Although he’d previously felt Prince Zhennan was an unreachable figure, after spending most of the past half year together, Hu Yingming had come to know Prince Zhennan’s temperament and character well. Seeing that Prince Zhennan wasn’t voicing opposition and was exchanging smiles with Marquis Dingyuan, he knew Prince Zhennan strongly approved of this idea. He himself also felt that given the current situation, seizing Wu Qianli’s provisions was undoubtedly the best choice, so he quickly followed up on Han Yu’s words by voicing his agreement first: “Young Master Han speaks wisely. It’s just that Wu Qianli still has over twenty thousand men. Last night there were probably two or three thousand casualties or prisoners, but over half still remain. We shouldn’t engage them in direct combat.”
After all, according to what Marquis Dingyuan and Prince Zhennan said, they still wanted to go to Yangquan and then help Cui Shaoting. If they suffered too many losses, how could they make it all the way there? Even if they did, they probably wouldn’t be able to help much.
The map was already in hand, and naturally it was brought out again at this moment. Prince Zhennan pursed his lips with a serious expression and carefully examined the map once more, asking them: “Where do you think Wu Qianli will take his men now?”
Marquis Dingyuan had been waiting for him to ask this question. This was not the time for modesty. He pointed toward Baihe Village in the southeast direction and said: “Commander Wu was also once a military talent as renowned as General Bai—he’s no incompetent fool. And from a military talent’s perspective, naturally Baihe Village is best. With Yangquan as a fallback position, solid city defenses, and close to Jinzhong—once they’ve regrouped, it will be easier for them to make their moves.”
Hu Yingming was a civil official and didn’t understand much about military matters. Hearing Marquis Dingyuan say this, he looked toward Prince Zhennan.
Prince Zhennan naturally had no other opinions. This was exactly what he’d been thinking. Only after determining where Wu Qianli had gone could they make the next plan. Seeing that Marquis Dingyuan also thought they’d gone to Baihe Village, he had Han Yang personally leave the city to order scouts to reconnoiter the route, while having Cui Yingtang and Cui Yingyun fetch detailed maps to thoroughly analyze Baihe Village’s terrain once more.
The group gathered around the map and considered every possibility. In the blink of an eye, the sun was already setting. From last night until now, none of these men had closed their eyes to sleep. Seeing that it was about time, Cui Yingtang urged them to rest for a while first: “His Highness is personally watching outside, and troops are stationed beyond the city. Take advantage of this time to rest a bit, otherwise even men of iron couldn’t withstand this.”
Prince Zhennan felt the same way. Seeing that Marquis Dingyuan was somewhat worried, he said: “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. This Wu Qianli is overly cautious and lacks impulsiveness—he doesn’t have the audacity to turn back and launch a sneak attack. Even if they dared, with so many people here, we’re not afraid.”
Marquis Dingyuan knew Prince Zhennan’s words were reliable and that he made sense. Sure enough, he led Han Yu and Bai Qun to sleep first. When they woke, the moon was already high among the willow branches. Prince Zhennan and the others were already waiting in the prefectural yamen’s main hall. Only when they arrived did they have Han Yang report the intelligence he’d gathered: “They’ve camped outside Baihe Village, roughly as we expected. The tents storing grain are not far from the main camp, which is somewhat difficult…”
Marquis Dingyuan followed his pointing finger to look, carefully examining the map once over, then tentatively proposed his own opinion: “Do you think this would work? We mobilize four thousand men for a feint attack. Although Wu Qianli is overly cautious, since we’re going with relatively few people and try our best to make it look convincing, they’ll certainly deploy troops to pursue us—otherwise he won’t be able to account for himself when he returns. Then we simultaneously dispatch another contingent of troops to go through here—” he pointed to the small road leading to Yangquan on the side—”go through here and seize the grain.”
Prince Zhennan nodded while saying: “There’s one more thing—we need to make it realistic and ensure they have no time to think carefully. Even if they do figure it out, they temporarily won’t be able to return for reinforcement. Why not set a fire? Just like when you came and attacked their commander’s tent—first set fire to their main camp. That way they’ll be unable to attend to both matters, and we’ll have more time.”
Although Cui Yingyun didn’t know whether this plan would work, he’d always believed in Prince Zhennan and Marquis Dingyuan’s abilities. Since these two had already formulated a plan, he had only one thought: “We must act quickly—while Prince Gong’s side hasn’t counterattacked yet and Han Zhengqing hasn’t received news yet, we should get this done first.”
Prince Gong didn’t know that they had already gathered together plotting how to strike him another blow before he could react. He was already greatly shocked from seeing the transcribed memorial of Zhou Weiyin and Zhou Weiyang severing ties with him. Moreover, he’d now been betrayed by Han Yang. If he knew about this, his condition would probably worsen even more.
Even without knowing that Marquis Dingyuan and the others were proceeding exceptionally smoothly, the string in his heart was already stretched taut, almost facing the edge of collapse.
He didn’t believe the children truly didn’t acknowledge him as their father. Madam Yang had taught the children very well—they were all both intelligent and sensible. They couldn’t possibly not acknowledge him. But now all his hidden pieces in the capital had been completely uprooted, not a single one remaining. Even if he wanted to get the children out, there was no way to do so.
With the children remaining in the capital, who knew how they would be treated? He closed his eyes, his face ashen as he leaned back against the chair. Just as he was about to order someone to fetch Wu Feng, Wu Feng had already come in on his own.
After entering, he first had the attending maid present the medicine, urging Prince Gong to drink it. Being pressed repeatedly by Prince Gong, he finally said hesitantly: “Your Highness, they…”
Prince Gong was already so anxious he’d completely lost his patience. He waved his hand somewhat irritably: “At this point, what is there left to hide? Just tell this Prince the truth about what’s happened.”
Wu Feng was an honest person. Since Prince Gong told him to speak the truth freely, he thought about it and truly told him the truth. After finishing his account of Emperor Jianzhang’s decision to have both Zhou Weiyin and Zhou Weiyang adopted by Prince Su, seeing Prince Gong’s eyes suddenly widen with fury splitting his eyes, he instinctively said: “Your Highness, actually this isn’t necessarily a bad thing… At least the young princes’ lives are safe.”
Their lives were indeed truly guaranteed now. After all, being adopted by Prince Su, they would still call Emperor Jianzhang imperial grandfather, which also meant Emperor Jianzhang had no intention of taking their lives.
But for him as their father, this result brought not the slightest bit of comfort. From now on, he would no longer be his sons’ father… Even if one day in the future he truly managed to grasp power, could he have the face to bring those two children back?
Nothing felt right to him. His throat burned, and a metallic taste filled his mouth—fishy and sweet enough to make one nauseous.