In late May, Han Qian led the last group of personnel aboard ships to depart Xiangzhou.

From Xiangzhou they sailed down the Han River, entering the Yangtze at Jiangxia and turning east to return. Along the way, the rivers were vast and mighty.

If they took the new fast sailing ships built in Xuzhou, they could probably return to Jinling in just six or seven days.

However, Han Qian was in no hurry. He didn’t even have the two new fast sailing ships built in Xuzhou transferred over. The twenty-some people divided among three small black-awning sailing vessels and proceeded downriver.

At this time, relief forces were still continuously withdrawing from Xiangzhou City to various locations. The waterways were quite safe. When the mood struck, Han Qian would even stop for two or three days among the lakes, mountains, and river channels to appreciate the magnificent and wondrous scenery of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers.

Proceeding leisurely along the way, it took ten days to reach the Han River mouth within Jiangxia County’s territory. They moored the boats at the eastern foot of Tortoise Mountain, and Han Qian climbed the mountain to view the confluence of the Yangtze and Han Rivers.

Tortoise Mountain stretched only three to four hundred paces from north to south and stood merely ten zhang high, but with the Han River to its east and the Yangtze to its south, it could be considered a strategic location.

However, the Han River mouth at this time was a completely different concept from the Hankou major town of later generations.

At that time, from Jingzhou to the Han River mouth, there were no embankments built along the Yangtze’s banks—not even crude earthen dikes.

And from Xiangzhou south to the Han River mouth, there were no true embankments along the Han River’s banks to contain the waters either.

At the confluence of the Yangtze and Han Rivers, lakes and marshes stretched vastly. One could still faintly see traces of the great northern lakes of the ancient Yunmeng Marsh.

In autumn and winter, when the water levels of the Yangtze and Han Rivers dropped, Tortoise Mountain connected with the land, but now that summer had arrived, Tortoise Mountain was submerged in a expanse of lakes and marshes.

Climbing Tortoise Mountain, Han Qian looked in all directions—for a hundred li there was nothing but wetlands. The Jianghan Plain that would become a land of fish and rice in later generations had not yet fully formed at this time.

Though Tortoise Mountain appeared quite small, besides the vast waters at the confluence of the Yangtze and Han Rivers, it also had a Temple of King Yu. On the southern cliff facing the river were stone inscriptions left by ancients from various dynasties, as well as a cenotaph left by Lu Su, a famous minister from the Three Kingdoms period.

Han Qian stood on the rocky outcrop before the southern cliff, raising his head to view the mottled inscriptions on the stone cliff weathered by the years. A sailing vessel slowly approached from upstream on the Yangtze.

Han Qian stopped at the promontory, looking through his telescope, and saw Wen Ruilin, an advisor beside Ma Xun, the heir of the Tanzhou Military Commissioner, standing at the bow, shading his eyes as he gazed in this direction.

Han Qian cursed his bad luck and said to Tian Cheng and Zhao Wuji: “You all stay here. Xi Ren and I will go see if there are any ancient sites worth exploring on the north mountain. Don’t bother with that Wen Ruilin.”

Whether Wen Ruilin had vision problems or not, just as Han Qian and Xi Ren climbed up the low cliff along a muddy path and ducked into the forest, Wen Ruilin stood at the bow and called out from afar to Tian Cheng and the others still at the promontory: “May I ask if that ahead is Lord Han Qian?”

“We are our lord’s subordinates. Passing through here, we came ashore to enjoy the scenery. Our lord is not with us—I wonder what matter Scholar Wen seeks our lord for?” Tian Cheng replied.

“You recognize me?” Wen Ruilin’s eyesight was truly poor—scenery more than ten paces away appeared as if covered by a layer of fog.

“Tian Cheng once accompanied our lord to meet Scholar Wen,” Tian Cheng said.

“Oh, so it’s Director Tian! My apologies, my apologies,” Wen Ruilin said. “May I ask where Lord Han is now? My family’s heir cordially invites Lord Han to be a guest in Yueyang for a few days.”

“Our lord appears and disappears like a dragon showing its head but not its tail. We subordinates are not entirely clear. Perhaps after returning to Jinling, we’ll know our lord’s specific whereabouts,” Tian Cheng replied.

“Why doesn’t our lord want to be a guest in Yueyang?” Xi Ren watched Han Qian determinedly pushing deeper into the mountain forest and asked with puzzlement as she followed closely behind.

There was a small path through the mountain forest. As Han Qian pushed deeper into the woods, he said to Xi Ren:

“On Great Chu’s western front, the decay of Jing-Xiang and the instability of Tanzhou are Great Chu’s two major immediate concerns. Comparatively speaking, although Xu Mingzhen bears tremendous military pressure in Shouzhou and has ambitions, for now he will only realize them by supporting the Crown Prince’s accession. Before Emperor Tianyou’s death, there won’t be any unusual movements. Tanzhou has been keeping a low enough profile these days, but if they truly think I’m like some resentful wife at this time, they obviously still haven’t seen the situation clearly!”

Tortoise Mountain was very small. In the time it took to brew two pots of tea, they passed through the forest and reached the northwestern foot of Tortoise Mountain.

Only then did Han Qian see a rather worn sailing vessel moored behind Tortoise Mountain. Four or five sailors appeared to sit lazily on the deck enjoying the river breeze, but their expressions were outwardly relaxed yet inwardly tense. In the shallow lake to the southwest, two dark-skinned fishermen stood directly in the water catching fish.

Thirty to forty paces down from the forest, there was an abandoned tea pavilion concealed behind a bamboo grove. Two men in blue robes stood with their backs to Han Qian, gazing at the lake to the northwest of Tortoise Mountain.

Han Qian and Xi Ren exchanged glances and wanted to quietly retreat.

“Since we’ve had the fortune to meet, why would Lord Han leave without a greeting?” One of the men in blue robes didn’t turn his head, still gazing at the wetlands northwest of Tortoise Mountain, yet called out to detain Han Qian.

“Prince Yong travels incognito through Chu territory. If we subjects of Great Chu knew of this, naturally we should report it to the prefectures and counties, but this would spoil Prince Yong’s refined interests. Yet if we knew but didn’t report, it would be hard to escape suspicion of colluding with the enemy. Han Qian is caught in a dilemma. Thinking it over, the only option is to pretend not to have seen,” Han Qian said, standing at the forest’s edge.

“Oh, are there such obvious flaws that you saw through my movements at a glance?” The man in blue robes turned around—who else could it be but Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu?

Xi Ren’s mouth hung open for a long time, too shocked to know what to say.

After Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu decided on the strategy of feinting east to attack west, he nearly swallowed Chu’s Jing-Xiang region. Even though he ultimately suffered setbacks and withdrew his troops, he still captured a hundred thousand able-bodied men.

Who could imagine that Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu was now touring mountains and waters within Great Chu’s territory?

And the other man in blue robes was gaunt with a yellow face marked by a faint saber scar running across it. Who else could he be but Han Yuanqi, who had once led fifty thousand Liang troops to attack Xichuan?

Thinking of how so many elite Liang troops had left their corpses outside Xichuan City, Xi Ren’s eyes flashed with fierce light. She flipped her hands to reveal a pair of short daggers and moved to stand before Han Qian.

Han Qian reached out to press down on Xi Ren, having her put away her weapons. Standing there, he bowed his hands toward Prince Yong but didn’t answer his question.

“I’ve waited here for two days precisely to meet Lord Han. Could Lord Han perhaps not rush to report this, so that Zhu Yu won’t have to flee in embarrassment immediately?” Zhu Yu asked. Seeing Han Qian’s face show hesitation, he waved his hand to have the sailing vessel moored at the mountain’s foot pole farther out into the northern lake.

Xi Ren was stunned again. Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu’s appearance here wasn’t a chance encounter—he had specifically waited for Han Qian to pass through this area and anticipated that Han Qian would climb Tortoise Mountain for a visit?

Thinking about it, it was indeed so. Otherwise, how could there be so many coincidences?

However, looking at the attitudes of Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu and Han Yuanqi, it also wasn’t that they were waiting here to ambush them.

Thinking about it, given Zhu Yu’s status, if he had infiltrated deep into Jing-Xiang’s heartland specifically to assassinate Han Qian, that joke would be far too big.

Xi Ren twisted her head to look at Han Qian behind her, only to see Han Qian walking toward the dilapidated pavilion with a face full of bitter smiles.

The tea pavilion was broken down, but the interior had been cleaned up. Though a stone table and four stone stools were damaged, they had been swept clean.

A chess board sat on the stone table with several dozen pieces in play.

“Would Lord Han play a game with this prince?” Zhu Yu gestured toward the chess board and asked.

“In music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and literary composition, Han is thoroughly unlearned,” Han Qian said.

“Lord Han’s learning in worldly governance spans heaven and earth. These minor arts need not be studied,” Zhu Yu laughed heartily, sat down and collected the remaining pieces into the chess box, staring into Han Qian’s eyes and saying, “Zhu Yu thinks highly of himself. Stationed in Luoyang, fighting against enemy Jin generals for ten years without a single defeat, and having schemed for Jing-Xiang for years as well, yet unexpectedly suffered setback at Lord Han’s hands. That’s why I came specially to meet Lord Han.”

Han Qian merely smiled faintly.

Zhu Yu boldly entering Jing-Chu to personally survey the mountain and river terrain was indeed quite beyond his expectations, but Han Qian wouldn’t entirely believe his words. He thought it was more likely that Liang spies learned of his departure from Xiangzhou returning to Jinling, and Zhu Yu, upon learning this, temporarily thought to meet him on Tortoise Mountain.

Of course, Zhu Yu saying this was also to elevate him. Han Qian wouldn’t expose this. He sat down with a smile: “Han’s appearance is wretched and ugly, truly nothing exceptional. I imagine this must disappoint Your Highness.”

“Apart from insignificant forces overestimating themselves by claiming to be kings and emperors, the realm has been divided among Liang, Shu, Chu, and Jin. In Lord Han’s view, to which house will the realm ultimately belong?” Not knowing when Han Qian’s subordinates would come searching, Zhu Yu didn’t beat around the bush and directly entered the main topic.

“Han truly is an unlearned person. Your Highness’s question truly stumps Han,” Han Qian smiled without answering Zhu Yu’s question.

“Although Liang occupies a land beset on four sides by war, and the newly acquired Guanzhong is also thoroughly devastated, Zhu Yu dares say that this great realm will ultimately belong to Liang. Does Lord Han believe this?” Zhu Yu asked.

Faced with this question from Zhu Yu, Han Qian truly didn’t know how to answer.

In terms of the current situation, Liang’s circumstances were much stronger than Chu’s.

Moreover, Liang Crown Prince Zhu Gui had died of illness four years ago. Though Liang hadn’t established a new crown prince and Prince Yong Zhu Yu wasn’t born of the principal wife, in terms of reputation, actual power held, and personal ability, the Liang Emperor’s other sons were no match for Prince Yong Zhu Yu.

Even though the Liang army failed to seize Jing-Xiang this time, it didn’t diminish Zhu Yu’s reputation in the slightest.

Liang Emperor Zhu Yun and Emperor Tianyou Yang Mi had contended for half their lives without determining a victor. Whether Liang annexed Chu or Chu annexed Liang, at least during Zhu Yun and Yang Mi’s lifetimes, this was unlikely to be seen. They could only place hope in the second-generation rulers of Liang and Chu.

Great Chu’s comprehensive strength was originally weaker than Liang’s. Not to mention Crown Prince Yang Yuanwo—even Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan and Prince of Linjiang Commandery Yang Yuanpu were far inferior to Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu. Among Jin’s several second-generation princes, none currently appeared more outstanding than Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu either.

If Liang Prince Yong encountered no accidents and could smoothly take control of Liang, or even if Liang Emperor Zhu Yun grew old without dying and Zhu Yu as crown prince could control Liang’s military and administrative affairs, the realm might ultimately truly come under Great Liang.

However, even though Han Qian was unfamiliar with Liang’s historical trajectory in later generations, he also knew that when Chu was left with broken mountains and rivers by Anning Palace and Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan, with national strength weak to the extreme for quite a long period, with internal mutual conquest never ceasing, yet the Liang army didn’t seize the opportunity to annex Great Chu. This indicated that three years later, Liang internally was also experiencing unimaginable turmoil, possibly lasting no shorter than Chu’s.

Looking at the formidable abilities Zhu Yu displayed at this time, Han Qian suspected that when great chaos erupted internally in Liang three years later, it was most likely because Zhu Yu had already died unexpectedly. He thought that since Zhu Yu kept personally entering deep into enemy territory to survey mountain and river terrain without focusing on changes in Bianzhou’s situation, if some accident occurred within the next three years, it would be quite normal.

And if the historical trajectory didn’t change, the chaotic age of the Central Plains broken, divided in four or five parts, with conquest and slaughter, would continue for most of another century before ending. But for the following three to four hundred years, the entire northern Central Plains region would continue suffering ravaging by northern barbarian tribes, until the entire Central Plains once again fell into barbarian hands.

Though Zhu Yu wanted to have a heart-to-heart deep conversation, Han Qian didn’t want to give him this opportunity.

Han Qian thought that he had finally managed to figure out the situation in Jinling and complete his initial arrangements. If there were any disturbances in Jinling, he could still respond in a timely manner. No matter how great a stake Zhu Yu offered him today, he didn’t want to step onto another unknown path where he didn’t know if the end held life or death.

“It’s getting late. Han Qian is still hurrying back to Jinling, so I won’t remain here to spoil Your Highness’s mood for viewing scenic wonders,” Han Qian said. After sitting for the time it took to brew a pot of tea, he hastily stood to take his leave.

“Though Chu is vast, it cannot contain Lord Han’s talents. If Lord Han would assist Zhu Yu in unifying the realm, Zhu Yu would treat you as a friend for life!” Zhu Yu stood up and declared passionately.

“Many thanks for Your Highness’s regard, but Han truly is unlearned,” Han Qian said, fleeing as if into the mountain forest. Coming face to face with Tian Cheng and Zhao Wuji who had come searching, he immediately urged them to turn back and walk away. At the last moment, he still couldn’t help turning his head back and saying something mystically to Zhu Yu: “There are distinctions between legitimate and concubine-born heirs. Your Highness may face a tribulation within three years. I hope you will be careful!”