“Young Master Han is truly formidable.” Yang Qin, Fan Xicheng, and Zhao Kuo were all fleet of foot. Leaving the dock, they walked swiftly like flying toward Wuling city. But looking back at Han Qian accompanying Han Daoxun standing before the black-canopied coffin boat, talking with Wang Yu’s household servants, Yang Qin couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.
Fan Xicheng glanced at Yang Qin. The destruction of the Yang Lake Stronghold could be said to have been at the young master’s hands, and afterward Yang Qin had only agreed to escort them to Xuzhou because his wife and children were held hostage by the young master. Yet unexpectedly, at this moment Yang Qin’s heart held little hatred, but rather unconcealed admiration.
“Indeed!” Fan Xicheng also couldn’t help sighing. He didn’t even know how to explain to Yang Qin that a year ago, his young master had still appeared to be a dissolute wastrel.
Over the past half year and more, Han Qian had still kept many things hidden from Fan Xicheng, Zhao Kuo and others. But during this month leaving Jinling, Han Qian had no choice but to bring his greatest resources and abilities into full play, resolving crisis after crisis. This was probably when Fan Xicheng and Zhao Kuo saw Han Qian at his most brilliant.
They also believed it would be difficult to find any suspicious points from Wang Yu’s corpse, but the stratagem Han Qian had set—creating something from nothing to lure the snake from its hole—they found ingenious upon reflection. They didn’t believe the extremely cunning Ji Kun could resist taking the bait this time.
Zhao Kuo also looked back once, then walked toward the county seat together with Fan Xicheng and Yang Qin.
Langzhou’s Wuling County was under the control of Tanzhou’s Military Governor’s Office and had no connection with Xuzhou. But as Han Daoxun was a high official of prefect rank, passing through and borrowing the courier station to temporarily establish a memorial altar for the previous Prefect of Xuzhou—even if local officials felt Han Daoxun was making a mountain out of a molehill, even if they found the matter inauspicious, they still had to provide accommodation.
Borrowing two courtyards of the courier station, Lin Zongjing, Guo Nu’er and others led troops to remain at the dock guarding the three boats. Ji Fu and his son Ji Xiyao also led the boatmen to drag the coffin boat onto the river beach for repairs. Han Qian brought Fan Xicheng, Zhao Kuo, Zhao Wuji, Yang Qin and others to accompany his father in helping Yu Cheng temporarily transport Wang Yu’s coffin into the city courier station for placement. He also had Fan Xicheng arrange personnel to purchase incense, candles, paper money and other sacrificial items.
“Please trouble Madam Zhou to invite Zhou Yourui to this courtyard. Tell her my father has questions for her.” After the courier station chief who came to pay respects to his father left, Han Qian instructed Yang Qin’s wife, Zhou Rong, to go invite Zhou Yourui to this courtyard to talk.
Zhou Rong was full of complaints, thinking where had anyone seen a hostage still being ordered about to do work? She glanced at her household head and saw him uselessly standing to the side without making a sound. Only then did she curtsy to the father and son Han Daoxun and Han Qian before running to the adjacent courtyard to invite Zhou Yourui over.
After a brief moment, Zhou Yourui followed Zhou Rong, walking gracefully. She still wore white mourning clothes, having tidied herself up a bit so she wasn’t as haggard and disheveled as on the river beach. Her oval face wore no light makeup. She appeared to be about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with a beauty nurtured by mountains and water. She truly lived up to being the leading courtesan of Xuzhou’s Music Camp.
Zhou Yourui walked into the hall looking pitiful and knelt before it to pay respects.
“No need for excessive courtesy.” Han Daoxun pointed to a chair beside him and said to Zhou Yourui, “Please sit down and talk. I have a few questions for you.”
“I don’t know what matters the Prefect wishes to ask about.” Zhou Yourui said.
Han Daoxun didn’t believe Zhou Yourui could detect the most direct suspicious points about Wang Yu’s death from illness. After all, as someone from the Music Camp, no matter how deep her usual friendship and relationship with Wang Yu, after Wang Yu’s death from illness she had to avoid suspicion.
From the intelligence Han Qian had obtained, Zhou Yourui had seen that Wang Yu’s remains had been stopped in Xuzhou city for two months unable to begin the journey home, and only then stepped forward to fund the purchase of a coffin and hire a boat to send him off.
How could she possibly know directly whether there were suspicious points about Wang Yu’s death?
Moreover, after Wang Yu died from illness, the local Xuzhou authorities had conducted a joint examination and reported to the Ministry of Personnel. Even if those close to Wang Yu hadn’t seen through any flaws, Zhou Yourui wasn’t Wang Yu’s concubine—what could she possibly know?
However, as Zhou Yourui was the leading courtesan of the Music Camp, with many opportunities to attend official gatherings and banquets in Xuzhou’s bureaucratic circles, her familiarity with Xuzhou’s situation far exceeded what Han Qian’s two teams of secret agents who had infiltrated Xuzhou for a month could match.
Han Daoxun’s reason for calling Zhou Yourui over was partly to put on a show for any Ministry of War spies who might be lurking in the shadows. Additionally, he mainly wanted to understand Xuzhou’s deeply entangled local relationships.
He didn’t know whether Wang Yu’s death had suspicious points, much less whether there existed a mastermind behind the scenes. But after reaching Xuzhou, the first thing he would face was still the entanglement of Xuzhou’s deeply interconnected local relationships.
“Since you haven’t yet redeemed yourself from the prefecture’s Music Camp, it’s inappropriate for you to continue escorting Lord Wang home. After the memorial service, you should come with us to Xuzhou,” After asking many questions for a long while, Han Daoxun finally asked Zhou Yourui to return to Xuzhou with them. He said, “Don’t worry that Lord Wang’s coffin will encounter more setbacks on the journey home. I’ll arrange for two people to accompany Yu Cheng and the others in escorting Lord Wang’s coffin.”
Zhou Yourui hesitated briefly, but thinking she was ultimately not a free person and couldn’t be too willful, she nodded in agreement.
At this moment, Han Daoxun saw that the adjacent courtyard was properly prepared. He drew two pages of paper from his sleeve and handed them to Han Qian, saying, “This is the eulogy I wrote for Lord Wang Yu. What do you think?”
Han Qian took the eulogy and lowered his head to read it. Seeing the eulogy was full of regret that Wang Yu had died in a foreign land before his grand ambitions were fulfilled, and also expressed determination to hack through thorns and brambles on the thorny road ahead without fear of bloodshed, he sighed softly and went with his father to the adjacent courtyard to pay respects to Wang Yu.
……
……
Wild Fox Ridge was located southwest of Wuling city. From the edge of a cliff one could gaze down at the Yuan River flowing rapidly under the moon, its rippling waves glimmering.
Ji Kun was dressed as a boatman, wearing a bamboo hat and standing barefoot at the cliff’s edge, his hand gripping a short oar.
In the depths of the marshland lakes outside Huangzhou city, nearly three hundred river bandits had been easily routed and killed by Han Daoxun’s group. Even Yang Qin had been recruited. At this time in Tan and Lang prefectures, Ji Kun could only deploy twenty or thirty elite scouts, so naturally he didn’t dare easily expose his whereabouts.
Throughout this pursuit, he usually lurked in desolate mountains and wilderness, leaving intelligence gathering to his secret agents.
At this moment, a scout knelt on one knee before Ji Kun, reporting the situation he had observed after Han Daoxun and his son entered Wuling city:
“After Han Daoxun entered Wuling city, he moved into the courier station and set up one courtyard as a memorial hall. He hired horse carts to move Wang Yu’s coffin into the city, then had people go buy incense, candles and paper money. It appears he intends to hold grand memorial services before continuing his journey…”
“What is Han Daoxun trying to do? Does he think there are suspicious circumstances surrounding Wang Yu’s death? But Wang Yu has been dead for over three months. Both the local authorities and the Censorate have conducted joint examinations. Even if there were suspicious points, what could Han Daoxun still investigate now?” A subordinate standing behind Ji Kun asked with puzzlement. They could see the faint lights of Wuling city.
The Ministry of War was responsible for gathering internal and external military intelligence. If prefectures and counties had any suspicious cases, unless there was a local conspiracy to rebel, it had nothing to do with the Ministry of War—that was the Censorate’s responsibility for supervision.
Whether Wang Yu’s death in office had suspicious points, Ji Kun and his men were completely unclear. But Han Daoxun’s abnormal behavior couldn’t help but make people think in this direction.
However, Wang Yu had been dead for over three months, and it was currently the height of scorching summer. Even using large amounts of quicklime to dehydrate and preserve the remains, the face would be completely unrecognizable. Even opening the coffin for autopsy probably couldn’t reveal anything.
The subordinate under Ji Kun’s command very much doubted Han Daoxun could discover anything by intercepting Wang Yu’s coffin.
Outside Huangzhou city, nearly three hundred river bandits had been routed by Han Daoxun, leaving dozens of corpses. Now even Yang Qin had been recruited and openly stood together with the Han father and son. The personnel they could openly deploy now were few. He advocated lying low for a period, then waiting for an opportunity to act.
Ji Kun said with a calm expression, “The Third Prince’s side has been eyeing Xuzhou—not just for a day or two. Perhaps they’ve already discovered some flaws.”
Ji Kun didn’t find this thought at all sudden. After all, whether it was the Dragon Sparrow Army or Han Qian taking office in Xuzhou, everything appeared to be deep scheming on the Third Prince’s side. Who knew how long ago the Third Prince and Marquis of Xinchang’s manor had already planted informants in Xuzhou?
Ji Kun thought to himself that the heavy responsibility he shouldered was not yet complete. He had suffered setbacks twice. If Han Daoxun truly investigated a major case from Wang Yu and used the opportunity to break the deadlock and gain momentum in Xuzhou, he would have no face to return to Jinling to see Zhao Mingting.
“Whether Wang Yu’s death from illness has suspicious points is another matter, but that his remains couldn’t return home—there must be someone wanting to make a display for the newly appointed prefect to see. And in Xuzhou, there aren’t many who could or would dare do such a thing. Sir, should we send someone to verify this?” Another subordinate asked. In his view, if there truly was a mastermind behind Wang Yu’s death, it was very likely this person.
Ji Kun nodded and said, “Correct. Han Daoxun urgently wants to accomplish things. Intercepting Wang Yu’s remains at Wuling—I estimate his intention is also to beat the grass and startle the snake. The local forces in Xuzhou still don’t recognize his formidability. Once their planning isn’t thorough and they act hastily, they’ll be easily caught by Han Daoxun with evidence and broken with ease. We would lose powerful local assistance! We must first find this person. Also, remember to simultaneously spread the information.”
Regardless of how Han Daoxun negotiated with the Ma family, whether Han Daoxun wanted to establish roots in Xuzhou and cultivate a base for the Third Prince, or purely wanted to massively extract wealth from Xuzhou to compensate for the Dragon Sparrow Army’s ever-increasing expenses—neither was what the local tyrants in remote Xuzhou, where the heavens were high and the emperor far away, wanted to see.
Even if they couldn’t physically eliminate Han Daoxun, they absolutely couldn’t let Han Daoxun gain a firm foothold in Xuzhou.