Zhao Hanzhang, who had entered the room, signaled for Ting He to close the door.

Ting He glanced at Fu Tinghan, somewhat hesitant.

Zhao Hanzhang then realized and said to her, “Go invite Chengbo and Uncle Qianli to come. I have instructions to give.”

Only then did Ting He leave.

Zhao Hanzhang took out his jade pendant, looked at it with a smile, and handed it back to him. “We won’t need it now.”

Fu Tinghan accepted it. “Then what will you use to trade with them?”

Chengbo and Zhao Ju came over. Zhao Hanzhang first said to Zhao Ju, “Uncle Qianli, maintain discipline among our people. We’re only staying here one night—don’t ruin Grandfather’s reputation.”

Zhao Ju acknowledged.

Only then did Zhao Hanzhang instruct Chengbo, “The annotated Analects that Erlang used for studying—you’re keeping it, aren’t you? Bring it to me.”

Chengbo was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, “Sanniang, Erlang hasn’t started reading this book yet. These are annotations the master specially made for Erlang.”

“I know. I’m going to copy it, not give it away.”

Only then did Chengbo breathe a sigh of relief. He bowed and withdrew to fetch the book.

They hadn’t brought many books with them. Most of the books had been packed by Zhao Hanzhang into dowry trunks and sent away with Ji Yuan.

This volume had annotations by Zhao Changyu. He had always wanted to teach Zhao Erlang personally, but unfortunately Zhao Erlang wasn’t receptive. So far he was still stuck on the first page of the Thousand Character Classic, so this book had always been kept by Zhao Changyu.

When they escaped, Chengbo had treasured and kept this book.

Zhao Hanzhang took out a stack of paper from the trunk and began cutting it.

Fu Tinghan helped her and casually picked up a bowl to grind ink. “Together?”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and nodded.

Neither of them had anything else to do. The long night stretched ahead—copying books to induce drowsiness was quite suitable.

The two shared one table. They opened the book, each copying one page. Their speed was quite fast.

This wasn’t the complete Analects—there were three volumes total, and this was the first volume with Zhao Changyu’s detailed annotations.

The Analects itself wasn’t easy to obtain, but the annotations were even more precious. Especially since these were Zhao Changyu’s annotations—setting aside their significance, even in the marketplace they could be worth ten or a hundred gold pieces.

And in this village where the vast majority of people were illiterate, this book could be considered priceless.

When entering, Zhao Hanzhang had noticed the nearly bald writing brushes in the side room. Clearly, someone in this household was studying and literate.

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan worked together for half the night to copy out one volume of annotated Analects.

Zhao Hanzhang arranged the pages in order and pressed them down on the desk. Seeing Fu Tinghan whose eyes were about to close from drowsiness, she tapped his shoulder. “Go rest.”

Fu Tinghan came to his senses and left with his head bobbing.

Zhao Hanzhang lay on the bed, yawned, turned over once, and fell into deep sleep. Meanwhile, Old Master Chen, who had been searching for his family among the refugees, encountered Old Master Jia. Neighbors seeing neighbors, both men’s eyes filled with tears as they embraced and wept together.

Old Master Jia said, “Brother Chen, I didn’t expect you to still be alive. What great fortune, what great fortune!”

“Brother Jia, I’ve finally found you. Do you know where my family is?”

“Over there,” Old Master Jia said. “We only caught up with the main army at noon. But there are so many refugees, stretching for several miles. I heard your family has an elder brother serving in the Imperial Guards, so your family parted with us to seek him out. We occasionally ran into each other in the evening—they should be in that area.”

Old Master Jia looked at the tall and sturdy Ji Ping and others behind him and asked doubtfully, “Who are these people?”

Old Master Chen quickly said, “They’re righteous men I met on the road. Thanks to their rescue, otherwise I truly wouldn’t have been able to see Brother Jia.”

Old Master Jia looked at him enviously.

Old Master Chen quickly led Ji Ping to find his family.

Madam Chen saw Old Master Chen and her daughter and was overcome with joy and grief, crying out as she rushed forward, “My lord—”

The children also gathered around, and the family embraced together in tears.

Ji Ping: …

After crying, Old Master Chen looked at his elder cousin standing to the side with a dark expression and wiped away his tears as he approached. “Fourth Brother, I almost couldn’t see you again.”

Chen Silang waited until he finished crying before asking, “Who saved you?”

His gaze fell on Ji Ping, but he felt he wasn’t an ordinary wandering hero or righteous man—rather, he seemed to have military background, like himself.

Old Master Chen pulled him aside and quietly recounted what had happened along the way.

Chen Silang looked at him in surprise. “Director Zhao’s granddaughter?”

“Yes, absolutely extraordinary. She even saved me. Fourth Brother, why not do her a favor?”

Chen Silang asked, “Does she know that her uncle has been promoted?”

“Ah?”

Chen Silang said thoughtfully, “News from the central command—Zhao Zhongyu was promoted to Minister of the Imperial Secretariat today.”

Old Master Chen quickly said, “Fourth Brother, I can see the relationship between the Zhao family’s first and second branches is somewhat unusual. Why don’t we cultivate connections with both branches separately?”

Chen Silang heard his preference and asked, “Do you think the Zhao family’s first branch can still rise up and surpass the second branch?”

“More friends mean more paths. Besides, even setting aside interests, she saved me and Erniang’s lives. Even just to repay that debt…”

Chen Silang understood. He thought for a moment and said, “I don’t have much grain I can spare, but I know a few grain merchants traveling with the army. They have quite a lot on hand. They’re with the army partly because the prince summoned them, and partly because they want to make a fortune from this opportunity. I have no issue on my end, but their prices won’t be low.”

Old Master Chen immediately went to find Ji Ping. Before long, he returned with a box, opened it to show Chen Silang the pearl jewelry inside.

Seeing pearls of such quality, Chen Silang nodded with satisfaction. “I’ll go prepare for them tomorrow.”

Old Master Chen pleaded, “Elder Brother, we can wait, but they cannot. At that time, to cover our escape, Miss Zhao Sanniang’s group had their luggage and grain seized. Please take the trouble to settle this matter tonight so they can leave first thing tomorrow morning. Also, Ji Ping and the others are after all retainers of the Zhao family. If by chance they’re seen by Zhao Zhongyu’s people…”

Chen Silang looked at him. “You, you—I truly owe you a debt from a past life.”

He strode away to make the connections for them.

Night deepened. The noisy camp gradually quieted down. Zhao Zhongyu walked out of the central tent exhausted. A guard waiting nearby immediately came forward, holding up a torch to light his way, and said in a low voice, “Master, the heir, no, the Earl and his party have arrived.”

Zhao Zhongyu perked up a bit and quickened his pace, asking, “Everyone is safe, right?”

The guard didn’t answer.

Zhao Zhongyu couldn’t help but frown at him. “What do you mean? Did something happen on the refugee road?”

The guard said in a low voice, “Only the Earl and his party arrived. The second young mistress, third young mistress, and Erlang are not among them.”

Zhao Zhongyu’s expression darkened and he stopped walking. “What does this mean? If Sanniang and Erlang aren’t here, where did they go?”

The guard’s voice grew even lower. “They say they got separated on the road.”

Zhao Zhongyu clenched his fists and asked, “What about… the coffin?”

The guard’s head lowered even further as he said very quietly, “Also lost.”

—