The force of the impact nearly knocked Zhao Hanzhang off her feet. She quickly caught Wang Sinniang, holding her and patting her back soothingly. “Aren’t things fine now? In the middle of that chaos, you called for me to save you — I heard you.”

Wang Sinniang cried for a good while before easing back slightly, looking up at her with tear-filled eyes. “Really?”

“Of course it’s real. It was for you and your sister Huifeng that I risked going into Shi Lei’s camp. Otherwise — a person of worth shouldn’t sit beneath a crumbling eave. Why else would I take such a risk?”

At that, Wang Sinniang buried herself in her arms again and wailed.

After crying for a long while, she finally lifted her tear-streaked face and asked, “Sanniang, can you save my father?”

Zhao Hanzhang sighed and shook her head. “Minister Wang is too valuable. Shi Lei won’t let him go. I couldn’t even free the other officials.”

Wang Sinniang had half-expected this — she’d been watching at the time, after all — but hearing it confirmed still hurt. “Will he kill my father?”

He will.

Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment before saying, “If he has enough pride to refuse submission to Shi Lei, he may live. If he submits but isn’t put to use, he might survive. But if…”

Wang Sinniang asked urgently, “If what?”

“If he urges Shi Lei to declare himself emperor, then he’s certainly doomed.”

Wang Sinniang was stunned, and after a moment said, “Why would my father urge Shi Lei to become emperor?”

Wang Huifeng’s heart sank, unease creeping in.

She looked at Zhao Hanzhang, pressing her lips together. “When caught up in it, one loses perspective. Father, desperate to survive, may not think as clearly as before. To preserve himself, he really might urge Shi Lei toward the throne.”

“But how does Sanniang know Shi Lei would kill Father for that?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Shi Lei is a man of intelligence and cunning. He won’t take Minister Wang’s advice — instead, he’ll suspect the minister is trying to sow discord.”

That wasn’t quite the truth, but the real reason wasn’t something she could say in front of Wang Yan’s daughters — that Shi Lei, while he admired Wang Yan’s talent, had foresight enough to believe the coming chaos in the realm stemmed from clans like the Wangs.

So he wouldn’t let Wang Yan tutor him, fearing he might become the next Emperor Hui of Jin, and so he would kill him.

Wang Sinniang hated Shi Lei bitterly. “He’s nothing but a slave.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “It’s this very slave who’s driven three hundred thousand officers, clansmen, and civilians of great Jin around like dogs. When we are the fish and meat, he is the knife and cutting board.”

Wang Sinniang: …

Fan Ying’s mouth curled up slightly.

Watching Wang Sinniang throw herself into Zhao Hanzhang’s arms, she’d stopped glaring at her so warily, though she’d grown tense again. Now, seeing Wang Sinniang get scolded by her, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of delight inside.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced up at the sun and said to the group, “The column has moved on quite a distance. Let’s talk more once we’re back. Fan Ying, help them onto the carts.”

Fan Ying bowed and replied, “Yes.”

Zhao Hanzhang said to the Wang sisters, “Huifeng, Siniang, stay here and rest easy for now. Once I’ve rescued His Majesty, I’ll come back and tell you everything in detail.”

Wang Sinniang’s eyes went wide. “You’re going to Luoyang?”

Wang Huifeng urged instead, “Then go quickly. We can take care of ourselves — you needn’t worry about us.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded with a smile and rode off to meet the returning scouts.

The scout, slightly out of breath, knelt. “It’s confirmed — Shi Lei’s forces have taken a roundabout route to Luoyang, but they’ve left an ambush along the way. A unit is secretly trailing the captives as they move.”

Fu Tinghan looked over at her upon hearing this.

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Why look at me? I’m just guessing — if it were me, I’d worry about Shi Lei doubling back to snatch the people, so I’d set a hidden ambush too. If they come, all the better; if not, we can still escort the captives back to camp safely.”

Fu Tinghan asked, “Then are we heading straight to Luoyang?”

“That’s right. Even if Master Ji Yuan and the others force-march, they won’t arrive until tomorrow. I hope they can move fast.” Zhao Hanzhang had drawn Shi Lei toward Luoyang precisely because she didn’t want to waste time locked in a stalemate here.

Whatever needed settling could be settled at Luoyang.

If she’d guessed correctly, not only was Wang Mi at Luoyang, but Liu Cong as well — and Shi Lei’s relations with both of them were poor, while Wang Mi and Liu Cong themselves were also at odds.

Since a fight was coming regardless, the more chaos, the better.

Luoyang right now was a piece of meat already cooked through — the only question was who had the skill to actually eat it.

Zhao Hanzhang left a unit of troops with Fan Ying, assigning Officer Chen to assist her as well. “The two of you manage all the refugees properly. Head back to Xiangcheng first and await my orders.”

Fan Ying and Officer Chen both agreed.

Zhao Hanzhang then took Fu Tinghan and Beigong Chun and set off for Luoyang.

That morning before departing, she’d quietly found Ji Yuan and had him select some horses from those they’d seized, then rush toward Luoyang with ten thousand troops.

“I’ve already sent Erlang toward Luoyang. The Prince of Donghai took three hundred thousand men with him, so Luoyang now sits nearly undefended. The Emperor is in danger, and great Jin is in danger.”

Ji Yuan, in truth, didn’t much want to get involved with Luoyang.

But Zhao Hanzhang had her own reasons. “The Emperor cannot die now, and Jin cannot fall — besides, Granduncle’s entire family is still in the capital.”

Only then did Ji Yuan recall Zhao Zhongyu — ah, right, Zhao Zhongyu was still in the capital. He couldn’t be allowed to die; if he did, the stability of the Zhao clan would collapse, and since Zhao Hanzhang was now so deeply entangled with the Zhao clan, instability there would inevitably affect her too.

With that, Ji Yuan agreed, and as soon as she left, he quietly took his men toward Luoyang, while the remaining troops continued protecting and managing the refugees.

By the time they reached the camp, Wang Sinniang and Wang Huifeng saw an endless stream of people stretching as far as the eye could see, and were stunned. “This… why are there so many people?”

Fan Ying lifted her chin slightly. “They were all rescued by our Governor.”

Wang Sinniang marveled. “I truly never imagined Sanniang had become this formidable.”

Her childhood best friend had suddenly become so impressive, so powerful — what was she supposed to do now?

She wanted to latch onto her for support!

Wang Huifeng wasn’t thinking so far ahead. Seeing Fan Ying busy at work, she pulled her sister forward. “Miss Fan, is there anything we can help with?”

Fan Ying considered a moment, then said, “There is.”

There was far too much to be done, and they badly needed people who could read and do arithmetic.

Thinking that there were surely many from the great clans among the rescued, Fan Ying grew nervous, but after a moment’s hesitation said, “Go put up a notice — if anyone here can read and count, have them come see me.”

“Understood.”

Just as Fan Ying was finally learning to stand on her own, Zhao Erlang was already leading a unit of troops galloping hard toward Luoyang, utterly unafraid despite his sister’s absence.

Xie Shi rode behind him, trying to speak, only to have sand blow straight into his mouth, forcing him to stay silent.

In the distance, the tall city walls came into view, and Zhao Erlang finally reined in his horse.

Xie Shi let out a long breath and hurried his guards forward, saying to Zhao Erlang, “Governor, let’s send scouts ahead to check the enemy’s situation first.”

“What’s there to check? Don’t you see — the city gates are wide open. They must have already broken in. Sister said to save the Emperor, we need to hurry into the city and rescue him. Where’s the palace? Do you know the way?”

Xie Shi said, “…The palace is to the north. Young master, you lived in Luoyang for years — you don’t know where the palace is?”

“I was a fool back then, I never went to the palace, so I don’t know where it is. North — aren’t we in the north right now? Let’s go!”

Xie Shi, utterly exasperated, reached out to stop him. “Erlang, we’re north of Nanyang Kingdom, but south of Luoyang. This is the south gate, not the north gate. Enough — let’s send scouts to check first. At the very least we need to know how many enemy troops there are. We can’t rush in blindly, or we’ll be trapped inside with no one to save us.”