Across various places, people are celebrating the New Year. Some celebrate well, while others struggle through hardship and despair. Yet many hold onto hope, wishing to their ancestors tonight for better days next year, hoping for peace and for bountiful harvests of grain;
If none of that is possible, they at least hope to be safely escorted to Yu State, where they've heard its governor is a woman, with a gentle heart and great kindness towards the people, making survival there easier;
Importantly, she is also a formidable fighter, even the Xiongnu are not her match. With her presence, perhaps Yu State will no longer become a battlefield?
Zhao Hanzhang, half-drunk, saw many people slumped over in the hall and stood up to wave them away, "It's late in the night, everyone go home to guard the night with your families. I'm leaving as well."
The county deputy, drunken and dazed, tried to rise to see her off, but Zhao Hanzhang waved him off.
