Fu Tinghan’s expression was neutral. “When was he disrespectful to me?”

“Last time you reported him to the young lady for abusing prisoners and he was demoted—since then he’s been disrespectful to you. Just now he even looked at you and spat. I saw it!”

Seeing him so angry, Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but laugh. “These are all personal matters, not worth mentioning. You’re quite observant though—you’ve clearly made progress. Come help me with the abacus shortly.”

Seeing he didn’t take it to heart, Fu’an muttered under his breath. “You’ve been helping the young lady manage logistics and earned her so much money. You’ve worked just as hard and achieved just as much. Everyone else has official positions, but you don’t. This is too unfair to you.”

Fu Tinghan was helpless and tapped his head. “Fool. Not having an official position is the greatest position. Don’t you see that Mister Ji also has no official position? Yet he can command the three armies on Hanzhang’s behalf.”

Fu’an said, “But that’s Mister Ji. Can you do the same, young master?”

Fu Tinghan replied, “I can, but I hope that day never comes.”

Fu Tinghan was always with Zhao Hanzhang. If a day came when he needed to command the three armies, it would mean Zhao Hanzhang was in trouble.

Fu Tinghan instructed Fu’an, “You don’t need to compete with him over such things. Just do your own work well.”

Fu’an reluctantly agreed.

Night had fallen, but few in the army were sleeping. The soldiers were waiting to eat their fill before resting, while Zhao Hanzhang, Ji Yuan, Beigong Chun, and Xie Shi were tallying their forces and contemplating how best to rescue the emperor.

The agonized screams continued from outside. Though Zhao Hanzhang’s expression remained unchanged, Zhao Erlang’s face had turned pale and he kept glancing toward the sound.

Seeing this, Zhao Hanzhang called him to her side. “Ting He, bring some cotton wadding.”

Ting He retrieved two balls of cotton from her pouch for her.

Zhao Hanzhang plugged Zhao Erlang’s ears with them, then had someone bring a blanket to spread on the mat where they sat. “Come, lie down and sleep. Don’t think about the sounds outside.”

Zhao Erlang sat by Zhao Hanzhang’s feet and found the outside sounds had indeed quieted. He couldn’t help asking, “Sister, why are they screaming so terribly—even worse than our wounded soldiers who’ve had limbs severed in battle?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Pain makes one scream uncontrollably. This is torture—you walk the righteous path and will become a great general in the future. You don’t need to know these methods, much less use them. Understand?”

Zhao Erlang nodded somewhat dazedly.

Zhao Hanzhang had him lie down to sleep.

Zhao Erlang lay down against his sister’s knee and soon fell sound asleep.

The young teenager—when told to sleep, he simply slept, without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing this, Zhao Hanzhang smiled faintly, removed her cloak to cover him, then looked up at Beigong Chun. “General, you excel in open warfare. For urban combat, leave the interior to me.”

Beigong Chun nodded. “I’ll guard the exterior—the General can trust me with your rear.”

Ji Yuan sighed. “But there are twenty thousand enemy troops at the palace gates. Urban combat is difficult—how can we bypass them to rescue the emperor?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Let’s wait for Yuan Li’s confession.”

The soldiers brought in their meal just as Yuan Li extracted his confession. Covered in a bloody stench, he entered the tent to report.

Even someone as hardened as Ji Yuan felt uncomfortable sensing the bloody aura emanating from him.

Zhao Hanzhang and Beigong Chun, however, showed no change in expression as they held their bowls and continued eating while asking, “Have they confessed?”

“Yes, both have spoken.”

To help Zhao Hanzhang understand more clearly, Yuan Li had the two scouts dragged forward.

Fu Tinghan happened to enter the tent and saw the two men on the ground, their flesh mangled and bloody. He couldn’t help but avert his eyes.

Zhao Hanzhang quickly stood. “Have you eaten?”

“No,” Fu Tinghan said, walking around the two men to reach the table. “They said the food was laid out in the main tent.”

Zhao Hanzhang shot Ting He a subtle glare. Ting He hadn’t expected such unfortunate timing either—she’d only wanted to give the young lady and young master more time together.

Ting He lowered her head, wondering whether to serve the young master a portion and send him away.

Fu Tinghan had already sat down beside Zhao Hanzhang. She quickly ladled rice for him, and Ting He hurried to serve it.

Fu Tinghan accepted the bowl and chopsticks, saying to Zhao Hanzhang, “The food’s getting cold. Eat while we talk.”

Zhao Hanzhang sat down but didn’t pick up her utensils, wanting to finish quickly instead. She asked, “Who commands the forces in the city?”

Scout A said in a hoarse, low voice, “General Wang Mi and General Liu Cong.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Have they allied?”

“No, they’ve divided their forces.” He paused, then sensing the coldness in Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes, quickly added, “Our general and Liu Cong don’t get along, so they refuse to ally and are competing to be first into the imperial palace.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Who entered Luoyang first?”

“Our general,” Scout A replied. “Luoyang’s defenses were weak—we broke through in just two days.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Did you massacre the city?”

“No. The eastern, western, and northern districts are all intact—our general only requisitioned grain from within the city.”

Zhao Hanzhang was very displeased. She looked at Yuan Li. “This is what you call making them talk?”

Yuan Li’s expression turned grim. He stepped forward and ground his boot into Scout A’s wounded hand. The man screamed in agony, but Yuan Li showed no mercy, having him dragged away. He then approached the trembling Scout B. “Your turn. Think carefully before speaking—don’t end up like him.”

Scout B said with a deathly pale face, “Our general entered two hours before General Liu Cong. Upon entry, he ordered us to massacre the city and loot whatever we could.”

“After General Liu Cong arrived, he was enraged and forbade our general from massacring. The two armies fought in the southern district with nearly a thousand casualties. They only stopped temporarily because the palace remained unbreached.” Scout B trembled as he spoke. “Afterward, Liu Cong sent men to guard the various streets, preventing civilians from leaving and our general’s men from crossing over. There have been constant clashes. Now Liu Cong has mostly stopped interfering—he allows our general to loot wealth but forbids random killing.”

No wonder they’d found wounds from their own weapons on Xiongnu corpses—they’d been fighting amongst themselves.

Zhao Hanzhang lowered her eyes. “Does your general know I’ve come?”

“He doesn’t, but he suspects Gou Xi might come to the emperor’s aid, so he has us watching outside the city. We were captured while scouting and haven’t reported back.”

“How many scout teams do you have out?”

Scout B hesitated. Seeing Yuan Li crouch beside him, he quickly said, “Five teams—two in the south, one each in the other directions. We’re mainly concerned about Gou Xi’s army making a flanking attack.”

Zhao Hanzhang leaned forward. “Where are Liu Cong’s remaining ten thousand troops?”

Scout B swallowed hard and finally said, trembling, “At… at Mao’er Mountain in the eastern suburbs.”

Fu Tinghan said, “If Gou Xi sends troops, he won’t come from the south—most likely from the east.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded and asked, “What about Wang Mi’s twenty thousand troops? Where are they?”