The words had barely left his mouth when the arrow was already released. Fu Tinghan immediately aimed his long sword at the direction the arrow came from and swung, but his movements couldn’t keep up with his eyes. His sword only grazed the arrow, which continued flying forward with a slightly altered trajectory.

When he shouted, Zhao Hanzhang had turned back. From the corner of her eye, she saw the flying arrow. Without any conscious thought, her body leaned back first. The moment she moved, the arrow flew past before her eyes, the feather brushing her left cheek…

As soon as the arrow passed, Zhao Hanzhang turned to look, just in time to see the archer’s second arrow already released. Her face changed drastically as she shouted at Fu Tinghan, “Get down!”

Fu Tinghan didn’t look back but simply dropped down at her command. However, the moment he moved, the arrow had already struck his rear shoulder. Due to inertia, the arrow’s force carried him off his horse…

Qiu Wu and Fu’an, who were protecting Fu Tinghan but at some distance from him, were shocked and cried out, “Young Master!”

Zhao Erlang turned back to look, his eyes widening as he shouted, “Brother-in-law!”

Zhao Hanzhang was furious. The instant Fu Tinghan fell from his horse, she aimed at the archer. She hurled her spear at him using the technique for throwing javelins. The opponent had just lowered his short bow and tried to turn his horse to dodge, but it was too late. The spear struck him directly in the heart and he fell.

Having thrown her spear, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t even look at the result. She kicked her horse’s belly, trying to catch Fu Tinghan as he fell. But just as she extended her hand, an arrow struck Fu Tinghan’s horse. It immediately reared up neighing, its hooves about to trample the fallen Fu Tinghan…

Zhao Hanzhang immediately controlled her mount to leap over, colliding with it just as it was about to land, but only managing to deflect it slightly. Zhao Erlang, who was closest, didn’t think twice—he jumped off his horse and punched the neighing horse, knocking it over and revealing Fu Tinghan who had been beneath the horse’s belly.

Wang Nie and Xie Shi, watching this series of accidents from afar, realized what was happening and shouted across the distance, “Protect the Commander! Watch for hidden arrows!”

The Zhao family army had also trained for this. At Qiu Wu’s command, the cavalry nearby immediately cut down the surrounding enemy troops, then formed ranks together, surrounding Zhao Hanzhang and the others in the center to block outside view.

After the collision, Zhao Hanzhang also quickly dismounted. Almost at the same instant that Zhao Erlang knocked over the horse, she bent down and dragged out the exposed Fu Tinghan. Seeing his pale face but that he was still conscious, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

She glanced at his back, gripped the arrow shaft, and with one forceful pull broke off the feather, leaving only a short section.

She pulled him up, pushed him onto the horse, then quickly mounted herself. After glancing at Gou Chun who had already taken most of the camp, Zhao Hanzhang ground her teeth and ordered, “Sound retreat! All soldiers withdraw from the camp! Wang Nie, Xie Shi!”

Wang Nie and Xie Shi had also killed their way over and responded in unison, “Your subordinates are here.”

“I order you two to pursue the Prince of Donghai together with Zhao Erlang. Only chase for eighty li. After eighty li, whether you’ve caught him or not, turn back.”

Her gaze turned cold as she slightly lowered her voice. “Gather the remnant soldiers. Capture as many prisoners as you can. Those you can’t capture, drive into the nearby mountain forests. Be careful of Gou Chun!”

Wang Nie and Xie Shi acknowledged the order.

Zhao Hanzhang snorted coldly and said to Qiu Wu, “Bring the personal guards. We’re leaving!”

Zhao Hanzhang kicked her horse’s belly. The personal guards surrounding them immediately dispersed. As Zhao Hanzhang passed by that corpse, she reached out to pull out her spear and, bringing Fu Tinghan with her, charged directly out.

The Prince of Donghai’s forces naturally wouldn’t stop them—seeing them from afar, they avoided them. Gou Chun took a moment to turn back and look. Seeing her aura of killing intent, his eyes narrowed with some regret.

But at this moment, the Prince of Donghai’s remnant forces were numerous. Though they were a defeated army, they still outnumbered them by several times. If the two armies cooperated it would be fine, but once there was discord, who knew if they wouldn’t regroup and counterattack?

So Gou Chun watched as Zhao Hanzhang and her forces departed without interfering.

Zhao Hanzhang took Fu Tinghan off the battlefield. Their medical tent was set up at the shallow crossing, as only that location was safe.

The military physicians waiting outside saw them return and hurried to meet them. “Is the General injured?”

Zhao Hanzhang dismounted and helped the pale-faced Fu Tinghan down. “It’s Fu Tinghan. He took an arrow in his back.”

A group of people immediately surrounded Fu Tinghan and ushered him into the medical tent. Zhao Hanzhang looked at the location of the wound and breathed a slight sigh of relief, yet her heart still remained anxious. In this era, even the common cold had a high mortality rate, not to mention an arrow wound. If infection set in…

Zhao Hanzhang suppressed her agitation and turned to Qiu Wu. “Send out scouts to watch Gou Chun and Gou Xi. If they make any unusual moves, inform me immediately.”

Then she called over two personal guards and wrote a simple letter on the spot, saying seriously, “Deliver this to the main camp immediately. Have Advisor Ji and the others act according to my orders as soon as they receive it.”

The guards accepted the letter and turned to leave.

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help pacing back and forth, occasionally going to check on Fu Tinghan.

The pieces of Fu Tinghan’s armor that could be removed were taken off, and those that couldn’t be removed were cut away with scissors. Soon the area where the arrow struck his rear shoulder was exposed.

Fu Tinghan also felt the pain. He could only talk to Zhao Hanzhang to distract himself. “We have no evidence for this matter, and with our current strength, it’s not advisable to openly clash with Gou Xi. If my guess is correct, Gou Xi probably doesn’t know about this.”

Both of them were intelligent people, and even Wang Nie and Xie Shi who had been present were too. Although the archer wore military uniform from the Prince of Donghai’s faction, he was mounted and only carried a short bow—anyone with sense would know he couldn’t possibly be one of the Prince’s men.

The military physicians quickly determined how to remove the arrow. They told Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan, “Young Master’s arrow wound isn’t deep. Fortunately it was a short bow—if it had been the longbows we commonly use, at this distance it could have pierced straight through.”

Zhao Hanzhang waited for the “but.”

“But this arrowhead is specially made. It will catch and hook flesh. Pulling it out will tear away much flesh, inevitably causing severe bleeding.”

Zhao Hanzhang frowned. “Can’t you use a knife to carefully extract it bit by bit? Avoiding the blood vessels?”

The military physician shook his head directly. “Reporting to the General, we lack that skill. We can only remove the arrow by force.”

Zhao Hanzhang ground her teeth. Fu Tinghan’s vision was already blurring. He said to Zhao Hanzhang, “Let them pull it out. The longer this arrowhead stays in, the worse it is. The camp has the best military physicians available. You can’t very well send me back to Xiping before operating.”

And the physicians in Xiping might not be better than the military physicians.

Zhao Hanzhang fell silent. After thinking for a moment, she nodded. She personally took a cloth strip, wrapped it around a wooden block and placed it in his mouth to bite on. Then together with two soldiers, she held down his body and told the physician, “Go ahead.”

The physician breathed a sigh of relief, coaxing Fu Tinghan to relax his body as much as possible. Then when he relaxed momentarily, the physician yanked out the arrowhead with one pull. A spurt of blood shot out. He immediately pressed a hemostatic pack over the wound. Fu Tinghan’s entire back tensed, then the tightly bitten cloth loosened and he fainted against the pillow.

Zhao Hanzhang grew anxious. “He’s fainted!”

—