The weapons being transported this time were from two iron mines in Xiping, sent from the Xiping armory and escorted by Hu Zhi.

Zeng Yue found Hu Zhi with Zhao Hanzhang’s written order, separated out half the weapons from him, and quietly delivered them to the suburban camp.

Hearing the news, Shi Le eagerly ran over to look.

He tested a saber—the blade was sharp and heavy. When he struck it against a soldier’s saber, the other’s immediately chipped, but when he quickly examined his own blade, there wasn’t even a mark on the edge.

He ran to test a spear, thrusting it at wooden posts. With his great strength, he made a hole with each thrust, but when he pulled the spear out it was very smooth, with little resistance. He felt that even if this spear struck bone it could pierce through, and pulling it out wouldn’t jam the weapon.

Shi Le laughed heartily with delight. He had served under Liu Yuan for many years, but except for when the other side provided some grain supplies during battles, at other times he was self-sufficient.

Grain supplies were like that, let alone military equipment—he had to figure that out himself.

What methods could Shi Le have? He was just an illiterate military man with a limited number of useful people under him. Fighting was fine, but military equipment production was really beyond him, so his method of preparing weapons was to steal them.

Stealing from Jin forces, from bandits, even sneaking to steal from allies.

Why did he and Wang Mi fall out in the later period?

Wasn’t one reason because of stealing things?

This was the first time he had received military equipment from above, and such excellent military equipment at that.

Zhang Bin was also happy as a child, running over cheerfully to find Shi Le, “My lord, I’ve counted—there are three thousand suits of armor here, all top quality, brand new!”

Shi Le immediately went to look, taking a suit of armor from a box.

The armor was leather, very tough, with iron plates wrapped at important positions like the chest, waist, abdomen, and knees.

He carefully felt it—the iron plates were wrapped inside the leather, very thin pieces. They seemed unable to provide much protection, but he glanced back at the saber he had just tested and knew he couldn’t underestimate this thin piece of iron.

And this way, the armor was very light and didn’t hinder movement.

Shi Le gripped the armor in his hand and said seriously, “Store the armor carefully and quietly distribute it to the elite cavalry. Have them wear another layer of ragged outer clothing on top so people won’t discover it.”

Zhang Bin acknowledged.

Shi Le stroked the armor and sighed, “If I had this thing earlier, Zhao Hanzhang’s blade might not have stabbed me so deep back then.”

Zhang Bin said nothing.

Shi Le’s expression was complicated, “You were right—Zhao Hanzhang is indeed stronger than the Han Lord. Even the Han Lord couldn’t show this level of trust, let alone that young fool Liu Cong.”

Zhang Bin said in a low voice, “I’m afraid no one in the world can do this. My lord, you’re unwilling to serve Jin, but Zhao Hanzhang may not always remain a Jin subject.”

Shi Le resented the Jin soldiers for capturing him as a slave, so he was unwilling to serve Jin. Before meeting Liu Kun, he had admired Liu Kun as a person. Liu Kun had written to Shi Le more than once, trying to recruit him, offering benefits no less than what Liu Yuan gave him.

But Shi Le was never moved. Why?

First, because Jin had no worthy ruler, and second, because he had always harbored resentment over being captured as a slave.

Shi Le clutched the armor in his hand, his expression changing several times, finally saying, “If she doesn’t betray me, I won’t betray her!”

Zhang Bin breathed a sigh of relief and immediately smiled brilliantly, “My lord, Zhao Kuan is leading troops to the mining site to arrest people today. Do you want to get involved?”

Shi Le said, “No, I’ll give Zhao Hanzhang some face. Let her have the things in that mining site.”

He had taken quite a lot of good things from the house raids before—all direct money and grain or easily convertible items.

Although that mining site was a copper mine, converting it to money would require smelting copper and then casting—too troublesome. Better to give it to Zhao Hanzhang.

“To put on a show, we don’t necessarily need to plunder wealth,” Shi Le’s gaze fell on these boxes of fine items, “She gave me peaches to eat—I should at least return a plum.”

Zhang Bin said, “…My lord, it’s ‘reciprocate peach for plum.’ She gave you plums, and you return peaches.”

Shi Le glanced at him, “I’m not stupid. If she only gives me plums, at most I’ll return an apricot. How could I give her such a big peach?”

Zhang Bin: …Very well, whatever makes you happy.

After Shi Le finished inspecting the weapons and treasuring them, he asked, “Have the remaining weapons been sent into the city?”

“Yes, my lord could go now and might catch them dividing up the gifts.”

Shi Le immediately carefully set down the spear in his hand and waved his large hand, “Let’s go watch the show!”

Two days ago, Tuoba Yilu had said he was leaving but didn’t leave. When he heard that Zhao Hanzhang wanted to give him weapons, he insisted on staying two more days no matter what.

In those two days, Zhao Hanzhang not only grew closer to this sworn brother, but also became more familiar with his two sons.

Honestly, she still didn’t understand why Tuoba Yilu particularly favored his younger son.

In terms of appearance, well, Tuoba Biyan was relatively fair-skinned, but wasn’t the mainstream aesthetic of steppe peoples about being robust and strong?

To be fair, she felt that the darker-skinned Tuoba Liuxiu was more handsome than Tuoba Biyan, possessing a beauty of strength and power.

In terms of ability, that goes without saying. Although they had only been together for less than five days, she had tested both their martial skills and governing philosophies. She couldn’t help it—Tuoba Liuxiu didn’t know Han characters and basically didn’t read books, so she couldn’t even test him on a passage from the Analects.

But whether looking at martial skills or managing subordinates, Tuoba Liuxiu completely outclassed Tuoba Biyan.

As for filial piety…

Well, most of the time Tuoba Liuxiu was silent. Forget about coaxing his father who constantly spoke harshly to him—he didn’t show much expression even to her, his new aunt.

By comparison, Tuoba Biyan was much more lively. In the five days since she and Tuoba Yilu became sworn siblings, he had called her “aunt” for five days straight. His mouth was quite sweet.

But was Zhao Hanzhang the type to favor someone just because they had a sweet mouth?

Of course she was, but no matter how much she favored someone, she wouldn’t lose her wits and viciously treat another son like Tuoba Yilu did.

So she seized the right moment to advise Tuoba Yilu, “Elder Brother, although we two siblings have sworn brotherhood, I believe that matters between father and son are still your family affairs and I shouldn’t speak out of turn. But after observing these past days, I truly don’t want brother to have regrets in the future, and I feel sorry for my eldest nephew, so even if it earns me your displeasure, I must say that you should be more fair to Liuxiu.”

Tuoba Yilu’s face immediately darkened upon hearing this, “Little sister doesn’t know—that unfilial son only puts on an obedient appearance now. In private, he’s disobedient and unfilial to me. I feel disgusted just looking at him.”

Zhao Hanzhang heard this and couldn’t help sighing, “How have father and son come to this? I see he still has feelings of admiration for elder brother—he’s just a serious person who isn’t good at expressing himself.”

“As parents, we should be more tolerant of our children,” she said. “Why doesn’t elder brother try having a long talk with him? Perhaps you can resolve each other’s knots.”

Tuoba Yilu directly refused and got up to take his leave with a stern face, “When the weapons arrive this afternoon, I’ll come talk with little sister again.”

Then he left.

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, got up, turned past the corridor, and saw the expressionless Tuoba Liuxiu standing behind a pillar.