Zhao Zhongyu’s steps didn’t stop as he entered his study. Only after sending all the servants away did he say, “I know. Why are you in such a panic?”
Zhao Ji’s expression looked unpleasant. “Such a major matter—why didn’t the clan inform us?”
Zhao Zhongyu lifted his eyelids to look at him. “What do you think?”
Zhao Ji said directly, “Zhao Ming and his son have sided with her, joining forces with her to oppose us. Father, we’re far away in Luoyang. Who knows how many things they’ve hidden from us.”
Zhao Zhongyu asked him, “What do you plan to do about it?”
Zhao Ji opened his mouth, finally noticing his father’s unusual attitude. After being speechless for a long while, he found his voice again and asked with difficulty, “Father, are we just going to do nothing? Let them deceive us like this?”
Zhao Zhongyu looked coldly at this son, the pent-up anger in his chest nearly bursting forth. But he held it in. His cheek twitched, becoming even colder and more severe. “What do you want to do?”
Zhao Ji said nothing.
Zhao Zhongyu became even more disappointed, staring at him and asking, “Should I send you and the eldest back to Xiping?”
Zhao Ji shuddered and instinctively shook his head. After one shake, he froze and didn’t move.
Zhao Zhongyu forcefully closed his eyes, then opened them. The anger in his eyes was gone, leaving only indifference. “I already know about this matter. You may go.”
“Father.”
This one word immediately ignited Zhao Zhongyu’s rage. He grabbed the cup from the table and hurled it at his face. Zhao Ji instinctively dodged his head. The teacup grazed his forehead and smashed on the ground, shattering into pieces…
But he was also badly frightened, sitting down on the floor. His forehead immediately swelled. He sat there stunned, covering his forehead.
“Do you know what the stupidest thing you’ve done in your life is?” Zhao Zhongyu raged furiously. “It’s that when you fled south, you abandoned Sanniang and her mother, and lost your elder brother’s coffin!”
“Just this one thing alone—not only will scholars throughout the world scorn you, but in the clan you have neither legitimacy nor righteousness. Even Zhao Song could petition to strip you of your title on the grounds that your virtue doesn’t match your position. What’s wrong with them choosing Zhao Hanzhang? What grounds do I have to fight with them?” Zhao Zhongyu said coldly, “I am the clan leader, but you are merely the clan leader’s son. The next clan leader may not necessarily be you.”
“Moreover,” Zhao Zhongyu’s gaze grew profound, “the world is in great chaos now. Not only Luoyang—Yuzhou is about to be drawn into war as well. The world is in danger, the clan is in danger. With Sanniang controlling Runan Jun, our Zhao clan has one more measure of safety.”
He stood and walked to Zhao Ji, crouching down to look directly at him. “The clan is paramount. For the clan’s sake, not only you but even I can be sacrificed. Jizhi, if you cannot agree with this point, you’d best drive all thoughts of becoming clan leader from your mind early.”
Zhao Ji’s face turned pale.
Zhao Zhongyu stood and left with great strides, returning to the main quarters all the way, his expression heavy and displeased throughout.
Did he feel happy receiving such news?
Of course he was unhappy, extremely unhappy!
At this moment, he finally knew—the Xiping side had probably been hiding this from him all along, even deliberately misleading him into thinking Xiping was under Zhao Ming’s control, that all of this was orchestrated by Zhao Ming behind the scenes.
For Zhao Ming to achieve this while revealing not a hint of information to him, clearly the entire clan had been involved.
As clan leader, he probably existed in name only.
But what could he do?
He didn’t have Zhao Changyu’s prestige. If he truly took a hard line, the clan could replace him as clan leader. Moreover, from the heart, Zhao Hanzhang being able to control Runan Jun actually made him breathe a sigh of relief.
The current situation was truly too dangerous. At this point, they still didn’t know if Luoyang could hold. If the Xiongnu army broke through Luoyang, everyone here, every single one of them, would meet a bad end.
The situation in Yuzhou wouldn’t be good either. At this time, for the clan’s future, he couldn’t worry about personal grudges anymore. He could only hope Zhao Hanzhang’s prestige would carry more weight, her power grow stronger. Only then could she preserve the Zhao clan.
Zhao Zhongyu returned to his own courtyard and went straight into his small study, where he spread out a blank sheet of paper and sat staring at it while grinding ink.
After a gap of a year and a half, Zhao Zhongyu finally wrote a letter to Zhao Hanzhang, communicating with her directly.
In the letter, Zhao Zhongyu said much. The most important part was writing about Luoyang’s current situation and battle conditions, as well as plans for the future.
“Although Wang Yan sold his ox-cart to demonstrate his determination to defend the city, he also recommended to the Prince of Donghai that his younger brother Wang Cheng be appointed Prefect of Jingzhou, and his cousin Wang Dun as Prefect of Qingzhou.” Zhao Zhongyu wrote, “Jingzhou has the defenses of the Yangtze and Han Rivers, while Qingzhou has the natural barrier of backing onto the sea. The Wang clan can advance or retreat, defend or attack—truly like a cunning rabbit with three burrows.”
“Now Luoyang is in danger, the court is in danger. Our Zhao clan should also make early plans like the Wang clan.” In his letter, Zhao Zhongyu wrote, “If Luoyang truly falls and Yuzhou cannot hold, you should lead people to escort the clan south to Jiangnan. If we avoid the rebel armies and refugee forces, we should be able to preserve the family…”
When Zhao Hanzhang received this thick family letter, it was already late autumn. She had just sent people to deliver the second and final batch of grain.
This year, Runan Jun’s taxes were all halved. She hadn’t added levies or miscellaneous taxes, and had prohibited county magistrates from imposing taxes under various pretexts. So this year’s autumn tax collection was quick, with the people still fairly cooperative.
After paying their taxes, people still had some left over. If they were frugal, they should be able to survive until next April.
But Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t be so straightforward in giving the taxes to Prefect He. This was also a helpless measure. If she didn’t appear to struggle, Prefect He might think Runan Jun was doing quite well.
So whether it was the military grain she owed or Runan Jun’s autumn tax, she divided them into two batches for transport. Each time she had to exchange letters with Prefect He, warmly communicating to tell him she had used tremendous effort to raise this much grain. More than this, she could try her hardest, but she felt she definitely couldn’t raise it.
If he pressed further, who knew how many people in Runan Jun would die.
With Quyang as a precedent, Prefect He didn’t want to push Runan Jun too hard either. Moreover, he had once been Prefect of Runan Jun and had some attachment, so he turned a blind eye and let them off.
Zhao Zhongyu’s letter and Prefect He’s reply arrived one after the other.
Having just received such good news from Prefect He, Zhao Hanzhang was all smiles when she opened Zhao Zhongyu’s letter.
After finishing it, only gravity remained on her face.
Ji Yuan sat quietly to the side without speaking. He knew the young lady and Zhao Zhongyu had conflicting interests, and there was bad blood between them.
Although Zhao Hanzhang had long ago expressed that she bore no resentment, Ji Yuan vaguely sensed she had never forgotten and was quite vengeful.
She was so tactful and thorough, yet since her father’s burial, she had never written another letter to Zhao Zhongyu. Whenever she wanted something or needed to probe for information, she always operated through Zhao Ming.
Seeing her look so serious, Ji Yuan asked, “What did the Clan Leader write in his letter?”
Zhao Hanzhang casually handed him the letter without concern.
Ji Yuan paused before slightly bowing and extending his hand to accept it.
Zhao Hanzhang said, “Luoyang is in danger, the court is in danger. Hmph, even Great-Uncle can see this point. Clearly many in the court understand this, but they don’t think about saving the country and the people. They either think about themselves or plan for their clans. No wonder the court is in danger.”
Ji Yuan, however, rarely praised Zhao Zhongyu. “The Clan Leader can still prioritize the greater good—he’s quite sensible.”
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t deny this. She lifted her chin and said, “Uncle Ming is here. Send this letter to him to see. It will also ease his mind. Great-Uncle and I won’t be able to fight each other, so he can rest assured.”