It was at this time that Yuan Li appeared in their back courtyards. Aside from a few clear loyalists of the Prince of Langya like Liu Kui and Diao Xie, he had quietly contacted all the aristocratic families in Jiankang.

As long as the other party showed willingness to invest in the north, he immediately revealed his identity.

Then, the aristocratic leaders visiting Wang Dao could often coincidentally see Yuan Li coming and going from the Wang residence.

The aristocratic families thought: How terrifying! The Governor of Yangzhou, the south’s second-in-command, having close dealings with the north’s intelligence chief—does the Prince of Langya know about this? Can the south truly still be saved?

The already muddy waters became muddier.

Wang Xuan’s attacks weren’t fierce. He completely occupied Wuchang Commandery, then made a show of attacking Yuzhang.

Wang Yi also led his old troops in retreat to Yuzhang. There, he seemed to finally unlock his potential. Not only did he resist Wang Xuan’s attacks, he even recaptured two Yuzhang county towns that had been lost.

Then the uncle and nephew began a tug-of-war. One town would belong to Wang Xuan today, be retaken by Wang Yi tomorrow, then recaptured by Wang Xuan a few days later… Meanwhile, Wang Dun defended Lujiang, and Lady Wang Si stationed fifty thousand troops at the border, making it clear that if he dared send troops, she would fight him to the death.

Additionally, scouts reported that Yuzhou’s Yiyang Commandery had also assembled troops. Wang Dun knew that as soon as he dared send troops toward Jingzhou, Yiyang Commandery’s army would also move south.

The situation seemed dire, but regarding this battle situation, Wang Dun wasn’t very anxious. What he cared more about was the situation in Jiankang.

Military Advisor Dai Miao watched this, unable to help feeling worried. After much thought, he still had a trusted follower secretly leave camp to deliver a letter to his elder brother.

His brother was Dai Yuan, who had been squeezed out to Guangzhou.

In his letter he wrote: “…Scouts in Luoyang report that next year the Yellow River may burst its banks. To dredge the Yellow River and build embankments, the court has not only widely conscripted labor but also deployed Zhao’s army.”

“According to scout reports, the Zhao army deployed numbers over one hundred twenty thousand. And because of the sea salt operations, Shi Lei harbors much dissatisfaction toward the court. With Jizhou and Bingzhou having so many soldiers withdrawn, the north may see chaos. He speculates that Zhao Hanzhang temporarily has no time to concern herself with the south.” Dai Miao wrote: “Since Wang Dao claimed illness and withdrew, Wang Dun’s relationship with the Prince has deteriorated daily. This time he sent people to seize Jingzhou’s tax grain to test Zhao Hanzhang, to see if she would send troops for Jingzhou’s sake.”

“From the incident until now, half a month has passed. Zhao Hanzhang has only stationed fifty thousand troops in Yiyang Commandery, merely letting the Wang siblings send their own troops. Wang Dun has concluded that Zhao Hanzhang currently lacks troops and grain to support a great army moving south. Otherwise, given Zhao Hanzhang’s fierce temperament, she would have already brought her great army south demanding retribution. Therefore, he focuses more on Jiankang than on the north.”

“He wants to use this matter to force the Prince to retreat one step, or even force Wang Dao to retreat one step,” Dai Miao paused here before writing: “If this realm had only the Prince, given his temperament, no matter how unwilling, when forced he would retreat. But the north has a new Emperor—that is the legitimate line.”

“Brother, I see that Wang Dun harbors unrest and may already harbor rebellious intentions. If he truly succeeds in raising troops, you and I brothers will both find it difficult to serve under him. The court will absolutely not sit by and watch. Though the north is currently impoverished with troops occupied by civil affairs, with Zhao Hanzhang’s ability, she could probably rally a million soldiers with one call. Wang Dun’s fantasy of defending by the river, continuing to divide the river with Zhao Hanzhang as now, is no different from reaching for heaven.”

Writing to this point, Dai Miao finally revealed his purpose: “Brother, unification of the realm is the great trend. Previously we worried that Zhao Hanzhang might oppress the young Emperor, that she too would be replaced by successors, that the north might be unstable. But looking now, it’s the south that’s unstable. Since this is so, why not make plans early?”

Dai Miao copied the letter twice and gave them to two trusted followers, having them travel separate routes to Guangzhou: “If you encounter danger and cannot protect the letter, destroy it. It must never fall into others’ hands. The lives of my entire family rest on this.”

The trusted followers acknowledged and quietly departed separately.

Wang Dun was closely monitoring Jiankang’s movements, and others in the camp did the same. So there were particularly many scouts coming and going each day. Wang Dun had exercised restraint, but couldn’t stop them from communicating with their families. The two men mixed in among them and quietly left.

Just at this time, Zhao Hanzhang’s Inspecting Censor team finally crossed the river to reach Jiankang.

The envoy team led by Lu Xing was escorted into the city by Yangzhou troops and handed over to Zhou Yi, then departed looking completely bewildered. Was this supposed to be an embassy between two countries, or the court’s envoys?

Of course they were court envoys! As long as the Prince of Langya didn’t formally declare himself Emperor and seek independence for a single day, he remained a subject of Great Jin. Lu Xing and the others held court appointments—they were envoys.

So after consulting with Wang Dao, the Prince of Langya received Lu Xing and the others at his residence. At this time, they quietly concealed the fact that what the Prince of Langya resided in was a palace, treating it as a princely mansion before them.

Lu Xing also pretended not to know that Jiankang had tacitly accepted this place as the palace compound and treated this residence as a princely mansion, regarding the Prince of Langya as a Great Jin branch royal.

He had come to investigate the case of Yangzhou troops attacking Jingzhou and seizing court tax grain.

He told the Prince of Langya: “Plundering court tax grain equals treason. I believe the Prince is not such a person. This was probably the willful actions of subordinates, so we must investigate and identify the ringleader to clear the Prince’s name.”

He hoped the Prince of Langya would summon Wang Dun and related personnel for face-to-face questioning.

The Prince of Langya: …If he could summon Wang Dun back, the south’s chaotic situation would have been settled long ago.

Now, forget about him—even Wang Dao couldn’t summon Wang Dun back.

Wang Dao had sent two letters, but Wang Dun hadn’t returned. Instead, he argued with Wang Dao from afar.

Having reached this point, both sides already knew: Wang Dun was out of control. And if he returned, the Prince of Langya would most likely execute him.

Right now, if you asked the Prince of Langya who he most wanted to kill, it would definitely be Wang Dun.

The Prince of Langya looked at Lu Xing, both wanting him to go to Lujiang himself to find Wang Dun, and afraid of him going.

He wanted it to shift responsibility, letting them make their own trouble. He feared it because Wang Dun might very well kill the envoy team in a fit of anger.

If seizing tax grain still had room for redemption, then killing envoys basically left no path back. Once Zhao Hanzhang sent troops, she certainly wouldn’t target only Wang Dun but would aim at all of the south.

The Prince of Langya had a headache. After weighing his options, he still adopted Liu Kui’s suggestion, ordering Dai Yuan to bring troops from Guangzhou to replace Wang Yi in defending Yuzhang, while simultaneously stripping Wang Yi of his position as magistrate of Wuchang Commandery and ordering him to return to Jiankang for investigation.

When Wang Dun learned of this, he protested to Jiankang while denouncing Liu Kui as treacherous: “Changing generals during battle is a great taboo. Even if Wang Yi has shortcomings, he shouldn’t be replaced at this time. Liu Kui’s action is making wedding clothes for the north. He probably has long colluded with the north.”

Meanwhile, he sent a letter to Yuzhang demanding that Wang Yi hold firm and not yield Yuzhang to Dai Yuan.

Yang Qing and others, who had already made Yuan Li an honored guest, heard this report and thought: Chuzong, oh Chuzong, you never imagined that even your brother has colluded with the north, while Liu Kui has not!

The already muddy waters, because of Yuan Li’s stirring and the envoy team’s arrival, became even muddier. Wang Dao felt even more unable to control the situation. He had to seriously consider the suggestion Yuan Li had once made.