The consequences of choosing the wrong ally came urgently and swiftly, leaving one completely unprepared. This time Han Zhengqing truly felt he’d been driven to bewilderment by rage. He lifted his foot and kicked the tea table completely upside down.

His trusted aide’s heart was bitter. He also wanted to kick something. This was all just too damn stimulating—he found it somewhat unbearable. Originally they had been determined to achieve merit and fame, never expecting that such a monumental undertaking as rebellion would end up like child’s play. That Prince Gong could actually commit such foolishness that pleased their enemies while paining their allies was truly too vexing.

And now what might be injured was probably not just their minds, but their very lives. He coughed several times, clearing the phlegm from his throat, and looked up at Han Zhengqing: “Marquis, what do we do now?”

As he asked, he felt his own voice trembling, unable to speak a single steady word.

This was no joke. To follow Han Zhengqing in rebellion, they had started this upheaval without regard for anything else. His entire family, young and old, were still back home. If the rebellion succeeded, of course they’d all ascend to glory together. But if the rebellion failed, once the court freed up its hands, his entire family would meet in the Yellow Springs together.

Han Zhengqing’s own heart was even more agitated. He summoned people overnight for deliberations, even calling over the person sent by Yetan’s side to monitor them. He carefully explained the current situation, telling them heavily that they no longer had a way out. If they failed, they would end up like Yecha—life or death unknown, probably still cowering in some corner somewhere.

The people below all chattered at once, but none spoke with any confidence. Everyone knew that fellow Prince Gong had betrayed them, his mind muddled by pig’s lard. Without Prince Gong, and now that Prince Zhennan and Marquis Dingyuan had reached Guyuan, they could only fight with all their might. And even fighting with all their might, they might not necessarily win.

Han Zhengqing wished he could dismember Prince Gong into eight pieces. Prince Gong also wished he could dismember Han Zhengqing into eight pieces. In his view, his decision to withdraw troops was perfectly justified. Why should he serve as a stepping stone for Han Zhengqing? If Han Zhengqing hadn’t first harbored malicious intent and schemed against people, how would he have withdrawn troops? How would the Xibei have become such a chaotic mess?

Hearing that Cui Shaoting had broken through Qingzhou Prefecture, he felt both pleased and annoyed.

Pleased that the Tatars could see the consequences and fate of only recognizing Han Zhengqing. Annoyed that Cui Shaoting actually had such capability, taking Qingzhou Prefecture so quickly. This meant that after finishing with Cui Shaoting, it would soon be his turn.

His brain usually couldn’t turn, but now it was turning quite well. He hastily called Han Zhi over and looked at him with great agitation: “So what do I do now? Just wait for Cui Shaoting to kill Han Zhengqing?”

His belief that Han Zhengqing would be killed stemmed from Cui Shaoting truly being formidable. Even the Tatar cavalry were now being beaten into running everywhere by him. They said Yecha had vanished without a trace—whether dead or alive no one knew. With Cui Shaoting’s momentum, plus the reinforcements from Marquis Dingyuan and Prince Zhennan, defeating Han Zhengqing probably wasn’t that difficult.

After all, Han Zhengqing’s forces weren’t all stationed at Jingzhou. He had deployed troops across several prefectures. Jingzhou probably only had twenty to thirty thousand men defending it. Cui Shaoting had about thirty thousand usable troops in his hands, and adding Marquis Dingyuan’s people, Han Zhengqing had no advantage at all.

Han Zhi unhurriedly raised his eyelids to look at him, countering with a question: “Don’t you want to watch him die?”

Of course he did. Prince Gong most hated being used as a tool.

But the problem now wasn’t watching Han Zhengqing die—the problem was that he himself seemed about to meet misfortune! Losing Guangping Prefecture was one thing, but now even Ping’an County was lost. Losing Ping’an County didn’t matter, but Huang Yiqing had already deployed ten thousand troops in battle formation, clearly about to charge toward Taiyuan.

He didn’t want to watch other people’s troubles only to quietly end up dead like Han Zhengqing himself. Then the ones watching the show would become his father and mother in the capital, plus his annoying elder brother and the Crown Prince’s Heir.

He absolutely could not tolerate such a thing happening. Therefore he shouted at Han Zhi several times, his blood rushing to his head in furious anger.

Han Zhi nodded and advised him: “Don’t worry. Didn’t Huang Yiqing just suffer a defeat?”

That was true. Huang Yiqing had wanted to first strike at Taiyuan’s supply lines, going west to intercept grain, only to be driven away in disgrace.

Seeing his expression ease, Han Zhi smiled again: “Besides, what are you worried about? No matter how formidable Cui Shaoting and Huang Yiqing are, even a clever housewife cannot cook without rice. All the grain in the Xibei has been hoarded by us—they can’t conjure grain out of thin air.”

An army marches on its stomach. They were currently sustained only by what they’d seized from several cities. Otherwise, they actually couldn’t have lasted even a month.

Prince Gong understood and became all smiles again. Recently his emotions had always been wildly fluctuating.

Right, right, right! No matter how formidable they were, they had no provisions! Without provisions they were paper tigers. What did he have to fear from these paper tigers?

Having thought it through, he breathed a sigh of relief and hastily sent people out again to gather intelligence.

The intelligence gatherers quickly brought back news, saying Han Zhengqing was responding with great difficulty, while Cui Shaoting fought with increasing valor.

Prince Gong laughed for a while. He loved watching those who used him meet misfortune. But after laughing, he belatedly asked Han Zhi again: “But if they take Jingzhou, Jingzhou has quite a lot of grain!”

Sun Ergou scratched his head, looking at Prince Gong, clicking his tongue twice internally.

Seems he hadn’t completely lost his mind after all, hadn’t become stupid enough to eat shit directly. He could still think of what seemed wrong.

Han Zhi still casually lifted his eyelids, appearing completely unconcerned: “When Cui Shaoting attacks Han Zhengqing’s territory, Han Zhengqing isn’t easy to bully either. Even if he defeats Han Zhengqing, his losses will certainly be substantial. We can take advantage…”

Prince Gong caught on and clapped his hands, calling out in approval: “Right! Strike while the iron is hot—the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Directly finish off Cui Shaoting.”

By then, only he would remain in the Xibei. If the Tatars still wanted to continue toward the capital, they could only cooperate with him.

What could possibly restrain him then?

Han Zhi appeared very sincere as he spoke a few more comforting words, only then getting to the main point: “If Your Highness doesn’t mind, I’m willing to serve as vanguard commander, going first to Jingzhou to gather intelligence. Then we can seize the opportunity to capture Cui Shaoting in one stroke.”

Prince Gong nodded without hesitation, letting him lead two thousand men as the vanguard battalion, departing first for Jingzhou.

Of course Han Zhi wasn’t truly going to serve as any vanguard commander. He was going to take Han Zhengqing’s life. This man’s life could not fall into anyone else’s hands. He would personally kill him, send him down to see Little Madam Fan, have him go to the underworld to keep company with Big Madam Fan, the two of them kneeling together before Little Madam Fan in repentance.