Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 506 Extra Chapter: Zhao Qi (Part Two)
When someone sent a handsome young man to the prefect of Zhao, the prefect accepted them all without exception.

However, only a few truly caught the eye of Prefect Zhao. Aside from the three initially recruited, two more were added later. All the remaining youths were assigned jobs, returning to their old professions of raising horses, cattle, and sheep.

People love gossip, especially when the other party is a woman—the governor of Hanyang—who has taken in young men from nomadic tribes. It's sure to generate a lot of buzz. After the hard work of building the city walls is done, a few words of gossip are a real treat.

Some Han Chinese men even looked on with envy and thought of offering themselves as concubines, hoping to enjoy a life of luxury... Prefect Zhao was only in her twenties, slender and beautiful, with fair skin and a lovely appearance. Even without a formal title, being taken into her bedchamber would be a wonderful thing.

As a result, when Prefect Zhao was on his inspection tour, men frequently stared at him, trying to get closer.

Prefect Zhao ignored them completely. Occasionally, a bold man would approach, and he would order his guards to beat him and drive him away. After several such incidents, no one dared to come near anymore.

“Those people don’t even look in the mirror and see what they look like,” Prefect Zhao said after finishing his official report to the emperor, his eyes full of disdain. “They are thin and ugly, and old too. They are over twenty years old, yet they still have the nerve to flirt with me.”

Pei Qinghe chuckled, amused: "As long as you can control yourself."

The word "control" is quite apt.

Zhao Qi laughed and said frankly, "I did this for two reasons. First, to relieve some of the boredom in my life. Second, to completely sever the hopes of my maternal and paternal families. They see me rising rapidly in my career and are eager to climb over to me, skin me alive, and use me as nourishment for their families."

“I don’t want to. My family forced me to marry their memorial tablet and live a life of widowhood, which is already a way of repaying them for raising me. My husband’s family treats me harshly and has no kindness to speak of. I ran away from home to take the imperial examination, passed it, and gained the emperor’s favor and important position, and worked my way up to where I am today. Why should they now jump out and demand that I give them everything I have?”

“Not only will I take a young boy as my concubine, but I will also have a child to inherit all my family property. This child, regardless of gender, will not take my surname Zhao, so that the Zhao family will not shamelessly try to attach themselves to me.”

Zhao Qi looked at Pei Qinghe with bright eyes and pleaded, "I beg Your Majesty to grant my child the surname Pei. When the child grows up, he will also be a Pei youth and will have no connection with the Zhao family."

Pei Qinghe thought about it and agreed.

When Pei Family Village was first established, in order to unite the people and strengthen the Pei clan, a rule was set forth that all children born in Pei Family Village could bear the surname Pei. Later, as the population of Pei Family Village grew and the Pei family army became more powerful, the number of children with the surname Pei became countless. The true direct descendants of the Pei clan only made up a small portion.

Even now, many women in Peijia Village who have given birth are giving their children the surname Pei. It's fine if Zhao Qi has children in the future and wants them to be surnamed Pei.

"Have you chosen the father of the child?" Pei Qinghe asked casually with a smile. "The one with the blue eyes?"

Zhao Qi laughed: "I am still young and should focus on my duties. Now is not the time to have children. We can consider this matter after the city of Han is built and everything is in order."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, I will never let personal matters affect official business. Even if I need to find a man to have a child in the future, I will handle it properly."

The last sentence was quite meaningful.

Pei Qinghe glanced at the ambitious Prefect Zhao and smiled slightly.

Women can also be devoted to official careers, pursue high positions and generous salaries, and can also give birth to and raise children on their own, without letting the child's biological father leech off them.

Prefect Zhao is calm and clear-headed, which is excellent.

...It was three months later when the story of Prefect Zhao's romantic escapades reached the south.

It was the ninth year of the Zhao Yuan era, and the summer cicadas were chirping, disturbing everyone's peace of mind. The head of the Zhao family, his face flushed with rage, slammed the letter on the table and cursed, "You worthless wretch! She's a daughter of the Zhao family, and now she wants to abandon her lineage and disown her family?!"

"They've even started supporting a bunch of roughnecks from the grasslands. It's utterly indecent and a disgrace!"

Zhao Qi's biological parents were also severely reprimanded and ordered by the head of the family to immediately write a letter to their daughter. If they really needed a man, they could properly find a son-in-law to live with them; all those handsome young men from the grasslands could be sent back. Since she was focused on becoming the governor of Hancheng and a high-ranking official, she shouldn't waste time getting pregnant and having children. The Zhao family had plenty of intelligent children; Zhao Qi could choose any boy or girl she wanted, and she wouldn't have to worry about raising them. The Zhao family would simply place the child in her name, raise them until they were about ten years old, and then send them to Hancheng.

Zhao Qi's husband's family, the Yuan family, was also a prominent clan in Jiangnan. With such a renowned daughter-in-law, the Yuan family had long become a laughing stock.

As Zhao Qi rose through the ranks and his future seemed limitless, the slaps he delivered to Yuan Shi's face grew ever louder.

Compared to Zhao's assertiveness, Yuan was much weaker towards her daughter-in-law Zhao Qi, who had run away to Hancheng. After learning about Zhao Qi's actions in Hancheng, Yuan actually chose the most handsome young man in the clan, who was no more than twenty years old, and sent him directly to Hancheng.

Jiangnan is far from Seoul, and a round trip takes several months.

When winter came, Zhao Qi finally wrote a reply to her parents. The letter was straightforward, telling them not to have any further thoughts and that she had severed ties with the Zhao family.

As for the handsome young man sent by the Yuan family, he was also sent back, along with Prefect Zhao's warning. The next one would be sent straight to the grasslands to be eaten by wolves.

Another year passed. In the spring of the tenth year of Zhaoyuan, after hundreds of craftsmen and more than 10,000 laborers worked day and night, the walls of Hancheng were completed, and the houses inside the city were under construction. From a distance, the eight-foot-high walls stretched endlessly.

On the flat and vast grassland, such a huge and fortified city has emerged, which is awe-inspiring and has a huge and far-reaching impact.

Han Chinese and nomadic herders from the grasslands continued to gather, numbering over 100,000. They were gradually relocated into the city. Since their houses were not yet built, they could set up tents to stay in the city. With city walls, gates, and guards, they were protected from wild animals and bandits, which provided them with a strong sense of security.

Emperor Zhaoyuan personally presided over the first trade fair. The massive amount of trade lasted for half a month before it ended.

In May, Emperor Zhaoyuan finally led his troops back to Yan County.

Zhao Qi led the civil officials, while He Mu led the military generals, to see the emperor off.

Pei Qinghe first instructed Hemu: "Defend Hancheng. If any tribe dares to challenge you, you can send troops first and then report back to me."

Hemu bowed in response.

Pei Qinghe then looked at Zhao Qi: "Prefect Zhao, I am giving you ten years. I hope you can govern Hancheng well and win the hearts of the grassland tribes."

Zhao Qi bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty, I will certainly live up to your expectations!"

(End of this chapter)