Chapter 62 Counterattack

  "What?"

  Before Luo Zheng finished speaking, Wang Yun had already turned pale with shock.

  Seeing him so shocked, Luo Zheng still didn't know he had said it himself.

  Wang Yun indeed wanted to kill Dong Zhuo and was thinking of a poisonous plan, but it was only just beginning to take shape and had not been planned yet. This matter had only been discussed with Huang Wan, and no one else knew about it. Now that Luo Zhen had spoken out, how could he not be shocked? He changed color and said: "The Chancellor has rendered great service to the state, how dare I have such a treasonous thought? General Luo, please do not speak rashly."

  Luo Zhen said calmly, "Is that so? Sir Situ has informed me about the secret plot of Li Ru, Niu Fu, Li Jue and others, and also invited me to his mansion for a drink. The move is indeed brilliant, I am deeply impressed."

  "This..."

  Wang Yun was speechless for a moment, secretly thinking that this young man had indeed already seen through his intentions.

  He thought again of Lü Bu's words and his own secret plans, and he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. He thought to himself that this guy was not easy to deal with, unlike Lü Bu who had bravery but no strategy. If he had known earlier, why would he have gone to provoke him?

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

  Luo Zheng continued to lower his voice and said: "Sir Situ, if you want to keep it a secret, then don't do it yourself. Although very few people know about Sir Situ's secret plan, how can it be hidden from me? If Sir Situ doesn't admit it, I won't have any way to deal with it, and I'll just have to report Sir Situ's secret plan to the Prime Minister. Whether the Prime Minister believes it or not, I don't know."

  This is a naked threat.

  Unexpectedly being calculated by Wang Yun, Luo Zheng didn't have the habit of being led by the nose.

  Moreover, knowing that Wang Yun would definitely conspire to kill Dong Zhuo, if he didn't take the opportunity to counterattack now, then he was truly dumber than a pig.

  Although Wang Yun was unwilling to admit it even if he were beaten to death, seeing that what Ruo said seemed reasonable and even revealed the plan he had just come up with, and even spoke with a threatening tone, his composure was no longer under control, and he forced himself to say: "General Luo, do not falsely accuse me, there is absolutely no such thing."

  Luo Zheng said coldly: "Since it's like this, I bid farewell."

  Having said that, he didn't say much more and got up to leave.

  Wang Yun's face changed again, and he hastily said: "Gentlemen, please calm down, let's talk this over!"

  Luo Zheng smiled and said: "What, Sir Situ is admitting that he wants to harm the Prime Minister?"

  Wang Yun naturally strongly denied it, and he didn't dare to admit such a serious crime. He repeatedly said: "Shengping, don't listen to rumors, I guarantee that there is no such thing. However, since Shengping has intentions towards my daughter, let me consider it for a moment."

  Luo Zheng said with a smile: "It should be so, then please ask Governor Situ to give me an answer before dawn tomorrow."

  Wang Yun hesitated and said: "At present, the sky is already late, I'm afraid the time is too short..."

  Luo Zheng said resolutely: "Then there's no other way."

  Wang Yun was both shocked and enraged, never expecting that his plan to manipulate others would backfire, only to find himself being blackmailed instead. This humiliating experience made him extremely indignant, but he had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.

  If Dong Zhuo were to find out about our plan, we would be in grave danger.

  Even without evidence, Dong Zhuo would still be suspicious, and his own great plan might have been ruined.

  Seeing Luo Zhengyang leave, Wang Yun hung his head and sighed for a while before barely rousing his spirits. He instructed the eunuch who had just walked over, "Quickly summon someone to invite Lord Huang Kuan to come to the manor for a chat. Tell him that I have urgent matters to discuss with him."

  The eunuch responded with a yes and immediately sent someone to invite Huang Wan.

  Before long, Huang Wan hastily arrived and asked as soon as she entered the door, "Zi Shi invited you to meet at night, I wonder if there's any urgent matter to discuss?"

  Wang Yun sighed and recounted what had just happened.

  Huang Wan was suddenly shocked and pale, and asked in a trembling voice: "This matter has only been discussed between me and Master Zi, how did Luo Zheng's child know about it?"

  Wang Yun furrowed his brow and said: "I don't know either, whether Ziyan has told others about this matter."

  "Such a big thing, I'm afraid to say it in my sleep, so recently I haven't dared to share the same bed with my wife, living alone in a side room. How could I easily tell others?"

  Wang Yun's eyebrows furrowed even tighter, "Then how did our plan leak out?"

  Huang Wan looked around and Wang Yun understood, immediately dismissing all the servants.

  Huang Wan lowered her voice and said: "Will the mansion be disturbed? When we were discussing in secret, was it overheard by someone?"

  Wang Yun thought for a moment and said, "All the people in our mansion are here for the sake of our clan, I suppose they won't be eavesdropping behind walls."

  "Huang Wan furrowed his brow and said, 'That's troublesome. Luo Zhen already knows our plan, although he is not one of Dong Zhuo's trusted followers. If Zi Shi doesn't agree to marry Diao Chan off, once this person informs Dong Zhuo of our plan, we'll be in grave danger in no time.'"

  Wang Yun said with a worried expression: "I've been stalling on this matter, so I asked you, Zi Yuan, to come over and discuss what to do. Moreover, that scoundrel is threatening me, demanding that I give him an answer before the early court session tomorrow, or else he'll reveal our secret plans to Dong Zhuo."

  Huang Wan said, "For the time being, it's best to stabilize Luo Zhen and make him a child. This person has not informed Dong Zhuo of this matter, but instead wants to coerce Master Shi. It is clear that he does not have much loyalty to Dong Zhuo. Master Shi may as well marry Diao Chan to this person and use her to control him. With his abilities, it's possible that he could become a great help in eliminating the national thief Dong Zhuo."

  Wang Yun sighed and said, "It had to be this way. It's a pity about Diao Chan - I originally wanted to use her to plot against Dong Zhuo, but unexpectedly she was caught by Lu Bu's men. I was too careless!"

  Huang Wan also let out a long sigh, her eyebrows furrowed and she lost all interest.

  Even if two people were to crack their brains, they would still be unable to figure out how the matter had leaked out.

  What made them even more frightened was whether there were others who knew about this matter besides Luo Zheng.

  If it were to be leaked to Li Ru, Niu Fu and other trusted followers of Dong Zhuo, it would be extremely detrimental.

  Late at night, inside the Luo Manor's inner courtyard.

  Luo Zheng returned from the Situ Mansion and then went to the study to read "Six Strategies".

  Gan Qian continued to massage his shoulders and back as usual, her jade-like face remaining calm and serene, without a hint of unusual color.

  Luo Zheng flipped through a few bamboo slips, suddenly turned his head and looked at her with some curiosity, asking: "The husband wants to take in the adopted daughter of Situ Wang Yun, Diaochan, as a concubine. Why doesn't the young lady have any objection?"

  "Qian asked in surprise: 'Why should I be unhappy?'"

  Luo Zheng snorted and casually said: "Good thing there isn't, I thought you'd be jealous!"

  Gan Qian was even more perplexed and asked: "I have never liked to eat vinegar, what does it have to do with my husband taking a concubine?"

  "It's nothing, I just asked casually."

  Luo Zheng knew he couldn't make it clear, so he simply stopped mentioning it.

  He didn't hide from others about wanting to take in Diao Chan, let alone hiding it from Gan Qing, the person closest to him.

  I thought Gan Qian would have some emotional reaction, but I didn't expect it to be like this.

  It's hard not to feel a sense of emotion, in some ways, men of this generation are truly blessed.

  Three wives and four concubines are not mentioned, and men have absolute authority at home. Unlike in the 21st century, where many men have no status at home under the social background of gender equality, they not only have to make money to support their families but also do household chores such as laundry and cooking.

  Some shrews are even more oppressive to men, crushing them mercilessly and leaving them no chance of turning over.

  In this regard, men of this generation are relatively happy.

  In a woman's mind, there is no such thing as being jealous. Even if wives and concubines openly or secretly fight each other, it's just to compete for favor in front of men, not because they are jealous of other women. This mindset cannot be changed by human effort.

  Gan Qian was quiet and elegant, and she had no other thoughts about Luo Zheng taking a concubine.

  Perhaps the only worry is that Mr. Situ's daughter has a bad temper and it won't be easy to get along with her after entering the door.

  But all these were just thoughts in his mind, and he didn't show them on his face, let alone say them out loud.

  In this era, women basically have no status, and to put it bluntly, most women are just playthings and tools for men's desires. Few men care about what women think.

  Although Luo Zheng didn't care about Gan Qian's thoughts on taking a concubine, he was still quite good to her in daily life.

  At least he didn't treat his concubines like commodities that could be given away at any time like other men.

  Gan Qian was gentle and quiet, with a warm and generous temperament. She didn't have the bad habit of being overly jealous like most women, which was also an important reason why Luo Zheng looked at her in a new light. Therefore, he would sometimes casually mention some things to her, not treating her as if she were insignificant or invisible.

  On the ninth of September, in Luoyang Prefecture, at midnight when no one is around to whisper to each other. In heaven, I'd like to be a pair of birds flying together; on earth, I'd like to be two branches that are forever entwined.

  Every time she wrote a sentence, Gan Qian would peek from behind and read it out loud.

  When she finished writing the four-line poem, Gan Qian was pinching Luo Zheng's jade-like hand, and tears were silently falling.

  "What's wrong?"

  Luo Zheng threw down his brush and turned back to ask.

  Gan Qian was moved to tears and wiped her eyes, saying: "N-no, nothing?"

  "What's there to cry about?" Luo Zheng asked, not understanding.

  Gan Qian wept and laughed at the same time, "I, I am so moved."

  Luo Zhenxin secretly smiled, Bai Juyi's poem was indeed not bad, and occasionally using it to coax the women of this era wasn't wrong either.

  It's clear that Gan Qian was moved to tears by these four lines of poetry, and it's obvious how devastating they must be to women.

  Late at night.

  Gan Qian opened her heart, making every effort to please Luo Zheng, and even under his request, she endured the shame and used her small mouth to serve Luo Zheng once, almost sending Luo Zheng's soul flying to the ninth heaven, as if she was in a fairyland.

  After Luo Zheng fell asleep, Gan Qian was still tossing and turning.

  The four sentences of poetry kept echoing in my mind, with their profound and beautiful meaning.

  Really can't sleep, so I got up and came to the side room, took out pen and ink, wrote it down, and read it carefully.

  The more you taste, the sweeter your heart becomes. The sweeter your heart is, the more loving it becomes. Happiness almost reaches the sky.