Zhao Hanzhang’s mind raced as her spear never paused in her hand. She thrust it into one man’s chest and shoved forward forcefully, blocking the three men behind him. Then she shouted toward the front, “Shi Lei, do you dare come out and fight me?”
“I’ve long heard of your fierce reputation. Hanzhang has admired your great name for a long time. I heard you were causing trouble at the Zhao family stronghold, so I came specifically to seek battle with you,” Zhao Hanzhang declared while clearing away the rebel soldiers surrounding her. “Shi Lei, if you don’t fight now, you’ll miss your chance. My main army is about to arrive, and then you won’t have the opportunity for a one-on-one duel with me!”
Shi Lei hadn’t realized she was female, but when he glanced back, he could tell she was only about ten years old. Young people of this age were already difficult to distinguish between male and female, and though she had delicate features, weren’t there plenty of refined-looking young men among the Dajin aristocracy?
Like Wei Jie, for instance, whose face was like a jade crown and whose fame spread throughout the realm.
So Shi Lei didn’t want to bother with her. He struck down a man with one slash and charged toward Zhao Ming, only to be blocked midway by two household soldiers.
Zhao Hanzhang continued shouting, “Shi Lei, are you afraid? I’ve already killed over ten of your men! Coward! And you call yourself a Jie tribesman—what a waste of that big frame of yours!”
Ji Ping, who was guarding her rear, thought to himself: …
He nearly cried. She was cursing so harshly—would they still be able to break out?
Shi Lei was indeed enraged by her taunts. He kicked aside a household soldier and saw that Zhao Ming, protected by others, had retreated behind the troops and couldn’t be caught up to quickly. So he simply turned his blade around and charged back toward Zhao Hanzhang.
He stepped on the corpses in the ditch and leaped over, swinging his blade toward the horse’s legs. Zhao Hanzhang jerked the reins, and the horse nimbly jumped aside. Zhao Hanzhang leaned to the side and thrust out with her spear…
Shi Lei’s slash missed, and his body rolled forward on the ground, similarly avoiding Zhao Hanzhang’s thrust. He flipped up and raised his blade to block Ji Ping’s sweeping strike. His strength was enormous—he slid his blade up along Ji Ping’s weapon. Frightened, Ji Ping immediately released his blade handle, barely saving his own hand.
But Shi Lei took advantage and grabbed his arm, yanking hard and pulling Ji Ping right off his horse.
Zhao Hanzhang’s spear thrust came up empty. Her long spear turned flexibly and slashed across the throat of a nearby rebel soldier. As her horse turned to break through, from the corner of her eye she saw Ji Ping being pulled down behind her. Zhao Hanzhang immediately wheeled her horse back with one thrust, the clang of metal blocking Shi Lei’s descending blade.
Ji Ping rolled on the ground and finally escaped with his life, but he was surrounded by rebel soldiers. Fortunately, their men were nearby and quickly came to his rescue. One household soldier reached out and grabbed him, pulling him onto his horse.
Meanwhile, Zhao Hanzhang was already engaged in combat with Shi Lei. Though her strength couldn’t match his, she was nimble and quick to adapt, her spear thrusts extremely fast. Even when Shi Lei seized a horse and could face her directly, he couldn’t gain the upper hand for the moment.
Just as the fighting grew intense, a fast horse charged from the distance, its rider shouting from afar, “Miss! Miss! Our main army has arrived!”
Shi Lei was startled and looked toward Zhao Hanzhang. Light burst from Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes—Professor Fu truly understood her!
Seeing Shi Lei looking at her, Zhao Hanzhang stared at him excitedly and said, “Shi Lei, do you dare to go out and fight? Just you and me, one-on-one!”
Only then did Shi Lei realize she was female. Both surprised and suspicious, he asked, “Which family’s miss are you?”
Zhao Hanzhang found time to kill an approaching rebel soldier while trying to open a breakthrough route. She answered him playfully, “Guess?”
The household soldier didn’t approach closer but shouted three times, then turned his horse around, calling loudly, “This subordinate will go guide them here—”
While exchanging blows with Zhao Hanzhang, Shi Lei looked in the direction of that horse. Through the shadows, he could only see trees swaying and birds flying in the forest—quite a commotion.
Seeing his blade strikes hesitate, Zhao Hanzhang shouted loudly, “What, are you afraid? Don’t worry, I won’t have my main army intervene—just you and me, one-on-one.”
Hearing her shout, the rebel soldiers also instinctively looked toward the distance. Those with sharp eyes saw human shadows moving in the firelight’s shadow, along with many rustling sounds, like people running through crop fields.
The ragged soldiers immediately felt despair in their hearts. If they didn’t starve to death, they would be hacked to death—either way, death was coming.
Shi Lei had struggled to survive until now and similarly didn’t want to die. He slashed his blade toward Zhao Hanzhang. After she leaned back to avoid it, he immediately turned his horse around and called to the rebel soldiers, “We retreat!”
The rebel soldiers withdrew in a rush, with more casualties and deaths amid the chaos. Zhao Hanzhang pursued them briefly, but when she saw them run into the fields and disappear, she stopped chasing.
She immediately turned back. Zhao Ming was waiting with the clan members at the stronghold gate. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, he moved forward to ask questions.
Professor Fu stepped ahead of him, jumping down from his horse and rushing forward, “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Zhao Hanzhang looked Professor Fu over and, seeing many leaves had fallen on his head, reached up to remove them for him.
Zhao Ming came forward silently. “Sanniang, do you truly have a main army coming to our aid?”
“Yes,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “But they haven’t arrived yet. We’ll probably have to wait until dawn.”
“How many men?”
Zhao Hanzhang replied, “Around a thousand.”
Zhao Ming breathed a huge sigh of relief upon hearing this. “A thousand men is enough. Shi Lei also suffered heavy losses. If he returns for another attack, with these thousand men we should be able to repel him.”
Ji Ping, who was injured, paled upon hearing this. “They’ll come back?”
“Naturally,” Zhao Ming said. “After all, he didn’t see the main army with his own eyes, so he’ll surely have doubts. Moreover, he’s invested so much in attacking the Zhao family stronghold. Even if there is a main army, I’m afraid he’ll want a result and won’t easily let us go.”
Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Uncle, since you knew this, why did you open the gate to meet the enemy just now?”
She continued, “At that time, we should have slowly worn them down. We should have waited until their casualties increased greatly and their patience was completely exhausted before striking—that would have been best.”
Zhao Ming replied, “…At that time the stronghold gate could no longer hold. You charged forward, and if I didn’t come out to meet the battle, was I supposed to wait for them to rush into the city and surround and kill you?”
Fu Tinghan, seeing they were about to continue arguing, quickly interjected, “Count the casualties and take time to rest. They should have already discovered the main army was fake by now.”
Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand. “So what if they discover it? This was a strategy to make them retreat in the first place. I never intended to fool them for long. However, they’ve been fighting for so long that they’re just as exhausted as we are. Since they’ve already withdrawn from the battlefield, they’ll definitely need to rest.”
Zhao Ming thought this made sense and turned to invite Zhao Hanzhang inside. “Since you’ve brought men, take this opportunity to evacuate more women and children.”
He continued, “The main army is led by Zhao Ju, right? Tomorrow let him come rescue us. You shouldn’t stay here any longer.”
He then wanted to have people go to each household to bring the children. “The young ones are hard to transport. Just take those nine years and older.”
Zhao Hanzhang refused. “Uncle, we’ve already come to this point. Fighting with our backs to the wall might give us a thread of hope. If we send the children away now, won’t that shake the army’s morale?”
She said, “I’m staying here. Since you’ve already decided to stand or fall with the stronghold, then no one leaves.”
—