“Not hand them over?”
Watching Zhou Dan depart westward under the escort of six oared war sailing ships, Deng Tai looked at the dozen or so soldiers bound hand and foot behind him and asked Li Zhigao with confusion.
If they weren’t going to hand these people over as scapegoats to give Han Qian an explanation, what was the point of detaining them?
Li Xiu looked thoughtfully at these soldiers, then seeing Marquis of Liyang Yang En say nothing and walk directly toward the main camp, he too pulled Li Jian aside, signaling they should leave first.
After everyone had left one after another, Li Zhigao also signaled the guards to stand farther away before giving Deng Tai instructions with a dark expression:
“Interrogate these dozen soldiers separately, one by one. How exactly they broke through the encirclement these past days, how they hid and gathered together, how they evaded enemy pursuit, and how they encountered Li Chong along the way and fled to Shuzhou—I want every single detail questioned thoroughly. Anyone who dares hide even the slightest thing, or whose accounts don’t match up—you may use severe punishment. Deng Tai, though I’ve always regarded you as my own blood brother, military law is merciless. This time if there’s even the slightest negligence, please don’t resent me for not cherishing old ties when I hold you accountable…”
Deng Tai stood there in shock, momentarily unable to imagine what Li Zhigao intended to do.
“…” Hearing this, Yao Xishui said with incomprehension, “Even if Han Qian wants to exonerate himself and insists these soldiers harbor enemy spies, even wants to throw dirty water on Li Chong, elder brother could simply hand these people over to him. Whether through torture, threats and inducements, or extracting false confessions—let Han Qian do whatever he wants. But why should elder brother dirty his own hands?”
“Regardless of whether Li Chong has problems, he’s still your brother. This matter shouldn’t be exposed by you!” Su Hongyu advised.
The filial piety of this era, besides paternal kindness and filial obedience, also emphasized brotherly harmony and fraternal respect.
Seeing Li Zhigao make such arrangements, Su Hongyu knew he clearly suspected something was amiss with Li Chong escaping enemy encirclement only after nearly a month. But no matter what, according to the contemporary ethical principle of relatives concealing for relatives, this problem shouldn’t be exposed by Li Zhigao himself.
The so-called “righteousness superseding family ties” referred to crimes of high treason.
“I’ll arrange boats. You and Xishui will return to Jinling today.” Li Zhigao said with a stern face.
Su Hongyu, seeing Li Zhigao had made this decision, stood aside with reddened eyes saying nothing more.
Yao Xishui hadn’t expected Li Zhigao might not be immune to persuasion—she couldn’t fathom they would actually be sent back to Jinling. Unwillingly raising her voice, she demanded: “Elder brother, though we were negligent in this matter, we’re not people who don’t understand priorities!”
“No, you haven’t realized how severe the problem is. I’ll explain to the Lady afterward, but as for military affairs, you should interfere less in the future.” Li Zhigao said with a dark expression. “After you return, tell the Lady that after this incident, Han Qian will very likely choose to support His Majesty again in wielding political power. Today’s actions may not be without the intention of performing for His Majesty’s benefit. And His Majesty, not wanting political power to fall entirely into the Empress Dowager’s hands, will probably remember the benefits of ‘Teacher Han’ again. However, before the war situation stabilizes, please refrain from any rash actions.”
“If he wants to renew his teacher-disciple relationship with Yang Yuanpu, it’s probably just temporary exploitation. What’s there to worry about?” Yao Xishui asked dismissively.
With such a powerful trump card in their possession, she didn’t believe Han Qian would place heavy bets on Yang Yuanpu. Of course, they wouldn’t play this trump card unless absolutely necessary.
Li Zhigao knew what Yao Xishui was referring to and wouldn’t argue with her over trivial matters. To prevent them from causing trouble without understanding the gravity of the situation, he decided to speak more explicitly:
“Han Qian does favor unorthodox strategies, it’s true. At the same time, he and his father Han Daoxun’s implementation of new policies offended too many people’s interests, making many dislike him. Naturally, many have long suspected his ulterior motives regarding Wen Ruilin. However, no one will believe he colluded with the Liang army. Even if the truth of this matter were revealed, everyone would only think he had intentions to frame Duke Changguo’s household. This might temporarily severely damage Han Qian’s prestige, but have you considered the current situation? Now the Liang army presses forward in great force, Huaidong and Huaixi are in imminent danger. No matter how much the court officials dislike Han Qian, at this time they will only place their hopes of repelling the Liang army on Han Qian’s shoulders, not on Duke Changguo’s household that lost armies in defeat, nor on me who has failed to capture Chaozhou City after half a year of siege. Moreover, Han Qian still controls the only naval force in the Jianghuai region. Think about it—if such rumors continue to spread widely, especially spreading from our own army, and Han Qian sends a memorial to the capital claiming illness and requesting to avoid suspicion, insisting on surrendering military authority and leading the Xuzhou naval forces back to Xuzhou, what do you think the final outcome will be?”
“…” Yao Xishui remained silent for a long while. Though unwilling to admit it, after listening to Li Zhigao’s words, it wasn’t difficult to guess the final outcome. She asked hesitantly, “In the end, they might coerce elder brother into surrendering military authority to appease Han Qian?”
“Now you probably understand why it must be me who dirties this hand?” Li Zhigao sighed and asked.
“…” Deng Tai stood there dazed. Only now did he truly understand Li Zhigao’s real intention behind these arrangements.
In other words, regardless of whether Li Chong had problems, the results of interrogating these dozen detained soldiers must be able to “prove” Li Chong had problems.
Only this way could they give Han Qian an “explanation.” And if Han Qian still made difficulties over this matter, they could distance themselves from it.
Yao Xishui wanted to say the matter might not be so severe, but turning her thoughts to another matter, thinking elder brother might have other considerations, she said nothing more.
…
…
Li Pu hadn’t yet been held accountable. With high power and position, even without military command, he still had an independent small camp residence within the main camp, with dozens of household guards attending and protecting him.
Others couldn’t freely enter his camp quarters.
He temporarily abandoned his plan to cross the river back to Jinling, but returning to his quarters left him with nothing to do.
He didn’t know to what degree Han Qian intended to make trouble before willing to stop, while Li Zhigao’s response to what could almost be called open military coercion by Tangyi troops appeared far too weak.
He also wasn’t clear how the Empress Dowager, His Majesty, Shen Yang, and others would react after this matter reached Jinling. Throughout the day, his mood grew increasingly irritable.
Li Chong was also restless.
He wanted to incite Li Xiu and Li Jian to pressure Li Zhigao together to release those dozen detained soldiers, but Li Xiu and Li Jian ignored him completely.
Several times he sent people to the main camp to gather news, only to be mercilessly turned away. He only learned that Su Hongyu and Yao Xishui had departed by boat for Jinling in the afternoon.
Su Hongyu and Yao Xishui dared take boats back to Jinling, but they still worried about encountering Xuzhou naval patrol boats on the river and being detained, so they didn’t dare act rashly.
As night fell, Li Zhigao finally sent someone over: “Duke, the Commander requests you and General Li and others come to his command tent to discuss matters.”
“Haven’t his wings grown hard long ago? What does he need to discuss with me?”
Li Pu harbored resentment and was unwilling to go see Li Zhigao. In the end, Li Chong, with matters weighing on his mind, persuaded his father along with Li Xiu and Li Jian to go to the main camp together.
When they arrived at the command tent, they saw Marquis of Liyang Yang En and Zhou Shu, who had succeeded Du Chongtao as Commander of the Left Martial Guard Army, appearing as if Li Zhigao had just summoned them. Li Chong truly didn’t know what matters required discussion at this time.
Li Zhigao sat behind the main desk, speaking with Yang En and Zhou Shu. Seeing Li Pu and Li Chong approach, he half-rose to invite them to sit, then went straight to the point, saying with a dark expression: “Gathering everyone so late, there are some matters younger brother Chong needs to clarify before everyone present…”
“What matters do I need to clarify?” Li Chong asked with a guilty conscience.
Li Zhigao waved his hand, signaling Deng Tai to drag three soldiers whose flesh was so mangled they were barely recognizable as human into the command tent, saying:
“That dozen soldiers and younger brother Chong went through such trials and tribulations escaping back to Shuzhou should have been a fortunate matter. But these soldiers spread rumors behind the scenes, disrupting our military morale—truly detestable. I thought these soldiers would do such things because they must harbor some shameful intentions or were bewitched by something, so I had Deng Tai arrest and interrogate them for a day. Now we can confirm the brothers Liu Yue and Liu Shan, when they broke out from Zhongli City, were captured by Liang forces who deliberately released them as spies. And the soldier Zhou Laoshan, when he escaped from Zhongli City to the east bank of Longyou Lake, hid in the reeds and inadvertently saw younger brother Chong fall from his horse during the breakout and be captured by Liang forces, with his personal guards all killed by Liang forces. The others hid in the marshes of Hongze Marsh until younger brother Chong contacted them to escape together—younger brother Chong, you must understand, whether you can clear your name depends most critically on what you say before Lord Yang next. If you conceal anything, don’t blame me for placing righteousness above family ties and showing no mercy…”
“Li Zhigao! You fear Han Qian like a tiger and don’t cherish brotherly affection—fine! If you want to hand me over to Han Qian as an explanation,” Li Chong jumped up as if startled, removed the sword from his waist, and threw it straight at Li Zhigao’s head. “Kill me now, and see if I’ll even furrow my brow! Let the world see your true face—see what kind of ungrateful wretch the Li clan has raised all these years!”
“The witness is here, but that doesn’t necessarily prove you have problems. Many subsequent matters will require you to cooperate with Lord Yang’s interrogation. If you truly have no problems, no one in the world will force you to have problems…” Li Zhigao tilted his head to dodge the sword thrown at him, speaking with complete composure.
Four guards walked up to Li Chong, grabbing his wrists and pressing down on his shoulders, forcing him to sit back down—they were about to interrogate him before everyone present…