He thoughtfully fingered the archer’s ring on his hand. After a moment, with a click, he twisted the ring off his finger and set it on the table, instructing with neither pain nor irritation: “Fetch Second Master Fan.”
Immediately someone acknowledged and headed out with utmost speed. Before long they returned, this time with some panic in their expression: “Word came from over there that Second Master Fan has disappeared…”
When Han Zhengqing withdrew from Datong, he had left Second Master Fan in Datong precisely so that Second Master Fan could maintain contact with the Tartars at the appropriate time—Second Master Fan had been doing business beyond the passes for so many years and had cultivated an excellent relationship with Tartar Grand Master Yecha’s faction. Having him help relay messages was the most suitable arrangement.
This time, the news that Yecha wanted to change routes and come to Jingzhou had also been relayed back by Second Master Fan.
Hearing that Second Master Fan had disappeared, and then connecting this with Suzhou City on the route Yecha must take to Jingzhou being breached, the smile on Han Zhengqing’s face grew even richer. Second Master Fan had grown capable, hadn’t he…
He gave a cold laugh: “Find him!” he said. The ambiguous smile-not-smile on his face finally vanished, replaced with absolute severity: “Once you find him, execute him on the spot!”
He was extremely irritated here, and after receiving the messenger sent by Prince Gong, he became even more irritated. The smile-not-smile expression on his face never appeared again. His gaze darkened as he stared at the letter for a long while, until the entire room seemed to become a graveyard where a dropped pin could be heard. Only after some time did a cold laugh escape his throat: “Useless!”
As he spoke, he stood up and suddenly kicked over the small table before him. The table rolled around in a circle before stopping. Only then did he summon the messenger sent by Prince Gong, staring intently into his eyes: “What happened? You people over there couldn’t even keep a secret secure?!”
He had painstakingly sent Han Yang over to deliver messages, practically teaching Prince Gong by hand how to handle things, yet this fool had still left openings for others to exploit, creating such a glaring oversight that threw all their plans into disarray!
The Xie Siyi that Prince Gong had planted beside the Empress was the most suitable candidate. Originally, if she were to poison Empress Lu, it would be effortless, but an accident had occurred.
That fool Prince Gong couldn’t even keep watch over his own people and even produced a mole!
His complexion was exceptionally poor, his face alternating between green and white. After a long while, he ground out through clenched teeth: “How was the person caught?!”
When this Marquis of Jinxiang grew angry, he was far more frightening than their own prince. The messenger snapped out of his terror and, seeing Han Zhengqing staring unblinkingly at him, his legs went weak and he nearly knelt. After a long pause, he stammered out an answer: “It was Chief Administrator Ling… The prince had always treated him extremely well—no one expected he would be the one to leak information…” He rambled on at length without saying anything of substance. After being rebuked again by Han Zhengqing, he gave a start and hurriedly added: “He—he colluded with Marquis Dingyuan. He passed messages to Marquis Dingyuan, and Marquis Dingyuan helped him. If Huang Yiqing hadn’t broken through Wu’an and the defending general of Wu’an hadn’t sent back word that there might be a mole who leaked strategic deployments in advance, the prince wouldn’t have been able to catch Chief Administrator Ling…”
Han Zhengqing sat back down in his seat. Things had already reached this point—getting angry was useless. No matter how foolish Prince Gong was, he was the one Han Zhengqing had chosen. Having come this far, it was too late for regrets.
He thought for a moment and asked again: “Have they extracted Marquis Dingyuan’s whereabouts?”
Marquis Dingyuan… Lu Ran. Thinking of these two people, his mood worsened further, and he grew extremely restless. These two were disasters. They had fled to Taiyuan and still managed to collude with the prince’s mansion’s chief administrator to obtain strategic deployment maps. As long as these two were wandering about freely, he felt deeply unsettled.
The messenger’s tongue finally loosened up, and his words flowed much more smoothly: “When this humble one left, they were still interrogating him. The task was handed over to Young Master Han…” He lifted his head to glance at Han Zhengqing’s expression and ventured tentatively: “Also, regarding the Weihai Guard matter, the prince also plans to hand it over to Young Master Han to handle. Young Master Han will probably first extract information about Chief Administrator Ling’s affairs, then go to Weihai Guard.”
Han Zhengqing’s complexion improved somewhat. Though Prince Gong was rather foolish, he at least knew to show him goodwill. Fine, other matters could be discussed later. His expression softened, and naturally his tone became much gentler: “If that’s the case, take a message back to the prince for me. Tell him not to worry—if this plan fails, I have other methods here. Let him just sit and wait for news.”
The messenger felt his heart finally settle back into his belly. He cheerfully acknowledged and asked again: “Then—then about the Tartar Grand Master?”
On his way here, he had already heard about Tartar Grand Master Yecha being trapped in Qingzhou City and was extremely anxious.
Han Zhengqing snorted. Seeing the messenger lower his head in trepidation, he smiled again: “You tell the prince to rest assured. One Cui Shaoting is not our match.”
Having said this, he saw the messenger hastily agree, then gave an additional instruction: “Also, when you return, tell Han Yang on my behalf to serve the prince well and help resolve his worries.”
After the messenger went down to rest, Han Zhengqing drank a sip of tea handed up by his trusted aide, somewhat dissatisfied: “Han Yu has always been far more sensible and reliable than Han Yang, but this time, for some reason, there’s been no word from his side at all. Instead, it’s Han Yang who’s handled this matter quite beautifully.” He even knew to seek assignments before Prince Gong and was doing quite well.
The aide was also somewhat worried: “This probably can’t be blamed on the young master. Over in Hubei… that fox Cui Yingshu is there, and I heard even Jiang Tianping has been escorted to the capital…”
Speaking of this, one had to mention Prince Dongping. The aide looked at Han Zhengqing’s suddenly changed expression and sighed: “My lord, this prince has probably made up his mind not to acknowledge you…”
Before the words finished falling, the cup in Han Zhengqing’s hand shattered with a clang—he had crushed it with his bare hands.
“Not acknowledge me?” He gave a cold laugh, his gaze icy, like a venomous snake that had already raised its head, poised to strike: “He won’t acknowledge me because he looks down on his biological father as not being as high-ranking and powerful as that consumptive ghost of a father?”
The aide lowered his head and sighed.
Han Zhengqing gave a sharp laugh, his tone full of infinite mockery: “What of it?! Sooner or later I’ll make him see clearly that his biological father is far superior to that consumptive ghost of a father. When that consumptive ghost is kneeling before me, he’ll know that I, his biological father, am the one truly worthy of being his father…”
He paused, then added: “Has word been sent to the capital? Tell them to protect him well and not let anything happen to him.”
The aide looked at him, wanting to speak but hesitating.
This Prince Dongping was currently living in the Eastern Palace—what could happen to him? Moreover, since Prince Dongping dared to return to the capital, he must have already secretly dealt with Han Cheng and secured this secret.
Having had his own brother killed, yet still being able to protect this son like his own eyeball—the aide’s heart was a jumble of mixed feelings.