While everyone was deeply troubled by the thorny situation at Marquis Linjin’s Mansion, Han Daochang announced his arrival and entered. After exchanging courtesies with the assembled officials, he walked over to Han Daoming and whispered a few words in his ear.
Everyone turned their gazes toward them.
Now that the gates of the Imperial City had been opened, though not everyone could move about freely, the assembled officials were no longer restricted in communicating with those outside the Imperial City. They wondered what matter Han Daochang needed to relay to Han Daoming at this moment upon entering the Government Affairs Hall. Or perhaps Tangyi, situated just across the river, had already learned of the palace upheaval and had some special urgent demands to convey through Han Daoming?
This thought made everyone unconsciously hold their breath.
Crossing the river from the capital region led directly to Tangyi County, and from Tangyi city, sixty li to the east lay Yangzhou’s Yangzi County city.
Even though the gates of the Imperial City had been sealed shut immediately after the incident occurred, theoretically both Huaidong and Tangyi should have known about the disturbance in the capital by around midnight to dawn yesterday.
Not to mention that by daybreak, Jingjing and Haijing Gates were engulfed in flames—standing atop Tangyi’s city walls thirty-some li across the river, they should have been able to see the raging firelight, shouldn’t they?
And at this moment, Lu Qingxia and her party were directly fleeing by boat toward Yangzhou—how could Tangyi’s forces possibly not have noticed?
Of course, even if Tangyi had noticed, and even if Han Qian might have already rushed to Tangyi city to take command, the assembled officials didn’t expect Tangyi to react in time to dispatch troops to intercept Lu Qingxia. Gathering and deploying military forces required time. What everyone worried about more was whether Han Qian would make excessive demands at this moment that would be difficult for them to accept.
After listening to Han Daochang, Han Daoming appeared not to notice everyone’s reactions. He pondered for a moment before bowing to Qing Yang and saying, “This humble minister reports to the Empress Dowager: Marquis Linjin Li Changfeng upheld his father’s legacy and refused to be controlled and coerced by the traitors, dying heroically at Haijing Gate. The court should commend his resolve. As for Li Xiu, he was previously deceived by the traitors and had no intention of doing evil. Surrendering before the Government Affairs Hall, he has not committed any grave error…”
Everyone was slightly stunned. Was Han Daoming speaking on behalf of the Han family and Tangyi to protect the remaining members of the Li family, rather than making some other demand?
Han Duan, sitting in a corner of the Government Affairs Hall with a group of attending officials awaiting orders, was also somewhat confused—these past few years, if it weren’t for Li Changfeng, Li Xiu, Li Qi, and others repeatedly colluding with Li Zhigao and Lu Qingxia, how could the Xiangbei Army pose such a threat to Tangyi at this time?
However, seeing his father enter the Government Affairs Hall to relay a message, Han Duan suspected that even if it wasn’t Han Qian’s intention, Feng Liao had just sent someone to find his father, asking his uncle to plead for the Li family at this moment.
Sitting in the corner, Han Duan’s mind was ablaze with questions, but Huang Lü angrily questioned Han Daoming: “If Duke Changguo wasn’t guilty with a troubled conscience, why would he have committed suicide for no reason?”
“Why Duke Changguo committed suicide, or whether he died at the traitors’ hands and was then disguised to look like suicide, is still unknown at this time and requires Marquis Liyang to investigate thoroughly. However, Consort Li is the daughter of Duke Changguo Li Pu. Her stepping forward to expose the traitors’ conspiracy was key to allowing the Two Empress Dowagers and all the ministers to quell the palace upheaval so smoothly, and Marquis Jiangyin witnessed this with his own eyes…” Han Daoming spoke calmly.
Whether to protect certain people or to kill certain people, there were countless reasons. The key was whether anyone with sufficient influence was willing to step forward and speak up.
“What does Minister Han intend?” Qing Yang asked with some hesitation.
“This humble minister believes it would be best to first strip Li Xiu and the other generals of their positions and reduce them to commoner status, temporarily having them protect Consort Li while residing at Marquis Linjin’s Mansion. After the palace upheaval case is thoroughly investigated, further dispositions can be made—if Huaidong truly believes slanderous words or takes advantage of the chaos to rebel, the Empress Dowager’s kind treatment of the Prince’s Mansion descendants will only earn praise from subjects throughout the realm for the Empress Dowager’s virtue in governing the realm…” Han Daoming said.
“Prime Minister Shen, Prince Shou, what do you think?” Qing Yang was quite puzzled inside, looking toward Shen Yang and Yang Zhitang to ask.
Han Qian had long anticipated yesterday’s palace upheaval and had even made numerous preparations in advance. How could he still allow the families of Li Zhigao, Zhou Shu, Zhou Yuan, Chai Jian, and others to escape from the city?
However, she was extremely clever at this moment not to express her own opinion, nor to directly support Han Daoming’s suggestion, instead leaving the final decision to Shen Yang.
“Minister Han’s words are most appropriate. We should request a sacred judgment from the Two Empress Dowagers,” Yang En said hastily, worried that Shen Yang and Yang Zhitang would use Marquis Linjin’s Mansion to establish their authority.
Seeing that neither Shen Yang nor Yang Zhitang objected, and glancing at Huang E who was even more cleverly remaining silent at this moment, Qing Yang said, “Then we shall follow Minister Han’s words. For now, strip Li Xiu and the other generals of their positions and reduce them to commoner status, having them protect Consort Li while residing at Marquis Linjin’s Mansion. Before the palace upheaval case is thoroughly investigated, order the Imperial Guard to maintain strict watch so traitors cannot take advantage. This matter will also trouble Minister Han to personally make the trip…”
“This humble minister obeys the decree,” Han Daoming said.
Li Xiu was one of the key figures in yesterday’s palace upheaval case. To directly send him along with the other forty or fifty military officers from the Prince’s Mansion faction, as well as the extremely important figure of deposed Empress Li Yao, back to Marquis Linjin’s Mansion for the time being, truly required a high minister to take responsibility.
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The seals of Changxin Palace and Mingcheng Palace’s Empress Dowagers could not be immediately engraved, but the Emperor’s seal was readily available. After summoning officials to draft the edict and using both the Emperor’s seal and the Imperial Secretariat’s great seal, Han Daoming led a contingent of guards to extract Li Xiu and the others from the Imperial Prison.
By this time, the situation within the Imperial City had largely stabilized. Du Chongtao, along with Guo Liang and Zhang Han, had worked through the night sorting out the middle and lower-ranking officers of the Left and Right Wuyi Armies.
Only a small portion of the Left Wuxiang Army had directly participated in the palace upheaval and fled through Haijing Gate. Even Zhong Yanhu had not controlled his three thousand elite troops to participate in the rebellion—most had blindly followed in the chaos.
Aside from those who had fled through Haijing Gate, the other Left Wuxiang Army soldiers, including Li Xiu’s troops, had now been moved to gather at a military camp in the western city district.
These soldiers currently could not even enter the main city. They awaited Huang Lü’s arrival to directly lead them to relocate to Chizhou.
Besides Huang Hua and Chen Fan, the Huang family and Jiangdong aristocratic clans were not without important figures in Jinling city. For instance, Huang Hua’s cousin Huang Huixiang served as Vice Minister of Finance.
However, when the palace upheaval occurred, Huang Huixiang was not on duty in the outer court. After the upheaval began, though he and Chen Jingzhou were considered high-ranking departmental officials, they had not entered the ranks of policy-making ministers and thus could not enter the Imperial City to participate in decision-making on an emergency basis.
Huang Huixiang and the other court officials were only summoned into the Imperial Secretariat after the palace upheaval had been largely quelled, but by then the overall situation had been decided.
Fortunately, with the Two Empress Dowagers of Mingcheng Palace and Changxin Palace both honored, the outcome of Huang Lü leading the Left Wuxiang Army to relocate to Chizhou was not unacceptable to them.
Han Daochang remained at the Imperial Secretariat, monitoring the movements within the Imperial City.
Han Duan had spent a day and night in the Imperial City without accomplishing much, yet was abnormally excited. Having nothing to do at the moment, he attended his uncle Han Daoming, while Zhang Han’s subordinate battalion commander led a contingent of Imperial Guard troops to escort Li Xiu, Li Yao, and the others to Marquis Linjin’s Mansion, also bringing along Li Changfeng’s corpse.
Marquis Linjin’s Mansion and Duke Changguo’s residence were not far apart, and the streets and alleys looked similar. Thus when Li Pu committed suicide in a desolate house, an old servant rushed to Marquis Linjin’s Mansion to report. Only then did the mansion’s household troops manage to seize Li Pu’s corpse one step ahead of the city patrol forces.
At the temporary detention facility of the Imperial Prison, the edict had already been read to Li Xiu. Upon reaching Marquis Linjin’s Mansion, there was nothing more to say. Han Daoming directly presented the decree, ordering all the troops surrounding Marquis Linjin’s Mansion like an iron barrel to withdraw. He replaced them with battalion officers designated by the Imperial Guard Commandery to lead the troops behind him, responsible for guarding the front and rear gates of Marquis Linjin’s Mansion, temporarily placing Li Xiu and all the men, women, and children of Marquis Linjin’s Mansion under house arrest.
Han Daoming stood before the gate of Marquis Linjin’s Mansion, raising his head to look at the plaque above the vermilion-colored gate.
This too was a residence Li Yu had been granted in Jinling by Emperor Tianyou back in the day. But Li Yu, having spent his life in military campaigns, had retired to Hongzhou after relinquishing military authority and never lived in this residence. It was only after Li Changfeng entered the capital that Emperor Yanyou granted him this residence again—as if fated.
At this moment, Han Daoming gestured for someone to untie Li Xiu’s bonds and said, “Young Marquis Li, aside from Marquis Linjin fighting to his death to preserve the Prince’s Mansion’s innocence, we also remembered our old ties with the Prince’s Mansion and didn’t take matters to the extreme. Within the mansion, you may keep some weapons for guards to defend against thieves, but you must still surrender all heavy armor and strong bows before Han can account to the ministers. Young Marquis Li, I hope you understand. Additionally, without an edict from Changxin Palace, no one from the mansion may leave without authorization. As for the funeral arrangements for Marquis Linjin and Duke Changguo, if you need the Han family’s help, Young Marquis Li, just have the guard on duty notify my residence…”
“Li Xiu understands,” Li Xiu said, watching the withdrawing troops drag away several siege crossbows, then looking at his elder brother Li Changfeng’s corpse hastily wrapped in a worn mat. Devastated, he bowed to Han Daoming in salute.
After Li Xiu and Li Yao entered the residence, the mansion’s household guards and escorts quickly surrendered one hundred suits of heavy armor and over one hundred strong bows and heavy crossbows. By this time, the sun had just risen above the treetops.
Han Daoming, attended by a dozen or so guards, still needed to return to the Imperial Secretariat.
“Zhang Ping and Jiang Huo are truly ungrateful—they nearly ruined our family’s grand plan!” With no outsiders around, Han Duan could no longer contain his complaints to his uncle Han Daoming.
“Everyone has their own choices. They were able to protect Consort Li’s appearance, which was enough to satisfy their consciences. How can we demand more?” Han Daoming said leisurely.
The trials and tribulations of these years had worn away much of the stubbornness in Han Daoming’s heart. Last night’s heart-stopping events had touched him even more deeply. Even at the beginning of the upheaval, he had entertained fantasies of directly seizing power, but thinking carefully now, there might not truly be a better choice than the current situation.
Thinking further, without that decisive action back then, if the Han family and Tangyi had continued to remain divided, whether the Han family would have been as fortunate as Marquis Linjin’s Mansion after being drawn into last night’s bloodbath in the palace was truly hard to say.
Thinking thus, setting aside Tangyi’s interests, Han Daoming actually admired Zhang Ping and Jiang Huo’s courage and determination in withdrawing at the height of the current.
Han Duan couldn’t yet understand his uncle Han Daoming’s state of mind, but since his uncle had spoken thus, he didn’t dwell further on Zhang Ping and Jiang Huo. Instead, he asked puzzledly, “Why did Feng Liao and Guo Que let the families of Li Zhigao, Zhou Shu, Chai Jian, and others escape from the city?”
He had of course known early on that Feng Liao and Guo Que were in the city—he just hadn’t known during the night that they had even infiltrated the Imperial City and were right beside them.
Han Duan believed that if Feng Liao and Guo Que were determined to intercept the families of Li Zhigao, Zhou Shu, Chai Jian, and others, they absolutely couldn’t have let these people escape smoothly—to deal with the worst possible situation, though the military supplies Tangyi had secretly hidden in Jinling weren’t particularly formidable, they were sufficient to hold out until the vanguard of the Third Army’s forces arrived beneath Jinling’s walls.
Feng Liao had just sent someone to relay a message, asking them to speak up for the Prince’s Mansion at the Imperial Secretariat to avoid having the Li family massacred. This might have been Han Qian’s intention, but Han Duan didn’t quite understand why Feng Liao and Guo Que had let the families of Li Zhigao, Zhou Shu, Chai Jian, and others go. Weren’t they worried that Li Zhigao and the others would rebel even more unscrupulously in league with Huaidong?
“If we detained the families of Li Zhigao, Zhou Shu, Chai Jian, and others, would they obediently hand over military authority, lock themselves in prison carts, and allow themselves to be escorted to Jinling to await judgment?” Han Daoming sighed, unable to help feeling somewhat softhearted as he said, “Li Zhigao, Zhou Shu, and Chai Jian have no road back now. What benefit is there in killing their families?”
“Then what if Lu Qingxia goes to Huaidong, and Xiangbei and Huaidong both rise up together? How should we deal with that?” Han Duan asked.
“Han Qian should dispatch people to intercept Lu Qingxia’s party east of Aoshan Island…” Han Daoming said.
“In exchange for letting them go to Xiangbei on the condition they don’t stir up trouble in Huaidong?” Han Duan asked.
Han Daoming nodded and said, “Only this way can Tangyi complete preparations for deploying troops to Hehuai in the shortest time.”
“If Li Zhigao, Zhou Shu, Chai Jian, and others rebel from Xiangbei, how should this matter be resolved? Will they attack Guanzhong, or join forces with Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian to plot against Shu?” Han Duan asked.
“Li Zhigao appears to command fifty thousand elite troops, but how many he can ultimately control remains uncertain. Even if they definitely rebel from Xiangbei, provisions and popular support are their first problems to solve. When the time comes, the court will also deploy Zhang Xiang, Huang Lü, and other forces to suppress them. In the short term, they’ll find it difficult to pose much threat to Huaixi. Attacking Guanzhong or plotting against Shu on short notice would be seeking death!” Han Daoming said.
If comparing military scale alone, Tangyi’s forces would have had no chance of establishing themselves before Shouzhou Army’s military might back then. Yet ultimately, Shouzhou Army was beaten like dogs. The factors in warfare, or in defeating the enemy, extended far beyond calculating or comparing military scale.
Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian appeared to command seventy thousand troops in Qinfeng, but with Qinfeng and other prefectures being vast and sparsely populated, the grain they could muster was barely enough to fill seventy thousand soldiers’ bellies. This directly limited this great army’s mobility and maneuver warfare capabilities.
With time dragging on for over a year, the morale, spirits, and physical consumption of Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian’s forces had been extreme. Provisions had been consistently scarce, and their conflicts with the local populace of Qinfeng and other prefectures were inevitably deep. At this point, they no longer had the capability to independently traverse the hundreds of li of treacherous Yinping roads to counterattack Shu.
Before the palace upheaval, if they had joined forces with Li Zhigao, they could have obtained necessary provisions and supplies from Li Zhigao’s side, recovering some combat capability. Perhaps they could have jointly posed a great threat to Wang Yong.
But now, Li Zhigao’s forces’ supplies would also be cut off, and military morale was about to fall into chaos. Whether they could hold their base territory of Xiangbei was another question entirely.
Furthermore, Wang Yong’s current control of Shu didn’t mean he lacked fighting capability.
Meanwhile, the Liang forces in Yongzhou and Huazhou were currently trapped in the division and encirclement by Wang Yuankui and Tian Weiye. Even if Li Zhigao, Zhao Mengji, and Wang Xiaoxian wanted to intervene in the short term, they couldn’t.
These circumstances had all been thoroughly analyzed and deduced after Feng Liao and Guo Que infiltrated Jinling this time. This was also key to desperately protecting the overall situation in Jinling during the palace upheaval. Even installing Third Prince Yang Ye was a result Tangyi could accept—only this way could they avoid major threats on the western flank before winter.
The subsequent development of the situation still crucially depended on whether Tangyi’s forces could achieve certain results in Chen and Song prefectures before winter, and whether Emperor Liang Zhu Yu could successfully capture the entire Heluo region before winter.
Otherwise, the situation in Hehuai truly remained far from optimistic.
Han Duan hadn’t participated in the secret discussions earlier, so Han Daoming patiently explained to his own nephew Han Duan at this moment.
Of course, how much Han Duan could absorb, he wasn’t particularly concerned about. After all, before the increasingly powerful Tangyi with its increasingly complete system, even the Han Mansion had become somewhat insignificant. And if Han Duan couldn’t make something of himself, the Han family still had Chengmeng, Jianji, Weiyan, and Zhiyong to support them.
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The rising sun shone upon the turbid, surging river waters. As the distance closed, several sail shadows between water and sky transformed into five giant warships gleaming brilliantly under the morning sun, with the leading giant vessel raising five enormous masts.
Currently, only Donghu Shipyard could build five-masted giant vessels, and the two five-masted giant vessels built so far had both been incorporated into Tangyi’s naval fleet. Wasn’t it obvious enough which side these river-blocking warships approaching over the water belonged to?
Yao Xishui’s pale face contorted hideously.
At this moment, they saw a small boat lowered from the side of the giant vessel, rowing toward them.
“Palace Envoy Lu, Miss Yao, it’s been so long! May this old friend board your vessel to exchange farewells…?”
After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Feng Yi stood in the small boat, raising his head with cupped hands to ask. Compared to the small boat, the Weaving Bureau’s thousand-stone official vessel was still quite massive.
“Since Han Qian has already calculated us into his plans, why doesn’t he dare to come meet us himself?” Yao Xishui asked, her lips twitching.
“If Miss Yao truly wants to see Han Qian, I’m afraid that can only happen after our Tangyi naval forces sink your dozen or so broken ships and bind Miss Yao hand and foot,” Feng Yi said with a laugh. “Palace Envoy Lu, Miss Yao, if you don’t wish to see an old friend, then please excuse Feng Yi’s intrusion.”
Lu Qingxia gestured for those around him to lower a rope ladder, allowing Feng Yi to board. Staring at him, he said, “Lord Feng, what great courage! Or does Han Qian truly not worry at all that you might die at our hands?”
“Of course I worry that Palace Envoy Lu might turn on me like a cornered dog, but your attempt at sowing discord is rather low-grade, Palace Envoy Lu. As for me, in Tangyi I can neither govern in civil matters nor command troops in military affairs. If I don’t want to be looked down upon, I can only stake everything on the singular achievement of persuading Palace Envoy Lu to turn back,” Feng Yi said with a laugh, completely unconcerned about Lu Qingxia’s attempt to sow discord. He then cupped his hands toward Chen De, Zhou Yuan, An Jixiang, Zhong Yanhu, Chun Shisanniang, and the others, saying, “My lords, it’s been so long! Is there anyone willing to visit Donghu as a guest? As the saying goes, the sea of bitterness has no bounds—turn your head and there’s the shore. If you lords follow Palace Envoy Lu to Xiangbei, it’s also a dead end. But if you’re willing to visit Donghu as guests, Feng cannot guarantee anything else, but I can guarantee you’ll all live out your lives happily and safely!”
Chen De and An Jixiang’s faces twitched, but ultimately they said nothing.
Lu Qingxia wasn’t bothered by Feng Yi’s so nakedly provocative discord-sowing either, merely asking, “If we turn back, can we truly pass safely through Yuxi River mouth?”
“Palace Envoy Lu should have long realized everything fell into our calculations. Given our thorough arrangements, Palace Envoy Lu, do you think that the families of Li Zhigao, Zhou Shu, Zhou Yuan, Chai Jian, and others could have safely escaped Jinling city unless we felt our sincerity wasn’t enough?”
Feng Yi said with a sardonic laugh.
“Of course, most officers and men in Tangyi still advocate sinking you to feed the fish and shrimp. But Han Qian is eager to deploy troops to Hehuai and beat the Mongols until they shit and piss themselves, so he can only postpone settling scores with you to pick another day for revenge and grievances. Furthermore, Han Qian has no intention of bringing disaster upon wives and children—Palace Envoy Lu surely wouldn’t want to see the Mongols profit as the fisherman at this point, would you? Oh yes, there’s one person Palace Envoy Lu must let me take away. Otherwise, that boy Zhao Wuji insists on killing you, and Han Qian might not even be able to dissuade him…”
“Zhao Wuji?” Lu Qingxia closed his eyes to think for a while before reopening them and saying to Yao Xishui, “Bring Feiying up and hand her over to Lord Feng…”
Yao Xishui’s eyelids jumped twice before she finally gestured dejectedly for someone to bring Ye Feiying up from the lower hold.
Ye Feiying hadn’t suffered much torture—or perhaps Yao Xishui, in her rush to flee for her life, hadn’t had time to interrogate her yet. They had only dislocated both her arms before binding her.
Lu Qingxia had someone reset Ye Feiying’s dislocated arms. Yao Xishui remained unwilling, her face contorting hideously as she demanded, “How could it be you? Don’t you know your brother died miserably back then—even if it wasn’t Han Qian’s doing, it was Han Qian who instigated Yang Yuanpu! All these years I’ve treated you like a sister, teaching you everything by hand, never thinking I was raising a venomous snake at my side, bitten countless times in secret all these years without knowing…”
“Miss Yao, please calm your anger. Actually, we never successfully turned Miss Feiying from start to finish. If Feiying hadn’t saved Consort Li’s life at the last moment, did Miss Yao truly think the Imperial Guard in complete disarray could have held out until Huaidong forces or Xiangbei Army crossed the river against an assault by thirty thousand elite Tangyi troops?” Feng Yi said with a sardonic laugh. “Here I might as well tell Palace Envoy Lu and Miss Yao where Tangyi’s bottom line lies. Even if your plot had succeeded, Miss Yao and Palace Envoy Lu, and you had temporarily succeeded in installing the Second Prince to ascend and succeed, Tangyi wouldn’t have compromised with you again this time. The thirty thousand elite troops would have crossed the Yangtze within two days to assault the capital region, killing every last one of you rebels without leaving a trace, then handing Jinling over to Shen Yang and Yang Zhitang to handle before deploying northward! Palace Envoy Lu wouldn’t have thought at this point that with a Second Prince of unknown true parentage, you’d truly be qualified to negotiate with Tangyi, would you? Of course, saying all this, Palace Envoy Lu might not truly understand!”
Being lectured thus by Feng Yi, Lu Qingxia’s face twitched, but he said nothing. Yao Xishui still glared at Ye Feiying like a tiger, ignoring Feng Yi’s nonsense, unable to reconcile herself to how Ye Feiying had caused their efforts to fall short of success!
And it was precisely Ye Feiying who had been responsible for the assassination at Changyang Courtyard. They had completely failed to anticipate problems in that link, causing the situation to reverse instantly when Li Yao appeared at the Imperial Secretariat. Apart from taking the Empress Dowager, Chen De, Li Changfeng, and others hostage to flee in panic toward Jingjing and Haijing Gates, they had no other options.
How could she not hate?
“Before Miss dispatched people to find me, Zhao Wuji had already left the city to catch up with Grandfather and me, stuffing two cakes into our hands and saying the world is like a tiger, human lives like ants. He told Grandfather and me to go to Taowu Military Prefecture to avoid a life of wandering misery, and not to dwell on my brother’s death case anymore. I never expected Miss would later send people to find Grandfather and me,” Ye Feiying said, gripping her rope-chafed and swollen wrists, speaking as if crying.
“All these years, I haven’t betrayed Miss or Madam, and I’ve always hated that my brother died so unjustly, hated that Heaven treated Grandfather and me so unfairly. Back then at Maoshan and Guangde, when Zhao Wuji secretly spoke to me, I didn’t respond to him either. But I couldn’t help thinking—if Great Chu is truly torn into quarters and fifths by Madam and Miss, how many ant-like lives must this tiger-and-wolf world devour before it will be satisfied…?”