In the past, Zhao Erlang would have simply seized the items by force, but after becoming the Magistrate of Luoyang and dealing with more civil matters, he knew such actions were inappropriate.

So even though he desperately wanted to move the items immediately, he still restrained himself and urged the veteran soldier to write the letter.

He wanted to personally supervise the letter writing. “I’ll send someone specially to deliver it, which will be faster than the postal relay system.”

The veteran, harassed by his insistence, had no choice but to bring him to find other veterans, and then a group of soldiers huddled together to compose the letter.

Zhao Erlang squeezed in as well. As they wrote, the veteran asked Zhao Erlang, “How do you write the character for copper?”

Zhao Erlang’s eyes widened. He scratched his head and said, “No need to write copper, just write ball.”

“Then how do you write ball?”

Well, he knew that even less.

Zhao Erlang struggled to recall the character for copper he had seen before. Taking the brush, he sketched for quite a while before finally drawing something. The more he looked at it, the more it seemed correct, so he told them, “This is it.”

The veterans had all heard of this young general and knew he wasn’t skilled at scholarly pursuits. However, being a young master from a prominent family, they still had confidence in his cultural level—surely he was better than them, right?

Thus, over ten people collaborated to finish writing a letter.

Handing the letter to Zhao Erlang, the veteran said, “As long as the General agrees, we will definitely give the items to the Young General.”

Zhao Erlang asked, “Do you have any token of proof? What if your General doesn’t believe this letter is from you?”

After all, it wasn’t going through the postal relay system but being delivered privately.

The veterans proudly and confidently said, “Please rest assured, the General will know it’s from us when he sees the letter.”

“That’s right, the General can recognize our handwriting. He said he would never mistake our handwriting.”

Zhao Erlang was reassured. He took the letter and left. As he was being seen out, he turned back to remind them, “Make sure to guard those items well and don’t let anyone steal them.”

“Young General, rest assured. Who would dare steal from our General’s mansion?”

Zhao Erlang left with peace of mind, but when he returned home, he still felt uneasy. So he called for Lu Hu. “We also need to write a letter to General Beigong. That Huang An is so petty—what if he persuades General Beigong not to agree?”

So he needed to write a letter as well.

Zhao Erlang’s letters were basically written by Lu Hu and a few other attendants, which he would then review once.

He could now recognize many characters. The thing was, when he saw them, he could still recognize them, but when he couldn’t see them and tried to recall them, it became quite difficult, let alone write them.

Moreover, some characters he recognized when they were together, but when separated and examined one by one, he didn’t recognize them anymore.

Occasionally, he would find it strange—why was it that when the characters in a sentence were separated, he couldn’t recognize them?

Zhao Erlang shook his head and called Lu Hu to transcribe.

After Lu Hu finished writing the letter with flowing strokes, Zhao Erlang reviewed it, then sealed both letters together and handed them to him. “Have the soldiers deliver this to Bingzhou. Remember, give the letter to General Beigong.”

Lu Hu indicated he understood.

Zhao Erlang was delighted. He lay on the couch, raised one leg, and swayed it back and forth. When Lu Hu returned, he said, “Don’t tell Elder Sister and Brother-in-law about this yet. When I get that big copper ball, I’ll give it to them as a gift—it’ll be my New Year present.”

Lu Hu said, “Erlang, in two more days it will be New Year’s. The letter probably won’t even reach Jinyang by then.”

Zhao Erlang said, “What does it matter? The entire period before the fifteenth day is still New Year’s. As long as there’s a reply before the fifteenth, it’s fine.”

He sighed. “New Year gifts are really difficult to choose. I’ve looked at those items, and Elder Sister and Brother-in-law don’t seem to like any of them.”

Lu Hu smiled. “You’re just upset because you don’t have money to buy expensive gifts, right?”

Zhao Erlang hummed without answering and asked, “Where are Elder Sister and the others?”

“The Lady and Master Fu have left. They should have gone to the Fu residence across the way.”

Zhao Hanzhang was indeed at the Fu residence across the way, drinking tea with Princess Hongnong and informing her about the palace banquet.

Princess Hongnong readily agreed to attend.

Taking advantage of Princess Hongnong going to change clothes, Fu Xuan came over and found Zhao Hanzhang. “Sanniang, I’ve been unwell in recent years and increasingly prone to confusion. Therefore, I want to formally resign from my position as Imperial Censor. I’ve heard that you’ve approved many resignation requests, so mine…”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “Father, those people resigned because they’re scattered in various places and temporarily cannot return to Luoyang. I couldn’t force them. But Father, you’re already in Luoyang—why are you unwilling to serve the country?”

Fu Xuan sighed. “I have the will but lack the strength. Look at me—do I look like someone who can go out on inspection tours and fulfill the duties of an Imperial Censor?”

“So Father doesn’t want to go out! That’s simple. The Imperial Academy needs a professor. I heard from Tinghan that you love reading very much. Why not go to the Imperial Academy to teach students? The Imperial Academy has nothing in abundance except books and eager learners. There, Father can not only read books but also find like-minded people to discuss their meanings. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Fu Xuan opened his mouth. But he could read books at home too.

He didn’t want to leave the house.

He instantly found a reason and was about to refuse when he saw Princess Hongnong standing at the doorway, looking at him coldly.

Fu Xuan immediately responded, “Good, I’ll go to the Imperial Academy.”

If he didn’t go to the Imperial Academy, Princess Hongnong would probably not allow him to resign and would force him to go to the Censorate, or perhaps even make him do more, such as fighting for the little emperor’s rights at court.

Fu Xuan hastily agreed, afraid that Princess Hongnong would interrupt and Zhao Hanzhang would change her mind.

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan silently looked at him, then at Princess Hongnong, and tactfully changed the subject. “Speaking of which, the snowy scenery in Luoyang has been quite nice these past few days. Have Father and Mother thought about going to appreciate the snow? I heard there’s a plum grove outside the city that Shi Chong and others enclosed and planted themselves. The plum trees are quite old. When Liu Cong attacked Luoyang in earlier years, a fire burned the plum grove, but unexpectedly, the old trees didn’t die. The next year, when the spring wind blew, they grew new leaves and came back to life. I heard the plum blossoms are blooming beautifully.”

Princess Hongnong said coolly, “I heard that the flowers in that plum grove were nearly all plucked by students from various schools in Luoyang and the Imperial Academy. Just the other day at your wedding, they were all scattered over you both.”

“Ah?” So those plum blossoms were plucked from there—no wonder there were so many.

Fu Tinghan felt somewhat embarrassed, but Zhao Hanzhang’s expression remained unchanged. After a moment of surprise, she smoothly switched reasons. “Then appreciating the plum blossoms now would be even more atmospheric. Old trees with fallen flowers,映 against white snow—after New Year’s Eve, I’ll hunt a deer for Mother. You can bring the venison, and while roasting meat and appreciating the snow, wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Princess Hongnong: …Appreciating snow is appreciating snow—why add roasting meat?

Zhao Hanzhang believed that if one was going to appreciate snow, how could one not roast meat?

And if one was going to roast meat, how could one lack venison, lack hunting?

She had already made plans. Riding home with Fu Tinghan, she said, “On the third day, we’ll go hunting. On the fourth day, we’ll appreciate the snow. Didn’t Guo Pu say? From the first to the fifth day, there will be scattered light snow. Snow hanging on branches will surely be beautiful.”

Fu Tinghan nodded. Then the two returned home to find two baskets of official documents and letters.

The two baskets were of similar size. One was so full it couldn’t even be covered with a lid. The other basket, when the lid was opened, contained only about a dozen official documents.

Fu Tinghan quietly breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the lighter basket, and said, “I’m going to handle official business.”

Zhao Hanzhang silently picked up her overflowing basket. Because it was so heavy, her shoulder couldn’t help but droop slightly.

—