Chapter 38: You Cheat Me and I Cheat You

  Brothers, look at brothers uploading code every day without daring to slack off, haha.

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  That Zhang Sun was also a sensible person, but that brother lightly touched the strings and heard the sound of the qin to understand the elegant meaning. Although he knew the reason, if this idea were to be expressed by himself, it would be very inappropriate, and there would be endless troubles in the future. At that time, he deliberately asked loudly: "What does it mean?"

  Originally, the Chen brothers didn't want to make things too clear, as long as you and I knew, it was enough, and they didn't want to be the ones to take the lead. After all, once their plan was put into action, regardless of whether it succeeded or failed, they would have to bear the responsibility, offending not only the powerful sister's husband but also losing face in front of their brothers. However, things had already reached this point, and if they didn't take down Zhangjia Village, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves to the clan leader above, nor could they justify it to their sister's husband who was far away in Yan'an. Weighing the pros and cons, they had no choice but to come up with this inferior plan. They had originally thought that they would just nudge Longsun, the stubborn and self-willed older brother, but now it seemed that he hadn't been completely blinded by his failure. This was like kicking the ball back to themselves, but at this point, they were already in a situation where they couldn't turn back, and they had no choice but to speak up.

  "How could brother forget that family heirloom worth millions?"

  "What's it to you?" Chang Sun said with an even thicker face.

  That brother just sighed silently in his heart, a spoiled but irresponsible eldest grandson, is he really the hope of his family's future?

  However, if this hurdle cannot be passed, and not to mention the true evil of Yan's sister-in-law, even the reputation and prestige of their own clan in the surrounding villages will plummet. The powerful forces that their own clansmen have accumulated over decades of life and death struggles will collapse overnight. After all, they are still a member of this family, and for the sake of the family's long-term interests, only this nameless small soldier can bear the brunt of this blame.

  Forget it, let's get through this first and talk about it later.

  "Brother, the Zhang family's fortress has already fallen into the hands of bandits. Those riches are now the bandits' spoils. Brother, you and the leaders of the Zhao royal family can discuss it, as long as we open up the Zhang family's fortress, we will divide the hundreds of millions of wealth accumulated by the Zhang family over a hundred years equally among us."

  As soon as this was said, there was a gasp of amazement from the people around. Others may not know, but the Zhang family's relatives and friends still knew a thing or two about their family background - what kind of treatment is this? With such treatment, where is the reason for not being tempted to fight desperately?

  That Zhang Sun secretly praised this brother's good strategy, using others' kindness to gain his own power, it was indeed a good calculation. He didn't expect that there would be someone so cunning by his side. This time, he must carefully watch this brother and not let him scheme against his future position as the head of the family.

  That brother, in the unpredictable expression of Zhang Sun, already knew that he had been suspected by Zhang Sun. The days to come would be extremely difficult. Is there still a place for oneself in this clan? With his sharp edges exposed and only good at being brave and fierce without any city, can Zhang Sun lead this family to survive in the impending chaotic world?

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel sorrowful and melancholic, my expression inevitably turning gloomy.

  That Zhang Sun also observed the change in his brother's expression, and burst out laughing: "Good brother, I couldn't see your great talent before. This time if we complete the task with your plan, I will definitely report to the clan leader and bring you into the Upper Third House as a house administrator."

  That brother smiled bitterly in his heart, and also entered the top three rooms. As long as you don't take a reason to do it, I will be Amitabha Buddha, but for the sake of the family's long-term plan, he didn't give up and continued: "Brother, this time you've said this method, but still need to consider a strategy."

  "What strategy?" Chang Sun asked humbly, trying to appear modest and respectful, "I am all ears."

  "Brother, when you talk about this reward, speak louder, let all the village warriors know."

  "What a great idea! Even if the two leaders don't agree, they can't go against the desire for wealth of their subordinates. As the saying goes, 'where there is great reward, there must be brave men.' This plan is truly ingenious." Long Sun also understood the purpose of this plan at once and couldn't help but praise it as good.

  "At the same time, I will gather all our cavalry here to be fully prepared. If those people are not tempted by money, then we can use military might to suppress them, with righteousness as the priority, and use benefits to entice them, and power to pressure them, so that everything is secure."

  That Zhang Sun couldn't help but secretly take a cold breath, this brother's mind is so meticulous, his city is so deep, and he has been doing things around himself for years without being known, it can be seen how terrifying this matter is.

  "My brother has been by my side all these years, but it's a waste of his great talent. My brother is forgetful, but I don't know how to address him? It's good that I won this battle and let the clan leader know, so I can have you come assist me."

  This is indeed the case, the Chen family is huge and has a large population of nearly hundreds to thousands. The eldest grandson is usually arrogant and doesn't put his brothers in his eyes, it's common for him not to know his brothers' names. This question made many young men in the clan envy him.

  It seems that his own future days will not be easy, he has been hiding and biding his time for years. If it weren't for today's urgent matters concerning the entire family's fortune, he wouldn't have come out to attract attention. Once he comes out, he would inevitably get entangled in the whirlpool of internal family struggles. Now that things are as they are, there is no turning back, and all he can do is be more cautious from now on. For the time being, he put on a happy face and said: "Thank you for your trust, Brother Longsun. I will definitely assist you with all my might in the future. My name is Chen Shiwen of the West Garden of the Fourth House. Please take care of me from now on."

  "Alright, I've taken note of this. After this battle is over, I will not forget the great contributions of my brothers." Changsun finished speaking and rode his horse towards the gathering place of the two Zhao kings.

  The power of the family is a force that has been tolerated throughout history, from the imperial court to local governance. The family can control politics in the imperial court and rely on the elders and clan leaders as officials at the local level. A thousand-year-old or hundred-year-old family often makes even the high-and-mighty emperor extremely wary.

  In a family, there is cruel struggle, mutual deception and backstabbing are everywhere.

  The close relatives of the direct line enjoy great benefits from the family's glory, while those in the collateral branches can only make endless contributions to the family without getting any real benefits. Take Chen Shi Qi for example, he couldn't even get a formal name in the family tree and could only be referred to by his birth order in that branch of the house.

  Deng Changsun went far away, and the other brothers all came forward together to chat with Chen Seventeen, and in their words they added a lot of flattering and fawning.

  Chen seventeen smiled and returned courtesy humbly, but in his heart he was even more desolate.

  The Zhao and Wang families were discussing how to slip away quietly, but the loud cheers of some of the village braves and their hasty retreat had caught the attention of the Chen family. Seeing that the eldest grandson of the Chen family was riding towards them at full speed, the two men were greatly startled, exchanged a glance, and then hastily went forward to pay their respects.

  Chang Sun saw the two being respectful, so he stopped pretending and hurriedly dismounted his horse. He clasped his fists in greeting and said: "I'm grateful for your trouble bringing people to reinforce Zhang's Fort, as the head of Lian Zhuang Hui, I express my thanks for everyone's mutual support."

  The Zhao and Wang families heard this and were initially grieved in their hearts. This was because the great righteous alliance had first bound themselves, but they didn't fear it. Although there was a clause in the alliance about mutual support and assistance, that was only when each other's strongholds were still intact. Now that the Zhang family's stronghold has been broken, all that remains is to fight to the death for revenge against your household. That isn't an obligation our strongholds should undertake.

  The leader of the Zhao family stepped forward, laughing and saying: "Great nephew Miao has spoken well, we are all from the same village, connected by the same breath, it is only right that we should help each other. However, now that the Zhang family has been defeated, our arrival is too late, which is truly regrettable. Faced with a strong enemy, if we simply fight to the death, it would be a pointless loss of lives for our clansmen. I think we should retreat first and report to the county government, requesting them to send troops to capture him. Meanwhile, let us return home and discuss this matter further."

  The master of Wangjiazhuang also nodded repeatedly and said: "What the leader of the Zhao family said is extremely correct, this is indeed the right way to deal with it. After all, eliminating mountain bandits is a matter for the government, we are just mutual protection between villages, but not good at attacking cities and looting, let's go back to the village and think of another way."

  "Impossible." Chang Sun gave a negative response at that time, and the joke was over. Everyone dispersed, and Zhang Jia's sister-in-law blamed him for it. Wasn't this still his own family's trouble? At the same time, he couldn't account to the elder of the clan either. Now he had already become a tiger on horseback. Since everyone got on this broken ship together, they would face difficulties together too.

  "If everyone just watches as the Zhang family is destroyed and does nothing, next time it could be you or the Wang family who suffers the same fate. Wouldn't that be a case of 'monkey see, monkey do'? Then what's the point of our village existing? Moreover, if we let these bandits go this time, isn't that just letting them continue to wreak havoc and emboldening their arrogance? Hoping for peace from the authorities is no different than believing a pig can climb trees. For the sake of everyone's future safety and for the greater good of our village's mutual protection, we must work together to take down these bandits and intimidate the petty thieves in the surrounding areas."

  The Zhao and Wang families were just procrastinating with various excuses, unwilling to attack the city. This made Chen Jiaolong's grandson anxious and helpless, so he took out his treasured artifact, a small seventeen, and loudly said: "This time, we won't let everyone's efforts go to waste. The Zhang family is ruined, but fortunately, the bandits were in a hurry, and the Zhang family's hundred-year-old private property and wealth of tens of millions haven't been transferred yet. I represent my brother-in-law to promise everyone that once we break into the Zhang family fortress and defeat the bandits, avenging my brother-in-law for killing his son and father, we will divide this wealth in half with all of you as a reward for helping my brother-in-law avenge his enemies. At the same time, I promise every brother who participates in the attack fifty taels of white silver as a reward. Those who die in battle will receive double, and those who are injured will also receive double."

  As soon as this remark came out, it immediately caused a great commotion among the guests from the Zhao royal family and the villagers. Even those who had slipped away returned to their places, opening their mouths wide in anticipation of Chen's next words.