He took a deep breath and decided to leave early. The retainer who came with him couldn’t help but advise, “General, why not endure a bit longer? If you leave now and the Grand General finds out, I fear he’ll be displeased.”

“Let him be displeased. What can he do to me?” Wang Dun said. “I need to return early to rest. Tomorrow I’ll go out and see if I can meet Zhao Hanzhang.”

The retainer felt helpless and asked, “Why do you want to see Zhao Hanzhang? Qingzhou borders Yanzhou and Jizhou most closely, separated from Yuzhou by both Yanzhou and Jizhou.”

Shouldn’t the most important thing right now be maintaining good relations with Gou Xi?

Wang Dun replied, “Zhao Hanzhang has an excellent relationship with Liu Yueshi. Of course I must pay her a visit.”

The retainer fell silent.

Wang Dun was a fervent fan of Liu Kun. A few months ago when competing for Qingzhou, knowing that Liu Kun’s army was not far away, he nearly abandoned his own troops to run and see Liu Kun’s forces. If Liu Kun himself had come, the retainer suspected Wang Dun would have handed over the territory he’d conquered to Liu Kun.

Of course, this was just an internal suspicion—Wang Dun wouldn’t actually do such a thing.

But he loved and admired Liu Kun, and by extension was very interested in Zhao Hanzhang. Moreover, Zhao Hanzhang herself was quite interesting. Her power and influence were second only to Gou Xi’s. For a young woman to achieve this—wasn’t that fascinating?

Wang Dun had always been free-spirited. Saying he would leave, he left, immediately taking his retainer with him.

Gou Xi had many guests tonight and didn’t notice at first. By the time he learned of it, he was half-drunk. Though somewhat displeased, he didn’t make a scene on the spot, but the atmosphere immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

At that moment, Zhao Hanzhang had just concluded her own banquet and was seeing guests off at the door.

Zhao Zhongyu accompanied her in seeing off the guests. After watching the last one, Xiahou Jun, board his carriage and leave, he turned to face her. “Xiahou Jun is the Grand Arbiter of Yuzhou. He’s been hiding in Yanzhou all this time, and these past two years all the talented people he’s recommended have gone to Gou Xi. I thought he wouldn’t come to the banquet, but unexpectedly he not only came but conversed quite pleasantly with you.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “This is not only my doing but also Grand Uncle’s contribution. Moreover, His Majesty intends to relocate the capital. Old ministers like Xiahou Jun are most perceptive. Gou Xi has already shown signs of decline—why would he tie himself to a single tree?”

Zhao Zhongyu cautioned, “I only hope our Zhao family doesn’t follow in his footsteps.”

Though he said “Zhao family,” he was actually hinting at Zhao Hanzhang specifically.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him. “Grand Uncle, rest assured, I definitely won’t act recklessly.”

Thinking that she was a young woman and unlike Gou Xi and the others, she probably wouldn’t make the same mistakes.

Zhao Zhongyu was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard Zhao Hanzhang say, “Wei Jiao also came tonight. The two young generals who came with him were quite spirited, and handsome too. Grand Uncle, they’re from the Imperial Guards. Do you think they came on His Majesty’s orders or of their own accord?”

Zhao Zhongyu’s breath caught in his throat. He said, “It should be His Majesty’s intention. But speaking of good looks, they’re far inferior to Tinghan. And didn’t you already meet Wei Jie? How can you still think they’re handsome?”

“Spring flowers and autumn moons each have their own beauty. Different types of beauty. Wei Jie is a gentleman like jade, while Wei Jiao and those two generals have the stunning quality of a blade’s edge.”

Zhao Zhongyu felt she was starting to have Gou Xi’s tendencies from the past two years. He frowned slightly and counseled indirectly, “I’ve heard Tinghan is also practicing martial arts. He’s both literary and martial, humble and courteous—superior to most men in this world. Don’t you think he’s more beautiful?”

Zhao Hanzhang blinked, finally catching on, and nodded. “Yes, quite beautiful. In my heart, he’s the most beautiful.”

Zhao Zhongyu looked at her suspiciously. “Truly?”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded vigorously. “Truly!”

Returning to her room, Zhao Hanzhang let out a breath, kicked off her shoes, and sat on the bed platform, waiting for Ting He to bring water for washing her feet. “Why does everyone think I’ll indulge in sensual pleasures and become an unfaithful wife? Am I that kind of person?”

Ting He mixed the water to the right temperature and brought it over, smiling. “That’s because they don’t understand the Young Lady, don’t know how you and the Young Master usually interact. If they saw you regularly, they wouldn’t misunderstand.”

Zhao Hanzhang pressed her feet into the water—slightly hot, but pleasantly so. She wiggled her toes, slowly stirring the water, and said, “He should be in Luoyang by now. I wonder what he’s busy with…”

Ting He smiled. “If the Young Lady misses him, you can write a letter back to ask. From here to Luoyang isn’t far.”

Zhao Hanzhang felt tempted and almost lifted her foot to go write a letter, but after thinking it over, she suppressed the urge and shook her head. “We’ll be returning in just a few days ourselves. No rush.”

Though she said this, Zhao Hanzhang still couldn’t sleep that night. She listened carefully—Ting He in the side room should be sound asleep. She quietly threw back the covers and got up.

She lit a lamp herself, sat at the writing desk, thought for a moment, then pulled over an inkstone and began quietly grinding ink.

Actually, she didn’t have much to write to Fu Tinghan about. When the two of them were together, they basically discussed official matters. Even more so with correspondence—they essentially only discussed urgent matters.

This time, however, she had no official business to discuss with him. She just wanted to say some trivial things.

This world was all gray and dusty—the buildings were gray and dusty, the people were gray and dusty. Among the common people in Yuncheng, there were few bright colors, and even among the upper classes there were few.

Unlike Luoyang, which though dilapidated was colorful and varied, in Yuncheng even the small birds seemed afraid to fly high, as if suppressed.

But still, Zhao Hanzhang felt Yuncheng was beautiful, Yanzhou was beautiful, and the common people here were beautiful.

She told Fu Tinghan that these past few days when she occasionally went out to the main street looking for food, she had eaten a particularly delicious bowl of drop dumpling soup.

On the main street not far from the west city gate, at a dilapidated little stall, many people came and went every day, and many queued to eat the drop dumpling soup. The stall owner was very fast, the price was very cheap, and she could eat two large bowls at once.

She had thought all the drop dumpling soup in Yuncheng would be delicious, but after trying several other shops, none tasted as good as his. She wrote: “Next time we come to Yuncheng together, I must take you to eat that bowl of drop dumpling soup.”

After writing about what she’d seen and experienced, Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help sharing secrets with him. “As soon as I arrived, I kicked Zhao Ji and fractured his bone. I swear I didn’t do it on purpose—it was truly a reflexive reaction at the time. But after recognizing him, I was actually quite pleased. These past few days when I have free time, I deliberately pass by his courtyard, visiting him from time to time. Watching him rage in fury makes me very happy.”

“But each time I leave, I regret it, feeling I’m too petty, which isn’t conducive to cultivating my great-hearted character. I know this isn’t good, but I still can’t control myself. If you were here, would you scold me?”

Zhao Hanzhang wrote ramblingly for quite a while. Finally, she let the stack of papers dry, stuffed them into an envelope and sealed it. She wrote Fu Tinghan’s name on the envelope, and only then went contentedly to sleep.