The army converged at the bandit den, and Zhao Hanzhang could finally return comfortably to the military camp.
She had said she would make Zu Ti the Governor of Qingzhou, and immediately set about making it happen. She was just taking out paper to write a letter when Zhao Ming sauntered over, ignoring her diligence in handling official business while injured, and said sarcastically, “I’ve seen soldiers who fell behind in battle, and I’ve seen children who got lost on refugee roads, but a commander falling behind and a family head getting lost—this is the first time I’ve seen that. Governor, you’ve truly opened my eyes.”
Zhao Hanzhang: …
She immediately put down her brush and decided to hand over the letter-writing and document work to Zhao Ming.
Her expression became serious. “Uncle Ming, Wang Jun disregards the greater good of the nation and disobeys the king’s orders. Instead, he takes advantage of the nation’s crisis to seize territory and power. In name he’s loyal and righteous, but in reality he’s plotting rebellion. Please, Uncle Ming, write a letter to admonish him.”
Zhao Ming snorted and said, “I’m just a commandery governor—what qualifications do I have to admonish a provincial governor?”
Zhao Hanzhang then appointed him as Governor of Sizhou and additionally Censor-in-Chief to supervise all officials.
Upon hearing the casual appointment, Zhao Ming’s expression darkened. He stared fixedly at Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang also looked up at him and smiled very kindly. “Uncle Ming, His Majesty is young and doesn’t understand many things. He still needs the support of all officials. From now on, Uncle, please take charge of court matters.”
This wasn’t talking about the new emperor—it was clearly talking about herself.
Zhao Ming snorted but didn’t refuse.
Now the Zhao clan was bound tightly to Zhao Hanzhang, inseparable even if they wanted to separate. Moreover, over these two years, the more he had seen and the more he had participated, his mindset had also changed.
Zhao Ming didn’t refuse.
Zhao Hanzhang immediately cheerfully handed the letters over to him to write.
While picking up the letter she had just started, Zhao Ming glanced at her and asked, “I heard you were injured?”
The matter of Zhao Hanzhang’s injury hadn’t spread widely and was only known to certain people.
She wanted to brush it off, but before she could speak, Fu Tinghan entered, followed by Ting He carrying medicine.
Zhao Ming’s gaze shifted over, and Zhao Hanzhang could only say, “Minor injury, minor injury.”
Zhao Ming snorted coldly and said, “Who cares whether your injury is major or minor? But as the commander, taking personal risks and disregarding the big picture and the state—have you considered what would happen to Erlang if you died en route, what would happen to the Zhao clan, and what would happen to Dajin? Utterly foolish!”
After scolding Zhao Hanzhang, he turned to scold Fu Tinghan. “You’re not a general—you just need to manage logistics well. Why chase after enemies? Leave battlefield combat to them.”
“Shi Lei is merely a common bandit, albeit a brave one. But compared to your safety, he’s not worth mentioning,” Zhao Ming knew Fu Tinghan’s value and said solemnly, “In the future, if something like this happens again, preserving yourself is most important.”
Fu Tinghan disagreed with this view. Shi Lei was still very important. Everyone had paid such a great price to encircle him outside Wu’an County—if it happened again, he would still chase Shi Lei.
He was about to speak when Zhao Hanzhang, who had been watching him closely, immediately nodded and answered for him, “Uncle Ming, he says he knows he was wrong and will definitely change next time.”
Zhao Ming wasn’t stupid—how could he not see the unspoken words? He immediately snorted coldly and glanced at her coldly. “No need for your smooth talk to whitewash the truth. I’m not blind. In any case, you two remember: at this point, your lives no longer belong only to you. You must take care of yourselves!”
Fu Tinghan obediently agreed.
Zhao Hanzhang: …So after all that scolding, she was the only one actually being scolded?
Zhao Ming left with the letters and documents. Zhao Hanzhang took the medicine bowl and drank down the bitter-looking medicine in one gulp, then asked, “How is Shi Lei?”
Fu Tinghan said, “He’s fine. The military physician says that although his injuries are serious, he’s recovering extremely quickly. He wants to live, so his fainting was just for show.”
When Shi Lei learned that Shi Jian had secretly sent a letter to Ma’s army asking them to ambush the Zhao family army and “rescue” him, he fainted.
When he learned that Zu Ti had killed all the Ma army troops who came to “rescue” them and that Zhao Hanzhang had the head sent to Shi Jian, he fainted again.
By the time they returned to the main camp, Shi Lei still hadn’t awakened, and naturally Shi Jian hadn’t been dealt with—he was just brought back and imprisoned.
Zhao Hanzhang was particularly wicked and had him locked up right next to Shi Lei.
As soon as Shi Lei woke up, Shi Jian was in the adjacent room crying bitterly, loudly wailing that he knew he was wrong.
Shi Lei: …I really want to faint again.
However, noticing the changed accommodations and that there were physicians and obvious servants standing by, Shi Lei knew he had been brought to the Zhao family army camp.
Sure enough, upon asking, he learned this was inside Wu’an County.
Shi Lei pondered for a moment with lowered eyes, took a deep breath, and still had someone bring Shi Jian over.
Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t dealt with Shi Jian directly. She was magnanimous and said she could hand him over to Shi Lei for disposition.
So Shi Jian had been locked up all this time.
Shi Lei had only been unconscious for one day, but Shi Jian had completely changed. His eye sockets were sunken, dark circles under his eyes—he looked like he hadn’t slept for three days and nights. One could see how tormented this day and night had been for him.
Shi Lei drank his medicine, then had the physician and servants withdraw, leaving only two soldiers by his side.
These two soldiers were the Shi army troops Zhao Hanzhang had left with him earlier.
Shi Jian knelt on the ground crying. Shi Lei silently looked down at him for a while. Although he really wanted to kill him, after weighing the options, Shi Lei still temporarily suppressed his killing intent and asked, “Do you know where you went wrong?”
Shi Jian lowered his head and said, “This subordinate shouldn’t have acted on his own.”
Shi Lei snorted coldly and said, “So you know you acted on your own initiative. Shi Jian, don’t forget—you’re surnamed Shi, you’re part of Shi’s army. You must follow my orders. If there’s a next time, I will definitely not spare you.”
Shi Jian quickly bowed his head in acknowledgment.
Only then did Shi Lei let him rise and ask, “Do you know where you failed this time?”
Shi Jian said somewhat uncertainly, “The General has already pledged allegiance to the Zhao clan. This subordinate didn’t have the General’s far-sighted vision…”
Shi Lei sneered, “You lost because you underestimated Zhao Hanzhang.”
“Playing little tricks under her nose, secretly sending letters outside—did you think she was one of those blind and deaf people out there?” Shi Lei said, “Before your letter even left, she had already deployed troops. Do you really think she arranged for Zu Ti to ambush after seeing the letter?”
“The moment she saw you, she probably already had a plan in mind. You weren’t sincere in surrendering, so she used you as bait to lure people out, then caught them all in one net.” Shi Lei said, “Fortunately, you sought help from Ma’s army. If you had dared to call Shi’s army back to their deaths, even if Zhao Hanzhang didn’t kill you, I would cut you into a thousand pieces.”
Following Shi Lei’s reasoning, Shi Jian’s face turned deathly pale and cold sweat poured out. Zhao Hanzhang’s scheming was indeed deep—calculating him to this extent without saying a word.
Shi Lei said, “Go prepare yourself. I’ll write several letters. You’ll personally lead people with the Zhao family army to accept the surrenders. Remember, you’re going to receive Shi’s army—our people. They must be under our control.”
If he didn’t currently have no one available, Shi Lei absolutely wouldn’t keep Shi Jian. From his unauthorized actions, it was clear this person’s private ambitions were very strong. Shi Lei’s previous assessment of his loyal devotion had to be greatly discounted.
—