CHAPTER 498: CHAPTER 492: OPENLY PROVOKING

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at Wang Zhang next to her, then said to Shi Le, "General Shi, you are Jiehu, and the Great Jin Court has wronged you, so whatever you do, I may not agree with it, but I understand you, and I have to praise you as a great hero."

"But the brothers Wang Zhang and Wang Mi are treacherous villains. They are subjects of the Great Jin, and Great Jin has never wronged them. Yet they massacre their compatriots more ruthlessly than even you, General. How can you trust and use such traitors?"

Wang Zhang heard her speak ill of him to his face with such harsh words, and he was so angry that his eyes turned red with fury. He shouted, "Zhao Hanzhang, stop slandering me!"

Zhao Hanzhang sneered, "Which word of mine is a slander?"

"The Jin Dynasty is unjust, unrighteous, untrustworthy, and the people suffer. We brothers are merely following the will of heaven..."

"Bah, Wang Zhang you brat, when has the Jin Dynasty been unjust, unrighteous, or untrustworthy to the Wang Family?" A person jumped out from the hostage pile nearby and started cursing Wang Zhang, "You brothers are just ungrateful traitors and tyrants. The Jin Dynasty has not treated you badly, when have they ever wronged you brothers? Yet you bring people to kill Jin people and destroy our foundation..."

He bore a grudge because Wang Zhang had wanted to kill the captives earlier, and he had family members among them.

Zhao Hanzhang saw that he was cursing satisfactorily, and Wang Zhang’s eyes were full of hostility, but he restrained himself and didn’t act. She smiled and clapped her hands, then said to Shi Le, "General Shi, as you can see, such ungrateful traitors deserve to be executed by everyone. Do you or your emperor dare to employ them?"

Wang Zhang suppressed his anger and knelt before Shi Le, "General, Zhao Hanzhang is merely trying to sow discord. The Jin Dynasty is unruly, as seen in the chaos under heaven. They’re afraid you’ll take advantage of the situation to destroy the Jin Dynasty and have specifically chosen us brothers to sow discord with you."

"You and my elder brother are as crucial as the left arm to Your Majesty. If you’re provoked by her, it would give an opportunity to her and the Jin Dynasty, and the chaos under heaven cannot be quelled."

Shi Le’s expression softened, and he quickly helped him up, nodding repeatedly, "You’re right, how could I be provoked by her?"

Zhao Hanzhang snorted coldly, tugged at the reins, and stared at Wang Zhang, "Wang Zhang, I hope you remember, Heaven has a virtue of cherishing life. Whether they are Han people, Jiehu, or Xiongnu, they are all human lives. If you have the ability, prove yourself on the battlefield. If you kill captives or civilians, I will not let you go. The will of Heaven is watching too."

Wang Zhang did not believe in ghosts or gods, so he naturally didn’t believe in any heavenly will, and he sneered at her coldly.

Zhao Hanzhang cupped her fist to Shi Le, "General Shi, I’ll take my leave now."

Shi Le extended his hand with a gentle expression, "General Zhao, please."

Zhao Hanzhang gave him a slight smile, "I think we’ll meet again soon, until next time!"

Wang Yan and many Great Jin officials and noble families were stunned to see Zhao Hanzhang just turn her horse and leave without bargaining with Shi Le or threatening him to release, oh no, to free them.

Fu Tinghan felt relieved when he saw Zhao Hanzhang cross the river safely. Only then did he turn his horse and said to Fan Ying, "Let’s go, pick out those who are seriously injured and the young children, let them ride in carriages, and speed up the departure."

Zhao Hanzhang kept her word, the rear became the vanguard, escorting all the hostages to leave first. She stayed behind with Beigong Chun to cover the rear.

They had barely retreated from the riverbank when someone suggested, "General, if we attack now, they will be protecting those fifty thousand civilians, definitely not our match."

"That’s right, we might even be able to capture Zhao Hanzhang."

Zhang Bin, however, said, "General, Luoyang!"

Shi Le also nodded, "She said we’ll meet again. It seems she did send people to Luoyang. Wang Mi’s mission will certainly fail. Let’s leave immediately; maybe we can enter Luoyang before her."

Indeed, conquering Luoyang is much more important than killing Zhao Hanzhang. The soldiers no longer had any objections, and everyone moved quickly, breaking camp to leave at once.

Wang Yan and others were being taken away again; this time Shi Le did not intend to take them further, so he had them locked back in their camp first.

Zhao Hanzhang slowed her horse’s pace, and after traveling less than thirty miles, a scout came back reporting, "Report to the General, their forces have split into two, one heading to Luoyang."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, instructing, "Continue scouting, but don’t follow too closely. It’s enough to roughly know their movements."

"Yes."

Beigong Chun watched the scout leave, then asked, "Are we going to send troops to rescue Wang Sikong and the others?"

At this time, Shi Le’s forces had split into two routes. If they were fast enough to catch up, it would be easy to rescue them.

Beigong Chun thought Zhao Hanzhang was deliberately saying that to Shi Le to lure him away to seize the opportunity for rescue.

However, Zhao Hanzhang glanced at Beigong Chun before saying, "We are currently exhausted, attacking now would be extremely disadvantageous to us. Besides, who knows if this is Shi Le’s trap?"

Beigong Chun wasn’t foolish. If it were two years ago, he might have patted his chest and begged to go, promising he would definitely rescue them. Now... Beigong Chun had already understood her underlying meaning; Zhao Hanzhang would not dispatch troops to rescue Wang Yan and others.

So the question arose: Zhao Hanzhang ransomed so many people, even redeeming their womenfolk and offspring, leaving a group of robust officials and clansmen to Shi Le. Was this truly due to the circumstances, or was it... intentional?

Beigong Chun swallowed hard, not daring to ask her.

By now, they were already far from the Jiehu, Zhao Hanzhang then said to Beigong Chun, "You take over the rear now, I’ll go to the front to take a look."

Zhao Hanzhang rode forward.

Wang Si Niang and Wang Hufeng only then saw Fu Tinghan.

She immediately tugged Wang Hufeng, squeezing through the crowd, waving vigorously at Fu Tinghan, "Mr. Fu, Mr. Fu—"

Fu Tinghan turned back, and after a moment, he recognized Wang Si Niang.

He quickly rode his horse forward, "Lady Wang?"

He rode the horse to the side, giving way for the army and refugees behind, dismounted, and looked up and down at Wang Si Niang and Wang Hufeng, somewhat surprised, "You’re among the hostages, where is your brother?"

Wang Si Niang said, "My brother is not in Luoyang, he went south for scholarly pursuits. I never expected to meet Mr. Fu and the Third Lady here."

Thinking of the recent danger, Wang Si Niang couldn’t help but tear up.

Fu Tinghan frowned slightly and turned to Fu An for a handkerchief.

Fu An took a handkerchief from his bosom, "Don’t you have one yourself, Master..."

Fu Tinghan glared at him and had him give the handkerchief to Wang Si Niang.

Fan Ying also dismounted, stood at the side, and glared at Wang Si Niang with a vigilant gaze.

Wang Si Niang felt uncomfortable under her gaze, took the handkerchief from Fu An, wiped her tears, and then asked Fu Tinghan, "Where is the Third Lady?"

"Fourth Lady?"

Zhao Hanzhang rode up, confirmed safety, then left the team to find Wang Si Niang and Wang Hufeng.

Wang Si Niang saw Zhao Hanzhang approaching her, and she couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. She rushed forward and hugged her, sobbing, "Third Lady, my sister and I almost died, waaah..."