Jingwen was Sima Rui’s courtesy name. He and Wang Dao had been friends since childhood. Born in the same year, in moments of deep emotion and abundant wine, they had even vowed to die on the same day. Since they came south, Wang Dao no longer called him by his courtesy name, always addressing him as Great King.
But at this moment, Sima Rui’s mind couldn’t focus on this disrespect. He grabbed Wang Dao’s hand and stared wide-eyed. “You want to return to Langya?”
Tears rolled down Wang Dao’s face as he said tearfully, “I would rather be strangers with the Great King than become enemies with Jingwen. Returning home to live in seclusion is the best way forward.”
Historically, if the northern lands hadn’t been in such turmoil that he had no home to return to, Wang Dao wouldn’t have stayed in Jiankang, suspected by the Prince of Langya and pressured by Wang Dun. In the end, his once best friend and confidant became enemies, strangers to each other. The Prince of Langya died depressed, and although Wang Dao supported the Prince of Langya’s son to power, to some extent realizing the future he and the Prince of Langya had envisioned, when he died, he certainly felt regret and remorse.
Sima Rui was an emotional person. Seeing Wang Dao cry like this, he couldn’t help but shed tears too. He gripped Wang Dao’s hand tightly and choked out, “Why has it come to this? Why?”
The two men faced each other in tears for a long while.
Wang Dao wiped away his tears. “Great King, I dare not hide from you. Wanting to use Jiangnan to counterattack the north is now impossible. Better to take the initiative—return to Luoyang and let the realm be unified.”
The Prince of Langya looked troubled and asked, “What if I don’t attack the north, but rather divide the realm with Zhao Hanzhang along the Yangtze River?”
Wang Dao shook his head. “Zhao Hanzhang won’t allow it. She now has a ready excuse—the Jingzhou grain tax case. Although it was Chuzhong’s doing, you cannot punish him. Everyone in the realm will believe you ordered him to do it. She can send troops south in the court’s name.”
The Prince of Langya gritted his teeth. “Then if I honor Luoyang as sovereign, can I independently occupy Jiangnan like Duke Chengguo?”
Wang Dao was silent for a moment, then still shook his head.
The Prince of Langya didn’t understand. “Why not?”
At this time, Jiangnan was not yet the land of fish and rice it would become in later generations. Its development lagged behind, and its craftsmanship, culture, and economy were far inferior to the Central Plains during peacetime. The Wu and Yue regions, in the eyes of Central Plains people, were only slightly better than barbarian lands.
At least in the Prince of Langya’s heart, Yangzhou’s status was far inferior to Xuzhou. It was just that Xuzhou had already been swept through by Zhao Hanzhang. If he returned, at most he could occupy only Langya Commandery as his fief.
He wanted all of Yangzhou as his fief. If possible, he could eventually use Yangzhou to look toward Guangzhou, realizing his wish to rule across the river.
Wang Dao said, “If it were before, perhaps we could discuss it, or delay for a few years. But now it won’t work.”
The Prince of Langya looked puzzled.
Wang Dao then explained about Yuan Li’s activities in Jiangnan, how his safe house had now been breached, and how he had been captured by Wang Dun.
“Zhao Hanzhang is merciful but also protective of her own. If she learns of this, she won’t let it rest.”
The Prince of Langya was stunned, stammering, “Chilong has been in contact with northern spies all along?”
Wang Dao didn’t hide it and nodded. “I wanted to borrow their power to return home. They were also happy to create discord between you and me, making the Great King lose me as an arm. So even though I’m unwilling to work for Zhao Hanzhang, they’re still willing to help me.”
The Prince of Langya: …
Wang Dao urged him, “Great King, you must decide soon. Zhao Hanzhang has a clever device that can transmit messages across a thousand li. What happened in Jiankang City today—by tomorrow at the latest, she will know.”
Zhao Hanzhang had strictly ordered the protection and secrecy of the radios, but with so many people knowing about them and using them, it was impossible not to leak any information.
So although Wang Dao and the Prince of Langya had never seen the so-called divine device, they knew they indeed had a method for rapid communication.
Occasionally they wondered in their hearts whether such a thing truly existed in this world, suspecting Zhao Hanzhang was creating a smokescreen.
At this moment, the Prince of Langya couldn’t help but doubt again in his heart. But he quickly suppressed such doubts and thought seriously. “This was Wang Dun’s doing. If I hand over Wang Dun…”
Wang Dao: “Can the Great King capture Chuzhong?”
The Prince of Langya choked, paused, then said, “I’m willing to work with General Zhao to capture him together.”
Wang Dao: “In that case, the Zhao family army would have an excuse to enter Yangzhou. At that time, could you still stop the Zhao family army? You couldn’t. The situation in Jiangnan would change. Since you’ll be returning either way, why not be more proactive? It would look better.”
Because Jiangnan couldn’t be held anyway.
But this was too much of a failure.
The Prince of Langya’s heart ached terribly.
When persuasion failed, Wang Dao could only rise to take his leave.
The Prince of Langya stopped him. “It’s already late. Maohong, please stay in the palace.”
Wang Dao looked up at the bright, brilliant sunlight, his lips trembling slightly. He silently bowed in acknowledgment.
Wang Dao was kept in the palace. Wang Yi was still imprisoned. Wang Bin had just seen off Wang Dun’s men. Seeing this situation, he simply led willing clan members to quietly leave Jiankang and join Wang Dun.
But the vast majority of Wang clan members were unwilling to leave and unwilling to serve Wang Dun.
Wang Dao’s cousin Wang Jue led the remaining twenty-some nephews and younger relatives to kneel outside the palace gates to plead guilty, hoping the Prince of Langya would release Wang Dao. They also sought Zhou Yi’s help in interceding.
Zhou Yi didn’t answer him. With a cold expression, he told him to leave, then hurried into the palace to tell the Prince of Langya, “Great King, Wang Dao has always been loyal and would absolutely never rebel. He’s not someone reckless and disrespectful like Wang Dun.”
The Prince of Langya sighed. “I know. I’m keeping him in the palace to tell Zhao Hanzhang that I have no intention of being enemies with the north. I knew nothing about Yuan Li’s case.”
Zhou Yi said, “Then you shouldn’t distance yourself from Wang Dao. When Yuan Li was in Jiankang, he had close dealings with Wang Dao. If you do this, won’t Zhao Hanzhang become suspicious?”
The Prince of Langya looked resentfully at Zhou Yi. “So Boren also knew about Yuan Li’s activities in Jiankang City?”
Zhou Yi said, “Apart from Liu Yu and a few others, who in the city didn’t know?”
The Prince of Langya’s heart went cold.
Did this mean the general trend was already against him?
Before he could waver to a conclusion, Liu Kun arrived.
They were separated only by a river. If not for bringing gifts for the Prince of Langya, he should have arrived earlier.
Censor Lu and the others received Liu Kun sooner than the Prince of Langya’s people. As soon as they met, Censor Lu immediately said, “General Yuan was captured by Wang Dun. Please, Administrator Liu, urge the Prince of Langya to demand his return. We need him alive. Whatever means necessary, he must get him back.”
Without some pressure, the Prince of Langya wouldn’t make up his mind.
As for what would happen to Yuan Li after the pressure—Censor Lu couldn’t worry about that for now. But this was indeed a rare opportunity.
Liu Kun was first shocked. “How is Yuan Li here?”
Then angry. “What is Wang Dun trying to do? Although Yuan Li is a petty person, he is still a court official. He’s already acted recklessly once—does he want to murder an official again?”
Censor Lu: “The Prince of Langya is indecisive by nature. Please persuade him, Administrator Liu. If his forces are insufficient to capture Wang Dun, the Great General can assist him.”
Quickly agree to let them send troops over to capture Wang Dun.
Liu Kun didn’t immediately grasp the deeper implication, feeling his suggestion was reasonable. He nodded in agreement, then immediately followed Jiankang City officials into the palace—no, into the princely residence to see the Prince of Langya.
Walking to the main gate, he looked up at the plaque and remarked to the official beside him, “I heard outsiders call this the palace, which is clearly a false rumor. The plaque says princely residence, showing the Great King hasn’t forgotten his proper place.”
What could the receiving official say but nod?