After arranging many matters, Han Qian had Feng Liao take people and leave Tanzhou that very day. At this time, the Third Prince sent someone to request Han Qian come over.
Han Qian hastily saw Feng Liao off, then hurried to the Third Prince’s place. Seeing Shen Yang, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, Wen Ruilin, Wang Lin, Zhang Ping, and others all seated there, and seeing how they and the Third Prince all looked over with concern, he knew they still wanted to further understand Shen He’s condition.
Shen He was the eunuch official Emperor Tianyou trusted most at his side. In past interactions, his relationship with their side could be considered harmonious and friendly. Having such a person alive and healthy at Emperor Tianyou’s side was of great benefit to them.
“What acute illness has Lord Shen contracted? Have the Du family siblings diagnosed anything?” Shen Yang asked Han Qian.
Han Qian glanced at Wang Lin, not knowing how he had reported to the Third Prince and Shen Yang that would make them believe he had concealed something in front of Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong and hadn’t revealed the complete truth.
“I request Your Highness dismiss those nearby…” Han Qian said to the Third Prince.
Yang Yuanpu nodded, gesturing for the guards and maidservants on both sides to withdraw from the hall.
Wen Ruilin and Wang Lin knew to be tactful at this moment and rose from their seats, preparing to temporarily withdraw and wait respectfully at the corridor outside the hall.
“Lord Wen and Lord Wang may remain to help His Highness strategize,” Han Qian said.
Yang Yuanpu looked toward Wang Lin and Wen Ruilin, indicating they should stay to participate in the secret discussion.
Zhang Ping glanced at Wang Lin and Wen Ruilin, thinking to himself that Wang Lin, as registrar, was the main writer of the mansion’s memorials and documents. He was the first to review many confidential matters. And though Wen Ruilin had defected to their side, he had great merit in pushing forward the campaign to reduce the feudal lords so quickly. Moreover, Marquis Li took Wen Ruilin everywhere with him. If they had Wen Ruilin withdraw now, the Marquis would tell him the confidential matters later anyway. It was better to simply let him participate in the secret plans.
Wen Ruilin and Wang Lin bowed to the Third Prince, then sat back in their original places, looking toward Han Qian expectantly.
Han Qian said: “After Lord Shen left Jinling, he wasn’t careful about his food and drink and was poisoned by someone—someone is desperately anxious to eliminate Lord Shen and replace him with their own person at His Majesty’s side!”
Han Qian naturally wouldn’t reveal the complete truth. His first half sentence described Shen He’s condition, while the second half speculated about the poisoner’s motive—this was also something many people could see and deduce.
After saying this, Han Qian looked toward Shen Yang, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, and Zhang Ping. Their faces all showed expressions of shock but also that things should be so.
Han Qian didn’t look at Wen Ruilin or Wang Lin, as if their opinions and thoughts weren’t important.
“Can he be saved?” Shen Yang leaned forward and asked.
“We can only say we’ll do our best with medicine. Whether he can be saved is really hard to say,” Han Qian said. “But apart from transmitting information to His Majesty through the Inner Palace Bureau’s hidden agents via Elder Yuan and Elder Jiang, or having His Majesty order the Inner Palace Bureau to secretly investigate, there absolutely cannot be the slightest leak. We can’t even let Lord Shen himself detect that he’s been poisoned, otherwise great chaos will surely arise in the capital…”
Shen Yang, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, and Zhang Ping all looked somewhat pale. They could easily guess who was desperately acting to eliminate Shen He, and also knew how terrible the consequences of alerting the enemy would be if the news leaked out.
The only countermeasure was to quietly transmit the information to His Majesty through Yuan Guowei and Jiang Huo.
After all, after Shen He died, as long as His Majesty had sufficient alertness, the person replacing Shen He as Junior Supervisor of the Palace Attendants Bureau and Attendant of Chongwen Palace wouldn’t be the conspirators’ person.
“Your Highness, I hope that all physicians who have contact with Lord Shen going forward will be under Jinyun Tower’s responsibility. And if Lord Shen cannot hold on, we will only announce publicly that Lord Shen contracted miasma, with evil heat entering his body causing illness and death. I must also ask Master Shen Yang and Marquis Li not to let this slip—during treatment, if necessary, Jinyun Tower will also do its utmost to make Lord Shen’s symptoms at death appear similar to miasma epidemic,” Han Qian said solemnly to the Third Prince.
The Third Prince pondered for a moment, then looked toward Shen Yang and Marquis Xinchang Li Pu to solicit their opinions.
Shen Yang and Marquis Xinchang Li Pu hesitated for a while, but ultimately nodded, feeling it was best to entrust this matter entirely to Han Qian’s handling.
What Han Qian said about making Shen He’s symptoms similar to miasma epidemic during treatment—plainly speaking, it meant not only would they not actively treat Shen He, they might even use other means to worsen Shen He’s condition. Only this way could they make Shen He’s death look more like contracting miasma epidemic with evil heat entering the body.
Having said this, Han Qian continued: “Your Highness, let us go see Elder Yuan and Elder Jiang…”
Yuan Guowei and Jiang Huo had been dispatched to the Prince’s mansion by Emperor Tianyou. Though they currently still served as chief administrators at Jinyun Tower, to actually have them contact the palace, Han Qian’s word didn’t count.
Yang Yuanpu gestured for Shen Yang, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, and the others to attend to their own matters. He also didn’t have Zhang Ping or Wang Lin accompany him, but took his guards and walked with Han Qian toward Jinyun Tower’s temporary location.
Entering the passageway leading to Jinyun Tower, Han Qian lowered his voice and said to the Third Prince: “Just now, this subject didn’t speak the complete truth—Lord Shen He has been deeply poisoned. It’s not that he was poisoned after leaving Jinling, but rather that he’s been continuously poisoned. However, someone in the palace secretly put antidotes to suppress the poison’s onset into Shen He’s food, so while in the palace Shen He only appeared increasingly gaunt without showing symptoms of poisoning. After leaving Jinling and no longer regularly taking the antidote to suppress the poison’s onset, Shen He’s poisoning symptoms manifested. Moreover, the poison has penetrated deep into his bone marrow—there’s no cure.”
Yang Yuanpu stared at Han Qian in shock, his mind momentarily filled with too many doubts. But he didn’t ask Han Qian why he hadn’t revealed the truth in front of Shen Yang and his father-in-law.
“Your Highness, continue walking forward. Listen to this subject’s explanation as you walk. Don’t show too much shock—not everyone around Your Highness is completely trustworthy.”
Han Qian lowered his voice, indicating the Third Prince should somewhat conceal his inner shock and continue walking deeper into the passageway.
“With Junior Supervisor Shen in such a condition, this subject has even more reason to believe His Majesty has very likely also had poison penetrate deep into his bone marrow and is beyond medical treatment. If we now go see the two gentlemen Jiang and Yuan, we might be able to secretly report this matter to His Majesty through them. But even if His Majesty believes our judgment, the Dragon Sparrow Army’s foundation is currently unstable, and with the Liang army gathering at Caizhou eyeing Jing and Xiang, His Majesty will very likely transfer the Second Prince’s troops back to Jinling to serve the king, while transferring Your Highness to Jing and Xiang to prevent the Liang army from driving straight in…”
Yang Yuanpu fell into silence. Passing through the passageway and standing in a spacious courtyard, he still couldn’t help but stare at Han Qian and ask:
“Master Han’s meaning is that if we say nothing, the Liang army will likely withdraw after winter sets in, and the Dragon Sparrow Army will have three to four months during which we can have thirty to forty thousand elite troops available. At that point, even if great chaos erupts in Jinling, I’ll have a thread of opportunity?”
“As long as Shen He ‘definitively’ dies from epidemic, those behind the scenes should delay acting against His Majesty. We should still have about half a year to a year of time available, but everything depends entirely on Your Highness’s determination…” Han Qian said, gesturing for the Third Prince to continue walking forward.
Han Qian quietly fell back half a step, seeing the Third Prince’s gaunt face with furrowed brows.
Regardless of how deep or shallow the father-son relationship between the Third Prince and Emperor Tianyou was, requiring a seventeen-year-old youth to pretend ignorance of everything happening to his father could hardly be called anything but a cruel test.
His thoughts wandering, they reached Jinyun Tower. Han Qian privately invited Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei over and asked about arrangements for secret agents to lurk in Hunan’s various provinces to gather information about local conditions. But in the end, Yang Yuanpu never mentioned the poisoning matter and let Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei each attend to their tasks at hand.
Watching Yuan Guowei and Jiang Huo withdraw in confusion, Yang Yuanpu couldn’t help but exhale deeply, staring at Han Qian and asking: “Enduring for half a year can truly gain us one more thread of opportunity?”
Han Qian said with certainty: “Of course.”
Yang Yuanpu sighed again and walked out of Jinyun Tower with Han Qian. Surrounded by guards, they walked back through the passageway. Just as they emerged from the passageway, they saw Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong and Princess Qingyang emerge from some corner.
“Greetings, Your Highness,” Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong cupped his hands and said. “I’ve been lingering in Tanzhou for quite long enough. Just now a messenger came from Chengdu bearing a letter from my father the Prince, urging me to go to Jinling to pay respects to Great Chu’s sovereign. In my father’s letter, he also lavishly praised Your Highness’s civil governance and military achievements. I have a younger sister who has just passed the age of dance and spoon. She has a graceful and beautiful figure, has read some poetry and books, and is gentle and knows propriety. She hasn’t yet been promised to anyone. My father wishes to take this excellent opportunity to form a marriage alliance with Great Chu and has specifically ordered me to go to Jinling to pay respects to Great Chu’s sovereign and request his gracious permission…”
The Third Prince’s eyes burned intensely as they fixed on Princess Qingyang disguised as a youth, her face showing shy charm that captivated the heart. But Han Qian secretly observed Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong, thinking that even if he couldn’t guess more of the inside story, he should have detected Shen He’s poisoning symptoms. What had prompted him to decide so early to place his bet on the Third Prince? Could it be that Prince Shu Wang Jian truly had some letter just delivered into Tanzhou City?
Over the following days, besides Du Qiniang, Han Qian also invited two highly renowned physicians from within Tanzhou City to treat Shen He.
However, these two renowned physicians had both been medical officers at the former Tanzhou Governor-General’s Office. They hadn’t been sent to Jinling for trial because Han Qian treasured talent and had petitioned the Third Prince to remove them from the list of those to be escorted.
At this time, they were both “official slaves” controlled by Jinyun Tower. Their diagnostic conclusions for Shen He naturally all stated he had occasionally contracted miasma epidemic with evil heat invading the body. The prescriptions they wrote mainly captured medicines to clear poison and provide gentle purging for Shen He to decoct and take.
After recuperating in Tanzhou for ten days, Shen He’s body recovered somewhat. He then boarded a boat with Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong and Princess Qingyang to depart for Jinling to report back on the decree.
Everything appeared as if Shen He had occasionally contracted a minor ailment during his journey from the capital. When his condition worsened again after returning to Jinling, it would be very difficult for people to connect his illness with poisoning.
After Shen He returned to Jinling, the Imperial Medical Bureau sent people to treat him. The conclusion was that he had contracted miasma epidemic during the journey. At this time, Shen He couldn’t return to serve at Emperor Tianyou’s side, much less even return to the palace. He could only find a mansion in the Imperial City to recover from illness, struggling bitterly until the end of the eighth month when he departed the mortal world…