If the Prince’s household hadn’t actively taken on the task, the responsibility of delivering the decree would never have fallen to Zhang Ping.

However, to outsiders, it appeared that the Third Prince was filled with anger and resentment over Han Qian’s “flight,” which was why he had taken over the decree delivery so he could send people to interrogate Han Qian.

Of course, Qianyang City was also full of vigilance toward Zhang Ping’s party. On the very first day they were invited into the post station, all the weapons and armor of their accompanying guards were confiscated. Zhang Ping and his group enjoyed not even half the treatment befitting imperial envoys. Apart from seeing Han Daoxun on the first day, they were essentially kept under house arrest in the post station, with no opportunity to meet other Xu Province officials.

Yao Xishui sat by the window, facing a peach tree newly in bloom in the courtyard, irritably plucking the strings of her zither. Six days had passed since they arrived in Xu Province, and Han Qian still hadn’t appeared. She thought to herself that if Han Qian kept hiding in Longya Mountain without returning to Qianyang City, wouldn’t she and Chun Shisanniang have made this trip to Xu Province for nothing?

Chun Shisanniang sat on a cushioned couch, bored as she gazed at the fish pond below the window. In the courtyards of wealthy Jinling families, fish ponds raised ornamental koi just for beauty. But this courtyard’s shallow pool raised black carp, which at least added some vitality and could be caught for a fine meal at year’s end.

“Clatter clatter…” Hearing the sound of armor and weapons moving, Yao Xishui and Chun Shisanniang looked toward the outer courtyard and saw a squad of armored soldiers barging straight in without any greeting. Zhang Ping at the front was so angry that veins bulged at his temples as he shouted, “We are imperial decree envoys! What is the meaning of this?”

“My apologies. The young master will come personally to see Director Zhang shortly, but to prevent any unpleasant incidents, we ask Director Zhang to cooperate,” the lead military officer said rather politely, but commanded his subordinates to search through rooms and luggage without the slightest hesitation.

“The Han father and son truly are beyond the emperor’s reach—no wonder this fellow fled. Look how carefree and happy they are here!” Chun Shisanniang remarked.

At this moment Xi Ren entered the inner courtyard with several robust women wearing leather armor and carrying swords at their waists. Looking at Yao Xishui and Chun Shisanniang, she said, “If you two young ladies also wish to see the young master, we’ll have to trouble you a bit. Please hand over any concealed weapons you’re carrying.”

“When did he become so timid?” Yao Xishui took out two short swords hidden in her sleeves, placed them on the table for the female soldiers to take, and asked disdainfully.

“I’ve said all along that I’m terribly afraid of death, but you all thought I was very brave, so you always guessed wrong,” Han Qian said, standing at the courtyard gate and looking over from afar.

“You fled to Xu Province because you’re afraid of death?” Yao Xishui asked.

“Otherwise, what did Miss Yao think?” Han Qian asked with a laugh.

Watching Xi Ren personally search Yao Xishui and Chun Shisanniang from head to toe, Han Qian only then waved his hand, indicating that all the soldiers in the courtyard should leave first, keeping only Xi Ren by his side.

At this point Han Qian clasped his hands and invited Zhang Ping and Yuan Guowei from the neighboring courtyard over, saying:

“That Director Zhang and Elder Yuan were able to reach Qianyang City safely shows that Tan Province is certain my father and I have ambitions to control Xu Province independently! Everything just now was necessary theater for outsiders. I still haven’t determined how many of Tan Province’s eyes are watching my father and me. Please don’t take offense, Director Zhang and Elder Yuan!”

After the Xu Province armored soldiers and their accompanying escort troops were asked to leave the courtyard, seeing Han Qian suddenly change his face, Yao Xishui and Chun Shisanniang’s cherry lips gaped wide enough to fit an egg. Zhang Ping was also shocked and suspicious.

Seeing the two women’s beautiful faces show astonishment, Han Qian smiled proudly and entered the inner room first, sitting down at the table.

Among these people, only Yuan Guowei, serving as an ordinary accompanying clerk, knew the inside story. He now walked in, clasped his hands toward Han Qian, and said, “These past months, Director Han has worked hard.”

Zhang Ping had originally been suspicious, so he was the first to compose himself. Sitting down, he fixed his gaze on Han Qian and asked, “Director Han, can you explain now what exactly is going on?”

“I ‘fled’ under imperial orders. His Highness, Master Shen Yang, Director Zheng, Elder Jiang, and Elder Yuan all knew about this from the start! Saying this, Director Zhang should understand what His Majesty intends to do next, shouldn’t you?” Han Qian asked with a smile.

“Tan Province?” Zhang Ping was also exceptionally intelligent. Hearing Han Qian pierce this paper screen, how could he not guess that the ultimate goal was to plot against Tan Province?

And everything done was to deceive Tan Province!

“Why wasn’t the Marquis informed of this from the very beginning?” Chun Shisanniang, who usually handled situations with ease and wielded her charms skillfully, could no longer suppress the dissatisfaction in her heart in her shock and demanded an answer.

She, Yao Xishui, and even Zhang Ping could all be said to lack sufficient standing and qualification to know the entire plan from the start. But Marquis of Xinchang Li Pu was the Third Prince’s father-in-law, and in everyone’s eyes, he was the Prince’s household’s most steadfast supporter behind the scenes. Yet he was kept completely in the dark. Chun Shisanniang found this difficult to accept.

Who could believe this wasn’t Han Qian deliberately inciting the Third Prince to exclude them?

Yao Xishui’s bright eyes stared at Han Qian, then glanced at her adoptive father Zhang Ping. Seeing her adoptive father’s calm expression, she thought that Han Qian actually suspected Wanhong Tower of secretly colluding with Tan Province, didn’t he?

If Han Qian hadn’t confirmed by this time that Wanhong Tower had no dealings with Tan Province, perhaps they wouldn’t know the complete plan even until the very last moment, would they?

Han Qian smiled faintly. With Yuan Guowei present, he wouldn’t explain the real reason. He only said with a smile, “Plans fail when too widely known. Tan Province has spent heavily these years buying off court officials. It’s difficult to know who is truly reliable, so the fewer people who know the complete plan, the safer. Even beside His Majesty, only Palace Domestic Service Director Shen knows about this.”

Han Qian’s words couldn’t explain why Marquis of Xinchang Li Pu was initially excluded. But in Yuan Guowei’s view, perhaps Han Qian and the Marquis of Xinchang’s household simply weren’t on the same path, with the intent still being to suppress the Marquis of Xinchang household’s influence with the Third Prince.

Yuan Guowei and Jiang Huo were more significantly supervisors and to some extent executors, not participating in overall planning, so they found it difficult to perceive the other layer of relationship existing between Han Qian and Zhang Ping, Yao Xishui, and Chun Shisanniang.

Han Qian had long ago been honest with him that Yao Xishui and Chun Shisanniang were people cultivated by the Marquis of Xinchang’s household. At this time in his view, Zhang Ping should also have been won over by the Marquis of Xinchang’s household. Now serving together under the Third Prince, they were naturally trustworthy.

After “catching up on old times,” Yuan Guowei truly explained the situation in Jinling over the three months since Han Qian’s flight: “His Majesty initially considered sending all the families of the Left Bureau soldiers to Xu Province, but too many court ministers opposed it, so it had to be abandoned. They’ve all been turned over to the Prince’s household for disposition. His Highness will absolutely not mistreat them in the slightest. Director Han, please reassure the Left Bureau soldiers.”

Han Qian nodded. Whether circumstances didn’t allow it or Emperor Tianyou was unwilling to relinquish the last bit of control over Xu Province—neither was something he should scrutinize closely at this time.

Furthermore, he and his father had been formally granted Xu Province this time without openly breaking with the court. Those Left Bureau soldiers whose families remained in Jinling—he could assign them to serve as base-level officials at the township level, and they should still be able to serve with peace of mind.

For thousands of years, central government control over localities had mostly stopped at the county level. Though most dynasties established township, hamlet, and ward systems, these base-level clerks were almost all controlled by local magnates.

In the past, the central government only needed to collect appropriate corvée labor and taxes from localities. Local magnates’ control of areas could even to some extent effectively maintain central authority over regions, reducing the emergence of vagrants and rebellions.

Successive dynasties welcomed this situation, as long as the power of local magnates didn’t grow large enough to threaten central authority.

But Xu Province couldn’t operate this way.

Xu Province’s population was still too small.

Even if the four major clans offered no resistance and showed compliance, even if Han Qian could further expel Tan Province’s forces from Xu Province, according to customary practice, the three counties of Xu Province would submit no more than three thousand shi of grain and three thousand bolts of cloth annually to the provincial government in land taxes and poll taxes. The corvée labor that could be conscripted would total no more than six hundred person-times per year. Market and commercial taxes combined might yield another two to three thousand strings of cash.

These meager resources would barely maintain the provincial government’s public expenditures, let alone continue land reclamation, canal excavation, or support an additional two to three thousand elite soldiers!

One must know that before his flight, the resources Han Qian had invested in Xu Province for building workshops and reclaiming new fields exceeded one hundred thousand strings of cash. The money and grain brought during this flight also exceeded one hundred thousand strings, but would at most sustain operations until April or May.

Currently the Prince’s household needed to prepare for military operations in E Province. Even if Tan Province didn’t blockade the Yuan River, it would be impossible for large-scale resources to be transported into Xu Province to support construction here.

To collect more resources locally from Xu Province couldn’t be accomplished with a single decree. Besides sufficient coercive force, sufficient executive power was needed at the base level.

Though it was somewhat regrettable not to be able to use all the Left Bureau soldiers as military officers, having them settle into townships and wards was another acceptable choice.

“The Han clan has now relocated entirely to Jinling. Jiang Huo is specifically responsible for going to harass and extort them every few days, ensuring they have no possibility of getting too close to the Crown Prince. Besides the decree for Xu Province, His Majesty also issued a secret decree to Tan Province this time, ordering Tan Province to guard against Xu Province and prohibit trade with Xu Province. Director Han must prepare for all these matters!” Yuan Guowei said.

Zhang Ping and the others didn’t even know about the additional secret decree issued to Tan Province from Jinling. But knowing it now, the intent behind it wasn’t difficult to imagine.

The court issuing a secret decree to Tan Province to blockade Xu Province appeared on the surface to be the court bearing a grudge against the Han father and son. Once Tan Province blockaded the Yuan River, whether pretending to comply with the court’s decree or wanting to pressure the Han father and son, it actually gave Han Daoxun and Han Qian justification to confront Tan Province in Xu Province.

Otherwise, before the court truly moved against Tan Province, what excuse would Han Daoxun and Han Qian have to eliminate Tan Province’s forces that had infiltrated Xu Province?

As for the extortion of the Han clan, though it appeared the Prince’s household intended to hold the Han clan accountable for Han Qian’s flight, besides continuing to deceive observers, it was also raising money and grain for the Prince’s household’s current war preparations in E Province.

Zhang Ping now understood that the Third Prince sending them to Xu Province to deliver the decree was actually cover for Yuan Guowei to meet with Han Qian.