White clouds like swift hounds—Han Qian lay on a bamboo couch, gazing at the clear azure sky, feeling that worldly affairs were distant and remote.
“Seeing Wang Jun’s appearance the other day, wanting to cry but shedding no tears, I almost couldn’t bear to drive her away. Wang Jixiong admired the Old Administrator in his early years. Being buried in Xuzhou in accordance with his final wishes might better convince the world to recognize the Old Administrator’s patriotic and people-loving heart.” Xi Ren returned to the mountain today. Speaking of escorting Wang Jun’s master and servants as they took Wang Jixiong’s coffin to board ship at Linjiang County two days ago, she couldn’t help sighing endlessly, secretly lamenting how deeply the grievances between the Han and Wang families were entangled.
“My father’s good name should naturally be cleared by me on his behalf. Wang Jixiong traveled through mountains and rivers only thinking of being guilt-free in his own heart and dying without regrets. Why should I appreciate his sentiment? If I did that, wouldn’t it be too easy on the Wang family?” Han Qian said indifferently, not feeling that driving Wang Jun and Wang Jixiong’s coffin out of Xuzhou was such a heartless matter.
“Ah, the Dowager Consort actually truly arrived in Yueyang!”
Zhao Ting’er sat before the bamboo couch with her protruding belly, helping Han Qian open letters that Feng Xuan, Lin Haizheng, and others had someone carry back from Yueyang. Seeing what was written in the letter, she exclaimed in considerable surprise.
Having decided to temporarily ignore worldly affairs, Han Qian naturally couldn’t directly use Jinyun Tower’s scouts and dispatch riders to transmit information. At this time, gathering external intelligence mainly relied on correspondence with people who had connections to Xuzhou, naturally making things much slower.
Lin Haizheng had written this letter on the sixth day of the second month, when Han Qian had only been back at Dragon Tooth City for two days. Lin Haizheng didn’t find a suitable person to carry this letter until the eighth. By that time, Zhou Yuan, Wen Ruilin, and others had already proposed establishing the Provisional Bureau of Military Affairs, Provisional Censorate, and Provisional Ministries. When Lin Haizheng had someone carry the letter out on the eighth, he temporarily added many matters to it.
After this letter arrived at Qianyang on the seventeenth, it was delayed another day before reaching their hands. By this time, Jiang Huo had already escorted Princess Qingyang into Yueyang for four days.
This was the most normal information transmission efficiency of the era. This was mainly because Lin Haizheng and Feng Xuan were anxious to inform Xuzhou of Yueyang’s current situation.
Otherwise, with Xuzhou and Yueyang separated by fifteen to sixteen hundred li, waiting for ordinary merchants to travel back and forth normally would take at least two to three months for information to be exchanged once.
Han Qian, Zhao Ting’er, and the others still didn’t know that under the insistence of Yang Yuanpu and Shen Yang, the position of Xuzhou Governor had already fallen to them.
Han Qian showed no surprise at the content written in Feng Xuan and Lin Haizheng’s letters, saying: “Zheng Chang showed great talent even in his youth. Feared by his elder brother Zheng Yu, he avoided office and lived in seclusion for many years, not competing with his brother Zheng Yu. Zheng Chang has no heirs, while Zheng Yu’s two sons, Zheng Xingxuan and Zheng Xingtong, are both talented. Only then did the relationship between Zheng Yu and Zheng Chang become harmonious. After the Jing-Xiang campaign, Emperor Tianyou wanted to employ the Zheng clan, which led to Zheng Chang and Zheng Hui taking posts in the capital. At Qiuhu Mountain, Zheng Chang chose to conspire with Li Pu and Wang Wenqian, hastily issuing the proclamation against the rebels. Beyond fearing me and needing the Dowager Consort in Yueyang to contend with His Highness on equal footing, more importantly, this better serves the Zheng clan’s interests and expansion of power. Besides Zheng Chang, Wang Wenqian must also be delighted to have someone in Yueyang to tie my hands and feet.”
Regarding the Dowager Consort rushing to Yueyang, Zhao Ting’er didn’t know how much influence Wang Wenqian had. But she remembered when they were at the Yandang Jetty estate, Zheng Chang, disregarding his status, personally came to visit with Zheng Hui. At the time she had been quite impressed by his bearing. She hadn’t expected this person would become such an obstacle for them. Sighing lightly, she said: “Alas! Zheng Chang’s heart ultimately thinks of the Zheng clan.”
“What do you think Zheng Hui’s attitude will be?” Xi Ren took Feng Xuan’s letter from Zhao Ting’er’s hands and read it carefully again before asking Han Qian.
“His Highness and Shen Yang’s reactions were too slow. At the moment the Dowager Consort arrived in Yueyang, they still harbored fantasies of maternal affection and filial devotion. What choice could they give Zheng Hui to make?” Han Qian sighed softly.
During the campaign to reduce the vassal states, Zheng Hui led Zheng clan members into Xuzhou. Their cooperation had been quite close without any unpleasantness. With Han Qian’s support, Zheng Hui repeatedly achieved military merit, ultimately becoming Commander of the Left Vermillion Bird Army.
Zheng Hui was also an extremely talented figure with strong abilities in military command and governance, good perspective, and most of the time able to consider the overall situation. Xi Ren thought to herself that if the Prince of Tan and Shen Yang had maintained sufficient vigilance from the start and won over Zheng Hui and his people early, Zheng Hui might not necessarily have submitted to Zheng Yu, Zheng Chang, and others.
However, the Prince of Tan’s reaction was too slow. He neither displayed the strong posture and capability to suppress the Dowager Consort and Zheng Yu, nor did he prevent the Dowager Consort from so easily gaining the title to participate in governance, or prevent more than half the authority of the Provisional Ministry of Personnel from falling into the hands of Zheng Yu, Zheng Chang, Han Daoming, and others. Even Shen Yang inevitably became isolated.
Whether Zheng Hui succumbed to pressure from the Zheng clan or considered his own interests, his current choice to remain silent or stand together with Zheng Yu and Zheng Chang wasn’t difficult to imagine.
Currently, beyond the establishment of the Provisional Bureau of Military Affairs, Provisional Censorate, and Six Provisional Ministries causing more than half the authority of the Provisional Ministry of Personnel to fall aside, people from the Marquis of Xinchang’sMansion were also urgently building independent ceremonial guards and palace troops for Dowager Consort Wang Chan’er. Such a situation—Xi Ren thought it was incomparably complex. However one tried to sort it out, it was a tangled mess. She also felt that even if Han Qian went to Yueyang at this time, he would be suppressed completely by the Dowager Consort, the Zheng clan, and those people from the Marquis of Xinchang’sMansion, accomplishing nothing.
In that case, it was truly better to remain on Dragon Tooth Mountain, staying outside affairs and observing for several months.
Han Qian gazed at the drifting white clouds on the horizon. Some matters came as no surprise to him at all.
Though the established historical trajectory had become blurred and unclear, Prince Xin’s siege of Jinling for ten months ultimately forcing him to withdraw in defeat, leaving the Jianghuai lands bloody and desolate for thousands of li—this remained vivid in Han Qian’s memory.
Carefully analyzing all the possible factors behind this, one would discover that the root cause was Great Chu’s princes, ministers, powerful clans, and great families who looked down from on high upon all living beings, trampling commoners underfoot without scruple, all entangled in their own gains and losses of interest.
Never mind those who truly thought of ending the chaos early for hundreds of millions of common people—even those who realized that when the nest falls no eggs remain intact, who tried desperately to avoid bringing disaster upon themselves, were so weak and insignificant.
The Prince of Tan’s faction couldn’t escape this rut either!
Otherwise, how could his father in Jinling have failed to grasp that sliver of opportunity?
“How do you plan to reply to Li Zhigao’s letter?” Zhao Ting’er set down a stack of letters and asked Han Qian.
“I won’t reply.” Han Qian shook his head.
“Won’t reply?” Zhao Ting’er asked in surprise.
During the Jing-Xiang campaign, instigated by Han Qian, Li Zhigao led troops to detain Guard Battalion soldiers, resolving Chai Jian, Zhang Ping, Li Chong, Yao Xishui, and others’ personal control over Yang Yuanpu. This was also key to the Jing-Xiang campaign’s ultimately good outcome.
Though after the Jing-Xiang campaign both sides made some efforts to ease relations, and Li Zhigao also married Su Hongyu, in the eyes of the Marquis of Xinchang’sMansion, it had been a military mutiny.
Though Marquis of Xinchang Li Pu was in Runzhou, everyone knew clearly that the Dowager Consort, Yao Xishui, and the Lady in Black Gauze controlling Wanhong Tower from behind the scenes entering Yueyang would make Li Zhigao’s situation even more difficult. From any angle, Li Zhigao was a natural ally of the Xuzhou side.
Zhao Ting’er couldn’t understand at all why Han Qian wouldn’t acknowledge the letter Li Zhigao had specially sent someone to deliver.
Of course, Li Zhigao’s letter mainly expressed concerns and condolences for Han Daoxun’s passing without involving other matters. But sending the letter indicated an attitude. In Zhao Ting’er’s view, Han Qian should similarly reply with a letter discussing everyday matters.
“I’m grief-stricken over my father’s death, observing mourning in the wilderness. How could I have the mood to write letters communicating with old friends?” Han Qian said. “Li Zhigao sent a letter and I’ve already received it. Why do I need to reply? Could my situation possibly be better than Li Zhigao’s?”
“Oh.” Zhao Ting’er thought this made sense. Li Zhigao sending a letter expressed his attitude—that was enough. Whether the Xuzhou side replied or not, they couldn’t possibly abandon Li Zhigao to make peace with Marquis of Xinchang Li Pu and his people, so there was no need to reply. If they truly replied, once those people learned of it, who knew what trouble they would stir up.
“By rights, during your mourning period you cannot be distracted by mundane affairs to avoid giving people grounds for criticism. But after the Divine Mausoleum Bureau’s remnants control the Yueyang situation, their next target will most likely turn to Li Zhigao, right? In their eyes, they may not necessarily feel Li Zhigao is irreplaceable in Shao Prefecture.” Xi Ren said worriedly.
“Perhaps before they move against Li Zhigao, the situation will change.” Han Qian said, watching the white clouds like swift hounds.
Though Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan had a violent temperament and wasn’t the bearing of a sovereign, one couldn’t deny that beyond Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan’s own exceptional martial prowess and courage that none could withstand, he also had extremely outstanding military command abilities.
These past years, with Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan stationed in Chu Prefecture, Liang forces attacking south mostly avoided the east and chose the west, mainly launching offensives against Jing-Xiang and Shou Prefecture from Cai Prefecture. This was actually because his eastern forces stationed in Xu Prefecture had suffered many major defeats at Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan’s hands.
In the established history, Jinling had been besieged by Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan for ten months. This also meant that Anning Palace, the new Emperor Yang Yuanwo, and the Shou Prefecture faction’s generals, even including Xu Mingzhen himself, had been beaten powerless to fight back by Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan in field battles outside Jinling.
Currently Wang Chan’er, Li Pu, the Lady in Black Gauze, and Chu Prefecture were cooperating happily because Chu Prefecture forces had just crossed the river and hadn’t yet shown their edge. Once Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan crossed the river and achieved one or two critical battle victories, revealing his sharp edge, when Wang Chan’er, Li Pu, and the Lady in Black Gauze felt the threat from Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan, the situation would transform.
Beyond Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan’s side, the Jinghai Army to the south, Shu forces to the west, and Liang forces to the north wouldn’t remain unchanged either.
Though currently the Liang and Chu states were in complete chaos, precisely because the situation was too chaotic, unexpected changes could occur at any time and place. Thus one couldn’t limit one’s gaze to just one corner.