After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 661 - 655: Drunken Amnesia

Zhao Hanzhang struggled to sit up on the bed, clutching her dizzy head without speaking. Ting He immediately poured a bowl of water, "Miss, have some water first."

Zhao Hanzhang took it, drank a sip, and asked, "What time is it?"

Only when she spoke did she realize her throat was sore and her voice was a bit hoarse.

Ting He replied, "It’s past Si Zheng."

It’s already past ten o’clock; drinking indeed causes delays, the ancients did not lie to me.

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "How did I get back?"

Ting He said, "Last night, you kept talking to Master Fu. We didn’t dare disturb you. You fell asleep with him late at night, and he brought you back."

Zhao Hanzhang held her head in silence. She remembered she got drunk last night and for some reason went to talk to Fu Tinghan, babbling about many things. Her memory was blurry; the clearest moment was Fu Tinghan looking at her with a gentle smile and saying, "Alright, I’ll help you!"

But help her with what?

Zhao Hanzhang tapped her head, a little unable to recall, with only Fu Tinghan’s smiling face left in her mind.

She hesitated briefly and finally decided not to think about it since she couldn’t remember. She lifted the blanket and got out of bed, "Where is Mr. Ming?"

"Mr. Ji took him out."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, "I couldn’t do it yesterday. Let the soldiers meet Mr. Ming today. Go find Fan Ying and have her summon Beigong Chun and others to see me in the evening."

"Yes."

"By the way, where is Ting Han? He also needs to meet Mr. Ming."

"Yes." Ting He responded to each instruction and withdrew.

Fu Tinghan guessed they wanted to formally meet Ming Yu, so he didn’t go out.

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, he couldn’t help but think of how she clung to his sleeve last night, talking about conquering the world. He smiled and handed her a form from the case.

Zhao Hanzhang took it and asked casually, "What’s this?"

"Didn’t you say the weather has been unpredictable for the past few years and might cause a severe drought? This is my proposal to build a dam around Luoyang and Yu State. If it does get dry, we can divert water for irrigation."

Zhao Hanzhang looked at the plan on the form and sighed, "It’s a good idea, but conscripting labor at this time might make life difficult for the people. They have just settled down and haven’t yet recovered."

Fu Tinghan said, "If it’s not difficult now, it will be even more difficult when disaster strikes. Since they haven’t recovered, there’s no need to let up. Once you relax the tense strings, they can never be tightened again."

Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyebrows at him, surprised by his sudden assertiveness, "You are usually gentle, why suddenly?"

Fu Tinghan looked up at her, puzzled, "Didn’t you say you aspired for the world? To cover such a large territory, you need a lot of resources, so you must start preparing now."

Zhao Hanzhang: !!!

She looked at him in shock, pointing at her nose, "Did I say that?"

Fu Tinghan carefully observed her to confirm she truly didn’t remember, then slowly nodded, "You said you wanted not only Si Province and Yu State but the entire world."

Zhao Hanzhang was dumbfounded. Gosh, did she have such great ambition?

She thought about it, and surprisingly, she wasn’t surprised. In fact, conquering the world seemed nice; otherwise, if left to develop, it would be chaotic for another two hundred years.

Zhao Hanzhang quickly embraced her brazen words, lowered her head to look at the plan again, and pondered, "This won’t be easy; we need to recruit talents skilled in water conservancy."

Fu Tinghan also nodded, "That’s what I think too. How big the dam should be, how to arrange the watercourses, all need to be decided after on-site surveys and during construction, they need guidance."

Such knowledge is not accessible to commoners, and even among poor scholars, few have it. It’s still necessary to seek people from prominent families proficient in hydraulic engineering.

Zhao Hanzhang once again envied Zhang Xie and Xiahou Yan, who were reclusive in the mountains. She paced back and forth, looked at the form, and finally gritted her teeth, "I’ll go again, and if I still can’t invite them, I won’t go anymore."

Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but laugh; she said the same when returning from the mountains last time, claiming she wouldn’t force anyone again.

After thinking it over, Fu Tinghan said, "I’ll go with you."

Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes brightened, nodding repeatedly.

Zhao Hanzhang asked Ting He to prepare some snacks, meat, and wine, and immediately set out to climb the mountain.

Before entering the mountain, she called to Zeng Yue and others following her, "You wait at the foot of the mountain; Tinghan and I will go up."

Zeng Yue was unwilling, "What if the miss encounters danger?"

Zhao Hanzhang took her sword in hand, unconcerned, "This is Luoyang, and a place where scholars live in seclusion, what danger could there be? As long as there aren’t any ambushes from outside enemies, I don’t worry about small threats."

Zhao Hanzhang was careful with her life, and the reason she didn’t let Zeng Yue and the others follow was that last time when she brought guards, the two scholars didn’t seem happy.

Since she was inviting them to work out of seclusion, she needed to cater to their preferences and consider their feelings.

Ting He and Fu An immediately stepped forward and stayed close, so Zhao Hanzhang didn’t oppose their following and let them carry the supplies.

Zhang Xie and Xiahou Yan lived secluded in the mountains, requiring a bit of a climb to reach a flat area. Zhang Xie had his household build a thatched hut and pavilion, and opened two plots of land, one for vegetables and one for grains.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know if they genuinely enjoyed working the field themselves, but the land was indeed full of vegetables and grains.

The mountain’s low temperature meant that sowing and harvesting had to be done later. When Zhao Hanzhang arrived, the grains in the field had just ripened. Xiahou Yan and Zhang Xie were rolling up their trousers and harvesting, and upon hearing a commotion, thought it was a returning servant from shopping. They casually glanced up.

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, the two were slightly surprised but only fleetingly so.

Zhao Hanzhang coming again was unexpected but also understandable. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Frankly, both of them felt a little joy.

They had always been paying attention to the situation in Luoyang and didn’t expect it to recover so quickly. Zhao Hanzhang had done so well.

Being favored by a capable Inspector and invited multiple times made them feel a certain happiness, as it meant their character and talent were recognized.

Seeing them, Zhao Hanzhang immediately put on a broad smile and called out loudly, "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Xiahou, I’ve come to see you."

She waved the wine jars in her hand and smiled, "I brought two vats of wine."

Xiahou Yan and Zhang Xie couldn’t help but smile too. Their gaze drifted past Zhao Hanzhang to Fu Tinghan and then behind the two, seeing they only brought a maid and a servant up the mountain without any guards, their smiles deepened, "Why has Lord Zhao come to our humble abode?"

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, "To invite you to leave the mountain."

Neither had expected Zhao Hanzhang to be so direct. They raised eyebrows slightly and replied, "We have already refused you."

"That’s why I came to talk," Zhao Hanzhang smiled, "If you two are willing to come down with me, naturally that’s great. But even if not, talking makes me feel better."