The fastest route from Wujin Ridge main camp to Zhongli was to exit Wujin Ridge, then hug close to the hill plains at the northern foot of Mount Huaiyang, galloping all the way to the northern foot of Zipeng Mountain, then proceed east along the southern bank of the Nanfei River, passing north of Chao Prefecture City and heading straight to the northwestern foot of the southern section of the Wujian Mountain Range, then northeast to Mopan Valley.
This route was located in the northern edge region of Tangyi Army’s defensive line. Not only was there no obstruction from peaks and ridges in the terrain, but over the past year, Han Qian had continuously requisitioned garrison troops to repair the post roads and trestle bridges along the route to ensure communication between the forward stockades.
At the same time, there were also dozens of large and small military fortresses of various Tangyi Army units along the route where they could change to the freshest military horses at any time. This ensured that under the escort of guard cavalry, Xi Ren could reach Mopan Valley at the speed of a five-hundred-li emergency relay.
Mopan Valley, located between the north and south of the Wujian Mountain Range, had been placed under the defense responsibility of Chen Kun, the Commander of Hejin Army who concurrently held the position of Prefectural Governor of Hao Prefecture, after Shou Prefecture forces completely contracted their defensive line. This area and the northern section of the Wujian Mountain Range were both his to defend.
Of course, this route was located at the edge region of Tangyi Army’s defensive line. To the north were numerous defensive fortresses of Shou Prefecture forces. When dozens of elite cavalry suddenly galloped out from Wujin Ridge main camp at noon, racing along non-stop, changing horses but not riders along the way, and directly entering Hejin Army’s defensive zone in just five hours, this naturally alarmed the scouts of Shou Prefecture forces to the north.
Wen Ruilin was in Zhaoyi County when he learned of this. Surrounded by more than ten escort soldiers, he also raced non-stop through the night toward Huailing City, where the Hejin Army headquarters tent had been moved west from Zhongli after Shou Prefecture forces contracted their defensive line.
Most of the guard cavalry stopped at the southern side of Mopan Valley. Only a few guards accompanied Xi Ren into Hejin Army’s defensive zone, where they were detained by troops stationed at Hejin Army’s outer defensive ramparts. After a round of notifications and being escorted to Huailing City, it was already the early morning hours.
By this time, Wen Ruilin was already sitting in the great hall of the Hejin Army Commander’s headquarters tent, waiting together with Chen Kun for the arrival of the Marquis of Qianyang’s special envoy.
Xi Ren naturally wouldn’t reveal her identity when making contact with Hejin Army’s forward military officers, but the identity of the Marquis of Qianyang’s special envoy was sufficient to gain an audience with Hao Prefecture’s Prefectural Governor and Hejin Army Commander Chen Kun.
Therefore, the moment Wen Ruilin saw Xi Ren, he was greatly shocked. He couldn’t help but prop himself up against the long desk, straighten his body, and cry out: “Madam Xi!”
At the Guishan meeting back then, Chen Kun had served as a guard beside Zhu Yu, who was still Prince of Yong at the time. He naturally recognized the male-disguised Xi Ren and was equally shocked as Wen Ruilin. Even if his skull were pried open, he couldn’t figure out why Han Qian would suddenly dispatch Xi Ren to Huailing to see him.
Xu Mingzhen was a surrendered minister of Liang State, while Chen Kun was a trusted general of Emperor Zhu Yu. Xi Ren wasn’t worried that there would be infiltrators from Xu Mingzhen’s people around Chen Kun. She directly took out the secret message signed by Shen Peng and Princess Yunhe: “The Emperor is in imminent danger, and Bianjing City may fall into rebel hands at any moment. Han Qian, remembering the friendship of past acquaintance, specifically had Xi Ren come to deliver this secret message for General Chen to read…”
No matter how exceptional Wen Ruilin’s intelligence and stratagem were, after reading the contents of the secret message, he couldn’t help but turn deathly pale, his hands and feet trembling slightly. Subconsciously, like an injured wild beast, he called out with a whimpering sound:
“How is this possible? How could Liang Shixiong and Prince He rebel? How could they directly send Marquis of Wuyang and heir Zhu Tianming to the Mongols as hostages? How could Princess Yunhe be in Ding Prefecture City and fall into the hands of Tangyi Army secret agents? How could Tangyi Army succeed at something as unreliable as transmitting messages by carrier birds? This secret message must be forged, or perhaps the Grand Chief Agent fell into Chu military secret agents’ hands and couldn’t endure the torture!”
At this moment, ten thousand impossibilities surged through Wen Ruilin’s chest, stirring his thoughts into complete chaos.
Chen Kun’s hands trembled as he read the secret message repeatedly. His blade-like gaze seemed to want to scrape off a layer from the secret message to excavate whether there were still undiscovered secrets hidden within the paper layers.
After a long while, Chen Kun finally used his suddenly hoarse voice to order the Army Supervisor: “Chen Tianxiong, immediately assemble a cavalry unit and carry this secret message to Si Prefecture to see Commander Han—there must not be the slightest delay along the way. Anyone who presumes to question or intercept you along the route shall be killed without question. You must also ensure that Lady Sima cannot hear any news in advance—whether we can preserve Bianjing and welcome His Majesty’s return south depends entirely on whether Commander Han is fast enough—tell Commander Han that at the latest by tomorrow morning, I will also lead two thousand cavalry to cross the Huai River first…”
“General Chen, this is most likely a ruse by Tangyi Army—even if the secret message isn’t forged and is truly Grand Chief Agent Shen’s own handwriting, it’s still extremely possible that the Grand Chief Agent fell into the Marquis of Qianyang’s subordinates’ control and was forced to write this letter. Before the news is further confirmed, how can Hejin Army act rashly, and how can we just hand over Hao Prefecture like this?” Seeing Chen Kun hastily arranging plans to relieve Bianjing without distinguishing truth from falsehood, Wen Ruilin said in alarm.
If in a few more hours Chen Kun was to lead his mere two thousand cavalry north first, the infantry camps of Hejin Army stationed in Zhongli, Mopan Valley and other places would naturally have to simultaneously withdraw step by step to the south bank of the Huai River, then cross the Huai to go north.
Never mind Wen Ruilin—even Chen Tianxiong and other direct subordinate commanders of Chen Kun were shocked and uncertain, not knowing whether to immediately execute Chen Kun’s military orders.
“Madam Xi, tell me, what sinister intent does Han Qian truly have?” Seeing that although Chen Kun was somewhat silent, he clearly hadn’t been dissuaded, Wen Ruilin sternly questioned Xi Ren, “If what this letter describes is true, wouldn’t great chaos in Liang State better suit Han Qian’s interests? When did Han Qian become so kind as to risk the suspicion of colluding with the enemy to inform us?”
“Han Qian only said he was unwilling to see the bloody history of one hundred sixty years when barbarian cavalry trampled the Central Plains after the Wei and Jin dynasties repeated again,” Xi Ren hadn’t expected Chen Kun to trust her so easily. Facing Wen Ruilin’s doubts, she simply said calmly.
“Ha ha…” Wen Ruilin couldn’t help but laugh loudly, pointing at Xi Ren and saying, “Madam Xi, who can believe such words from Han Qian? What a fine ‘caring for all under heaven’!”
“I believe it,” Chen Kun said. “His Majesty also once said that the Marquis of Qianyang has grand strategy and great plans—apart from him, there are no other worthy men under heaven. I believe the Marquis of Qianyang’s words are not empty, and I believe His Majesty wouldn’t misjudge the Marquis of Qianyang. Moreover, His Majesty wrote to me some time ago expressing concern about the possibility of Guanjiang Tower secretly submitting to the Mongols. Shen Peng left a mark in the letter that only Commander Han, Mister Lei, and a few others can recognize, to indicate that he remains in the hands of Tangyi secret agents, but that the matters described in the letter are true…”
Wen Ruilin sat dejectedly behind the long desk, speechless for a long while.
“Shouldn’t we inform Duke Huo?” An aide sitting on the left asked Chen Kun at this moment.
Wen Ruilin’s mind stirred. He thought this was right—no matter what, even if Hejin Army’s elite forces were to immediately contract and go north to relieve Bianjing, shouldn’t they notify the nearby Shou Prefecture forces to come take over, rather than handing Hao Prefecture over to the future formidable enemy Tangyi Army?
Chen Kun shook his head and said: “Under these circumstances, Xu Mingzhen is not worthy of trust.”
Hearing Chen Kun say this, Wen Ruilin reconsidered and realized this was true. Xu Mingzhen had only surrendered to Great Liang under pressure from circumstances. At this time, apart from still independently commanding Shou Prefecture forces, there was also the fact that some of his family members and surrendered officials closely related to Shou Prefecture forces resided in Bianjing.
Once the rebellion of Liang Shixiong and Zhu Rang became fact, regardless of how many troops the rebels had available in Bianjing, Xu Mingzhen’s relatives, Chu military surrendered officials, as well as Empress Xu, Duke of Chu Yang Fen and others would all very likely fall under Liang Shixiong’s control in the first instance.
Chen Kun had just specifically instructed them to prevent Lady Sima from hearing any news in advance. How could they risk gambling that Xu Mingzhen was wholeheartedly loyal to His Majesty and wouldn’t waver?
Compared to the fate of Bianjing City, never mind Hao Prefecture—even if they handed over the entire Huainan region, it would be of no great consequence!
At this moment, subordinate commander Chen Tianxiong no longer hesitated. Taking the secret message and Chen Kun’s credentials, he left the hall to assemble his men and rush to Si Prefecture to find Han Yuanqi to transmit the message.
From Huailing City to Si Prefecture City, one had to cross the Huai River and go around the north of Hongze Lake—a distance of three hundred li. Even with relay stations all along the way, the message could reach Han Yuanqi’s hands at the earliest by noon tomorrow, and Han Yuanqi could at the earliest assemble the cavalry stationed in Xu, Si and other places to go north by late tomorrow evening.
Wen Ruilin couldn’t help but pessimistically think: Could they still make it in time?
Chen Kun didn’t dare show his inner alarm at this moment, but at least he could maintain his composure. He said to Wen Ruilin: “Mister Wen, I must trouble you to personally escort Madam Xi to Daishan Stockade—if you can meet the Marquis of Qianyang, tell him that for today’s message transmission, Chen Kun will certainly report to His Majesty. In the future, we can only hope that Liang and Chu can cultivate perpetual friendship.”
“Princess Yunhe and the Grand Chief Agent are both in their hands…” Wen Ruilin hesitated. He wanted to suggest that Chen Kun detain Xi Ren so they could exchange her for Princess Yunhe in the future.
Chen Kun shook his head and said: “That Madam Xi personally came to deliver the message shows righteousness toward Great Liang. We naturally should escort Madam Xi safely back. And with the Marquis of Qianyang’s magnanimity, he presumably won’t make things difficult for the Princess and Shen Peng…”
Now was not the time to be concerned with such minor details.
Moreover, yielding Hao Prefecture to the Marquis of Qianyang and Tangyi Army could, from another angle, ensure that Xu Mingzhen and Shou Prefecture forces wouldn’t act rashly. This way, even if they were unsuccessful in military operations at Bianjing City, they could at least stabilize the southern part of Great Liang, preventing Shou Prefecture forces and Lady Sima from hastening to throw themselves into the rebels’ embrace.
Chen Kun didn’t have time to explain everything clearly to Wen Ruilin one by one, but he believed that with his intelligence and strategy, he would soon understand thoroughly…