Chapter 55: Zhang Wei's Choice

  As for understanding human nature, no one is better than Huang Yueying. When Zhuge Jun finished speaking with a self-satisfied tone about how he handled Zhang Wei's case, she had an indistinct feeling that something was not quite right, but couldn't figure it out at the moment.

  That night, she calmed down and thought carefully, thinking that this matter was probably not over. Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Jing, and Lu Su were all satisfied, even Zhang Zhao was, but the person involved, Zhang Wei, was not satisfied. He would not be reconciled and would not give up easily.

  She thought of this and wrote a letter, sending a household servant with 10 people to chase after Zhuge Jun overnight, and told them not to come back, but to follow him to Xiliang instead.

  Just as Huang Yueying had expected, Zhang Wei was dissatisfied.

  To speak of it, he and Zhuge had no hatred for each other at the beginning, only a little jealousy towards him for capturing Sun Shangxiang's heart. However, there was no intention to harm others. At that time, when he served as the magistrate of Wu County, he did not take care of his property during the auction preparation period, but rather unconsciously took it as his own, unwilling to pay attention to his affairs in his heart.

  But things didn't go as planned, and he hadn't expected anyone to attack Zhuge Jun's factory, resulting in many deaths and injuries, which led to his dismissal.

  Zhang Wei is an outstanding young talent, with a great reputation in Dongwu, and he is proud. Both love and career have been hit, and under the stimulation, his mind is confused. Under the huge success of Zhuge Jun's auction and the news that he wants to marry Sun Shangxiang, he suddenly becomes furious and sends someone to secretly calculate Zhuge Jun.

  After this failure, Zhuge gave him a chance to turn back. However, Zhang Wei had become desperate about life. Think of it as a young man who was once promising and full of sunshine, but suffered such setbacks, and also had handles in the hands of others, from now on he would live forever in the shadows. How can this be endured!

  Although Zhang Zhao rebuked and comforted him, he pretended to obey on the surface, but in his heart there was only one crazy idea, that Zhuge Jun must die, otherwise as long as he heard news of Zhuge Jun, he would go mad. He thought that the last failure was because he didn't make good arrangements, so he wanted to do it himself, hoping to see Zhuge Jun die before his own eyes.

  He found Zhang Zhao and told him that he was in a bad mood and wanted to go out for a walk. Zhang Zhao sympathized with Sun's feelings and agreed. Another conspiracy against Zhuge Jin unfolded.

  Qin Feng was originally a famous swordsman in the Jianghu, because he killed a notorious and evil aristocrat, he was wanted by the authorities. Zhang Zhao appreciated his heroic act of ridding the people of evil, came forward to clear his name, from then on Qin Feng followed Zhang Zhao, and it has been twenty years now. He watched Zhang Wei grow up, saw him becoming thinner and thinner after being dismissed from office, and felt heartbroken. He understood Zhang Wei's concerns, so he planned the previous ambush against Zhuge Jun.

  After the failure of the action, Zhang Zhao scolded Zhang Wei. Zhang Wei became even more decadent, drinking all day to drown his sorrows. Seeing that the once sunny and confident elegant young man had become like this, gloomy and irritable, he decided to take matters into his own hands, contacted people in Jianghu, and went with Zhang Wei to assassinate Zhuge Jun.

  Zhuge Jian's identity is special, and it's not feasible to assassinate him within Eastern Wu's borders. Jingzhou has had an incident before, they will be on guard. So it was decided to start again in Yizhou.

  Zhuge Jun and his nine companions, eight on horseback and one in a carriage, traveled quickly and arrived at the capital of Yizhou, Chengdu, in just over ten days. Due to their exhaustion from traveling day after day, he decided to rest for a day in Chengdu and take the opportunity to tour this famous ancient city.

  The person sent by Huang Yueying was blocked at the border due to lack of prior arrangement and delayed, and has not caught up with them yet.

  Chengdu has a long history, in the Spring and Autumn period, the ancient Shu state was built here. The long-term peaceful environment, coupled with Liu Zhang's succession and great construction efforts, made the city quite prosperous, with a population of over 200,000, larger than that of Wu Prefecture.

  They first came to the Yuèyùe Shāngshè on Beishi Street, where Li Bin, the person in charge, welcomed them warmly and accompanied them to taste the famous Chengdu snacks, including boiled fish. Li Bin reported the situation of the commercial society's activities to Zhūgě Jūn. He praised Li Bin and others for their work, which greatly encouraged them.

  Li Bin and others came to Chengdu with Liu Xun's business team, the second son of Liu Zhang. In Wu County, Zhuge Jun deliberately made friends with Liu Xun. After arriving in Chengdu, under Liu Xun's care, the commercial activities of the company went very smoothly.

  Li Bin asked Zhuge Jun if he would go to visit Liu Xun, and Zhuge Jun said that he was just passing by and wouldn't bother him. He'll consider it when he returns from the Western Liang with more time on his hands.

  After dinner, accompanied by Li Bin, they strolled around the commercial district and didn't find anything special. They came to a jewelry store to see if they could buy something special for Mrs. Ma Chao.

  They entered the jewelry store, and the shop assistant enthusiastically invited them to the second floor. This jewelry store was not small in scale, with all kinds of jewelry dazzling to the eye. Zhuge Jun was not familiar with these things, so he let Li Bin choose. He consulted on the side.

  At this time, the fellow beckoned over two young men and women, all dressed as warriors.

  They stood in front of the counter for a while, and the woman asked: "Shopkeeper, how much is this pair of earrings?" The shop assistant behind the counter said: "You really have an eye for things, this style of earring is the latest fashion, many people like it, not expensive, only 3 taels and 3 mace of gold."

  The woman heard this price and thought it was too expensive. She shook her head and said, "Too expensive." Then she said to the man, "Brother, let's go."

  The man said: "Little sister, today is your birthday, let's just buy it." He turned his head and asked the shopkeeper: "Can you make it a bit cheaper?"

  The fellow said: "Considering you're sincere about buying it, I'll make it cheaper, 3 taels will do."

  The man still thought it was expensive and asked: "Can't you make it any cheaper?"

  The fellow is somewhat unhappy now. He no longer pays attention to them.

  The girl said: "Brother, forget it, I appreciate your kindness, let's go."

  As she spoke, she pulled the man's hand and left. Before leaving, she couldn't help but turn her head to take a glance at the earrings, apparently she really liked them.

  She turned her head and inadvertently saw Zhuge Jun staring at them, and she couldn't help but look up at him. She saw a handsome young man in white clothes sizing her up, and thought to herself: "He's really good-looking."

  Zhuge Jun saw that the woman in front of him was only 17 or 18 years old, not particularly beautiful but delicate and pleasant to look at. Her figure was well-proportioned and sturdy due to her long-term martial arts practice. When she looked at him, he slightly nodded and smiled. The woman's face turned slightly red, and she lowered her head and walked away with the man.

  Zhuge Jian called Li Bin over and whispered a few words in his ear. Li Bin nodded, came to the counter and bought the earrings, then hastily went downstairs.