CHAPTER 473: CHAPTER 467: I WANT TO TAKE THE SURNAME ZHAO

Zhao Hanzhang’s departure was quite noticeable, but because she hadn’t informed anyone in advance, it was the people selling bean sprouts in the city from Yushan Hall who heard about it first. They rushed back to Yushan Hall, and only then did everyone there become aware that Zhao Hanzhang was leaving.

"Official Zhao is leaving, and we don’t have much to offer, so we can only escort her for part of the way. I want to go send her off; who will come with me?"

"I’ll go!"

"I’ll go too!"

By the time Ping Xun received the news and arrived, quite a few people had already gathered at Yushan Hall, including those who were working in the fields.

He was somewhat anxious, wiping the cold sweat from his brow, and asked, "What are you all doing?"

"We are going to send off Official Zhao!"

"Yes, to send off Official Zhao!"

Ping Xun: "Oh dear, the lady is not leaving through this city gate. Look at the time, even if they take a while to exchange farewells, by the time we arrive, she will have already gone."

A teenage boy immediately exclaimed, "I know a path that can quickly reach the East City Gate. Once we cross the hillside, it’s at the Ten-mile Pavilion outside the eastern suburbs. Since the official is leaving from the East City Gate, she will definitely pass by there. If we hurry, we can catch up and send her off."

Ping Xun: "Zhao Yi, are you sure? Where is such a path? Why do I not know of it?"

"I’m sure. When we go up the mountain to collect firewood, we pass through that mountain. The foot of the mountain is right at the Ten-mile Pavilion in the eastern suburbs. We followed that path back to the East City Gate. It’s definitely not wrong."

When Ping Xun heard this, seeing them all looking eagerly at him, he thought for a moment and agreed, "Well then, let’s go send the lady off."

Everyone cheered, and immediately ran out, young and old alike.

Yushan Hall was outside the city, a distance from the city gate. Running along the path Zhao Yi mentioned, one could see two low hills connected together.

Many trees had been cut down on the mountain, and there was a path trodden by them during this period. Everyone followed the path up the mountain, crossed to the opposite hill, reached the top, and then began to run downhill. Upon reaching midway, someone pointed to the official road below and shouted, "It’s the official!"

Everyone immediately lowered their heads to look and saw not far away a troop of soldiers riding on the official road. Among them, someone was carrying a banner, bearing the familiar "Zhao" character, leading was Zhao Hanzhang.

Immediately, someone fell to the ground with a thud, yelling toward Zhao Hanzhang, who was already riding fast to the foot of the mountain, "Yushan Hall’s Zhao Zhong sends off the official, wishing her a smooth journey, peace and health!"

Out of breath from running, Ping Xun finally reacted and quickly stepped forward, finding a position at the bottom of the mountain where he could see, leading everyone to kneel, "Yushan Hall’s Ping Xun leads the people of Yushan Hall to bid farewell to the official, wishing her peace and prosperity!"

Everyone followed suit, kneeling down and shouting, "Wishing the official peace and prosperity!"

As Zhao Hanzhang rode past the Ten-mile Pavilion at full speed, she heard the shouts from the mountain. She slowed her horse but did not stop, merely raised her head to glance at the mountain, seeing quite a few people kneeling sparsely on the hillside, all bowing towards her.

Zhao Hanzhang then raised her hand to wave at them, kicked the horse’s belly, and led her people over the mountain.

The people on the mountain knelt for a long time. When all the hoofbeats faded away, they finally rose and together watched the gradually disappearing troops. Zhao Yi, with tears in his eyes, said, "I wonder if we will ever see the official again?"

Ping Xun then reached out and patted the boy’s head, "Study hard and learn well. When you grow up, you can serve the official. You will surely have the opportunity to see her again."

Zhao Yi nodded vigorously.

An elderly man beside them, eyes red, said, "Ping, I also want to follow the lady’s surname. I’ve decided, I’ll be named Zhao Zhong!"

Ping Xun: "...Old Man Gan, you must be joking. The children follow the official’s surname, Zhao, because most of them don’t remember their own surnames or have given names. But you, at your age..."

"What does age matter? Does being older mean I can’t follow the lady?" he said. "Look at Zhao Yi, isn’t he aware of his own surname and name at eleven years old? If he can follow the lady’s surname Zhao, why can’t I?"

"I want to be called Zhao!"

"Then I want to change mine too, I want to be called Zhao!"

"Me too, me too."

When Ping Xun heard their voices, his head nearly grew big. There were too many people with the surname Zhao in Yushan Hall now, and they liked taking single-character names, mostly loyalty, honesty, or righteousness, which meant there were too many people with identical names and surnames in Yushan Hall. He now had to rely on age, the courtyard, and house numbers to call people.

Ping Xun quickly raised his hand to quiet the crowd, "Enough, enough. You shouldn’t just focus on the surname. Those who still remember their original surname should keep it. I remember the lady once gave a few names for the people in Yushan Hall."

Their eyes lit up immediately, and they asked, "What names did she give?"

"Peace, tranquility..." Ping Xun counted on his fingers, making them up just to offer them more options.

He’d rather they have identical names, than identical names and surnames.

Being called Zhao, in Yushan Hall, when he called out Zhao Yi, ten people could turn their heads. Except for his heart, probably only the heavens would know whom he was calling.

"Let’s go, let’s go back to Yushan Hall. Once we’re back, I’ll slowly talk to you. If you work hard and achieve something, I can even write to the official, asking her to give you a few names."

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know that Ping Xun had taken on such a task for her. The tears in her eyes were blown dry by the wind, and by noon, her expression was already calm. "We’ll pass through Xiping back to Chen County and take the opportunity to visit Uncle Ming."

Fu Tinghan acknowledged and asked, "Should we tell him about the gunpowder?"

"Of course," Zhao Hanzhang said, "Now or later, when we need to use gunpowder for quarrying, he’ll know."

"Should we leave a recipe in Xiping?"

Zhao Hanzhang directly shook her head, "No, gunpowder doesn’t pass through the hands of the Zhao Family. It’s only controlled by us."

However, they merely mentioned it and did not demonstrate gunpowder in front of Zhao Ming, so Zhao Ming only knew they made something called a "gunpowder tube" that could assist in quarrying, but he didn’t know how powerful it was.

By the time he realized, Zhao Hanzhang was already gone from Xiping.

But he was not concerned with this mentioned-in-passing gunpowder tube; he was concerned about another matter, "For the Qingming ancestor worship, Zhao Ji is returning with Daliang."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang asked in surprise, "Can they leave the city now?"

Zhao Ming nodded.

Zhao Hanzhang lightly tapped her fingers on the table, "Looks like Gou Xi’s troops have cleared out. It’s true, it’s springtime, and everyone needs to farm. He certainly can’t delay the farming season."

Zhao Ming raised his eyelids to glance at her, seeing she was not at all concerned about Zhao Ji’s return for the ancestral worship. He voluntarily said, "The clan leader’s health is failing. Over the new year, he became seriously ill, and Zhao Ji is likely returning to discuss the clan leadership with the elderly clan members, hoping to decide this matter early."

Zhao Hanzhang did not care about this. She raised her eyelids to look at Zhao Ming, "Will the clan elders agree to Zhao Ji becoming the clan leader?"