Spring came particularly late to the Jin region. Even though February had already passed, the cold wind still stung people’s faces painfully. But Prince Gong’s pain wasn’t limited to his face—he felt as if his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys were all squeezed together. He had been fully convinced that Emperor Jianzhang would die.

Originally, he hadn’t been so eager for Emperor Jianzhang’s death. After all, Emperor Jianzhang had never mistreated him before. Though he was sent to his fiefdom early, he was given everything that could be given, and all of it was the best. Year after year, festival after festival, imperial emissaries were never forgotten to bestow rewards. He remembered Emperor Jianzhang’s kindness, yet he also couldn’t forget how Emperor Jianzhang later treated him with cold contempt, how he chose to protect the Crown Prince, selected Zhou Weizhao as Crown Grandson, and ruthlessly prepared to completely destroy his reputation.

Both were sons, both born of the primary wife. He had been yielding since childhood, but now he didn’t want to yield anymore. Those standing in his way naturally should die. Emperor Jianzhang was the biggest obstacle stone, naturally deserving of death—and very much so. Only with his death would the realm fall into complete chaos. Only with complete chaos in the realm would he have an opportunity—his reputation was already untenable. After all, he was rebelling, and against his own father no less. Hoping for the orthodox literati to accept him was harder than ascending to heaven, so he could only take the path of a chaotic world’s ambitious hero. Yet heaven didn’t comply with human wishes. Emperor Jianzhang had such good fortune. Reading Han Zhengqing’s letter, Han Zhengqing had clearly arranged everything flawlessly, considering every detail. There should have been no accidents, yet an accident still occurred.

Sitting on the bed, he gasped heavily several times before finally calming down. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, yet his face was flushed red. His head throbbed with waves of severe pain. After a long while, he finally reacted, pointing at Wu Feng and commanding through gritted teeth: “Go! I don’t believe it!”

He didn’t believe it. This absolutely had to be Huang Yiqing’s conspiracy. Yet in his heart he had not an ounce of confidence—if the matter hadn’t truly been exposed, how could they speak of it so convincingly? Han Zhengqing wasn’t ill, so he wouldn’t broadcast his plans everywhere. His mind was in even greater turmoil. After cursing this one sentence, he became like a sawed-off gourd, motionless as if dead.

But lying there couldn’t make the vexation before his eyes vanish into thin air. Supporting himself, he got up and personally wrote a letter, sealed it, selected a messenger, and had it sent to Han Zhengqing.

After sending the letter, thinking it over, he felt that no matter what, at least there was someone to share the blame, which made him feel somewhat more secure. Yet then he thought that if things were truly as the news he’d heard suggested, his sons would be in danger again and his reputation completely destroyed. Worried to the point of being unable to eat, his temper became alarmingly volatile.

Marquis Dingyuan and the others had no time to care whether Prince Gong was volatile or not. They had already been at Weihai Guard for over a month. With Bai Qun present and Marquis Dingyuan in command, and with both Han Yang and Han Yu being clever and having spent considerable time in the military, they had already handled Weihai Guard’s affairs quite thoroughly. Several of Bai Hao’s former commanders of thousands and hundreds had already agreed to rise up with them. This was already enough to make Marquis Dingyuan beam with joy.

Han Yang was even more delighted, tossing several peanuts into his mouth in succession: “Fortunately we finally succeeded. Any later, and I feared Prince Zhennan in Jin Province couldn’t hold on…” He exhaled and took a drink of water: “Now we just need to wait for the provisions and supplies to arrive, then we’ll rush to Jin Province and catch Wu Qianli completely off guard!”

Wu Qianli was certainly formidable, but Marquis Dingyuan’s reputation was far greater. Through this period of interaction, he could see that Marquis Dingyuan had not only reputation but also far superior abilities—though Weihai Guard could still be considered mostly loyal to Great Zhou, there were still a few turncoats. Marquis Dingyuan said not a word and that very night cut off every single one of those people’s heads without exception. Using both carrot and stick, plus Bai Qun’s help, he finally obtained complete control of Weihai Guard.

With Marquis Dingyuan, plus Prince Zhennan and Hu Yingming already stationed in Jin Province, and Weihai Guard’s thirteen thousand-plus men, he refused to believe they still couldn’t defeat Wu Qianli.

Han Yu smacked him on the head, telling him to sit properly, then turned to look at Marquis Dingyuan: “Chief Commander Cui’s situation is somewhat unfavorable now. Can we only watch?”

Ye Tanling was leading people charging about everywhere. Hearing that Zijing Pass was in grave danger, he felt somewhat worried: “If Zijing Pass can’t hold, the capital will be in danger.”

Marquis Dingyuan was much more optimistic than him. He laughed and patted his shoulder: “What good does worrying do? Right now we can only do our own jobs well. Even if we went to rescue Zijing Pass, how would we go?”

There were so many checkpoints in between, all Prince Gong and Han Zhengqing’s territory. If they went, what Zijing Pass would they rescue? It would be purely seeking death.

Han Yu’s heart felt somewhat heavy. Life was singular—he was somewhat afraid.

On the contrary, Han Yang showed not the slightest sign of fear. He still cheerfully ran around everywhere with Bai Qun daily. Though he had initially said he would select his own people, there were still some sent by Prince Gong to follow him. He locked them all up—Prince Gong had no mind to manage his affairs lately anyway.

It wasn’t until the provisions arrived that he heard Prince Gong had met with trouble. His eyes lit up at the news. Returning, he told Marquis Dingyuan and Han Yu, his eyebrows flying up: “Fortunately you had someone go to the capital to report back then. Your report probably played a role!” As he spoke, he couldn’t help but feel retrospective fear. If Prince Gong and Han Zhengqing had truly succeeded and the capital fell with a change of heaven, then people like them could just wait to be purged.

Marquis Dingyuan also listened with trepidation. Seeing both Han Yang and Han Yu’s faces full of retrospective fear, he suddenly smiled again: “You see, where does the capital need us to worry? We just need to do our own jobs well. The provisions have already arrived. Jin Province can’t hold much longer. Let’s go now!”

Good news always lifted spirits somewhat. Han Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Coming to his senses, he saw Han Yang already nodding excitedly, so he hurriedly smiled in agreement.

Originally, they had waited so long precisely because Prince Gong had withheld Weihai Guard’s provisions. Weihai Guard had nothing. Now that the provisions were in hand and they were going to Jin Province to rescue people, they simply didn’t care about breaking openly with Prince Gong. They first killed the transport official as a sacrifice to the flag, then that very night broke camp and rushed toward Jin Province.

By the time Wu Feng’s side received the news, it was already seven or eight days later. Weihai Guard was already completely bare, everything having been taken away by Marquis Dingyuan, Han Yang, and Han Yu.

This time Prince Gong was so anxious that his head truly buzzed. Unable to catch his breath, his eyes turned bloodshot with rage, nearly falling off the bed: “The people are gone? How can the people be gone?! What are you saying that this Prince can’t understand? Where is Han Yang?!”

Han Yang was Han Zhengqing’s son! Where could he run to? What could he do by taking Weihai Guard’s thirteen thousand-plus men?!