Next, Yuan Guowei spoke about the Prince’s household arrangements for E Province.

Emperor Tianyou relieving Third Prince Yang Yuanpu of his Jun Province Governor position and having Xu Zhaoling concurrently serve as Jun Province Governor appeared to outsiders as the Emperor, disappointed in Third Prince Yang Yuanpu after the flight incident, deciding to make certain compromises with the Xu clan of imperial relatives.

However, Jun Province had no counties. Not only were all four garrison military commands directly under the Prince’s household’s Guard Command, but the Jun Province Administrator position was concurrently held by Chai Jian. After Zhou Dan transferred to E Province, the Jun Province Vice-Governor position was concurrently held by Li Zhigao. In reality, Xu Zhaoling was only a figurehead Governor in Jun Province with not half a shred of real power.

Third Prince Yang Yuanpu nominally controlled E Province. Shen Yang was demoted to E Province Administrator. E Province had no Vice-Governor position, so in reality Shen Yang comprehensively presided over E Province’s military and civil affairs. Additionally, Zhou Dan led three thousand elite troops transferred to E Province to serve as Campaign Commander.

At this time, the court should strengthen vigilance toward Tan Province, whether openly or secretly. The only difference was how much force to commit.

Committing great force meant planning military action against Tan Province. Committing little force meant merely strengthening vigilance toward Tan Province, indicating court weakness and deeper fears about Tan Province making rash moves.

So the court could not openly allocate too much money and grain toward Tan Province. Shen Yang and Zhou Dan’s war preparations in E Province, including building water garrison berths and shipyards, could currently only be secretly funded under the Prince’s household’s nominal establishment of warehouses and workshops in E Province.

Adding what was extorted from the Han clan, the Prince’s household currently had four hundred thousand strings of cash in hand. Though this seemed quite considerable, even preparing for a medium-scale campaign would be extremely tight.

Yuan Guowei took advantage of escorting Zhang Ping to Xu Province to deliver the decree to meet with Han Qian. When returning, he would remain in E Province to assist Shen Yang in gathering intelligence on Tan Province’s various counties.

At that time, if Han Qian had matters requiring contact, he could send people to E Province, saving several days’ journey.

Han Qian then described the situation in Xu Province.

The Feng clan servants were more useless than imagined. In the future they could only serve as basic farming households in Linjiang County to expand Linjiang County’s agricultural scale, but could not be directly organized as military households, thus unable to provide more military recruits. This was an unavoidable matter.

Other situations in Xu Province were about the same as what Yuan Guowei and Zhang Ping had previously understood.

Now that Zhang Ping and the others knew the complete plan to deceive observers, they truly doubted what degree of preparation the Han father and son could achieve before autumn and winter with only this many personnel and resources.

At this moment the murmuring sound of a zither drifted over. Yao Xishui’s delicate eyebrows raised slightly as she said with some surprise, “Xu Province is located in such a remote corner, yet there’s someone with such outstanding zither skills?”

Yao Xishui was acclaimed as peerless for her sword dance. Her zither skills were not as specialized as Su Hongyu’s, but her appreciation level was first-rate.

“That should be Zhou Yourui, the courtesan leader of the official hall, playing the zither,” Han Qian said, his gaze passing over the courtyard wall to see a black and white spotted cat lying on the wall top, also seemingly immersed in the zither music.

The post station adjoined the music camp. Guanyue Tower across the alley east of Furong Garden was practically the liveliest nightlife venue in Qianyang City.

“The Zhou Yourui who, as a weak woman, stepped forward to buy a coffin and assist with former Governor Wang Yu’s body’s return home when he died and over a hundred Xu Province officials remained darkly silent?” Yao Xishui asked.

Contemporary customs were open, without the strict gender segregation of later generations. The previous dynasty had even produced an Empress. But extraordinary women like Zhou Yourui were still rare.

Han Qian nodded and said, “Indeed, that woman.”

At this moment a long flute joined in, harmonizing with the zither music.

“Who is playing the long flute?” Zhang Ping asked. “The zither and flute carry melancholic tones.”

Han Qian glanced at Zhang Ping. Seeing no mockery in his expression but rather appreciation for the flute and zither sounds, he said, “Xu Province Registrar Xue Ruogu excels at playing the long flute. This should be Xue Ruogu and Zhou Yourui harmonizing with zither and flute.”

When he entered the post station earlier, he’d heard that Xue Ruogu, Qin Wen, and Li Tang were drinking at Zhou Yourui’s place. Now hearing the somber, mournful quality in Zhou Yourui and Xue Ruogu’s zither and flute harmony, they were likely secretly expressing dissatisfaction with his father and him controlling Xu Province.

Perhaps they hadn’t expected the court to be so weak toward his father and him?

Han Qian quite appreciated the integrity of people like Xue Ruogu and Zhou Yourui. But at this time he not only couldn’t employ them—to conceal Tan Province’s eyes and ears, he had to suppress them by every means possible.

“Xu Province has quite a few loyal subjects mindful of the court!” Chun Shisanniang mocked.

Han Qian glanced at Chun Shisanniang, stood up, and said to Zhang Ping and Yuan Guowei, “Then I won’t delay here any longer. Next I’ll order the surveillance on you lifted, making it convenient for you to contact various factions in your capacity as court envoys. If you have nothing else to do, you can also go listen to Zhou Yourui and Xue Ruogu’s zither and flute harmony…”

Now not only various forces in Xu Province, but Chen Province to the north and Ying Province to the southwest were all filled with vigilance toward his father and him. Zhang Ping and Yuan Guowei coming here could contact and probe these forces so he could respond more specifically.

“If this Xue Ruogu has thoughts harmful to you father and son, should we help you eliminate him?” Chun Shisanniang’s watery eyes fixed on Han Qian like hooks as she asked.

“You only need to gather intelligence. Whether to eliminate anyone is not your concern,” Han Qian’s brows furrowed as he said coldly.

Previously in Jinling, Han Qian had been mindful that Chun Shisanniang was from Wanhong Tower and wouldn’t speak to her harshly. But now in Xu Province, he wouldn’t tolerate Chun Shisanniang casually defying his authority.

Han Qian also thought of Feng Yi and Kong Xirong currently wandering around the music hall. Giving them the opportunity to see Chun Shisanniang—he didn’t know if this was correct.

Chun Shisanniang’s face showed embarrassment, understanding that her charming beauty truly held little status in Han Qian’s heart.

Zhang Ping and even Yao Xishui hoped to avoid Yuan Guowei and have a private conversation with Han Qian, but Han Qian acted as if he didn’t notice. Standing up and surveying the room, he saw two large blue porcelain flower vases used as decoration on a wooden stand in the corner. Walking over to pick them up, he said, “I need to make some commotion so others know our meeting today wasn’t very pleasant.”

After speaking, Han Qian walked to the corridor and hurled the two large blue porcelain vases at the courtyard wall in succession. With a “crash” of noise, the zither and flute music from the music camp also paused—such a great commotion must have startled them as well.

The guards waiting in the outer courtyard all surged in with a rush, hands on sword hilts, glaring fiercely at Zhang Ping, Yuan Guowei, and the others, not knowing what had happened.

“We’re leaving!” Han Qian angrily swept his sleeves and strode out of the post station.

Xi Ren chased after him. Taking advantage of Han Qian mounting his horse, she asked, “If Zhang Ping and the others only stay in Qianyang City a few days, I’m afraid they won’t catch any big fish?”

Han Qian nodded and said, “To lure the snake from its hole truly cannot be accomplished in a short time. But exactly what to do—I’ll discuss it after seeing my father.”

———

———

———

The rear residence Furong Garden of the current Governor’s office was even more tense than when Han Qian first came to Xu Province.

Guarding Furong Garden was more important than guarding all of Qianyang City.

The four major clans might not dare make any major moves, let alone concentrate limited forces to storm Qianyang City before the situation became clear. But assassination incidents had occurred more than once or twice on this land in the past.

When the situation was quite relaxed before, the Feng clan had dared to poison former Governor Wang Yu. What wouldn’t they dare do?

Returning from the post station, Han Qian went directly to the west courtyard of Furong Garden to see his father.

Over a dozen officials had been summoned by Han Daoxun to Furong Garden for consultation. Fan Xicheng, Zhao Kuo, and Feng Liao also sat in the hall participating in deliberations. Seeing Han Qian enter, they all stood to pay respects: “We greet Vice-Governor Han.”

Han Qian was momentarily disoriented before remembering that after Zhang Ping delivered the decree to Xu Province, he was now Xu Province Vice-Governor—Xu Province’s second-in-command after his father, controlling Xu Province’s military forces. Henceforth he could formally involve himself in Xu Province affairs.

In Xu Province, besides the Governor position, core positions wielding local military and civil authority like Administrator, Vice-Governor, Military Advisor, and Qianyang County Magistrate had been controlled by native great clans like the Feng, Xi, Yang, and Xiang families since the middle to late period of the previous dynasty—for over two hundred years.

Since Great Chu’s founding, this tradition had been followed. The only difference was that the Xi clan had been eliminated in internal struggles among the native great clans.

After Han Daoxun took office in Xu Province, Provincial Vice-Governor Xiang Jianlong had previously submitted a memorial to Jinling requesting resignation from Provincial Vice-Governor to test the court’s attitude toward Xu Province.

Jinling had delayed responding to the Xiang clan’s memorial for over a year. This time they formally relieved Xiang Jianlong of his Provincial Vice-Governor position, replacing him with Han Qian.

Han Qian’s eyes swept over the seated officials. Besides Xue Ruogu, Li Tang, and Qin Wen deliberately distancing themselves, officials from the native great clans were also still nowhere to be seen. But most of the officials present were clearly not trustworthy, and even now it was uncertain how many had been won over by Tan Province.

Thinking of this, Han Qian glanced again at Fan Xicheng and Zhao Kuo.

Han Qian still hadn’t detected any flaws in Zhao Kuo. He thought perhaps like Chen Jitang and Zhao Qi, he had a past that couldn’t be made public. The Han family was merely his shelter?

Han Qian clasped his hands toward the seated officials and said, “I have matters to discuss with Father and Lord Fan. I ask you gentlemen to sit here a moment.”

Han Qian sat down in the inner room with his father Han Daoxun and Fan Xicheng, gesturing for Zhao Wuji and Xi Fa’er to guard the corridor and prevent anyone from approaching. He then told his father about the Prince’s household’s arrangements in E Province:

“His Majesty won’t have patience for too long. If we’re not prepared by winter, His Majesty will also issue a decree to reduce our autonomy. If the Ma clan refuses to submit, the Dragon Sparrow Army will advance west from E Province. At that time, if we cannot deploy troops from Xu Province in coordination, it will be difficult to be loyal subjects!”

Han Daoxun understood what Han Qian meant. Emperor Tianyou having them father and son control Xu Province independently was actually a gamble.

If the Dragon Sparrow Army deployed from E Province and Xu Province took no action, never mind the murmurs of the realm—Emperor Tianyou and the Third Prince would absolutely never trust them father and son again.

“Can we be prepared before winter?” Han Daoxun asked worriedly.

“If we proceed step by step, we cannot possibly be prepared before winter,” Han Qian said. Xu Province’s situation was originally countless times more complex than ordinary provinces and counties. How could they possibly have the opportunity to completely control Xu Province’s situation step by step?

Fan Xicheng knew what Han Qian meant. Setting aside forces outside Xu Province, within Xu Province itself, the four major clans and forces Tan Province had infiltrated were all too cautious and vigilant. The stronghold cities they defended were also distant in high mountains, extremely fortified and dangerous.

With only over a thousand men in hand, even storming one stronghold would result in casualties they might not be able to bear, let alone storming Zhongfang City and all the tribal stockades controlled by the four major clans.

“What stratagem do you want to use to break the current deadlock?” Han Daoxun asked Han Qian.

“Only two strategies are usable: beating the grass to startle the snake, and luring the snake from its hole,” Han Qian said.