Ink Burns

Chapter 212 Bouncing the Ball

[At the request of readers, I've placed the different treatment of the previous chapter in the pinned comment section of that chapter. Those who want to read it can take a look, and those who are worried about it affecting their emotional engagement later on can skip it without affecting the subsequent plot~ Hehehe~]

When Zhou returned to the Guanbei Marquis's residence, it was already dusk. The outer courtyard was brightly lit. The nanmu central pillars that supported the left and right beams supported the weight of the Chang family's century-old roof ridge and its reputation for being horizontal and vertical, upright and peaceful.

The courtyard was bustling with activity, the men's rough and unrestrained voices rising and falling, "hahaha" like drunken taunts, muffled groans of exertion, and the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground with a "bang".

Amidst the chaos, a joyful atmosphere permeated the scene.

Madam Zhou's face was ashen. She raised an eyebrow and asked the maidservant serving her, "What's going on in the front yard?"

The maidservant chuckled and said, "The Marquis, along with Seventh Master, Eighth Master, and Young Master Rong, are having a drink in the front courtyard. They first competed in archery, and now they're competing in lifting stone weights. Young Master Rong is the best; he hit the target seven times with his arrows and lifted the stone weight two hundred jin (approximately 100 kg). The Marquis was so pleased that he rewarded Young Master Rong—"

"Snapped--!"

Zhou slapped the little maid hard across the face!

Her smile was blinding!
Their laughter and joy were too glaring!

Her son was killed in retaliation, and nobody in the entire mansion cared! Especially after those three so-called "young masters" from the collateral branches arrived, no one cared about her son anymore!

Those three are what kind of young masters?! What kind of young masters are they?! They're just poor relatives who came to freeload! Just because they passed the military examination doesn't mean they're so great! That they have a successor! That they don't need her son anymore!

Her son is the only male heir in the third branch of the Chang family!

Su Ge'er is the only one!

The Chang family did not originate from the Jiangnan gentry; they rose from ordinary soldiers in central Henan. They happened to follow Emperor Taizu in raising an army, and most of the members of the Chang family died. Instead, they were given the official title of a fifth-rank commander of a thousand-household garrison, guarding a strategic point in the interior of Zhongdu. This allowed them to completely shed their status as soldiers and be promoted to military officers, under the command of the Zhongdu Commandery.

Afterwards, the Great Wei Dynasty was established, and the Tatars in the north, the Japanese pirates in the southeast, and the various barbarian tribes in the southwest took turns to appear. At that time, the Great Wei's nine major border fortresses had not yet been built, and the Five Military Commands could bypass the local command offices to dispatch military households. The strategic inland areas of Zhongdu were very peaceful, so the military households under Zhongdu's jurisdiction packed their bags and went wherever there was a battle.

With more battles come more merits, and thus a group of military households who dared to die and take risks emerged.

The Chang family was among them.

Where does a fifth-rank commander of a thousand households stand out? The Chang family truly rose to prominence outside Shanhaiguan, in the northern frontier.

Before the Great Wei Dynasty, the Jiangnan gentry held sway and gradually encroached upon the land, leading to chaos in the court and the countryside. There was an overemphasis on civil affairs and a neglect of military matters, resulting in widespread poverty and rampant corruption. Internal strife triggered external threats, and the decline of the Nine Provinces gave rise to parasitic growth. The once-great Celestial Empire fell like a fallen dragon, providing the Tatars with an opportunity to develop in silence. The Tatars, residing outside the Great Wall, lived in three major tribes and were at the height of their military strength. The grasslands had only cattle and sheep, no gold or silver, only cavalry, no women, only endless plains, dilapidated tents, and mobile homes. There were no mountains, lakes, ornate buildings, or delicacies. If they didn't have them, they'd rob them! They'd rob the wealthy neighbor next door!

Inside Shanhaiguan, the Su family had been stationed for five generations, repelling wave after wave of harassment and invasions by the Tatars. It was at this time that the Chang family was assigned to the Su family's command. Relying on their fearless bravery, the patriarch of the Chang family had his ankle severed with a single stroke, and dragged his rotting leg to capture the leader of the Tatar branch alive. Through the opportunities to earn merit on the battlefield, he was promoted all the way up to the rank of Vice Commander-in-Chief, and even obtained a noble certificate of merit.

Although the Chang family rose to prominence here, they remained confined to the northern frontier, under the control of the Su family, unable to become the top leader or even manage the household! For over fifty years, the Five Barbarian Tribes were pacified. The Su family left one son to guard Shanhaiguan, and another to serve in the capital. If they had daughters, they also married into the capital. It was an unspoken rule that children sent to the capital were held hostage by the emperor. After Emperor Zhaode ascended the throne, the Su family's daughter who went to the capital became Xue Xiao's mother, and the son who went to the capital became the Assistant Transport Commissioner of the Waterways in the Ministry of Works, the protagonist of the Duzhou dike breach case.

Chang Lin relied on marrying her to gain connections with the Jiangnan gentry and the Grand Princess. Only then, through the Duzhou dike breach case, did he manage to get the cake left by the Su family and return to the capital to take control of the Xishan Camp!
Without her, Chang Lin would still be starving and eating grass outside Shanhaiguan!

Yes! When he married her, he used the official position her brother obtained with a false identity to establish a prestigious family background, thus concealing her and her brother's lowly origins!

They may have lied to him, but over the years, she may have brought benefits to the Chang family as well!
She's been afraid for so many years!

We've been neglected for so many years!

Why should she bear the pain of losing her son all by herself?! Why?!
Zhou's eyes, like withered, scorched leaves, were instantly ignited by a spark of fire, bursting forth with an astonishing light and courage she had never displayed before.

"Go tell the Marquis I'm not feeling well, and tell them to keep their voices down!"

Zhou stiffly uttered a sentence, then flung her sleeves—this was the greatest dissatisfaction she could express at that moment.

The little maid was slapped for no reason, and her face stung!

She shrank back as she looked at Zhou Shi, as if she were a madwoman. Normally, Zhou Shi wouldn't even step out of the inner courtyard, yet now she dared to interfere in the affairs of the men in the outer courtyard? Who gave her the audacity? Who gave her the guts to hit someone from the outer courtyard?!

The young maidservant lowered her eyes, turned around twice, and obediently replied, "Yes."

If the mistress tells me what to say, I will definitely say it. Not only will I say it, but I will also embellish it.

Zhou glanced back at the maid, took a deep breath to swallow the stale air and resentment, and entered the inner courtyard. Before she even stepped across the threshold, she smelled a strong stench of alcohol, and then her hair was suddenly pulled to one side by an external force.

Zhou screamed, "Ah—Dou—"

Because Dou's mother was the Grand Princess's person, Chang Lin didn't dare to hit her as long as she stood in front of him!

Zhou had barely uttered her first word when she awoke to find that Dou Mama was gone, and dead! She had been beaten to death with Dou Mama's tacit approval for a few dozen ingots of silver!

The man behind her had a fist bigger than her head. With a gentle push, he pulled her to his side. The smell of alcohol grew stronger, like the stench of wine lees that had been fermenting overnight in the sweltering heat of summer. It was mixed with the man's sweat, the smell of burnt meat, and his pungent breath. Zhou instinctively shrank back and curled up, covering her head with her hands!
"You—you son of a bitch, don't you want to live anymore?"

Chang Lin slapped away her hands that were covering her head, and while raising his hand to slap her down repeatedly, he asked with a laugh, "You want me to be quiet? You—slap—make—slap—my—old—slap—quiet—slap—slap—slap slap slap slap!"

Zhou felt as if his head was a ball, a ball sealed with cowhide, filled with sand. When Chang Lin patted it, the sand in his head would make a "swish swish swish" sound.

Zhou covered her disheveled hair and sobbed.