Shangcai’s horse farm wasn’t large. This was, after all, the Central Plains, and the horses raised here only supplied Runan Jun. But Zhao Hanzhang’s luck was good—it was currently autumn.
Horses were generally delivered to each county in late autumn. They hadn’t yet had time to deliver them, so the horse farm currently had the most horses.
Zhao Hanzhang brought County Magistrate Chai’s letter and entered the horse farm to take horses. The horse master looked at the letter once and said, “Shangcai county can take ten horses. Wait here, I’ll go lead them out for you.”
“Wait,” Zhao Hanzhang blocked his way with her spear horizontally and asked, “How many mature horses are currently in this horse farm?”
The horse master said warily, “No matter how many there are, you can only take ten from Shangcai county. The rest are the jun magistrate’s and other counties’ shares.”
Zhao Hanzhang said with a serious expression, “Emergency situations call for emergency measures. Right now Quyang and Xiping have both lit beacon fires. To save the jun magistrate, we’re requisitioning all these horses.”
The horse master’s eyes widened, “Who’s your family’s young lady? Since when does a woman lead troops? I don’t know what you Shangcai county people want to do. Being able to give you ten horses is already good. You actually want to take them all.”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “I am Sanniang of the Xiping Zhao clan. I’m requisitioning these horses first. After this battle is fought, if we’re fortunate enough to survive, we’ll definitely return the horses.”
Hearing she was from the Zhao clan, the horse master was momentarily speechless but still blocked their way, “No. There’s still over a month before the horse delivery time. If you take them all, what will I hand over?”
“If the cities are lost, who will you hand horses over to?” Zhao Hanzhang waved to those behind her, “Zhao Ju, lead people to take the horses. Lead out all the mature horses.”
“Yes!”
Zhao Ju immediately led over a hundred people charging into the horse farm.
The horse master wanted to block them with his clerks, but the entire horse farm, including the horse master, only had about ten people. With Zhao Hanzhang bringing nearly a thousand people here, how could they possibly block them?
In a short while, Zhao Ju searched out one hundred eight mature horses from the horse farm and even found over a dozen saddles, immediately putting them on.
Zhao Hanzhang also didn’t mind that the remaining horses had no saddles and immediately distributed them to the retainers according to their previous training results, even allocating twenty horses to the garrison troops.
Captain Chen, who had been quietly watching from behind with his soldiers, was startled and asked in surprise, “We get some too?”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “There are no saddles. Riding horses won’t be a problem, right?”
Captain Chen immediately replied, “No problem.”
Zhao Hanzhang nodded slightly, “If there’s no problem, then good. Change to horses and let’s go. When we get there, follow orders. Our goal is to repel the enemy army and not allow them to cross Xiping and reach Shangcai.”
Captain Chen, hearing she wasn’t just doing this to save the Zhao family, relaxed his expression considerably and nodded seriously, “We will do our utmost.”
Seeing the situation was irreversible, Horse Master Wei sat on the ground slapping his thigh and crying bitterly.
Zhao Hanzhang, seeing him cry pitifully, casually removed the jade pendant from her waist and tossed it to him, “Why cry? Afterward, take this jade pendant to the Zhao family estate to find me or Master Ji, explain the matter. If we can’t give you horses, we can give you several sets of glazed ware. Then you can use the glazed ware for bribes—it’ll be somewhat useful.”
Horse Master Wei’s crying paused.
Zhao Hanzhang turned and waved to everyone, “Let’s go!”
With so many horses added, the marching speed increased considerably. Zhao Hanzhang decided to take fifty cavalry and Fu Tinghan and go ahead first, while Zhao Ju led the remaining people in a forced march.
She picked out as many bows and arrows as possible to bring along. After coordinating with Zhao Ju, she mounted her horse and set off first.
Ji Ping and the retainers escorted Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan toward Xiping. The sky gradually darkened. They didn’t even drink water, wanting to reach Xiping as quickly as possible.
In the darkness, Zhao Hanzhang heard the sound of hoofbeats coming from the opposite direction. Zhao Hanzhang reined in her horse and quietly stopped the troops behind her.
Ji Ping pricked up his ears to listen but couldn’t hear anything, “Sanniang, did you hear wrong?”
Zhao Hanzhang dismounted and lay on the ground to listen. After a moment, she got up, “Someone is coming.”
Ji Ping also lay down to listen and heard it, “About a dozen horses, and they’re going very fast. They should arrive soon.”
Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand, having everyone hide on both sides of the road.
Fu Tinghan said, “They might be people who escaped to report the news.”
Zhao Hanzhang also hoped so. After waiting a while, the hoofbeats grew nearer. Though the sky had darkened, in the moonlight they could still vaguely see over a dozen horses galloping toward them.
Because they didn’t know if they were friend or foe, Ji Ping first whistled a warning. Only after they stopped warily did he jump out and ask, “Who are you? Where are you coming from?”
The Zhao family retainers were frightened to death, thinking they’d encountered bandits. But hearing this question, they knew it wasn’t robbery. And if they were enemies, why would they warn first before asking—wouldn’t it be better to just use trip wires and hack them to death with random blades?
Therefore, the leader immediately called out, “We are from Xiping’s Zhao clan. Who are you?”
Ji Ping asked, “From the Zhao clan’s fortified estate?”
“Correct.”
Ji Ping lit a torch and carefully approached with his subordinates. The person on horseback was also very tense, his hand gripping his sword tightly. But when the torch lit up and he saw Ji Ping’s face, he relaxed, “Ji Ping!”
Recognizing the voice, Ji Ping quickly stepped forward to look. He felt the face was familiar but didn’t recognize him. However, he saw at a glance the young boy he was protecting in his arms, “This is the young master from the fourth branch.”
Ji Ping had been by Zhao Hanzhang’s side and had met him. He immediately turned back, “My lady!”
Zhao Hanzhang emerged from the darkness. The Zhao clan retainer saw her and his eyes couldn’t help but redden. He immediately dismounted with the child and bowed, “Sanniang, the fortified estate is in trouble. Fifth Master sent us to escort the young masters and young lady to seek refuge.”
Seeing Zhao Sanniang, the children directly burst into tears.
The oldest of them was twelve and could already ride a horse himself. The youngest was only five or six years old.
This half-day of fleeing had filled them with fear. Though they weren’t very familiar with Zhao Hanzhang, they knew she would be their future support. So upon seeing her, they couldn’t help but cry.
Zhao Hanzhang stepped forward and patted their heads, then turned to ask the retainer, “Who is attacking the fortified estate? How many people?”
“They’re carrying Liu Yuan’s banner, but they’re dressed in rags and don’t look like Xiongnu people.” The retainer paused before continuing, “When we escaped, we also saw another banner that seemed to have the character Shi on it. About over four thousand people. But there’s also enemy activity in the county town’s direction. Young Master Ming said that once the county town falls, the fortified estate cannot stand alone. So he had us take the young masters out and asked Sanniang to preserve the Zhao clan’s fire seed.”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “I’ve brought reinforcements. You go ahead to the estate and have Zhao Tong take you into the county town to find Master Ji.”
The retainer glanced at the several dozen people behind them, knelt down and said, “Sanniang, those chaotic troops are suffering from famine and have lost their humanity. Please put the family first and don’t compete with them in a moment of pride.”
He all but said Zhao Hanzhang was throwing eggs at a rock.
“These fifty cavalry went ahead first. There are another thousand people behind us,” Zhao Hanzhang said, “You go first. If you encounter Zhao Ju on the road, give a warning so we don’t end up fighting our own people.”
Hearing there were another thousand people behind, the retainer immediately stopped trying to dissuade her and stood up, responding with “Yes.”
Zhao Hanzhang patted the heads of the several children, especially the little girl. She bent down to meet her round eyes and said, “Don’t be afraid. Let Uncle retainer take you to the estate, all right?”
The little girl’s eyes still held tears but she didn’t let them fall. Suppressing her tears, she said quietly, “I am the eldest daughter of our sixth branch. My father said I am the root of our branch, so I cannot cry. I must be strong.”
Zhao Hanzhang patted her head, “Good girl.”
—