Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan supported the coffin as they returned, astonishing the entire civil and military court. They had known Fu Zhi's condition was poor, but had not expected him to collapse on the road back to the capital.
Yet the one who grieved most bitterly over Fu Zhi's death was Xun Zu, who had been relegated to the Imperial College. He could not help bursting into tears before everyone, then cried all the way to the Fu Mansion to offer sacrifice.
He was truly heartsick. With Fu Zhi's death, the only person who might have restrained Zhao Hanzhang was gone.
Xun Zu sat before the spirit altar, weeping bitterly and railing that Heaven had no eyes. The state had only just been pacified, and Fu Zizhuang had great merit for both country and people. "Thieving Heaven, of all the people you could take, why him?"
