Zhao Hanzhang struggled to sit up from the bed, covering her dizzy head without speaking. Ting He immediately poured a bowl of water and brought it over. “Young lady, have some water first.”

Zhao Hanzhang accepted it and took a sip, then asked, “What time is it?”

As she spoke, she realized her throat was scratchy and painful, her voice somewhat hoarse.

Ting He said, “It’s past the fourth hour.”

It was already past ten o’clock. Drinking truly delayed matters—the ancients did not deceive me.

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “How did I get back?”

Ting He said, “Last night, the young lady kept pulling the young master along to talk. We didn’t dare disturb you and waited until late at night when you fell asleep at the young master’s place. Only then did the young master carry you back.”

Zhao Hanzhang held her head without speaking. She remembered—last night she got drunk and, for some reason, ran to find Fu Tinghan to talk, chattering on and on about so many things. Her memories were all blurred. The clearest scene was Fu Tinghan looking at her with a slight smile, agreeing, “Good, I’ll help you!”

But help her with what?

Zhao Hanzhang patted her head, unable to quite remember. Her mind was filled only with Fu Tinghan’s smiling face.

After struggling with herself for a while, she finally decided that if she couldn’t remember, she just wouldn’t think about it. She threw off the covers and got out of bed. “Where is Mister Ming?”

“Mister Ji took him out.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “I didn’t have time yesterday. Today, have the various generals meet Mister Ming. You go find Fan Ying and have her summon Beigong Chun and the others to see me tonight.”

“Yes.”

“Oh right, where’s Tinghan? He should also meet Mister Ming.”

“Yes.” Ting He agreed to everything and withdrew.

Fu Tinghan guessed they would formally meet Ming Yu, so he didn’t go out.

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, he couldn’t help but think of how she clutched his sleeve last night saying she wanted to compete for the realm. He smiled involuntarily and found a chart on his desk to hand to her.

Zhao Hanzhang accepted it, casually asking, “What’s this?”

“Didn’t you say the weather has been unstable these past few years and there might be a great drought? This is a plan I’ve drafted for building large dams in the Luoyang and Yuzhou areas. If there really is a drought, we can divert water for irrigation.”

Zhao Hanzhang looked at the plan on the chart and sighed. “The method is good, but conscripting labor at this time—I’m afraid the people’s lives will be very difficult. Everyone has just settled down and hasn’t recovered their strength yet.”

Fu Tinghan said, “If they don’t suffer now, they’ll suffer even more when disaster comes. Since they haven’t recovered their strength yet, there’s no need for them to recover. A tightly drawn bowstring, once relaxed, can never be drawn taut again.”

Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyebrows at him, surprised by his sudden forcefulness. “You’re usually so gentle. Why suddenly…”

Fu Tinghan looked up at her, puzzled. “Didn’t you say your aim was the entire realm? To seize such vast territory, you’ll need considerable resources. You should start preparing from now, right?”

Zhao Hanzhang: !!!

She looked at him in shock, pointing at her own nose and asking, “I said that?”

Fu Tinghan looked at her carefully, confirming she truly didn’t remember, then slowly nodded. “You said you don’t just want Sizhou and Yuzhou—you want the entire realm.”

Zhao Hanzhang was stunned. Heavens, were her ambitions really that great?

She thought about it, and her heart actually wasn’t surprised. In truth, competing for the realm didn’t seem bad. Otherwise, if they just let things develop, there would still be another two hundred years of chaos.

Zhao Hanzhang quickly accepted her own wild claims and looked back down at the plan in her hands, pondering. “This matter won’t be easy. We’ll need to recruit talented people skilled in water conservancy construction.”

Fu Tinghan also nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too. How large to build the dams, how to lay out the waterways—all need on-site inspection before deciding. During construction, we’ll also need their guidance.”

Knowledge in this area wasn’t something commoners could obtain. Even among poor scholarly families, few had such knowledge. They still needed to find people from great clans proficient in hydraulic engineering.

Zhao Hanzhang once again envied Zhang Xie and Xiahou Yan, who were living in seclusion in the mountains. She paced back and forth, looking at the chart in her hands. Finally, she gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll make another trip. If I still can’t invite them down this time, I won’t go again in the future.”

Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but laugh. The last time she returned from the mountains, she said the same thing—that she wouldn’t force people against their will again.

After thinking for a moment, Fu Tinghan said, “I’ll go with you.”

Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly.

Zhao Hanzhang had Ting He prepare some pastries, meat, and wine, then immediately set out to enter the mountains carrying these items.

Before entering the mountains, she stopped Zeng Yue and the others following her. “You all wait at the foot of the mountain. Tinghan and I can go up ourselves.”

Zeng Yue was unwilling. “What if the young lady encounters danger?”

Zhao Hanzhang held her sword in hand and said unconcernedly, “This is Luoyang, and it’s where renowned scholars live in seclusion. What danger could there be? As long as it’s not an enemy ambush, I don’t take common bandits seriously.”

Zhao Hanzhang was quite protective of her life. The reason she didn’t let Zeng Yue and the others follow was that when she brought guards last time, both renowned scholars showed they weren’t very happy about it.

Since she was inviting people down the mountain to work, naturally she should cater to their preferences and be considerate of their feelings.

Ting He and Fu An immediately stepped forward, staying close. Zhao Hanzhang didn’t object to them following and had them carry the items.

Zhang Xie and Xiahou Yan lived in seclusion in the mountains. One needed to climb up a stretch. Above was flat ground where Zhang Xie had his household servants build a thatched cottage and pavilion. He also cleared two plots of land—one for vegetables and one for wheat and grain.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know whether they truly had the leisure to personally work the fields, but the fields were indeed planted full of vegetables and wheat-grain crops.

In the mountains, temperatures were lower, so planting and harvesting were both later. When Zhao Hanzhang arrived, the grain in the fields had just ripened. Xiahou Yan and Zhang Xie stood in the fields with rolled-up trouser legs, harvesting. Hearing movement, they thought it was servants returning from shopping down the mountain and casually looked up.

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, both were slightly surprised, though only mildly so.

Zhao Hanzhang’s return, though unexpected, was also within reason.

Truthfully, both felt somewhat pleased in their hearts.

They had been following Luoyang’s situation all along. They hadn’t expected Luoyang to recover so quickly or Zhao Hanzhang to perform so well.

Being valued by a capable administrator, being invited to their door three times—deep down, they were somewhat pleased. This meant their character and talent were recognized.

Seeing them, Zhao Hanzhang immediately put on a bright smile and called out loudly, “Mister Zhang, Mister Xiahou, I’ve come to see you.”

She raised the wine in her hand and smiled. “I brought two jars of wine.”

Xiahou Yan and Zhang Xie couldn’t help but smile as well. Their gazes passed over Zhao Hanzhang to rest on Fu Tinghan, then looked behind them. Seeing they had only brought one maid and one servant up the mountain, with no guards or attendants, their smiles deepened. “Why has Administrator Zhao come to my humble dwelling?”

Zhao Hanzhang sighed. “To invite you gentlemen down the mountain.”

Neither expected Zhao Hanzhang to be so direct. After raising their eyebrows slightly, they said, “We two have already refused Administrator Zhao.”

“So I came to have a chat,” Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “If you two gentlemen are willing to go down the mountain with me, naturally that’s best. Even if you’re unwilling, talking will make me feel better.”