After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Fu Zhi smiled bitterly and said, "We often clash with Ma Jian’en’s people, fighting seven or eight times a day is normal. But it’s all hand-to-hand combat. Initially, Chunyu Ding would come to watch, but later he couldn’t be bothered. Although there was quite a commotion today, he probably wouldn’t know you killed Ma Jian’en."

Zhao Hanzhang found this reason too far-fetched, "My eight thousand troops came thundering over, such a big stir, and his scouts couldn’t detect it?"

Fu Zhi was amused by her and felt a bit of the heaviness in his heart lift. He explained, "Ma Jian’en is overbearing; this is his defensive line. Chunyu Ding wouldn’t dare to cross over and frequently spy on this side. Moreover, he knows I won’t have reinforcements and lacks the courage to break through..."

Fu Zhi sighed lightly here and said, with a hint of disappointment, "It’s my lack of decisiveness. Anyway, he knows that as long as he holds the pass over there and doesn’t let me retreat and take another route to Yu State, he naturally won’t pay much attention to matters here."

With this, Zhao Hanzhang decided to thoroughly tidy up.

Everyone was exhausted from the rapid march for two days.

So she utilized the grain and supplies from the Ma Family Army, had people set up pots and cook, and also fed the horses well, letting the soldiers eat their fill.

The cooking smoke rose into the air, clearly visible from the Chunyu Army twenty miles away. The deputy general Zhao Ran felt something was off and quickly went to report to Chunyu Ding, "General, the amount of smoke over there isn’t right; it seems to be increased for the needs of a few thousand more people,"

The weather was getting colder, and Chunyu Ding didn’t want to leave his tent. He lazily raised his head and said, "The Xiongnu have retreated, the Prince has surrounded Gou Xi, and soon they will eliminate a major concern. They are probably celebrating with joy."

Zhao Ran said, "But it still shouldn’t be enough for the needs of several thousand more people. I just looked closely; the additional smoke equates to the needs of about six thousand people."

The smoke hadn’t completely dispersed yet, which meant this wasn’t a complete accounting. He felt there were even more people added on the other side.

Chunyu Ding casually said, "Perhaps Prince East Sea sent reinforcements again."

Zhao Ran didn’t think so, "Fu Zhi is not a good general and has no ability to lead troops. These twenty thousand men have no combat experience. We could besiege him for five days, so why would they need more reinforcements?"

"It can’t be that Yu State and Luoyang sent reinforcements to Fu Zhi, right?" Chunyu Ding asked, "Can Yu State send reinforcements now? Does Luoyang have reinforcements for Fu Zhi?"

Zhao Ran fell silent.

Although the Xiongnu had retreated, Yu State should still be preoccupied with its troubles, and as for Luoyang, the emperor’s attendants could very well be Prince East Sea’s people, so how could there be reinforcements for Fu Zhi?

Chunyu Ding waved dismissively, "We should also eat our evening meal, set up pots and cook, and don’t worry about others cooking."

But Zhao Ran still felt uneasy, bowed, and said, "Please give me some troops, General. I’ll go investigate. It’s better to check and find nothing, so we can react in time if something goes wrong."

Chunyu Ding found him troublesome, frowned but agreed anyway, and waved, "Go ahead."

Zhao Ran agreed, went out to call up a team of troops, and then proceeded to scout ahead.

Because Fu Zhi’s army was in the middle, they needed to bypass from the side to scout ahead.

This was a small mountain path, barely enough for a team to pass. It wasn’t really a secret; all three armies were well aware. For instance, Fu Zhi also sent scouts to keep a close eye on the two armies. As long as no one went too far, everyone turned a blind eye and pretended not to see.

After all, they weren’t mortal enemies, and could even be considered one family.

As long as Fu Zhi didn’t plan to sneak away with people on this small path, it was fine.

Fu Zhi did want to, but unfortunately, the path was too small and couldn’t accommodate so many people.

When Zhao Ran led his men to the Ma Family Army, Zhao Hanzhang and the others had already eaten, and it was almost dark.

The soldiers had eaten and drank their fill, rested their arms and legs for an hour, and she got up promptly, saying to Fu Zhi, "Grandfather Fu, you can leave now."

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Fu Zhi was stunned, "Now?"

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, "Now."

Fu Zhi was silent for a moment and asked no more, then rose to inform the army to pack up and set off.

He looked at Fu Tinghan, who stood silently beside him, then at Zhao Hanzhang, and couldn’t help but sigh, "I never imagined, Third Lady, that you could achieve this step..."

Zhao Hanzhang looked up and smiled at him.

But Fu Zhi fell silent. At this moment, he felt a bit confused inside.

When arranging the marriage for his grandson and Zhao Hanzhang, he had made assumptions about their future. He only hoped they could live and support each other to live a little better in this world.

He had never thought Zhao Hanzhang would become the Yu State Governor, and watching her, her military power exceeded his expectations.

At this moment, Fu Zhi opened his mouth but swallowed all his words, merely nodding to the two before turning away.

"Grandfather," Fu Tinghan called him. When he turned back, he said, "I have given myself a courtesy name, Tinghan."

Fu Zhi was taken aback and said, "You wrote to inform me, I already knew."

Fu Zhi turned and left, this time without stopping or looking back. Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan stood together watching him walk away, feeling that his back was somewhat hunched.

The two exchanged glances, and Zhao Hanzhang said, "You go ahead with the people first, I will cover the rear."

Fu Tinghan nodded and only reminded her, "Be careful."

Fu Zhi led his twenty thousand troops to go first, followed by Fu Tinghan taking their part of the army along with the newly captured Ma Family Army and leaving. By the time Chunyu Ding received Zhao Ran’s report and rushed over with his troops, he saw only the Zhao Family Army standing quietly in the dark.

With scattered flames, one in every ten holding a torch, Zhao Hanzhang left behind only a thousand cavalry. Over a hundred torches lit up in the dim night, but because they were scattered, one couldn’t tell how many people were really there beyond the light of the flames.

Chunyu Ding, who came chasing with a large army, instinctively reined in his horse and squinted towards the front, not daring to get too close.

Zhao Ran boldly called out, "Who’s there?"

He had seen a strange troop from afar on the mountain and only knew it was a reinforcement for Fu Zhi because he saw them standing together.

And the Ma Family Army showed no reaction, even surrounded by the new troop and Fu Zhi’s great army.

Zhao Ran felt it was not good then and immediately turned back to report to Chunyu Ding.

Chunyu Ding didn’t want to believe Zhao Ran, but he knew Zhao Ran wouldn’t deceive him, so he mustered troops and hurried over.

When he passed through Fu Zhi’s camp and found it empty, his heart sank. Arriving to see this army, unable to gauge their strength, he dared not move forward at once.

Zhao Hanzhang sat on the horse, with Zhao Erlang beside him, the two silently watching Chunyu Ding approach. Hearing Zhao Ran’s question, Zhao Hanzhang chuckled lightly, nudged her horse forward a few steps, and even had Ting He bring the torch closer so they could see her face.

As the firelight drew near, the horse under her moved slightly. Zhao Hanzhang reached out to stroke its neck, calming it, then raised her head, looking at Chunyu Ding in the dim flame, "General Chunyu, I am Zhao Hanzhang, Yu State Governor. At this late hour, where are you heading?"