Chunyu Ding gave a startled jump, staring at Zhao Hanzhang for a long while, unable to speak. “You… how can you be here?”

Zhao Hanzhang’s name was now thunderous in reputation. Even from as far as Chang’an, he had heard of her—how she single-handedly disrupted Liu Yuan’s rear, tying down most of the Xiongnu forces.

She had even managed to evade the Xiongnu’s pursuit and encirclement, circling around to meet Gou Xi. He didn’t know how she had persuaded Gou Xi, but she had actually gotten him to dispatch troops and drive out the Xiongnu together with her.

Chunyu Ding had already prepared himself for her to be the Prince of Donghai’s next formidable opponent after Gou Xi. He thought they would inevitably clash someday, but he hadn’t expected it to be so soon.

Chunyu Ding swallowed and asked, “Where is General Ma?”

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, he already had a bad premonition. He saw the young woman smile at him, her eyes flying upward, and point to the left. “He’s over there.”

Chunyu Ding’s neck stiffly turned to look. There he saw a pile of burial mounds—clearly fresh.

In these past two years, quite a few people had died, and he had good acceptance of such things. But the back of his neck couldn’t help turning cold, his heart and courage trembling. He was quite afraid Zhao Hanzhang would transform into a monster and suddenly charge over to bite him to death as well.

So his vision swam for a moment before he came to his senses. He forced himself to calm down and asked with difficulty, “Why did Governor Zhao kill General Ma?”

Only then did Zhao Hanzhang withdraw the smile from her face and say coldly, “He disobeyed the imperial decree and maliciously blocked Yuzhou’s relief forces. Never mind that I’m the Governor of Yuzhou—even if I were an ordinary citizen who heard of this disloyal and unrighteous person, I should kill him.”

“What do you think, General Chunyu? Do you believe I killed him wrongly?”

Chunyu Ding said nothing.

Zhao Hanzhang was in no hurry either, patiently waiting.

Chunyu Ding’s gaze swept over the shadowy firelight behind her, not knowing how many troops she had stationed here.

He had let Fu Zhi go. Afterward, the Prince of Donghai would surely hold him accountable, and the Prince of Nanyang might not be able to protect him.

Would he die later, or gamble now?

While he was still hesitating, Zhao Ran behind him had already made the decision for him. He stepped forward and said, “Governor Zhao misunderstands. Our general only saw firelight here and came to inquire. After all, this belongs to Guanzhong and is territory the Prince of Nanyang must defend.”

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at Zhao Ran, nodded with a slight smile, and said, “Now that General Chunyu has seen, I came to meet my Yuzhou relief forces. General Chunyu, there’s no problem with this, is there?”

Chunyu Ding said nothing.

Zhao Ran lowered his voice. “General, the Yuzhou army has just seen blood and fought against the Xiongnu. Their fighting spirit is still high. We should avoid their momentum for now.”

Moreover, they were all Jin people. Without orders from above, if they fought, who knew whether they’d be made scapegoats afterward?

Chunyu Ding thought of this point too. After swallowing, he said, “No problem.”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “It’s still early. We’re waiting until daybreak to leave. Since we’ve met, it’s fate. Why doesn’t General Chunyu stay and reminisce about old times?”

What old times did he have to reminisce about with her?

Chunyu Ding forced out a stiff smile. “No need. It’s getting late. We won’t disturb Governor Zhao.”

Chunyu Ding had his men slowly retreat. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang showed no intention to pursue, he immediately turned and fled.

After running for a while, he finally stopped his horse and angrily cracked his whip. “Fu Zhi escaped—and was rescued by Zhao Hanzhang no less. The Prince of Donghai will surely be angry.”

But Zhao Ran felt these were all future matters. What was urgent now was preserving their lives.

“General, Zhao Hanzhang is ruthless and decisive. General Ma was a Gentleman of the Palace—she killed him without hesitation. Her methods are also formidable—Ma Jia’s twenty thousand men were subjugated by her so quietly, without causing any disturbance.” Zhao Ran said in a low voice, “If we contend with her now and she becomes vicious…”

He lowered his voice further. “We don’t know how many troops she actually brought. But Ma Jia’en’s twenty thousand men and Fu Zhi’s twenty thousand are all in her hands. She’s someone who could toy with the Xiongnu using just two thousand men…”

Chunyu Ding finally stopped being angry. His face iron-blue, he mounted his horse and quickly led his men away.

The scouts who had been closely monitoring them followed behind. Seeing them return to camp, pack up their belongings, and flee overnight, they finally ran back to report. “General, they’ve fled.”

Zhao Hanzhang said regretfully, “They’re too sensible.”

She thought of the deputy general who had been beside Chunyu Ding and couldn’t help asking, “What’s the name of the deputy general beside Chunyu Ding?”

“His name is Zhao Ran.”

Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyebrows. “Ah, him—a talented man.”

But she said nothing about recruiting him.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t immediately pursue the main army. Instead, she had the soldiers sleep on the ground where they were. Only when dawn broke the next day did she go after the main force.

Fu Tinghan and the others hadn’t traveled very far either. After all, it was deep night and disturbances could easily arise, so they had stopped after just twenty li to camp on the spot.

The scouts kept watch on their rear. If there was any unusual movement, they would know immediately.

So the main army was particularly easy to catch up with—one pursuit and she found them.

The three forces joined together but were reorganized by Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan. Their marching speed wasn’t slow, and the group quickly approached Yuzhou.

Before reaching Yuzhou, scouts came to report. “General, ahead are the imperial court’s forces.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Where would the court get forces? Are they the Prince of Donghai’s or Governor Gou’s?”

“They’re the Prince of Donghai’s.”

Zhao Hanzhang then had a good idea. She ran directly to the rear to find Fu Zhi. “Grandfather Fu, ahead are the Prince of Donghai’s main forces. If you want to preserve the troops you have, I suggest you follow us into Yuzhou.”

Fu Zhi naturally knew this, but he was unwilling to stand on Gou Xi’s side, so he decided not to go anywhere. “I came to dissuade them from fighting each other.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “So Grandfather Fu should follow us into Yuzhou even more. If you remain here, not only will the Prince of Donghai swallow your troops, but Gou Xi won’t let you go either.”

Fu Tinghan added, “There’s another option—you could return to Luoyang.”

Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyebrows, glanced at him, then turned with utter sincerity to face Fu Zhi. “Right, returning to Luoyang is also an option.”

She continued, “Neither the Prince of Donghai nor Gou Xi are men who will heed your counsel. Otherwise, when Yuzhou was in crisis before, they wouldn’t have remained unmoved.”

“At that time, the entire court accompanied their appeals to the Prince of Donghai, yet he still paid no attention. Now with forces facing off, would he change his mind because of your twenty thousand troops?” Zhao Hanzhang said, “To him, these twenty thousand men are but a drop in the river, insignificant. But to the Emperor, they’re a lifeline.”

Fu Zhi hesitated only briefly before following their advice. He looked at Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan, his gaze moving between them. After a long while, he said, “Tinghan, Hanzhang—power is the most wonderful yet most evil thing in this world. Previously, my only hope for you was to survive. Now, I hope that no matter what position you reach in the future, you won’t forget your original intentions.”

He said earnestly, “Be loyal to the sovereign, love the country, and benefit the people.”

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t hesitate for even a moment and immediately nodded in agreement. “Rest assured, Tinghan and I will certainly be loyal to the sovereign, love the country, and benefit the people.”

Zhao Hanzhang paused, then added, “Grandfather Fu, when you return to Luoyang, please give our regards to the Emperor.”