Seeing his expression wasn’t good, Sibo couldn’t help but quietly advise: “Master, why must you take all these matters upon yourself? You’ve already decided to resign. Aren’t we going back north?”

The Prince of Langya’s suspicion of their master made even Sibo, a mere servant, harbor resentment. So let him clean up this mess himself. Didn’t he think their master held too much power and had sinister intentions?

Wang Dao said: “Even if I’ve decided to return north, I can’t leave like this.”

That would be desertion. Even if Zhao Hanzhang sent Yuan Li to persuade him, even with the excuse of “the wise adapt to circumstances,” he couldn’t do it.

If he left, Wang Dun would probably truly rebel. Then not only the Wang clan, but all the aristocratic families, including the Prince of Langya, would be dragged into it. At that time, with the south in great chaos, Zhao Hanzhang would certainly not miss this opportunity to move south.

Though he had imagined it before, watching a place he had managed for several years descend into warfare, not knowing how many people would be implicated—Wang Dao still couldn’t bear it.

He turned around: “Prepare a set of plain hemp clothes. I must enter the palace.”

Sibo couldn’t help but remind him: “Master, the General may be doing this to defend your honor. Why not wait a bit longer? Going out now, the Prince will value you even less. Moreover, Zhou Langjun and the General have a grudge. His coming to persuade you may be to sabotage the General’s plans.”

Seeing him becoming more and more outrageous, Wang Dao couldn’t help but rebuke him: “Boren is not that kind of person. Moreover, is Zhao Hanzhang someone Chuzong can use to set up schemes?”

Though he said this, Wang Dao actually had doubts in his heart. But he couldn’t say it aloud or show it—otherwise, before the great battle, the Wang clan would first become a target for all.

At the same time, Yuan Li had just received news that the military report about Wuchang Commandery had entered Jiankang. He hadn’t expected the military report to arrive so quickly. He thought for a moment and concluded that Jingzhou must have delayed for some time before reporting to Luoyang. Otherwise, given telegraph speed, it was impossible that he had only received the news one night and half a day before Jiankang.

Fast horses from Wuchang Commandery to Jiankang needed two days.

So, did Wang Dun’s great army report immediately?

Yuan Li smiled faintly and decided to temporarily not interfere with the current situation, but to observe the changes first.

Jiankang’s internal struggles never disappointed. As soon as Wang Dao entered the palace, he was immediately reinstated. But as soon as he “returned to work while ill,” people from the Wang clan urgently wanted him to rescue Wang Ying.

Wang Dao didn’t agree. Liu Kui also repeatedly submitted memorials demanding severe punishment for Wang Ying. When arresting Wang Ying, quite a few guards had died—they too had names and achievements. This couldn’t just be forgotten.

But the Prince of Langya needed to use Wang Dao and also needed to send friendly signals to Wang Dun. He didn’t want to keep imprisoning his nephew, so despite Liu Kui’s and Wang Dao’s advice, he directly released Wang Ying, saying: Wang Ying was still young. Perhaps when drunk, he suddenly saw armed guards and became frightened, thus creating a misunderstanding. So he decided to forgive Wang Ying.

Hearing this, Yuan Li couldn’t help but laugh heartily in his private residence, saying to Xue Hong: “Being like this, how can the Prince of Langya compete with our Lady?”

Not being firm when firmness was needed, not being flexible when flexibility was required.

Wang Dun was already straightforward and fierce, Wang Ying was arrogant—at this time, imprisoning Wang Ying and firmly using legal principles to punish him would deter Wang Dun and let the Wang clan know that the Prince of Langya wasn’t someone to be easily deceived and insulted.

When the case was clear, he could release Wang Ying when Wang Dun had merit, treating it as a favor to the Wang family. By then, Wang Dao wouldn’t object either.

Instead, he didn’t even investigate. Just because Wang Dao came forward, he released Wang Ying. In the Wang clan’s eyes, what difference was there between the Prince of Langya and a paper tiger?

Sure enough, as soon as the Prince of Langya released Wang Ying, the aristocratic families led by the Wang clan submitted memorials demanding severe punishment for Liu Kui, believing he had deliberately framed Wang Ying. Otherwise, why would he bring guards with weapons to arrest Wang Ying while he was drunk?

This was deliberately provoking Wang Ying to violent resistance!

Liu Kui was furious and immediately submitted a memorial requesting the Prince of Langya to severely punish Wang Dun, Wang Yi and other Wang clan members commanding troops abroad. The reason was that Wang Yi had lost five cities consecutively, showing he clearly lacked the ability to continue defending Wuchang Commandery and should be dismissed and investigated.

Yes, during the two days they were arguing, Wang Yi had lost another city. Liu Kui had also uncovered considerable information about this war.

Liu Kui also impeached Wang Dun for eliminating dissidents, sidelining talented people like Zhou Yi and Dai Yuan to use incompetents like Wang Yi, attempting to conceal military affairs by not reporting immediately…

Liu Kui presented himself as addressing the matter, not the person, completely unconcerned that within the past year he had also impeached Zhou Yi and Dai Yuan.

And his impeachment memorial did indeed win much praise. The Prince of Langya was most appreciative. Setting aside other items, Wang Dun was indeed eliminating dissidents.

Years ago when they had just crossed south and Wang Dun’s power wasn’t so great, the Prince of Langya could still have his say. He immediately appointed Zhou Yi as magistrate of Wuchang Commandery, hoping he would achieve merit and push Wang Cheng out of the position of Governor of Jingzhou.

Zhou Yi went, but encountered Shu refugees flooding into Jingzhou causing chaos. Wang Cheng couldn’t fight them and fled with his army. Large numbers of rebels wreaked havoc in Wuchang Commandery. On the third day after Zhou Yi arrived in Wuchang Commandery, he lost all the cities.

When Zhou Yi was fleeing, he happened to meet Wang Dun who wanted to occupy other Jingzhou territories. Wang Dun led his army to help, retaking Wuchang Commandery.

At that time, some officials told Wang Dun and the Prince of Langya: “Zhou Yi had only been in Wuchang Commandery three days and hadn’t yet taken control when the cities fell. This isn’t his fault. Wuchang Commandery should be returned to him.”

The Prince of Langya thought this very reasonable. This matter couldn’t demonstrate Zhou Yi’s ability, after all, he had just arrived in Wuchang Commandery—the ground hadn’t even warmed under his feet before encountering such events.

But Wang Dun acted as if he hadn’t heard, unwilling to return Wuchang Commandery. He directly bypassed the Prince of Langya and the Governor of Jingzhou Wang Cheng, appointing Wang Yi as magistrate of Wuchang Commandery.

Only after Wang Dun killed Wang Cheng and Lady Wang Si took command as Governor of Jingzhou did they manage to reclaim half of Wuchang Commandery.

Dai Yuan’s situation was similar to Zhou Yi’s. He had been a great general but was squeezed out of Yangzhou and appointed Governor of Guangzhou.

Guangzhou in this era was a barbarous land, far from the political center. In her secret struggle with the Prince of Langya, Zhao Hanzhang never listed Guangzhou as an option because she knew that once Yangzhou was conquered, Guangzhou would fall without attack.

Therefore, Dai Yuan very much wanted to return to Yangzhou, to return to the political center.

These two both had conflicts with Wang Dun. Liu Kui’s suggestion to use Zhou Yi and Dai Yuan couldn’t have had clearer intent.

Would Wang Dun be willing to sit by and watch the Prince of Langya reinstate these two opponents?

Besides this, there were the other aristocratic families of the southeast outside Jiankang. One military report stirred up huge waves on an already restless surface.

Some people, without even investigating clearly, thought Zhao Hanzhang was crossing the river to attack. They immediately panicked and packed their belongings, wanting to cross the river back north. Others harbored grand ambitions of going to Luoyang to persuade Zhao Hanzhang to stop the war.

More people, still retaining their reason, wanted to enter Jiankang to understand the situation before making their next plans.

Smart aristocratic families never put all their eggs in one basket. Naturally, they wouldn’t bet only on the Prince of Langya. Even if their entire households were in the south, they still needed to make another investment with Zhao Hanzhang.

Even the premier aristocratic clan, the Wangs, did this—what about them?

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