Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 260 Pretending to be Sick
Zhang Yang always maintained a level that made the other party uncomfortable but too embarrassed to complain, and bullied the younger generations of the Cao and Sima families as revenge.
During his speech, Zhang Yang also specifically mentioned: "By the way , nephew Sima, that kid Zhongda... ahem, I mean my second nephew Sima, he doesn't seem to be in good health recently. He even declined the invitation of Prime Minister Cao due to illness! Tsk tsk tsk tsk, nephew Cao, didn't your uncle tell you that if you don't take care of your body when you are young, you will be weak and sickly in the future?"
That's right, because Sima Lang took on the important task of coming to Jinling with Cao Pi, Cao Cao also took good care of Sima. After all... Sima Lang's life would be in danger if he was not careful, and Cao Cao also needed to ensure that Sima Lang would not betray him.
Whether it was care or winning over, Sima Yi, who had just come of age this year, was summoned several years earlier than in history, and Sima Yi... "still" claimed to be ill and avoided the invitation.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Zhang Yang always feels that after hearing the news, Sima Lang’s first reaction is not worry, but some more complicated emotion...
But in the next moment, Sima Lang's face was full of worry, which made Zhang Yang ignore the strange feeling just now.
"Is my brother's condition serious?" Sima Lang asked with a worried look on his face.
"It's just rheumatism. Although he can't lift anything with his hands or shoulders, his life is not in danger...but his marriage with my niece can't go through." Zhang Yang looked as if to say, "I'm going to cancel your engagement."
"That's such a pity..." Sima Lang became a little absent-minded.
At this moment, one of Zhang Yang's men suddenly came in and said something in his ear.
Zhang Yang's face changed when he heard this, and then... Zhang Yang, who had been pretending not to understand Sima Lang's intention to send him away and was lingering in the inn and making sarcastic remarks, quickly prepared to leave.
Before leaving, he only left a sentence: "You don't need to see me off, my three nephews. When I drink with Brother Fengxian, I will definitely not forget to say a few good words for you!"
It was not until Zhang Yang walked away that Cao Pi became so angry that he wanted to smash the teacup in his hand. However, when he saw Sima Lang staring at him, he put it back awkwardly.
"Wow, it's okay for me to suffer a little injustice, but I'm just angry that he humiliated you, Boda, like that!" Cao Pi cried.
Sima Lang: ...
Well, at least I can act, even if my acting style is a bit monotonous, but at least it has its merits - Sima Lang comforted himself.
If the other people in the Prime Minister's Office invested in Cao Cao, then Sima Lang invested in Cao Pi in advance. It was destined from the moment he agreed to come to Jiangdong with Cao Pi.
"I've thought of a way to deal with him." Cao Bang said seriously.
When Sima Lang was about to persuade him not to cause trouble, Cao Pi asked, "What's the solution?"
"We can ask him to help us get ice rations. If he doesn't get them, we'll laugh at him. If he does get them... we'll eat the ice unicorn while laughing at him behind his back." Cao Bang continued seriously.jpg .
Sima Lang felt even more upset...
…
At the same time, Bai Tu and Jiang Wan had already arrived at the Naxian Hall.
It’s not that Zhang Chunhua’s talent was so great that Bai Tu had to come to meet her in person, but... the meanings of the two are completely different!
If Bai Tu summoned Zhang Chunhua to the general's mansion now, it would mean that Bai Tu wanted to bring this matter to light, or even... it would mean that Bai Tu wanted to make use of Zhang Chunhua.
After all, he had already been invited to meet her in the palace. If he was only given a small official position in the end, that would be a loss of face for him. Maybe someone would spread rumors, wondering if Bai Tu had made some demands and Zhang Chunhua had not satisfied them, so that was why he did this...
As for coming to the Naxian Hall, Bai Tu nominally came to inspect the operation of various government offices in Jinling.
As for the time when he "happened" to meet Zhang Chunhua, it was reasonable for him to make the decision on her behalf.
Regardless of whether others believe it or not, after arriving at the Naxian Hall, Bai Tu really asked about the recent progress of the Naxian Hall's work, and then naturally led the topic to the "virtuous" person who had just been "recruited" today.
"Zhang Chunhua... the Zhang family from Hanoi? Well, even the Zhang family from far away Bingzhou has talented people come to the Naxian Hall. This is all thanks to your keen eye for talent and your hard work." Bai Tu praised the officials in the Naxian Hall.
"My lord, you are too kind. It is all thanks to your kindness that we have such a grand occasion of the whole world's loyalty. I am just a lucky chance." The owner of the inn wisely put the blame back on him.
Then Bai Tu naturally wanted to meet Zhang Chunhua.
When Zhang Chunhua first heard that she was asked to go to the Naxian Hall again, she felt a little dissatisfied - normally, the assessment process of the Naxian Hall had been completed, and she should go to the Ministry of Personnel to wait for appointment and dismissal.
Why do you want to go back to Naxian Hall again?
Is it because I’m a woman?
Thinking of Zhang Chunhua's facial features, which are apparently "soft and beautiful" when viewed alone, a fierce feeling emerged...
She had been feeling angry since before leaving Hanoi.
She and Sima Yi had been engaged before, and she even admired Sima Yi at one time. Although the two families had become enemies because of her uncle's affairs, she would not regret the engagement because of this. After all, Zhang also had to save face and could not let people think that she "could not afford to lose."
However, just last year, after Sima Lang was promoted to an important position in the Prime Minister's Office, Sima Yi was also recruited.
When Zhang Chunhua first heard the news, she thought that she would be getting married soon. After all, they were both of the right age. If Sima Yi was recruited at this time, he would probably... take office after getting married, right?
But at this time, news came that Sima Yi suddenly suffered from rheumatism!
Zhang Chunhua hurried to visit him, and... through some clues and her understanding of Sima Yi, she guessed that he was most likely pretending to be sick.
Although she did not fully understand Sima Yi's thoughts at the moment, Zhang Chunhua was still willing to support him and proposed that they could get married first so that she could "act" with him.
However, Sima Yi did not appreciate it, probably because he thought that this would increase the chance of being exposed. Even though Zhang Chunhua spoke out in private, he still insisted that he was sick and tried his best to facilitate the cancellation of the engagement with Zhang Chunhua!
Rheumatism...
Even for the sake of his daughter's future happiness, Zhang Wang did not care about the previous face issues. Since Sima Yi was so "righteous", he agreed directly.
In this matter, everyone felt that Sima Yi was a man of noble character and did not want to implicate his fiancée. Only Zhang Chunhua deeply hated his ruthlessness.
However, Sima Yi insisted that he was suffering from rheumatism, and Zhang Chunhua was unable to explain it to others. She couldn't say that she could tell because she knew his movements and habits. It was too unconvincing!
Moreover, even though Zhang Chunhua hated him for being so heartless, she still had a trace of protection for Sima Yi in her heart - although she didn't know why Sima Yi did this, if his pretending to be sick was exposed, Sima Yi would probably become paralyzed even if he was not sick!
Therefore, Zhang Chunhua left Hanoi with her father, carrying the reputation of breaking off an engagement... The reason why Zhang Wang left with his brother Zhang Yang was also because he did not want to face the Sima family.
Poor guy, he still thought that he was somewhat unfair to Sima Yi.
Over the past few months, Zhang Chunhua's resentment had grown more and more intense.
When Zhang Chunhua heard that the General's Mansion actually appointed a female official, she became interested...
Doesn’t that guy claim to be smart and pretend to be sick for some purpose?
If she could get a higher official position and more power than him in the General's Mansion, or even if the Marquis of Chu made further progress one day in the future, she could become one of the three female officials... seeing that guy had made all the calculations, but was still worse than herself who was "abandoned", how could she still have the dignity to live!
