Zhao Hanzhang shot to her feet, dropped her brush, and strode out quickly.

Ming Yu’s journey had been far from peaceful. To avoid the Xiongnu’s pursuit, he and Wu Sheng first went north, then circled back south, intending to rendezvous with Beigong Chun. But on the road they encountered refugees.

The convoy’s goods were all robbed. Wu Sheng and the others could only escort Ming Yu while following the refugees in their flight. During this time, they were nearly captured by bandits. Military disaster, drought, locust plague, accompanied by famine—eventually the Xiongnu pursuers were no longer the most dangerous threat. Every person they encountered on the road was dangerous.

Ming Yu simply made himself the most dangerous one. Leading Wu Sheng, he directly became a bandit, fiercely robbing things and people along the way. Only when they had no grain left to be robbed by others, and when their group had grown large enough that others couldn’t rob them, did they become safe. Only then did Ming Yu lead his bandit den—no, his refugees—in a circle back to Anping State.

At this moment, Ming Yu’s face was covered in beard and dust, his body emaciated, his outer garment nearly torn to shreds. Yet upon seeing Zhao Hanzhang, his gaze remained steady. He elegantly raised his arm, about to bow smoothly when Zhao Hanzhang, her face full of shocked concern, grasped his hand. “Master, you have suffered.”

Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes brimmed with tears.

Moved, Ming Yu’s eyes also filled with tears. He insisted on completing his bow. “I have caused the governor worry.”

Zhao Hanzhang quickly helped him rise, then led him into the main hall.

She was truly heartbroken. She had thought her own wandering experience was miserable enough, but Ming Yu’s was even worse, and he was quite advanced in years…

Zhao Hanzhang was very interested in his journey. “Were there many refugees fleeing on the road?”

Ming Yu sighed. “Now less than one in ten common people remain in their original places. Those who could lift their feet basically all left. Most people migrated south. Quite a few heard of the governor’s benevolent governance and went to Luoyang and Yuzhou. A small portion decided to migrate to Jiangdong, while others went to Jinyang and Youzhou.”

Zhao Hanzhang, just imagining those migrating masses, felt her heart clench. She asked, “Did they have provisions?”

Ming Yu shook his head heavily. “Starving corpses for a hundred li. Nearly every day people die of hunger. After death, they cannot even preserve their bodies… Currently the refugees can still restrain themselves. In my observation, I haven’t witnessed instances of exchanging children to eat or killing living people for food. But if this continues with no one to govern them, I fear great human ethical disasters will occur.”

Zhao Hanzhang had stayed among the refugees, albeit only for one night, but she had noticed people treating others as stored provisions.

Her face turned pale as she stood and paced. After two circuits, she gritted her teeth. “We must end the warfare as quickly as possible. Not only have the northern people reached their limit, but Yuzhou is also being dragged down by the war. People’s hearts are unsettled, and great disaster may arise.”

Currently, the army’s grain, military supplies, and such mostly came from Yuzhou.

To prepare supplies for the army in the field, Yuzhou had already levied taxes twice and encouraged people to enlist. If this didn’t end soon, Yuzhou’s people would also reach their limit.

Ming Yu immediately said, “Governor, Liu Cong has completely lost the people’s hearts. He’s now been driven to a desperate situation. Why not try to persuade him to surrender?”

Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes flickered as she thought of Liu Yi, currently imprisoned in Luoyang.

She clenched her fists and asked, “Who does Master think could serve as envoy?”

Ming Yu considered Ji Yuan, Wei Jie, Zhao Xin, and others, unable to decide, when he heard Zhao Hanzhang say, “What about using Liu Yi as envoy?”

Ming Yu: “…”

He looked up seriously at Zhao Hanzhang and asked, “Is the governor serious?”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded.

Ming Yu: “Would Liu Yi agree to serve as envoy? He’s a prince of the Han state.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “We can try.”

Zhao Hanzhang immediately sent orders to Luoyang to bring Liu Yi to the front lines.

Bringing Liu Yi would take time. During this period, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t stop attacking, step by step compressing Liu Cong’s living space.

Liu Cong, temporarily defeated by Zhao’s army, could only retreat to Youzhou while simultaneously ordering the Xiongnu armies still outside to return to aid the king.

That’s right—at this time there were still Xiongnu military forces outside. Some had their retreat cut off by Zhao’s army and couldn’t return, while others were under orders to continue attacking certain places.

For instance, Jinyang.

Initially attacking Jinyang was Liu Yuan’s idea. He wanted all of Bingzhou to belong to him, with no deficiencies. Later attacking Jinyang was Liu Cong’s idea. While in Anping State, he pondered repeatedly and still felt Bingzhou was best.

And in Bingzhou, besides Pingyang City, Jinyang was most suitable as a capital.

Liu Kun’s military talent was quite ordinary. Liu Cong was confident he could take Jinyang and establish his capital there.

So Liu Kun was currently still trapped in Jinyang, unable to move.

Now at a life-and-death juncture, Liu Cong couldn’t concern himself with attacking Jinyang anymore. He hastily ordered the troops to withdraw and attack Zhao Hanzhang from behind to relieve some pressure.

Zhao Hanzhang was just hesitating whether to make a trip to Jinyang first. One reason was to fully recover Bingzhou; second, to meet Liu Kun; third, Ji Yuan’s intelligence network reported that Tuoba Xianbei had been making frequent moves recently, showing signs of taking advantage of others’ difficulties. If possible, she wanted to meet with Tuoba Xianbei.

She needed to ensure that Yuzhou and Zhao’s army wouldn’t be dragged down by warfare.

Just as she received news that part of the Xiongnu forces were withdrawing, Zhao Hanzhang immediately said, “I’ll make a trip to Jinyang.”

Ming Yu immediately responded, “I shall accompany you.”

Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment and nodded. “Please ask General Shi to come along as well. For this expedition to support Jinyang, we’ll need Shi’s army to deploy.”

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t plan to transfer forces from elsewhere, deciding to directly use Shi Lei’s people.

Shi’s army from Shunyang Jun would arrive soon.

Zhang Bin and Diao Ying rushed over with the army, while their families and many logistics personnel remained in Shunyang Jun.

The two saw Shi Lei standing there safe and sound, merely thinner, his complexion still looking good, and felt relieved.

Diao Ying was fine, but Zhang Bin couldn’t help pulling Shi Lei aside to cry, choking out, “Your subordinate failed the general’s trust, lost Shangdang, causing you to…” have to serve under another.

He couldn’t speak the last half sentence aloud in front of others.

Shi Lei quickly said, “This has nothing to do with you, sir. It’s because my skills were inferior.”

He sighed and recounted how Zhao Hanzhang had stabbed him and then captured him, his words quite fortunate. If he hadn’t surrendered quickly, he’d already be a rotting corpse by now.

Hearing this, Zhang Bin also felt fortunate. They were all refugees and bandits by origin, with no loyal feelings toward the court. They valued more the interests of individuals and small groups. So Zhang Bin quietly asked, “What does the general think of Zhao Hanzhang as a person? Can we work together? If she’s narrow-minded, past matters might not be forgiven. When that time comes…”

Shi Lei pondered. “In my view, she’s much stronger than Liu Cong. Currently we still have over a hundred thousand soldiers. She promised me that after killing Wang Jun, she’d give me Youzhou. So I’m not afraid of her either.”

If they truly couldn’t get along, the worst case was they’d part ways. He’d lead his people and leave.

The world was so vast—with people, wouldn’t seizing territory be easy?