After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 895 - 881: Empress Zhao

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at the grass-covered small path and decided to trust Fu Tinghan, so she led the team to turn. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

There were fewer people on this small path; most of the refugees were heading south, but some might have other affiliations or felt they couldn’t survive among the refugee groups, thus changing direction.

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang holding a bloody head, they turned and fled, disappearing shortly after.

Noting the sparse crowd, Zhao Hanzhang found him a good spot, dug a pit with her knife, and buried him.

Shi Le observed and couldn’t help but sneer, "Miss Zhao is kind-hearted; she killed him, yet still dug a pit to bury him."

Zhao Hanzhang heard his sneer but didn’t mind. After burying the head, she said, "Indeed, it’s a useless compassion, but this is what I want to do."

Shi Le fell silent instantly, his expression somewhat complex as he looked at Zhao Hanzhang.

Though he sneered verbally, he admired her in his heart, even secretly enchanted. Those who achieve great things need both a ruthless mind and a compassionate heart.

A kind heart shows a broader vision, while a ruthless mind accomplishes great deeds.

Shi Le knew his own shortcomings; he was illiterate and had not read books. A lot he learned was from listening to stories about famous people, but that was not enough, especially after confronting Gou Xi and Zhao Hanzhang, he realized his lack of knowledge.

Even though Gou Xi was eventually defeated by him, Shi Le knew Gou Xi wasn’t defeated solely by him but by the circumstances and himself.

If it weren’t for the Xiongnu army launching a full-scale attack or Gou Xi’s two years of folly losing people’s hearts, he couldn’t have defeated Gou Xi.

Thinking about how he was once chased by Gou Xi like a dog without a home...

In terms of troop management or strategy, Gou Xi far exceeded him. Shi Le once seriously considered that his martial skills and talent were no less than the other’s; he lacked only in family background.

He hadn’t read and learned like Gou Xi did from a young age, having access to many military books.

Zhao Hanzhang was similar; she was born into a distinguished family, and even though she was a woman, she read poetry and books from an early age, and now it seemed military books as well, so she didn’t stumble to know how to organize troops. The Zhao Family Army was famous for its strict discipline and restraint, and was highly loved by the people.

Most importantly, despite Zhao Hanzhang setting such high standards, the loyalty of the Zhao Family Army remained strong; the two have battled multiple times, and Shi Le had captured Zhao Family Army soldiers.

But the captured officers, regardless of rank, rarely betrayed the Zhao Family Army by providing intelligence or truly submitting to him, even faced with death, they’d staunchly refuse to speak.

Shi Le was different; from a small leader within the clan, a farmer, to a slave, and then a bandit, every action he took was self-taught.

Thus, he preferred to lure people with benefits. To consolidate morale, he allowed his subordinates the freedom to kill captives. If they liked killing civilians, he didn’t stop them—he even turned a blind eye to torture and cannibalism because his favored subordinates liked such acts.

Not to mention plundering and similar activities.

As long as it made the soldiers serve him devotedly, he’d even lead the looting himself; indeed, he enjoyed grabbing things.

Thus, the captives of the Shi Army could easily switch allegiances because, as long as they could live, as long as there were benefits, they’d do it, forming a behavioral and thought pattern nurtured within the army.

Previously, Shi Le didn’t see anything wrong with it, but Zhang Bin had mentioned they couldn’t continue acting so wantonly; if they wished for longevity, they needed to organize both army and populace.

And organizing the army required strictness, organizing the populace required kindness.

Yet, in these two aspects, he strayed from the beginning. The latter was easier, kindness could manifest over time through acts, but organizing the army was different. Changing policies suddenly would not only make the soldiers unaccustomed but also dissatisfied, potentially causing rebellion.

Thus, altering required harsher methods and a sufficient length of time, along with slaughter.

He took so many detours to glimpse a mountaintop, while Zhao Hanzhang had seen the entire panorama from the start, so her Zhao Family Army, though less brave than his, consistently outperformed him.

The more Shi Le thought, the more resentful and unjust he felt, thus continuing his silence.

Zhao Hanzhang grabbed a handful of dirt, rubbed it in her hands to clean off the blood, stood up, and said, "Let’s go."

After this, they harmonized more with the refugees on this path, aside from the conspicuous armor they wore, their attire was equally disheveled, weak, and exhausted (strikethrough)...

As Zhao Hanzhang and her group avoided the main road toward Wu’an County, they couldn’t have expected that Zeng Yue, after running out, didn’t return to Wu’an County but directly turned back to find her.

He rested for a night, and as dawn broke, he led a group, thinking that even though Zhao Hanzhang fell behind him, she’d surely return to Wu’an County once freed, so he’d go to meet them and undoubtedly find her.

As a result, after running forward for an hour, he didn’t encounter Zhao Hanzhang but did see numerous routed troops, including both Zhao Family Army and... Shi Family Army.

In a group of fleeing ordinary soldiers, a sudden appearance of an officer made everyone pick up swords, wooden sticks, and stones, and compared to a formal battlefield, the skirmish ended quickly like child’s play, and Zeng Yue’s team grew larger, returning triumphantly to the battle site.

But here, besides corpses and blood traces along the road, nothing else remained. The battlefield had been thoroughly cleaned, footprints crisscrossed in all directions; he crouched and studied for a while without gaining any useful information.

Soldiers who were out flipping bodies returned to report, "General, no sign of the Lord, nor Minister Fu."

The newly surrendered soldiers also ran back, saying, "We searched everywhere, no Great General, no Empress Zhao."

Zeng Yue’s gaze shot over aggressively, and the surrendered soldiers immediately corrected themselves, "No sign of Shi Bandit, nor Lord Zhao."

Zeng Yue said expressionlessly, "Let it not happen again, also, when reporting news next time, our Lord must be mentioned before the Shi Bandit."

The surrendered soldiers lowered their heads and complied.

Only then did Zeng Yue seriously ponder, what to do?

Standing on the battlefield, with silence all around, his master had vanished.

Zeng Yue felt panicked, having no idea where to look.

The Lord must return to Wu’an County, certainly return to Wu’an County, but from here, only one road leads there unless the Lord isn’t free.

At this thought, Zeng Yue’s eyes reddened.

The world is so vast, and so chaotic, where could he find them? What if the Lord encountered misfortune out there...

Just as the thought flashed by, Zeng Yue spat twice, suppressing the thought, considering informing Mr. Ji of this, thus turning with his men and heading back towards Wu’an County.

Zhao Hanzhang and her group, with a severely wounded Shi Le, walked and paused, until afternoon when they emerged from the mountain. Seeing the official road not far away, everyone’s eyes lit up.

Lying on the cart, almost losing his senses from the bumping, Shi Le felt invigorated, then Zhao Hanzhang suddenly swept forward with a knife, jumping down the slope, catching the bandits about to deliver their classic lines.

Aside from Zhao Hanzhang, the others were startled by the sudden leaping figures.

Those hiding behind trees on the slope saw their fellows remain silent and jumped down, "What’s going on? Aren’t you here to rob? Can’t even shout the lines?"

The successive jumpers spotted Zhao Hanzhang and were shocked, then seeing Shi Le on the cart left them utterly stunned. The speaker, dissatisfied, pushed through the crowd and locked eyes with Shi Le on the cart.

Immediately, his knees weakened, and he dropped to the ground, "Ge-General!"

Then glancing mistakenly at Zhao Hanzhang holding a knife, his eyes widened, stepping back first, then regained his senses, swiftly unsheathing his knife, and shouted, "Empress Zhao, how dare you harm my master, give me your life!"