During their conversation, darkness fell imperceptibly. Maidservants lit candles and lamps. Sitting in the Mingju Hall, no one felt tired.

“Currently, Yang Yuanyan may wish most to deploy troops, but Shen Yang, Yang Zhitang, Zhang Chao, Huang Hua, and others remain silent, clearly lacking confidence in victory. We can secretly spread news that the Heluo campaign is unfavorable to Great Liang with horrific casualties. This way, Jinling may hope even more to recover Huaixi without battle—when Minister Feng meets with Shen Yang, Yang Zhitang, and others, his tone might as well soften somewhat. He could even demand the Chu court send troops to seize Xuzhou-Sizhou and exchange it for Huaixi and Xuzhou. With such reasoning, Empress Dowager Changxin would have more room to maneuver, rather than being led around by the nose by Shen Yang, Yang Zhitang, and others at every turn!” Wen Ruilin said.

By keeping Cai Chen and Lei Cheng by her side, Empress Dowager Changxin was secretly expressing an attitude. However, with the entire court’s civil and military officials and even scholars and common people all clamoring aggressively to recover Huaixi, if she publicly stood forth to say they should abandon Huaixi, it would inevitably provoke discussions of deposing and replacing her, putting her completely on the defensive.

Though Zheng Yu and Zheng Chang currently chose to stand on the same battle line with Shen Yang and Yang Zhitang, this was mainly because the entire affair had shocked the Chu court too greatly. In reality, the Zheng clan had even deeper connections with them.

They estimated that after dragging things out to the fourth or fifth month, when Lingnan’s weather became thoroughly hot and humid and entered the peak miasma epidemic period, Zheng Hui and the Right Vermillion Bird Army currently attacking cities and seizing territory in Lingnan would more clearly recognize that miasma-dispelling wine was an indispensable good thing.

It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury back to frugality.

If the Right Vermillion Bird Army had just entered Lingnan when the miasma epidemic was at a relatively high occurrence stage, after adapting over more than two years of brutal warfare with reinforcements from the rear able to keep up in timely fashion and strengthening controls in all aspects, it would not trigger overly serious problems.

However, after entering Lingnan, during the most critical final few battles, if the camp miasma rate rose sharply in a short time from an extremely low level, the problem would obviously become much more serious.

Additionally, Wen Ruilin advocated secretly promoting Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan’s ambition to propose deposing and replacing the emperor when he actually ultimately wished to usurp the throne himself, prompting Huang Hua and others to maintain vigilance toward Yang Yuanyan. In Jinling, they should also secretly promote the righteousness of the late emperor Zhu Yu’s abdication and publicize the Mongols’ brutality and strength to divide the hearts of Jinling’s military and civilians…

Under current circumstances, Wen Ruilin did not feel there were any substantial, insurmountable difficulties in accomplishing the goal of delaying time.

Fundamentally, everyone in the Chu court had their own interests and were too easily divided.

Of course, this did not mean the officers and officials of new Liang had no self-interest demands. However, under Han Qian’s strong leadership, the interest demands of new Liang’s officers and officials were better concentrated in one direction.

Even though old Liang army officers and officials still cherished the memory of the former emperor, besides the former emperor’s dying wish being to entrust Liang to Han Qian, there was another key reason—Han Qian’s capability and magnanimity also compelled the old Liang army officers and soldiers to submit wholeheartedly. This suppressed some unnecessary disloyalty or distracting thoughts.

Of course, all this still depended first on holding Heluo.

Only by holding Heluo could the two armies achieve complete integration, and only then could Han Qian completely replace the late emperor Zhu Yu’s position in the hearts of old Liang army officers and officials.

If they could not hold Heluo, besides the new Liang state’s external offensive-defensive situation becoming extremely dire, whether old Liang army officers’ and officials’ thoughts would become hesitant and uncertain was truly too difficult to predict.

The bright moon shone on the courtyard, as if clear lake water spread across the eaves and steps before Changxin Palace.

Though Feng Yi and Wen Ruilin had entered Jinling City and Shen Yang and Yang Zhitang still advocated a cold treatment approach for the time being, no one could deny this was a major event for today’s Jinling City.

Qing Yang stood before the courtyard, looking at the night sky where the moon was cool as water. Turning her head, she asked Lei Cheng and Cai Chen beside her, “Is Han Qian really fighting so miserably in Luoyang?”

“Without the Empress Dowager’s gracious permission, this old slave and Minister Cai are not permitted to contact Liang officials privately. How would we know how the Heluo campaign is truly going?” Lei Cheng said methodically.

“Are you two really that obedient?” Qing Yang knitted her elegant brows, glancing back at Lei Cheng and Cai Chen before asking.

In earlier years, the Cai family had been one of the few and foremost scholarly clans of refined reputation in Huainan. Cai Chen’s great-grandfather had served in the previous dynasty as Minister of Finance and Participant in Determining Government Affairs.

For this reason, after Emperor Tianyou became Military Commissioner of Huainan, to gain the support of Shounan’s powerful clans and aristocratic families, he married his younger sister to Cai Chen.

After Great Chu’s founding, Emperor Tianyou, in order to suppress powerful aristocratic clans, and because Xu Shi wanted to eliminate disobedient opposition forces within Huaixi territory, ultimately caused an absurd case of seditious speech—in which only one unimportant Cai clan member was implicated—to evolve into a major case where over ten members of the Cai clan were executed and over two hundred exiled to military service.

In the end, only Cai Chen, as the husband of the Princess Imperial, escaped with his life.

The famous scholar of those years now bore a face full of weathering. Over sixty years old, he looked even more aged than Lei Cheng, his face gaunt and withered, his body hunched. He replied to Qing Yang:

“Lord Lei and I have had no private contact with people the sovereign dispatched, but the Heluo campaign should not be as perilous as outsiders report. The reason such news is spreading is likely to relax the court’s vigilance, making some military officials in court believe they can obtain Huaixi without battle…”

“That’s what I thought! If Han Qian were truly this useless, why would I keep you two around?” Qing Yang glanced coldly at Cai Chen and Lei Cheng and said, “Since you’re both so obedient, tomorrow this Empress Dowager will issue an edict ordering you, Cai Chen, to meet Feng Yi. Those old bastards like Shen Yang and the Prince Shou shouldn’t arbitrarily obstruct this, right?”

“Prime Minister Shen and Prince Shou are probably also eager to know the truth of Heluo’s situation, but if the Empress Dowager simply has this humble minister alone meet Feng Yi and Han Daoming, it would be too obvious…” Cai Chen said.

“I’ll have Yang En go together. This Empress Dowager will use people from the imperial clan—presumably no one will make unpleasantness over this.” Qing Yang said.

Lei Cheng wanted to say that Yang En’s eyes were too sharp, and going with Cai Chen to meet Feng Yi and Han Daoming would be too inconvenient. However, in his heart he thought that Empress Dowager Changxin’s fundamental goal was still to preserve her son Yang Bin’s imperial throne, preventing the Huang family or Prince Xin from succeeding, not to willingly become Great Liang’s puppet. He and Cai Chen still needed to maintain proper balance.

“What does the Empress Dowager want this humble minister to say when accompanying Marquis Yang to meet Han Daoming and Feng Yi?” Cai Chen asked.

“What does Han Qian want to obtain from this Empress Dowager?” Qing Yang stared at Cai Chen and Lei Cheng and asked. “Though Han Qian is now the Liang sovereign, Huaixi has always been Great Chu’s territory. Can he not surrender Huaixi?”

“The sovereign takes expelling the barbarian invaders and recovering He-Huai as his own duty, thus receiving the late emperor’s entrustment of the state. At this time, the Mongols and Eastern Liang are strong—only by connecting Huaixi and Heluo into one body can they be defended,” Cai Chen said. “Also, only with Huaixi and Heluo joined in alliance will the ambitions of Prince Xin and Huang Hua be suppressed, unable to threaten the Empress Dowager…”

“After all this talk, doesn’t Han Qian still refuse to cough up Huaixi?” Qing Yang asked lazily.

“The sovereign guards Huaixi, Heluo, plus Xuzhou—his territory encompasses only thirteen prefectures with over ninety counties and a population under four million. Even if Great Chu loses Huaixi, it still possesses Jiangdong, Jiangxi, Jing-Xiang, Hunan, Huaidong, plus the sixty prefectures of Qingyuan Army that Zheng Hui has captured—sixteen to seventeen million people. In national strength, it far surpasses Liang and Shu,” Cai Chen said. “However, Great Chu’s greatest problem is not external but internal. His Majesty is young and inexperienced, the Empress Dowager resides deep within the palace prohibitions and cannot conveniently interfere too much in state affairs. Not to mention Prince Xin and others harboring disloyal intentions externally—even the princes and high ministers in court all have their own agendas. This causes Great Chu, though strong in national power, to struggle to concentrate its strength into one force, let alone have court governance flow entirely from His Majesty’s hands. If the Empress Dowager wishes to change this situation, she can only hope for His Majesty to grow and mature, so princes and high ministers no longer harbor different thoughts or disloyalty. At that time, ruling all under heaven with all states submitting will be a matter expected any day.”

“You speak so beautifully, but this Empress Dowager won’t believe it. All these years, not one among the court’s civil and military officials has been Han Qian’s match,” Qing Yang sighed. “The late emperor was not, Shen Yang, Zheng Yu, Zheng Chang, and Zhang Chao were not. Which of Yang Yuanyan, Huang Hua, or Gu Zhilong has not been defeated by Han Qian?”

“The Empress Dowager’s elder brother has troops stationed at Yuzhou. Could the Empress Dowager still worry that the Shu sovereign also has ill intentions toward the Empress Dowager?” Cai Chen asked.

“Enough, you two need not exert yourselves clamoring before this Empress Dowager. This Empress Dowager absolutely cannot directly say Huaixi should be ceded to Han Qian. However, since Han Qian has delivered that traitorous servant Wang Chan’er to Jinling, to demonstrate Great Chu’s magnanimous bearing, we can return some people to the northern shore,” Qing Yang said. “Discuss this matter with Yang En and arrange it at your discretion…”

“This humble minister obeys the decree.” Cai Chen said.

Those who withdrew north early with Han Daochang and Han Duan at the beginning of the year were, after all, a minority. Currently, besides Han Daoming, Qin Wen, Yun Puzi, old master Han Wenhuan, and Chen Jingzhou being placed under house arrest, there were quite a number of officials with connections to Tangyi—currently nearly two hundred people—all imprisoned by the Palace Administration Office.

Additionally, among the current Imperial Guards, over three thousand veteran soldiers were originally from the Chishan Army. Shen Yang, Yang Zhitang, and Du Chongtao also intended to disperse these men and use them as lowest-ranking soldiers to prevent them from being used by Tangyi again.

A major task for the agents currently lurking in Jinling was also to properly arrange and settle these people using every possible means.

Although among these people, those truly affiliated with the Secret Bureau or Chishan Association numbered only about a hundred, if they could all be sent to the northern shore, it would be worth spending enormous sums to ransom them.

Located in the eastern city, Lanting Alley had once been crowded with people and prosperously thriving due to warehouses and money shops being established there.

The warehouses and money shops were short-lived. At the beginning of the削藩 campaign and during the Jinling rebellion, the household guards, officers, and their families residing in Lanting Alley, Tieliu Alley, and Kaoshan Alley nearly all moved away. Afterward, no one moved back, and Lanting Alley again became obscure and quiet.

After the new year, Wang Wenqian and Yin Peng moved with their families—over a hundred people—into the old compound in Lanting Alley, making the alley somewhat livelier.

Of course, Wang Wenqian’s idea of establishing an academy still had not been realized.

Even though Wang Wenqian still held the title of guest retainer to Prince Xin’s mansion, Wang Wenqian was after all Han Qian’s father-in-law.

Even though Han Qian had once established his eldest son Han Wenxin as heir apparent to the marquisate, and rumors at that time said Han Qian did not favor Lady Wang, that was after all from when Han Qian was still a Chu subject.

Now that Han Qian had succeeded to the position of Liang sovereign through abdication, though he had not yet enfeoffed his two still-young sons, news transmitted back from Heluo ultimately confirmed that Wang Jun received the title of Principal Consort and Zhao Ting’er received the title of Gracious Consort.

Therefore, no matter what, Jinling would not permit Wang Wenqian to make any major moves in the city. The Capital Prefecture even arranged two secret agents to move into Lanting Alley, watching the Wang family compound’s every movement.

Yin Peng carried a pot of wine along with several dishes of meat and vegetables, pushing open the gate to enter the courtyard.

After moving out of Prince Xin’s mansion, life had become austere. Over the past two months, people in the courtyard rarely tasted meat. Smelling the meat’s aroma, Wang Wenqian unwrapped the lotus leaves and had Lady Xu take a large bowl to distribute more than half to each household to taste, leaving some remaining. He and Yin Peng set it on the stone table in the courtyard to accompany their wine.

“I went to the wine shop to buy wine and to Military Rear Alley to buy mutton. That blockhead Zhao Erleng suddenly stuffed a letter into my hands, saying it was from Miss Jun—living in Lanting Alley for two months, I truly never noticed that Zhao Erleng, reeking of mutton, would be a Tangyi secret agent!” Yin Peng said with emotion as he handed the letter to Wang Wenqian.

Wang Wenqian opened the letter, read it through once, then lifted the lamp shade to burn it to ashes, leaving not a trace.

“What did Miss Jun say?” Yin Peng asked.

“Jun’er rambled on about various things after they arrived in Luoyang. Han Qian, busy with warfare, hadn’t thought about enfeoffing consorts, but Zhu Juezhong, Chen Youtong, and other ministers advocated it, so they hastily went through the motions. She also said if I wish to cross the river to the northern shore, she has an estate at Liyang where I could establish an academy—her wings have truly grown strong, knowing to arrange a retreat for me…” Wang Wenqian said.

Yin Peng glimpsed several parts of unmistakable desolation in Wang Wenqian’s eyes and sighed softly in his heart.

Though he had not directly read what was written in the letter, he now understood the meaning Wang Jun wished to convey.

Zhu Juezhong, Chen Youtong, and others were ultimately more conservative. Even as old and new systems merged, they should still hope to lean more toward the old system. Therefore, after Wang Jun and Zhao Ting’er arrived in Luoyang, they advocated first establishing titles for the two women even in such a tense situation. Next, they would most likely bring them to Luoyang at an appropriate time.

If Tangyi had always remained as Great Chu’s frontier command, naturally there was nothing wrong with them living in Jinling after leaving Chuzhou. But under current circumstances, Jinling was obviously no longer their place of shelter.

If Liang and Chu could properly resolve this succession crisis, they could only go to Liang to seek a place to settle. However, Wang Jun writing this letter clearly hoped that when Han Daoming or Feng Yi formally sent people to contact them, they could proactively propose settling in Liyang rather than going to Luoyang, to avoid some subtle disagreements between Han Qian and old Liang officials.

As a father, seeing his own daughter completely side with her husband’s family—his heart must feel somewhat bitter, right?

Yin Peng said with a laugh, “I’d rather like living in Liyang. Though only separated by one river, in summer and autumn, Liyang’s weather is much more refreshing than Jinling—truly a pleasant place to reside! I just don’t know whether Liang and Chu can reach a peace agreement. When I went to buy wine, I saw the heir apparent’s carriages rushing overnight to Prince Shou’s mansion. Presumably he’s still trying to persuade Prince Shou to unite with Chuzhou to jointly send troops to recover Huaixi. Whether they’ll actually fight is still hard to say now.”

“When reducing the vassals and attacking Tanzhou, when did Yang Zhitang truly send troops to kill into Hengzhou? And during the Jinling rebellion, when did Yang Zhitang dispatch his son to rush to Yueyang? Yang Zhitang is experienced and cunning in the ways of the world. Each time he takes great advantage, but this also determines that if troops are truly deployed against Huaixi, he won’t be willing to commit the Right Dragon Martial Army to be the first charging into Huaixi to fight.”

Wang Wenqian shook his head and said.

“The Imperial Guards must defend the capital region. The Left Martial Guard Army must guard Chi, Shu, Jiang, Xuan, and other prefectures to prevent major problems on the capital region’s right flank and in Jiangxi, Jing-Xiang, and Hunan. Though Zhou Bingwu, Zhang Xiang, and Zhao Zhen have many troops on the western front, with Li Zhigao and Chai Jian submitting to Liang and the Shu army certain to ally with Liang, they’re also restrained and dare not move rashly. What can move are only the Right Dragon Martial Army and Yang Yuanyan’s Chuzhou Army. But let alone that person in Changxin Palace—Shen Yang, Zheng Yu, Zhang Chao, Huang Hua, and others won’t simply let the Chuzhou Army alone attack into Huaixi. If they fight, ultimately they’ll still have to make the Right Dragon Martial Army be the first to kill in. Yang Zhitang is unwilling—he has neither the necessity nor the determination to go all out. At this moment, Han Qian has already accepted Li Zhigao and Chai Jian’s submission, yet still sends Wang Chan’er, Yang Lin, and others to Jinling seeking favor in every way. Yang Zhitang will be even more inclined to observe for two or three more months to watch the Heluo campaign’s development. He hasn’t thought that Han Qian gaining these most critical two or three months means the most difficult phase will have passed. At that time, Han Qian might even rush to strike first against the Right Dragon Martial Army…”

“Even if Heluo can endure until the Yu River’s great flood season, casualties will inevitably be extremely heavy. Even if Han Qian gains a breathing space, he should prepare defenses for after autumn and winter. How could he attack the Right Dragon Martial Army preemptively?” Yin Peng asked doubtfully.

“What you say is correct. In two or three months when the Yu River’s great flood season arrives, it will force the Mongols to withdraw again. Heluo will welcome a rare four or five months’ interval to recuperate and prepare to meet the new offensive by the Mongols and Eastern Liang Army after autumn and winter,” Wang Wenqian said. “In fact, after winter arrives, the Jia-Lu River and Ying River will have a three-month freezing period, giving the Eastern Liang Army opportunity to attack Xu, Chen, Cai, and Ying from the flank. This will cause Han Qian to face even greater military pressure on the northern front—this also determines that after the Heluo campaign endures the second phase, if Liang-Chu peace talks are still dragging on without agreement, Han Qian will inevitably strike first to destroy all of Chu’s naval combat power, so that after winter arrives he can deploy more elite forces to the northern front. Think about it—after last year’s He-Huai campaign ended, when Han Qian had Kong Xirong lead forces to seize Deng and Jun prefectures, did he hesitate even slightly? Watch and see—whether Han Daoming or Feng Yi, during this time in Jinling they’ll certainly display weakness in every way. I just don’t know what Yang Zhitang will think when he sees Han Qian’s true fangs at that time.”

“Ah, I truly hadn’t thought this deeply,” Yin Peng was slightly stunned and said with emotion. “Alas, how could Miss Jun bear to have you remain in Liyang, sir?”

“Han Qian’s stratagems never place him beneath others, and he’s not short of advisors by his side. What use could I still have?” Wang Wenqian said rather sentimentally. “Oh, right—Jun’er only wants me to go to Liyang. If you have opportunity, go with Han Daoming and the others to Luoyang…”

“I’m fine remaining by your side to serve you, sir.” Yin Peng said.

“What nonsense are you speaking?” Wang Wenqian said. “If Han Qian can seize Guanzhong back from the Mongols’ hands, all under heaven will inevitably belong to Great Liang. Having Jun’er as my daughter, the historical records won’t lack a mention of me. If you follow me, you’ll truly delay everything…”