In this era, information transmission was inefficient and slow, and people lacked sufficient mobility.
One shouldn’t think that during the Jinling conflict, when Chuzhou’s various intentions could be said to have been directly thwarted at Han Qian’s hands, and everyone from top to bottom wanted nothing more than to capture Han Qian and grind his bones to dust—yet throughout all of Huaidong, those who had actually met Han Qian face to face and could recognize his features were extremely few.
Even if there were any, they were almost all concentrated around Wang Jun.
Apart from wearing patched old clothes to disguise his identity, Han Qian had merely gone several days without shaving, his stubble somewhat disheveled. He hadn’t even disguised or altered his facial features at all. He climbed the stairs and sat calmly by the window.
On the second floor of the teahouse, there were three other people—the steward of the Wang family at Jian Garden, and two of Wang Wenqian’s personal bodyguards.
Wang Wenqian’s two personal bodyguards had in earlier years served under Yin Peng at the Chuzhou Guest House, while the steward of Jian Garden had accompanied the old master Wang Jixiong to Xuzhou to pay condolences for Han Daoxun. They naturally all recognized Han Qian.
Besides these three, at this moment several more people came upstairs from below.
They had expressions of bewilderment on their faces. Presumably they had just recognized Han Qian’s face, but couldn’t believe it would truly be Han Qian himself. Without reporting anything, in their surprise they couldn’t help but come upstairs to see for themselves, to check if their eyes were playing tricks on them.
These several people happened to be maids from Wang Jun’s entourage and four household soldiers who had been guarding the street front and teahouse earlier—all had been “captured” together with Wang Jun at Maoshan back then.
Seeing the strange atmosphere on the second floor of the teahouse, these people didn’t wait to be scolded before hastily shrinking back and retreating. But the expressions on their faces were extremely rich—so rich that when Wang Wenqian saw them, he wanted to curse: This bastard is a death star, suddenly appearing in Yangzhou. For him, Wang Wenqian, it was absolutely disaster not fortune. Did these bastards truly think this was his son-in-law coming to recognize his in-laws?
Wang Wenqian’s expression was dark. He glanced at Wang Jun beside him and saw her lowering her head, secretly sizing up Han Qian. Confirming she had no prior knowledge, he thought it was good she wasn’t confused enough to conspire with outsiders to scheme against her own father. Only then did he sit up straight, staring at Han Qian and asking: “The Marquis of Qianyang is now also lord of a frontier prefecture. Leaving your garrison prefecture without an edict—the Marquis of Qianyang presumably doesn’t need this Wang to remind you what crime that constitutes, you know very well in your own heart, yes?”
“Xuzhou has poor mountains and evil waters, a desolate and miasmic land. Living there for a while makes one weary. I secretly ran out to catch my breath. In my heart I was thinking that Lord Wang and I are old acquaintances, and coming over to beg two cups of wine would surely be no problem. But unexpectedly, Lord Wang frightens me with this matter the moment we meet. I truly misjudged Lord Wang,” Han Qian said calmly.
Han Qian spoke easily, but Wang Wenqian had no way to feel even slightly at ease.
Yin Peng stood by the window, not sitting back at the table. But after Yin Peng observed outside the window for a moment, his expression became increasingly grave. Wang Wenqian was also very clear in his heart that at this moment, the area around the teahouse must be under the control of Xuzhou’s infiltrated personnel.
They only had a dozen guards and household servants downstairs. In a short time there was no way to get a message out. Without being able to summon troops from nearby military camps, they had no way to seize the initiative.
This also showed that Han Qian had deliberately and painstakingly planned for quite some time for this meeting, purposely using the pretext of acrobatic performers from Guangde Prefecture to lure him to Zhuyu Bay for this meeting.
Han Qian had a clear purpose, but Wang Wenqian had to speculate about Han Qian’s motives and intentions in an extremely short time. How could his expression and mood possibly relax?
Seeing Wang Wenqian’s serious expression, unsmiling, Han Qian asked: “Should I request that unrelated people leave, allowing me to reminisce with Lord Wang?”
“There are no unrelated people. Whatever the Marquis of Qianyang has to say, please speak freely,” Wang Wenqian wished he could invite everyone in the teahouse downstairs to come up and observe. How could he be willing to have a private discussion with Han Qian? Some matters weren’t simply a case of the innocent being vindicated. He said, “Moreover, since the Marquis of Qianyang dares to appear in Huaidong, presumably whatever you say, you won’t fear Huaidong reporting it to His Majesty.”
“That’s also true. Whatever Huaidong says, His Majesty must be willing to believe it first,” Han Qian said with a laugh. “Although over a year has passed and Xuzhou’s days haven’t been easy, once Li Zhigao successfully captures Chaozhou, it should be Huaidong’s turn to have some hard days. Oh right, I’m also preparing to memorialize His Majesty, to give His Majesty some suggestions on how to make Huaidong bind itself in a cocoon of its own making—Lord Wang, are you interested in hearing about it?”
Wang Wenqian’s expression shifted uncertainly as he remained silent.
Han Qian asked: “When Prince Xin led his forces to withdraw north, he coerced over ten thousand sons and brothers of aristocratic clans and over one hundred thousand slaves to cross the river—the Anning Palace murdered the late Emperor and usurped the throne. These people exchanged flirtatious glances with the Anning Palace, truly detestable. Prince Xin punishing and penalizing them is what they deserve for their crimes. But His Majesty is magnanimous and merciful, permitting them to atone for their crimes through meritorious service in Huaidong, either forming their own army to strike at rebel forces or Liang barbarians. I believe Prince Xin and Lord Wang cannot prevent this, correct?”
Regardless of how ugly Wang Wenqian’s expression became, Han Qian continued talking to himself: “The tens of millions of subjects of Great Chu all depend on Huaidong for their salt. However, the forty thousand salt workers are lazy and deceptive. His Majesty should use the garrison military prefecture system to organize the salt workers. This would not only prevent the salt workers from being lazy and deceptive—taking one man from every ten—but also organize three to four thousand elite salt troops to patrol the salt routes, putting an end to rampant illegal salt and roving bandits. Oh right, to promote this matter, I’ve pondered out a new salt-drying method in Xuzhou that can eliminate some of the drawbacks of the contemporary salt-boiling method, though it requires organizing salt workers on a large scale in a more orderly fashion to implement. Once this new method succeeds, it could probably increase annual sea salt production by four to five hundred thousand dan. Of course, eliminating the portion of illegal salt flowing into Huaidong could add at least another hundred thousand dan of sea salt…”
“…Chuzhou lies south of Hongze Lake. The rebel naval forces are still formidable, able to enter and exit the Yangtze through the Xiaota River, Shiliang River, Changjin River, and other waterways, threatening the area beneath Jinling’s very bed. This is not the right time to capture Shouzhou to the north. The Imperial Guards should concentrate heavy troops stationed in Chuzhou, then gradually plan to seize Shouzhou later…”
“What benefit does Xuzhou gain from you doing this?” Wang Wenqian couldn’t help but retort sarcastically.
“Shang Wensheng died at Donglu Mountain. Lord Wang vigorously pushed and added fuel behind the scenes—what benefit did you gain?” Han Qian asked in return.
“Did the Marquis of Qianyang specifically run to Yangzhou just to prosecute crimes?” Wang Wenqian narrowed his eyes, staring at Han Qian as he asked.
“I withdrew to Xuzhou, saying I had no more involvement with Guangde Prefecture. But there were those stirring up trouble, and even more like Lord Wang who pushed and added fuel. If Guangde Prefecture truly erupted in great chaos, who knows how many people would die and be injured, how many would be displaced. Presumably some people would again attribute these matters to me. In the end, no matter how clearly I distance myself, I would still be a criminal of history—Lord Wang, I’ll speak frankly with you, I’m also very troubled,” Han Qian’s tone made it sound as if he had come only to complain to Wang Wenqian. “So I could only trouble myself with this trip, coming over to earnestly request that Lord Wang and others show a little mercy going forward. Don’t get so excited when you see former Left Guangde Army personnel that you push and add fuel, stirring things up. Of course, Lord Wang perhaps cannot make this decision, but please convey to Prince Xin that since I’ve gone to the trouble of making this trip, I still hope Prince Xin can give me some small consideration!”
Wang Wenqian stared at Han Qian with an expression shifting between light and dark, asking: “Does the Marquis of Qianyang mean that previously the former Left Guangde Army personnel had no relationship with the Marquis of Qianyang, but from now on, the former Left Guangde Army personnel do have a relationship with the Marquis of Qianyang?”
“Since I can’t distance myself from the relationship no matter what I try, I’m also at my wit’s end. Lord Wang, don’t you think so?” Han Qian asked with a laugh in return. “Besides, this matter can in no way be considered a bad thing for Huaidong, right?”
Wang Wenqian said with slightly furrowed brows: “I understand what the Marquis of Qianyang means—besides this matter, does the Marquis of Qianyang have any other instructions?”
“That’s all,” Han Qian clapped his hands and stood up, saying, “It seems I’m not someone Lord Wang welcomes, so I won’t disturb Lord Wang further—I will leave one person in Zhuyu Bay. Whatever response Prince Xin has, he can relay it through this person.”
Abnormalities here could alert the garrison south of Zhuyu Bay at any time. And regardless of what final decision Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan made, Wang Wenqian would try to temporarily detain him. So Han Qian could not linger here too long.
After saying these words, Han Qian left downstairs with Xi Ren, Kong Xirong, and others.
Wang Wenqian and Yin Peng stood by the window, watching Han Qian, Xi Ren, and Kong Xirong walk into the inn across the street. Then they saw three carriages rush out from the rear courtyard of the inn across the way, heading in three different directions, making it impossible for them to tell which carriage Han Qian was actually hiding in as he left Zhuyu Bay.
On the long street, those who were obviously Xuzhou’s infiltrated personnel also followed the three carriages, separately fleeing in three directions.
“They must be trying to cross the Han Canal as quickly as possible and escape to Chuzhou,” Yin Peng said through gritted teeth. Obviously he was suggesting they send people to transmit messages now, mobilizing troops to blockade the Han Canal route as quickly as possible and search any suspicious-looking boats.
“Look across the way,” Wang Wenqian indicated for Yin Peng to look at the windows on the second floor of the inn across the street. Arrow points glinted in the sunset glow at the window corners. Obviously Han Qian had still left personnel to hold the rear. As long as they made any unusual moves, these personnel might very likely launch a forceful attack to create more time for Han Qian to escape far away.
“He spoke in riddles all this time and then just left. What exactly does he want to do?” Yin Peng asked resentfully. With only a dozen personnel at their side, they truly didn’t dare act rashly.
“Uncle Yin, it seems Han Qian is hinting that the former Left Guangde Army personnel will rely on Yangzhou to establish a foothold. When the court notices the former Left Guangde Army personnel are still following Han Qian’s orders and acting accordingly, the court’s suspicion toward Huaidong will drop below that toward Xuzhou again…” Wang Jun said in a gentle voice. Her eyes looked out the window. She also didn’t know which carriage Han Qian was actually hiding in as he fled far away. She thought to herself that she had come to Zhuyu Bay for three days, yet hadn’t been able to speak even a single sentence to him. She didn’t know how long he would stay in Chuzhou, nor whether there would be another chance to meet…