The Court of State Ceremonial separately partitioned the Southern Garden of Jinhua Tower to serve as a temporary guesthouse for Han Qian and Guo Rong’s residence during their mission to Shu.
However, as Han Qian and his party entered the front garden, looking up they could see the main tower located in the Eastern Garden. Anyone climbing above the third floor of the Eastern Garden’s main tower could lean against the windows and see everything happening in the Southern Garden with perfect clarity.
Han Qian’s brow furrowed slightly. He exchanged a glance with Guo Rong, then clasped his hands toward Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial Wei Qun and said with dissatisfaction, “Our mission to Shu is open and aboveboard—we have no secrets that cannot be shown to others. However, if our eating, drinking, and other activities are all on display for Shu people to observe, it’s rather unseemly.”
Wei Qun said, “Jinhua Tower is a place where officials and literary guests of the capital hold banquets. To close it off or incorporate it into the temporary guesthouse would likely provoke considerable public outcry. If Lord Han finds anything inconvenient, I can have someone hang cloth curtains to screen the Southern Garden.”
“My residence is just across the street from the Southern Garden. I originally thought it would be convenient to gather with Lord Han, so I specifically submitted a memorial recommending that Lord Han stay at Jinhua Tower during his mission to Shu. I didn’t expect there would be such an inconvenience.” Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong also apologized to Han Qian with some surprise.
That Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong had submitted a memorial recommending Han Qian stay at Jinhua Tower clearly showed he had not expected them to be arranged in the Southern Garden, which could be completely observed from the main tower. Even arranging them in the Northern Garden, which was farther from the main tower, would have been much better.
Han Qian glanced at the nearly fifty-year-old Minister of State Ceremonial Wei Qun, whose face appeared gentle but whose expression held a hint of gloom. He thought to himself that although Wei Qun was not a direct subordinate of Qingjiang Marquis Wang Hongyi, if Wang Hongyi had instructed that the Chu envoys must be given some difficulties, Wei Qun obviously could not argue strongly on behalf of the Long Xiang Marquis and his sister.
At this moment, the sky had already darkened. The main tower was brightly lit, and on the top three floors, numerous heads could be seen looking over and leaning against the railings. Who knew how many were purely spectators and how many were deliberately spectating?
Han Qian glanced at Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong, thinking that besides embarrassment, he must feel more fear inwardly. After all, these two incidents after entering the city both showed that while Shu Heir Apparent Wang Hongyi might not necessarily be able to sabotage this marriage, he was already sufficiently wary of Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong.
Guo Rong looked at Han Qian with some hesitation. Although he had long been marginalized at the Prince of Tan’s residence, and because he had failed to properly monitor the Third Prince, he was not trusted by Anning Palace—making his current situation as vice envoy accompanying Han Qian to Shu extremely awkward—he could still see through many matters at a glance. He wondered how Han Qian would respond to the current situation: would he endure it, or would he leave in anger?
“If we really hang cloth curtains, besides easily causing fires and making it easier for traitors to take advantage, it would also make us appear guilty,” Han Qian’s demeanor became relaxed and indifferent in an instant as he said to Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong. “Since the Long Xiang Marquis’s residence is nearby, at worst I will impose upon the Marquis’s household more often, and won’t feel any inconvenience about the Southern Garden being under others’ observation—of course, provided the Marquis doesn’t find me bothersome.”
“How could that be?” Since Han Qian showed no intention of withdrawal or estrangement, Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong certainly would not refuse him at the door, and said with a smile.
Guo Rong’s brow furrowed slightly. For a moment he couldn’t figure out what Han Qian was trying to do. Their objective for this trip was simply to smoothly complete the wedding mission. The Shu Heir Apparent might not necessarily want to sabotage the marriage—more likely he just didn’t want Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong to gain influence through this marriage. Shouldn’t their response strategy be to distance themselves somewhat from the Long Xiang Marquis?
Of course, Guo Rong didn’t expect Han Qian to explain anything to him. He patiently settled in with Han Qian at the Southern Garden of Jinhua Tower first. Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong only left the Southern Garden to return to his own residence after they had settled in—today had been too rushed, and no evening banquet had been arranged.
Han Qian had simply formally submitted the wedding documents, memorial tables, and other items to Minister of State Ceremonial Wei Qun, who would send them into the palace. Next, they would await an audience with Shu Lord Wang Jian. During this period, they still needed to discuss the details of the wedding and the bride escort with the Shu Court of State Ceremonial and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs.
Although the Southern Garden was adjacent to the Eastern Garden where the main tower was located, it still had several courtyards and over a hundred rooms.
The guards outside the Southern Garden were the responsibility of the Court of State Ceremonial, but the internal security was still directly controlled by Han Qian and his men. Han Qian moved into the Western Courtyard, which was farther from the main tower. He first summoned Guo Que and others to his residence and inquired about the intelligence Guo Que had further gathered on Shu Lord Wang Jian’s sons during the time since entering Shu.
The Shu Lord had six sons. The third son had died young. Only three sons had reached adulthood: Qingjiang Marquis Wang Hongyi, Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong, and Marquis Wei Wang Xiaoxian. Two other sons were not yet thirteen years old and still lived in the palace without formal ennoblement.
Both Qingjiang Marquis Wang Hongyi and Marquis Wei Wang Xiaoxian were born to Empress Zhao of Shu, who held the rank of Noble Consort Hui. Noble Consort Hui Zhao’s eldest brother, Zhao Weisheng, currently served as Vice Director of the Chancellery of Shu—one of the Three Ministers of the Shu state and one of its core officials.
The Zhao clan had been a major family in Western Sichuan in earlier years. When Shu Lord Wang Jian defeated Tian Lingzi to dominate the Two Sichuan Circuits, the Zhao clan had contributed greatly. Besides Zhao Weisheng being enfeoffed as Duke, Zhao Weisheng’s two sons were also enfeoffed as marquises and controlled military affairs.
The mother of Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong and his sister Princess Qing Yang was Lady Su, who had been enfeoffed as Noble Consort Shu when Shu Lord Wang Jian declared himself king. However, not long after, she fell ill and died. Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong left the palace to live independently, while Princess Qing Yang was still young at the time and was thus raised by Lady Qi—a palace woman who held the rank of Lady but had borne no children.
Princess Qing Yang only left the palace at age fourteen, but she did not establish a separate residence and instead lived together with her full brother, Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong.
The Qi clan also had considerable influence in Shu. Lady Qi’s eldest brother, Qi Lun, had been a subordinate general of Shu Lord Wang Jian during the Divine Strategy Army period and now served as General of the Right Guard and Vice Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs.
Because of Princess Qing Yang’s relationship, Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong’s relations with Qi Lun and the Qi clan were fairly harmonious.
Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong’s marquis consort, though absolutely beautiful, came from a minor family with no reputation in Shu, and no one had heard of any family members holding prominent positions in the Shu court.
“After you entered Shu, what intelligence have the scouts here been able to gather about Noble Consort Shu?” Han Qian didn’t have time to carefully review the thick stack of intelligence that Jinyun Tower’s scouts had collected in Shu during this period, so he asked Guo Que directly.
“Noble Consort Shu’s origins are quite mysterious. To avoid alerting our targets, we haven’t directly sent people to contact old palace servants, so we haven’t yet gathered any useful intelligence,” Guo Que said. “However, there are occasional rumors in the streets that Noble Consort Shu was extremely skilled at sword dancing and was especially favored by Shu Lord Wang Jian.”
Hearing this, even Xi Ren was startled and looked at Han Qian with hesitation.
Noble Consort Shu’s origins were unclear, with no maternal relatives holding military power. Yet when Shu Lord Wang Jian declared himself independent, she could be enfeoffed as a consort alongside Noble Consort Hui Zhao. A simple phrase like “deeply favored” couldn’t explain this.
Yao Xishui was skilled at sword dancing, and Noble Consort Shu was skilled at sword dancing. If there was a relationship of transmission between the two, then Noble Consort Shu might very well be a key figure of the Shenling Bureau in Shu?
In that case, Han Qian’s previous assumption that Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong had not been favored by Shu Lord Wang Jian since youth and might know nothing about the old affairs of the Shenling Bureau, and know nothing about the relationship between Xinchang Marquis’s mansion and Wanhong Tower with the Shenling Bureau, was quite possibly an illusion.
“Where is all the intelligence on Superintendent of the Court Entertainment Bureau Jing Qiongwen?” Han Qian asked Guo Que with a furrowed brow.
Han Qian had noticed Jing Qiongwen—who enjoyed the trust of Shu Lord Wang Jian and was enfeoffed as Superintendent of the Court Entertainment Bureau and Left Gentleman of Scattered Cavalry Attendance—mainly because he was one of the few figures in the Shu state who had stood out early to advocate forming a marriage alliance with Chu to resist Liang. Later, he discovered that during Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong’s mission to Chu, he had repeatedly sent secret envoys to contact Jing Qiongwen in private.
It seemed Jing Qiongwen’s background might hold many more secrets worth excavating.
Guo Que directly pulled out from the thick stack of materials several pages recording Jing Qiongwen’s situation. For the past two or three months, they had continuously arranged for two to three scouts to focus on monitoring Jing Qiongwen’s every move.
Because the arrangements were numerous, it was difficult to directly gather critical intelligence. However, over these two or three months, all the main activity traces of Jing Qiongwen entering and leaving his residence had been recorded, along with recorded rumors of Jing Qiongwen’s activities in earlier years.
Jing Qiongwen was an orphan who had grown up in the Imperial Music Bureau of the previous dynasty. In his youth, besides being skilled in music, he had also gained Tian Lingzi’s appreciation for his “Warrior Dance of the Prince of Lanling,” which allowed him to follow Tian Lingzi to garrison in Sichuan. After Tian Lingzi’s defeat, Jing Qiongwen fell into obscurity for a period. Ten years ago, he was appointed Superintendent of the Court Entertainment Bureau, gained Shu Lord Wang Jian’s trust, and with the position of Left Gentleman of Scattered Cavalry Attendance could enter and exit the palace quarters, attending at Wang Jian’s side and thus able to interfere in Shu’s military and political affairs.
Han Qian sat at the desk, leafing through the observation records of Jing Qiongwen’s activities by Jinyun Tower’s scouts over the past three months. For the moment, he couldn’t discern anything suspicious and signaled Guo Que and the others to go rest.
“Regardless of whether there’s anything worth exploiting about Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong, shouldn’t we avoid provoking strong hostility from the Qingjiang Marquis?” Xi Ren brought over another candlestick and placed it on the desk to make the light in front of Han Qian brighter, saying hesitantly.
“Besides gaining Shu Lord Wang Jian’s trust, if this Jing Qiongwen is also an old member of the Shenling Bureau and controls a portion of secret forces for Long Xiang Marquis Wang Yong’s use, then Wang Yong is not beyond being a potential partner for cooperation,” Han Qian said.
Even setting aside the crisis in Jinling, the time they could stay in Shu was extremely limited, which meant what they could accomplish was very limited. However, the problem was that with Princess Qing Yang marrying into Great Chu, winning the Qingjiang Marquis’s understanding and support seemed impossible in the short term.
That monarchs favored court entertainers was a major characteristic of the current age, often criticized by the world and viewed as neglecting government affairs. However, if one carefully examined the pattern of military men creating political chaos from the mid to late period of the previous dynasty, one would understand that contemporary monarchs favoring court entertainers was the same principle as previous dynasty monarchs favoring eunuchs—among military generals, civil officials, and imperial clan members, they could find no trustworthy persons.
Of course, from current appearances, Shu Lord Wang Jian’s use of the court entertainer Jing Qiongwen might have even deeper factors.
Xi Ren knelt at the desk, cradling her delicate face in her hands, staring at the candlelight in deep thought. She said, “Connecting Jing Qiongwen’s secret association with the Long Xiang Marquis with the fact that the mother of Long Xiang Marquis and Princess Qing Yang might very well have been a key figure of the Shenling Bureau in Shu, your speculation is quite possibly correct. However, the problem is that our time staying in Shu is limited—how can we use these matters to achieve our objectives?”
Han Qian smiled slightly and said, “Although Qingjiang Marquis Wang Hongyi commands far more support among Shu generals than does Chu Crown Prince Yang Yuanwo, in Shu Lord Wang Jian’s mind, an heir who commands too much support and is too strong-willed is not necessarily a good thing. This is the dilemma of heir selection that contemporary monarchs face.”
“The dilemma of heir selection?” Xi Ren asked hesitantly. “Are you deliberately appearing to befriend the Long Xiang Marquis in order to provoke the Shu Heir Apparent into taking further action, causing Shu Lord Wang Jian to develop ill feelings toward him?”
After experiencing the chaos of the late previous dynasty, Liang, Jin, Shu, and Chu had each enjoyed considerable periods of calm after establishing their states. However, the assertion that Shu Lord Wang Jian also faced a dilemma of heir selection was not a simple speculation by Han Qian about the relationship between the Shu Lord and his sons based on the Jinling crisis.
Rather, in the established course of history, the current age—as the most chaotic period in the long river of history—would see the various states go through over forty monarchs in succession, with only one or two out of ten meeting good ends.
Although the dream’s memories of this historical period were quite vague, remembering only a general outline, Han Qian absolutely did not believe that the relationship between Shu Lord Wang Jian and his heir apparent could be particularly harmonious!