Changning said, “Governor Zhao is your uncle, a close relative. Why doesn’t he discuss this proposal with you directly instead of having you relay it?”

“This shows it’s not entirely reasonable, and you’ll most likely refuse,” he continued. “Now you govern not just one commandery, but an entire province. Yuzhou has ten commanderies and kingdoms under it, and each commandery and kingdom has numerous counties. If you want to inspect them all one by one, it will take far too long.”

“As the master of Yuzhou, leaving the provincial seat for too long might not be good. If there’s urgent official business, where would everyone find you?”

Fu Tinghan’s head began to ache. He knew why Zhao Ming had asked him to relay this, and vaguely understood why Changning didn’t want Zhao Hanzhang to personally inspect each commandery, but he didn’t know why both of them had suddenly approached him about this.

Fu Tinghan sighed inwardly and said to Changning, “I’ll relay your thoughts to her as well.”

As for what to do, she would decide herself.

Changning pressed, “Will you really bear to be separated from her for so long? Inspecting all of Yuzhou will take at least seven or eight months, or possibly one to two years, won’t it?”

Fu Tinghan didn’t think this was a problem. He did like Zhao Hanzhang, but he had his own work to do, and Zhao Hanzhang had hers. They were both very busy. As long as they knew the other was safe, there was really no need to be together at all times.

Moreover, he didn’t think inspecting all of Yuzhou would take Zhao Hanzhang that long.

Fu Tinghan sighed and went directly to find Zhao Hanzhang, who was reviewing documents. He relayed both Zhao Ming’s and Changning’s words in full. Ji Yuan was also sitting nearby working and looked up at the two of them upon hearing this.

Zhao Hanzhang held her brush thoughtfully. “Uncle Ming’s concerns are valid, but he’s being too cautious. Would I really suspect him of opposing commoners just because he’s from an aristocratic family?”

She continued, “Scholar Ji is also magnanimous and generous—he wouldn’t get angry over this, right, Scholar Ji?”

Ji Yuan thought: Could he say no?

Ji Yuan nodded solemnly with a serious expression. “Yes.”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him, then lowered her eyes in thought. Having Ji Yuan go in her place to execute people versus going herself to do it—the effects, obstacles encountered, and even subsequent reactions would all be different.

She had previously favored having Ji Yuan make this trip on her behalf because she wanted to remain in Chen County to hold the fort, but Zhao Ming’s point was also valid. She fell into contemplation.

Ji Yuan set down his brush and said seriously, “My lady, Zhao Zinian is right. Having you personally appear to establish authority at this time will achieve different results.”

“If you can inspect all five commanderies and kingdoms, then even without official imperial appointment, no one will be able to shake your position in Yuzhou.”

Zhao Hanzhang lightly tapped the table twice and decided decisively, “Good, I’ll go on this inspection tour.”

Ji Yuan immediately stood and bowed. “Yuan will make arrangements right away.”

The scale of Zhao Hanzhang’s inspection tour would naturally differ from his. The center of Yuzhou would move with her, so she needed to bring not only military generals and soldiers, but also officials from the Yuzhou Provincial Governor’s Office to coordinate with Chen County.

Zhao Hanzhang was still thinking when she saw Ji Yuan about to draft a list of names. She said, “I was just about to discuss this with you, Scholar. I plan to promote Sun Linghui to County Magistrate of Quyang County.”

Ji Yuan was slightly surprised. “She’ll become a county magistrate? This…”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “What, is she not capable enough?”

Ji Yuan thought carefully before shaking his head. “Not at all. It’s just that there are so few female officials—I assumed you would keep her by your side, like Fan Ying.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “She’s meticulous yet bold, with talent for local governance. Keeping her by my side as a clerk would be a waste of her abilities.”

She continued, “Being a county magistrate is excellent. We can observe her capabilities, and if she proves worthy, there will be even greater uses for her in the future.”

Ji Yuan hesitated only briefly before agreeing.

There was already the precedent of Zhao Hanzhang herself—having another woman serve as a chief official wasn’t impossible.

Besides, Zhao Hanzhang could now make official appointments herself.

Currently, Zhao Ming was the Governor of Runan Commandery, so appointing the County Magistrate of Quyang still had to go through him.

Fortunately, Zhao Ming didn’t object. He pondered only a moment before agreeing and personally signed Sun Linghui’s appointment order.

The Sun family never imagined their daughter could not only become an official, but actually become a county magistrate!

A county magistrate was different!

This was a chief county official. Although Sun Linghui’s previous rank wasn’t low either, most of the time they automatically assumed she was a female official serving Zhao Hanzhang—essentially doing odd jobs for her.

But being a county magistrate was different. Even though the official rank of county magistrate wasn’t that high, governing a locality required having one’s own ideas.

Sun Linghui’s parents nervously swallowed. Previously, their favorite and satisfactory son-in-law candidate Zhao Kuan was the County Magistrate of Quyang County, wasn’t he?

And now their daughter could reach the same position as Zhao Kuan…

In that instant, they suddenly weren’t in such a hurry to marry their daughter off anymore.

Sun Linghui’s mother, Zhao Qi, even said to her, “If you really don’t want to marry, then let’s not discuss marriage for now.”

This surprised Sun Linghui greatly. “Mother, don’t you like cousin anymore?”

“No, your cousin is still very good. It’s just that seeing how unwilling you are, we shouldn’t force you,” Zhao Qi said very pragmatically. “Your brother is useless—he attended the Rank Determination Banquet for years but never received a rank. I can see his heart isn’t in taking office. In Runan, the Sun clan is far inferior to our Zhao clan, and our Sun family branch can’t compare to your maternal grandfather’s family. Your father and I have always worried that after we’re gone, our branch will decline.”

“That’s why we wanted to strengthen ties with your uncle’s family. You know your cousin Kuan—I’m not being immodest, but among the new generation of the Zhao family, Hanzhang is naturally incomparable, but aside from her, our Kuan is the best. If you could marry him, you’d never lack food or clothing in the future, and you could help your brother too.” Zhao Qi continued, “But now you can do what Kuan does yourself, so who you marry doesn’t really matter anymore. Just remember to look after your brother in the future.”

Sun Linghui readily agreed. “I’ll definitely look after my brother!”

To make her mother completely abandon this idea, Sun Linghui added, “Mother, our Governor said that close relatives like cousin and I shouldn’t marry anyway, because we’re likely to have unhealthy children.”

“Nonsense! You’re perfectly healthy, your cousin is perfectly healthy—how would you have unhealthy children?”

“It’s true. Even the physicians say the Governor is right. With her knowledge and experience, would she lie to us?”

But Zhao Qi pondered, “Could it be she doesn’t want the Zhao and Sun families to intermarry again?”

Sun Linghui said, “Mother, you’re overthinking it. She just mentioned it casually at the time, without any such intention.”

“True intentions are often revealed in casual remarks.”

Sun Linghui found it very difficult to correct her mother’s perception and could only give up, changing the subject. “Mother, when I go to Quyang as county magistrate and you return home, you must also be cautious in your words and actions. The Governor is about to reorganize Yuzhou’s administrative practices. If I can’t properly manage the household, the Governor will also hold me accountable.”

“Don’t worry, your father and I will keep the servants in line. But don’t be too nervous either. We’re family with Sanniang—she has to show some consideration for relatives. Would she really treat Zhao clan relatives the same as everyone else?”

At that very moment, Zhao Hanzhang was indeed treating everyone equally.