Han Qian was just asking Yao Xishui to leave when a commotion arose at the courtyard gate. From the voices, it was Chai Jian, Zhang Ping, and Li Chong trying to force their way in.
“Let Lord Zhang and the others enter,” Han Qian instructed toward the front courtyard.
Chai Jian and Li Chong were extremely resentful at being forcibly disarmed at the courtyard gate. Upon entering and seeing that Yao Xishui showed no signs of distress, they breathed a slight sigh of relief. Staring at Han Qian, they said, “Everything is going your way right now. You must be quite pleased with yourself, aren’t you?”
“Lord Chai jests. I merely invited Miss Yao for a peaceful and friendly chat about life ideals. What is there to be pleased about?” Han Qian said with a smile.
“…” Zhang Ping gently tugged at Chai Jian’s sleeve, preventing him from engaging in a battle of words with Han Qian. He cupped his hands toward Han Qian and said, “You’ve won His Highness’s complete trust at this moment, but I wonder how long you can maintain this trust?”
“Naturally, I will devote myself wholeheartedly to His Highness’s service until death, never betraying his trust in me,” Han Qian said with a smile.
Zhang Ping snorted derisively, clearly dismissive of Han Qian’s words. He merely said, “I hope Lord Han can remember today’s words and not forget them completely within three to five months!”
“Three to five months? Is Lord Zhang suggesting that I only have three to five months to make trouble?” Han Qian asked. “Lord Zhang’s temperament is inferior even to a woman’s—just now Miss Yao told me she wanted to set aside past grievances. After all, Miss Yao previously poisoned me, so she really has no reason to hold a grudge over this incident!”
Chai Jian and Li Chong both looked at Yao Xishui with suspicion, wondering what secret agreement she had come to reach with Han Qian in private.
Yao Xishui hadn’t expected Han Qian to so readily fabricate nonsense to sow discord, completely without any psychological burden, and utterly unafraid of being exposed on the spot.
However, when Yao Xishui wanted to expose the fabricated nonsense Han Qian had invented specifically to create division, she suddenly realized his words were actually quite difficult to refute.
Even if she refuted them, Han Qian had likely already left a preemptive impression in the minds of Chai Jian and Li Chong—that she, Yao Xishui, wasn’t particularly concerned about or resentful of this incident.
“Do you know that your father’s appointment to Xuzhou was nearly sabotaged by Inner Attendant Bureau Deputy Director Shen He? It was I who intervened in the palace to stop the informants that Anning Palace had planted beside Emperor Tianyou from sending intelligence,” Zhang Ping said, completely ignoring Han Qian’s attempts at sowing discord and staring directly at him.
“Then I truly must thank Lord Zhang,” Han Qian said. Having done so much for the Xinchang Marquis Estate and Wanhong Tower, he didn’t feel the need to be grateful to Zhang Ping. Between them was merely an exchange of interests. He curled his lip in a smile and said, “Miss Yao and I just made things quite clear—what’s most urgent for you now isn’t targeting me, but rather repairing His Highness’s trust in you, which has already become fragmented.”
“Is Lord Han satisfied with merely obtaining Xuzhou?” Zhang Ping asked, staring into Han Qian’s eyes.
“As I also told Miss Yao, I’m not afraid of trouble—I’m only afraid of death,” Han Qian said with a shrug.
“Very well then. I hope Lord Han can remember what he said today,” Zhang Ping said, cupping his hands before leading Yao Xishui, Chai Jian, Li Chong, and the others away.
“That woman surnamed Yao and this Zhang Ping are somewhat more formidable than Li Chong and Chai Jian,” Xi Ren remarked, watching the departing figures of Yao Xishui, Zhang Ping, and the others.
“They’re all cut from the same cloth. However formidable they are, it’s limited—at least they’re no match for me,” Han Qian said indifferently.
Han Qian had never dealt with Zhang Ping before and thus couldn’t claim any familiarity with him. Although Yao Xishui’s vigilance was higher and she was more decisive, in Han Qian’s view, people like Yao Xishui had received training from childhood that emphasized subtle methods. However, the subtle methods they employed were far inferior to his accumulated experience that exceeded the contemporary world by over a thousand years.
Seeing Han Qian appear so pleased and confident at this moment, Xi Ren couldn’t help wanting to roll her eyes, but she had to admit that Han Qian’s methods for breaking through difficult situations far exceeded her imagination.
Though she had never forgotten her brother’s death, for the sake of the Xi clan members, she had no choice but to remain by Han Qian’s side for three or four months. Xi Ren had to acknowledge that Han Qian had opened before her eyes a world she had never dared to imagine in Jingyun Stronghold or in Xuzhou.
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“What exactly happened around the Third Prince? Did Deng Xiangfang truly detect nothing at all?”
That very night, Guo Rong left Jinxing Ward to meet with Xu Zhaoling and Jin Rui. Everyone knew they were figures aligned with Anning Palace, the Crown Prince, and the external relatives of the Xu clan, so there was no need to deliberately avoid anything. Moreover, Xiangzhou City was filled with Great Chu generals and officers—coming and going wasn’t any capital offense.
Xu Zhaoling originally served as Military Supervisor of the Left Martial Guard Army. This time he also assumed the title of Northwestern Campaign Military Supervisor. Nominally, he was the third-ranking figure in the forces Deng Xiang had assembled to eliminate Du Chongtao and Third Prince Yang Yuanpu. However, whether due to Du Chongtao’s personal control over the Left Martial Guard Army or Du Chongtao’s compliance with Emperor Tianyou’s will in limiting the power of the external Xu clan relatives, Xu Zhaoling’s position as Military Supervisor was somewhat nominal in Xiangzhou City.
Apart from monitoring whether the Left Martial Guard Army and Xiangzhou’s various military units showed any unusual movements, Xu Zhaoling held little real power. Unlike some Southern Office Forbidden Camp armies and Northern Office Imperial Guard units, where Recording Clerks and Legal Officers reported directly to the Military Supervisor.
In truth, Xu Zhaoling’s personal capabilities were also somewhat lacking. Otherwise, as a core member of the Xu clan second only to Xu Mingzhen and his son, even if he didn’t directly control key departments at court, Xu Zhaoling should have wielded military and political authority over major prefectures like Runzhou, Yangzhou, or Yuhang, rather than being used as a chess piece to monitor and restrict Du Chongtao.
Without direct control over functional departments in Xiangzhou, apart from several dozen guard soldiers, the resources Xu Zhaoling could mobilize didn’t even match those of Jin Rui, the Chief Administrator of Deng Xiangfang in the Ministry of War’s Regional Office.
Furthermore, if Guo Rong truly had any grievances, he could only question Chief Administrator Jin Rui of Deng Xiangfang for incompetence—he didn’t yet have the standing to point fingers at Xu Zhaoling.
Faced with Guo Rong’s accusations, Jin Rui’s gaunt cheeks produced a bitter smile.
He had long noticed the frequent rotation of guard personnel around the Third Prince, and the escorts around Li Zhigao and Han Qian frequently entering and leaving Xiangzhou City. But unless Du Chongtao ordered it or Xu Zhaoling strongly protested in his capacity as Military Supervisor, who else in Xiangzhou City could interfere in such matters?
Of course, after Jin Rui noticed the irregularities at Jinxing Ward, he did alert Xu Zhaoling. Unfortunately, Xu Zhaoling didn’t pay sufficient attention, leaving Jin Rui without recourse.
Apart from employing the most violent and direct methods, the elite scouts under Jin Rui’s control in Deng Xiangfang of the Ministry of War’s Regional Office could only monitor the movements of the Dragon Sparrow Army but had no other authority to act.
However, the most pressing matter currently wasn’t what changes were occurring around the Third Prince, but rather that Shouzhou’s forces in southern Caizhou and northern Guangzhou were under tremendous pressure from the Liang army.
What they should be working together on now was making the Great Chu forces assembled in the Deng Xiang direction more proactive, to alleviate the enormous pressure Shouzhou’s army was currently enduring. Even temporarily cooperating with the Dragon Sparrow Army under the Third Prince’s command was acceptable.
Therefore, regarding Guo Rong’s suggestion that Xu Zhaoling intervene to prevent the Third Prince and Shen Yang from demanding unpaid military salaries and provisions from Du Chongtao—thereby limiting what the Dragon Sparrow Army could accomplish in the left forward position—Jin Rui inwardly disagreed.
In fact, if the Dragon Sparrow Army could make progress against the Liang forces along the Shaoxi Mountain line, and even threaten the entire Shannan region of the Liang Kingdom, it would inevitably prevent the reserve forces Liang had assembled around Tongguan and Luoyang from acting rashly. This would actually alleviate the pressure on Shouzhou’s army on the northern front.
However, Guo Rong and Xu Zhaoling might not think this way, so Jin Rui felt it inappropriate to express his opinion hastily.
\*\*\*
“…The King of Qin flushed with anger and said to Tang Ju: ‘Have you ever heard of the Son of Heaven’s wrath?’ Tang Ju replied: ‘I have never heard of it.’ The King of Qin said: ‘When the Son of Heaven is wrathful, a million corpses lie prostrate and blood flows for a thousand li.’ Tang Ju said: ‘Has the Great King ever heard of a commoner’s wrath?’ The King of Qin said: ‘When a commoner is wrathful, he merely removes his cap, goes barefoot, and strikes his head against the ground.’ Tang Ju said: ‘This is the wrath of a mediocre man, not the wrath of a true scholar. When Zhuan Zhu assassinated King Liao, a comet struck the moon; when Nie Zheng assassinated Han Kuai, a white rainbow pierced the sun; when Yao Li assassinated Qing Ji, a gray falcon struck in the palace hall. These three men were all commoner scholars who harbored unexpressed anger, and celestial omens descended from heaven. Together with me, there will be four. If a scholar must show his wrath, two corpses will lie prostrate, blood will flow five paces, and the realm will don mourning—today is that day’…”
After Shen Yang selected over two hundred more young warriors from the army to strengthen the newly formed Guard Battalion, even though the matter of receiving civilian labor funds and provisions still had no conclusion, Han Qian came to bid farewell to the Third Prince, preparing to depart for Canglang to oversee the city’s construction.
Even with Shen Yang, Guo Rong, Chen De, Chai Jian, Li Chong, and others present, Han Qian still spoke eloquently.
“Master Shen Yang must have taught Your Highness the essence of this text, but what Han Qian comprehends from it is another principle altogether. Would Your Highness like to hear it?”
“Please speak, Teacher Han,” Yang Yuanpu said, leaning forward attentively, indicating for Han Qian to continue.
“What Han Qian comprehends from ‘Tang Ju’s Mission’ is that the authority of the Son of Heaven lies beyond five paces and within a thousand li—within five paces, even the Son of Heaven is no different from an ordinary person. From the mid-to-late period of the previous dynasty onward, the lives of various monarchs were manipulated by eunuch ministers. That is, they could not protect themselves within five paces, so naturally they could not speak of the authority of the Son of Heaven beyond five paces or beyond a thousand li,” Han Qian said eloquently from his seat at the desk. “At this time, the three hundred young warriors Master Shen Yang has selected for Your Highness all have youthful spirits and are full of vigor. They have not yet learned betrayal, have not yet learned conspiracy. Your Highness should personally attend to them, clearly issue training orders, strictly drill them, reward when appropriate, punish when appropriate. Once Your Highness can master affairs within five paces, you can scheme for authority over a thousand li. You must not act too hastily, nor must you become lax and delegate affairs within five paces to others…”
Shen Yang and Zhang Ping both observed with their noses and contemplated with their hearts, neither affirming nor denying. Chen De smiled silently, finding Han Qian’s discussion peculiar and novel. Chai Jian and Li Chong concealed anger and murderous intent in their eyes. Guo Rong appeared thoughtful.