Xia Jun’s eyes darkened, a flash of emotion quickly crossing them. The emotion vanished in an instant, and after a moment, he smiled faintly: “Cousin, what do you mean by this?”
“Cousin and I both have Xia family blood flowing in us, so we should treat each other with sincerity. There’s no need for riddles. Cousin, you’ve fallen to such a state now – unable to enter government service, only able to work in the shadows for His Eighth Highness without receiving the proper official position and glory. Who is responsible for all this?” Jiang Chao smiled: “We both know very well!”
Xia Jun smiled as he looked at Jiang Chao. He was different from Jiang Chao. Though Jiang Chao worked under Xuan Li and seemed to be rising in his career, at most he had been too well protected by Xia Yan in the past, leaving his mind inadequate. Moreover, Jiang Chao had inherited Jiang Quan’s weak and wavering nature, often being too clever for his own good. Like these words he was speaking now – though Xia Jun clearly knew Jiang Chao was deliberately saying them for his benefit, he remained unmoved.
“Working for His Eighth Highness is my honor – I dare not complain. As for Cousin’s promotion, that’s Cousin’s good fortune. My fortune isn’t good, so I can’t blame others,” Xia Jun said.
Hearing this, Jiang Chao looked deeply at Xia Jun. This person was unfathomable. Originally, it had been an imperial edict that prevented him from entering government service, yet Xia Jun had somehow become Xuan Li’s external advisor. Having already figured out some of Xuan Li’s habits, Jiang Chao knew he never employed incompetent people. Given Xia Jun’s special status yet ability to gain Xuan Li’s recognition, he must possess extraordinary capabilities. Though Jiang Chao was narrow-minded and harbored wariness toward Xia Jun, the current situation was different – he had no choice but to conspire with Xia Jun.
“To be honest, Cousin, this time it’s His Eighth Highness’s intention.” Knowing that continuing this verbal sparring would bring him no benefit, Jiang Chao decided to speak plainly. “His Eighth Highness instructed me to handle this matter, but I feel we can take it a step further. However, I need Cousin’s help.”
Xia Jun slowly reached out to pour himself a cup of wine. The wine created slight ripples, releasing a hint of enticing aroma. Xia Jun lifted the wine cup but didn’t rush to drink, instead squinting slightly as if savoring the subtle wine fragrance. Slowly, he said: “Oh? Then, Cousin, what benefit would this bring me? And how far can this matter be taken?”
He didn’t rush to ask what the matter was or how to do it, but first asked about the results. This showed that Xia Jun was someone who didn’t care about using any means necessary – for any matter, he only demanded a satisfactory result.
Jiang Chao lowered his voice, though a hint of coldness flashed across his face: “The result? That depends on how big Cousin’s stakes are.”
“How about the entire Xia family as stakes?” Xia Jun smiled slightly.
Jiang Chao paused, studying the person before him carefully. Xia Jun had handsome features but somewhat gloomy eyes, though suddenly a glimmer of light burst forth in those eyes – like a dying wolf in the wilderness suddenly spotting prey, carrying a kind of mad excitement. Jiang Chao barely suppressed the shock in his heart, thinking this cousin was indeed a madman. However, his expression remained solemn: “Then I guarantee, Cousin, that after this matter is settled, there will be no more General’s Mansion in this world, no more Imperial Guards, and no more… Jiang siblings.” He said: “At that time, Princess Hong’an will naturally be personally delivered to Cousin’s hands. Whatever Cousin wishes to do, you may do.”
This stake… was indeed tempting. Before Xia Jun’s eyes appeared a pair of slightly upturned seductive eyes. When not looking at people, those eyes seemed veiled by a thin layer of mist – cold and serene. When looking at people, they carried a hint of mockery, as if ridiculing the other’s ignorance and naivety, with a maddening contempt.
In his life, the first half had been spent in luxury and comfort, getting whatever he wanted when he wanted it. There had been nothing he desired that he couldn’t obtain. But this balance was shattered by Jiang Ruan. She had used just a small scheme to make his flourishing life completely collapse. He didn’t have great obsession with becoming an official, but Jiang Ruan had challenged his dignity. In his view, if he fancied Jiang Ruan, she should obediently submit. Who knew she wasn’t a docile house cat but a terrifying female leopard – she had only slightly shown her claws and already made people taste her formidable power.
But no matter how formidable a leopard was, it was still just prey. Over these years, he had watched Jiang Ruan transform from an unfavored daughter raised on an estate into the eldest legitimate daughter everyone in the Jiang mansion feared, from an official’s daughter into a princess the Empress Dowager relied upon. He watched her bring down Jiang Li and Jiang Susu, bring down Xia Yan, and even in Xia Jiaojiao’s affair, she had surely played a part. He had never seen such a woman, which was precisely why she interested him.
Such a woman – scheming and profound, strong and resilient, with beautiful appearance and rotten heart – was exactly to his taste. But… since she dared refuse him, she had to pay the appropriate price.
Jiang Chao’s proposal was truly too tempting.
A hint of regret flashed in his eyes. If Jiang Ruan had obediently submitted to him, that would certainly have been good. Unfortunately, he knew what kind of person Jiang Ruan was – she would never bow her noble head to anyone, so he could only cut off that beautiful head. “Cousin’s proposal is indeed interesting…” he said.
Jiang Chao stared at him intently. Slowly, he heard Xia Jun’s remaining words: “Worth a try.” Only then did Jiang Chao breathe a sigh of relief.
Xia Jun looked at his wine cup nonchalantly: “I wonder what exactly Cousin plans to do?” Taking down the Imperial Guards and General’s Mansion in one sweep was certainly no ordinary matter. With the Zhao family and Imperial Guards both far away at the frontier, they would surely have to strike from the battlefield.
A sinister smile suddenly appeared on Jiang Chao’s face: “Before troops move, provisions must go first. No matter how capable the Imperial Guards and Zhao family army are, they can’t withstand running out of ammunition and food.”
…
Setting aside the Western Rong warfare for now, the Imperial Guards continued sending back victory reports. Their morale was greatly boosted as they successively reclaimed several lost territories. Guan Lianghan’s injuries were gradually stabilizing, and Great Jin’s soldiers’ military morale was steadying. Conversely, Heavenly Jin Kingdom had completely changed from their previous fierce momentum – even excellent weapons and tactics couldn’t salvage their failing situation.
People were amazed to discover that this Xiao Shao, who was called a “traitorous minister” by Great Jin, could actually command excellent military tactics. His military approach differed from that of Guan Lianghan and Jiang Xinzhi – it was a completely different style of operation: cold, cruel, absolutely like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. The Imperial Guards he led were almost like invincible iron men, fierce and brave like lone wolves on the grasslands – no, even grassland wolves couldn’t compare. They could fight ten to one, unstoppable.
Faced with such a force, Heavenly Jin Kingdom’s soldiers were terrified and retreated steadily. Xiao Shao won repeated victories using methods that hardly seemed like warfare. Since his arrival, the conflict with Heavenly Jin Kingdom no longer resembled war but more like one-sided slaughter.
However, even so, the warfare between Heavenly Jin Kingdom and Great Jin couldn’t be settled overnight. When marching, they had traveled light to make good time, bringing provisions calculated for short-term battles. The area where they fought Heavenly Jin Kingdom was located in a desolate desert with no nearby herders or livestock, making food extremely scarce. The method of sustaining war through war was only suitable for plundering warfare, which wasn’t feasible now given the circumstances. According to Great Jin’s regulations, provisions were still collected by people from the capital’s postal stations and transported by the supply corps, with Director Zhang in charge of delivery.
Zhang Ji had been leading the supply corps for many years, always choosing the shortest routes with minimal consumption. Since the provisions brought for the initial campaign were almost completely depleted, and the national treasury couldn’t spare much additional grain, what they were gathering now was food requisitioned from common people everywhere. In a short period, this batch of provisions would be rapidly transported to the frontier with Heavenly Jin Kingdom – this was Great Jin’s remaining limited reserves. Xiao Shao had to win the war before these provisions were exhausted, or he would only face defeat through starvation.
In Prince Jinying’s mansion, Jiang Ruan set down the book in her hands and looked at the purple-clothed young man before her. He sat across from her, smiling as he looked at her, slowly waving a folding fan. If one ignored the small beard on his face that didn’t match his age, he would be quite a handsome and elegant young gentleman. Unfortunately, because of that tuft of beard, what should have been a graceful gesture appeared somewhat comical.
Qi Feng lived in a large courtyard separated from Prince Jinying’s mansion by only a wall – also arranged by Xiao Shao. He shared lodgings with Xia Qing. If not for Jiang Ruan being in Prince Jinying’s mansion and concerns about causing gossip, Xiao Shao would have directly had these two men stay in the mansion. Though Qi Feng and Xia Qing didn’t live in Prince Jinying’s mansion, they were only separated by a wall, making it very convenient.
“Third Sister-in-law,” Qi Feng said, waving his fan, “You specially called Fourth Brother over – what instructions do you have?” Qi Feng presented himself as a romantic figure, though his eyes flashed with puzzlement. Having lived in Hundred Zhang Tower for years, he had grown cold toward the court and usually remained hidden in shadows. He wasn’t clear about Great Jin’s palace and inner mansion affairs, so he wasn’t very familiar with Jiang Ruan either. During their journey to the capital, he had learned some things about Jiang Ruan’s past and present from others. Regarding Jiang Ruan’s reputation, Guan Lianghan said she was resourceful and intelligent, Mo Cong said she was ruthless, and as for Xiao Shao, anyone who could earn such protection from him must not be ordinary. Qi Feng didn’t underestimate Jiang Ruan, but he felt that no matter how clever, she was still a woman, and women always had some unrealistic romantic notions. Yet from arriving in the capital until now, Jiang Ruan hadn’t shown the slightest longing for Xiao Shao. Qi Feng found this interesting – it seemed like unrequited love, and Xiao Shao had hit an iron wall.
Looking at the young man before her, Jiang Ruan also slowly revealed a smile. She had never interacted with Qi Si before, but since Xiao Shao said Qi Si was skilled in court politics, for certain matters, having him handle them would be ideal.
She said slowly: “I asked Master Qi to come today to request that you save lives.”
“Save lives?” Qi Feng looked at Jiang Ruan, finding her expression didn’t seem like she was joking. After thinking briefly, he didn’t rashly respond: “Third Sister-in-law, I’m not a physician. If you need to save lives, you should find Xia Wu instead.” He hadn’t yet figured out Jiang Ruan’s temperament. Unlike Xiao Shao, who trusted Jiang Ruan out of personal affection, Qi Feng’s relationship with Jiang Ruan wasn’t deep, so he maintained some wariness. If Jiang Ruan wanted to take advantage of Xiao Shao’s absence to cause trouble or do something harmful to Xiao Shao and Prince Jinying’s mansion, Qi Feng would never stand idly by – he would stop her even at the cost of his life.
“If it were one person’s life, Master Xia could indeed save them, but now it concerns tens of thousands of lives – how could Master Xia alone save them all?” Jiang Ruan said flatly.
Qi Feng slowly furrowed his brow, completely dropping his earlier playful expression: “What does Third Sister-in-law mean by this? Fourth Brother truly doesn’t understand.”
“Master Qi is a clever person – why beat around the bush with me?” Jiang Ruan’s words were quite blunt, even somewhat direct: “Since Master Qi and Xiao Shao are fellow disciples, you naturally have deep friendship. Now someone wants to scheme against Xiao Shao. Given Master Qi’s relationship with Xiao Shao, I believe you wouldn’t stand idly by. In terms of emotion and reason, can you help him?”
“Something happened to Xiao San?” Qi Feng’s eyes showed disbelief. During this time, he hadn’t received any news of Xiao Shao having problems with the Imperial Guards. Jiang Ruan’s words were indeed suspicious. If something had happened to Xiao Shao, he would definitely be the first to know.
“He hasn’t had problems yet, but if things continue this way, he will soon,” Jiang Ruan’s voice was heavy. She looked directly at Qi Feng, and a hint of mockery suddenly flashed in her beautiful eyes. The mockery vanished instantly, that dark light disappearing and transforming into bright eyes like colored glass, full of charm with every glance. “I imagine before Master Qi came, you heard people talk about my affairs. I have feuds with both Jiang Chao and the Marquis Xia mansion. I made Jiang Chao lose a finger and prevented Xia Jun from ever entering government service.”
Qi Feng had originally intended to smile casually, but found this expression somewhat inappropriate at the moment. He had indeed gathered intelligence about Jiang Ruan before coming. But he didn’t understand the significance of Jiang Ruan bringing up these matters now. After pausing, he said: “So what? What does that have to do with Third Brother? Could they really do something treasonous for revenge?”
“No,” Jiang Ruan stared intently at Qi Feng. He felt shaken by those eyes, then heard Jiang Ruan continue: “What I want to say is that Jiang Chao and the Xia family’s hatred toward me is merely surface-level. Jiang Chao and the Xia family are working for Eighth Prince Xuan Li, and Xiao Shao has become a thorn in Xuan Li’s side. Xiao Shao is unwilling to cooperate with Xuan Li, and for such an uncooperative person whose power exceeds his control, Xuan Li has only one choice – to kill.” When Jiang Ruan spoke of these secret matters, she remained very calm throughout, as if she weren’t discussing major treasonous affairs but commenting on how nice the weather was today.
Qi Feng’s expression became somewhat stiff. He heard Jiang Ruan’s cold and calm voice from across the table: “So on the surface, it appears Jiang Chao and the Xia family want to deal with me, but in reality, Xuan Li wants to deal with Xiao Shao – or rather, Xuan Li wants to deal with the Imperial Guards. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“You…” Jiang Ruan’s words were too direct, so direct that Qi Feng didn’t know how to respond. He suddenly felt that Jiang Ruan was indeed very suitable for Xiao Shao. On the surface, Jiang Ruan appeared extremely calm and conservative, but hidden beneath was a force of aggression. From her eyes, he saw strength and resilience.
“I understand Xuan Li very well – he will make good use of every opportunity, especially at this critical juncture. With Xiao Shao away from the capital and only Zhao Yi and a few others left at the General’s Mansion, this is the perfect timing. Xuan Li will definitely find ways to create trouble.” She looked at the book before her: “I had Xiao Shao’s hidden guards monitor Jiang Chao. A few days ago, Jiang Chao met with Xia Jun.”
“They formed an alliance?” Qi Feng asked: “The Xia family isn’t what it used to be – how dare they act rashly?”
“The Xia family naturally wouldn’t dare, but unfortunately Xia Jun is a madman,” Jiang Ruan smiled coldly. “These past few days, Director Zhang of the supply corps, Zhang Ji, seems very diligent and extremely generous with money. He even bought three large mansions and five shops in the eastern part of the city consecutively. The bank notes deposited in Four Seas Bank have also increased considerably. Master Qi, don’t you find this strange?”
“Zhang Ji…” Qi Feng’s expression became stern. Having studied court politics, he was naturally well-informed about court ministers. Zhang Ji was a veteran of the supply corps, upright and talented. In all his years of transporting provisions, he had never made a mistake. Jiang Ruan’s words clearly implied suspicion of Zhang Ji. He felt both surprised and incredulous: “Director Zhang is a good official. Pure water has no fish – this money doesn’t necessarily relate to Xuan Li. Military provisions are a major matter – Director Zhang couldn’t possibly destroy his own future. You know that if anything goes wrong, His Majesty won’t spare him first.”
“He is indeed a good official, but unfortunately he has an unworthy son,” Jiang Ruan said coldly.
“All three of his sons are fine young talents – how can you say they’re unworthy?” Qi Feng frowned.
“Zhang Ji has a beloved mistress who bore him a son. This son spends his days in debauchery. Zhang Ji’s wife is the daughter of Marquis Muyang, a formidable woman. Zhang Ji doesn’t dare tell his wife about having a son outside, but he can’t control this son’s extravagant spending. Those mansions and shops in the eastern city, even the silver, are all prepared for his son. I believe Master Qi knows about Director Zhang’s fondness for his children.”
Qi Feng naturally knew Zhang Ji was henpecked, but he didn’t know when Zhang Ji had acquired an illegitimate son outside. He was even more puzzled about how Jiang Ruan knew these things. Zhang Ji was already doting toward his three legitimate sons, so out of guilt toward an illegitimate son born to a mistress, he might indeed be even more indulgent. But… Qi Feng said: “But the risk would be too great. To gamble one’s future and the lives of one’s entire family for a little money – a smart person wouldn’t do this.”
Jiang Ruan smiled slightly: “Indeed, for just a little money, he wouldn’t need to do this. But what if he could achieve great success and advancement because of it? He wouldn’t have to endure the attitude of his wife’s family, Marquis Wumu, anymore. He could openly bring that beloved mistress and her son into the mansion, even secure a future for that illegitimate son. Do you think these stakes are big enough?”
Qi Feng paused.
Jiang Ruan said coldly: “Heaven-defying wealth and honor – who wouldn’t want to gamble for it? Moreover, if he wins the bet, with a change of dynasty, when the Son of Heaven is no longer the Son of Heaven and the court is no longer the court, who would pursue the crime of deceiving the sovereign?” She spoke slowly, word by word: “Crimes are only borne by the defeated. But who will live and who will die remains unknown. He dares to gamble.”