Speaking thus, she found a piece of parchment, lifted her brush to dip it in ink, lowered her gaze to think for a moment, then began writing a letter to Xiao Rongyan.
After finishing, Bai Qingyan placed the letter in a message tube, sealed it with wax, and handed it to Zhao Ran.
Zhao Ran received the message tube with both hands and hurried away, fearing that any urgent matter in the letter Bai Qingyan held might be delayed.
Seeing Zhao Ran leave, Bai Qingyan hung the brush back on its stand. Her heart harbored a vague unease. After sitting quietly for a while, she wrote this time’s military situation report and sent someone to deliver it to the capital.
On the same day, Bai Qingyan’s report of taking Jiangdu on the twentieth of last month finally reached the Crown Prince’s desk.
Learning that Princess Zhenguo had already captured Datong, the Crown Prince was overjoyed: “Princess Zhenguo took Yingdu on the twelfth of the first month and Datong on the twentieth of the second month. Counting the days… she may have already taken Jiangdu.”
The Crown Prince’s calculation was correct. News of Bai Qingyan taking Jiangdu on the nineteenth of the third month was on its way to the capital, while today’s news of taking Yangjiang had just been sent from Bai Qingyan’s command tent.
Hearing this, Old Fang inevitably felt alert.
“Your Highness, wasn’t Princess Zhenguo’s health already failing? How can she be so fierce… advancing at the speed of taking one city per month? Great Liang deployed famous generals!” Old Fang blurted out these words, then, seeing the Crown Prince’s displeased expression, he hastily said against his true feelings, “This old man is just worried that Princess Zhenguo is forcing herself.”
The Crown Prince nodded, recalling Zhang Duanning’s report of what the imperial physician had said. Amid his joy, he felt some guilt: “I… rather regret what I said to Princess Zhenguo back then about my ambitions for the realm. If not for that, Princess Zhenguo wouldn’t need to work so desperately hard and would surely rest well in Shuoyang.”
Quan Yu glanced sideways at Old Fang. Hearing the Crown Prince speak thus, he remained silent.
Qin Shangzhi had gone to repair canals, so now the Crown Prince’s advisors consisted only of Ren Shijie and Old Fang. The two emerged together from the Crown Prince’s study. Old Fang walked with his hands tucked in his sleeves, stepping into the harsh sunlight reflecting off the long corridor while walking forward in deep thought. After a long while, he said, “I always feel there’s something strange about Princess Zhenguo’s physical condition!”
Ren Shijie walked alongside Old Fang with his hands behind his back, agreeing: “Yes, this fierce city-capturing pace far exceeds General Liu Hong’s! But Princess Zhenguo’s physical condition… the imperial physician examined her. Surely the imperial physician couldn’t be wrong?”
“Don’t forget that Princess Zhenguo has beside her a Physician Hong whose medical skills are exquisite and exceptional—even Imperial Physician Huang from the Imperial Medical Academy cannot match him!” Old Fang squinted. “If this Physician Hong manipulated something about Princess Zhenguo’s pulse, who knows!”
“Though Old Fang’s suspicions are reasonable, Princess Zhenguo did risk her life to save His Highness the Crown Prince!” Ren Shijie smiled. “Perhaps Princess Zhenguo’s health is failing, but she’s forcing herself due to her complete loyalty to His Highness!”
“Speaking of Princess Zhenguo risking her life to save His Highness, I increasingly suspect that was just a setup! Moreover, loyalty alone couldn’t help Princess Zhenguo be so fierce, taking so many of Great Liang’s cities at such a rapid speed. You must know… Princess Zhenguo leads former surrendered soldiers from both kingdoms, and the Liang Kingdom deployed heavy troops against Princess Zhenguo!”
Old Fang’s steps were slow as he gazed down at the corridor’s eave shadows on the ground. Suddenly, his steps halted: “The Jin soldiers beside Princess Zhenguo are only those ragtag troops she brought from Shuoyang to Great Liang!”
“Has Old Fang thought of something?” Ren Shijie, seeing Old Fang’s grave expression, asked obligingly.
“Princess Zhenguo brought only that ragtag crowd from Shuoyang, yet dared directly use over a hundred thousand Great Liang surrendered soldiers. It seems these Shuoyang bandit-suppressing troops… must have something peculiar! Otherwise… wouldn’t Princess Zhenguo fear being devoured by these hundred thousand Great Liang surrendered soldiers? How could she lead surrendered soldiers to such unstoppable victories? It must be… these surrendered soldiers fear Princess Zhenguo! No… not fear Princess Zhenguo, but fear the soldiers beside Princess Zhenguo! That’s why they don’t dare rebel easily! Otherwise, how would Liang Kingdom’s surrendered soldiers be so obedient?”
The more Old Fang spoke, the more certain he became of his thoughts. He wanted to turn back to the study to find the Crown Prince and inform him of this matter, but feared the Crown Prince would think he was still sowing discord.
“Even if this is so, we have no concrete evidence. His Highness probably wouldn’t believe it!” Ren Shijie said.
“Exactly!” Old Fang clenched his teeth. One life-saving favor had made the Crown Prince completely side with Bai Qingyan. How detestable!
After a long while, Old Fang made up his mind and turned to look at Ren Shijie: “I plan to depart for Shuoyang today. The round trip will take about ten days. During this time, I’ll trouble you to accompany His Highness!”
“Old Fang?!” Ren Shijie was quite surprised. “You’re going to Shuoyang to investigate those troops gathered from bandit suppression in Shuoyang?”
Old Fang nodded: “Originally, I wanted you to make the trip, but I feared you might not notice things that should be observed. It’s better if I go personally! Help me cover for me before His Highness—don’t let His Highness know I went to Shuoyang!”
Ren Shijie nodded and bowed to Old Fang: “Old Fang, rest assured. I will certainly find ways to conceal this until Old Fang returns.”
News of Princess Zhenguo having captured Great Liang’s Datong and approaching the Liang Kingdom’s capital reached the capital, and the common people cheered with delight. Originally, the Jin Kingdom had merely asked Great Liang to hand over the cities they had promised to cede, but Great Liang refused. Now look… beaten so badly, what was the point!
The common people were happy, but some in the capital could no longer sit still. On the night the news returned, Li Mingrui donned a black cloak under the cover of darkness and, disregarding the risk, rode alone to the front gate of Prince Liang’s mansion.
Li Mingrui looked left and right, seeing no one. Just as he was about to knock on Prince Liang’s side gate, his raised wrist was suddenly grasped firmly.
Li Mingrui turned his head and saw Shen Baizhong, with his full head of silver hair and black robes. His eyes showed surprise and delight as he quickly looked around again and lowered his voice: “Old sir?! Didn’t you already leave the capital? Why have you returned?”
Shen Baizhong didn’t speak. He looked around warily, pulled Li Mingrui to hide behind a nearby tree, and said: “Young master, Prince Liang… it would be better if the young master had less contact with him.”
“Old sir… please don’t concern yourself with my affairs anymore in the future. Leave the capital quickly—the capital is about to descend into chaos!” Li Mingrui removed the hood from his head and lowered his voice to speak with Shen Baizhong. “Was the silver I gave you last time insufficient?”
Li Mingrui hurriedly pulled out bank notes from his sleeve and pressed them into Shen Baizhong’s palm: “This is all I have with me, but it should be enough for you to live for a while. Once the capital’s situation stabilizes, I will certainly find a way to bring you back!”
If someone like Li Mingrui still harbored a trace of goodness in his heart, then his last bit of kindness was given to the old sir. This was perhaps related to the old sir being his life-saving benefactor, or perhaps… because the old sir had filled the paternal care he had once lacked.