Many corpses lay sprawled before the gates of Luoyang. A few birds perched on the bodies; as the scouts drew near, the birds flapped up and away, landing on the city walls, turning to fix their sharp eyes on the men creeping closer.

The deeper the scouts went, the more unease crept into their hearts.

By the time they’d advanced a hundred paces in, even the seasoned scouts who’d fought alongside Zhao Hanzhang in many battles felt a chill settle over them.

Corpses lined the road. The shops and homes on either side stood in eerie silence. The entire city seemed to have become a city of the dead.

“Sergeant…”

“Quiet. Split into two groups. Squad leader, take four men and scout west. I’ll continue north. Return the moment you spot anything.”

“Yes, sir!”

Half the southern district of the city lay in dead silence. The scouts didn’t make it back out until nearly nightfall, by which time Ji Yuan had already arrived with his troops and formally joined up with Zhao Erlang.

Zhao Erlang was afraid of Ji Yuan, and seeing him arrive left him quite depressed — how had he gotten here so fast? He hadn’t even had the chance to go rescue the Emperor yet.

Desperate to earn credit to show his sister, Zhao Erlang, thoroughly put out, complained to Xie Shi, “I said all along we should go into the city. You wouldn’t let me. Now with this many of us here, the enemy inside must have noticed us already.”

Xie Shi said, “Don’t worry, Erlang. I’ve already had the area within twenty li from here to the south gate cleared out entirely. Enemy scouts won’t find any trace of us.”

Before Zhao Erlang could respond, Ji Yuan was already nodding in approval. “Well done.”

He looked at Erlang, his tone gentle. “Erlang, warfare is not something to take for granted. Charging ahead blindly, without knowing anything — if you’d run into a trap, wouldn’t you have put yourself and the whole army in mortal danger?”

“But the Emperor is still in the city. Sister said we need to save him.”

“The Emperor must indeed be saved. But I believe that in the young lady’s heart, you matter more to her than the Emperor. How could you disregard your own safety just to save him?”

Zhao Erlang thought it over and decided that made sense. “Sister really does love me.”

Ji Yuan said, “Let’s wait for the scouts. If all goes well, the young lady should be arriving soon too.”

Just as he finished speaking, a soldier ran in to report, “Master Ji, the Governor’s troops are twenty li out.”

Ji Yuan’s eyes lit up, and he rose at once. “Come, let’s go greet the young lady.”

Another came to report, “Master Ji, Governor, the scouts we sent out have returned.”

Ji Yuan couldn’t help but laugh. “Perfect timing.”

Zhao Hanzhang and her group had pressed hard along the road, finally reaching the outskirts of Luoyang just before full dark on the second day.

Many corpses lay along the way, birds pecking at them; startled by the sound of hoofbeats, they took flight, and as Zhao Hanzhang galloped past, they flew right over her head…

Wild dogs and wolves, frightened off, scattered in every direction, darting back into the forest.

Beigong Chun and Fu Tinghan rode close behind her, and from a distance the group spotted Ji Yuan and the others waiting ahead with torches raised.

Zhao Hanzhang reined in her horse, dismounted, and strode toward Ji Yuan.

Zhao Erlang, unable to contain himself any longer, darted out from beside Ji Yuan and ran straight for Zhao Hanzhang. “Sister!”

Zhao Hanzhang finally got a clear look at him, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “Summer hasn’t even come yet — how did you get so tanned?”

She’d almost not recognized him.

Zhao Erlang said proudly, “Sister, I wiped out every bandit in Nanyang Kingdom. Our population’s grown by nearly fifty thousand people because of it.”

What did that really say? That banditry had been rampant in Nanyang Kingdom — nothing to be so proud of, Xie Shi thought privately.

But Zhao Hanzhang was genuinely delighted, patting his shoulder. “Well done.”

She smiled. “Now that the bandits are cleared out, put your energy into development — especially farming and sericulture. Put real effort into it.”

Zhao Erlang agreed at once.

Only then did Zhao Hanzhang turn to Ji Yuan and ask, “When did you arrive, Master Ji?”

“Just about the same time as you, young lady.”

Zhao Hanzhang knew he’d mostly brought infantry, so his pace was naturally slower than hers, and she didn’t mind. She had Zeng Yue and Huang An see to settling the troops, then went with Fu Tinghan to the main tent. Once seated, she asked, “What’s the situation in Luoyang right now?”

Zhao Erlang lowered his head, looking dejected. “Sister, I haven’t had the chance to go save the Emperor yet.”

Xie Shi said, “The scouts sent to investigate have returned.”

“We also caught three enemy scouts who came to spy on us — the rest are all dead.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Have our scouts come report first.”

“Yes.”

“The southern district is empty — nothing but corpses, not a sound of anyone living. Every household stands with doors flung wide open. It appears to be the result of a rampaging army’s slaughter and looting.”

Zhao Hanzhang pressed her lips together and asked, “What about the palace?”

“The enemy troops are all gathered at the palace gates,” the scout said. “Split into two camps, left and right, roughly twenty thousand men total.”

“Twenty thousand?” Zhao Hanzhang frowned. “Didn’t we hear Liu Cong brought only twenty thousand, while Wang Mi brought thirty thousand? Where are the rest?”

Ji Yuan and Xie Shi exchanged a glance and said nothing.

“Investigate!” Zhao Hanzhang said. “Find the remaining thirty thousand.”

She asked, “Can the palace hold out?”

The scout said, “I looked carefully — there are archers along the palace walls, quite a number of them. The gates are shut tight, no sign of damage.”

Zhao Hanzhang let out a breath of relief and looked up outside. “It’s dark now.”

Ji Yuan said, “We should be fine tonight. But they’ve already reached the palace gates — how can we still save anyone?”

Zhao Hanzhang was thinking as well. “What of the rest of the city’s people?”

“Doors shut tight everywhere. We couldn’t find anything out.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Bring up the captured enemy scouts.”

They were two Han men — Zhao Hanzhang could tell at a glance. “You’re Wang Mi’s men?”

The scouts said nothing.

Zhao Hanzhang understood, and asked, “Who will interrogate them on my behalf?”

A man stepped forward at once and cupped his hands. “This one is willing to question them for you, my lady.”

Zhao Hanzhang narrowed her eyes. “Yuan Li?”

“Yes!”

Zhao Hanzhang was silent a moment, then nodded. “Fine. Take them away. Don’t kill them.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Yuan Li immediately had the two men dragged off, and followed them out. Before long, screams began sounding outside.

Zhao Hanzhang paid them no mind, saying to Xie Shi, “Get the cooking fires going. From yesterday to today we’ve been on the move nonstop — the men are all exhausted. Have them feed the horses too.”

Xie Shi bowed and replied, “Yes.”

Fu Tinghan rose as well. “I’ll go check on logistics.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “The battle for Luoyang likely won’t be resolved quickly. We need to make sure our provisions hold out.”

Fu Tinghan understood at once. “I’ll work out the numbers as fast as I can. We’ll need Master Ji to help gather supplies when the time comes.”

Ji Yuan said that was no problem.

Fu Tinghan then turned to leave, just in time to see Yuan Li carrying out the interrogation. He frowned and looked away, turning to leave.

Yuan Li happened to turn around just then and saw Fu Tinghan. He wiped the blood spattered on his face, tasted iron in his mouth, and spat on the ground. He pulled out a small knife and said to the two scouts, “Know what this is?”

“This is my knife, for self-defense. Once I accidentally jabbed it under my nail — the pain was unbearable. That’s how I learned it had this other use too…”

Fu’an, keeping close by Fu Tinghan’s side, couldn’t help but complain, “Young master, that Yuan Li was disrespectful to you — why does the young lady still keep him around?”