Chapter Thirty-Five Down Wan City
In the middle of the night, Qin and Song, who had drunk a lot of wine, seemed to be in high spirits. Compared to the messy things that happened all day, tonight was indeed a night worth celebrating, because someone gave Wén Lán an old bottle of good wine, and Wén Lán also asked them to taste it... It's really good wine.
"Go home," said both masters to their stewards. The two sedan chairs swayed and went towards the Qin family and Song family respectively.
The nights in Wan City are particularly quiet, and since Zhang Mancheng arrived, it seems that the noise of the past nights has disappeared. The wealthy families no longer come out at night, and those who can't afford to eat a full meal don't dare to wander around on the streets at midnight for no reason.
The Taishoufu, Zhang Mansheng did not sleep. He had already known that in recent days, some of his subordinates had been secretly doing things to the aristocratic families, although some were excessive, but he couldn't do anything about it. After all, Huang Jin's banner was the peasant uprising army, and they were originally opposed to the aristocratic families. Some of his subordinates had hostile feelings towards the aristocratic families, and doing some radical actions was also understandable, who let us be in different classes? Now everything in Wan City is decided by me, and I'll let you taste the feeling of being oppressed too.
As for their rebellion, Zhang Mancheng couldn't think of any reason why they dared to rebel. He had 80,000 Yellow Turban troops at his command, and that Huangfu Song was still being held outside the city of Wan by himself. After a while, when the Han army ran out of food, he would launch a night attack on them, and see if they could still be as arrogant as they were now.
Zhang Mancheng thought he was smarter than Bo Cai Peng and others. Those fools, how can they develop and grow without a foundation? Our Yellow Turbans can only develop step by step after we have our own city. No matter how many people there are, without supplies, what can be done? It still needs to have a foundation.
"Brother, these past few days we've been taking down those guys who think they're the big shots again. Haha, this time let them bleed a bit." said Zhao Hong, another leader of the Yellow Turbans.
"Little Hongzi, I told you to stop provoking those aristocratic families, but you never listen. Think about it, those families have been around for hundreds of years, which ones are good to get along with? We did take down this city, but what's the point of constantly provoking them when you say you don't have anything better to do?"
"Big brother, how many times have you said this? These small favors won't cost them their lives. I'm just going to drink and chat with them, not doing anything that goes against heaven or reason. Besides, isn't this all for the sake of expanding our Yellow Turbans? Otherwise, why would I bother with these trivial matters? By the way, those few major families you asked me to keep an eye on haven't made any moves. The only thing is that Wen Lan from the Wen family got a good wine and invited the masters of the Qin and Song families over for a drink. Other than that, it's all just minor events like eating and drinking." Zhao Hong said.
It's all right, it's all right, I just worry that you will take some action, and then I can only say sorry to you. Zhang Mancheng thought.
The next morning, Wen Lan invited Xun Yu and Zhang Rui to come over. The three of them settled all the matters concerning the capture of Wan City in the house, after which Xun Yu and Zhang Rui hastily took their leave.
"Housekeeper, go to the Taishou Mansion and tell Zhang Mancheng that I've recently acquired a few bottles of good wine. The Wen family is hosting a banquet for all the generals of the Yellow Turbans tonight, and we request that Zhang Mancheng and Zhao Hong attend without fail."
"Wen'er, come here. I have something to tell you. Tonight, lead 2,000 of our best family soldiers and lie in ambush at the North Gate. When you see the fireworks signal from home, charge forward and open the North Gate to welcome the Han army into the city. The success of this plan depends on you." Wen Lan whispered to Wen Pin.
Zhang Mancheng received Wen Lan's invitation and felt puzzled. The master of the Wen family, who usually didn't treat people like him well, was inviting him to drink with his brothers for no reason. Zhang Mancheng thought about it but couldn't figure out why.
"Big brother, why think so much? Most likely it's the aristocratic families in the city who are afraid of us, wanting the Wen family to invite us to dinner and repair relations. I heard that the Wen family recently got a few bottles of good wine. Big brother, let's go! The brothers haven't had any real good wine yet." said Zhao Hongdao.
Yes, maybe I did think too much, maybe it's really the case that the noble family has been bothered lately and is trying to save face by begging me.
"Alright, brothers follow me, since there's free good wine, why don't we drink it?"
Tonight, the Wen Mansion is bustling with activity. The head of the Wen family, along with the leaders of the other prominent families in Wan City, are seated on the right side, while Zhang Mancheng and Zhao Hong, among other Yellow Turban generals, are seated on the left side. The two most honored guests are naturally Zhang Mancheng and Wen Lan.
"Bring wine," Wen Lan's voice rang out, and several servants immediately carried in a few jars of wine.
"Wen family master, this is where you're being unkind. Since your household has had good wine stored away for a long time, why didn't you invite us brothers to come and drink earlier?" Zhao Hong was the first to speak up.
"General Zhao misunderstood, I had long wanted to invite General Zhang and all the other generals to drink these few jars of wine, but unfortunately, there was never an opportunity. Today, with all the masters present, this fine wine is just right for all the generals." Wen Lan stood up, and all the masters also stood up. The servants divided the wine jars into two groups, placing one in front of each master, while three were placed in front of the Yellow Turban generals.
"Dry," the Yellow Turban leaders were all from poor backgrounds, what good wine had they ever drunk? Each and every one of them was drunk and rowdy, soon starting to arm-wrestle and guess fists. Zhang Mancheng looked at his brothers, thinking in his heart whether he had been too harsh on them usually, after all they had also suffered hardships usually, now that the brothers had taken down Wan City, shouldn't he let them enjoy themselves a bit?
Zhang Mancheng didn't drink like his brothers, but instead sipped slowly on his own, occasionally clinking glasses with the host. This was quite good, at least Zhang Mancheng had never drunk such good wine before. Gradually, he felt himself getting drunk - good wine really is different! Usually, he wouldn't get drunk from drinking so much, but this time, after just a little, he already had a slightly tipsy feeling.
Zhang Mancheng almost fell over, and hurriedly used his hand to support himself on the ground. His hand felt soft and mushy on the ground, and he thought to himself that it was strange for his hands to feel so soft and mushy when he had been working in the fields for years. There must be something wrong with the wine - he had been drugged. Zhang Mancheng passed out drunk on the ground, and looking around, he saw that all the Yellow Turban leaders were also stumbling about, probably not even knowing who they were anymore.
Wen Lan made a gesture, and with a loud "bang", a firework shot straight up into the sky.
"Up," Wen Pin, who had been waiting for a long time, led the thousands of family members to charge towards the North Gate. The Yellow Turbans were truly a mob, and in just a few moments, Wen Pin dispersed the defending troops at the North Gate.
"Hurry up and open the city gate to welcome the Han army into the city." Wen Ping shouted.
With a loud rumbling sound, the North Gate swung open and Cao Chun led 5,000 iron cavalry in a charge.
