After Zhao Hanzhang prepared the gifts and selected a date, she headed for Yuncheng. But before she set out, Zhao Ju’s Zhao Family Army moved first.

Because of her special relationship with Gou Xi and the Emperor, she couldn’t possibly bring too many troops into Yanzhou, so she only selected one thousand personal guards to accompany her.

By the same token, she couldn’t enter Gou Xi’s territory with just one thousand men, so from the day she entered Yanzhou, the Zhao Family Army would be stationed at the Yanzhou border awaiting orders.

Zhao Ming saw her off outside the city. For once he was calm, though his words were still not particularly pleasant. “Look, even though you’ve prepared generous gifts for the Emperor and Gou Xi, you still don’t dare go to Yuncheng alone. You don’t even have the most basic trust. Are you sure sending generous gifts will work?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “You’re too late with that comment. The golden Buddha is already packed in its box. It would be too troublesome to open it again.”

Fu Tinghan, standing nearby, asked, “Are you sure you don’t need me to accompany you?”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “You go back to Luoyang. After the Heaven Worship Ceremony ends, I’ll return to Luoyang too. Yuncheng is very safe, don’t worry.”

This time many provincial governors and princes would be attending. She was betting that Gou Xi wouldn’t dare detain her, much less kill her.

Zhao Ming said, “I’ll go out on an inspection tour in a couple of days. You must send messages to the border every day. If we don’t receive one for even a single day, the army will advance into Yanzhou.”

“Alright.”

Only then did Zhao Hanzhang mount her horse and set off with Fan Ying, Ming Yu, and others.

That’s right—this time Zhao Hanzhang brought Ming Yu along, specifically having him return from Luoyang.

The Heaven Worship Ceremony, after all, was a matter of ritual. When they went to Yuncheng this time, the court was very likely to debate ritual matters and engage in verbal sparring. For this kind of thing, she needed to bring advisors who were eloquent, well-read, and knowledgeable.

Ming Yu not only possessed both qualities, he also had many acquaintances in Yanzhou. If conflict really broke out, his connections could prove useful.

It took two days by fast horse from Chen County to the Yanzhou border. Since Zhao Hanzhang had set out early, she traveled at a slower pace, which also allowed her to observe the summer planting situation along the way.

By now, the spring wheat had basically all been dried and stored. Summer planting in the fields had ended. The soybeans that had been planted—the fast-growing ones were already two fingers high, and even the slow ones had sprouted.

Zhao Hanzhang looked on with delight, though she occasionally glanced up at the blazing sun in the sky with some worry. Although soybeans were drought-resistant, they still needed rainwater.

The last rainfall had been eight days ago.

Ming Yu sat in the same carriage as Zhao Hanzhang, mainly so they could play chess together. He glanced at the chess board, then followed Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze outside and couldn’t help but smile. “Your Excellency, don’t worry. I observed the celestial phenomena last night and looking at today’s cloud layers, it should rain tomorrow.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “You can read celestial phenomena?”

Ming Yu replied, “When serving as someone’s military advisor, you must know a little of everything, especially reading celestial phenomena, determining directions, and predicting rain, snow, clear skies, and overcast weather.”

He continued, “If the wind picks up today, we might not even have to wait until tomorrow—it could rain by midnight.”

So when they camped that evening, Zhao Hanzhang had them choose slightly higher ground to set up camp and pitch tents. Sure enough, in the latter half of the night, rain came pattering down.

Zhao Hanzhang sat up from her wooden board bed, threw on her clothes, and headed outside. Ting He, who was sleeping not far from her, woke with a start and started to get up.

Zhao Hanzhang pressed her back down. “You lie there. I’m just going out to look.”

She put on a straw raincoat, donned a bamboo hat, and went out to inspect the camp. Zeng Yue was just coming out as well. Seeing her, he immediately approached and saluted. “Your Excellency!”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded and asked, “Are any tents flooded?”

“No. Water flows downward, so we avoided waterways and low-lying areas. However, we don’t have enough wooden boards, so some soldiers are sleeping with their clothes spread on the ground. Although we’ve pitched tents, this water seeping in still makes it hard to sleep.”

Zhao Hanzhang frowned and went with him to check those tents.

The wooden boards they had for camping were basically dismantled from carts, only enough to supply officers at the rank of lieutenant general and above. Other officers, captains, and soldiers slept directly on the ground.

In summer, tents were for protection against mosquitoes and insects.

After making a round of inspection, Zhao Hanzhang said, “In the future, equip every soldier with an oilcloth. Oilcloth is waterproof and can serve the purpose reasonably well.”

One piece of oilcloth wasn’t expensive, but supplying the entire army would be very costly. Zeng Yue grinned broadly and acknowledged loudly.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him and entered a tent to look. Because of the tent, even if the soil got damp, the process would be very slow. She examined the ground carefully and found only faint moisture.

Zhao Hanzhang furrowed her brow. “The oilcloth needs to be redesigned. Ideally, soldiers’ oilcloths should be able to connect together, then link with the tent and spread across the entire ground to block out the moisture.”

Zeng Yue scratched his head. “Your Excellency, it rarely rains here. Is it really necessary to prepare in such detail?”

Northerners preferred to wage war in autumn and winter. In autumn and winter, there might not be a single rain in a month. The soldiers already had one piece of oilcloth each, which was quite good. Why bother making them connectable?

How could already-cut oilcloths be connected together again?

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him and said, “Never mind. To each their specialty. I’ll have Tinghan handle this.”

She continued, “This is called being prepared, understand? How do you know we won’t be fighting in rainy places in the future?”

That would have to be in the south or the Huainan region, wouldn’t it?

Zeng Yue grumbled inwardly.

This rain came suddenly and heavily, but it also left quickly. After less than half a watch, the rain gradually stopped. However, small streams were already flowing on the road surface, following the terrain into fields and farmland, then being quickly absorbed by the soil and crops.

In the darkness, Zhao Hanzhang stood by the roadside watching for a while, then couldn’t help but smile with delight. “This rain came at just the right time. I just don’t know how wide the area it covered is. It would be wonderful if it could spread across all of Yuzhou.”

Ming Yu had also come out. Supporting himself with his attendant’s hand, he walked to Zhao Hanzhang’s side, bowed slightly, and said, “Covering all of Yuzhou is impossible, but it should affect the two nearby counties.”

Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t disappointed. She said happily, “That’s already quite good.”

Ming Yu looked at the governor’s smiling face and couldn’t help but smile as well. “Your Excellency, dawn is approaching. You should rest early. Tomorrow we’ll be entering Yanzhou.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “Alright.”

On a rainy day, the road was slippery. Zhao Hanzhang even extended her hand to help Ming Yu and saw him back to his tent before returning to her own.

Ming Yu turned to look at her retreating figure. Only after she entered the central tent did he bend down to enter his tent.

His attendant said in a low voice, “Sir, your health is poor. You shouldn’t have gotten up. If you accidentally catch a chill…”

Ming Yu waved his hand. “Right now I feel as if I’ve taken divine elixir.”

He continued, “Even when the Great General—when General Gou was at his most strict and disciplined with himself, he would never rise in the rain just to care whether the lower-ranking soldiers might get wet.”

Ming Yu sighed deeply. “She has great benevolence. This is a blessing for the realm. Before entering Yuncheng, you should leave quietly and take my letter to see General Pei.”

“Yes.”

While they had rain here, and Zhao Hanzhang lay contentedly on her bed made of two wooden boards, pulling up a thin blanket to fall into deep sleep, a thousand miles away in the Pingyang Palace, Liu Yuan couldn’t sleep at all.

He touched his forehead and found he had a fever again. His head felt dizzy, and he was coughing. Somewhat irritably, he pushed away the medicine the eunuch brought over. “I’ve been drinking it for seven or eight days now without any sign of improvement. I’m not drinking it anymore.”

He threw on his clothes and headed outside.