CHAPTER 123: CHAPTER 117 DEBATE

"You," Zhao Ming stamped his foot, "at such a crucial time, you’re still arguing with me. The clan can only continue if more children are left behind."

"Haven’t you already sent the seeds away?" Zhao Hanzhang replied, "Coincidentally, the main house also has a child outside, so now none of the branches are lacking. The rest can safely guard the Wu Castle."

Zhao Ming: ...

Zhao Hanzhang turned to face the distressed clansmen and said in a deep voice, "I know you don’t know how to kill or fight, and can’t compare to the desperados outside, but who is born knowing this?"

"Those people outside, just like you, were all seeking food from the fields before. They are ruthless because they fear hunger, so they want to seize our grain, our homes, our Wu Castle!"

Zhao Hanzhang shouted, "But can’t we also become ruthless? Behind us are our parents and our wives and children! If we fall, everyone behind us will die. So can you stand against the enemy?"

The clansmen gripped their weapons tightly and shouted back, "Yes, we can, we can!"

Zhao Ming: ...

Zhao Hanzhang turned to look at Zhao Ming and spread his hands, "See, they are all willing to fight with their backs to the water."

Zhao Ming looked at her quietly, then turned back to Wu Castle, "Clean the battlefield!"

The clansmen immediately gathered the visible weapons on the ground and pulled the arrows from the bodies to collect them.

Zhao Hanzhang instructed Ji Ping to go bandage wounds, leaving the others with the clansmen to clean up the battlefield. She then pulled Fu Tinghan to chase after Zhao Ming, "Shouldn’t Shi Le be active in the Jizhou area at this time? Why did he come to Ru Nan?"

Zhao Ming: "I don’t know."

"Who’s leading the enemy troops towards the county? Are they also Xiongnu soldiers?"

"I also don’t know," Zhao Ming stopped and said, "I don’t even know when Shi Le colluded with the Xiongnu, so how would I know how they emerged?"

Zhao Hanzhang stopped, "You didn’t know Shi Le sought refuge with Liu Yuan?"

Zhao Ming looked at her in surprise, "You know? When did this happen? Where did you get this information?"

At this moment, Zhao Ming began to suspect, did his elder brother also give control of intelligence to the Third Lady? But that shouldn’t be, his elder brother wasn’t the type to be so indiscriminate.

Zhao Hanzhang: ... Can she say it was written in history books?

Zhao Hanzhang rubbed her forehead, thought carefully, and asked, "Jizhou, no, that’s not right, it’s Yan State, where is the Governor of Yan State, Gou Xi, now?"

Zhao Ming silently looked back at her. Fu Tinghan, who had been on edge all day, tired and hungry, couldn’t hold it any longer, "Do you think he would know?"

Although he indeed didn’t know, Zhao Ming still glanced at Fu Tinghan, Fu Tinghan hastily bowed and explained, "I mean, since the roads are cut off and information is stagnant, tracing back the source is extremely costly now. Why not think about the current predicament first? Shi Le certainly hasn’t gone far; unless he also diverts to attack the county, he’ll definitely return soon. How do we defend the Wu Castle?"

Zhao Ming: "Tinghan is right. Third Lady, let’s discuss it, the elders in the clan are all waiting."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, but her mind was still on Gou Xi. Historically, Shi Le became a lone general because he was defeated by Gou Xi, which is why he turned to Liu Yuan.

At that time, he couldn’t head south and eventually went to Shangdang to recruit more soldiers. If he has come to Ru Nan now, does it mean a change has also occurred with Gou Xi?

If Shi Le has already joined Liu Yuan, then who is attacking Yu Yang?

Could it really be the Xiongnu?

If it is really the Xiongnu, did Prince East Sea allow the Xiongnu to breach into the Central Plains intending to hand them half the territory?

Zhao Hanzhang ground her teeth and aggressively followed Zhao Ming to meet the clan elders.

The elders of the clan were equally unable to rest, all waiting in the front hall. Seeing Zhao Ming leading Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan back, they immediately stepped forward. Confronted by Zhao Hanzhang’s imposing presence, they hesitated and weakly asked, "Third Lady, why have you returned?"

Seeing Fu Tinghan, the elders suddenly warmed up, inviting him to sit, "Thank you, son-in-law, for rescuing us, it must have been hard on you, young man."

Zhao Ming poured himself a cup of water, drank it in one go, and replied in his spare time, "It was the Third Lady who led them."

He still couldn’t forget the scene of Zhao Hanzhang leading the troops, advancing and retreating through the chaotic army thrice.

Fu Tinghan also nodded, "My martial skills are weak, it was the Third Lady who led the army."

The elders widened their eyes.

Zhao Hanzhang gave a bow in a circle as a greeting to the elders, then walked to the table, "How many people do we have now?"

Zhao Ming: "Those severely injured are down, now we have about one thousand eight hundred who can still fight."

"Our troops..."

Zhao Ming sighed, "We suffered heavy losses. Although we eventually repelled them, they attacked the city thrice, causing great losses to us."

Zhao Song: "Our troops haven’t seen blood for a long time, yet they are extremely fierce, we can’t compare."

Zhao Hanzhang recalled Shi Le’s forces, feeling a headache, "Most of the people I have also haven’t seen blood. Although they have been trained, they certainly can’t compare to them."

Fu Tinghan observed clearly, "If we confront them head-on, it will result in mutual destruction. We could probably hold the Wu Castle, but..."

Fu Tinghan continued, "Not only the young men in the Wu Castle, but also the people we brought, they might all end up dying here."

By then, leaving behind only the old, weak, women, and children in the Wu Castle, it would be equally difficult to survive.

By then, the Wu Castle would attract not only bandits like Shi Le.

Zhao Song hurriedly said, "Right, if Shi Le’s men are defeated, he can regroup somewhere else and come back, but our Zhao Family can’t."

Zhao Hu: "Then what do we do? We can’t surrender, nor can we fight to the death, should we flee?"

He kept glancing at Zhao Hanzhang, "If the whole clan were to move to Shangcai..."

Zhao Hanzhang replied generously, "If the clan requires, I don’t mind using the estate in Shangcai to settle the clansmen. However, after leaving the Wu Castle, can we escape their pursuit?"

Zhao Ming replied with irritation, "It’s so late, and you’re still teasing him, Seventh Uncle. If you’re tired, go rest first."

Zhao Hu: "Zhao Zinian, what do you mean by that? Fifth Brother, aren’t you going to handle your son?"

No one paid attention to him.

Zhao Hanzhang said, "Surrendering is not an option, but we also can’t fight to the death with them."

She glanced outside, "It’s almost dawn. Our people should be arriving soon. We fight one more battle, Uncle, prepare some grain. I’ll try to persuade him to leave."

Zhao Ming lifted his eyelids, "Persuade? How do you plan to persuade?"

Zhao Hanzhang answered, "Convince with guns."

At this moment, Shi Le was sitting on the ground, picking at cooked grains of rice and beans, eating with a face covered in black ash, without a hint of fullness, feeling rather choked instead.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He stood up and shouted towards the Wu Castle, "Damn it, where did that girl come from?"

Just when victory was in sight, a girl appeared out of nowhere.