In late August in Yueyang, it was precisely the time of clear autumn weather.

“Good, good!”

Jiang Huo had just climbed the steps to the long corridor in front of Chengyun Hall when he heard unrestrained exclamations of approval from inside the great hall. With a broad smile, he stepped aside to let Shen Yang and Wang Lin, whose thoughts had been wandering along the way, enter the hall first, saying:

“The dispatch reports from Lord Han and Marquis Li were transmitted back from Xuanzhou before noon, arriving right on the heels of the Prince of Yuzhang sending his heir Yang Fan into Yueyang City. At this moment, His Highness has summoned the messenger Old Lord Yuan and Han Jun to Chengyun Hall to have them both explain the details of how Lord Han and Marquis Li used strategy to attack Langxi and recruit Gu Zhilong to him and the Prince of Yuzhang’s heir—it’s fortunate that this time Old Lord Yuan and Han Jun personally rushed back to Yueyang and could explain all the details clearly.”

“The Prince of Yuzhang’s manor certainly didn’t waste any time!” Even someone as proper and serious as Shen Yang couldn’t help but tease Prince of Yuzhang Yang Zhitang at this moment.

Jiang Huo smiled slightly, thinking that Han Qian and Li Pu only dispatched Yuan Guowei and Han Jun to rush back to Yueyang to report the good news after reaching agreement with Gu Zhilong on all the terms of allegiance. For Prince of Yuzhang Yang Zhitang’s eldest son Yang Fan to arrive in Yueyang at the same time showed that Yang Zhitang had made his choice when he learned the news that the Chishan Army had captured Langxi City.

Although this couldn’t be called timely aid in snow, it still looked better than adding flowers to brocade. No wonder His Highness was treating the Prince of Yuzhang’s heir Yang Fan so warmly.

“Lord Shen, you’ve arrived first!” Zheng Yu and Zheng Chang came together. Seeing Shen Yang, Jiang Huo and others, they greeted them with high spirits.

Seeing Han Daoming and Zhang Chao walking into the square from a distance, Zheng Yu, Shen Yang, and Zheng Chang were in no hurry to enter the hall. Instead, they stood before the great hall waiting for Han Daoming and Zhang Chao to arrive. Together they cupped their hands in salute to Han Daoming, saying: “The Han family has the tiger cub Han Qian stationed in Jiangdong in front, leaving Anning Palace and Chuzhou with no strategy to counter him, and behind has Old Lord Han upholding Great Chu’s reputation as Zhang Yi, persuading Gu Zhilong and the various Xuanzhou families to pledge allegiance to Yueyang—the entire Han family are distinguished ministers!”

Everyone present was full of enthusiasm, as if all their previous strong dissatisfaction with Han Qian and so many criticisms had vanished into smoke at this moment, as if they had never existed.

…

…

In the afternoon, Yang Yuanpu instructed a young eunuch to specially send a portion of the gifts presented by Prince of Yuzhang’s heir Yang Fan to Changxin Palace.

This young eunuch was stopped by Princess Qingyang, who, mimicking Yang Yuanpu’s tone in Chengyun Hall with the Prince of Yuzhang’s heir and the other lords, carefully described the atmosphere of enthusiasm that filled the hall.

A palace matron standing beside Princess Qingyang in the hall said with a smile: “The Prince of Yuzhang’s heir addresses His Highness as uncle prince with every breath, but when I saw his face from afar just now, he actually appears several years older than His Highness…”

“Prince of Yuzhang Yang Zhitang is the son of the Late Emperor’s eldest brother and is nearly fifty years old, right? How could the Prince’s heir be young?” Qingyang looked at Du Qiniang and asked, “Aqi, have you heard how old this Yang Fan is?”

“I haven’t heard people talk much about the Prince of Yuzhang’s manor, so I don’t know how old the Prince’s heir is.” Du Qiniang had just been summoned into the hall by Qingyang and was just figuring out what was happening.

“The young marquis is indeed six or seven years older than His Highness—he should be twenty-five this year.” The young eunuch Yang Yuanpu had sent stood to the side and replied.

Qingyang walked to the gifts Yang Yuanpu had instructed the young eunuch to bring over. From the gold-inlaid red lacquer tray, she picked up a lustrous and translucent mutton-fat jade bracelet, pulled Du Qiniang over, and placed the bracelet on her snow-white wrist, saying, “Your wrist is truly beautiful. This jade bracelet should rightfully be yours.”

“Thank you for the reward, Princess Consort.” Du Qiniang glanced at Princess Qingyang with some uncertainty and thanked her in a calm tone, without the kind of delight Qingyang had expected.

Du Qiniang’s nature was straightforward and detached. In her free time, she preferred to immerse herself in studying medicine and reading medical texts. But having experienced so much hardship and upheaval in her life, how could her mind not be perceptive?

At Prince Tan’s manor, Du Qiniang was now more or less a dedicated female official of Changxin Palace. But after Qingyang formally married, two palace ladies from Shu whom she had trusted since childhood specially accompanied her dowry to Yueyang. Especially after Han Qian went to Jinling on his own authority to seize Li Pu’s military command, Princess Qingyang had noticeably distanced herself from her.

In Changxin Palace, the constraints on her had increased. Moreover, with Lin Haizheng, Feng Liao and others all following Han Qian to Jinling, her access to information had become rather limited.

Du Qiniang only now learned that yesterday a messenger had rushed to Yueyang reporting that Old Lord Han Wenhuan had successfully persuaded Xuanzhou Regional Inspector Gu Zhilong to pledge allegiance to Yueyang.

Together with Prince of Yuzhang Yang Zhitang sending his heir Yang Fan to Yueyang, Prince Tan’s manor from top to bottom was filled with an atmosphere of enthusiastic joy. But Du Qiniang still didn’t know the specific details.

At this moment, seeing Princess Qingyang reward her with the jade bracelet, Du Qiniang pondered what matter had caused Princess Qingyang’s attitude toward Xuzhou to subtly change again. But she didn’t presumptuously probe, nor did she presume to intimately approach Princess Qingyang. After accepting the bracelet and seeing there was nothing else for her, she took her leave and returned to the class courtyard where she normally resided.

“This girl’s heart still lies in Xuzhou. Even receiving such a fine bracelet, her temperament remains so cold.” A middle-aged matron standing behind Qingyang watched Du Qiniang’s departing figure and said with furrowed brows.

“Her brothers, mother, and sister are all in Xuzhou, and she owes Han Qian a great debt of gratitude. If a single bracelet could make her forget herself, aren’t there enough such cheap goods in this Changxin Palace?” Qingyang’s exquisite eyes held a trace of coldness, yet she didn’t particularly mind Du Qiniang’s indifferent reaction.

When she first arrived in Yueyang isolated and helpless, Du Qiniang had been dispatched by Yang Yuanpu’s order to serve her. At that time, whether it was her elder brother in Yuzhou needing Xuzhou’s support or her being forced to compromise with Han Qian, both made her treat Du Qiniang quite intimately.

However, besides Yang Yuanpu agreeing after their marriage to let the two palace ladies from Shu who had attended to her personally since childhood remain in Changxin Palace, giving her trusted personnel to use, at this time there were also some slanderous and filthy rumors unfavorable to her and Han Qian circulating in the dark corners inside and outside Prince Tan’s manor.

She could guess it was extremely likely that Cishou Palace was behind it. But with such rumors circulating in dark corners privately, she couldn’t possibly stand up to refute them—she could only redouble her attention to avoiding suspicion.

After Han Qian went to Jinling on his own authority to seize Li Pu’s military command, Prince Tan Yang Yuanpu had no choice afterward but to acknowledge it. Outsiders might not be able to fathom what Yang Yuanpu truly thought inside, but she watched him daily at the bedside—how could she not be clear?

When Han Qian conscripted servants and slaves into the army and promised them rewarded fields, some forces that had previously been relatively neutral in their view of Xuzhou, like Zhang Chao and Zhang Han, underwent great transformation. She even heard that even Zheng Hui had criticisms of Han Qian’s actions, so she unhesitatingly pushed Du Qiniang aside.

At this time, Yuzhou and Sizhou’s Yang clan’s joint attack on the Wuliao people had also made critical progress, and their dependence on war equipment and warships manufactured in Xuzhou had greatly decreased.

But who could have imagined the situation would change so quickly?

Han Wenhuan used himself as bait to lure Gu Zhilong to lead the elite headquarters troops back to Xuancheng, then Han Qian led the Chishan Army to capture the poorly defended Langxi City, ultimately prompting Gu Zhilong to pledge allegiance to Yueyang—even willing to hand over his family members and heirs to Xinchang Marquis Li Pu as hostages.

Although the entire process had some discrepancies in details from when Yueyang initially dispatched Han Wenhuan, Han Daochang and others to advance east to recruit, Gu Zhilong had ultimately pledged allegiance!

In the Battle of Jingshan Abbey, Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan had won so decisively. At that time, Yueyang’s morale was low, and they tended to believe that Jianghuai, Jiangdong and other regions would soon fall into Chuzhou’s hands. If not for concerns about the impact being too severe and damaging morale among the Dragon Sparrow Army forces too greatly, they had even considered directly recalling Xinchang Marquis Li Pu and others and abandoning the military household families at Taowu Stockade.

Who could have imagined that after Han Qian arrived in Jinling, in just two or three months, what seemed like extremely unreasonable responses could fundamentally reverse the situation on Jinling’s periphery?

The merger of Xuanzhou troops into the Qiuhu Army had already entered the implementation stage. Only some matters remained, such as establishing a Commissioner’s Office in Langxi, Guangde, and Anji counties, adjusting civil and military officials of the Qiuhu Army and Xuanzhou, and so on, still waiting for final confirmation from Yueyang.

Prince of Yuzhang Yang Zhitang had sent his heir Yang Fan to Yueyang to seek official position so he could serve Yang Yuanpu on his behalf. At the same time, Yang Zhitang, citing poor health, requested to resign from positions as Hongzhou Regional Inspector and Hong-Yuan Campaign Military Commissioner, recommending Li Yu’s eldest son, Marquis of Linjin Li Changfeng to replace him. This meant Yueyang’s recruitment of Yang Zhitang had also achieved substantive progress. It could be said that the entire situation of Great Chu had completely tilted toward Yueyang.

With the Chishan Army and Qiuhu Army firmly holding Xuanzhou, and Yuan and Hong prefectures connected as one with Yueyang, the allegiance of Rao and She prefectures west of Hongzhou and Fu, Ji, Gan, and Shao prefectures to the south would merely be matters settled by proclamation.

Compared to Anning Palace currently controlling seven prefectures including Shou, Chao, Shu, Jiang, Chi, Chu and Jingzhao Prefecture, and Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan controlling the six prefectures of Chu, Yang, Tai, Su, Run, and Chang, after Prince of Yuzhang Yang Zhitang’s allegiance, Yueyang would very soon be able to control the population, grain and other resources of nineteen prefectures.

If everyone in Yueyang at this time still didn’t have sufficient confidence that Third Prince Yang Yuanpu would ultimately ascend to the throne of Great Chu’s emperor, that would be too pessimistic.

The most troublesome question now was probably whether Yang Yuanpu should succeed to the throne and ascend in Yueyang right now, or wait until after capturing Jinling City before succeeding to the throne?

Although Yang Zhitang’s allegiance would directly change the balance of power between Yueyang and Anning Palace and Chuzhou, no one could deny that Han Qian’s arduous and highly effective achievements on Jinling’s periphery played a crucial catalytic role.

Qingyang was also very clear in her heart that regardless of whether Yang Yuanpu harbored reservations about Han Qian going to Jinling on his own authority to seize military command without informing him beforehand, on the surface that admirable “Tutor Han” had returned.

And Han Qian’s unauthorized conscription of servants and slaves into the army and such matters became even more insignificant, as long as the negative impact didn’t continue to expand.