After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 607 - 601: Seeking Allegiance

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan spent half a day at the watermill. Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t bad at physics and mathematics, so Fu Tinghan could discuss many things with her. The two of them circled the Luoshui river to the watermill according to the blueprint, studied it for a long time, and finally decided to select another place to build a mill that could hold a hydraulic press.

After wandering along the Luoshui river for half a day, the two of them finally stood at a place two miles upstream from the watermill.

Fu Tinghan squatted by the water, stretched his hand into the water, felt the impact brought by the drop, then looked at the area and frowned slightly, "It might not be good to build a mill here."

Zhao Hanzhang glanced briefly and said, "Just level it, I’ll have someone do it."

The project is not small, but Fu Tinghan calculated that if the hydraulic press could be made, the cost would be worthwhile.

Fu Tinghan reached out to Fu An, who immediately opened the cloth bag he was carrying and took out various tools for him.

Fu Tinghan then started measuring.

Seeing Fu An somewhat flustered, Zhao Hanzhang rolled up her sleeves, stepped forward, took the things from his hands, and assisted Fu Tinghan.

Beside them, Ting He looked at Fu An disdainfully, "You’ve been with the gentleman for so long, why can’t you even handle such small tasks?"

"Previously, the gentleman always worked on such tasks with his craftsmen, and I just occasionally handed him things." Fu An defended himself softly. Seeing Ting He still snorted, he wanted to explain further but noticed a guard approaching on a fast horse, dismounting from a distance and signaling to him. He suppressed the words at the tip of his tongue, handed the cloth bag to Ting He, and jogged over, "What’s up?"

The guard was someone close to Fu Tinghan, only listening to the commands of Fu Tinghan and Fu An.

He handed a sealed letter to Fu An, "It’s a letter from your uncle’s family, saying it’s urgent for the gentleman, and you must deliver it immediately."

Fu An took the letter, avoided the others, opened it to read, hesitated for a moment, and quickly stuffed the letter back into the envelope, running up to find Fu Tinghan and Zhao Hanzhang.

Although Zhao Hanzhang was actually the owner of the Gao Hui caravan, Fu An still ran to Fu Tinghan first, leaned in to whisper, "Gentleman, Gao Hui took in the bandits fleeing from Hai’er Ridge."

Fu Tinghan was startled, raised his head, and looked at him with wide eyes, "What did you say?"

Fu An cautiously glanced at Zhao Hanzhang, then showed the letter to Fu Tinghan.

Zhao Hanzhang, who had sharp ears and didn’t intend to eavesdrop but still heard: ...

Fu Tinghan opened the letter to read, speechless for a while, then handed it to Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang reached out to take it, quickly scanned it, and smirked slightly, "Seems Beigong Chun and Second Son’s bandit suppression went smoothly; only over twenty escaped, not bad."

"But the escapees include the bandit leader."

"Didn’t they end up coming to you anyway?" Zhao Hanzhang put away the letter, handed it back to Fu Tinghan, "You go take a look."

"That person is the bandit chief, do you plan to take him in?"

"You can take them in or not. Bring a few more people with you. If you don’t want to keep them, you can execute them on the spot." Zhao Hanzhang said, "Analyze the specific situation specifically."

Fu Tinghan glanced at her. This meant that if they were useful, he could take them in, and for those in the shadows, could he temporarily disregard their past crimes?

But the bandits from Hai’er Ridge had once robbed the caravan, where several guards died. They were people who lived together day and night; would they be willing?

Fu Tinghan full of thoughts, went to see Gao Hui.

The situation was outside Fu Tinghan’s expectations. Upon arrival, the caravan’s guards and bandits were wrestling competitively. Although they were quite fierce, the atmosphere was not as tense as he imagined.

He quietly watched for a while, then only when Gao Hui came up did he turn to leave, going inside to talk.

Qiao Sheng used one hand to lift a guard after pinning him down, shouted, stood up, and asked, "Anyone else?"

Zhao Chang unbuckled his knife and handed it to his men, stepped forward, and said, "I’ll do it!"

Qiao Sheng stepped back, rotated his neck and limbs, but couldn’t help glancing at the spot where Fu Tinghan had stood earlier.

The courtyard wasn’t high, but he could vaguely hear the arrival of carts and many horses outside; he had heard the sound of carts and horses earlier;

Although the person just now wore a woven hat, the posture was upright. Just at a glance, even though the opponent dressed plainly, they had a good jade hanging by the waist.

He immediately knew this group followed commands strictly, formed battle formations familiar to the military during fights, and besides Gao Hui and Sima Hou having some Shu accent, most others had a Central State accent.

He thought at the time that this caravan certainly wasn’t coming from the Shu region, there must be a different master behind them.

Was the person standing there earlier someone from behind Gao Hui?

Could they save him from Zhao Family Army?

Thinking about two years of hard work all being destroyed suddenly, Qiao Sheng was resentful enough to grind his teeth, hitting even harder, Zhao Yong, Zhao Erlang, don’t give him a chance, otherwise...

For Beigong Chun, he respects and fears him, Qiao Sheng dared not resent the man, but the childish and silly Zhao Erlang, who solely relies on his sister to have his current status, Qiao Sheng hated him fiercely, feeling that if it weren’t for him, how would his stronghold get broken?

Qiao Sheng and Zhao Chang had past grudges; now they exchanged blows, hitting each other fiercely, and kicked firmly on each other’s bodies, thus sparking a roaring confrontation, neither giving way, as the bodyguards and bandits watched with eyes shining, cheering loudly from the side, excitedly inciting the atmosphere.

Fu Tinghan retracted his gaze, left the window, walked to the main seat, sat down, and asked, "What’s going on?"

Gao Hui reported softly, today being the Dragon Boat Festival, so he went out to meet guests, mainly aiming to buy some silk and good porcelain to trade in the Northern Land.

Meeting guests, naturally playing to their interests, knowing among them some refined gentry, so they moved to a manor outside the city to enjoy the game of floating drinks along winding waters, drinking wine, and singing and composing poetry.

Little did they know, onto the distant Hai’er Ridge was clearing out bandits?

And then Qiao Sheng led over twenty bandits, fleeing miserably.

Hai’er Ridge was quite far from Xin’an County. It’s empty there; once running that way, Zhao Erlang’s stubborn nature would insist on capturing people and would relentlessly pursue them.

With only two legs, how could they outrun Zhao Erlang, who had a horse?

So they headed towards Luoyang, believing Beigong Chun was a mature general, understanding the pros and cons, prioritizing loot over catching them personally;

Besides, today was the Dragon Boat Festival, with many people in Luoyang; as long as they mingled into the crowd, they’d be safe.

Thus they fled towards Luoyang.

Then they saw many ox carts and horse carriages parked in front of a manor.

Qiao Sheng, filled with a fierce attitude due to being pursued, felt ruthless inwardly and led the group to infiltrate, thinking at worst to kill those inside and then hide in there.

Then he encountered Gao Hui.

Gao Hui didn’t have many guards, but as a ranger by birth, his skills weren’t inferior to Qiao Sheng. When they faced each other, although Qiao Sheng didn’t lose, he didn’t win either.

Then Qiao Sheng decisively decided to join Gao Hui.

Gao Hui was tempted immediately and said, "Sir, Qiao Sheng is bold and fierce, has been a refugee and bandit, understands banditry well, and we need to go beyond Shangdang to reach further north. Such people are indispensable."