Zhao Hanzhang’s departure caused quite a commotion, but because she hadn’t notified anyone in advance, it was only when people from Yushantang who had gone into the city to sell bean sprouts heard the news and rushed back that everyone at Yushantang learned Zhao Hanzhang was leaving.
“The Governor is leaving. We have nothing of value to give, so we can only see her off partway. I want to go send off the lady. Who will come with me?”
“I’ll go!”
“Me too!”
By the time Ping Xun received the news and hurried over, Yushantang had already assembled quite a few people, even those who had been hoeing in the fields had returned.
He was somewhat anxious, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as he asked, “What are you all doing?”
“We’re going to see off the Governor!”
“That’s right, to see off the Governor!”
Ping Xun: “Aiya, the lady isn’t leaving through this city gate. Look what time it is—even if they take their time saying farewell, by the time we arrive the Governor will have long since left.”
A half-grown youth immediately called out loudly, “I know a shortcut that can quickly reach the East City Gate. Once we climb halfway up the mountain slope, we’ll be at the ten-li pavilion outside the eastern suburbs. Since the Governor is leaving through the East Gate, she’ll definitely pass by there. If we hurry, we can still catch up and see the Governor off.”
Ping Xun: “Zhao Yi, are you certain? How could there be such a shortcut that I don’t know about?”
“I’m certain. When we went up the mountain to gather firewood, we crossed that mountain. At the foot of that mountain is the ten-li pavilion in the eastern suburbs. We followed that road back to the East Gate—there’s definitely no mistake.”
Ping Xun listened and saw them all looking at him expectantly. After thinking for a moment, he agreed, “Fine, then let’s go see the lady off.”
Everyone cheered and immediately rushed out, young and old together.
Yushantang was already outside the city, some distance from the city gate. Following the shortcut Zhao Yi mentioned, they ran for a while until they could see two low, connected hills.
Many trees had been cut down from the mountain, and there were small paths they had trampled out during this time. Everyone followed the small path up the mountain, crossed to the other side, and reached the mountain top. As they were running down, halfway down the slope someone pointed at the official road below and shouted, “It’s the Governor!”
Everyone immediately looked down to see a cavalry approaching on the distant official road, with people carrying banners bearing the familiar character “Zhao,” and leading them was none other than Zhao Hanzhang.
Immediately someone knelt down with a thud, shouting toward Zhao Hanzhang who was already riding swiftly to the foot of the mountain, “Yushantang’s Zhao Zhong sees off the Governor! May the Governor have smooth travels, peace and health!”
Only then did Ping Xun, who had been running breathlessly, react. He quickly walked forward, found a position visible from below the mountain, and knelt down leading the group. “Yushantang’s Ping Xun leads everyone from Yushantang to bid farewell to the Governor. May the Governor have peace and prosperity!”
Everyone followed suit, kneeling and shouting together, “May the Governor have peace and prosperity!”
As Zhao Hanzhang rode swiftly past the ten-li pavilion, she heard shouting from the mountain. She slowed her horse but didn’t stop, only raised her head to glance at the mountain. She saw many people kneeling densely on the somewhat sparse halfway point of the slope, all bowing toward her direction.
Zhao Hanzhang raised her hand and waved at them, then kicked her horse’s belly and led her people past the mountain.
The people on the mountain knelt for a long while. Only after all the hoofbeats had faded into the distance did they stand up, watching together as the cavalry gradually disappeared. Zhao Yi’s eyes filled with tears. “I wonder if we’ll ever see the Governor again?”
Ping Xun reached out and patted the youth’s head. “Study hard, learn proper skills, and when you’re older, go serve the Governor. You’ll definitely have the chance to see her.”
Zhao Yi nodded vigorously.
An old man nearby, his eyes red-rimmed, said, “Manager Ping, I also want to follow the lady’s surname. I’ve decided—I’ll take the name Zhao Zhong!”
Ping Xun: “…Elder Gan, don’t joke around. The children follow the Governor’s surname Zhao because most of them don’t remember their own surnames and have no names. But you’re already so old…”
“What’s wrong with being old? Does being old mean I can’t follow the lady? Look at Zhao Yi—he’s eleven years old. Could he really not know his own surname and name? He can follow the lady’s surname Zhao, so why can’t I?”
“I’m going to surname Zhao!”
“Then I want to change too. I also want to surname Zhao!”
“Me too, me too.”
Hearing their shouts, Ping Xun’s head was about to explode. There were already too many people surnamed Zhao at Yushantang, and they all liked to take single-character names—names like Zhong, Cheng, Yi, and such. This had resulted in too many people at Yushantang sharing the same name and surname, so that he could now only call people by their age and which courtyard and room number they lived in.
Ping Xun quickly raised his hand to suppress everyone’s voices. “Alright, alright, stop just thinking about surnames. Those who still remember their own surnames should use them. I remember the lady once gave several names to people at Yushantang.”
Everyone’s eyes brightened, immediately asking, “What names did she give?”
“Ping’an, Anning…” Ping Xun counted on his fingers, making things up just to give everyone more choices.
He’d rather they share given names than share both surname and given name.
If they all surnamed Zhao, when he called out “Zhao Yi” at Yushantang, ten people could turn around. Besides himself, probably only heaven would know which one he was calling.
“Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s return to Yushantang first. Once we’re back, I’ll tell you slowly. If you work diligently and accomplish something, I can even write to the Governor and have her give you a few more names.”
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know that Ping Xun had taken on such a task for her. The tears in her eyes dried from the wind. By the time they stopped at noon, her expression had returned to normal. “We’ll return to Chen County via Xiping and visit Uncle Ming along the way.”
Fu Tinghan agreed and asked, “Should we tell him about the gunpowder?”
“Of course,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “Even if we don’t tell him now, he’ll find out when we need to use gunpowder for quarrying stone.”
“Should we leave a formula in Xiping?”
Zhao Hanzhang shook her head directly. “No. The gunpowder won’t pass through the Zhao family’s hands—it will only be controlled by us.”
However, they only mentioned it briefly and hadn’t demonstrated the gunpowder in front of Zhao Ming, so he only knew they had created something called a “gunpowder tube” that could assist with quarrying stone. He didn’t know how powerful its deterrent force was.
By the time he found out, Zhao Hanzhang was no longer in Xiping.
However, he wasn’t currently concerned with this briefly mentioned gunpowder tube. He was concerned about another matter. “At the Qingming ancestral worship, Zhao Ji wants to bring Dalang back.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang asked in surprise, “Can they leave the city now?”
Zhao Ming nodded.
Zhao Hanzhang’s fingers lightly tapped the table. “It seems Gou Xi’s troops have completely withdrawn. Well, spring has arrived and everyone needs to do spring plowing. He can’t very well delay the farming season.”
Zhao Ming lifted his eyelids to look at her. Seeing that she showed no concern whatsoever about Zhao Ji returning to the ancestral lands for worship, he took the initiative to say, “The clan leader’s health is failing. This illness during New Year’s came on fiercely. Zhao Ji is probably returning for the clan leader position and wants to discuss this matter with the clan elders in advance.”
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t care about this matter. She lifted her eyelids to look at Zhao Ming. “Will the clan elders agree to let Zhao Ji become clan leader?”