Mr. Chen does not fear gentlemen, only villains, but compared to gentlemen and villains, he prefers to engage in transactions with smart people like Zhao Hanzhang.
Gentlemen can be friends but are not suited for business dealings, especially since the deal they’re discussing carries a certain level of ambiguity.
Zhao Hanzhang is not lacking in cunning; she will strive to protect them, father and daughter alike, even just for the sake of provisions, to help them reunite with the army.
Mr. Chen has thought it through well; after casting out tempting bait, Zhao Hanzhang pulls back with Zhao Ju to discuss the people who will escort Mr. Chen tomorrow, "Tomorrow morning, Ji Ping will lead twenty people to escort Mr. Chen to catch up with the army. I will put together some money for them to buy as many provisions as possible."
Zhao Ju looked disapproving, "Third Sister, Ji Ping is a centurion; his unit is the most elite. He should stay to protect you and Second Son."
"Aren’t you still here?" Zhao Hanzhang said, "Moreover, I have not planned for Zhao Dian and the others to leave tomorrow; they need to stagger their departure to give Ji Ping the opportunity to bring back the provisions."
"But just now you and Zhao Dian were so displeased, will he follow your orders?"
Zhao Hanzhang: "He must follow. With our great-granduncle and uncle not here, I am the person in charge of the Zhao Family; he can only listen to me."
Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyes to look at him, "Without my orders, only if our great-granduncle and uncle were here, and they gave orders, would you dare not listen?"
Zhao Ju thought about it, realizing he truly wouldn’t dare defy them, so he lowered his head and said, "I will go and arrange it now."
Zhao Hanzhang nodded.
The two spoke avoiding Zhao Dian and the others, yet they did not avoid Fu Tinghan and his attendants sitting nearby.
Fu An, for some reason, shivered, and shuffled over to Fu Tinghan, whispering, "My lord, are we not departing together with Mr. Chen and the others tomorrow?"
Fu Tinghan was still perfecting his drawings, and without looking up, he replied, "Where am I departing to?"
Fu An hurriedly said, "To catch up with your lord; your lord escaped with Your Majesty and Prince East Sea and is surely among the army."
Fu Tinghan shook his head without a second thought, "No, I want to escort Third Lady back to Ru Nan."
Fu An: "...My lord, your wedding with Third Lady isn’t complete yet, you’re not even married, besides..."
He scratched his head, hesitating for a moment, then lowered his voice cautiously, "Third Lady is quite formidable; if you follow along, will the household listen to you or Third Lady?"
Fu Tinghan finally looked up at him and then said, "Family matters should be discussed and agreed upon, shouldn’t they?"
"What if opinions differ?"
Fu Tinghan: "Then listen to the one who makes more sense."
Fu An:... If opinions differ, naturally one’s argument is right from one’s perspective and the other’s argument from theirs. How do you decide?
Filled with worry, he saw Zhao Hanzhang striding over and swallowed back his words of advice, shifting his seat back.
Zhao Hanzhang sat down next to Fu Tinghan, laying out the cloak brought by Ting He and smoothing it on the ground, "It’s getting late, let’s sleep early."
Fu Tinghan nodded, folded his dried drawings, and tucked them into his chest. Seeing her leave half the cloak for him, he hesitated for a moment but lay down after all.
There was an arm’s width between the two, and Fu Tinghan’s face felt a bit hot, trying hard to stare at the stars and talk about random things, "The weather tomorrow is good."
Zhao Hanzhang had already closed her eyes; upon hearing this, she opened them again, also gazing at the stars in the sky, and said, "Indeed it’s very nice, rare to see so many stars."
Fu Tinghan: "Aren’t there always this many stars?"
Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help but turn to look at him, "Are you serious?"
Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but turn his head as well; they suddenly leaned too close, their breaths audible. He quietly looked at her, took a moment to react, "I meant since arriving in this era, the stars have been every day."
Zhao Hanzhang felt a bit uneasy too, lay back, and continued staring at the stars above without looking at him, "You actually have time every day to watch the stars."
Fu Tinghan: "Wasn’t it you who asked me to study the alignment of seven stars?"
Zhao Hanzhang: "...Sorry, I almost forgot about that."
She patted her forehead, "Too many things have been happening in these days."
Fu Tinghan was still watching her, hesitated briefly before asking, "Are you... okay?"
Zhao Hanzhang looked at him, "What could happen to me?"
Fu Tinghan: "Don’t you need some psychological intervention? After all, it’s the first time facing the battlefield, and even killing."
He paused, "If you’re willing, I can help you. You know, as teachers we are required to have training in psychology; I’ve expanded some knowledge myself, probably not comparable to psychologists, but talking can relieve stress, and I can guide you a bit."
Zhao Hanzhang, hearing his words, simply turned to talk facing him, "Professor Fu then?"
Zhao Hanzhang asked softly, "It’s your first time experiencing warfare too, aren’t you afraid?"
Fu Tinghan bluntly replied, "I am afraid; I am very sure this is not an illusion, this is a real world, those people are real too, and they just lost their lives in front of me. I am scared, and somewhat guilty, but I know none of this can be changed now, so I will try to walk myself out of this emotion."
He said, "I also fear losing my life amidst this chaos, fear you getting hurt or dying, but I’ve found ways to adjust; how about you, you’ve experienced more and been more involved than I have, have you found your balance?"
Zhao Hanzhang saw the worry in his eyes, suddenly smiled, then slowly became serious. She pondered for a long time before speaking, "I... it might be inherited, or perhaps I really have a psychological issue. My panic exists only for a moment, and then I quickly adapted to this war, and to the fact of killing people."
Fu Tinghan looked at her in surprise.
Zhao Hanzhang laughed and asked, "Surprising, isn’t it?"
Fu Tinghan thought for a moment before saying, "Some geniuses are indeed different from ordinary people; this probably isn’t a psychological issue. As for inheritance..."
His voice dropped, "It probably is. Your parents were excellent soldiers and police officers; it might be inherent genes?"
Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow, "Professor Fu, you know quite a lot; how do you know my parents’ identities?"
Fu Tinghan steadily looked at her, his voice almost inaudible, "I attended their funeral."
Zhao Hanzhang still heard him. The smile on her face slowly retracted, thoughtfully examining him, "You... is there a connection between our families?"
Her parents died in a joint operation, and the funeral was not small; however, because she had a car accident rushing back, few people from the school knew about it, only her then class teacher and deskmate knew a bit.
She and Fu Tinghan were at most rivals in the school across; they didn’t count as friends, how would he know this, and even attended the funeral.
Fu Tinghan said, "My grandfather and parents were in the Academy; my grandfather knew your grandfather, and we lived close by, so we went over."
"You were sitting in a wheelchair then, your eyes bandaged, so you didn’t know me," he added.
Zhao Hanzhang suddenly thought of something, reached out to hold his hand, squeezed it before she realized it was Fu Changrong’s body, not Fu Tinghan’s.