With Han Qian calling him a fool on the left and a fool on the right, and even putting on an air of extreme grievance, refusing to even look at him, Li Chong was so angry the veins on his forehead began to twitch. If not for being in front of Yang Yuanpu and his father, he would have long since hurled his blade, sheath and all, at this scoundrel Han Qian.
Marquis Xinchang Li Pu also stared intently at Han Qian, demanding: “Are you saying your father’s memorial at the morning court today advising His Majesty to expel the refugees from the four city gates had some other purpose?”
Though it was Chong’er who had proposed directly revealing before Feng Yi and Kong Xirong the secret that Han Qian served them, thereby tightening this net, he had ultimately given his approval.
With Han Qian repeatedly cursing Li Chong as a fool, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu could not remain completely unmoved.
It was not that he suspected Han Qian had developed treacherous intentions—if that were truly the case, they could not possibly be sitting here conversing peacefully. But today’s events had left them somewhat caught off guard as well.
In their eyes, Han Daoxun’s memorial at the morning court session today could be said to be brazenly helping Shouzhou increase its strength, which was undoubtedly Han Daoxun’s attempt to ingratiate himself with the Crown Prince’s faction.
In his view, if Han Daoxun remained neutral, they could use Han Qian to win Han Daoxun over, even force Han Daoxun to have no choice but to board their pirate ship. But if Han Daoxun intended to side with the Crown Prince’s faction, he did not believe that without using violent and extreme measures, Han Qian truly had the ability to influence Han Daoxun’s stance and choices.
In that case, Han Qian would inversely become their greatest vulnerability.
Even if they did not know what safeguards Han Qian had secretly arranged to preserve his own life and could not directly kill him to silence him, they had to act decisively and immediately sever the possibility of Han Daoxun completely siding with the Crown Prince’s faction.
The mess still had to be cleaned up by Marquis Xinchang Li Pu. Though Han Qian did not directly rebuke him, the look he cast back was equally unfriendly as he asked: “Outside the four city gates, among the hundreds of thousands of refugees, two or three in ten are infected with the water gu. Does the Marquis know this? And if my father truly wanted to drive all these refugees to Shouzhou, would Shouzhou accept them?”
“Shouzhou would not accept them all, but by winnowing the wheat from the chaff, it could still greatly increase its strength,” Li Pu said.
In Han Qian’s view, Shouzhou would not accept plague-infected refugees. But in Li Pu’s view, Xu Mingzhen would absolutely ruthlessly exclude the infected refugees, leaving them to starve or freeze to death along the way while taking the others into Shouzhou.
Shouzhou Military Commissioner Xu Mingzhen was currently the Crown Prince faction’s greatest external support and also the greatest obstacle to Emperor Tianyou’s plan to depose the elder and establish the younger, to replace the Crown Prince.
Because Shouzhou was a strategic battleground at the center of the frequent warfare between Liang and Chu, its population had sharply declined in recent years. The counties under its jurisdiction had fewer than two hundred thousand people, so that even though Xu Mingzhen held military and political power in Shouzhou, he could not obtain adequate supplies locally.
In theory, if Emperor Tianyou truly resolved to strip Xu Mingzhen of his military authority, though there would be some upheaval at court, it would not become a major calamity.
However, if Xu Mingzhen’s local power base were allowed to further consolidate, Emperor Tianyou would be even less daring to lightly discuss matters of deposition and establishment. Their chances of supporting the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu would become even more remote.
This was also the greatest key to why today’s events had such a profound impact on Li Pu.
Besides the fact that Han Daoxun completely joining the Crown Prince’s faction would make Han Qian their greatest vulnerability, they also worried that after Han Daoxun threw out the idea of expelling refugees, military officials from the Crown Prince’s faction would echo the proposal, ultimately making the northern migration of refugees a foregone conclusion.
“…” Han Qian gave a cold snort and demanded: “Since my father proposed theè®® to expel the refugees, could you not have used this proposal to benefit His Highness?”
“How would we benefit?” Li Pu pressed.
“If I were to reveal at this moment the strategy I have long planned for His Highness, wouldn’t my father and I die even faster and more thoroughly?” Han Qian stared into Marquis Xinchang Li Pu’s eyes, demanding.
“You claim to be wholeheartedly planning for His Highness, yet why do you now refuse to speak?” Li Pu had not expected Han Qian to dare maintain such a defiant attitude before him, as stubborn and foul as a stone in a privy. He too glared back with murderous intent.
“As long as what you say is reasonable, we can naturally devise a way to seal Feng Yi and Kong Xirong’s mouths,” Yao Xishui said, standing beside the woman in black gauze.
“With your intellect, besides the glaringly flawed approach of murder and silencing, what other schemes could you have?” Han Qian asked disdainfully.
“You provoke with all these words merely to see how much capability we truly have to control the development of the situation,” Yao Xishui said. After previously encountering Han Qian’s sharp tongue at Wanhong Pavilion, she no longer viewed him as an incompetent wastrel and naturally would not be easily provoked by him again. Her beautiful eyes stared over calmly, wanting to see whether Han Qian was truly bluffing at this moment or actually had another definite plan.
“…” Seeing Yao Xishui’s confident demeanor, Han Qian could not help but want to roll his eyes at this little shrew. He thought carefully for a moment. The situation had already reached this point. If the “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters” he presented now could truly move Marquis Xinchang Li Pu and the woman in black gauze, with the capabilities of Marquis Xinchang’s mansion and Wanhong Pavilion, they might truly be able to control the situation from deteriorating.
And as long as the “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters” carried sufficient weight, having them resort to murder and silencing was not impossible.
“Bring me paper and brush!” Han Qian ordered Li Chong, who had such a punchable face.
Treating himself like a servant, Li Chong felt blood rushing to his head again.
“Young Marquis, do not be angry. Xishui is quite accustomed to serving others—Xishui will go fetch paper and brush.” Yao Xishui urged Li Chong not to get angry with this scoundrel Han Qian. She personally went out to fetch writing materials.
Han Qian could not possibly carry the “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters” with him at all times, but at this point he could already recite the memorial of less than three thousand words backward and forward.
When Yao Xishui brought the writing materials, he immediately transcribed the “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters” from memory. Having finished writing, he threw the paper and brush onto the table, saying: “This ‘Memorial on the Epidemic Waters’ is the memorial my father truly wanted to submit. For His Highness’s sake, I employed every means to persuade my father to conceal this memorial and submit the ‘Memorial on Expelling the Refugees’ instead. The Marquis is a discerning man—you take it and read it yourself, then tell His Highness whether my loyalty to him has been trampled into complete ruin by you today.”
Seeing Han Qian so boldly and presumptuously directly ordering his father to fetch that scrap of paper from before him, Li Chong could not help but feel the urge to strike someone again.
While Han Qian transcribed the “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters” from memory, Yao Xishui had stood behind him the entire time. Seeing Yao Xishui’s expression change, Li Pu also wanted to see what exactly Han Qian had written. He suppressed his reaction to Han Qian’s rudeness and walked over to take the “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters” to read…
Three or four thousand words—it did not take the time for a pot of tea for Marquis Xinchang Li Pu to finish reading. He then silently passed it to the woman in black gauze.
After the woman in black gauze finished reading, the expression between her brows and eyes grew solemn.
Overcome with curiosity, Li Chong was about to take it to see what content could make his father and the Madam’s attitudes change so dramatically.
However, Han Qian walked directly over and retrieved the “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters” from before Li Pu, handing it before the intensely curious Third Prince Yang Yuanpu, saying: “Your Highness, please read the ‘Memorial on the Epidemic Waters.’ If there is anything you do not understand, Han Qian may be able to explain a thing or two.”
Li Chong’s mouth twitched twice. Steeling himself, he stood beside the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu and leaned over to look together at what ghostly thing was written on this scrap of paper.
Han Qian retreated to his own seat, watching the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu bury his head to read the “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters.” Even now the woman in black gauze maintained her silence. It was very obvious that Marquis Xinchang Li Pu and Li Chong had decided to instigate the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu to expose his identity before Feng Yi and Kong Xirong in order to force his father and him to completely submit.
However, on the journey here, Yang Yuanpu had shown no intention of asking him to explain, clearly still too easily manipulated by others.
Though the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu harbored great ambitions, he was ultimately too young. Having dwelt deep within the palace’s confined and gloomy environment, he could not be said to have any real experience. This instead made his thoughts more vacillating and uncertain, his temperament more suspicious, naturally making him easily controlled by Li Pu and Wanhong Pavilion. On the other hand, Yang Yuanpu had long struggled, yearning to escape from the shadow of Anning Palace. Perhaps he was innately more dependent on Marquis Xinchang’s mansion and Wanhong Pavilion, who held some actual power. All this destined that he himself would find it difficult to gain Yang Yuanpu’s true trust.
Han Qian sighed inwardly, secretly feeling that for these self-proclaimed clever fools to truly value him, the road ahead was still far too long.
“If the water gu epidemic outside the city is truly this severe, leaving even the physicians of the Imperial Medical Bureau helpless, why should we believe this method is viable?” Li Chong naturally refused to easily admit he had acted rashly today.
“You don’t even know the situation of the refugees outside the city—what qualifications do you have to say so much?” Han Qian had accumulated a bellyful of anger and was worried about finding no one on whom to vent. Seeing Li Chong still being stubborn at this moment, his words were naturally impolite.
At this point he walked over and directly retrieved the transcribed copy of the “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters” from before Yang Yuanpu, tucking it into his sleeve.
However, facing Han Qian’s discourteous action, Yang Yuanpu’s face was full of shame. He did not dare meet Han Qian’s eyes, regretting that he had not held firm to his own thoughts and asked Han Qian first what was truly happening.
Marquis Xinchang Li Pu signaled Li Chong not to continue arguing with Han Qian. They were at fault first in this matter, and continuing to argue would only put them in the wrong—now was not the time to argue about right and wrong, but to confirm whether this “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters” truly worked.
“Even without mentioning this ‘Memorial on the Epidemic Waters,’ as long as the Marquis could think of the severe epidemic outside the city, you should also know that driving hundreds of thousands of refugees to Shouzhou would be an event of unpredictable fortune or calamity for Shouzhou. How could you act so rashly without asking Han Qian first?” Han Qian changed to an expression of painful distress and profound regret as he pressed the question.
Yao Xishui’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. She guessed that Han Qian raising this topic again was merely to deepen in the Third Prince’s mind the impression of Marquis Xinchang and his son’s rash actions. But Marquis Xinchang Li Pu was left speechless by Han Qian’s questioning, suffering in silence. Who could have anticipated that Han Qian concealed this move?
“Since you saw early on that your father had written the ‘Memorial on the Epidemic Waters’ preparing to submit it, why did you not tell us beforehand? If you had mentioned this matter early, Marquis Li would not have acted so hastily,” the woman in black gauze asked at this point.
“His Highness has never lacked people around him. Li Chong is proud by nature—after inviting me once to Wanhong Pavilion, he became smugly self-satisfied, making it difficult for me to approach him. As for Miss Yao here, I truly fear her like a tiger…” Han Qian naturally would not admit at this moment that he really had been unwilling to present this “Memorial on the Epidemic Waters,” which brought unpredictable fortune or calamity to the Han family. He was only bringing it out now because circumstances compelled him.
Seeing Han Qian still held a grudge over her previous attack on him, Yao Xishui secretly fumed.
“…” Marquis Xinchang Li Pu did not dwell on Han Qian’s suspicion of obstinate unreasonableness. He said gravely: “The situation need not spiral out of control, but first we must confirm this method is truly viable.”
Seeing Marquis Xinchang Li Pu return to Li Chong’s earlier question, Han Qian cupped his hands toward Yang Yuanpu and said:
“My father does not yet know that Han Qian secretly serves His Highness. But my father is broad-minded and benevolent, and his heart is devoted to the state. Unable to bear seeing the people suffer from epidemic disease, he paid attention to matters of the water gu epidemic while in Chuzhou and Guangling. After my father assumed the position of Junior Secretary Supervisor and gained access to study medical texts from previous dynasties, only recently did he summarize methods for controlling the water gu epidemic and write them into a memorial to present before the throne. When the Marquis now questions whether this method is viable—when I persuaded my father, I said that when His Majesty received the memorial, he would certainly summon all ministers to discuss the matter. At that time, court officials would inevitably question the method. After my father spent effort explaining it clearly so that the military officials at court confirmed the method was viable, at that point the hundreds of thousands of refugees outside the city would become a sweet prize fought over by many. With mutual constraints, it was highly possible the method could not be implemented and the refugees would not benefit. Therefore, I persuaded my father to abandon directly submitting the ‘Memorial on the Epidemic Waters’ and instead willingly bear infamy by submitting the ‘Memorial on Expelling the Hungry Refugees,’ while having me entrust Marquis Xinchang to implement this method—in reality, to use this method to cultivate power for His Highness…”
Speaking to this point, Han Qian said to Marquis Xinchang Li Pu: “Since the Marquis has seen the ‘Memorial on the Epidemic Waters’ my father painstakingly composed, how to use this method to benefit His Highness—surely Han Qian need not prattle on about it here?”