Zhao Hanzhang returned with a full load. Many people came to see them off.

One could tell Zhao Changyu had great prestige in the clan and good relationships. Although he had died, his remaining influence could still shelter them.

Many people held her hands while crying, telling her to bring her mother, younger brother, and fiancé home to visit when she had time.

Zhao Hanzhang agreed to everything, then departed with the newly acquired twenty-nine servants and various chests sent by clan members.

In the end, they chose not to leave but to follow Zhao Hanzhang.

Having been captured without cause, when they were under Zhao Hu’s control, they constantly thought about escaping. But when they reached Zhao Hanzhang and she actually let them leave, they hesitated.

Leaving meant they could be captured and sold again at any time, and the next master might not have Zhao Hanzhang’s character.

That’s right—although they’d only exchanged a few words, they had already determined that Zhao Hanzhang had good character and at least treated them like human beings.

So after discussing with their families, not one of the eight households chose to leave.

Zhao Hanzhang led her servants and possessions in a mighty procession toward Shangcai.

Oh, and Zhao Ming. Given the chaos in the outside world, although Xiping and Shangcai were very close, Zhao Song wasn’t at ease, so he had Zhao Ming bring guards as an escort, insisting they deliver everyone safely to the estate in Shangcai.

Zhao Hanzhang gladly accepted. She still had matters to ask Zhao Ming about.

She and Ji Yuan rode their horses forward, flanking Zhao Ming on left and right, and asked curiously, “Cousin Ming, what is our family’s relationship with the County Magistrate of Shangcai?”

Zhao Ming replied, “Not bad. Your grandfather was enfeoffed as Earl of Shangcai, with his fief entirely in Shangcai. Naturally the local magistrate must be courteous to us.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Then does Cousin think I should go pay my respects to the parent official? As you know, on my journey here I gathered some refugees and need to register them in the census.”

Zhao Ming thought briefly then said, “Since you’re observing mourning and are a young lady, you needn’t appear in person. Having a household steward run the errand would suffice. However, since you’ve decided to observe mourning in Shangcai, you’ll need to rely on the County Magistrate for many things in the future. You could have someone send small gifts to the magistrate’s wife and daughter.”

Zhao Hanzhang then asked her ultimate question: “Should I register all the refugees I gathered in the census, or…”

Zhao Ming glanced at Ji Yuan riding beside them and said meaningfully, “That depends on how many people you think you can support. The court’s tax burden is quite high now and increases yearly. Oh, last year they added a new tax called the ox dung tax.”

“With an estate as large as yours, you’ll certainly need to raise many oxen, so this tax won’t be low.” Seeing Zhao Hanzhang seemed about to speak, Zhao Ming continued, “If there are no oxen, five households in a village count as one ox and must pay collectively. Tenant farmers and household servants are included according to precedent.”

In other words, households without oxen had to pay ox dung tax for one ox per every five households.

Zhao Hanzhang: “…Next they’ll probably tax human waste too?”

Zhao Ming smiled faintly. “I hear the Governor is indeed planning this.”

Zhao Hanzhang decided then and there—she would split her people sixty-forty: conceal sixty percent, register forty percent!

This was too excessive. Managing what people ate and drank was one thing, but now even their waste was being controlled.

Ji Yuan had also listened to the entire conversation. He had always stayed by Zhao Changyu’s side, only learning about their old home in Xiping through documents and letters. More specific matters and regulations required asking people here.

And Zhao Ming was clearly the best person to ask.

Fu Tinghan rode alone behind them, his gaze sweeping over the road and the surrounding mountains and fields. Zhao Erlang kicked his horse’s belly to catch up, looking around curiously with him. “Brother-in-law, what are you looking at?”

Fu Tinghan turned to smile at him warmly. “Looking at the terrain of the roads and mountains. I want to correct the map.”

Zhao Erlang wasn’t interested in this topic and skipped directly to his own question. “Brother-in-law, are we going to live on the estate from now on?”

Fu Tinghan nodded. “Yes.”

“Then will you take my sister away after a year?”

Fu Tinghan raised his eyebrows. “Who told you that?”

Zhao Erlang pressed his lips together, unhappy. “My new friends said so. They said you’d take my sister away, and then I’d have to go back to the fortress to study and live with them. I don’t want to study, and I don’t want you to take my sister away.”

Zhao Erlang asked, “If I stop calling you brother-in-law, would you not be able to take my sister away?”

Fu Tinghan: “…No.”

Zhao Erlang glared at him fiercely with an aggressive expression.

Fu Tinghan looked at him and smiled. “Don’t worry. If your sister doesn’t want to leave, I can’t drag her away.” But if she wanted to leave, naturally he wouldn’t stop her either.

Hearing this, Zhao Erlang was pleased and called him brother-in-law again.

Fu Tinghan, seeing his simple-mindedness, reached out to pat his head. “When we get back to the villa, I’ll give you some tests.”

“What are tests?”

“Just playing some games,” Fu Tinghan smiled. “Very fun games.”

Upon returning to Shangcai, Zhao Ming only stayed one night before returning to Xiping. Before leaving, he gave Zhao Hanzhang several calling cards from the Zhao family for her use.

Zhao Hanzhang saw off Zhao Ming with a smile, then immediately grabbed Ji Yuan—they needed to go to Quyang to bring everyone and everything back.

Fu Tinghan didn’t go. He needed to review all of Zhao Hanzhang’s current farmland and shops, then compile statistics and map them out for her so everyone could arrange the people they’d brought back.

There were many people in Quyang, and a lot of luggage too. The numerous carts and horses made such a large procession that even leaving Quyang attracted attention, let alone entering Shangcai.

As soon as they arrived at the estate, the County Magistrate of Shangcai learned about it the next moment.

A bailiff came running to report, “I heard there were carts, horses, and people numbering in the thousands!”

“So many? You’re not inflating the numbers, are you?” The magistrate said, “A thousand people would be comparable to an entire clan migrating. Did the whole Zhao clan from Xiping move here?”

“But the people didn’t come from Xiping—they came from Quyang.”

The magistrate frowned. “Quyang? If they’re not clan members from Xiping, are they gathered refugees?”

The magistrate shuddered and asked nervously, “Is the Zhao family planning to rebel?”

The advisor fell silent for a moment, then quickly said, “Your Honor, don’t panic. This may be a misunderstanding. There may not actually be a thousand people. Lord Zhao had an extremely high reputation, and the Zhao family has been loyal for two generations. They shouldn’t do such a thing.”

Seeing the magistrate still worried, he lowered his voice. “Besides, Lord Zhao only has one granddaughter and one simple-minded grandson. Who would rebel?”

The magistrate thought about it and realized this was true. He immediately relaxed, then snorted and scolded the bailiff. “You must have been mistaken, or deliberately inflating the numbers. Just one young lady with a simple-minded younger brother—how many people could they have? You hear a rumor and blow it out of proportion just to show off in front of me, don’t you?”

Infuriated that they’d scared him, the magistrate gave the bailiff a thorough scolding before driving him out.

The bailiff left looking quite aggrieved. When he saw no one was watching, he couldn’t help spitting. Damn it, even if he overestimated, the number wasn’t small. So many people, with carts and horses surrounded in the middle, stretching on and on before you could see the end.

If not a thousand people, there had to be seven or eight hundred.

In reality, the population now in Zhao Hanzhang’s hands, including the original tenant farmers and hired workers on the estate, was already close to fifteen hundred.