His friends crowded around him, sighing, “Next time if we encounter bandits and they don’t have good taste and don’t look at your face, we’ll surely die.”

Wang Xuan’s face darkened as he said, “My father died. I must go back to bury him properly. Besides, I don’t know my sisters’ whereabouts. I must go back to Luoyang.”

“Now there’s one more reason,” he raised the booklet in his hand. “I want to seek out Zhao Hanzhang, avenge my father, and recover lost territory.”

“Whether for public or private reasons, I must return to Luoyang.”

His friends, seeing his mind was made up, sighed and stopped trying to persuade him.

Wang Xuan also knew the road was dangerous, so he didn’t require his friends to go with him. He said, “This isn’t very far from Langya. You might as well go to Langya to seek out the Prince of Langya.”

He said, “The Central Plains no longer has peaceful days. The area above Xuzhou has Qingzhou as a barrier and should be safe for now. Just be careful of bandits on the road.”

The remaining three were shocked. “You’re going to Luoyang alone?”

Wang Xuan pointed at a servant collapsed on the ground nearby. “I still have one personal attendant. That’s enough.”

Enough my foot! Previously, including guards and servants, they had over thirty people. Now only twelve remained alive, and this was after escaping from bandits several times with their lives.

To just let them go like this—who knew when they might die quietly at bandits’ hands?

His friends hesitated for a moment, then one immediately said, “I’ll go with you.”

Wang Xuan could tell he had no compelling reason to go to Luoyang. He placed his hand on his shoulder and laughed loudly. “Forget it, don’t follow me in hardship. If you really came along, I’d still have to look after you.”

Wang Xuan patted his shoulder. “I’ll go alone. Traveling light on horseback, I’ll be faster.”

Pei Yang hesitantly asked, “Where would you get a horse?”

The other two also turned to look at Wang Xuan together. Right—where would you get a horse?

Being constantly robbed and encountering bandits, having just escaped from a bandit lair, forget horses—they didn’t even have money for food.

Wang Xuan also froze, but he quickly became optimistic, waving his hand. “No matter. I’ll find a household and write them a composition.”

The three thought of Wang Xuan’s calligraphy and their spirits lifted, all becoming optimistic.

Wang Xuan was a leader among their generation. His compositions were good, his calligraphy even better. Though his characters couldn’t compare to his father’s, they were not far off.

As long as they could find local gentry and he wrote a piece of calligraphy with his signature, they’d have travel expenses—possibly even horses and carriages!

So everyone pulled him to his feet, happily calling out, “Let’s go, let’s go! Hurry forward and don’t waste time. Once it’s dark, it’ll be hard to find people.”

Everyone crowded around Wang Xuan to find households whose lives seemed comfortable.

Like Zu Ti and Wang Xuan, quite a few aristocratic families were moved by Zhao Hanzhang’s memorial. Her discussion of the situation in the realm gained many people’s approval, and the future she envisioned stirred many hearts.

Among them, the forcibly relocated aristocratic families were most affected.

They were aristocratic families who had migrated south in succession over these two years due to the chaos. But life in the south was not easy either. Though there was no warfare here, they were excluded and looked down upon by local aristocratic families and gentry. Both physically and psychologically, they suffered greatly.

Speaking of who most wanted to recover lost territory and stabilize the north—none surpassed these aristocratic families.

The elders had lost their fighting spirit, but among the young people, quite a few harbored great ambitions.

Although the Great Jin of this time was chaotic, it did not yet have the decline of ten years later. So quite a few people, like Zu Ti and Wang Xuan, closed the booklet and prepared to pack their things to head north.

Some decided to seek out Zhao Hanzhang, while others decided to go directly to Yuncheng to serve the emperor and Gou Xi.

In any case, no matter who, both sides would ultimately have to cooperate together to recover lost territory.

In a quiet small courtyard in Poyang Commandery of Yangzhou, Wei Jie leaned by the window, reading the booklet over and over until footsteps sounded outside. Only then did Wei Jie slowly close the booklet, though he still gripped it in his hand, unwilling to let go.

Seeing his mother enter, he immediately tried to rise and bow, but just as he moved, Lady Wang quickly stepped forward and pressed him down. “We are mother and son—what need for such formality? Sit still and don’t move.”

She took the sheep’s milk from the maid’s hands, placed it on the table before him, and said softly, “You ate little this morning. You should have more. Only then will your body have vitality.”

Wei Jie acknowledged and placed the booklet on the table, picking up the bowl to drink slowly.

Lady Wang glanced at the booklet and sighed, asking, “You’ve been reading this booklet for three days. Why are you still reading it?”

Wei Jie finished the sheep’s milk, lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, then said, “Mother, I want to return to Luoyang.”

Lady Wang’s expression didn’t change much. She only asked, “Why?”

He said, “Originally, I brought you south and separated from elder brother to seek survival for the family. He fulfills loyalty, I fulfill filial piety.”

“But we are northerners. Even if I receive much courtesy in the south, it won’t be easy for the Wei family to rise here. You’ve seen these past two months—the Wei family wants to buy a plot of land, no matter how high a price we offer, without local gentry agreeing, no one dares sell to us. Even if I, Wei Jie, have a good reputation here, it’s useless.”

Wei Jie’s fingers pressed hard on the booklet, his scallion-white fingers showing some color only in the sunlight. He said, “I’ve heard that Zhao Hanzhang has already held recruitment examinations three times. Apart from the recruitment exams, at other times when scholars come to serve, as long as they catch her eye, she is not stingy with official positions.”

“I’ve also heard from merchants coming to Jiangnan that Yuzhou’s commercial taxes are extremely low—the lowest of all major provinces. She also dispatched the Zhao Family Army to clear bandits from both sides of the official roads to ensure traveling merchants’ safety.” Wei Jie said, “If she has such breadth of mind, then her great aspiration to recover lost territory might be achievable.”

Lady Wang looked dazed. “Such great ambition—many men cannot achieve it. Can she?”

Wei Jie gripped the booklet tightly in his hand, pressed his lips together, and said, “I think it’s possible. Moreover, I want to try.”

Lady Wang didn’t speak for a moment.

Wei Jie said softly, “Mother, this is for the family’s sake. Originally, with elder brother serving His Majesty loyally and me bringing the family south—one was to seek survival, the other was to find another path. Now it’s merely changing the south for Zhao Hanzhang.”

He said, “Elder brother and I, one east and one west—in the future, whether Gou Xi alone holds power or Zhao Hanzhang advances further, the Wei family will have a place of safety.”

Lady Wang, seeing him plan for the family to this extent with such determined eyes, knew she could not stop him. So she sighed and asked, “Are we all moving back?”

“No,” Wei Jie said. “Mother and the cousins should go to Kuaiji. I’ll take one or two clan members back to Luoyang.”

Lady Wang was shocked. “We won’t go together?”

Wei Jie nodded, his eyes sorrowful as he grasped her hand. “Mother, I fear I cannot fulfill my filial duty before you. The north has powerful enemies. If Zhao Hanzhang and Gou Xi cannot join forces to recover the old territory, then the Central Plains will surely fall. Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Sizhou will all suffer. Let the family foundation remain temporarily in Jiangnan. If elder brother and I… then the Wei family still has clan members surviving. If elder brother and I have good news, we can move the clan back then.”

—