Using Himself as Bait

Can't make heads or tails of it!

Meng Shanming, wheelchair and all, was carried up the mountain. He personally inspected the very forefront of the army's encirclement and carefully observed the deployment of Chen Shaotong's trapped forces, yet still could not spot anything amiss.

One thing did earn a slight nod of approval from him. "The troop deployment is quite methodical. Zi Pingxiu's son-in-law, picked from among the Song army, is indeed no ordinary man."

Su Qitong said, "There are rumors that Chen Shaotong rose because of Zi Pingxiu and was also ruined because of Zi Pingxiu. They say Chen Shaotong's abilities back then were actually no weaker than Luo Zhao's, but he lacked Luo Zhao's luck. Supposedly, he suffered humiliation over certain matters and paid the price for having no backing, leaving him frustrated and unable to realize his ambitions. That was why he agreed to become Zi Pingxiu's son-in-law. Another version says Zi Pingxiu took a liking to him, but he refused. The humiliation he suffered afterward was actually the work of Zi Pingxiu pulling strings in secret, forcing Chen Shaotong to bow to reality."

"There is supposedly more to the story. After Chen Shaotong initially refused, Zi Pingxiu listened to the advice of his strategists and decided to let the matter go. But when Zi Pingxiu's daughter heard that the man she was to marry beneath her station had actually refused to take her as his wife, she was furious and secretly went to make trouble for him. Yet it was love at first sight. She fell for Chen Shaotong's valiant bearing and extraordinary presence. That young miss then kicked up such a fuss, threatening life and death, insisting that she would marry no one but Chen Shaotong. In the end, Zi Pingxiu had no choice but