Tang Zan pressed Pei Shu’er down next to his seat, feeling helpless.
"What are you so upset about?"
After saying this, Pei Shu’er shot him another impatient look.
Tang Zan smiled lightly, leaning toward Pei Shu’er’s ear coaxingly.
"Alright, if you say you don’t want to in the future, then we won’t do it, okay?"
Pei Shu’er feared others might hear, so she glanced around nervously, noticing the others were focused on their own business, so already starting to toast each other.
She pinched Tang Zan’s waist lightly, her eyes showing a hint of annoyance.
Tang Zan’s lips curved into a mischievous grin again.
At the victory banquet, the commanders toasted each other, starting joyfully but soon growing lancholic.
"The military pay truly affects the soldiers; they weren’t eating enough before, so they were like that. Now that they’re full, they’re like this."
The one speaking was Commander Qian, whose tone of lant was genuine.
ntioning pay at this mont clearly had ulterior motives.
So commanders silently agreed, wondering if eating well earlier could have saved the soldiers lost. Could the oppression and grievances all these years have been avoided?
Might they have been able to press the Dazi as they do now?
But they dared not say much, rely sighing and drinking more.
Pei Shu’er said calmly, "Commander Qian, your words are mistaken. I rember the Gulan Military Camp had quite decent als at first. You might not have had big fish and at every ti, but eating at often, wasn’t that right?"
"Those who ate at regularly didn’t necessarily fare better against the Dazi, right? Now you’re bringing up pay again. Are you plotting sothing, or just inviting trouble?"
Pei Shu’er stressed the phrase "inviting trouble," causing Commander Qian to fall silent in a mont.
Part of it was Pei Shu’er’s current status; another was the account book she held—if investigated thoroughly, they would truly be held accountable.
Others were snapped out of their trance by Pei Shu’er’s words.
That made sense; the previous rations were far superior, yet what changed?
Why did they think it was pay’s fault? Clearly, there were problems with Dayan Soldiers’ training.
Also, Dayan Soldiers had a psychological issue—they initially had a fear towards Dazi, even if unspoken.
That fear grew more evident as defeats mounted over ti.
Tang Zan pondered for a mont before speaking, "Actually, the grains are indeed of vital importance."
Hearing Tang Zan say this, Commander Qian was initially surprised and then delighted, as even Tang Zan acknowledged it—what more could be said?
"Look, General Tang also thinks so. If the pay hadn’t had issues before, perhaps we wouldn’t have lost so badly or lost so many brothers."
With this thought, his arrogance grew, eyes brimming with anticipation for Tang Zan to say sothing foolish, like directly accusing Tang Peizhong of embezzling the pay.
Others were puzzled by Tang Zan’s actions.
Previously, the Emperor accused the War King of embezzlent, but General Tang and the General’s Wife provided ironclad evidence proving the War King’s innocence.
So now, in the military camp, pay was a controversial topic.
Offending either the Emperor or General Tang.
Even though everyone believed General Tang, it couldn’t be spoken aloud.
Tang Zan continued, "I’ve seen this grain before; the rice quality is exceptional. Even when I eat it, I feel my inner strength greatly enhanced."
Everyone was montarily stunned, while Commander Qian frowned.
"I’ve heard of drugs enhancing inner strength, but never grains. This rice increasing inner strength is unheard of."
Pei Shu’er had no choice but to reference ancient texts, unwilling to reveal any secret spaces.
"dicine and food share origins; both rice and dicine are plants, right? It’s not impossible for food to have effects, otherwise, why would Traditional Chinese dicine rely on dietary therapy?"
So wanted to inquire about this so-called dietary therapy.
But they rembered their wounds were quite severe before, even if treated by military doctors, healing was slow.
After eating this rice, their wounds healed faster, readying them just before the Dazi attack—otherwise, they wouldn’t have had a chance on the battlefield.
Thinking of this, they held their tongues, others also recalling such incidents, hence staying silent.
So, the General’s Wife’s words had so truth.
Tang Zan’s gaze coolly swept across Commander Qian’s face.
"Commander Qian, if you keep saying things with ulterior motives to shake military morale, don’t bla for being rude."
Commander Qian instinctively denied, "General Tang, I wasn’t, you mustn’t wrongfully accuse !"
On saying this, Commander Qian nearly wanted to slap himself; he spoke too fast, too carelessly.
Wasn’t this making trouble for himself?
Tang Zan’s eyes brightened, pleased with his current mood, brightened further by this fool rushing to the muzzle.
"Soone, Commander Qian defied the General, questioned military orders, disrupted military morale with ulterior motives. Take him away and give him ten heavy hits."
Commander Qian wanted to speak, yet feared ten more blows, so he obediently shut up.
He realized Tang Zan seized the opportunity to deal with him; despite his caution lately, he hadn’t escaped.
His previous words indeed held a hint of exploiting the situation though he hadn’t expected Tang Zan to seize him over it.
Yet more damning was his final words.
Thinking of this, Commander Qian, about to be dragged away, sought help from Yan Hengyin.
Yan Hengyin’s face had darkened seeing Tang Zan and Pei Shu’er’s closeness, and further darkened after Tang Zan disgraced his subordinate, looking almost watery with gloom.
He stepped forward, eyes challenging in their mildness.
"General Tang, I find your punishnt inappropriate."
Tang Zan took a sip of wine, not rising, slightly raising his brow, speaking coolly, "Oh? How is it inappropriate?"
At this mont, the Third Prince stands while he sits, appearing as if the prince was reporting to him; Yan Hengyin was more aggrieved.
Yan Hengyin stared at Tang Zan, his status not low compared to Tang Zan’s, if anything, higher—Tang Zan kneeling to him would be apt.
The question Tang Zan asked clearly ignored his authority—if Tang Zan was truly smart, he would follow his lead and rescind Commander Qian’s punishnt.
Rather than ask this question.
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