheng... go to find Huang Liu, and go with them to visit Boss Zheng."

“Brother, no! We can’t tell them. If we do, the Marquis and his wife won’t let us off the hook.” Ye Awen grabbed Ye Acheng, terrified. “This isn’t our hometown. Things will be hard to sort out here. We absolutely cannot disobey the Marquis’s wife.”

Otherwise, at best, all their businesses in the Jiangnan and Jianghuai regions would be wiped out; at worst, they might die far from home.