When she brought those daughters back, her husband gained a few more means to win over noble families.
After all, they weren't his own daughters, so he wouldn't feel any heartache even if they were truly given away.
Of course!
Although she thought this in her heart,
When she faced those daughters, Zhang Xuan changed her tune.
...
The Zhen family,
The backyard.
After instructing the servants to call those daughters, Zhang Xuan said with a troubled expression:
"Jiang'er, I heard from your sister that your second uncle plans to give you away to someone?"
"Mother~!"
Zhen Jiang and the others, already fearful, had their eyes well up with tears.
"Mother, please save us. Jiang'er really doesn't want to serve those old lords!"
"Yes!"
"Mother, we don't want to go either!"
"But, but second uncle said if we don't go, we'll be defiled by those people!"
"Mother, you must save us!"
Listening to her daughters' desperate pleas, Zhang Xuan secretly noted down a few names and sighed,
"Mother wishes she could save you, but her reach is too short!"
"I am now settled in Youzhou, while you are in Jizhou. Even if I could save you once, can I save you for a lifetime?"
"Settled in Youzhou?"
As the eldest of the daughters, Zhen Jiang was more mature.
Hearing the subtext in Zhang Xuan's words, she quickly said,
"Mother, if it's possible, could we trouble you to take us to Youzhou with you?"
"Our demands are not high!"
"As long as you give us a mouthful of food, we can do embroidery to earn money!"
"This..."
Although she really wanted to agree immediately, Zhang Xuan still hesitated for a moment before nodding with some difficulty.
"It's not impossible to take you, after all, I'm here to bring Little Zhen Ji with me this time."
"However..."
"You all know that mother is currently living under someone else's roof. If you are disobedient then, I fear we might all be kicked out together!"
"Mother, don't worry!"
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Zhen Jiang almost eagerly raised her hand and said,
"We can swear that we will obey Mother absolutely once we get there and not cause you any trouble!"
The other three sisters looked at each other. They quickly nodded and pledged:
"Yes, yes... we won't cause Mother any trouble!"
"As long as we don't have to marry those old men, we'll do anything!"
"You all!"
Zhang Xuan feigned helplessness and sighed, finally nodding.
"Since you all say so, what else can mother say?"
"Hurry up and pack your things!"
"We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning, giving your second uncle no time to react!"
"Mhm mhm!"
"Alright!"
"We'll go now!"
Nodding excitedly, Zhen Jiang led her younger sisters back to pack.
Along the way, Zhen Tuo, the second sister, said with some worry in her tone,
"Sister, are we really going to Youzhou? It's an unfamiliar place there!"
"Yes!"
The other two younger sisters also nodded timidly in agreement,
"What if something happens on the way, we'll never be able to come back!"
"Then you're willing to stay?"
Zhen Jiang stopped and looked at her three sisters beside her, asking softly,
"Are you willing to stay and be concubines to those old men over fifty?"
"Are you willing to be ordered around like servants by those ordinary-looking old women?"
"Even if you are willing!"
"Without the protection of the Zhen family, what do you think our fate will be in the end?"
"Or perhaps..."
"What do you think our second uncle's motive is for giving us away?"
"This..."
As Zhen Jiang finished speaking, the other sisters fell silent.
They didn't fully understand,
But they knew!
Without the Zhen family's protection, they were no different from the old women selling vegetables on the street.
However,
Thinking about traveling hundreds of miles to the unfamiliar Youzhou, Zhen Tuo still sighed,
"Once we get to Youzhou, we'll still have no protection from the Zhen family!"
"That's different!"
Glancing at the backyard where Zhang Xuan lived not far away, Zhen Jiang said with a hint of self-deprecation,
"Even if that person is unwilling, for mother's reputation, he won't watch us being bullied."
"That would be bad for his reputation!"
"As long as we are well-behaved and don't cause trouble, even if we go to Youzhou, we can still enjoy a young lady's life!"
"Even..."
"If we can win over his favor, our future lives might not be worse than Mother's!"
"Alright!"
"Enough idle talk for now!"
Zhen Jiang stopped and glanced at her three sisters, who looked on with longing, and said with a light laugh,
"If you really don't want to go, I believe Mother won't make things difficult for you!"
"..."
The three sisters exchanged glances, but no one mentioned not going anymore.
Compared to a predetermined fate, they preferred to gamble on their future.
After all,
The first outcome was already set; how much worse could it get?
...
Just as Zhang Xuan led her daughters away from Jizhou and began their journey back.
Jizhou had also undergone a drastic change!
The Yellow Turban rebels, who had been entrenched in Jizhou for months, relying on their sheer numbers, had managed to exhaust the imperial armies sent to suppress them.
Zhu Jun was defeated!
Huangfu Song was defeated!
Dong Zhuo had already been imprisoned and was awaiting execution in the autumn!
And the court's only hope, Master Lu Zhi, was still on his way to Jizhou.
What awaited him was no longer the well-disciplined Northern Army's Five Regiments, but a group of worn-out remnants and refugees.
As the saying goes: A clever housewife cannot cook a meal without rice!
Without the Northern Army's Five Regiments, which could barely be considered elite, even Lu Zhi, with his immense talent, could only admit his helplessness.
As the Yellow Turban rebels were on the verge of breaking out of Jizhou and heading straight for Luoyang.
The court couldn't sit still, the noble families couldn't sit still, and the influential clans of the Sili region also couldn't sit still!
They not only began to actively organize their household guards and private soldiers for battle.
Even,
They made the court issue dozens of urgent decrees for aid in a single day, hoping for more cannon fodder.
Was it useful?
Remarkably so!
With Emperor Ling's personal seal on these decrees, they were indeed extraordinarily useful.
The Han Dynasty was still clinging to survival, and Emperor Ling's health was still relatively good.
Even though the Yellow Turbans had already entered the passes at this time,
Even though chaos was imminent,
In every dynasty, in every era, there was no shortage of loyal and righteous individuals.
Whether they were truly loyal and righteous, or feigned loyalty and righteousness for ulterior motives.
But they still came!
Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Sun Jian, Ma Teng, Han Sui... and so on!
These warlords who were renowned in their respective regions in the early Han Dynasty, though not yet famous, all led their troops to Luoyang.
Even Qin Feng, who was far away in Youzhou, received an imperial decree for aid a few days later.