Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

"Second Master."

When Zhang Yong and the others saw Jia Lian come out, they all stepped forward and looked at Jia Lian with concern.

Jia Lian looked around, his expression darkening, and said in a deep voice, "Why are there only a few of you?"

Faced with Jia Lian's question, Zhang Yong's rough, dark face instantly fell, and the others also looked sad.

Zhao Sheng stepped forward and reported, "Second Master, we have suffered heavy losses this time!"

On the way back with Miss Aqin, we encountered an ambush by the enemy... Including the brothers who fought alongside Second Master before, the only people who came with Second Master on this trip, besides us, were three seriously injured who were temporarily unable to come and pay their respects to Second Master.

None of the others came back.

Jia Lian took a deep breath and asked again, "Where's Wang Teng?"

Zhao Sheng clenched his fists, his face contorted with pain. "During the breakout that day, he was struck by an arrow and fell from his horse. Brothers, we couldn't save him..."

Jia Lian fell silent.

Looking at the seven or eight guards in front of him, almost all of whom were injured, he recalled the passionate young men in the East Wing who had trained hard under his encouragement.

Besides Zhang Yong and his four companions, there were a total of twenty. They were all young and strong servants carefully selected from the two mansions after he inherited the title!

Now, there are only five left... one, two, three, four?

And then there's Wang Teng, who was one of the men who followed him when he went to Yangzhou to fetch Daiyu.

He was initially appointed by the imperial court as a grain transport officer and accompanied Prince Teng to the northern border. However, because Wang Teng's name was taboo to Prince Teng, he was not taken along, which he greatly regretted.

He was the most excited and thrilled about this trip to the Oirat Mongols. Little did he know that he would become the first of the five to die on the battlefield!

Although Jia Lian had rigorously trained his personal guards from the very beginning, he also knew that his twenty-odd men were far inferior to true battle-hardened soldiers.

Once they face the enemy in real combat, their survival rate will be far lower than that of battle-hardened veterans.

But emotionally, he still hoped that his guards would all live well, and live as well as possible.

In truth, if he hadn't been in such a perilous situation, his personal guards could have been trained over time. As long as their lord was safe, his guards would naturally be safe as well.

Unfortunately, their first time on the battlefield was in this dangerous situation.

Of the twenty new recruits, only five remain!

As for those who are recovering from their injuries... it's been almost two months. Those whose injuries have healed should be nearly recovered enough to come and greet him without any problem. Those who can't come probably won't be able to follow him in his future campaigns.

At this moment, even Jia Lian didn't have any good words to comfort the few remaining guards.

Where are my brothers who are recovering from their injuries?

"They've all been recuperating in the same courtyard they used to be in..."

Jia Lian nodded and silently walked down to the lower part of the building.

The guards behind him followed silently. The excitement and joy they had felt upon seeing Jia Lian return safely had vanished completely.

But they were all very grateful.

From Jia Lian's silence, they could all sense that he was deeply saddened by the casualties suffered by his personal guard.

Most of these guards had ancestors who had served under the Dukes Ning and Rong. They all knew that on the battlefield, it was their duty and their honor to protect the general with their lives.

But they were also human beings, with personal feelings. To be able to die for a general who valued them and cared about their lives was to die without regret.

Back in the courtyard, Zhao'er and Aqin came to greet him. Jia Lian's gaze lingered briefly on Aqin, who was dressed in military uniform, but after realizing she was harmless, he looked away and went to the guards who were recuperating from serious injuries.

The three bedridden guards were very excited to see Jia Lian. However, Jia Lian didn't say much, but just glanced at each of them a few times before turning to face Zhang Yong and the others.

"After the two countries reach a peace agreement, I will have people retrieve the remains of our fallen brothers, cremate them, and bring them back to the Central Plains."

If the remains could not be found, items from their warhorses and dwellings were used for burning.

"Zhao Sheng, you're in charge of this. Remember, those who sacrificed themselves are our brothers, our family! We can't let our loved ones' souls rest in peace after death, so you must handle this matter well."

"Yes! I will obey your orders, Second Master!" Upon receiving the order, Zhao Sheng immediately knelt down and saluted in admiration.

The others, especially the three who had barely escaped death and were now confined to their sickbeds and destined for lifelong disability, all blushed and, disregarding their injuries, tried to roll down to express their loyalty and willingness to die for Jia Lian.

A ruler treats his subjects like brothers, and subjects regard their ruler as their heart and soul! Perhaps not all of Jia Lian's guards understood this principle, but at this moment, when they learned that Jia Lian treated them like family, they all felt that being able to be loyal to a master like Jia Lian, even death, became less frightening.

……

Because Jia Lian had been delayed in the desert for more than a month, the wedding delegation that had returned to Ganning Pass had long since returned to normal.

Both the comforting of the wounded and injured soldiers and the handover negotiations with the new Oirat envoy have been largely completed under Xiang He's leadership.

Jia Lian didn't intend to get too involved in these matters. Although he was the chief envoy, since Xiang He and the others had already done the work, he wasn't one to reap the benefits of others' labor.

He had already gained enough merit and prestige this time, so he was happy to give such a small achievement to his subordinates and take a few days to rest while awaiting Emperor Ningkang's decree.

However, while he desired leisure, leisure was destined to dislike him. When Xiang He reported to him on the provisional results of the negotiations with the Oirat envoys, Jia Lian immediately appeared in the delegation's council chamber.

"These are the revised terms of our official correspondence with the Oirat envoys. Gentlemen, please feel free to raise any opinions you may have. In particular, regarding their desire for their eldest prince to marry our princess, shouldn't we carefully consider this..."

Xiang He read the newly revised articles to the delegation members, and then glanced at Jia Lian, who was sitting at the head of the table, and said this.

In fact, the official letter between the two countries had already been signed when the third prince of the Oirat arrived in the capital of Wei.

However, after the unforeseen events at the Zhanghe Beach, both countries had reasons to sever ties. Now that, due to various considerations, neither side has done so, the previous letters of credence remain valid.

However, given that the Oirat had broken the agreement first, they could not completely follow the previous letter of state. The Oirat had to give up some benefits, otherwise the Great Wei would lose face.

Therefore, the revised terms shifted the interests that should have belonged to the Oirat side to the Wei side.

This was originally a relatively simple matter. They had already reached a conclusion with the Oirat envoy and were just waiting to send the first draft back to the capital for Emperor Ningkang to review. Once everything was in order, the formal signing could be completed.

An official stood up and said, "The Oirat's sincerity in revising their credentials this time is quite evident. They have made concessions on several clauses. Clearly, they have realized their mistakes and are willing to atone for the damage to the friendly relations between our two countries."

As for their new proposal to have the eldest prince marry our princess, I don't think it's worth discussing further.

As Song Yewang also said, this action was precisely the Oirat's way of making amends for their third prince's betrayal of the alliance between the two countries. The Oirat king personally instructed that if Princess Zhaoyang of our dynasty was safe and sound, they were willing to let their eldest prince marry our princess, and the previously agreed-upon terms for the marriage remained unchanged.

King Ye of Song also said that although their eldest prince already had a princess, in order to show respect for our superior state, they would demote the original princess to a concubine and let our princess take the principal position.

Furthermore, during the negotiations, in order to get us to agree to this clause, the Oirat not only promised to reduce the border tax between the two countries by half within ten years, but they also agreed to our condition of purchasing an additional 5,000 warhorses.

Judging from this, the Oirat people are truly repentant and their desire to marry our princess is very sincere.

"We have taken this opportunity to secure these benefits for the court, and His Majesty will surely be delighted to know of it."

This official's words also reflected the thoughts of the vast majority of envoys.

They had already agreed on this matter and were just waiting to send it back to the capital. As long as Emperor Ningkang did not reject it, they would be considered to have done a great service.

As for whether Emperor Ningkang would reject it? Obviously not.

She was originally a princess who was to be married off, but now she can also gain a second wave of benefits for the country. Why not?

The saying goes that a good woman doesn't marry twice. In any case, Princess Zhaoyang was already engaged to the Oirat Mongols. Now that the Oirat Mongols are willing to marry her again, and with even more favorable terms than before, what use would she be if she didn't marry into the Oirat Mongols?

The prominent families in the capital would probably not be willing to marry a princess who is considered a widow...

Therefore, they didn't feel that their actions were wrong at all. Everything was for the sake of national interests.

Some, however, are quick-witted.

They had already discussed and agreed on this matter, but Xiang He suddenly brought it up again, and to everyone's surprise, Jia Lian showed up today.

Judging from Xiang He's reaction, it's not hard to guess that Jia Lian was dissatisfied with the outcome of their negotiations.

Those with higher emotional intelligence can understand this better. Jia Lian and Princess Zhaoyang already had a close relationship, and this time he escorted her back over a thousand miles, going through countless life-or-death experiences. Perhaps he has some special feelings for Princess Zhaoyang, and naturally he doesn't want her to marry into the Oirat tribe.

Although they could guess the reason, they didn't immediately try to curry favor with Jia Lian. After all, they were fighting for the interests of the court, and even if Jia Lian held power, he couldn't do anything to them for that, could he?

Therefore, those who saw through it all remained silent for the time being.

Those who haven't seen through it naturally echo what the previous person said.

Jia Lian sat at the head of the table, silently watching the people in front of him, his heart filled with boundless anger.

But he didn't show it.

He merely stared coldly at the few who had spoken, and when they gradually noticed his gaze and quieted down, he sneered, "Gentlemen, do you really enjoy using women to get promoted and make money? You think you can sell a woman once and then sell her again?"