Zhao Hanzhang was also very cordial to Fortress Lord Chen, smiling as she invited both him and Zhao Cheng into the tent together.

Fortress Lord Chen was overwhelmed by the honor.

When they returned to the tent, Ting He came with a teapot to pour them hot water. There was no tea—Zhao Hanzhang was so poor now she’d even stopped drinking tea, trading it all for grain.

Zhao Hanzhang was very interested in why Zhao Cheng was here, so after sitting down she looked curiously at him and the youths and boys behind him. “Uncle, Uncle Ming said you left Xiping long ago. How did you end up here?”

This area was in eastern Yuzhou, southeast of Chen County, in territory previously occupied by Shi Lei.

Zhao Cheng sighed. Seeing him sigh, the youth behind him spoke up—actually he’d been unable to hold back for a while now, but with his teacher present, he hadn’t dared act presumptuously.

“Third Sister, we were originally going to Chen County to help you, but as soon as we left Runan Commandery we ran into Xiongnu people…”

Actually they didn’t run into them, but rather came across ordinary people fleeing together after being plundered by the Xiongnu.

Their group had horse carts and ox carts, carrying quite a bit of luggage. Suddenly encountering such a group, they could only flee along with them.

Then they were herded by the unseen Xiongnu army and ran right back into Runan Commandery.

Zhao Cheng, very experienced, calmly chose another route out of Runan Commandery and successfully led them into Ruyin Commandery, planning to go to Chen County from Ruyin.

But just a few days after entering Ruyin, they witnessed a living hell.

Because Shi Lei was attacking cities and breaking through fortresses, corpses littered the main roads. Many common people had no choice but to flee. With the Xiongnu army pressing down directly from the north and pushing southward, they would flee to one place only to have it attacked by the Xiongnu before they could settle, forcing them to continue fleeing…

They were like flies without direction, fleeing everywhere, yet seemingly encountering Xiongnu troops everywhere.

At this moment, there was no distinguishing between commoners and aristocrats—all were like homeless dogs being chased around.

Even Zhao Cheng, who had traveled extensively and seen much of the world, fell silent seeing the people’s misery.

He also knew that with their current capabilities and the supplies they carried, they couldn’t really help them much—it would just be a drop in the bucket.

But to truly turn a blind eye and deaf ear, letting the children traveling with them starve to death and women take their own lives—he couldn’t do that either. So while Zhao Cheng kept telling himself to harden his heart, he still divided some of the grain in their hands to them, eventually selling their horse carts and ox carts and everything to exchange for grain.

Although he knew the refugees who received grain might not survive this military disaster, still, living one more day was one more day.

So they saved people all along the way. Quite a few refugees simply followed behind them, everyone supporting each other while fleeing.

The youth said, “We arrived here the day before yesterday. Hearing Fortress Lord Chen say there was a bandit stronghold on the mountain, Teacher said he’d lead people to eliminate the stronghold. Not only could it remove the fortress’s future worries, we could also get some life-saving grain.”

Zhao Hanzhang listened in amazement and asked, “You’ve fought bandits before?”

The youth nodded. “We have. We only brought that little bit of money and valuables—it was used up long ago. With so many people needing to survive, we plundered bandits along the way—oh no, I mean we suppressed bandits along the way and got grain. Everyone could barely survive.”

“Third Sister, look—have I gotten thinner?”

The youth was a junior teacher in the school. While studying under Zhao Cheng, he was assigned tasks to provide basic education to students in the school. Zhao Hanzhang knew him—his name was Zhao Ze, and he should be only about thirteen years old.

He should be just a year or so younger than her. Zhao Hanzhang knew him—his cheeks used to be chubby, but now his face had no meat on it.

She immediately looked at him with distress. “You have gotten thinner.”

The youth sighed deeply. “All from hunger.”

Zhao Hanzhang immediately turned to Ting He. “Quickly have the kitchen set up pots to cook. How can I let my cousin go hungry?”

The youth looked at Zhao Hanzhang with tearful eyes. “Thank you, Third Sister!”

The youths and boys beside him also grew slightly excited. This group, though they’d suffered hardship, had never gone hungry before coming on this journey, and they were truly starving.

Zhao Cheng, who’d been silent all along: …

He glanced at his overly lively disciple and couldn’t help speaking up. “Zhao Ze!”

Zhao Ze immediately wiped the smile from his face and the tears from his eyes, standing with a serious expression.

Zhao Hanzhang still looked distressed and moved, saying to Zhao Cheng, “Uncle and the brothers have suffered on the journey. I’ll have people prepare tents for you to rest right away.”

She turned and called Zhao Kuan. “Cousin Kuan, you arrange this matter.”

Zhao Kuan agreed immediately.

Since they’d come, they should all stay and not leave.

In this moment, Zhao Kuan and Zhao Hanzhang’s thoughts were unprecedentedly aligned.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Zhao Kuan shuddered, feeling he’d changed.

These were his own teacher and fellow students—how could he scheme against them?

But…

His gaze fell on the smiling face of Zhao Hanzhang. Forget it—better a dead fellow Daoist than a dead poor Daoist.

After coaxing Zhao Cheng and the others away, Zhao Hanzhang finally looked at Fortress Lord Chen.

She let out a breath and spoke even more gently with Fortress Lord Chen.

Her strength was only so great—local areas still needed gentry like Fortress Lord Chen to help govern.

That he was willing to take in refugees showed his kind heart. As long as he had a heart for the people, he could be used.

Fortress Lord Chen’s name was Chen Yin. The Chen family had lived here for generations. Previously there had been no fortress here.

But with the realm unsettled these past years, when Shi Lei was being chased by Gou Xi and fled into Yuzhou last year, this area had been plundered.

After that incident, Chen Yin organized everyone to build a fortress, enclosing their village.

That’s right—unlike the Zhao clan fortress which was built by the clan and then took in others as fortress residents, the Chen family fortress was jointly built by villagers from the start.

Their power was very small. One fortress had just over a hundred households, not many people. However, during this time they’d taken in many refugees. Now the fortress had nearly a thousand people—oh, excluding the people Zhao Cheng brought.

They were also in difficulty.

Chen Yin taking in so many refugees naturally wasn’t for free. The fundamental reason was they didn’t want to leave their homeland. With a bandit stronghold on the nearby mountain and having already been robbed once, to avoid being robbed again, they needed to absorb manpower to strengthen themselves.

If Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t come to suppress the bandits, in time this area would inevitably form a situation where the mountain bandits and Chen family fortress each governed themselves.

But now Zhao Hanzhang had come. Chen Yin welcomed her, mainly because life was too difficult now and he felt he was about to buckle under the pressure.

When the sky falls, let the tall ones hold it up. He used to be the tallest in this patch of sky, but now the tallest was Zhao Hanzhang. With an uneasy expression, he described his difficulties, hoping Zhao Hanzhang could show him a clear path and help her—help him.

Zhao Hanzhang listened carefully, indicating she would definitely help them. Every common person under Yuzhou’s administration was her subject, and she wouldn’t abandon any of them.

“Since the fortress is already built, there’s no need to tear it down. In the future if foreign enemies invade again, nearby villagers can all take shelter inside,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “But there’s also no need to expand it further outward—that would be too taxing on the people’s labor and wealth.”

Chen Yin nodded in agreement. Building a fortress truly cost a great deal.

—