Having long since prepared contingency plans in case things didn’t go smoothly in the capital, his trusted aide immediately understood his intentions toward Cui Shaoting upon hearing these words and asked him, “Should we send a letter to the Grand Preceptor?”
Yecha, leading his men while stuck in Qingzhou Prefecture, was probably already growing extremely impatient. Originally the plan was to let trouble break out in the capital first, but since the capital operation had failed, they had no choice but to confront matters head-on. Fortunately, even in a direct confrontation, they still held the advantage. As long as they could take Xibei in one decisive push, everything else could be handled gradually afterward. And to take Xibei, the first priority was naturally to eliminate that troublemaker Cui Shaoting. After Cui Shaoting—that shit-stirrer—seized control of Suzhou, he had strangely gone quiet, as if he genuinely intended to focus solely on blocking Yecha. But what use was blocking Yecha? Even at full strength, Yecha only brought twenty thousand men—Yetan’s forces were the main army.
Han Zhengqing nodded. He no longer wanted to drag this out any further. The longer they delayed, who knew what might happen in the capital? Once Zijing Pass was somewhat stabilized, reinforcements from Hebei West Circuit and Hebei East Circuit supporting Xibei would arrive as well. Once the reinforcements arrived, things would become truly troublesome.
Just as they were discussing how to deal with Cui Shaoting, a messenger from Prince Gong’s side arrived, urgently demanding an audience.
Han Zhengqing frowned with some impatience, knowing that Prince Gong sending a messenger at this time must be related to the failure in the capital. But he couldn’t refuse to meet him—if he didn’t, who knew what Prince Gong might do?
As soon as Prince Gong’s messenger entered, he flung a letter at Han Zhengqing. He was Prince Gong’s newly appointed Chief Administrator. Having just taken office only to encounter such a mess, coupled with Prince Gong’s already precarious position, Han Yang’s betrayal was simply adding insult to injury. He really couldn’t contain himself, so even though he knew his attitude might anger Han Zhengqing, he couldn’t help but ask in a rather sharp tone, “Marquis, what is the meaning of this?!”
Though Han Zhengqing had anticipated that Prince Gong would be furious about the capital affair, he hadn’t expected this messenger to arrive with such arrogance and a condescending attitude. Han Zhengqing glanced up at him briefly, ultimately suppressing his anger. “The affair in the capital was my miscalculation.”
The messenger waved his hand. “Marquis, let’s speak frankly. Let’s set aside the matter in the capital for now. After all, the capital is so far away—not everything can be managed properly. Even if we failed, there’s nothing to say, and certainly no reason to blame you. The reason I’ve come this time is to ask what exactly is going on with Young Master Han Yang.”
Han Zhengqing could barely remember he had a son serving under Prince Gong. In fact, he couldn’t even remember Han Yu, who had gone to Hubei and disappeared without a trace, let alone Han Yang, who was relatively safe with Prince Gong. After a moment’s pause to recall, he remembered that Prince Gong had mentioned in a letter his intention to train Han Yang by transferring him to the military. Hearing this, he assumed Han Yang had caused some trouble. “What about him?”
“He—” The messenger had already suspected Han Zhengqing might truly be unaware of Han Yang’s actions when he was able to meet with him so smoothly. Now, hearing Han Zhengqing ask this way, his suspicions grew stronger, though his expression remained extremely angry. “He colluded with the Marquis of Dingyuan, deceived Weihaiwei’s thirteen thousand men along with Bai Guan’s grandson, even deceived their provisions, and headed off to Jinzhong!”
Han Zhengqing felt he must have misheard. His eyes, filled with red veins, looked somewhat frightening. It took him quite a while after the messenger finished speaking to react. “What did you say?!”
He didn’t know this son very well—though truthfully, he didn’t know any of his sons well, including his most valued Prince of Dongping. But this didn’t prevent him from assuming in his mind that all his sons should be most obedient. In his impression, none of his sons, regardless of which one, had caused him much worry. Han Zhi, who had become shrewd at a young age, was one example. Han Yu and Han Yang had also always been clever, knowing what should and shouldn’t be done.
Therefore, suddenly hearing that Han Yang had colluded with the Marquis of Dingyuan left him truly unable to process it.
Seeing his expression of splitting rage, the messenger knew he probably truly didn’t know. Feeling somewhat indignant but more accusatory, he said, “He colluded with the Marquis of Dingyuan and led Weihaiwei’s thirteen thousand men to Jinzhong. The Marquis of Dingyuan is a master strategist, and now he has both men and provisions. Who knows if Commander Wu can withstand him! His Highness doesn’t believe this was done under your authorization and specifically sent this subordinate to inquire.” He paused, his tone becoming earnest. “Marquis, you… what kind of situation is this?”
Han Zhengqing’s brow furrowed even tighter, tight enough to crush a fly. After a long while, he suddenly let out a cold laugh, a harsh “heh” escaping his throat. “How would I know what kind of situation this is?”
Even his trusted aide stood there with eyes wide in shock. The father was openly staging a rebellion, yet the son was secretly leading men to oppose his father—he still hadn’t fully processed this when Han Zhengqing had already glanced coldly at the messenger, his expression regaining composure, calm to an excessive degree as he asked, “When did this happen?”
Having never truly invested much emotion from the start, he naturally wouldn’t find it difficult to accept when it was lost. Compared to Prince of Dongping’s earlier disdain and rejection, Han Yang’s betrayal was actually somewhat easier for him to accept.
The messenger was left somewhat dizzy by his shifting attitudes but still instinctively answered his question. “It took me over ten days to get here. By the time I left, he had already departed. I’m afraid he’s probably already engaged with Commander Wu by now.”
Han Zhengqing rubbed his temples somewhat irritably and turned to order Deputy General Chen, “Bring Madam Hu here.”
His sons weren’t raised by him, so he wasn’t too clear about what they were thinking. But one thing was certain—his sons might not be filial to him as their father, but they were very respectful toward their birth mothers. After Deputy General Chen left, he explained to the messenger, “Take Madam Hu back and secretly send her to Jinzhong. When he sees his mother, he’ll naturally know what to do.”
The messenger was shocked by his decisiveness in making this decision without questioning further or even asking if Prince Gong might have some misunderstanding about Han Yang. After hesitating for a long while and confirming he wasn’t speaking ironically, the corner of his mouth twitched as he forced out, “Then Young Master Han…”
Han Zhengqing had no time to worry about Han Yang’s life or death right now. He shook his head dismissively. “If you take Madam Hu there and can use her as leverage, that’s good. If not, you can dispose of both of them as you see fit. Commander Wu isn’t a fool either—he has quite a few men under his command. Besides, Jinzhong is an isolated city. So what if they have those men from Weihaiwei? It’s still like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. With his capabilities, he shouldn’t be unable to handle it. If His Highness is truly worried, Wu Feng can also be utilized.”