No matter how turbulent the undercurrents beneath the surface, the dissolution of the Guangde Army Commissioner’s Office, the transfer of command authority over the Left and Right Guangde Armies to the newly established Bureau of Military Affairs, and the three-route forces advancing on Jinling City all proceeded in an orderly manner.
No matter how formidable Empress Dowager Xu, Niu Gengru, Wen Muqiao and others once were, no matter that they commanded a batch of quite capable generals like Yang Jian, Wen Bo, Zhao Mingting, and Xu Anlan, and no matter that north of the river Xu Mingzhen personally led forty to fifty thousand elite troops watching across the water in support—when the momentum was lost, it was lost.
Zhao Mingting gazed at Chishan Lake north of the city. Only the edges of the lake surface had formed thin ice, while white mist still rose from the lake’s center, dispersing in all directions.
Though the weather had become extremely cold by now, the winter climate in Jiangnan was ultimately much more humid than the Central Plains. No matter how cold it got, though ordinary streams and rivers froze solid, the ten-some li wide Chishan Lake was very difficult to completely freeze over.
At this moment, Zhao Mingting, wearing ice-cold armor, sat on the back of a date-red horse, his heart full of melancholy and helplessness.
In the battle at Chizhou, ultimately it was only because the momentum was lost that Wen Bo had no choice but to lead the remnants in retreat, abandoning Chizhou City. Yet it must be said that under such terrible conditions, they still fought quite impressively.
However, it was precisely the loss of momentum that made one feel most helpless.
Even though they currently still controlled seventy to eighty thousand elite troops, at this time they could only be suffocated to death trapped in Jinling City, ultimately without even the chance to brilliantly bloom.
Honestly speaking, if in the end it was Prince Xin who captured Jinling, Zhao Mingting would feel more resigned. But who could have imagined that seemingly in the blink of an eye, the Third Prince who originally had the least hope for the throne suddenly gained overwhelming advantage?
Mentioning this point, deep in his heart Zhao Mingting felt extremely stifled. But analyzing it over and over, it really came down to the timing of Han Qian’s appearance in Jinling and his reorganization of the Taowu household troops’ remnants—destroying Liyang City then withdrawing to defend Maoshan—being too critical.
At the very beginning of the Jinling Incident, Anning Palace controlled the situation within Jinling City at the fastest speed. Including Xuanzhou’s Gu Zhilong, the attitudes of the Jiangdong aristocratic families were all obedient. Figures like Shang Wensheng representing Jiangdong aristocratic families in the capital supported enthroning the Crown Prince without much hesitation. Zhao Mingting had believed at the time they could quickly control the prefectures and counties of Jiangnan East Circuit, then send troops to campaign against Chuzhou and Yueyang.
The battle at Jingshan Convent was an extremely critical turning point. Not only were they caught off guard, but the Jiangdong aristocratic families who had already shown intent to pledge allegiance immediately withdrew their attitudes, instead recruiting troops and buying horses to observe the situation.
After that came Han Qian’s appearance in Jinling, reorganizing the Taowu household troops’ remnants to burn Liyang City and withdraw to defend Maoshan.
At that time, even though Zhao Mingting knew Han Qian and they were mortal enemies with no room for compromise, he rather hoped Han Qian could create more trouble for the Chuzhou forces.
Zhao Mingting believed Empress Dowager Xu, Niu Gengru, Wen Muqiao and others should all have thought the same, even repeatedly ordering him not to act rashly with his forces at Jiangcheng.
Of course, deep in their hearts they faintly worried this was a ruse staged jointly by Han Qian and Chuzhou.
Otherwise, if they had paid slightly more attention to this matter in the early stages, or even just sent three to five thousand more troops to Maoshan’s western flank, or directly divided forces to press on Maoshan to pin down the Chishan Army, the situation absolutely wouldn’t have evolved to today’s state.
They made no moves, and the Chuzhou forces at that time obviously also kept their main focus on them, not deploying truly powerful elite forces to deliver a fatal blow to the Chishan Army from the eastern flank. Thus they dragged on for two or three months only to discover the Chishan Army had already become a formidable force.
The Chishan Army occupied the area between Fuyu Mountain and Jieling Mountain. The northern slopes of Fuyu Mountain served as the main passage for Jinling to communicate with Jiangdong and Jiangxi aristocratic family forces—its strategic position was extremely critical. After Gu Zhilong’s defeat at Langxi and subsequent defection, the subsequent series of chain reactions occurred unstoppably like falling dominoes.
By the time they wanted to do anything, they suddenly discovered the momentum was already lost.
Moreover, the momentum was lost so thoroughly that even though they suddenly had seventy to eighty thousand elite troops in hand, they had no choice but to seriously consider the possibility of abandoning Jinling and withdrawing north of the river.
But Zhao Mingting couldn’t help melancholy wondering—did they truly have opportunity to withdraw and defend Huaixi at this time?
Shouzhou, Chaozhou, and Chuzhou—three prefectures with seventeen counties seemed like a considerable territory. But besides the early years when Emperor Tianyou rose in Huainan West Circuit with decades of continuous warfare, after the Great Chu’s founding, Liang forces repeatedly invaded. Over many years, large areas of land lay barren, and the population had decreased to less than eight hundred thousand.
In Zhao Mingting’s view, what they most urgently needed to do currently was still strictly control the movements of civil and military officials in the city, relying on Jinling’s fortified walls to severely blunt Yueyang forces’ edge—perhaps they could better expect an opportunity to turn things around.
Otherwise, once the Third Prince controlled Jinling, he would completely control Jiangnan East Circuit, Jiangnan West Circuit, and southern Zhe—nearly thirty prefectures with close to twelve million people. The disparity in power between the two sides would be too enormous.
However, these matters weren’t for Zhao Mingting to decide. He thought the final compromise solution might be for the Empress Dowager, His Majesty, and Crown Prince Yang Fen to first cross the river to Chuzhou, leaving behind a portion of elite troops to defend Jinling City to the death.
But if the Empress Dowager, His Majesty, and Crown Prince Yang Fen all crossed to Chuzhou, how much will to fight to the death without surrendering could remain among the soldiers left behind?
Zhao Mingting let out a helpless sigh and tightened the reins, about to spur his horse to the front of the formation. Just then, several fast horses galloped from the direction of Chishan Lake’s eastern shore, stopped by his guards at the perimeter.
Zhao Mingting didn’t know what urgent news from the eastern shore of Chishan Lake, already controlled by Huzhou forces, needed to reach his hands.
Zhao Mingting reined in his horse and stayed in place. After a moment, his guard led over a rider who, though dressed as a merchant, Zhao Mingting recognized at first glance as Liu Jie—a spy leader he had deployed to infiltrate Yangzhou when overseeing the Bureau of Geography.
Liu Jie and his men had originally been deployed to help Shouzhou forces control Yangzhou, but before the Jinling Incident, Chuzhou forces had already massively infiltrated and controlled Yangzhou, rendering the Bureau of Geography’s deployments completely ineffective.
On one hand, Zhao Mingting secretly resented that the personnel deployed by the Bureau of Geography over the years hadn’t been able to play any role. On the other hand, he wondered what news from Yangzhou would make Liu Jie risk exposing his identity to personally cross the river to see him.
“Recently, Yueyang envoy Wang Lin secretly arrived in Yangzhou to meet with Ruan Yan and Wang Wenqian to discuss recruitment. Yueyang seems intent on reviving the marriage contract between Han Qian and Wang Wenqian’s daughter Wang Jun—and Wang Wenqian’s daughter Wang Jun is currently imprisoned in Fanchang!” Liu Jie knelt before Zhao Mingting’s horse. Everyone found the current situation extremely difficult, but the matter of Yueyang’s secret negotiations with Chuzhou was too critical, compelling him to risk exposing his identity to personally cross the river to report the details.
Considering the difficulty of attacking Jinling City and the complex situation in the Two Huais after seizing Jinling, it wouldn’t surprise Zhao Mingting if Yueyang, before the final attack on Jinling, offered generous conditions to temporarily pacify the Chuzhou forces, or even incited Chuzhou forces to pin down Shouzhou forces. But reviving the marriage contract between Han Qian and Wang Wenqian’s daughter—what was this about?
Various signs indicated that originally it was Wang Wenqian who secretly instigated Han Daoxun to contact Inner Palace Bureau Deputy Commissioner Zhong Yuli to expose the secret of Shen He’s death by poisoning—this was also the origin of the Jinling Incident. Afterward, it was also Wang Wenqian who personally went to contact Li Pu and Grand Consort Wang Chan’er, ultimately prompting these two families to preemptively issue the proclamation against rebellion, which enraged the Empress Dowager into having Han Daoxun torn apart by chariots.
No matter what, even though Han Qian had blood feud with Anning Palace, he should also hate Wang Wenqian as the instigator of his father’s death.
The Yueyang people obviously all understood this point—how could they still revive the marriage contract between Han Qian and Wang Wenqian’s daughter as a precondition for recruiting Chuzhou?
Zhao Mingting summoned the chief scout and asked: “What are the current movements of the enemy at Dantu and the enemy at Maoshan?”
“According to scout reports, though the Huzhou forces and Right Guangde Army have already moved out from Dantu and the northern slopes of Maoshan, their movements aren’t particularly swift. Obviously they want to wait until our forces withdraw before leisurely occupying Jiangcheng, Qiuhu Mountain and other locations,” the chief scout said.
“Good. Ge Keng, you’re responsible for continuing to supervise the troops’ advance. I have urgent business to report to the Empress Dowager at the palace first,” Zhao Mingting instructed his deputy Ge Keng, then led over a hundred guards galloping first toward the Eastern Prosperity Gate.
……
……
The Huaidong Salt and Iron Bureau was based in Yangzhou. Every year, over a million shi of sea salt was transported from Yangzhou to provinces throughout the Huai and Jiang regions. The plump and extravagant salt officials, combined with Yangzhou’s location in the land of fish and rice with flat, fertile land and thriving population, together created this ancient famous city’s prosperous splendor.
This was a great city second in scale in this age only to Jinling. In early years it had been the seat of the Guangling Military Commissioner’s Office. After being absorbed into Huainan by the Xu clan, it hadn’t suffered much war damage, with the glorious traces of the previous dynasty all carried forward.
Before the Jinling Incident, Yangzhou City had over one hundred thousand households. In the past two months, as Prince Xin plundered large numbers of servants and simultaneously used military force to compel tens of thousands of aristocratic family children to relocate north of the river, Yangzhou prospered ever more abnormally.
“Courtesans know not the sorrow of a fallen nation; across the river they still sing flowers of the rear court.”
Though warfare still raged and arms flourished throughout the Huai and Jiang, aristocratic children living dissolute lives in Yangzhou City were not few—as if before the flames of war spread, they indulged in final brilliant glory and wealth.
Wang Lin entered Yanchun Pavilion, seeing the building packed with people. From many chambers came Huai maidens’ light and melodious voices and the resounding notes of strings and bamboo. He secretly marveled.
Wang Lin entered a private room, had guards stand outside the door, and ordered a banquet for himself, summoning a middle-aged qin master for entertainment.
After the qin master arrived and placed a lacquer-scarred wooden qin on a small table, beginning to play resoundingly, a hidden door in the chamber opened. Yin Peng walked in from the adjacent room.
Wang Lin was about to bow in courtesy when Yin Peng first bowed and said: “Administrator Wang, these years you’ve spared no effort placing yourself in danger, serving the tiger—truly extremely arduous. Please accept Yin Peng’s bow.”
Though Wang Lin served as secret envoy, even with Wang Wenqian representing Chuzhou for negotiations, with both sides having attendants standing by, they could only conduct official business according to the authorization of the Third Prince and Shen Yang and others before the mission, step by step discussing recruitment, unable to involve other matters.
To discuss secret matters, Wang Lin could only go through more complications. He delayed two days before creating this opportunity to meet privately with Yin Peng at Yanchun Pavilion.
Of course, doing so also ensured Wang Lin’s identity wouldn’t be exposed through accidental factors.
After Yin Peng sat down, he couldn’t wait to ask:
“What exactly is the current situation between the Third Prince and Han Qian?”
“The greater Han Qian’s achievements, the more he’s suspected. And Han Qian seizing Li Pu’s military authority without permission, even dispatching Feng Yi to Yueyang while seizing authority to force Yang Yuanpu to acknowledge his actions—this is an intolerable taboo in any ruler’s eyes. Additionally, Guangde is too close to Jinling. Han Qian himself should have realized this early on, long ago releasing word that after the war he would hand over military authority and return to Xuzhou to observe mourning. But his advance-by-retreating traces were too heavy, fundamentally not worthy of trust. Perhaps this finally prompted Yang Yuanpu to not wait until capturing Jinling before actually removing Han Qian’s military authority. Not to mention Li Pu and his own uncles—Han Qian recruiting servants into military service in Jinling, plus the many new policies he and his father implemented in Xuzhou, also drew suspicion from Yueyang families. Therefore, in removing Han Qian’s military authority, not one person spoke for him. Even those like Zheng Hui, Gao Chengyuan, Guo Liang who had good relations with him had considerable complaints about this matter. And Shen Yang, Xue Ruogu and others had long known his domineering nature…”
During this period, all of Fanchang City was equivalent to Yang Yuanpu’s forbidden palace, with palace guards controlling entry and exit at all city gates. Wang Lin had no opportunity to send messages. At this time, without worry of anyone bursting into this chamber, he unhurriedly explained to Yin Peng the various situations since Han Qian came to Fanchang City to see Yang Yuanpu, and the subtle attitudes of Yueyang people toward Han Qian.
In Wang Lin’s view, Han Qian in Fanchang City had long fallen into isolated helplessness. Currently it was only because his achievements were so great that everyone barely treated him amicably.
“My Lord already knows all these matters, but there are still some doubtful points in the whole affair that my Lord cannot fully understand,” Yin Peng said, seeing Wang Lin indeed didn’t know more details. He changed the subject and asked: “How is the Young Lady doing in Fanchang City? Has she suffered any grievances?”
“The Young Lady hasn’t suffered any grievances—merely her freedom to enter and exit Fanchang City is restricted. But I don’t know what my Lord truly thinks about this marriage contract matter?” Wang Lin asked with concern.
“Ruan Yan and others, seeing momentum tilting heavily toward Yueyang, still hope for opportunity to negotiate peace with Yueyang, thereby legitimately occupying Huaidong first, then gradually plotting other things. My Lord, caught in the middle, even knowing the Young Lady will suffer great grievance, really finds it difficult to say ‘no,'” Yin Peng said with bitter smile.
The Liang Emperor had Han Yuanqi lead Caizhou forces east, joining with Xuzhou Administrator Si Dan—over one hundred thousand troops combined, threatening the south bank of the Huai River from the north. Prince Xin had no choice but to personally lead elite forces to garrison Chuzhou to guard against unpreparedness.
Looking at the current situation, Yueyang capturing Jinling after the new year and controlling all of Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and Hunan regions was without suspense. At that time, Chuzhou would face the predicament of enemies on both sides.
Negotiating peace with Yueyang, exchanging surface loyalty for occupying Huaidong—for the Chuzhou people, this was a rare breathing opportunity.
Though after the Jinling Incident Chuzhou forces controlled Yangzhou-Taizhou and Huaidong salt fields at fastest speed, even when withdrawing forces north forcibly relocating nearly two hundred thousand servants and aristocratic family children from Su, Run, and Chang prefectures to the northern shore, Chuzhou’s foundation in Yangzhou-Taizhou and the Huaidong salt fields was ultimately still shallow.
Once Yueyang captured Jinling and the Third Prince officially ascended the throne, occupying righteous legitimacy, at that time there was no telling how many forces in the Yangzhou-Taizhou region and Huaidong salt fields would secretly communicate with Jinling. No matter how strong Chuzhou forces were, could they truly defend every city, town and village along the river from infiltration?
If they could obtain formal enfeoffment and legitimate governing authority, that would have completely different meaning for Chuzhou forces managing the entire Huaidong region.
Obviously this whole matter mainly depended on Prince Xin’s attitude toward recruitment. Even if Wang Wenqian held high position and great power in Chuzhou, he couldn’t let personal feelings obstruct “great matters.”
Thinking this, Yin Peng couldn’t help saying angrily: “Yang Yuanpu at such young age has such sinister scheming—isn’t he afraid that pressing step by step will make Han Qian break with him openly?”
Hearing Yin Peng say this, Wang Lin also sighed, then said: “This time, to avoid suspicion of coercion, Yang Yuanpu hopes it’s the Chuzhou side that formally raises the marriage contract matter.”
“He truly calculates well—wanting to be the villain yet knowing to extricate himself first!” Yin Peng said helplessly and indignantly.
“Yang Yuanpu’s schemes are indeed not weak, but can Chuzhou expose this matter to force Han Qian and Yang Yuanpu to turn against each other?” Wang Lin asked.
“I also asked my Lord. My Lord feels this possibility is not great,” Yin Peng shook his head and said. “Unless Yang Yuanpu currently has intent to execute Han Qian, forcing Han Qian into a corner with no retreat—otherwise Han Qian will endure no matter what, first waiting to see Anning Palace destroyed! However, before capturing Jinling, Yang Yuanpu probably doesn’t dare employ the most severe methods, right? Otherwise the matter would actually be easier.”
Wang Lin thought about it and agreed. The Left Guangde Army seemed to have few troops, but besides Guangde’s extremely critical location, the two to three hundred thousand elderly, weak, women and children gathered at Guangde were also an active volcano. Yang Yuanpu hoping for the Chuzhou side to proactively raise the marriage contract matter—frankly speaking, was also thinking to leave some room.
……
……
Wang Lin, on the fifteenth of the twelfth month, secretly went on mission to Yangzhou representing Yueyang. Though he had no opportunity to meet Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan face to face, he did meet with Yang Yuanyan’s Chief Gate Commissioner Ruan Yan and Chief Clerk Wang Wenqian left in Yangzhou.
Seven days later—that is, on the twenty-second of the twelfth month—Chuzhou Defense Commissioner’s Office Chief Gate Commissioner Ruan Yan and Commander Yin Peng accompanied Wang Lin to Fanchang to meet the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu for secret discussions on pledging allegiance and jointly sending troops to punish rebellion.
Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan, besides wanting actual enfeoffment of Si, Chu, Yang, Tai, and Hai—the five prefectures east of Hongze Lake within Great Chu’s borders—also wanted to establish the State of Huainan based on these five prefectures, enjoying profits from the Huaidong salt fields. On this foundation, Yang Yuanyan was willing to honor his younger brother Yang Yuanpu as new Emperor, and based on the proclamation against rebellion they had jointly issued, send troops to pin down Shouzhou forces.
Li Zhigao, Li Changfeng, Gu Zhilong, Guo Liang, Zhou Shu, Zhang Han and a large number of mid-to-high-ranking generals had already led troops pressing below Jinling City. Han Qian, as Advisory Councilor, remained in Fanchang City assisting Yang Yuanpu, Yang Zhitang, Li Pu and others handling tedious military affairs, also participating in the welcoming banquet for Ruan Yan and Yin Peng.
Before the welcoming banquet, besides Ruan Yan representing Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan in preliminarily proposing conditions for allegiance, he also mentioned the marriage between Wang Wenqian’s daughter Wang Jun and Han Qian, to show Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan’s sincerity in supporting the new Emperor.
After Wang Jun and Han Qian’s marriage, Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan could even send his heir Yang Ye to Fanchang to narrate fraternal blood bonds with Yang Yuanpu on his behalf.
That night, invited to participate in the welcoming banquet for Ruan Yan, Yin Peng and their party at the front office of the traveling palace were Yang Zhitang, Yang Fan, Chen De, Shen Yang, Zheng Yu, Zheng Chang, Zhang Chao, Li Pu, Wen Ruilin, Wang Lin, Han Daoming, Han Qian, Zhang Ping, Jiang Huo and others—all bigwigs of the Political Affairs Hall and Bureau of Military Affairs, or close ministers by Yang Yuanpu’s side.
As lanterns were first lit and the banquet just began, Ruan Yan mentioned Han Qian and Wang Jun’s marriage. The vast majority were startled, couldn’t help stopping wine cups in hand, looking toward Han Qian.
Ruan Yan suddenly raising this matter—many people felt it extraordinarily unexpected, yet upon careful consideration it was within reason.
Marriage alliances had since ancient times been an important means of ensuring political alliances could be maintained.
With the attack on Jinling imminent, in such a short time, there was probably nothing more convincing to both sides’ officers and soldiers of their joint sincerity than a marriage alliance between Wang Wenqian, Yang Yuanyan’s chief strategist’s daughter, and Han Qian.
Ruan Yan raising this matter seemed reasonable and proper.
As for why so many felt surprised—the reasons within needn’t be elaborated.
Han Daoxun’s death also involved the Grand Consort—this lid no one would proactively lift. In Yueyang it had almost become a secret known to everyone at high levels but completely unknown to mid-and-lower-ranking soldiers.
Han Qian still held his wine cup. Under everyone’s gaze, the wine cup in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand jun. Wine liquid slightly spilled out, wetting his clothes, yet he seemed unaware.
“Teacher Han, how do you view this matter?” After a moment, Yang Yuanpu asked with slightly lowered eyes.
Only then did Han Qian seem to suddenly come to his senses. Flustered, he set down his wine cup. In the lantern-lit great hall, he changed from sitting to kneeling position, saying somewhat panicked: “What Administrator Ruan says—this subject heard and is carefully considering in heart. When the Late Emperor was alive, he had ideas about enfeoffing princes to guard territory. Prince Xin’s desire to guard Huaidong territory for Great Chu against Liang forces’ strong attacks is not unacceptable. Moreover, Prince Xin is Your Highness’s elder brother by blood, also dragon son and dragon grandson. Your Highness sharing Great Chu’s territory with him—this subject and others truly cannot interfere, only Your Highness can decide alone. However, Huaidong salt profits are the foundation of governing the state. Lacking them, supporting troops and official salaries will be tight, and the Salt and Iron Commission, one of the Three Commissions, will be as if empty. This matter absolutely cannot be allowed…”
Han Qian rambled east and west, but wouldn’t speak half a sentence about the marriage contract.
Yang Yuanpu’s expression darkened slightly. He didn’t know whether he should appropriately apply some pressure, or hint for others to first speak up to discuss this matter.
At this time, Qingyang sitting to one side secretly tugged his sleeve, indicating this matter required time for Han Qian to digest.
Not to mention Han Qian—which of the present Zhang Ping, Shen Yang and others didn’t look astonished? How could they expect Han Qian to joyfully agree on the spot?
As a sovereign, one must also understand the way of combining firmness and gentleness.
Even if wanting to force Han Qian to agree to the marriage, one had to send others to work on Han Qian, then bestow the marriage in the Grand Consort’s name—this way at least in form it would be easier for Han Qian to accept.
After a moment, Han Qian anxiously stood up again, taking leave of Yang Yuanpu: “This subject’s body is unwell. After drinking two cups I feel my head extremely dizzy. Tonight I’m afraid I cannot continue accompanying Your Highness and the administrators drinking. I request permission to return home to rest first.”
“Teacher Han’s health is important—return home to rest first,” Yang Yuanpu also knew he couldn’t rush this moment. Next he mainly wanted to see Shen Yang, Zheng Yu, Zhang Chao and others’ thoughts on this marriage. If everyone inclined toward approving this marriage, he would have better position to send Zhang Ping to work on Han Qian.
Yang Yuanpu specially instructed Zhang Ping to escort Han Qian out on his behalf, showing respect for Han Qian.
As soon as Han Qian left, the somewhat oppressive atmosphere in the banquet hall was swept away. Li Pu cheerfully said to Han Daoming: “Han Qian and Administrator Wang’s daughter can be called talented man and beautiful woman. When Han Daoxun was alive, a marriage contract was already set. Regrettably due to mishaps, the good match wasn’t completed. Prince Xin having Administrator Ruan raise this matter again—unwilling to see a good marriage thus missed—can be said to have done a great good deed! Here I must congratulate Administrator Han in advance…”
Zhang Ping escorted Han Qian out of the great hall then turned back. Hearing Li Pu’s words, he couldn’t help but feel more contempt in his heart. Ultimately Li Pu still feared Han Qian—probably feeling that after Han Qian married Wang Wenqian’s daughter, he would be even less able to settle accounts for Han Daoxun’s death on them.
Looking again at Han Daoming’s smiling face while stroking his beard, Zhang Ping secretly wondered—could Han Daoming bring out Old Master Han to force Han Qian to acknowledge this marriage?
Zhang Ping felt somewhat depressed, but in his heart he knew he had no voice in this matter. He could only sit dejectedly below Shen Yang watching everyone drink high-spiritedly. Among so many present, after initial surprise, he also saw only Shen Yang and Xue Ruogu with slightly grave expressions.
Recruiting Chuzhou—the marriage between Han Qian and Wang Jun could only be considered extra. Even with Han Qian leaving early, it couldn’t disturb everyone’s spirits. The banquet continued high-spiritedly. Unknowingly the night deepened—already late night.
Even if not strong liquor like Yangtze Spring, with the banquet continuing over an hour, many already had some drunkenness. Yang Yuanpu, seeing the hour was about right and tonight both host and guests enjoyed themselves, wanted to announce the banquet’s end, sending people to courteously escort Ruan Yan and Yin Peng to the hostel to rest.
At this time, a junior officer on duty at the hall entrance took a letter, walked into the great hall, circled to Chen De’s side and whispered a few words. Chen De’s face turned pale with shock as he blurted out: “What—Han Qian led people out of the city!”