Military operations in the southern Shanxi region proceeded at their original pace. The First and Second Central Campaign Armies were responsible for besieging Jincheng’s defenders, while the Taiyue Campaign Army swept through the fortified towns in northern Zezhou and southern Luzhou, blocking routes for Luzhou enemy forces to reinforce Jincheng from the south.

Beyond military operations, they simultaneously established governing order in Zezhou outside of Jincheng, ensuring that wherever their military forces swept, their foundation took root—giving Meng forces absolutely no opportunity for counterattack.

Of course, the first phase objective of the southern Shanxi theater—capturing Zezhou’s administrative seat of Jincheng—wouldn’t be easily achieved.

Besides the harsh winter ice and snow presenting severe challenges to soldiers on both sides, the Meng forces were continuously deploying troops from Yanyun, Heshuo, and even more distant Liaodong (Bohai) to fill Luzhou, watching for opportunities to reinforce Jincheng from the south. Moreover, besides the nearly forty thousand defenders, among the nearly two hundred thousand women and children in Jincheng, half were Mengwu people who had migrated south.

This latter factor especially had become the greatest obstacle to capturing Jincheng and ending the first phase of southern Shanxi operations.

In recent years, the Mengwu Southern Court had relocated over five hundred thousand of their people southward. Southern Shanxi’s Zezhou and Luzhou, due to their prominent strategic geographical position, had become the focus of Meng military operations in the Central Plains heartland, with nearly forty percent of their people settled there.

When initially planning southern Shanxi operations, Han Qian and Li Zhigao had both assumed that Wusu Dashi, considering preservation of his people’s vitality, would withdraw these Mengwu people in advance.

This would have greatly reduced the difficulty of attacking cities like Jincheng.

However, Wusu Dashi had not acted as Han Qian and the others anticipated.

Far from evacuating the two hundred thousand Mengwu people from southern Shanxi in advance, Wusu Dashi had instead concentrated them all in the two strongholds of Jincheng and Luzhou City, assuming a desperate, fight-to-the-death posture.

Han Qian speculated that Wusu Dashi made this decision because he recognized the rising power of the young militant faction in the Chu court, while also providing stronger psychological support for Yang Zhitang, Yang Yuanyan, and others to take risky action.

Regardless of how merciful Han Qian had been toward enemy soldiers and civilians in the past, or how much he had shown restraint, for the Mengwu people besieged in Jincheng, if the city fell, their best fate would be separation from wives and children—men driven into hard labor camps as refugees, women and children scattered in separate placements, possibly spending their lives under local township surveillance.

After the great victory at Zhi Pass, Han Qian had made precisely such arrangements for the over twenty thousand Mengwu people captured in Pingyang Prefecture and Jiangzhou Prefecture.

He was unwilling to commit mass slaughter, but considering the severe and acute antagonism with the Mengwu people, could only make such arrangements.

No matter how soft-hearted he was, he couldn’t possibly let them return north.

However, all this determined that the defenders and civilians besieged in Jincheng now possessed far stronger and more resolute resistance than any enemy city Great Liang forces had previously captured—even the city’s elderly, weak, women, and children would participate desperately in the city’s defense.

Under these circumstances, attempting to storm Jincheng by force would result in incalculable casualties. The most secure method was to use layer upon layer of trenches and encampments to tightly besiege Jincheng until provisions ran out, at which point the city would fall without attack.

However, Wusu Dashi had made thorough preparations beforehand, stockpiling large quantities of provisions in Jincheng in advance.

Another relatively secure method was to select a location in the mountains south of Jincheng to construct dams, accumulating water to flood the city.

As Zezhou’s administrative seat, Jincheng’s fortifications were solid, and its terrain was higher than the surroundings.

This meant that besides building dams upstream to accumulate sufficient water volume, they also needed to construct encircling dikes around Jincheng’s perimeter to ensure that when floodwaters rushed down, they could completely submerge the city.

This would be a protracted major engineering project.

Once water attack was implemented, the civilian casualties within the city would inevitably be catastrophic. But regardless, it was far better than filling the breach with the lives of soldiers loyal to Great Liang who had established brilliant military achievements.

Of course, to successfully implement water attack, besides keeping Jincheng’s military and civilians tightly besieged within the city, they also had to ensure Luzhou’s defenders couldn’t reinforce from the south.

They also needed to guarantee the southern front situation wouldn’t undergo earth-shaking changes.

Otherwise, Great Liang forces would have no choice but to withdraw south with regret.

Naturally, Wusu Dashi was also gambling—gambling that before Jincheng fell, Chu forces would deploy troops to attack Huaixi. In that case, Han Qian would have no choice but to withdraw large numbers of elite forces from the northern front and deploy them south to preserve Huaixi, this fundamental base.

“…In the marketplace, there are private discussions about matters between the Empress Dowager and Liang ruler Han Qian. Your Majesty should issue strict prohibitions—otherwise, where is the dignity of Great Chu?”

In the council hall of Changxin Palace, listening to Minister of Finance Huang Huixiang’s “indignant” remonstrance, Qing Yang’s beautiful face turned iron-blue with rage.

Lei Cheng had previously warned her that people in the marketplace were discussing her past friendship with Han Qian. Initially, she hadn’t paid particular attention, assuming that with two high walls separating the palace from the marketplace, as long as no one inside the palace gossiped, it wouldn’t matter.

Had Zhang Ping not personally caught someone today, she wouldn’t have imagined that some people truly could exploit every opening and infiltrate everywhere.

Zhang Ping had originally intended to have that palace attendant who gossiped before the young emperor dragged out and beaten to death with rods, which would cover up the matter—at least preventing it from becoming explosive within the palace and leaving too deep a shadow in the young emperor’s heart. However, he hadn’t anticipated that when dragging the palace attendant to the punishment courtyard east of Chongxi Palace for execution, Empress Dowager Mingcheng would “happen upon” the scene at precisely the right moment and order the Inner Attendants Office to execute this palace attendant according to proper law.

Under Great Chu law, privately discussing palace affairs constituted the crime of “great disrespect,” and this palace attendant could hardly escape death. But the problem was that Empress Dowager Mingcheng had “inadvertently” exposed the matter, leading to Huang Huixiang now urgently petitioning the young emperor to issue an edict strictly prohibiting marketplace and street criticism of palace privacy.

Zhang Ping, along with Shen Yang and Yang En who sat silently before the imperial desk, naturally understood the painstaking efforts of Empress Dowager Mingcheng and Huang Huixiang.

From the young emperor’s trembling hands and feet with rage, they could also gauge how effective their stratagem had been.

Yet what could they say?

Could they declare at this moment that those spreading the news harbored malicious intent—would the mere fourteen-year-old emperor listen, would it calm the fury in his breast?

The young emperor was like a young wolf provoked to madness. Just moments ago, he had stormed furiously into Changxin Palace and smashed the timepiece Han Qian had presented for the birthday celebration into smithereens—even the Changxin Empress Dowager couldn’t stop him.

“Those who criticize palace taboos shall all be arrested and punished for the crime of ‘great disrespect’!” The still-slight youth sitting behind the imperial desk spoke each word through gritted teeth, his hand gripping the armrest with bulging veins, wishing he could seize all those loose-tongued commoners in Jinling and have them torn apart by five horses.

“Your servant obeys the edict!” Capital Magistrate Zhou Qinian stood up to receive the order.

The young emperor had not yet assumed personal rule, so for Capital Magistrate Zhou Qinian to directly step forward to receive the edict violated legal protocol.

Shen Yang, Yang En, and Zhang Ping frowned deeply, recognizing this scene as highly irregular, yet they couldn’t step forward to prevent it. Should they have Capital Magistrate Zhou Qinian step back and have the Changxin Empress Dowager personally issue an identical verbal decree, then have Zhou Qinian step forward again to receive it?

Qing Yang’s face turned iron-blue with rage. Du Chongtao, Zhou Bingwu, and Zhang Chao maintained opportune silence, while Gu Zhilong—who hadn’t yet replaced Zhou Bingwu as Chief of the Bureau of Military Affairs but already qualified to participate in small court council deliberations—appeared even more thoughtful…

Qing Yang’s rage reached heaven-splitting proportions. She barely endured until the ministers withdrew and young Bin’er stormed back to Chongwen Hall in fury. Having palace maids and attendant eunuchs withdraw, the vast Changxin Palace council hall stood empty save for dozens of flickering candles.

Seeing Lei Cheng still standing there, Qing Yang demanded furiously, “This widow is enraged beyond measure! What exactly is that vile servant Huang E trying to accomplish?”

“It’s not what Empress Dowager Mingcheng wants to accomplish—it’s that Prince Xin, Prince Shou, and Duke Tan Huang Hua are about to deploy troops against Huaixi next,” Lei Cheng approached and said in a lowered voice.

“How is that possible?” Qing Yang stared at Lei Cheng in disbelief, at this moment even suspecting Lei Cheng was deceiving her. She said sternly, “Without authorization from this widow, Prime Minister Shen, and Minister Yang, would Zhou Bingwu dare follow their manipulation?”

In Qing Yang’s view, even if Huang Hua completely colluded with Yang Yuanyan and Yang Zhitang, and they had Empress Dowager Mingcheng as a front, they still needed to obtain military tallies from Zhou Bingwu before they could mobilize Great Chu’s Forbidden Army forces.

Zhou Bingwu might harbor private interests, but as a Great Chu veteran general, how could he not know that without a national edict discussed by the Council of State, privately conferring military tallies equated to treason?

At that point, wouldn’t he fear his entire household being marched to the execution ground by Imperial Guard soldiers, heads rolling on the ground?

While the Imperial Guards ostensibly followed Du Chongtao, Zhang Han, Guo Liang, and others, when Shen Yang, Yang En, and others had led the Imperial Guards Grand Command reorganization years ago, they had massively increased supervisory civil officials to check Du Chongtao, Zhang Han, Guo Liang, and other commanders, while fragmenting and devolving command authority down to the vice-commander level, ensuring stability and loyalty of the Imperial Guards protecting the capital region.

As long as the Imperial Guards didn’t rebel or mutiny, the central government remained in their hands—what could Yang Yuanyan, Yang Zhitang, and Huang Hua accomplish?

“Zhou Bingwu, Du Chongtao, Zhang Chao, and others won’t follow their manipulation now. But suppose Prince Xin and Prince Shou independently deploy troops to attack Huaixi, cooking the raw rice into cooked rice, then gain His Majesty’s support—what choice will Zhou Bingwu, Du Chongtao, Zhang Chao, and Gu Zhilong make?” Lei Cheng asked. “If their schemes weren’t profound, why would they sacrifice an agent they worked so hard to plant near His Majesty these past years so easily now? Their painstaking efforts now to incite His Majesty’s hatred toward His Majesty and destroy His Majesty’s confidence in the Empress Dowager must serve some grand design!”

“Han Qian has already anticipated this, so does that mean he’s already dug a trap for them in Chuzhou?” Qing Yang stared at Lei Cheng and asked.

“His Majesty has finally managed to besiege over two hundred thousand Mengwu military and civilians in Jincheng, finally pinned down over one hundred thousand Mengwu military and civilians in Luzhou, and finally persuaded the Shu ruler to firmly maintain friendly relations with Great Liang without wavering. At this juncture, withdrawing northern front elite forces southward would render all His Majesty’s northern deployments futile. Southern Shanxi’s capture might be delayed, but allowing the Mengwu people breathing room would make the realm’s situation complex and treacherous—that’s the true disaster,” Lei Cheng said. “Even anticipating that Prince Xin and Prince Shou might take risks, His Majesty temporarily doesn’t want to directly withdraw troops from the northern front. Currently, Chuzhou has only twenty thousand troops. Whether to reinforce further, or whether Great Liang’s strategic direction should completely shift from north to south—His Majesty will adjust based on the initial battle’s outcome. The Empress Dowager also needs to prepare early?”

“What preparation should this widow make?” Qing Yang slumped onto the cold brocade couch. Suddenly perceiving Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan’s conspiracy, in this hasty moment, how could she devise a comprehensive countermeasure?

Should she summon Yang Zhitang to the palace to rebuke him, ordering him to abandon his conspiracy with Yang Yuanyan to launch a surprise attack on Huaixi?

“If Prince Xin and Prince Shou independently deploy troops from Yangzhou and Shouzhou into Chuzhou and initially proceed smoothly, given His Majesty’s youthful impetuosity, comprehensive warfare between Liang and Chu will become inevitable. The Empress Dowager and Prime Minister Shen may not need any additional preparation then—simply following imperial will and popular sentiment will suffice. However, if Prince Xin and Prince Shou’s Chuzhou deployment suffers setback at Zhao Wuji’s hands, and they then want to escape accountability from the Empress Dowager and Shen Yang afterward, they may well take desperate measures. The Empress Dowager must guard against this!” Lei Cheng said.

“Since Han Qian has already guessed Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan’s intentions, his use of only Zhao Wuji’s twenty thousand troops to defend Chuzhou is deliberately showing weakness, isn’t it?” Qing Yang said. “If this widow’s guess is correct, even with only twenty thousand troops available in Chuzhou, Zhao Wuji can still defeat Prince Xin and send him retreating in failure, can’t he?”

Lei Cheng said, “What His Majesty truly intends, this old servant dare not presume. But what His Majesty instructed this old servant to convey to the Empress Dowager is all this. Going forward, Feng Yi and the others will withdraw to East Lake, and Cai Chen will also claim illness to recuperate at his residence. This old servant’s aged bones have little use anymore—I’ll remain in Changxin Palace, ready whenever the Empress Dowager summons…”

Anyone with perceptiveness, even without understanding the deeper schemes of Prince Shou’s mansion and Prince Xin’s mansion, could recognize that even if the young emperor and Empress Dowager mother and son hadn’t become bitter enemies, they were close to it. Once Yang Zhitang returned to the central government, he would certainly urge His Majesty to assume personal rule.

Han Qian couldn’t be certain that Zhao Wuji would heavily damage Yang Yuanyan and Yang Zhitang’s ambitions in Chuzhou’s initial battle. To prevent problems before they arose, he still planned for the worst-case scenario, having Cai Chen claim illness now to separate himself from Changxin Palace. This also made Cai Chen display to Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan an attitude of adapting to circumstances and preserving himself wisely, ensuring that regardless of how the Chu court’s situation changed, he wouldn’t be excluded from the core.

Qing Yang sat lost and dejected behind the imperial desk, staring blankly in thought for a long while before suddenly realizing that with the situation developed to this point, she no longer had the ability to change anything. But turning her thoughts, she reflected sadly that even the mighty founding emperor of Great Chu couldn’t escape a late-life fate of violent death with scattered children and deceased wife—what could she, a weak woman, struggle against?

“Huang Huixiang and Huang Hua today exploited the palace rumor incident with ulterior motives. I believe they deliberately incited His Majesty’s dissatisfaction with the Empress Dowager and hatred toward the Liang ruler—their scheme is grand indeed!”

After resigning as Yangzhou Governor, Xue Ruogu had remained as an adviser serving beside Shen Yang. He no longer qualified to enter the palace or participate in court deliberations. He heard Shen Yang and Yang En mention today’s palace events at the Ministry office and naturally could guess that whoever orchestrated the entire affair harbored grand designs.

“When Feng Yi visited my mansion some days ago, he mentioned that if Prince Xin and Prince Shou rashly deploy troops against Huaixi, Liang forces will certainly deliver fierce counterattacks, with Great Chu bearing all consequences,” Yang En sighed lightly. “It seems Luoyang detected changes in Jinling’s political winds long ago, yet I still hoped Prince Shou might show more patience…”

“Since Luoyang already anticipated Prince Xin and Prince Shou would make unusual moves, deploying only twenty thousand troops in Chuzhou is very likely a trap?” Xue Ruogu exclaimed. “Prime Minister Shen must counsel Prince Shou against rash action!”

“What trap or no trap,” Yang En shook his head with a light sigh. “Han Qian calculated precisely that Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan could deploy at most forty thousand troops initially for their risky venture, so he stationed twenty thousand elite troops in Chuzhou to fight Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan openly in the first battle. Even if this counts as a trap, can Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan avoid stepping into it?”

“Even tying up a chicken requires full strength—how much more so when Liang forces are all battle-hardened elites, while Chu province troops, though called elite forces with double the numbers, haven’t fought any hard battles in years?” Xue Ruogu looked expectantly at Shen Yang, saying, “Since warfare with Liang forces has become inevitable, we should abandon factional struggles.”

Shen Yang shook his head, saying, “As Minister Yang said, even if it’s a trap, Prince Shou and Prince Xin must step through it first. Only after Prince Shou and Prince Xin step through will Du Chongtao, Zhou Bingwu, Zhang Chao, Zhang Xiang, and the Zheng family possibly follow. At this point, it’s no longer about a few of us setting aside differences to change anything. The only course now is to observe developments quietly. What Yang Zhitang and the others can strive for might only be Gu Zhilong, who’s eager to establish himself in the central government…”

Thinking it over, Xue Ruogu agreed. The Zheng family need not be mentioned—Zhang Chao, Zhang Han, and even Zhou Bingwu all advocated maintaining the status quo. Even if the central government debated extensively and finally reached consensus on a resolution for comprehensive warfare with Liang forces, who knew how many twists and turns that would involve.

By that time, wouldn’t Liang forces on the southern front be fully prepared as well?

Perhaps Prince Shou and Prince Xin bypassing the central government to deploy troops independently was the best strategy for resolving disputes and directly entering comprehensive warfare.

But with Liang forces having twenty thousand elite troops in Chuzhou, could the forty thousand garrison forces from Chuzhou and Yangzhou launching the initial offensive achieve anticipated results? Could Yang Zhitang persuade Gu Zhilong to join their conspiracy?