Ting He hadn’t heard either. She said, “It seems he just returned to Luoyang. Hearing that Nulang needed treasures, he specifically came to present a gift.”

Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow slightly and went with Ting He to meet Pei Xian.

Pei Xian was a middle-aged handsome man who looked… quite good, even slightly better-looking than Zhao Ming.

He wasn’t sitting in the high-backed chair in the center of the hall but was seated on the floor cushions beyond a screen partition, his posture upright, eyes downcast, expression serious.

Hearing footsteps, he only raised his head to quickly scan once. He had never met Zhao Hanzhang, but seeing the newcomer had bright, shining eyes and an extraordinary bearing, he guessed her identity and quickly rose to bow.

Zhao Hanzhang raised her hand with a smile. “General Pei, no need for ceremony. Please, sit quickly.”

She knelt at the head seat and asked curiously, “When did the General return to Luoyang?”

She could be certain that when she forced people to return and relocate, the group didn’t include the Pei Xian family. The Pei clan in this era was a family that could be mentioned alongside the Wang clan. If they had been there, she couldn’t have been unaware.

Look at the Wang Huifeng sisters—who dared slight them?

Pei Xian said with shame, “I only recently returned to Luoyang. Hearing that the warfare in Luoyang had ceased and things were gradually stabilizing, I brought my family back.”

Zhao Hanzhang assumed a pained expression and quickly asked, “I don’t know where the General was displaced to before. Did you suffer hardship?”

Pei Xian quickly indicated he hadn’t suffered much. He said, “Initially we followed Prince Donghai on the migration. Seeing Shi Le coming with such force, we temporarily retreated and went to Yuzhou.”

At that time, Pei Xian and many officials were serving in Prince Donghai’s army. When Prince Donghai died, Wang Yan suppressed the news without announcing it, but he still guessed it.

He had immediately felt things were bad. Prince Donghai’s wife and heir weren’t with the army. If something happened, the power transition would inevitably bring chaos.

No sooner had he thought this than Shi Le arrived.

Without a second thought, he took his family and two friendly families and fled.

They were some distance from Zhao Hanzhang at the time, so they didn’t encounter Zhao Family Army. They found a small route themselves and hid in a small county town in Yuzhou, concealing themselves in the wilderness, intending to wait out the chaos before emerging.

Then when Pei Xian came out again, the sky outside had changed.

Prince Donghai was dead. Prince Donghai’s faction all perished—Shi Le had thoroughly purged them without the Emperor or Gou Xi needing to lift a finger. Along with them, most of the court officials had died at Shi Le’s hands.

The equally formidable Wang Mi had died at Zhao Hanzhang’s hands. She had also defeated Liu Cong and rescued the Emperor.

Just as he hesitated, unsure whether to return to Luoyang to find the Emperor, news came again—the Emperor was moving the capital to Yuncheng with Gou Xi, while Luoyang was entrusted to Zhao Hanzhang.

Pei Xian felt that the current Zhao Hanzhang and Gou Xi were like Prince Donghai and Gou Xi from a year ago. Therefore, he simply decided not to emerge and continued hiding in the wilderness.

Except his two sons were in their prime youth and fond of befriending knights-errant, indulging in wine. He felt this couldn’t continue and wanted to bring them out to study.

Then between Luoyang and Yuncheng, he had to make a choice.

He was Northern Regional Commander—a position appointed by the court—so naturally he should go to Yuncheng. Moreover, there was some conflict of interest between him and Zhao Hanzhang. Back then, he had been appointed Yuzhou Regional Inspector and had initially wanted to take up the post, but hearing she controlled the Yuzhou army and had personally killed the Ruyin Commandery Governor, he didn’t dare go.

So his first choice was Yuncheng.

He had almost reached Yanzhou when news from Yanzhou arrived—Gou Xi was indulging in pleasures and had even killed the remonstrating strategist Yan Heng.

Pei Xian knew of Yan Heng. He was one of Gou Xi’s right-hand men, a very upright person. He had always thought they got along quite well because Gou Xi was also an upright person.

Pei Xian stopped where he was. After two days of confirming that Gou Xi had indeed killed Yan Heng, he quietly led his family back the way they came, returning to Luoyang.

Forget it, better reconsider Zhao Hanzhang.

Although she also killed people, she killed enemies and those she wasn’t familiar with who had conflicts of interest with her. He’d never heard of her killing acquaintances for such reasons.

Yan Heng had at least followed Gou Xi for fifteen years. If he had no merit, he had worked hard. Moreover, his contributions were significant. He hadn’t committed any major error—how could he be killed?

If he treated Yan Heng this way, how much worse would he treat officials like Pei Xian who came to join him, killing them on a whim?

So even though the Emperor was in Yuncheng and going there would be more legitimate, he still turned back to Luoyang.

His family residence… had been burned. His family’s villa had been occupied by Zhao Hanzhang.

Of course, if he went to the government office to appeal, he could get it back. But Pei Xian thought it over and didn’t go directly to the county office. Instead, he spent his own money to buy another residence, settling in while quietly waiting for an opportunity.

He thought he’d have to wait a long time. Who knew the opportunity would come so soon?

Pei Xian lifted the box beside him and presented it, saying, “Inspector Zhao, this is the jade ruyi scepter Pei has brought. To call it a treasure would be excessive, but it is pleasing to the eye.”

Ting He had already seen it and immediately stepped forward to receive it, kneeling beside Zhao Hanzhang to present it.

Zhao Hanzhang opened the box curiously.

Inside was a jade ruyi scepter about half a meter long, white with a hint of green, shaped like a polypore fungus, with the handle carved with a sacred tree and cloud patterns on the branches.

Zhao Hanzhang gently touched it. It felt warm and smooth. Her face showed little expression, but inwardly she was impressed. This was just “pleasing to the eye”?

Jade ruyi scepters had become popular during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties. Perhaps because of the chaos of the era, emperors, generals, and ministers of this period particularly liked jade, believing jade’s firmness and warmth resembled a gentleman’s character.

Such jade ruyi scepters were quite rare. Gou Xi would definitely like it!

Zhao Hanzhang closed the box, looked at Pei Xian, and asked with a smile, “Will General Pei be staying permanently in Luoyang on this return?”

“Yes,” Pei Xian said. “The children have grown up. In the countryside, they’ll only drink and make merry. Over time, I fear they’ll forget a gentleman’s manner, so I want them to return to Luoyang to study.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded thoughtfully and smiled. “Children’s education is indeed a major issue. However, there are currently only three teachers at the Imperial Academy. Apart from my uncle who has some learning, the others probably can’t compare with your two sons.”

Zhao Hanzhang sincerely invited, “I wonder if the General would be willing to accept a humble position and become a learned scholar at the Imperial Academy?”

Pei Xian didn’t hesitate and immediately agreed, expressing that he would work hard.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled slightly and personally rose to see Pei Xian out. She asked where Pei Xian was currently residing, then watched him board an ox cart and leave.

Watching him leave by ox cart, Zhao Hanzhang finally caught a bit of the feeling of Wei-Jin era scholars. How had she forgotten—the scholars of this era, because horses were scarce and valued horses highly, unless going to battle, usually traveled by ox cart in daily life.

In contrast, Zhao Hanzhang, such a rough person, preferred riding horses when going out.

Zhao Hanzhang withdrew her gaze and said to Ting He, “Go find Wang Huifeng. Have her select a suitable residence from among the properties we hold to bestow upon Pei Xian.”

Ting He acknowledged and followed behind Zhao Hanzhang as they walked back. She had just learned that this Pei Xian had once been Nulang’s competitor. She was somewhat worried. “Nulang only appointed him as a learned scholar. The status gap is so large—won’t he harbor resentment?”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “He didn’t harbor resentment just now. Since he didn’t feel I was slighting him the instant I made the offer, and he didn’t think the position of learned scholar was lowly, then he won’t harbor resentment over this matter in the future.”