Though Sun Ergou valued loyalty and righteousness, he was also an absolute ruthless character. When it came to being ruthless, not a single person among this group was his match. The mere fact that he went from being in Yangquan to becoming a pirate in Fujian and making his way up until now, managing to distinguish himself beside Wang Lun and Han Zhi, was very telling indeed.
Song Jue then took out the reply letter Sun Ergou had given and handed it to her. He himself walked a distance with his hands clasped behind his back before leisurely turning back to look at Song Chuyi. “Isn’t this a bit too far-fetched? Even if Han Zhi had heaven-reaching abilities, he still can’t do anything to Han Zhengqing.”
After all, one was in the south and one in the north, and moreover, in the eyes of the world, Han Zhi was already a dead man.
“When someone hates another person to the extreme, they’ll find a way even if there is no way.” Song Chuyi quickened her steps to catch up with Song Jue, tilting her head with a somewhat pleased mood. “This is something you don’t understand.”
When a person’s obsession runs too deep, they can even return to the past—what couldn’t they accomplish? Han Zhi’s kind of obsession ran far deeper than ordinary people’s.
Song Jue touched her head with some amusement. “Every time you speak to me so seriously, I feel like your intelligence wasn’t just taught well by Grandfather and Grandmother, but rather as if you’ve already experienced many things originally.”
She had indeed already experienced them. Song Chuyi only smiled without speaking and went together with Song Jue to the front courtyard study.
Zhou Weizhao had just finished discussing matters and was coming out. Qingfeng followed behind him. Seeing Song Chuyi, his face broke into a beaming smile. “Little lass, I heard that chess piece you planted in Fujian is quite formidable. Wang Lun has gained another sworn son now.”
Sun Ergou had already mentioned this matter in his letter, saying that because he had risked his life to block a knife for Wang Lun during the internal strife among Wang Lun’s sworn sons, Wang Lun had accepted him as a sworn son. Speaking of which, that Wang Lun would be affected by the internal strife among his sworn sons was no small credit to Sun Ergou’s skill at sowing discord. Now he had practically surpassed them all from behind, becoming one of the people Wang Lun trusted most.
“He’s a master at scheming. No wonder you absolutely had to choose him to go.” Qingfeng made his judgment. “Quite good. Guo Yantang said that thanks to him, they’ve caught quite a few pirates. Three of Wang Lun’s sworn sons were also captured alive. Now Guo Yantang is about to be promoted again.”
Song Chuyi wasn’t particularly concerned about this. Instead, she asked Qingfeng, “I heard Fujian has been very peaceful recently?”
“It is indeed quite peaceful, if it keeps going on like this.” Qingfeng was hinting at something. “Sun Ergou told you everything, didn’t he?” He glanced at the letter in Song Chuyi’s hand—this letter was one he had personally brought back. “Recently, within Japan itself, it hasn’t been very peaceful either. The feudal lords are fighting fiercely among themselves. Several daimyo are separately buying weapons from Wang Lun. According to the information Guo Yantang gathered, the daimyo whom the Ninth Princess married was killed.”
So recently, the Japanese pirates had been coming out in small groups to plunder, while the pirates themselves had become increasingly rampant.
Since the conversation had reached this point, Qingfeng simply went back into the study and explained this matter to them in detail. “The daimyo the Ninth Princess married was killed. I heard that the one who replaced his position was precisely his own younger brother, Bunroku Asako. His younger brother then established the Ninth Princess as his principal consort and suddenly acquired a large batch of weapons. He seized quite a bit of territory and is now much more prominent than when his older brother held the position.”
Zhou Weizhao raised an eyebrow. “Han Zhi?”
Wang Lun was doing extremely well now. Quite a few daimyo had to curry favor with him—weapons were all bought from him. Han Zhi now had Wang Lun’s utmost trust. He absolutely had the capability to provide the Ninth Princess with these weapons.
It was just unknown whether the Ninth Princess, Han Zhi, and Bunroku Asako had conspired together to kill the previous daimyo, or whether the previous daimyo had simply been that unlucky.
“Han Zhi’s ambitions are not small.” Song Chengru’s brow furrowed slightly. “This person is truly a great threat.”
Wherever he was thrown, he could thrive magnificently. Yet his ambitions were also so great. It seemed that when he fled to Fujian, he had already planned long ago to seek out the Ninth Princess. But Japan and Great Zhou didn’t share a common language, and moreover it was very chaotic. Yet he was still able to first establish a firm foothold under Wang Lun, advancing step by step until now when he seized control of the resources in the Ninth Princess’s hands in one stroke.
“Right now he’s not our great threat.” Song Chuyi was very pleased to hear that Han Zhi was working so hard. The harder he worked, the more it showed he brooded over his past experiences. “From the moment he learned it was Consort Fan Liangdi who wanted him dead, we were no longer his number one enemy. Now the thorn in his eye and flesh is his biological father. Otherwise, why would he adopt the alias Han Zheng? Thinking of it this way, the more capable and ambitious he is, isn’t that something even more worth being happy about?”
This way, things would become even more interesting. She really wanted to see what expression and reaction Han Zhi would have when he received that letter from Prince Dongping.
“I heard before that Fan Shikun was being driven dizzy and confused.” Qingfeng confirmed Song Chuyi’s statement that Han Zhi held grudges. “He doesn’t attack anywhere else, but focuses single-mindedly on causing trouble for Taizhou. The worst time, Fan Shikun lost over two thousand men and was directly demoted in rank. Now the Fan clan has just been ordered to be exterminated, and the Ninth Princess has temporarily established a firm foothold in Japan. He might really go settle accounts with Han Zhengqing.”
“Even if he doesn’t go, the Ninth Princess and Sun Ergou will make him go.” Song Chuyi raised the letter in her hand. “Quite good. Right now he values Sun Ergou as much as Guan Shan and Guan Hai. When the time comes that he truly wants to do something, he won’t be able to do without Sun Ergou. Sun Ergou will always give him the best advice.”
“Tsk tsk.” Qingfeng touched his chin, feeling somewhat chilled. “Your skill at digging pits for people is so prepared against future troubles. If you were a man and followed Grand Commander Cui to fight battles for a few more years, perhaps the northwest situation wouldn’t be so difficult right now.”
After joking for a while, someone outside came to report that Fourth Young Master had sent a letter back. Song Yan had encountered a group of bandits on the road, but unfortunately for them, Song Yan was being escorted out of the city by local officials at the time. That group of bandits were all dealt with on the spot.
Hearing this, Qingfeng laughed. “Alright, I should also go find my disciple. I can’t help with the remaining matters. Going to Shu will at least let me keep an eye on my disciple, so this silly boy doesn’t suffer losses.”
Originally, Qingfeng had also said that after returning from Fujian he would go to Shu to find Song Yan. Song Chengru nodded. Song Jue smiled and said he would see him off. Qingfeng waved his hand. “Not today. I still have to go watch the beheadings at the execution ground. Such a lively spectacle cannot be missed. In a couple of days—I reckon that in a couple of days, news should come back from the northwest. Didn’t they say Huang Yiqing recaptured Wu’an? Grand Commander Cui does things in an orderly manner. Look, ever since taking Suzhou, there’s been no movement from him. This doesn’t seem like his style. Before, he seemed to deliberately use Huang Yiqing to hold back Prince Gong’s forces from Taiyuan Prefecture—”