As a young marshal, it's reasonable for me to have 300,000 private troops, right?

In the blink of an eye, the once noisy school was completely deserted, leaving Qi Fan standing there dumbfounded.

"It's over, completely over!"

Qi Fan stared at the empty schoolroom, his mind buzzing, completely bewildered.

"The student ran away! The teacher fainted! I'm stunned!"

He scratched the back of his head, looking aggrieved and bewildered.

I came here to improve Mr. Yang's favorability, but how did I end up making him so angry? This isn't about improving his favorability, it's about deliberately stepping on a landmine!

He couldn't understand it at all. He was telling the absolute truth, but who could have predicted that Yang Jingzhen would react so strongly!

Before Qi Fan could figure it out, the news that "Liu Zi made the master faint from anger" spread throughout the entire marshal's mansion in just one morning, and even the maids and servants in the mansion were discussing it in private.

In the afternoon, Qi Fan was still lying on the warm kang (a heated brick bed) catching up on sleep, trying to escape the "tragedy" of the morning. In his drowsy state, he heard Zhang Zuolin shouting and cursing outside the courtyard gate, like banging a gong.

"Liu Zi! Little Liu Zi! You son of a bitch! You've really got some nerve! You dared to make the master faint from anger, are you asking for a beating?!"

Qi Fan shuddered in fright. Before he could react, with a loud "bang!", the door was kicked open by Zhang Zuolin.

Zhang Zuolin stormed in angrily and immediately spotted Qi Fan curled up on the kang (a heated brick bed). Without saying a word, he reached out and grabbed Qi Fan's ear.

"Ouch! It hurts! Daddy!"

Qi Fan was in so much pain that his face was contorted in agony. Zhang Zuolin forcibly dragged him off the kang (a heated brick bed) and pulled him outside barefoot.

Qi Fan's mind raced: Oh no! He suddenly remembered that there seemed to be such a passage in the original work, but Zhang Xueliang was deliberately going against the teacher and causing trouble!

I meant well but ended up doing something wrong. I wanted to gain favor but ended up making people angry. The nature of the situation is completely different!

"Dad! Let me explain! I really didn't mean to!"

As Qi Fan was being dragged along, he struggled and tried to explain himself, kicking his short legs, but Zhang Zuolin was furious and didn't give him a chance to speak, dragging him straight into the main room.

With a dull thud, Qi Fan was thrown hard onto the armchair in the main room.

He was about to say something more when he looked up and saw Zhang Zuolin holding a cowhide whip in his hand. Good heavens, it was the very same whip he had used to whip Dai Xiansheng yesterday!

Qi Fan's eyes widened instantly, he swallowed hard, and his heart skipped a beat: I'm doomed! I can't escape this beating!

He quickly slid off the chair and leaned closer to try and explain again.

"Father! I really didn't mean it! I was trying to please Mr. Yang, who knew..."

"To curry favor?" Zhang Zuolin's eyes widened, his anger flaring even more.

"How can you be so obsequious? You've infuriated someone and you still dare to make excuses!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhang Zuolin's whip lashed out with a whoosh, striking Qi Fan with a sharp "crack!"

"Aww!!"

Qi Fan jumped up in pain, tears streaming down his face.

When I saw Dai Xiansheng being beaten before, I didn't think it hurt that much. But when it happened to me, I realized that the pain was excruciating!

The burning sensation seeped into the bones through the skin and flesh.

"Dad! Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"

Qi Fan stomped his feet in pain, dodging and begging for mercy, cursing himself eight hundred times in his heart.

Serves you right for being so cocky! Serves you right for misinterpreting things with modern thinking! You didn't even manage to gain any goodwill, and you got a good beating instead. You really tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead. What a huge loss!

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Zhang Zuolin has gone completely mad this time; he's showing absolutely no mercy.

In no time, Qi Fan's clothes were torn to shreds, and dark red blood seeped down his trouser legs.

Qi Fan trembled all over in pain, tears mixed with cold sweat streaming down his face. He lay on the chair groaning, and couldn't help but think to himself.

"Old Zhang, are you ever going to stop?! If you keep whipping me, I'm really going to die right here!"

He felt like his buttocks no longer belonged to him; the pain was excruciating, his vision kept going black, and he was almost losing consciousness.

Just when Qi Fan felt he was about to give up, a sharp and loud female voice suddenly rang out in the main room.

"Hey Zhang, you little punk! Stop right there! If you dare hit my brother again, I'll fight you to the death!"

Zhang Shoufang stormed in, and without saying a word, she stood in front of Qi Fan with her hands on her hips, her eyes glaring at Zhang Zuolin with fury.

Zhang Zuolin's whip stopped in mid-air, his voice instantly calming him down.

He was known for his short temper and lack of restraint when things flared up. When he took a closer look at Qi Fan's bleeding buttocks, his heart skipped a beat, and a feeling of heartache welled up inside him.

You know, Qi Fanlu's skills lately have made him believe that this kid is a good candidate to be his successor. If he really gets hurt, Zhang Zuolin will regret it for the rest of his life.

Qi Fan, who was slumped over in the chair, burst into tears the moment he heard Zhang Shoufang's voice! Not from pain, but from being moved!

Zhang Shoufang! My dear sister! You are a living bodhisattva who saves people from suffering, a celestial master descended to earth, or even a Mary Jesus with her own holy light! From now on, you are the dearest sister of all my sisters!

When you get married, I'll make sure to give you a red envelope bigger than your face, and I'll arrange a full ten-mile-long red bridal procession for you!

With Zhang Shoufang acting as a "great god" to stop him, Zhang Zuolin reluctantly stopped whipping her, though his face remained grim.

Upon seeing this, the servants quickly stepped forward, carefully supporting Qi Fan's arms and legs, afraid of touching his wounds, and slowly carried Qi Fan back to his room.

Before long, the four concubines of the mansion also rushed over upon hearing the news, surrounding Qi Fan's bed and showing concern for him, instantly making the room lively.

The doctor arrived in a hurry and immediately had the servants pull down Qi Fan's pants to check his injuries.

As soon as the clothes were taken off, the women in the room gasped in shock. The tender flesh on their bodies had been whipped open, leaving them bloody and mangled, a truly horrifying sight.

The third concubine was the first to have her eyes redden, wiping away tears with heartache, and spoke up first to defend Qi Fan.

"That old man is too cruel! Liu Zi is so young, how could he bring himself to do such a thing!"

The second concubine also frowned and echoed her sentiment, her tone full of worry.

"Who says otherwise! This child looks so frail, how can he withstand such a beating? What if he develops a chronic illness?"

The fourth concubine, however, had a different attitude. Instead of feeling sorry for him, she frowned and looked at Qi Fan with obvious reproach in her tone.

"Sixth son, you can't entirely blame your father for this. That Yang Jingzhen is a famous Confucian scholar in Fengtian. He even taught your father back then. How dare you go against him and offend him? You deserved the beating!"

Qi Fan lay on the bed, in so much pain he dared not move. Hearing Fourth Concubine's words, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and mentally complain.

Good heavens, this fourth concubine is really talking without any sense of the consequences! She hasn't even been whipped, so of course she's making it sound so easy! Let her try getting a few lashes herself! I guarantee she'll be crying and begging for mercy, and she'll never say such sarcastic things again!

The fifth concubine, who was standing to the side, remained relatively calm. She did not participate in the discussion among the crowd, but turned to the doctor and asked anxiously.

"Doctor, how is Liu Zi's injury? Is it serious? Will it cause any lasting health problems?"

After carefully examining the injuries, the doctor breathed a sigh of relief and addressed the group.

"Don't worry, everyone. They're all superficial injuries. They look scary, but thankfully no bones or tendons are broken. As long as you rest for ten days to two weeks and change the dressings on time, you should be fine."

Hearing that "no bones or tendons were broken," everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. The concubines took turns instructing Qi Fan to "take good care of his injuries" and "not to anger your father again" before leaving with their maids.

Dinner was a light and nourishing meal that the third concubine had specially ordered the kitchen to prepare, which was then brought over by a maid while it was still warm.

Qi Fan lay on the bed, eating small bites, not really blaming Zhang Zuolin.

After all, she was the one who angered Mr. Yang to the point of fainting, so getting a beating was her own fault.

Despite the pain, the beating reminded him of a key plot point from the original story!

He remembered it clearly: in the original story, Zhang Xueliang was so angry after being beaten that he secretly ran away and hitched a ride on a train, where he accidentally met his mentor, his cousin-in-law Lin!

She was a real beauty, gentle and charming, only a little older than Zhang Xueliang.

"Hehe..." Qi Fan couldn't help but chuckle to himself, his eyes lighting up. He'd already suffered this ordeal, so he couldn't miss out on the good fortune he deserved!

How could I miss out on the fate depicted in the original story? I've endured all the hardships of this era, and I'll make sure I get all the benefits and beauties I'm meant to meet!

With that thought in mind, Qi Fan had already made up his mind: he was going to hitch a ride on a train too! He was going to find his cousin's wife!