Chapter 61 - Break Out of the City

Chapter 61: Chapter 55: Break Out of the CityThe servants and the guards surrounded the convoy as they turned the corner, seeing the city gate not far away. Their smiles froze before they could fully spread.

Zhao Hanzhang heard a gentle whistling, like the sound of air being cut through. Her body reacted faster than her mind, leaning to the left and gripping the horse’s belly with her legs, as an arrow whooshed past her side, piercing into the body of a horse attached to a carriage behind her.

The horse neighed frantically, causing chaos in the convoy, plunging the crowd into disarray...

Zhao Hanzhang pulled the reins, using skill to regain control, ignoring the chaos behind her, and stared straight ahead, only to discover a fierce battle at the city gate, where about a hundred Jin Army soldiers were holding the gate, preventing chaotic troops from leaving the city.

Zhao Hanzhang quickly scanned the main street, seeing many leftover corpses and deep ruts on the ground. "Damn, we’ve fallen behind the main army."

This position was essentially a target.

As soon as she spoke, more chaotic troops emerged from the streets on both sides of the main road. They intended to rush straight to the city gate, but seeing this group with large packages and many carriages and horses belonging to nobles, they immediately turned and charged towards them.

Unable to catch the damn emperor, grabbing some gold, silver, and women wasn’t bad either.

Zhao Ji and Mr. Jia, along with other people in charge, saw the approaching chaotic troops and immediately rallied the guards, "Quick, repel the enemy!"

The guards and household servants wielded knives and charged forward, but they were just guards, far inferior to soldiers in the army, barely holding them back before retreating step by step.

Zhao Hanzhang slapped the coachman, directing him to squeeze the carriage to the side, hoping to break through from there. She instructed the guards and family servants blocking the front, "Form teams, three people to a team, advance forward..."

But the guards served different masters, not to mention that they came from many different families, mixed together without knowing or being familiar with one another. Even the guards of the Zhao Family were divided into two factions.

Some listened to Zhao Hanzhang’s commands, reluctantly forming teams of three and huddling together. Others ignored her, trusting only themselves, fighting enthusiastically on their own, willing to be cut down and only experiencing brief pain.

Seeing this, Zhao Hanzhang realized the situation couldn’t be turned around. She resolutely led a few close servants from her mansion forward, intending to clear a path for Mrs. Wang’s carriage.

At this moment, everyone was retreating, trying to move back, while Zhao Hanzhang advanced against the flow, facing great difficulty.

Zhao Ji, though not smart, also knew that turning back now meant certain death. The emperor and Prince East Sea had fled, leaving Luoyang as a solitary city. Staying might mean being slaughtered, so he waved the whip angrily at the servants who kept looking back, shouting, "No retreat, charge out..."

Mr. Jia and others followed suit, driving their servants forward, but there were many civilians among them who wouldn’t listen to Zhao Ji and others.

Some tried to run towards the city gate amidst the chaos, only to be slain by the chaotic troops upfront. Others tried to escape to the streets on either side, turning back home, plunging the main street into calls and cries.

The coachman, pale-faced, squeezed forward under Zhao Hanzhang’s command, facing the chaotic troops head-on. Zhao Hanzhang drew her sword, blocking a large knife aimed at the horse with such force that her palm went numb. She locked eyes with the barbarian beneath, then let go of the sword, flipped her wrist, and caught the hilt as it fell, agilely twisting the sword to stab into the opponent’s chest before he could react...

Zhao Hanzhang gripped the sword hilt tightly and pulled violently. The blade was withdrawn, spraying blood onto her pale face, but she didn’t stop, urging the horse forward, slicing across the neck of an approaching chaotic troop to clear a gap for the carriage behind.

Various family guards and servants helped share the pressure. Along with Zhao Ji and others driving their servants forward, a gap quickly opened.

Zhao Hanzhang charged out first, followed closely by Mrs. Wang’s carriage.

Zhao Erlang remembered his sister’s words, to stay close to his mother’s carriage, and spurred his horse to follow.

The soldiers guarding the city gate didn’t block their exit. Seeing their carriages coming, they made way for them to leave, then joined their comrades in continuously fighting off and slaughtering chaotic troops attacking the convoy.

Zhao Ji and the others fell behind, and once they finally squeezed out of the city, they were disheveled, having lost their horses, covered in dirt and blood, probably from falling off their mounts and rolling around.

Zhao Hanzhang and her group slowed down after charging out of the city.

There were too many people in their carriages, and after the panic and whipping along the way, the horses were exhausted, breathing heavily as they walked slowly forward.

Zhao Hanzhang reached out to stroke the horse’s neck, glanced back, seeing the main group slowly catching up, but had no clue where the second household was, as only Uncle Cheng, Qing Gu, Ting He, and Zhao Cai’s four servants closely followed her. They were all part of her dowry.

She scanned the chaotic ruts and hoof prints on the ground, occasionally spotting scattered bloodstains, knowing there must be chaotic troops following the main army ahead. While uncertain of their numbers, she did not want to confront them alone.

She had to follow Zhao Ji and others; at least keeping close to the main force ensured safety. She had already left messages for Zhao Qianli and Professor Fu. If they could bring people to find them soon, that would be ideal; if not, she would have to seek Zhao Zhongyu and Fu Zhi, at least leveraging their strength to get through this stretch.

Pondering, Zhao Hanzhang noticed the carriages of the second household.

Mrs. Wu and the others were sheltered in the middle, and apart from being frightened and pale-faced, they were mostly unharmed, though many servants and luggage had been lost.

Contrary, Zhao Ji was much worse off, perched on a crowded ox cart full of servants, his face speckled with blood marks from being scraped when he fell off the horse.

Counting the remaining numbers, Zhao Ji felt a profound sense of pain and panic, "How did it come down to just these few people?"

Zhao Hanzhang dismounted, soothing her horse, and said, "Uncle, there are pursuers behind us, and probably remnants of the pursuing main army ahead, wolves before us, tigers behind us. My suggestion is to gather the able-bodied in the convoy, protect the women and elderly in the center, and form an array to move forward, potentially preserving more people."

Zhao Ji remained silent, but Mr. Jia, equally disheveled, immediately said, "Third Lady is right, I had the same thought."

Zhao Hanzhang said, "Regardless of master or servant, all able-bodied should count."

She pointed to herself, "I should count as one. What do you think?"

Mr. Jia had seen her kill earlier, knowing she was not like ordinary girls, and nodded continuously before looking to Zhao Ji, "What does Mr. Zhao think?"

Zhao Ji pondered.

Zhao Hanzhang said, "Even though we are pooling all able-bodied people, have teams of three who are familiar with each other, each guarding near their family members."

She continued, "This way, knowing their relatives are behind them, they’ll make greater efforts."

Zhao Ji finally nodded, "Alright."

Zhao Hanzhang sighed in relief, and before Zhao Ji could speak, she immediately began dispatching personnel to form arrays.

Since they had already agreed, she assumed they tacitly consented to her command.