Although when they overthrew the Jin Dynasty… before the Bai family moved into the imperial palace, they had already investigated all the servants in the palace once, who knew if there might be others hiding even deeper?
A thousand-li embankment often collapses due to ant holes.
Dong Shi intended that since Bai Qingyan was using herself to lure snakes out of their holes this time, making the spies in the capital spring into action, why not take this opportunity to clean out the imperial palace once more!
Dong Shi asked Fifth Madam Qi Shi to oversee matters in the palace, deploying their people in advance. Fifth Madam would casually reveal that Empress Dowager Dong Shi was at the Bai Mansion, but Imperial Physician Huang, who was caring for the Prince and Princess, was not at the Bai Mansion. Because the Great Zhou Emperor, who had given premature birth, had encountered trouble on the road, the Empress Dowager used the little Prince and Princess as an excuse to bring Imperial Physician Huang out of the palace, but actually to cover up having Imperial Physician Huang treat the Great Zhou Emperor.
Since this information came from Fifth Madam Qi Shi’s mouth, its credibility would be very high.
“Nanny Qin, please tell the person Fifth Aunt sent that at this time… if any palace servants send messages to court ministers, detain such persons!” Her voice paused before continuing, “After Mother returns to the palace, deal with them according to palace regulations. This will serve as an open warning to those court ministers who dare plant people in the palace—don’t let their hands reach too far!”
“Yes!” Nanny Qin responded.
“If they dare send messages to merchants, or Yan or Xi Liang, then spare their lives. Use whatever means necessary to interrogate them while alive—we might catch some big fish.” Bai Qingyan thought for a moment and added, “For this matter, have Fifth Aunt ask Minister Lu Jin for help. Minister Lu has excellent methods for interrogating people.”
“Alright! Don’t worry about this matter—leave it to Mother and your Fifth Aunt. Just focus on your confinement!” Dong Shi gently instructed.
Hearing this, Bai Qingyan looked up at her mother with a gentle, warm smile: “Alright…”
When the news that Yan and the Great Zhou armies had fought together and Bai Qingyu had been captured alive was delivered to Yan’s capital by Xi Liang people, Empress Dowager Yan was feeding fish in front of a fish tank. Her expression brightened with joy as she scattered all the fish food in her hands, watching several koi in the tank compete for food with their tails thrashing wildly. She smiled as she took a handkerchief from a maid’s hands and wiped her hands.
When they had initially given information to the Xi Liang people, it was agreed that if Xi Liang captured a younger brother or sister of the Great Zhou Emperor, they would be sent to Yan. Who would have thought that with this one capture… they had caught the Great Zhou Emperor’s blood brother!
Wasn’t it said that this Great Zhou Emperor valued her younger siblings most? If Yan held the Great Zhou Emperor’s blood brother in their grasp, how could they fear that the Great Zhou Emperor wouldn’t submit?
Even if the Great Zhou Emperor didn’t consider her brother’s life, she would surely break with A’Yan. This way… she would never again worry about A’Yan being emotionally attached to that woman and child after the Great Zhou Emperor gave birth.
This incident of A’Yan abandoning Yun Jing to go to Jiangzi City was like a heavy blow to Empress Dowager Yan’s head. Although A’Yan later wrote saying he was willing to follow her arrangements and choose a proper consort after pacifying Xi Liang, she still felt uneasy.
Empress Dowager Yan took a maid’s supporting hand and sat in the main seat. Looking through a screen at the Xi Liang person, she reached for the hot tea a maid handed her and said, “You may all withdraw! Guard outside the door!”
“Yes!”
Soon, Empress Dowager Yan’s maids led the eunuchs and palace maids out of the great hall.
Empress Dowager Yan sipped her hot tea before asking, “Are you escorting that Bai Qingyu to Yan’s capital, or… did you ride swiftly here to bring me this good news first?”
The Xi Liang person still kept his gaze lowered, speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly: “Reporting to Empress Dowager Yan, our Old General Cui intends that Bai Qingyu will remain in Xi Liang’s Yun Jing and need not be sent to Empress Dowager Yan. But… out of courtesy, we still came to inform Empress Dowager Yan!”
Empress Dowager Yan paused in her motion to drink tea, looking up at the Xi Liang person with a murderous gleam in her eyes: “This is quite different from what your Old General Cui initially promised this dowager!”
The Xi Liang person seemed completely unafraid of Empress Dowager Yan: “The intelligence Empress Dowager Yan gave us Xi Liang was that Great Zhou and Yan planned to lure Xi Liang’s main forces to Fuping, where Great Yan would set an ambush, having us lie in wait along the route to eliminate part of Great Zhou’s forces! But in the end, it was Yan who set the ambush at Hebi. If our Old General Cui hadn’t discovered this in time, not only would we have been unable to win this battle, but we also wouldn’t have captured Bai Qingyu! Since the information Empress Dowager Yan provided was incorrect, naturally… we Xi Liang need not hand over Bai Qingyu to Empress Dowager Yan as originally discussed.”
Fuping and Hebi were connected, not separated by tens of thousands of li. What difference was there between setting an ambush at Fuping versus Hebi?
Empress Dowager Yan’s heart pounded, inevitably worrying whether Xiao Rongyan was injured.
“This dowager has also seen your Xi Liang maps—Hebi and Fuping are connected! Moreover… the battle is already over, Xi Liang has won, and with empty words, you claim our Yan’s information was wrong? If the information this dowager gave you was truly off by tens of thousands of li, could you have captured Bai Qingyu?” Empress Dowager Yan set down her teacup heavily with a cold laugh. “If Xi Liang plans to break their word, our Yan is no pushover!”
“Just as Empress Dowager Yan said, the battle is already over. If Empress Dowager Yan doesn’t believe it, she can go to Yan’s Emperor to examine the detailed military reports and see whether Yan’s army set their ambush at Fuping or Hebi. In warfare, when information differs by the slightest margin, the consequences can be vastly different—what’s lost are our Xi Liang people’s lives!” The Xi Liang person looked up at the screen and continued, “Our Emperor and Old General Cui said that this time, the information Empress Dowager Yan provided was off by far more than a slight margin. Perhaps the person who gave you information deceived you, so our Emperor and Old General Cui won’t hold this against Empress Dowager Yan! This subject has delivered the message. If Empress Dowager Yan has no other matters, this subject will return to Xi Liang first.”
Empress Dowager Yan clenched her teeth. This was Xi Liang making excuses for not wanting to hand over the person according to their original agreement. After a long while, she said: “Go back and tell your Xi Liang Emperor and that dog Cui Shanzhong that from now on, there will be no alliance between Yan and Xi Liang. In this battle, we will spare no effort to destroy Xi Liang! Get out!”
The Xi Liang person respectfully bowed and left.
What nonsense about differing by the slightest margin leading to vast consequences! What difference was there between Fuping and Hebi facing the same enemy?
After thinking for a long time, Empress Dowager Yan suddenly felt somewhat afraid…
This time, the strategy discussed between Yan and the Great Zhou failed to severely wound Xi Liang. Instead, it led to the Great Zhou, which was responsible for luring enemy forces into the ambush, only to be ambushed themselves. The Great Zhou would surely realize that Yan had betrayed the Great Zhou. Her original intention was also to have Bai Qingyan learn of this and cut ties with A’Yan completely, but… the prerequisite was that Yan hold the younger brother or sister that the Great Zhou Emperor cared about most, allowing them to control Great Zhou.