Chapter 128 - Endgame

Chapter 128: Chapter 122: EndgameShi Le left with his troops, and Zhao Ju followed them out of Xiping, only turning back once he was sure they wouldn’t return.

The Wu Castle was in chaos, from the gate to the halfway down the street, with corpses everywhere and bloodstains not yet dried.

After Shi Le and his disorderly army had gone far away, a faint cry emanated from within the Wu Castle. It was light but heavy, exploding in everyone’s ears, triggering a switch as the castle was filled with cries, the sounds of people calling for their loved ones everywhere.

Zhao Ming swayed a bit, and Zhao Hanzhang jumped down from her horse to support him, "Uncle?"

Zhao Ming said he was fine and glanced at Zhao Hanzhang’s hand, "Go bandage your wound, I’ll handle the aftermath."

Zhao Hanzhang did not refuse, instructing Qiu Wu to take people to help clean up the battlefield, while she strode back to the Wu Castle.

Zhao Hanzhang quickened her pace, jogging up the city wall, and halfway up, she ran into Fu Tinghan coming down.

Fu Tinghan stood on the steps, looking her over from above, picked up her hand to see the split skin and bloodied palm, and used a handkerchief to simply bandage and press it, "Let’s go, I’ll take you to see the doctor."

The doctor was busy, and after watching for a while, Zhao Hanzhang said to Fu Tinghan, "There are so many more severely injured than me, let’s treat those first. We can handle it ourselves."

Fu Tinghan pondered for a moment, then nodded, requested some medication from the doctor, and found a relatively clean corner to start treating her.

His movements weren’t particularly skilled but very careful, smoothing out the torn skin on her palm before starting to apply the medicine.

Fu Tinghan kept an eye on her expression, "Does it hurt?"

Zhao Hanzhang smiled, "It hurts, but it’s within a tolerable range."

Fu Tinghan said, "Next time, don’t meet force with force. Physical strength can be exponentially released through skill."

Interested, Zhao Hanzhang asked, "Do you know how?"

"I don’t know, but theoretically, it’s possible. Surely there are highly skilled martial artists in this era who know."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, looking at her wounded palm, "I do know some, but this body’s endurance still lacks a bit, though she’s still young, she can be trained."

Fu Tinghan looked at her.

Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyes to look at him, "What is it?"

"If I didn’t know you well enough, I would doubt you were planning a rebellion."

Zhao Hanzhang, with a hint of a smile, said, "Never conformed; how could I rebel?"

Fu Tinghan realized that it was true; regardless of their physical situation, psychologically, they never identified with the Jin Dynasty or the Sima family, so whatever they did couldn’t be considered rebellion.

Fu Tinghan asked, "What is your biggest goal at the moment?"

Zhao Hanzhang said, "This place is not far from Luoyang and has abundant fertile land, so I don’t plan to move elsewhere. I want to control the Yu State area, allowing us to live peacefully. If we find a way home, we can quickly reach Luoyang. Moreover,"

She paused and said, "Though small, I still hope to protect as many people as possible within my sight."

"Not just my family and relatives, but also those innocent people outside trapped by war," Zhao Hanzhang said softly, "Life is bitter, and even more so in this era. Being born a human and walking this world, I hope in their short lives they can suffer a little less, even if just a bit more joy and peace, at least leaving this world with fewer regrets."

Fu Tinghan quietly looked at her, tears flashing in his eyes. He tightly gripped her hand and softly said, "I’ll stand with you."

"Okay, but Professor Fu, can you let go of my hand first?"

Fu Tinghan looked down and realized he was gripping her wound, quickly letting go, seeing blood seeping through the newly wrapped cloth, hurriedly unwrapped it, "I’ll re-bandage it for you."

Zhao Hanzhang sat down to let him re-bandage her wound, seeing his furrowed brows, she consoled him, "It’s not that painful, really just like an ant bite."

Fu Tinghan looked up at her, "You can call me by my name."

Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow and softly called, "Tinghan?"

Fu Tinghan felt his heart skip a beat, with a slight blush on his ears, he hummed in response and continued to lower his eyes to bandage her wound.

When Zhao Ming came over, he saw the two sitting together, Fu Tinghan carefully attending to Zhao Hanzhang’s wound while his niece stared blankly at Mr. Fu.

Zhao Ming approached, noticing neither had realized his large presence, he coughed heavily.

Zhao Hanzhang turned to him, "Uncle, have you finished counting the casualties?"

"Not yet," Zhao Ming said, "I’ve sent people to the county town for news, and they’ve just returned."

Zhao Hanzhang immediately asked, "How is the situation?"

Zhao Ming sighed, "The county town has been breached; the county magistrate... has perished with the town, and now the disorderly army is looting inside."

Zhao Hanzhang looked up at Zhao Ming, "So, what does uncle mean?"

"The clan wants to send people to rescue," Zhao Ming frankly said, "and we need to borrow soldiers from you."

He said, "Although we don’t live in Xiping County, the entire Xiping is the foundation of the Zhao Family, and we have relatives there too. We cannot allow Xiping to be plundered; it’s also the Zhao Family’s duty."

The Zhao family is the largest gentry in Xiping, with relatives not only throughout Xiping County but all over Ru Nan.

In the city now, there could be anyone’s daughter, grandson, father-in-law, or brother-in-law, whether public or private matters, they must find a way to save them.

Zhao Hanzhang borrowed troops from County Magistrate Chai precisely to support Xiping County, and she indeed needed to block the enemy in Xiping, preventing them from advancing into Shangcai and further spreading the warfire, thus she directly asked, "How many are in the disorderly army?"

"Those who escaped from the county town say just over a thousand," Zhao Ming said, "I thought they could hold out for a few days at least, but the town fell quickly. One reason is the garrison in the county town was small; another is that Xiping, being long within the Pass, had not repaired the gates, and they quickly broke through."

A county town, their gates were not even as sturdy as the Zhao’s Fortress’ main gate.

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "Shi Le didn’t head toward the Xiping county town, did he?"

"No."

Zhao Hanzhang stood up, "Let them assemble, depart immediately."

Fu Tinghan stood up with her, and Zhao Ming reached out to stop her, "You are injured, let Zhao Ju go instead."

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand dismissively, "It’s just a minor wound."

Seeing Zhao Ming frown, she said, "I’ll command; Uncle Qianli will charge. Since the county has been breached, it must be chaotic inside. If a street fight breaks out, our inexperienced people might get dragged to death in there."

Zhao Ming then refrained from stopping her.

Fu Tinghan followed behind her, also taking the sword she had given to him. As she looked over, he handed the sword to her, "Your spear broke, use this for now?"

Zhao Hanzhang took it, drew the sword to look at it, and said, "Thank you."

Seeing him closely following her, she asked, "You’re coming with me?"

Fu Tinghan nodded.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled, "Then let’s go."