Not many days after Yang Hu and Chenzhou Chief Administrator Cao Xiushi arrived in Jinling to report on the Sizhou civil unrest, Shu Kingdom’s Court of State Ceremonial Minister Wei Qun and Yuzhou Military Administrator Cao Gan, serving as Shu envoys, also traveled east along the river and arrived in Jinling City for an audience with Emperor Yanyou.
The marriage alliance between Shu and Chu, coinciding with Emperor Tianyou’s death and the Jinling Incident, had experienced twists and turns beyond what the world could imagine before Princess Qingyang finally married Yang Yuanpu as his consort. Wei Qun, serving as the wedding escort envoy at that time, had also rushed to Yueyang to witness the wedding ceremony.
At this time within Jinling City, aside from the assassination case of Guangde Magistrate Shang Wensheng and the Sizhou civil unrest, what truly attracted widespread attention from both court and country was news that came from the Liang Kingdom in mid-May—that the Liang army had broken through Yingzhou and Liang’s Prince Bo Zhu Gui had died in the chaos of battle.
The Liang Kingdom was the first to quell internal unrest. Particularly in the battle where the Liang army broke through Yingzhou, they had expended almost no effort to shatter the rebel army’s fighting spirit and capture the city. It seemed the Liang army’s strength had not been weakened by this internal unrest but rather strengthened.
The Shu Kingdom, occupying the Sichuan-Shu region, had national power far inferior to Liang and Chu. Seeing that Chu’s internal troubles were not yet settled, Shu Lord Wang Jian wanted to ally with the weak to resist the strong. Only after his son-in-law Yang Yuanpu had been on the throne for two or three months did he dispatch Court of State Ceremonial Minister Wei Qun to offer congratulations, and incidentally formally establish a treaty between the two nations.
Even though Wei Qun was closer to the Shu Heir Apparent, Marquis of Qingjiang, for Princess Qingyang, these were after all people from her maternal family coming over. She also received Emperor Yanyou’s special permission to hold a private banquet in Changxin Palace to entertain Wei Qun, Cao Gan and other Shu envoys—Yuzhou Military Administrator Cao Gan served as vice envoy on this mission. Princess Qingyang had no reason to bypass the chief envoy and meet with only the vice envoy.
Since it was a private banquet, aside from officials from Great Chu’s Ministry of Rites and Court of State Ceremonial serving as company, as well as female officials and palace attendants from Changxin Palace, only Palace Attendant Bureau Vice Director Yuan Guowei and Chongfu Temple Palace Administrator Yun Puzi, whose status was relatively distinguished, were invited to attend.
Among the female officials and palace attendants Princess Qingyang used in Changxin Palace, five had accompanied her as part of her dowry from the Shu Kingdom and were considered former Shu subjects. But the moment they set foot on Great Chu territory, they, like Princess Qingyang, all became subjects of Great Chu.
Palace rules were strict. Not only could Princess Qingyang not leave the palace at will, these former Shu subjects were also strictly forbidden from leaving the palace to privately meet with Shu envoys.
If there were things to say, they could only be conveyed through Yun Puzi, whose status was relatively distinguished and free.
On the day of the palace banquet, Yun Puzi also arrived early with Palace Attendant Bureau Vice Director Yuan Guowei and officials from the Ministry of Rites and Court of State Ceremonial at the Duting Post Station, which belonged to the Court of State Ceremonial and received foreign envoys and envoys from other states, to respectfully welcome Wei Qun, Cao Gan and other Shu envoys into the palace.
The Duting Post Station had been destroyed by war fires but was also one of the first buildings in the city to receive repairs. After leaving the Duting Post Station and passing through Chongli Gate, one entered within the Imperial City, where at this time one could still see traces of burning and collapsed buildings everywhere.
Wei Qun and Cao Gan received special permission to continue riding horses after entering the Imperial City. The two men, sitting on horseback at this moment, exchanged a meaningful glance, though they had many words they had no way to speak aloud at this time.
Before entering the palace, Cao Gan had specially met with Yang Hu once to learn some details about the internal chaos in Sizhou.
When the internal chaos erupted in Sizhou, Cao Gan and Wei Qun were on the road heading to Jinling.
In fact, given how closed off information transmission was in this era, if not for Yang Hu and Chenzhou Chief Administrator Cao Xiushi immediately taking a boat to rush to Jinling, the people within Jinling City at this time might not even know news of the Sizhou civil unrest. Cao Gan also didn’t know whether Marquis of Changxiang in Yuzhou currently knew about the Sizhou civil unrest.
Yang Hu and Cao Xiushi privately insisted that the Sizhou civil unrest was Han Qian manipulating things behind the scenes, but Cao Gan had doubts in his heart.
To purchase military equipment from Xuzhou and coordinate with Sizhou to jointly attack the Wu barbarian forces occupying both banks of the Qian River, Cao Gan had traveled between Sizhou and Xuzhou three times and was quite familiar with Xuzhou’s situation.
Over these years, Han Qian and his father Han Daoxun had managed Xuzhou, greatly developing craftsmanship and repairing water conservancy internally, while externally undertaking major renovations of post roads and encouraging commerce. Currently, Xuzhou’s largest-scale cotton cloth weaving and dyeing industry on one hand relied on the surrounding Chenzhou, Shaozhou, Yezhou, and Sizhou to plant cotton and provide cotton seeds, while on the other hand had to pass through Chenzhou, Shaozhou, Yezhou, and Sizhou to sell the dyed Qianyang cloth to the more extensive regions of Qianzhong, Sichuan-Shu, Hunan, and even Jiangxi.
Under these circumstances, why would Han Qian be eager to scheme for Sizhou, which only had sixty to seventy thousand people?
Didn’t Han Qian know how difficult the situation would be with enemies on all sides and Xuzhou falling into isolation?
Sometimes worldly affairs were just this unpredictable.
Yang Hu, the Xi clan of Chenzhou, and even so many people in Jinling—because of their inherent prejudice against Han Qian, they were inclined to believe that the Sizhou civil unrest was Han Qian manipulating things behind the scenes, which actually more closely matched the facts.
Whereas Cao Gan, analyzing from a more objective angle and believing Han Qian had no motive to manipulate the Sizhou civil unrest, actually deviated from the true facts.
Even though the fog surrounding the Sizhou civil unrest puzzled Cao Gan greatly, looking at the disorder within Great Chu’s Imperial City that could not conceal traces of war, he felt even deeper emotion and could not guess what that stern youth sitting in mourning clothes under a bamboo shelter before a grave was truly thinking, nor could he guess how deep this person’s scheming and calculations went.
At least when he rushed to Yueyang to participate in Princess Qingyang’s wedding, he had not anticipated that Chu’s situation would develop this way. He hadn’t even been able to see hope for Yang Yuanpu to compete successfully and seize the throne.
At that time, everyone in the Shu Kingdom had hoped more that Yang Yuanpu could establish a separatist regime in Hunan or Jing-Xiang, thereby plunging Chu into a situation of division and fragmentation.
Cao Gan thought that aside from being wary of Heir Apparent Marquis of Qingjiang’s growing power and influence, the national lord probably supported Princess Qingyang’s marriage to Yang Yuanpu for precisely this reason—not pursuing the matter of Princess Qingyang’s abduction.
In the depths of his heart, the national lord probably hoped more that the Hunan region Yang Yuanpu would control would ultimately become Shu’s vassal, right?
Who could have anticipated that Han Qian would infiltrate Jinling and lead the Chishan Army to rise as a dark horse force, thereby causing Great Chu’s situation to undergo such a reversal in such a short time?
Therefore, even though Cao Gan inwardly didn’t believe Han Qian currently had covetous designs on poor and remote Sizhou, thinking of the sudden changes and turns in Jinling’s situation, he felt nothing could be so certain anymore.
After all, the numerous suspicious points raised by Yang Hu and Cao Xiushi, as well as Han Qian’s reaction after the Sizhou civil unrest, did indeed have some suspicious aspects.
Of course, the eruption of civil unrest in Sizhou also had an extremely large impact on his and Wei Qun’s mission.
Their embassy to Great Chu, aside from congratulating Emperor Yanyou on ascending the throne and establishing a treaty, had another matter—to determine the border between Shu and Chu along the middle reaches of the Qian River.
Marquis of Changxiang, uniting with Sizhou, had jointly attacked the Wu barbarians and completely opened the Qian River passage at the start of the year.
Sizhou’s military strength was relatively weak, but the Wu barbarian strength in the middle and upper reaches of the Qian River was even weaker.
Sizhou troops advanced from Shiqian County in the south, fighting north along both banks of the Qian River, successively capturing over forty Wu barbarian strongholds, pushing their territory from the northern border of Shiqian County along the Qian River about one hundred twenty li northward. Currently, they controlled most of what had been Wuchuan County during the previous dynasty.
During the joint attack on the Wu barbarians, the Shu Kingdom deployed three commands of Left Qingjiang Army elite troops to Yuzhou, placed under Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong’s command. Together with Yuzhou’s provincial troops, purchasing large quantities of warships and military equipment from Xuzhou, they undertook the main combat mission of attacking the Wu barbarians. They successively captured and accepted the surrender of over a hundred barbarian strongholds, controlling the waterway three hundred li south of Wulong County. By straight-line distance, they pushed their controlled area about one hundred sixty li southward, recovering approximately the entire Banan region.
Although Wu barbarian forces along both banks of the Qian River had been completely cleared, there were still large numbers of barbarian strongholds standing in the deep mountains and old forests on both banks. Additionally, in the southwestern Chuannan region, barbarian power was also extremely strong.
Therefore, even controlling the river regions, both sides still bore considerable military pressure along the middle reaches of the Qian River. From time to time, Wu barbarians would emerge from the deep mountains and old forests to attack stronghold positions along the river controlled by both sides.
Whether it was Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong or ministers in the Great Shu court, most people still advocated using the current actual occupied territories of both sides to determine the new provincial boundary between Sizhou and Yuzhou.
However, Yuzhou was Great Shu’s directly administered province (Shu Kingdom’s system prefecture, regular prefecture, equivalent to a directly governed province), while Sizhou was Great Chu’s tributary state. The new provincial boundary was equivalent to the national border between the two countries along the middle reaches of the Qian River, so both nations’ courts still needed to confirm the provincial boundary for it to be truly valid.
This was also a task Wei Qun and Cao Gan needed to complete in coming to Jinling to establish the treaty between the two nations.
Regardless of whether Han Qian had manipulated things behind the scenes, Wei Qun and Cao Gan could not ignore how the Sizhou civil unrest interfered with this matter.
“Minister Cao, what are you thinking about?” Yun Puzi was advanced in years and sat in a carriage. Noticing Cao Gan’s wandering thoughts, he opened his mouth to ask.
Even though Yun Puzi deeply enjoyed Princess Qingyang’s trust, and Cao Gan had received Yun Puzi’s guidance when he first accompanied Marquis of Changxiang on an embassy to Great Chu, Princess Qingyang was now a Great Chu noble consort. Her heart could not possibly incline toward Shu or toward Marquis of Changxiang as in the past. Yun Puzi was also a properly册封ed official of Great Chu. Not to mention the many officials from Great Chu’s Ministry of Rites and Court of State Ceremonial present—Cao Gan naturally could not tell Yun Puzi everything in his heart. He laughed and said:
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that when I was in Yueyang, I had several encounters with Vice Commander Chen Jingzhou. I was thinking that coming to Jinling this time, I could meet with Commander Chen, but unexpectedly, just before and after each other, Commander Chen was transferred to Guangde Prefecture to serve as Magistrate. Life’s connections truly are like white clouds and gray dogs—unpredictable and ever-changing.”
Yun Puzi said, “Former Guangde Magistrate Shang Wensheng and his wife and son were killed by assassins and rebellious slaves at their Lishui family residence. This case caused a great uproar. However, everyone says the murderers fled to Guangde Prefecture. After dragging on for two or three months and arresting over a hundred suspects in Guangde Prefecture, they still haven’t caught the murderers. His Majesty was quite enraged and decided to dispatch General Chen to sit in command there, hoping to avenge Minister Shang’s family as soon as possible…”
Great Shu’s Black Cloud Bureau was also responsible for collecting intelligence from Chu territory, but was far from detailed enough to have figured out all the various interests and relationships involved in Shang Wensheng’s assassination case.
Cao Gan and Wei Qun had just arrived in Jinling to settle in, and their contact with the outside world was also limited. They still didn’t understand many situations sufficiently. Therefore, although he pondered that Yun Puzi’s words revealed some meaning, he couldn’t fully grasp it at the moment.
“Her Ladyship must have been waiting a long time. Let’s quicken our pace,” Yuan Guowei changed the subject, to prevent Yun Puzi, who had old connections with Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong, from revealing too much information to the Shu envoys.
Shen Yang had initially recommended Xue Ruogu to serve as Guangde Magistrate but encountered much opposition. His Majesty also had doubts. When civil unrest erupted in Sizhou, the participating ministers realized Guangde Prefecture could not fall into chaos. After weighing matters, they ultimately recommended Chen Jingzhou to serve as Guangde Magistrate.
Chen Jingzhou and Zhou Dan both came from mountain stronghold forces in Junzhou. The two of them were quite close to Han Qian. Using Chen Jingzhou or Zhou Dan was beneficial for stabilizing the undercurrents and hidden surges in Guangde Prefecture’s current situation.
Compared to Xue Ruogu, there was one point about Chen Jingzhou that was extremely clear.
That was that although Chen Jingzhou leading his subordinate forces down from the mountains was facilitated by Han Qian, he directly pledged allegiance to His Majesty. He had also established outstanding military achievements when His Majesty sat in command at Xichuan City, thus earning important responsibilities.
After experiencing the Wang Lin incident, Xue Ruogu, who had long served as Chief Administrator under Han Daoxun’s command and had been expelled from Xuzhou by Han Qian—who could guarantee he definitely had no problems and wasn’t part of Han Qian’s counter-intelligence scheme?
If Chen Jingzhou served as Guangde Magistrate, because of his close relationship with Han Qian, in handling various tangled and complex affairs, he might possibly favor retired soldiers and their families from the former Chishan Army and Left Guangde Army—this was also beneficial for easing the currently tense situation within Guangde Prefecture. But one point was also clear—Chen Jingzhou and Zhou Dan were still loyal to the court and were not Han Qian’s men.
Great Chu’s interior already had enough turbulent undercurrents. Yuan Guowei, who in his heart deeply hoped Great Chu could be stable and the nation peaceful and people secure, absolutely didn’t want Yun Puzi to reveal too many internal matters to Shu envoys Wei Qun and Cao Gan, letting Shu unnecessarily meddle and get involved.
…
…
The private banquet at Changxin Palace was held at noon, simply to let Princess Qingyang chat about family matters with people from her maternal home to console her homesickness.
Princess Qingyang was pregnant. Not to mention going outside the palace gates to enjoy herself—she rarely even stepped outside Changxin Palace. She was truly feeling stifled.
Upon seeing Wei Qun and Cao Gan, thinking of old matters when she was in the Shu capital, her eyes couldn’t help but redden.
After the banquet concluded, Princess Qingyang kept Wei Qun and Cao Gan in Changxin Palace to sit for another hour.
Since it was conversation, it couldn’t possibly be just Princess Qingyang constantly seeking Wei Qun and Cao Gan to inquire about many recent circumstances in Shu and her elder brother Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong. She would also tell Wei Qun and Cao Gan about some situations regarding her position in the Chu palace.
Speaking unguardedly, she would also inadvertently leak many mysterious secrets.
Finally, Yuan Guowei couldn’t bear to watch anymore and reminded Princess Qingyang that the meeting was over. He personally “ceremonially escorted” Wei Qun and Cao Gan back to Duting Post Station, not daring to let Yun Puzi have more contact with the Shu envoys.
Yun Puzi then continued staying in Changxin Palace to talk with Princess Qingyang.
“Cao Gan seemed somewhat distracted. Is something happening on elder brother’s side?” After Qingyang’s emotions stabilized, she also noticed some detailed matters and specially kept Yun Puzi in Changxin Palace to talk.
“I haven’t heard of any changes occurring in Yuzhou. Perhaps after General Cao arrived in Jinling and heard about the civil unrest erupting in Sizhou, his mind became somewhat unsettled,” Yun Puzi said.
“How so?” Qingyang asked doubtfully.
“Wei Qun is the chief envoy. Cao Gan, as Yuzhou Military Administrator, is also on an embassy to Great Chu. This naturally isn’t because the national lord is mindful of Cao Gan’s past relationship with the Princess. The truth is that this treaty establishment between the two nations will determine the boundary between the two countries along the Qian River. No one is more familiar with the situation there than Cao Gan,” Yun Puzi said. “Currently, the Wu barbarian territory in the middle reaches of the Qian River has been divided between Sizhou and Yuzhou. Now that such a large-scale unrest has erupted within Sizhou’s borders, this will naturally have some impact on the matter of dividing boundaries…”
Qingyang was also extremely familiar with Qian River matters. Hearing Yun Puzi say this, she could easily understand where the interference lay.
Civil unrest had erupted in Sizhou on such a large scale. Regardless of whether it could be suppressed subsequently, Yang Xingfeng would inevitably have to withdraw a portion of his elite troops controlling Wuchuan County back to strengthen control over Renshan County, this foundational territory.
Not to mention that Sizhou’s control over Wuchuan had greatly decreased at this time—even if they successfully suppressed the civil unrest within their borders, their vitality would be severely damaged.
At this time, should they still divide boundaries according to the two provinces’ actual controlled territories? Anyone would make new considerations.
“Do you think Cao Gan will suggest Wei Qun have a bigger appetite when negotiating the boundary?” Qingyang asked.
“Wei Qun and Cao Gan came bearing a national letter. They have no authority to arbitrarily change course. But they can delay time, waiting for Great Shu’s national lord’s new decision to be transmitted,” Yun Puzi said. “However, according to this old Daoist’s thinking, Sizhou only has sixty to seventy thousand people. At its peak, it possessed no more than five thousand troops and contributed little in the joint attack on the Wu barbarians. Yet at this time, they want to divide away over a third of the Wu barbarians’ territory. It’s impossible for no one within Shu to have objections. From another perspective, Sizhou is merely Chu’s tributary state. Whether Sizhou’s territory is larger or smaller actually has little substantial impact on Chu. They might even worry that if a tributary state’s territory is too large, it will become even less obedient and more ambitious. But it’s different for Shu—there may still be some variables…”
“If Wei Qun and Cao Gan don’t delay and directly present my father’s national letter to His Majesty, there won’t be any variables, right?” Qingyang stared at Yun Puzi and asked.
Yun Puzi nodded and said, “That is indeed so. Great Shu’s national lord wouldn’t go back on his word over this small piece of remote territory. But the problem is, knowing such a major change has occurred, if Wei Qun and Cao Gan don’t delay and wait for a new decision, when they return to Shu, they might face impeachment—Cao Gan’s wandering thoughts may lie precisely here.”
“Daoist Master Yun, do you think Cao Gan should or should not delay?” Princess Qingyang asked.
“The Sizhou civil unrest is extremely likely to involve the Marquis of Qianyang. The intricate complexity behind this is not something this old Daoist can see through. Forgive this old Daoist for being unable to answer the Princess’s question,” Yun Puzi said frankly.
“Does Han Qian truly have ambitions to annex Sizhou?” Princess Qingyang asked.
“If this old Daoist could discern the Marquis of Qianyang’s thoughts, I wouldn’t have ended up as a homeless dog back then,” Yun Puzi said with a bitter smile. “However, whether he manipulated things beforehand, this old Daoist doesn’t know. But previously, when Yang Xingfeng sent Yang Hu to seek aid from Xuzhou, Han Qian made things extremely difficult. Seeing the situation was favorable to Xuzhou and there was an opportunity to weaken Sizhou, having malicious intent is certain.”
“Suppose I wanted to help the Marquis of Qianyang seize Sizhou—how should I persuade Cao Gan?” Qingyang stared at Yun Puzi and asked.
“…” Cold sweat poured down Yun Puzi’s back. He didn’t even dare sit firmly on his seat anymore. He said tremblingly, “If this matter leaks out, it’s a small matter if this old Daoist loses his head. But if the Princess is deposed and henceforth confined to the Cold Palace, those days would be absolutely unbearable!”
Qingyang gently caressed her already swollen belly and said, “I heard that lowly servant Li Yao and Noble Consort Shu’s bellies also show signs of pregnancy. Daoist Master Yun, how far do you think it is before this palace is confined to the Cold Palace if I do nothing?”
“General Li is mindful of Your Ladyship’s kindness…” Yun Puzi said.
“Daoist Master Yun, do you truly think this palace understands nothing?” Qingyang’s expression suddenly became sharp as she stared at Yun Puzi. “If not for others exerting force behind the scenes, does Daoist Master Yun truly believe that this palace presenting a broken book to His Majesty’s desk could make His Majesty ultimately decide to use Li Zhigao to replace Du Chongtao in commanding Shuzhou? Does Daoist Master Yun truly believe this palace would be so arrogant as to be unable to distinguish any weight or importance, truly believing that after Li Zhigao gains power, he will only remember this palace’s kindness alone?”
“This old Daoist is dull-witted, but toward Your Ladyship, I absolutely speak without reservation and have not half a point of deception. It’s just that the Marquis of Qianyang may not appreciate Your Ladyship’s sentiment…” Yun Puzi said.
“Whether you deceive this palace or not is also unimportant. Unless everything falls apart, this palace can do nothing to you,” Qingyang walked to the window and said. “When His Majesty was trapped in Yueyang, this palace thought His Majesty would ultimately have to rely on my Great Shu’s support to possibly hold Hunan and contend against Prince Xin and Anning Palace. At that time, this palace had Shu and had my elder brother to depend on. There was truly no need to have any entanglement with Han Qian. Facts proved this palace still underestimated the Marquis of Qianyang, or perhaps made the Marquis of Qianyang bear a grudge against this palace. Currently, the Marquis of Qianyang is deeply suspected by His Majesty and ostracized by all ministers. His Majesty dislikes that this palace schemes too deeply, and Great Chu’s ministers are also destined not to like this palace, a princess from a foreign land. Speaking of it, this palace and the Marquis of Qianyang are somewhat in the same boat. Whether the Marquis of Qianyang appreciates it or not is no longer very important—this palace just asks you, in this matter, can this palace trust you once?”
“Your Ladyship can always trust this old Daoist,” Yun Puzi said, steeling himself.
“Then you will convey a message for this palace to Cao Gan. Just say that if this palace and Yuzhou wish to be worry-free, only Xuzhou can be relied upon…” Qingyang said.
“This…” Yun Puzi stood there stunned, not knowing for the moment what consequences conveying this message would trigger.
“You may leave. Before Cao Gan departs Jinling, he will come bid farewell to this palace. Whether you conveyed this message or not will be clear at that time.” Qingyang gave Yun Puzi a warning glance and waved her hand to indicate he should leave.