Han Qian actually suggested slowing the pursuit of the rebel forces from the Shao and Heng routes—everyone was stunned.

Li Chong, seated below his father Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, was the first unable to contain himself, questioning: “Why does Lord Han make such a suggestion? Isn’t this the best opportunity to pursue the enemy while victorious?”

Han Qian paid no attention to Li Chong, glancing instead at Wen Ruilin seated between Li Chong and Chai Jian. Seeing his expression was gloomy and somber, he then used his peripheral vision to look toward Gao Long and Miao Yong seated below Guo Liang and Gao Chengyuan.

Gao Long appeared as if the matter had nothing to do with him. The just-over-thirty Miao Yong, who had killed Ma Zihua and surrendered, was also known in Tanzhou for his martial valor. At this moment, however, like Wen Ruilin, his thick eyebrows were tightly furrowed, seemingly struggling to guess why Han Qian would suggest giving the rebel forces from the Shao and Heng routes a way out.

Miao Yong suddenly saw Han Qian’s sharp gaze looking toward him and seemed startled, but there was no unusual movement. Han Qian only noticed his hands pressing on the desk suddenly sink down.

Han Qian quickly withdrew his gaze from Miao Yong and walked to the Third Prince’s desk. Dipping his finger in tea water, he quickly wrote over ten characters on the desk: “If we gather elite forces to go south now, we’ll either suffer setbacks without victory, or within half a month we can rout Zhao Sheng and Luo Jia’s forces. But afterward, when His Majesty summons Your Highness back to the capital, will Your Highness be able to remain in Tanzhou?”

Shen Yang, Yang Jian, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, and Zheng Hui all sat on either side of the Third Prince at closest distance. But Han Qian blocked Yang Jian’s view with his body, so only Shen Yang, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, and Zheng Hui saw what he wrote with tea water on the desk before the Third Prince.

Shen Yang, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, and Zheng Hui all fell silent for a moment.

It was truly that the various battles of the Tanzhou feudatory reduction campaign had progressed too smoothly, far exceeding everyone’s expectations, such that Shen Yang and the others had not seriously considered the follow-up matters after the feudatory reduction campaign concluded.

After the Third Prince clearly saw these ten-plus characters, Han Qian reached out and wiped them away, then stood up and said to Chai Jian and the others: “The troops have been campaigning for months, soldiers are weary and generals exhausted, provisions and fodder are difficult to continue—this is the first reason. Leaving Hengzhou to enter Yongzhou, the Xiang River flows swiftly with dangerous shoals, unfavorable for naval warship combat—this is the second reason. It’s the height of summer, roads are muddy, mountains collapse and streams surge—this is the third reason. Miasma poison and epidemics occur frequently—this is the fourth reason. With these four points, gathering a large army to strike south against the fleeing rebels at this time, the odds of victory are only fifty-fifty. Beyond this, the Liang army is concentrating forces at Caizhou and could move south at any time to spy on Nanyang. The Dragon Sparrow Army elite forces need to be prepared to reinforce the north…”

The ten-plus characters written with tea water were not reasons that could be spoken publicly. For Han Qian to advocate temporarily slowing the pursuit of the fleeing Luo Jia and Zhao Sheng forces, he naturally needed other more sufficient reasons to persuade more generals and officials.

Of course, the real reason was those ten-plus characters written with tea water.

If everything went smoothly, within half a month or a month they could defeat the bloated and unwieldy rebel forces of Zhao Sheng and Luo Jia. But that would also represent the complete end of the feudatory reduction campaign.

The Third Prince and the Dragon Sparrow Army’s mission would be considered complete. At that time, even if the Crown Prince and Prince Xin’s faction had no other conspiracies, they would inevitably strongly advocate for the Third Prince to lead the Dragon Sparrow Army in a triumphant return to court, while handing over the post-war governance of Tanzhou to the Privy Council and Secretariat to take over.

Although the Prince of Linjiang’s Residence would absolutely not lack their share in the post-war distribution of victory fruits, it couldn’t compare to fully controlling military and political authority over Dongting Lake during the period when the war had not yet ended—that would be much more satisfactory.

And they needed to take so many surrendered soldiers and generals, winnow out the weak and keep the strong, integrate them into the Prince’s Residence faction, integrate them into the Dragon Sparrow Army—how could one or two months be enough time?

More importantly, there was another layer of reasoning: whatever conspiracy Anning Palace and Prince Xin were plotting, he still couldn’t see the full picture. Staying in Tanzhou would always be much safer than returning to Jinling.

Han Qian’s current suggestion was to dispatch a contingent of troops to occupy Shaozhou, then first escort Ma Yin and his son Ma Xun, along with other captured rebel generals from Tanzhou, to Jinling to face judgment.

At this point the feudatory reduction campaign had not completely ended. Before any other major changes occurred, the court side would naturally still have to continue entrusting the post-war handling of Tanzhou and subsequent pursuit of rebel forces to the Third Prince…

Once Marquis Xinchang Li Pu and Zheng Hui understood clearly, they naturally changed their attitudes accordingly. Shen Yang sighed softly but also did not express opposition.

Although Yang Jian hadn’t seen the ten-plus characters Han Qian wrote on the desk before the Third Prince, his attitude remained the same. Unless His Majesty had other clear edicts transmitted down, otherwise he would still prioritize cooperating well with the Third Prince.

With Han Qian, Shen Yang, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, and Zheng Hui’s four attitudes clearly stated, and Yang Jian remaining noncommittal, even if others were full of confusion, they had no room to interject. They then decided to have Li Zhigao as main general, with Zhang Han and Zhou Dan as deputy generals, going south to first recover Shaozhou.

Li Zhigao, Zhang Han, and Zhang Feng’s three units had fought urgently these past two months, with relatively severe losses. The three units combined had only six thousand elite troops still able to continue advancing.

Beyond this, Han Qian also suggested Lin Haizheng lead one battalion of Wuling Army infantry to station in Shaozhou’s Wugang County together with Li Zhigao and his forces, and attempt to open the Xuefeng Mountain post road between Shaozhou’s Wugang County and Xuzhou’s Wukou Stronghold, working with Tian Cheng’s forces defending Xuzhou’s Qianyang City.

Between Xuzhou and Shaozhou, separated by the Xuefeng Mountains stretching six to seven hundred li north to south, if one went north from the Yuan River to Dongting Lake, then south from the Xiang River to Shaozhou, it was nearly fourteen to fifteen hundred li of lengthy waterway. But between Xuzhou’s Qianyang City and Shaozhou’s Wugang County, there was an ancient post road opened since the Han dynasty.

For Xuzhou, opening this ancient post road would not only directly reinforce Li Zhigao’s forces in their Shaozhou operations but also create an additional important commercial travel route with southern Xiang, Yungui, and even southern Gan regions like Hongzhou and Yuanzhou.

Beyond this, everyone also agreed that Marquis Zhenyuan Yang Jian would escort the rebel criminal Ma Yin and others back to the capital for trial first, and current battle reports should all be presented before His Majesty’s desk.

***

***

As the main general who captured Tanzhou City, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu was also comprehensively responsible for all affairs within Tanzhou in the short term. Many matters had not yet been delegated to Shen Yang, Han Qian, Zheng Hui, and the others.

Currently, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, together with Li Chong, Chai Jian, and others, were concentrated in the residence of the former Grand Military Supervisor Ma Zihua.

After the military council, Li Chong returned to the residence. The first thing he couldn’t contain was asking his father: “That fellow Han Qian has always taken unorthodox approaches, yet today his temperament greatly changed. What exactly did he write with tea water on His Highness’s desk that actually made father also change your mind?”

Marquis Xinchang Li Pu was about to speak when Wen Ruilin smiled and said: “May Your Lordship allow Ruilin to make a guess?”

“Please speak, Master Wen,” said Marquis Xinchang Li Pu.

“I would guess Lord Han is mostly worried that ending the feudatory reduction campaign too early would mean the Third Prince would be summoned back to Jinling?” Wen Ruilin said with composed and unhurried smile.

“Master Wen truly has great talent. Had I known it would be like this, when I learned the intelligence report, I should have first consulted Master Wen to determine strategy. Today I wouldn’t have let Han Qian steal the spotlight again,” Marquis Xinchang Li Pu said with no small regret.

Today, the ten-plus characters Han Qian wrote with tea water on the Third Prince’s desk could be said to determine the Prince’s Residence’s strategic choices for the next one to two years.

That no one else had recognized this point in time also meant that Han Qian’s position in the Third Prince’s heart could not be replaced by anyone in the short term.

“Lord Han truly has great talent. This one dares not compete with him,” Wen Ruilin said modestly. “But beyond this, Ruilin believes what Your Lordship should worry more about is that youth beside Marquis Changxiang?”

“What about that youth?” Marquis Xinchang was startled and asked.

“If Ruilin’s eyes are not dull, that youth should be a woman disguised as a man, and her appearance is quite exceptional,” Wen Ruilin said. “Ruilin specially had someone investigate today. That youth and Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong have separate sleeping quarters, so she shouldn’t be a beautiful concubine Wang Yong keeps at his side to comfort his travel loneliness. Ruilin has often heard people say that the Shu Lord Wang Jian’s youngest daughter, Princess Qingyang, from a young age was crowned the most beautiful in the Shu capital…”

Marquis Xinchang was slightly stunned. At this moment he could understand the meaning in Wen Ruilin’s words: Princess Qingyang’s target in accompanying Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong into Chu this time was the Third Prince?

Even if Shu Lord Wang Jian disregarded the Liang Kingdom’s opposition and wanted to form a marriage alliance with Chu, his daughter couldn’t casually marry into any Prince’s residence as a secondary consort. But if the Third Prince had a chance to seize the succession and ascend the throne, that would be different.

If Princess Qingyang married over, at that time she would at least be a Noble Consort, and might even threaten his daughter Li Yao’s Empress position…

***

***

The next day, Han Qian represented the Third Prince in leaving the city to see off Li Zhigao and his forces heading south. He escorted them all the way to Caozhi Ridge thirty li south of the city before reining in his horse, watching the troops carrying seven days of supplies winding their way south.

Shaozhou was located southwest of Tanzhou. Although there were streams and rivers flowing into the Xiang River, the current was swift with dangerous shoals, unfavorable for the Tower Ship Army naval warships to go south. Li Zhigao and his forces decided to lead their troops overland, passing through the valley roads on the western foothills of Mount Heng to enter Shaozhou territory. But to reach Shaozhou’s provincial capital Shaoyang County, they would still need to travel six or seven days over a land route of nearly four hundred li.

Even if everything went smoothly, before they could meet again, it would probably have to wait another two or three months.

As the army gradually receded into the distance, the weather suddenly changed, and a sudden rain shower fell.

Although the weather became much cooler, watching the turbid mountain streams surge violently, rushing out large amounts of withered branches and broken wood from the mountains, with roads becoming muddy and impassable, Han Qian secretly felt that even if not from selfish motives, temporarily slowing the pursuit of Zhao Sheng and Luo Jia’s forces should be a fortunate matter.

Otherwise, over twenty thousand elite troops hastily heading south—who knew how many accidents would occur along the way.

After the rain stopped, Han Qian, escorted by Xi Ren, Xi Fa’er, and others, slowly rode his horse back to the city.

South of Tanzhou City had not suffered the ravages of war. The farmhouses were peaceful, green trees provided shade, mountain flowers were brilliant. Traveling slowly, it was nearly dusk when he returned to the Military Governor’s Residence.

At this time, Marquis Zhenyuan Yang Jian, escorting the rebel leaders Ma Yin and his son Ma Xun, Ma clan direct lineage kinsmen, as well as captured generals, surrendered officials and their families—over five thousand people in total—had already left Tanzhou City, embarking on the journey back to Jinling to report victory.

Yang Jian’s entire route assembled warships traveling downstream with the current. With the high water volume after entering summer, it would take only eight or nine days to reach Jinling. In other words, at the fastest half a month, at the latest a month, Han Qian and the others in Tanzhou City would receive Emperor Tianyou’s new reward edicts.

Han Qian was about to go to the great hall to find the Third Prince and report back on the send-off matters. Entering the front administrative section of the Military Governor’s Residence, leading the woman-disguised-as-man Xi Ren onto a stone bridge spanning a clear water pond, he saw Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong bringing the youth disguised by Princess Qingyang, just leaving the great hall and walking toward the stone bridge.

“I’ve heard people say Lord Han is skilled at producing ingenious strategies. That Great Chu could reverse the disadvantageous situation in the Jingxiang war, and that this feudatory reduction campaign could go so smoothly—many say Lord Han holds great merit,” Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong stood below the stone bridge, bowing and asking. “The rebel forces of Zhao Sheng and Luo Jia on the two routes could be said to already be at the end of their rope. Great Chu’s forces should pursue while victorious to complete the full achievement. Wang Yong thought perhaps Lord Shen would use troops cautiously, but never imagined it would actually be Lord Han advocating to first take Shaozhou and Hengzhou. Can Lord Han resolve Wang Yong’s confusion?”

Han Qian glanced at Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong. Seeing they had just come from the Third Prince’s side, he didn’t know if the Third Prince had directly told them many things. He merely smiled and said:

“This Han is merely a minor clerk before His Highness. How could such matters of military and state turn reach this Han to speak excessively? Marquis Changxiang flatters me too much. By the way, Marquis Zhenyuan has already departed to escort war prisoners back to Jinling. Why didn’t Marquis Changxiang travel together?”

Xi Ren was more interested in the youth beside Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong. That youth also seemed more interested in Xi Ren. The two sized each other up.

“This marquis and His Highness also hit it off immediately. How could we meet hastily and part hastily? This marquis had Vice Minister Chen of the Ministry of Rites carry the memorial of respect to accompany the two Marquis Yangs to Jinling first. This marquis will linger in Tanzhou for a few more days. Your esteemed sovereign surely won’t blame me,” said Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong. Seeing Han Qian intentionally changing the subject, he didn’t continue to pester endlessly, merely smiling.

“Tanzhou may not match the prosperity of the Shu capital, but the scenery is also quite good. Perhaps Marquis Changxiang can compose several more masterpieces to be handed down through the ages,” said Han Qian with a smile. If Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong was willing to stay in Tanzhou, Han Qian had no authority to drive him away.

“Speaking of masterpieces, this marquis just read the Defense Commissioner’s ‘Memorial on Epidemic Waters’ at His Highness’s place. Now that truly deserves to be called a magnificent work handed down through the ages. This marquis’s few minor lyrics really aren’t worth mentioning. If there’s an opportunity, I should pay respects to the Defense Commissioner,” said Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong, looking at Han Qian with considerable anticipation.

Han Qian hadn’t expected the Third Prince would actually take out the Memorial on Epidemic Waters to show Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong. Now seeing that Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong seemed even more interested in his father, he secretly felt a headache. After a few perfunctory words, he cupped his hands in farewell and hurried to the great hall to see the Third Prince.