Shi Lei departed with his haul. Zhao Ju led men to follow them until they’d left Xiping, confirming they wouldn’t return before turning back.

From the fortress’s main gate to half the inner street, everything was in chaos—corpses and still-wet bloodstains everywhere.

Only after Shi Lei and his chaotic troops had gone far did soft weeping begin to emerge from within the fortress. This initial cry was quiet yet heavy, seeming to explode beside everyone’s ears, flipping a switch. Suddenly, the fortress was filled with heaven-shaking wails, with voices calling for loved ones everywhere.

Zhao Ming’s body also swayed. Zhao Hanzhang jumped down from her horse to support him. “Uncle?”

Zhao Ming indicated he was fine. He glanced at Zhao Hanzhang’s hand and said, “Go bandage your wound. I’ll handle the aftermath.”

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t decline. She had Qiuwu lead men to help them clean the battlefield while she strode back toward the fortress.

Zhao Hanzhang quickened her pace, breaking into a jog up to the city tower. Halfway up, she ran straight into Fu Tinghan coming down.

Fu Tinghan stood on the steps looking her up and down from his higher position. He took her hand and opened it to examine her palm. Seeing her tiger’s mouth split open and her palm scraped bloody, he pulled out his handkerchief to give her simple first aid, pressing to stop the bleeding. “Come on, let’s get you to a physician.”

The physicians were very busy. After watching for a while, Zhao Hanzhang said to Fu Tinghan, “There are many more seriously wounded than me. Let’s treat the severely injured first. We can handle this ourselves when we get back.”

Fu Tinghan considered this and nodded. He asked the physician for some wound treatment medicine and found a relatively clean corner to treat her injuries.

His movements weren’t particularly skilled, but he was very careful, smoothing out the torn flesh in her palm before beginning to apply medicine.

Fu Tinghan kept watching her expression. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “It hurts, but it’s still within tolerable limits.”

Fu Tinghan said, “Next time, don’t clash head-on with people. Physical strength can be released many times over through technique.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked with interest, “Do you know how to do that?”

“I don’t know, but I know theoretically it’s possible. This era certainly has people with superior martial skills—they would know.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, looking at the wounds on her palm. “I do know some methods, but this body’s endurance is still somewhat lacking. However, she’s still young and can be trained.”

Fu Tinghan looked at her.

Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyes to meet his. “What is it?”

“If I didn’t understand you well enough, I’d suspect you were planning rebellion.”

Zhao Hanzhang said with a half-smile, “When have we ever submitted? How can there be rebellion then?”

Fu Tinghan thought about it and realized it was true. Setting aside their physical bodies, psychologically they had never acknowledged the Jin realm or the Sima family. So whatever they did couldn’t really count as rebellion.

Fu Tinghan asked, “What’s your greatest objective right now?”

Zhao Hanzhang replied, “This place isn’t far from Luoyang and has abundant fertile farmland, so I don’t plan to relocate. I want to control the Yuzhou area, so we can maintain a relatively stable position. If we find a way back, we can also reach Luoyang quickly. Moreover…”

She paused before continuing, “Perhaps it’s insignificant, but I still hope to protect as many people as I can see with my own eyes.”

“Not just my own family and clan, but also those innocent people outside caught up in the flames of war,” Zhao Hanzhang said softly. “A person’s life is full of suffering, and people of this era suffer even more. Having been fortunate enough to be born human and walk this world, I hope their brief lives can have a little less hardship, even if I can only bring them a tiny bit more happiness and stability—at least so they won’t have such regrets when they depart.”

Fu Tinghan gazed at her quietly, tears glistening in his eyes. He gripped her hand tightly and said softly, “I’m with you.”

“Good, but Professor Fu, could you please let go of my hand first?”

Fu Tinghan looked down and realized he’d grabbed her wound. He quickly released it and, seeing blood seeping through the freshly wrapped bandage again, hastily unwrapped it. “I’ll rebandage it for you.”

Zhao Hanzhang sat and let him rebandage her wound. Seeing his brow furrowed, she comforted him, “It doesn’t really hurt that much, just like ant bites. Really.”

Fu Tinghan looked up at her. “You can call me by my name.”

Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow and softly said, “Tinghan?”

Fu Tinghan’s heart skipped a beat, and his ears turned slightly red. He murmured his assent and continued looking down to bandage her wound.

When Zhao Ming found them, he saw the two sitting together—Fu Tinghan with his head lowered, earnestly treating Zhao Hanzhang’s wound, while his niece stared blankly at the young Master Fu.

Zhao Ming walked forward. Seeing that neither noticed such a large person as himself approaching, he coughed heavily.

Zhao Hanzhang turned to look at him. “Uncle, have you finished tallying the casualties?”

“Not yet,” Zhao Ming said. “I sent people to the county seat to gather intelligence, and they’ve just returned.”

Zhao Hanzhang immediately asked, “What’s the situation?”

Zhao Ming sighed. “The county seat was breached. The county magistrate… died defending the city. Now the chaotic troops are plundering within.”

Zhao Hanzhang looked up at Zhao Ming. “So Uncle’s meaning is?”

“The clan wants to send people to rescue them,” Zhao Ming stated candidly. “We need to borrow troops from you.”

He continued, “Although we don’t live in Xiping county seat, all of Xiping is the foundation of the Zhao clan. We have relatives inside. We cannot allow Xiping to be plundered—this is also the Zhao clan’s responsibility.”

The Zhao clan was Xiping’s greatest aristocratic family. Their marriage connections spread not only throughout Xiping county but across all of Runan, with relatives everywhere.

Who knew whose daughters, grandsons, fathers-in-law, or brothers-in-law were in the city now? Whether for public duty or private feeling, they had to try to rescue them.

Zhao Hanzhang had borrowed troops from Magistrate Chai precisely to support Xiping. She indeed needed to stop the enemy at Xiping and not let them advance one step into Shangcai, further expanding the warfare. Therefore, she directly asked, “How many troops do the chaotic forces have?”

“People who escaped the county seat say just over a thousand,” Zhao Ming replied. “I thought they could hold out for at least a few days, but I didn’t expect the city to fall so quickly. First, because there weren’t many garrison troops in the county; second, because Xiping has long been within the interior, and the city gates haven’t been maintained—they were quickly breached.”

A county seat—their gates weren’t as sturdy as the Zhao clan fortress’s main gate.

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Shi Lei didn’t head toward Xiping county seat, did he?”

“No.”

Zhao Hanzhang then stood up. “Have them assemble. We leave immediately.”

Fu Tinghan also rose. Zhao Ming reached out to stop her. “You’re injured. Let Zhao Ju handle this.”

Zhao Hanzhang raised her hand dismissively. “It’s just a minor wound.”

Seeing Zhao Ming frown, she added, “I’ll command. Uncle Qianli will charge into battle. Since the county seat has been breached, it must be chaos inside. If street fighting breaks out and our men lack experience, they’ll be dragged down and killed.”

Only then did Zhao Ming stop objecting.

Fu Tinghan followed behind her, even bringing the sword she’d given him. Seeing her glance over, he handed it to her. “Your long spear broke. Use this now?”

Zhao Hanzhang accepted it, drew the blade to examine it, then said, “Thank you.”

Seeing him following closely, she asked, “Are you coming with me?”

Fu Tinghan nodded.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “Then let’s go.”

—