“Does the Young Master really need to tell them everything?”
After the meeting concluded at Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Zhao Wuji had remained by Han Qian’s side the entire time. Now as they took their leave from the marquis’s residence and Zhao Wuji accompanied Han Qian into the carriage while Gao Shao, Tian Cheng and the others rode escort on horseback, he couldn’t help saying this.
“Ha…”
Han Qian saw that even the usually taciturn Zhao Wuji rarely expressed his own opinions. He laughed heartily, lifting the carriage curtain to look at the sparsely lit night scene of Jinling city, saying with a smile:
“In matters under heaven, what is most taboo is believing oneself to know while others remain unaware, and also having the delusion of a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Those who ultimately succeed merely guide situations according to their momentum.”
After the crisis triggered by Yao Xishui, although Han Qian had successfully persuaded the black-veiled woman and Marquis Xinchang Li Pu through Li Zhigao to agree that regular scout and investigator team building as well as routine intelligence gathering would all be handled by the Left Bureau—to prevent Wanhong Tower’s years of infiltration and deployment from being exposed under Anning Palace’s very eyes—it would be too naive for Han Qian to think Wanhong Tower wouldn’t plant eyes and ears in Xuzhou.
Furthermore, the families of Gao Shao, Tian Cheng and most of the Left Bureau’s elite scouts, as well as the dependents of some of the Han family’s household troops, were all under the Garrison Military Office’s control. This destined that if they truly wanted to plant spies in the Left Bureau, they would certainly be able to find openings.
And given Wanhong Tower’s sinister style of operating in the shadows all these years, if they didn’t do this, Han Qian wouldn’t believe it even if beaten to death.
Han Qian seemingly could keep the secret of those three people—Xi Ren, Feng Xuan, and Gao Bao—but without this element, his strategy of inviting the wolf into the house wouldn’t make sense. Given Wanhong Tower and the Marquis Xinchang residence’s style, harboring doubts, they would inevitably strengthen their infiltration and control of the Left Bureau.
In the end he might not preserve the secret, and would pointlessly waste their side’s strength in internal conflict.
Under current circumstances, every step they took was like walking on thin ice. Han Qian didn’t think they had the luxury for internal strife!
And when it came down to it, under the current situation, he still needed to strive to have the Third Prince firmly stand on his side. The power he currently controlled came to a considerable degree from the Third Prince’s trust in him.
Han Qian quickly dismissed these distractions from his mind and turned to thinking about how Liang Kingdom gathering troops at Chenzhou would stir developments in Jinling’s situation.
Xu Mingzhen was the Military Commissioner of Shouzhou, actually controlling military and administrative power and defense from Shouzhou west to Guangzhou and Shenzhou. He was also an important border minister of Chu Kingdom, controlling the middle and upper reaches of the Huai River, and had repeatedly repelled Liang Kingdom’s attacks.
Now that Liang Kingdom was again planning to launch an offensive against the middle and upper Huai River region, Xu Mingzhen’s position would naturally become even more secure. He might even need to draw more troops from various prefectures and counties to the Shouzhou line to be under Xu Mingzhen’s command, guarding against Liang Kingdom breaking through from the Chenzhou-Caizhou line.
Of course, Emperor Tianyou might also order Xu Mingzhen to lead his forces to firmly defend the cities from Shouzhou to Guangzhou, while separately dispatching a great general from Jinling to command assembled reinforcements entering Shouzhou to resist the autumn-winter offensive that Liang’s army was about to launch.
How exactly Jinling would respond, Emperor Tianyou and the important ministers qualified to participate in the Privy Council meetings would decide. At that time the Third Prince might be qualified to attend the meetings, but regardless, the Third Prince’s voice would carry little weight.
From the attitude that Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, Li Zhigao, and Chai Jian had shown just now when discussing this matter, Han Qian also knew that everyone felt that even if warfare erupted this time, it had nothing to do with the Dragon Sparrow Army or with them.
Thinking of this, Han Qian let out a soft sigh.
He knew the time left to them was too limited. They couldn’t truly wait until the Third Prince genuinely came of age before leading troops on campaign to increase his prestige. But for the moment he hadn’t thought of good arguments, and in haste didn’t know how to persuade Marquis Xinchang Li Pu and the others to agree to strenuously fight for the Third Prince to gain the opportunity to command the Dragon Sparrow Army on campaign this time, serving as a flanking division to reinforce Shouzhou.
Han Qian couldn’t help wondering—if the Third Prince could secure the opportunity to command a flanking division this time, how should the Dragon Sparrow Army enter into this warfare?
Han Qian sat with his back against the carriage wall, thinking that if the momentum of Liang Kingdom gathering forces along the Chenzhou line continued, reinforcements and supplies from west of Jinling would soon travel the Yangtze River through Chao Lake heading north, while reinforcements and supplies from east of Jinling would gather and transfer with Yangzhou as the center. However, Xiangzhou, Nanyang commandery and other western flank areas should also need to strengthen defenses to prevent Liang’s army from killing their way in after tearing through the Guangzhou-Shenzhou defense line.
“What is the Young Master thinking about?” Zhao Wuji couldn’t help asking again.
“I’m thinking that if Liang’s army attacks Guangzhou and Shenzhou this winter, the Dragon Sparrow Army should strive for the opportunity to reinforce Xiangzhou and Nanyang,” Han Qian said.
“The Dragon Sparrow Army has only just been established and isn’t even at full strength, and the Third Prince is young and unfamiliar with warfare. There shouldn’t be an opportunity for him to lead troops on campaign, right?” Zhao Wuji said.
“Yes, according to normal reasoning, this warfare shouldn’t have anything to do with us,” Han Qian nodded, but didn’t know how to explain to Zhao Wuji the urgency they faced. His eyes hidden in the dark corner of the carriage, he simply gazed calmly at Jinling city’s desolate night scene.
Under the escort of Gao Shao, Tian Cheng and the others, the carriage soon turned into Lanting Lane.
With his father serving in Xuzhou, when Han Qian returned to Jinling he naturally continued to live in the Han family mansion. However, Fan Xicheng, Han Laoshan, Han Zhou Shi, Qing Yun and the others all remained in Xuzhou.
Although the several residences around the Han family mansion had been rearranged for the Left Bureau’s investigators and scouts to move into, and the six courtyards on the north side near Shitang River had all been converted into warehouses—with Lanting Lane, Tieli Lane, and Kaoshan Lane essentially all falling under the Left Bureau’s control—as the carriage turned into Lanting Lane, Han Qian felt somewhat desolate.
As Han Qian climbed down from the carriage, he saw Zhao Wuji’s father Old Zhao opening the main gate from inside, holding a lamp as he came out to greet them with Lin Haizheng and Fan Dahei: “Young Master, watch your step. Miss Yao from Wanhong Tower and Spring Thirteenth Mistress from the rouge shop have come to pay their respects to the Young Master. They’re currently inside talking with Ting’er…”
The tenant farmer and hunter Old Zhao who had previously been timid and fearful before household troops like Zhao Kuo and Fan Xicheng no longer existed. Old Zhao now wore a blue silk robe with his head wrapped in a blue turban headwrap, appearing much more spirited than before.
In fact, Zhao Ting’er and Zhao Wuji were only fifteen or sixteen years old—in a time when early marriage was customary, how old could Old Zhao actually be? It was just that previously the pressure to survive had pressed down on him, leaving too many traces of time on his body and face, making him appear aged.
Over this past year or so, with Zhao Wuji and Zhao Ting’er at Han Qian’s side, Old Zhao’s days had been much more comfortable than before. He appeared younger, though at around forty years old, he still looked somewhat older than his actual age.
With Han Laoshan remaining in Xuzhou with his father, the trivial household matters in Han Qian’s residence also needed someone to manage. And even during the period when Han Qian left Jinling, the residence here needed someone to constantly clean and care for it, so Han Qian had simply had Old Zhao and his wife move in directly.
Before going to the Marquis of Linjiang’s residence to see the Third Prince, Han Qian had already had Zhao Ting’er bring Xi Ren back first. Now seeing that Yao Xishui was already here waiting for him, he wasn’t surprised.
The secret forces that Wanhong Tower had deployed while lurking in the shadows all these years couldn’t expose their tracks. Han Qian had suggested that Wanhong Tower continue hiding. Like before when they all gathered at Wanhong Tower to discuss matters, this needed to be strictly limited. So Wanhong Tower’s contact with the Marquis Xinchang residence would mainly be through Su Hongyu, while contact with this side would mainly be through Yao Xishui.
After all, everyone knew that after arriving in Jinling he had been extremely infatuated with Yao Xishui. Previously Yao Xishui had been cold and indifferent toward him, but now that he had become a great favorite before the Third Prince, even if he kept Yao Xishui overnight in his residence, others wouldn’t think there was anything suspicious about it.
What was more difficult to handle was Spring Thirteenth Mistress.
Kong Zhou was famously henpecked in Jinling city. In the end he hadn’t dared take Spring Thirteenth Mistress as a concubine, or even dared associate with her, but Spring Thirteenth Mistress having an affair with Kong Zhou was something all of Jinling city’s powerful and noble knew about.
No matter how you looked at it, Han Qian couldn’t have any romantic entanglement with Spring Thirteenth Mistress, couldn’t even publicly use Spring Thirteenth Mistress to manage the rouge shop.
Han Qian believed that Wanhong Tower’s side was also troubled by Spring Thirteenth Mistress’s rather awkward identity at present. He even found it somewhat strange that Spring Thirteenth Mistress had come to visit together with Yao Xishui tonight, because if this fell into the eyes of someone with ulterior motives, it would attract unnecessary attention.
Had Yao Xishui and the others not considered this point, or was there another arrangement?
Han Qian saw the night was getting late. He had Lin Haizheng, Fan Dahei, Gao Shao, and Tian Cheng go rest first—anything could be discussed tomorrow. Thinking about these matters, he passed through the hanging flower gate and walked inside.
Zhao Ting’er was sitting under the grape arbor in the courtyard talking with Yao Xishui and Spring Thirteenth Mistress. Xi Ren stood to the side, being pulled into conversation by Spring Thirteenth Mistress. Clearly before Han Qian returned, Zhao Ting’er hadn’t known Xi Ren’s true identity and role, and wasn’t sure whether she should let Yao Xishui and the others know.
As if able to see the suspicion in Han Qian’s eyes, Spring Thirteenth Mistress smiled charmingly and said: “Some time ago when Jinling city had that torrential rain, the mountain wall at my lodgings on Hanshou Street collapsed and destroyed two rooms. It truly frightened this humble one to death. I could only purchase a new residence in Lanting Lane and move here to be neighbors with Minister Han—Minister Han won’t resent this humble one for coming to disturb you so late, will you?”
Very well. Wanhong Tower and the Marquis Xinchang residence ultimately still weren’t at ease with him, and had to arrange someone nearby to closely monitor every move on this side.
Han Qian saw Yao Xishui’s eyes staring at him rather sternly, as if worried he would be dissatisfied with such an arrangement. He took the tea cup that Old Zhao’s wife Zhao Shi handed to him, then indicated that Old Zhao and Zhao Shi should go rest first. Lifting the tea cup lid and blowing away the tea leaves floating on the scalding tea water, he took a sip of hot tea and asked with a smile: “If you’re truly worried about me, why not arrange for Miss Yao to move directly into my residence? I’d be much more willing to accept that arrangement!”
The corner of Yao Xishui’s eye twitched. A breath of resentment stuck in her chest—she didn’t even know how to spit it out. But she was also secretly alarmed, secretly sensing that no matter what stirrings there were, Han Qian this scoundrel could guess eight or nine out of ten.
Spring Thirteenth Mistress laughed with infinite charm: “Whether Xishui can move in depends on Minister Han’s capabilities.”
Seeing that Wanhong Tower and the Marquis Xinchang residence actually truly had the intention of arranging Yao Xishui to be his concubine in order to monitor and control him, Han Qian felt a chill at the back of his head…