With Old General Yun as their pillar of strength, the Yun family gradually calmed down.

“The Yun Family Army that our Yun family has trained for generations will naturally not fall into others’ hands!” Old General Yun declared. “The most urgent matter now is to arrange for someone to go communicate with the Yun Family Army, to have those fellows stay calm and not cause trouble out of restlessness.”

Everyone knew the Yun Family Army was brave and skilled in battle, but only the Yun family knew that those fellows were single-minded, stubbornly loyal—Deputy General Yin being a prime example.

Now that General Yun had gone missing and Deputy General Yin had been stripped of his position, the three thousand elite soldiers would cause trouble sooner or later.

Therefore, the Yun family needed to step forward to pacify them.

Yun Ze nodded. “Yes, Grandfather, I’ll make the trip right away.”

“You cannot go.” Old General Yun shook his head. “You are the eldest legitimate son of the Yun family’s main branch. I have other more important matters for you to handle.”

As the old man spoke, he looked toward the young men from the Yun family’s collateral branches. “Which of you will make this trip?”

Yun Run, the representative among the collateral branches, stepped forward. “Old General, it’s not that we lack courage, but the situation is different now. The Yun Family Army has been taken over by General Dingyuan. If Yun family members contact the Yun Family Army again, it will inevitably arouse suspicion… Right now, all eyes in the capital are watching the Yun family. It’s not appropriate for Yun family members to step forward at this time. Better to have someone secretly deliver a letter instead.”

Hearing these words, Old General Yun laughed.

Chu’er was right—when a person is in power, everyone around them seems good.

Once trouble strikes, people will show their true colors.

To think he used to consider Yun Run a good child. Looking at him now, he was merely mediocre.

He looked at the others. “What about the rest of you?”

The other Yun family sons usually only tended to their own small plots of land and weren’t as sensitive to court politics.

Now that the Yun family had suddenly encountered trouble, they simply couldn’t react in time. Hearing Yun Run speak this way, they all thought it made sense and remained silent.

Old General Yun’s face filled with disappointment.

So the Yun family sons were all such a timid bunch.

No wonder in Chu’er’s dream, over ten years later, the Yun family would end up facing total execution.

He was about to rebuke them sternly.

Yun Chu gently tugged at his sleeve.

Under Grandfather’s authority, these Yun family sons would naturally follow orders to go to the suburban camp.

That way, their individual characters wouldn’t be revealed.

She held back Old General Yun and looked at Yun Run, speaking each word deliberately: “Why was Deputy General Yin punished? Why was the three thousand-strong Yun Family Army placed under others’ control? All because my father went missing, and they wanted to do their part to seek justice for my father. People with no blood relation to the Yun family went this far, yet with so many people in our Yun family, you want to hide away out of fear of being questioned and just send a servant instead? This not only shows contempt for the Yun Family Army, but contempt for the Yun family itself!”

The aura emanating from her built layer upon layer—not the authoritative presence of a superior, yet still difficult to resist.

Yun Run paused for a long while before saying, “The Yun Family Army is already under General Dingyuan’s control. It’s simply not appropriate for us Yun family members to contact the Yun Family Army anymore.”

Yun Chu looked at him. “If the Yun family truly makes this choice, then the three thousand soldiers of the Yun Family Army will never pledge loyalty to the Yun family again.”

Yun Run lowered his eyes.

Family Head Yun Silin had gone missing in the southern border. Even if he hadn’t committed treason, he probably couldn’t survive.

The pillar of the Yun family—if Yun Silin died, could the Yun family produce another general? No… Then in the future, what would the Yun Family Army have to do with the Yun family… Why take the risk of offending General Dingyuan?

“Since none of you elder brothers will take a stand, then I’ll have to make this trip myself.” Yun Chu’s gaze swept across the entire gathering, taking in everyone’s expression.

At this moment, Third Aunt Yun couldn’t help but speak up. “Although you’ve been released from your marriage, Chu’er, you’re still not truly a proper Yun family member. You shouldn’t meddle in this matter.”

The Yun family had such rules—in important matters, women basically didn’t participate.

Third Aunt Yun had seen Yun Chu speak up multiple times and even question her son Yun Run, which had long ago bred dissatisfaction. Now she was bold enough to say these words.

“When even a mere woman can step forward in the Yun family’s time of crisis, you all—” Yun Ze looked at those who were usually his brothers, “—should be ashamed to call yourselves Yun family sons!”

“Yun Chu, I’ll go with you!”

The eldest grandson from one of the Yun family’s collateral branch families stepped forward.

He simply hadn’t thought through the stakes of the matter earlier and had been led along by Yun Run’s rhetoric. Now he had come to his senses.

As long as they firmly believed the Great General hadn’t rebelled, then the Yun family wouldn’t have problems, and the Yun Family Army would eventually return to Yun family hands.

Therefore, they couldn’t let those three thousand soldiers feel disheartened.

This trip truly had to be made by Yun family members in person.

“I’ll go too!”

“Count me in!”

“Me as well!”

The Yun family sons stepped forward one by one.

Old General Yun stroked his beard in satisfaction. These children were just a bit slow-thinking, not beyond redemption.

Except for Yun Run, all the men of this generation had stepped forward.

After everyone else had stepped forward, Yun Run naturally couldn’t remain uninvolved and said slowly, “Yun Chu, you take people to the military camp. I’ll make a trip to the Ministry of War to gather some information.”

“That’s best.” Lin Shi smiled. “In this critical moment, the entire Yun family stands united. We’ll surely overcome this difficulty.”

Yun Chu didn’t have all the Yun family sons go—she only took four or five brothers with closer ties to accompany her.

In the past, as a married woman, she traveled by carriage when going out. But now, she was no longer anyone’s wife and could be herself. She rode alongside her brothers to the military camp in the suburbs.

Just as they reached the camp entrance, they heard a commotion.

Yun Yi, who held a seventh-rank position in the Ministry of War, stepped forward to inquire, then returned with an ashen face. “General Dingyuan is punishing the Yun Family Army. Anyone who caused trouble receives ten military lashes. This whip doesn’t just fall on the Yun Family Army’s bodies—it strikes our Yun family’s face!”

Another Yun family son said indignantly, “The Yun family hasn’t been convicted yet. How dare General Dingyuan…”

Yun Chu spoke up. “Since His Majesty let General Dingyuan take over the Yun Family Army, he has the authority to discipline them. A new official’s first three fires—there’s more torment to come.”

General Dingyuan wanted to swallow the fat piece of meat that was the Yun Family Army, so he wouldn’t be too ruthless.

However, the Yun Family Army had backbones of steel and wouldn’t easily submit to General Dingyuan’s command. They would inevitably suffer some physical punishment.

In her past life, the Yun Family Army had lost several men but still didn’t submit. Later, the three thousand soldiers were disbanded. It was only after her father returned to court with merit that he recruited them back one by one…

These people who had pledged to serve the Yun family unto death didn’t need to suffer such hardships.

Yun Chu stepped forward and said to the guard at the camp entrance, “Yun Chu, eldest daughter of the Yun family, requests an audience with General Dingyuan. Please announce me!”

The soldiers at the gate couldn’t afford to offend anyone and immediately ran inside to report.

General Dingyuan was sitting in his chair, watching his deputy general whip the leaders of the Yun Family Army. Hearing the soldiers say that Yun family members had arrived, he immediately sat up straight.

But very quickly, he settled back into his seat and said coldly, “I won’t see them.”

If these three thousand brutes saw the Yun family members, they would only become more stubborn and even harder to tame.