Zhao Hu said painfully, “Send him the other set of glass cups.”

The steward stood there continuing to wait for instructions. Seeing Zhao Hu say nothing more, he looked at him questioningly.

Zhao Hu jumped up. “I’ve already given him the other set of glass cups. What else—must I personally go apologize? He’s hard to deal with, and I’m easy to deal with?”

The steward bowed and withdrew.

Zhao Hu turned circles on the spot. Finally, still unable to swallow his anger, he shouted loudly, “Someone come! Hitch the carriage!”

He would go to Shangcai to settle accounts with Zhao Hanzhang!

Zhao Hu was a man of action. The steward couldn’t dissuade him and could only stand at the wubao gate watching him leave.

Zhao Hu brought just three to five guards and departed. They galloped at full speed—if they hurried, they should reach the Shangcai estate by nightfall.

Zhao Hu fumed, occasionally pounding the carriage wall to urge them on. “Faster, faster! Did you not eat, or did the horses not graze?”

His words had barely fallen when the driver suddenly reined in the carriage. Momentum carried Zhao Hu forward, and he crashed directly into the driver’s back. Furious, he shouted loudly, “You damned thing, what are you doing?”

“Mas… Master…” The driver’s voice trembled as he pointed ahead.

Zhao Hu only had time to glance up. The guards had already reacted, immediately leaping off their horses, shouting while grabbing the carriage to turn it around. “Master, it’s rebel troops!”

The road wasn’t wide enough, but the guards couldn’t worry about that. They directly pulled the horses into the field, trampling over bean seedlings to turn around, then slapped the driver. “Drive already!”

The driver came to his senses. With a crack of the whip, the carriage shot forward.

The guards protected the carriage as it raced back. Encountering farmers still working the fields, they shouted loudly, “Enemy attack, enemy attack—return to the wubao quickly!”

Wind blew sand and dirt into their mouths. The guards spat twice and continued shouting.

Soon they didn’t need to shout anymore, because the watchtower sentries at the wubao had also spotted the distant dust clouds.

The wubao watchtower immediately lit signal fires, then rang the bells.

People laboring in the fields first heard the bells. Looking up toward the wubao, they saw smoke black as ink.

Everyone in the fields froze momentarily, then immediately reacted. Shouldering their farm tools, they began running home. “Run, run quickly!”

A child’s shoe fell off and he wanted to go back for it. An adult grabbed his clothes, tucked him under one arm, and ran. “What time is it to worry about shoes? Run barefoot—be quick!”

Zhao Hu swayed and bounced constantly, colliding repeatedly. He felt like vomiting blood. Clinging to the window, he struggled to steady himself, stuck his head out to look back, and saw the faint figures of men and horses truly heading their way. He couldn’t help cursing, “Where did these rebel troops come from, daring to run wild in Xiping…”

They hadn’t gone far to begin with. Returning with horses whipped to greater speed, they quickly reached the wubao gates.

Gate guards had opened the other two doors as well, letting carriages and farmers all run inside.

The commotion quickly alarmed Zhao Song and Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming hurriedly changed his shoes and rushed out. Seeing his father dragging wooden clogs outward, he quickly stopped him. “Father, why not summon the clan elders to discuss strategies for repelling the enemy? I’ll go check the wubao gates.”

Zhao Ming mounted his horse and rode off. Reaching the gates, retainers had already arrived. Farmers running back from the fields went home, changed clothes, grabbed weapons, and rushed back out.

The Zhao clan wubao’s retainers served as soldiers in wartime. During peacetime they trained, and during busy farming seasons they worked the fields.

Zhao Ming climbed the tower. By now he could see the rebel troops charging toward them—a dozen horses in front, followed by a chaotic mass of infantry. At a rough glance, no fewer than a thousand men.

Zhao Ming was baffled. “Where did these people come from?”

Zhao Hu climbed the tower, leaning on a stone pillar to catch his breath. “Can you see clearly? Is it an enemy attack?”

Zhao Ming didn’t answer. Zhao Hu stepped forward himself to look. Seeing someone waving flags among the rebel troops, he stared intently. After a while, he pointed at the flags in surprise. “Liu? Which Liu? Why are there two flags? What’s the other character?”

Zhao Ming’s expression shifted slightly. He clenched his fists. “Can’t see clearly. But as long as it’s not the Xiongnu army’s Liu Yuan.”

The rebel troops gradually approached. The wubao gates slowly closed. The drawbridge was raised. Instantly, the Zhao clan wubao became like an isolated island, separated from the approaching rebel troops by a water channel.

Zhao Hu was desperately trying to count heads. An experienced scout reported, “Young Master, their numbers are around four thousand.”

Zhao Hu’s heart turned cold. He nearly collapsed to the ground. “Our wubao has only a thousand retainers. Even counting all able-bodied men, barely over three thousand. Can we hold out?”

“Seventh Uncle should return home first. I’ll handle things here,” Zhao Ming said. “We’ve already sent people to the county seat for rescue. With so many rebel troops suddenly entering Xiping County, both Governor He and the county magistrate will send reinforcements.”

Zhao Hu sat down on the ground, wailing toward the sky. “How is my luck so terrible? Just cheated by you and Sanniang, now I run into this.”

Zhao Ming warned him, “Seventh Uncle, watch your words. With a great enemy before us, if you disrupt morale, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.”

The Zhao clan wubao mobilized. Retainers and able-bodied men divided into two groups, first assembling the retainers.

Over these years, they’d occasionally been attacked by vagrants and small bands of rebels, but never on large scale. This was the first time such a massive force appeared without warning.

Zhao Ming couldn’t figure out where these people had come from.

Each Zhao family location had estates and fields. Whether they came from Shangcai direction or Yangcheng direction, they should have received word.

Zhao Ming turned to face the county seat direction. The Zhao clan wubao wasn’t very far from the county seat. With signal fires rising here, the county should receive news quickly.

At this time, they should respond—either come to rescue, or… shut the city gates tight to resist the enemy.

While Zhao Ming pondered deeply, he suddenly saw towering signal fires also rising from the county seat direction.

Zhao Ming’s heart sank. Grabbing Zhao Hu, who was still crying, he descended from the tower and ordered the retainers, “Defend the wubao. Go to the armory and bring out the crossbows.”

“Yes!”

After dragging Zhao Hu a distance, Zhao Song arrived with the clan elders. “How is the situation?”

Zhao Ming casually pointed to a small restaurant on the side. “Let’s go in and talk.”

Once inside the restaurant, after clearing out idle people, Zhao Ming finally said, “Father, Xiping County is also under attack. The enemy numbers are probably substantial. I’m somewhat worried—I fear neither Xiping nor the wubao can hold out.”

“Xiping is in the center of Runan. How could so many rebel troops enter silently?”

Zhao Ming had no idea. Now wasn’t the time to discuss this. Zhao Ming said, “Father, the urgent matter is to think clearly: do we fight to the death, or open the gates and welcome them in?”

Zhao Song’s expression was grave. “If we open the gates to welcome people, do you think the Zhao clan can be preserved?”

Zhao Ming replied, “Preserve it for a time, but not forever. We cannot abandon our women and children. Our men cannot break their spines either.”