Zhao Hanzhang went directly to the street outside the county yamen this time to wait. She beckoned a child over, gave him two copper coins, and had him deliver a small note to Changning inside the county yamen.
Changning was reading in his office when he received the note, and his heart sank.
She’d said she wanted to think it over carefully, but they’d only been separated for two hours—how could she be back already?
He was still working for County Magistrate Chai. Wasn’t she afraid of being discovered?
Changning thought Zhao Hanzhang was quite intelligent, so why was she so irrational about this matter? This was far too clingy!
Despite thinking this, Changning still pocketed the note and went out.
As soon as he left the yamen, he saw Zhao Hanzhang sitting at a stall across the street. She had brought Qiu Wu and was eating wonton soup. When she saw him, she immediately stood up enthusiastically and waved.
Changning walked over wordlessly. “Why has the young lady come again?”
Zhao Hanzhang smiled broadly. “At noon I was so focused on drinking that I forgot to invite you to eat, so I’ve come specially to make up for it. This wonton shop is right across from the county yamen, so the taste should be quite good. If you don’t mind, please sit down and have a bowl.”
It was near evening now, indeed close to dinner time.
With autumn’s end, the sun set earlier. At this moment, people were coming out of the county yamen. Changning looked back nervously like a wife having an affair, asking Zhao Hanzhang in a low voice, “Aren’t you afraid the county magistrate will see?”
Zhao Hanzhang certainly wasn’t afraid. If County Magistrate Chai saw them, she could take the opportunity to ask him for Changning directly.
Of course, she couldn’t say this in front of Changning. She first ordered him a bowl of wontons, then said, “After I went back, I thought and thought, and I’m truly anxious. I can’t sit or stand still without getting your answer.”
Changning lifted his eyelids to look at her and asked, “Is the young lady forcing me to make a decision?”
“Of course not,” Zhao Hanzhang immediately said. “How could I bear to pressure you? However, there’s something I want to tell you. If you’re willing to come work for me, I’d like you to oversee the household registration office in Xiping County.”
Changning frowned. “Isn’t Ji Yuan the registrar of Xiping County? You want me to work under Ji Yuan?”
“No, you will be the Xiping County registrar.”
Changning looked at Zhao Hanzhang in surprise. The two gazed at each other silently for a moment. Some things didn’t need to be said explicitly—both understood perfectly well. Zhao Hanzhang was giving him the position of registrar.
That meant Ji Yuan would remain in Shangcai.
What would he remain in Shangcai to do?
Changning could figure it out even with his toes. Thinking of County Magistrate Chai, who was growing increasingly trusting of Ji Yuan, he let out a small sigh.
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t rush him, quietly waiting for him to make his decision.
Changning thought for a long time before finally coming back to himself and asking the question he’d always wanted to ask: “Sanniang, as a woman, you could easily live a carefree life by marrying into the Fu family and spending your days in comfort. Why do you want to fight on battlefields like men and compete with men for official positions?”
“First you took control of Xiping County, and now you have your sights on Shangcai. Where does your ambition end?” Changning asked. “Is this what Sanniang herself wants to do, or is the Zhao clan directing you?”
He needed to understand the purpose before deciding whether to pledge his loyalty.
After a moment of silence, Zhao Hanzhang said, “Master Chang, in this world, even imperial princesses cannot be secure. I’m just an ordinary woman—how can I assume that marriage alone will guarantee me a stable life?”
“For women who depend on their husband’s family, if even that family isn’t stable, how can the woman be stable?” Zhao Hanzhang said. “So I don’t want to place my security in other people’s hands. I want to hold it myself. Whether I’m secure or not, I want to be the one who decides.”
She answered the second question: “The Zhao clan is the Zhao clan, and I am Zhao Hanzhang!”
Hearing this, Changning suddenly looked up into her eyes. His spine straightened involuntarily as he asked, “Then what does the young lady want?”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “My ambition lies in Yuzhou. I want to use the power of an entire province to protect my family, my clan, and the people living within Yuzhou.”
This was territorial division.
But Changning wasn’t alarmed. He’d thought about this before. He had assumed Zhao Hanzhang’s and the Zhao clan’s goal was Runan Commandery, but he hadn’t expected her ambition to be even greater—the entire Yuzhou Province.
Though… it wasn’t impossible.
Changning swallowed and said in a low voice, “Sanniang, I’m merely from a secondary clan, without official rank. I’m afraid it won’t be easy for me to take office.”
Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand dismissively. “What I value is your talent. The people of Xiping County also need your talent and character. Whether you have official rank isn’t important.”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “If you can achieve great merit, your future promotions will naturally be based on your accomplishments, not on the evaluations of one or two people.”
Changning stared blankly at Zhao Hanzhang, his heart burning with excitement. In a moment of impulse, he agreed immediately: “Thank you, young lady.”
He picked up his bowl of wontons, which had nearly gone cold, and raised it toward Zhao Hanzhang like a wine cup. “My lord does not fail Zining, and Zining will certainly not fail my lord in the future.”
This was the first time Zhao Hanzhang heard this form of address, and she happily raised her wonton bowl to touch his. The two of them drank a big gulp of wonton soup together. “It’s agreed!”
Zhao Hanzhang asked thoughtfully, “Should I speak with County Magistrate Chai on your behalf?”
“No need,” Changning said. “Please return to Xiping first, young lady. I’ll come shortly. I’ll take my leave of the county magistrate myself. Since we’ve had a good relationship, we should naturally part on good terms.”
Changning understood County Magistrate Chai better than anyone and knew how to speak to get him to let him go willingly.
Zhao Hanzhang said no more, smiling broadly. “Then I’ll wait for you in Xiping.”
Changning nodded. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang bow her head to eat the cold wontons, with the setting sun right behind her, her entire figure seemed to blur, taking on an orange-red hue. The normally domineering and fierce person also appeared gentle.
Perhaps it was the good atmosphere, but Changning couldn’t help asking, “Few women have such ambition. How did the young lady, at such a young age, come to think of… dominating a territory?”
“I didn’t think so much at first,” she said. “I originally only wanted to build an impregnable fortress at the Shangcai manor to protect myself and my family. But when I actually arrived in Shangcai, I discovered that the world is harsh, and one fortress fundamentally cannot protect myself or all the people I care about.”
“Moreover,” Zhao Hanzhang pointed toward the stall owner and the pedestrians on the street, “don’t you think they’re lovely? I live here, and everywhere I look, there they are. I can’t ignore their suffering and death, so I want to do more.”
Changning turned to look at those people, thinking to himself: But after Xiping and Shangcai there’s still Quyang, beyond Runan is Yuzhou, and beyond Yuzhou is the Central Plains. When she sees more and more people and bigger and bigger places, how could a single Yuzhou satisfy her then?
Changning instinctively felt such thoughts were far too treasonous, but…
His gaze drifted toward the county yamen across the street. Wasn’t this exactly the kind of ambition he’d always wanted?
An ambition for the people, for this realm—not like County Magistrate Chai, muddling through each day just to avoid being held accountable.
Even if this path didn’t go far, even if in the end they couldn’t die peacefully, at least he would have pursued his aspirations. And Zhao Hanzhang was such a rare woman—perhaps following her would leave a mark in the historical records.
If so, this life would be worthwhile.
Changning smiled, raised his bowl toward Zhao Hanzhang in a gesture, then drank all the wonton soup.
Zhao Hanzhang felt conflicted. Her bowl was already empty—she could hardly order another bowl of wontons, could she?
—