Zhao Hanzhang sneered. “Xiping is also Runan’s Xiping. When I recovered Xiping, I didn’t ask the Provincial Governor’s office for a single soldier, yet he turns around and tries to swindle me out of warhorses. Does he think that because I’m just a young lady from the Zhao clan who doesn’t understand, he can cheat me?”

County Magistrate Chai was caught between a rock and a hard place, feeling like he was meat filling squeezed between steamed buns. It was even harder than dealing with a quarrel between his mother and wife. Unable to speak, he could only look at Zhao Hanzhang pitifully, hoping she would take pity on him.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t sympathize with him at all, but the matter still needed to be handled. After thinking for a moment, she asked, “Is the horse manager still alive?”

“Yes, yes, he’s currently locked in the county jail.”

“What about the other people from the horse ranch?”

“They only arrested the horse manager and three supervisors. The rest are still at the horse ranch.”

County Magistrate Chai didn’t understand her meaning. At a time like this, why was she asking about the horse manager? She should hurry to Xiping and bring the warhorses back!

Zhao Hanzhang said, “It’s getting late. The County Magistrate must be hungry. Let’s eat first.”

County Magistrate Chai nearly cried, indicating he couldn’t eat.

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Then let’s eat while we talk.”

Entering the front hall, everyone sat cross-legged on their mats. Servants immediately came forward to remove all the covers—the dishes were still warm.

Zhao Hanzhang invited County Magistrate Chai to sit. “Let’s eat first. Only when you’re full will you have the energy to think of solutions.”

“Actually, there’s no need to think much,” County Magistrate Chai said in a small voice. “You just need to return the warhorses…”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled but didn’t quite smile. “County Magistrate, even if you don’t know how many horses I took from the horse ranch, surely the horse manager and the envoys who came to take the horses know? Moreover, in a battle to take a city, warhorses suffer losses too. Don’t mention them demanding two hundred horses from me—even if they wanted me to return the original number, I couldn’t do it.”

County Magistrate Chai froze. “Then what do we do?”

“It’s simple. One solution: kill the envoys and pretend we don’t know about this.”

County Magistrate Chai’s entire body stiffened.

“Of course, we wouldn’t commit such an act of rebellion,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “The second solution is to bribe the envoys, have them find their own excuse to report back, and they can leave the same way they came.”

County Magistrate Chai’s spine relaxed, and he quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn’t help raising his hand to wipe his sweat. “Sanniang, next time please mention the good solution first. You really frightened me.”

“There’s one more solution.”

County Magistrate Chai quickly asked, “What solution?”

“First delay the envoys while we go buy horses to fill the gap. Well, perhaps we can use both methods together.”

Hearing this, County Magistrate Chai immediately said, “This solution is good. It’s just that horses are expensive, especially warhorses…”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled slightly. “I do have some money, but with the current warfare, they might be difficult to buy.”

County Magistrate Chai pondered. “The horse manager must have connections. I also know two horse merchants—perhaps we can gather a few horses.”

Zhao Hanzhang immediately turned and instructed Chengbo, “Go fetch some gold, silver, and liuli.”

Chengbo acknowledged and left, returning with a tray of silver ingots and a set of liuli cups.

Zhao Hanzhang pushed them toward County Magistrate Chai. “I have no relationship with the Provincial Governor, so I’ll trouble the County Magistrate to handle smoothing things over with the envoys. We’ll split into two groups—I’ll be responsible for finding horse merchants to buy horses.”

County Magistrate Chai was most afraid that Zhao Hanzhang would claim to have no money. Seeing she was willing to personally buy horses, he was more than willing. He immediately gave her the horse merchants’ addresses and even personally wrote a letter of recommendation.

Zhao Hanzhang said, “I still need to meet with the horse manager. Two hundred horses is no small number, and these two horse merchants the County Magistrate knows probably can’t gather enough.”

County Magistrate Chai also felt they couldn’t gather enough, so after thinking, he said, “Sanniang, come with me back to the county office. I can arrange for you to meet privately, avoiding the envoys.”

Changning sighed quietly.

He supplemented the question, “How much money can Zhao Sanniang produce to buy horses?”

“As long as they have horses, money is not a problem.”

Changning asked, “Will all two hundred horses need to be purchased?”

Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyebrows slightly and asked directly, “Does Master Chang have a better solution?”

Changning said, “My method is the same as yours, Sanniang—bribe the envoys and have them handle this matter lightly.”

He paused, then said, “Actually, there are two more solutions.”

Zhao Hanzhang assumed a listening posture.

Changning said, “One is for Zhao Sanniang to immediately write to the Provincial Governor’s office, requesting his aid for Xiping. Xiping being besieged is true. At this time, Quyang probably hasn’t received the news yet. If we delay the envoys here and send several more letters, we should be able to negotiate with the Provincial Governor about borrowing horses from the horse ranch.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “And the second?”

“The second is to kill them,” Changning said. “Kill all these envoys without anyone knowing. Outside, refugee armies and Xiongnu troops are rampaging. Who would know at whose hands the envoys died?”

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help but applaud. “Master Chang is formidable.”

County Magistrate Chai interjected, “Stop talking nonsense! Those are the Provincial Governor’s envoys—how dare we kill them?”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded in deep agreement. “Too cruel. This method won’t work.”

Seeing her agreement, County Magistrate Chai breathed a great sigh of relief and scolded Changning, “Don’t make reckless suggestions in the future.”

Changning was greatly disappointed.

After the meal, Zhao Hanzhang went with Ji Yuan to the county office to meet the horse manager.

Horse Manager Wei was locked in the prison with his three companions. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang swagger in with County Magistrate Chai, he immediately rushed forward. “Lady Zhao, Hero Zhao, save me! You said it was just temporarily borrowing the horses, and once the Xiping County matter was settled, you’d return them.”

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him sympathetically and quickly had someone open the prison door. She entered and helped Horse Manager Wei up. “I originally planned to return the horses to you on my way back from here to Xiping. Besides those lost in battle, I could still return about eighty horses to you. With some excuses, you should have been able to muddle through. Who knew the envoys would come so quickly?”

Horse Manager Wei urged, “No matter how many, please give them to me first. I’ll submit them, and we’ll figure out the rest later.”

“Can you figure out a solution for the rest?” Zhao Hanzhang said quietly, “Now they’re demanding two hundred horses. Even if I returned them all to you, there would still be a shortfall of one hundred twenty horses. Do you have the money to buy that many horses?”

Horse Manager Wei collapsed to the ground. After staring blankly for a long moment, he seriously began slapping the ground and wailing, “Injustice! This is truly an injustice! That horse ranch has never raised two hundred mature horses! They’re deliberately trying to force me to death!”

Zhao Hanzhang squatted before him and sighed. “Yes, I also feel quite sorry for Horse Manager Wei. You helped me last time, and I’ve always kept it in my heart. So after much thought, I’ve decided to save you. I’m willing to provide money to buy horses to make up the difference. It’s just that I have money but don’t know people who sell horses.”

Horse Manager Wei’s eyes lit up immediately. “I know them! I know people!”

Horse Manager Wei crawled on the ground and finished writing a letter. To make his letter more credible, he even pressed his red handprint on it.

He held the letter up to Zhao Hanzhang, tears streaming down his face. “Zhao Sanniang, you must save me!”

Zhao Hanzhang patted his shoulder and solemnly promised, “Rest assured, I’ll not only get you out, but I’ll also make sure you continue as horse manager.”