“How can I not mention it? You used a hundred thousand troops to help her drive out the Xiongnu, and in return she only used five thousand men to repay you?” Gou Chun was very angry. “Her calculations are far too shrewd.”
“Moreover, this shows her cunning nature. Yanzhou and Yuzhou are neighboring provinces. If we don’t teach her a lesson now while we have the upper hand, will she still respect you as her elder brother in the future?”
Gou Xi pondered deeply, stroking his beard as he said, “If I want to subdue her, there’s still much work to be done. I’m not in a hurry. Let’s forget about this matter. As long as she doesn’t betray our alliance, I won’t question the process—I’ll only look at the results.”
When he first met Zhao Hanzhang, she had proposed repaying him with Yuzhou, and he had instinctively regarded her as a subordinate.
But after watching her expel the Xiongnu, circle around to rescue Beigong Chun from behind, and remotely command the Yuzhou army—demonstrating divine military tactics—he realized she wasn’t so easily subdued.
Especially before Zhao Hanzhang returned to Yuzhou, when he had crossed swords from afar with Zhao Ming and Ji Yuan, he learned that Zhao Ming and Ji Yuan could not be used by him.
If even these two advisors were like this, how much more so their master?
During this time, he had also discerned that most of the rumors circulating were incorrect. At the very least, the things Zhao Hanzhang did were not instigated by Zhao Ming as the rumors claimed. More likely, Zhao Ming was the one receiving instructions.
Gou Chun clearly hadn’t yet properly assessed Zhao Hanzhang, so he remained indignant and quite dissatisfied.
But since Gou Xi had made his decision, even though Gou Chun was unhappy, he could only temporarily suppress it and turn to muster the troops.
Zhao Hanzhang was using a telescope to observe the surroundings. After she had seen enough, she handed it to Fu Tinghan. “This thing is excellent. Have the glass workshop make more of them later to equip all the generals in the army.”
Fu Tinghan agreed and also began observing the terrain with the telescope, then wrote and drew on paper.
Zhao Hanzhang leaned back and lay down on the grass, pillowing her arms behind her head. She raised one leg and swung it back and forth as she said, “Now we just wait for Gou Xi’s orders. Once his command comes down, we can dispatch troops. Will you stay here then?”
Fu Tinghan continued drawing his diagram while taking time to reply, “I’ll cross the river with you. You’ll be leading the cavalry, and Erlang isn’t suited for commanding troops. I can help you oversee the overall situation.”
Zhao Hanzhang laughed. “Then you should stay at the rear even more. Where have you seen a commander charging into battle?”
Fu Tinghan looked back at her. “You’re the commander.”
Zhao Hanzhang applied a double standard, saying directly, “I need to lead from the front, otherwise how will the soldiers be willing to fight desperately for me?”
Fu Tinghan continued drawing with his head down, unconcerned as he said, “I can also mount a horse and fight enemies now.”
This was true. Although he didn’t have many kills to his name, he was indeed no longer the Professor Fu who would turn pale at the sight of death.
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t object further and just lay there with her arms as pillows, gazing at the trees overhead. The imposing wind blew past, carrying a hint of coolness, but she felt utterly content.
Fu Tinghan looked back at her from time to time. Seeing her at ease, he focused on his drawing while the two of them rarely relaxed and quieted down.
Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t sleepy either, just lying there in a daze. Her previously restless heart settled down. Looking at the blue sky and white clouds showing through the green leaves and branches, she suddenly understood—history has its inevitable course. She could work hard, but how things changed wasn’t for her alone to decide.
She didn’t need to be anxious at all. She just needed to do what she could do.
Zhao Hanzhang suddenly felt enlightened. Fu Tinghan seemed to sense something and turned to look at her. Seeing her smiling with her whole body relaxed, he couldn’t help but smile too and asked, “Did you figure something out?”
Zhao Hanzhang nodded and sat up. “Life should still have quiet moments from time to time. Only then can there be space to think about things we normally don’t have time to consider, and we can actually reach understanding.”
Zhao Hanzhang was about to share her realization when she glanced at the drawing in front of him and froze for a moment, forgetting what she was going to say. “This is…”
Fu Tinghan picked up the drawing and handed it to her, smiling. “It’s you.”
Zhao Hanzhang reached out to take it, feeling that the person on it was both like her and unlike her. After looking carefully, her gaze settled on the loose hair, and she murmured blankly, “Like my former self.”
Fu Tinghan nodded. “Just now you were very much like before—spirited and confident, yet very peaceful.”
Zhao Hanzhang examined it carefully. The clothing depicted was what she wore now, and the environment was similar, only the hairstyle was different. But she looked very carefully—she hadn’t seen “herself” looking like this for a very, very long time.
Fu Tinghan let her look while putting away his other sketches. Hearing movement, he looked down and said, “Erlang is coming.”
Zhao Hanzhang came back to her senses. She tried to fold the portrait to tuck it in her sleeve, but found she was wearing narrow sleeves, so she simply held it in her hand.
Zhao Erlang rushed up all the way, ignoring the guards stationed along the route. He bypassed Ting He and ran straight to Zhao Hanzhang, calling out, “Sister, General Gou sent someone with a message. Let me be the vanguard this time, all right?”
Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment then nodded. “All right.”
For this campaign, Zhao Hanzhang also didn’t bring Zhao Ju, but she specifically called Wang Nie and Xie Shi. She both wanted to see what these two were capable of and wanted them to see what Zhao Erlang was capable of.
These two were cunning and capable people. Erlang was still too simple, always charging straight ahead on the battlefield. She wanted these two to teach Zhao Erlang, to at least make him learn to be smarter. If he could learn even half of what they knew, it would be enough for him to use.
So Zhao Hanzhang said, “I’ll have Wang Nie and Xie Shi assist you.”
Zhao Erlang tilted his head and thought for a good while before saying, “That’s fine, but do I listen to them, or do they listen to me?”
Previously when Zhao Hanzhang assigned him assistants, she always made him listen to them. Zhao Erlang found it restrictive and uncomfortable.
Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him, and after he also broke into a smile, her smile suddenly dropped. “Naturally, whoever is right, you listen to them. Since you want to be the vanguard, you can’t just focus on fighting yourself. You not only need to lead your soldiers well, but also consider the overall situation. If you can’t do this, you can take back your words now, and I won’t let you be vanguard again in the future.”
Zhao Erlang’s heart tightened, and he immediately said, “I, I understand. I’ll listen to them.”
Zhao Hanzhang smacked his head. “You can’t listen to everything they say either. You need to learn to think for yourself. If you’re right, persist in your own ideas. If they’re right, follow their advice.”
Zhao Erlang rubbed his head, feeling very wronged. He thought his sister was capricious and ultimately didn’t say whether to listen to him or to them.
He couldn’t help but steal a glance at his brother-in-law, hoping he could give him some hints.
Fu Tinghan reached out and gently stroked his head. “When you can’t judge whether something is right or wrong, listen to your sister. If your sister hasn’t given an opinion, then listen to the wise people around you.”
He said, “Wang Nie and Xie Shi are both very intelligent people, and they were assigned to you by your sister, so there won’t be any problems. You can listen to them. Once you’ve learned to think and learned to judge whether something is right or wrong, then you can do as your sister taught you.”
Zhao Erlang earnestly repeated this passage several times, and after confirming he had memorized it, he nodded vigorously. “Brother-in-law, I’ve got it.”
—