At this moment, Wang Cheng seemed like some virtuous person, a famous scholar admired by Zhao Hanzhang. She wrote several hundred words lamenting Wang Cheng’s innocent murder, then questioned the Prince of Langye—would he kill everyone who supported the Emperor and Crown Prince and wanted to pacify the Central Plains wars?

She directly pinned the murder on the Prince of Langye’s head, determining it was he who directed Wang Dun to kill.

The Prince of Langye was so angry he nearly fell over backward. He quickly summoned someone, handed the letter to him. “Go catch up with Maohong quickly. Give him the letter. Have him quickly bring Chuzhong back. We must give Zhao Hanzhang an explanation for this matter.”

The Prince of Langye paused, thinking he still had to rely on the Wang Dun and Wang Dao brothers, so he said, “Tell Maohong this is an expedient measure. We won’t harm Chuzhong. When the storm passes, he’ll still be my great general.”

The confidant agreed and quickly departed with the Prince’s letter.

As Wang Dao rushed to Jingzhou, Yuan Li was also receiving orders to lead people to Jingzhou. Traveling with him was Sun Linghui, who arrived at the battlefield later.

However, Sun Linghui wasn’t going to Jingzhou but to Yangzhou.

She and Yuan Li traveled together, only parting ways when they neared Lujiang.

Yuan Li was ordered to go to Jingzhou to assist Wang Siniang. If Jingzhou and Yangzhou really started fighting, Wang Siniang needed a general who could oppose Wang Dun.

In terms of deploying and commanding troops, Yuan Li might not match Wang Dun, but in battlefield command, he could try fighting. Moreover, she also needed more intelligence about Yangzhou.

Besides Yuan Li, Zhao Hanzhang also sent Wang Xuan back.

However, Wang Xuan was currently following Zhao Ju, biting at Shi Lei’s tail, and couldn’t immediately break away, so he would depart a bit later.

Sun Linghui went to Yangzhou for Cao Shu.

Zhao Hanzhang specifically met with Sun Linghui, telling her, “Cao Shu comes from a prestigious family, has a strong personality and good judgment. She can influence Wang Dao, so you must try your best to persuade her.”

Zhao Hanzhang said meaningfully, “People all have emotions and are easily influenced by those close to them, so pillow talk is very important.”

Sun Linghui: “But this subordinate has read the intelligence that Mister Ji provided. It says Cao Shu is jealous—for the past two years she hasn’t permitted Wang Dao to take concubines and even replaced all the maids around him with male servants. The couple’s relationship has gone from good to poor. Having her persuade Wang Dao now—won’t that be counterproductive?”

“You also said it’s the past two years. That means before this, Cao Shu wasn’t jealous.” Zhao Hanzhang said, “When young she wasn’t angered by Wang Dao taking concubines. Why does she mind this now that she’s older?”

Sun Linghui had never married, didn’t even have someone she liked. She thought about it but couldn’t figure it out. “Why?”

“Because she’s ill. When people reach a certain age, physical changes occur, and psychology changes along with it.”

Sun Linghui looked completely puzzled.

“A skilled physician might know how to treat it. You can look for one. If you can’t find one, you can counsel her. At this time she needs understanding. Let her talk more, release pressure.” She added, “Cao Shu has a son. The mother-son relationship is extremely good. You can approach through her son.”

Sun Linghui noted everything down, so her goal for this trip was Cao Shu—influencing Wang Dao through Cao Shu.

The Prince of Langye only relied on the Wang Dao brothers. Without them, he was just one of many imperial princes, not worth mentioning.

The truly talented Sima Shao was only eleven this year.

Zhao Hanzhang had no time to struggle with the Prince of Langye now, nor did she want to start internal warfare. If she could peacefully subdue them, she would try not to fight.

If the Wang Dao brothers both served her, would the Prince of Langye’s southern regime still exist?

After making arrangements, Zhao Hanzhang temporarily set the matter aside. She had already written to Wang Siniang and instructed Wang Xuan—even if they hated Wang Dun deeply, they must restrain themselves.

They could mass troops at Yangzhou’s border, could also contact Yangzhou’s officials, soldiers, and common people to stir up trouble, but shouldn’t easily take action.

At this time, Zhao Hanzhang’s forces were all tied down by Shi Lei and Liu Cong. If major war broke out in the south, not only could she not provide support, she would fall into a situation of being attacked from both sides.

However, Zhao Hanzhang, judging others by herself, felt at this time the Prince of Langye definitely didn’t want to fight her either.

If the Prince of Langye sent troops against her at such a time, his reputation in the world would be completely finished.

Then everyone could rise up to attack him, everyone could rebel against Jin and establish themselves independently. That would be Dajin’s true crisis.

After finishing her condemnation of Wang Dun and the Prince of Langye, Zhao Hanzhang turned her attention back to the campaign against Shi Lei’s forces.

As reinforcements and supplies from across the nation arrived, Zhao Hanzhang’s warfare against Shi’s army became increasingly advantageous. She was confident that given more time, she could definitely reclaim all of Yanzhou and drive Shi Lei out of Yuzhou and Yanzhou.

Previously, Shi Lei hadn’t come to support Meng County, abandoning Zhi Xiong and Tao Bao. After leaving Xiayi County, he directly returned to Yanzhou, seizing Chengyang and Yuncheng from Zeng Yue’s hands, using Juye Lake as a boundary to block the Zhao family army.

When Zhao Hanzhang finally captured Meng County and reinstated the Crown Prince, Shi Lei had already taken three cities in succession. Zeng Yue nearly died at his hands.

Only after Zhao Hanzhang sent Zhao Erlang to provide support did Shi Lei’s offensive slow down.

But both sides remained in a stalemate, with Chengyang County and Juye Lake as the boundary. Both sides fought several battles with wins and losses on each side.

Shi Lei didn’t use his full strength. He was preserving his forces. He knew Zhao Hanzhang also wasn’t using full force—she held trump cards.

Shi Lei kept preserving some strength, wanting to force Zhao Hanzhang to bring out those miraculous thunder weapons.

He had heard many fantastical descriptions from his subordinates. Shi Lei had always been half-believing, half-doubting. He wanted to see for himself whether Zhao Hanzhang truly possessed such divine objects, and if so, how many.

Was it a flash in the pan, had them but no more, or could she produce them continuously?

But the two sides had been in a stalemate for nearly a month, and Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t used those divine objects.

Although Zhao Hanzhang was anxious to recover lost territory, she had learned patience, wanting to reclaim Yanzhou at the smallest cost.

She was waiting—waiting for news from Ming Yu and Beigong Chun.

Zhao Hanzhang’s wait was rewarded. Today she went to the front lines to listen in on both armies’ exchanges cursing each other’s eighteen generations of ancestors. Across the armies, she locked eyes with Shi Lei.

The two gazed at each other silently for a long while. Zhao Hanzhang’s eyesight was good at this time. Seeing someone urgently approach Shi Lei’s ear, she immediately reached out to Ting He.

Ting He took out the spyglass she’d been keeping and gave it to her. Zhao Hanzhang aimed it at Shi Lei to observe carefully.

Although they were very far apart, she could still clearly see their mouths moving.

Zhao Hanzhang murmured along. Soon her eyes brightened. When Shi Lei in the spyglass hurriedly turned to leave, she also hurriedly turned to go back.

She ran back to tell Zhao Ming, “Uncle Ming, Liu Cong has rebelled!”

Zhao Ming raised his eyes and glanced at her lightly. “Hasn’t Liu Cong always been rebelling?”

Zhao Hanzhang: “I mean he’s rebelled against Liu He, not against Dajin.”

Zhao Ming finally became interested, sitting up straight. “News has arrived? Is there a winner? How many people joined his rebellion?”

“I learned the news from Shi Lei’s side. Liu He sent someone to summon Shi Lei back to support the king and suppress the rebellion.”

Zhao Ming looked at her in surprise. “You have ears among Shi Lei’s people? Are you certain the news is true?”

He looked like he suspected she’d been deceived.