Mo Sang – CH 243

Chapter 243. An Opportunity

In Jianle City.

In the Qingning Palace, after discussing state affairs, Prime Minister Wu and the others took their leave.

“Prime Minister Wu, Privy Councilor Pang, please stay a moment,” Gu Jin said, keeping Prime Minister Wu and Privy Councilor Pang.

“Sit down. Qing-Feng can serve in the palace,” Gu Jin instructed after watching everyone leave.

Seeing the eunuchs leave, Prime Minister Wu and Privy Councilor Pang immediately tensed.

He was about to discuss something extremely confidential.

“Take a look,” Gu Jin said, taking a key from his pouch, opening a sandalwood box on the table, and taking out a letter. He handed it to Prime Minister Wu, “This was sent by the Shizi through Ji-Xiang.”

Privy Councilor Pang’s eyes widened immediately. The Shizi’s two servants, Ru-Yi and Ji-Xiang, had personally delivered this letter!

The letter was short. Prime Minister Wu read it quickly, his face tense, and following Gu Jin’s gesture, handed the letter to Privy Councilor Pang.

Privy Councilor Pang read the letter quickly, handing it back to Gu Jin, who then looked at Minister Wu.

“This letter arrived late last night. Since receiving it, I have not been able to sleep,” Gu Jin said gravely.

“If the Shizi’s suggestion to mobilize the armies is followed, and the Boss succeeds, our advance will be unstoppable. By the end of the year, our Great Qi will have unified the north and south.”

“But what if the Boss does not succeed…” Minister Wu frowned deeply.

“If the Boss’s mission fails, and she cannot persuade the Jiuxi Shidong to stand idly by, then the combined forces of the Jiuxi Shidong, along with Wu Huaiguo’s forces in Changsha, will face the Shizi’s forces, whose main force has been mobilized. Given Wu Huaiguo’s shrewdness and keen insight, not only will they fail to capture Changsha, but even Hongzhou and Jingzhou will be in danger.”

Gu Jin looked at Privy Councilor Pang, whose eyes gleamed with fervor. “I believe it is worth the risk! A rare opportunity! Truly rare!

We can order Wen Shun’s troops to closely monitor the battle of Changsha. If the Boss’s journey encounters difficulties, order Wen Shun’s troops to immediately sail downstream to reinforce the Shizi and defend Jing and Hong provinces. They will surely hold them.”

“Your Majesty, I request to be stationed in Yangzhou. If…”

“Pour Privy Councilor Pang a cup of tea.” Gu Jin was so excited by Privy Councilor Pang’s outburst that he leaned back.

“Old Pang, quiet down!” Prime Minister Wu gave Privy Councilor Pang a sidelong glance, somewhat displeased.

This man, a soldier by birth, who had cultivated his character for over a decade or two, was still so easily agitated. When agitated, he still resembled a warrior!

“Your Majesty, I’ve lost my composure a bit.” Privy Councilor Pang took the tea, giving an embarrassed chuckle.

“Privy Councilor Pang’s statement about Wen Shun’s troops monitoring the reinforcements—hmm, excellent. Transfer Qiao An’s troops to Yangzhou. The rest, as the Shizi has said.” Gu Jin’s eyelids drooped slightly.

Minister Wu took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

This was truly an extremely risky arrangement.

“Where are Wei Jingming and the others?” Gu Jin asked Minister Wu after a moment of silence.

The second batch of support personnel heading to Yuzhang City, including Wei Jingming and Liu Rui, accompanied by Minister Wu’s fourth daughter-in-law, Lady Wei, departed about ten days later than Chancellor Huang and his group.

“Judging by the journey, they should have arrived in Yuzhang City by now,” Minister Wu replied hastily, bowing slightly.

“Write a letter,” Gu Jin pondered for a moment. “Chancellor Huang is too dull and not good at these things. Leave these to your daughter-in-law. Let her manage them. The literary affairs at Tengwang Pavilion should be lively; the more lively, the better. Let her think about the Boss’s methods and learn from them. Make it even more lively.”

“Yes.”

“During this period of time, with this major reshuffle, it is not advisable to entrust it to others. You two will have to work harder.” Gu Jin looked at Minister Wu and Privy Councilor Pang.

“You flatter us! It is our duty, and we could not ask for more!” Minister Wu and Privy Councilor Pang hurriedly stood up to express their agreement.

This gamble, if successful, would lay the foundation for a century-long dynasty for both the nation and their families; if it failed, the situation might immediately deteriorate, and both the Great Qi and they would face annihilation.

……………………

After the initial critique of quotations and allusions in the Tengwang Pavilion essay competition, the number of quotations and allusions in the next ten days’ essays suddenly increased. Whether they should be quoted or not, whether they should be used or not, they were all thrown in, and the more obscure and rare the quotations and allusions, the better.

Not to embellish the essays, but to stump the reader!

“This is not an essay; it is a sacrificial fish! And it is all a mess!” Lady Wei, holding a piece of writing, trembled as she complained.

“He might as well not write anything at all, just list all the allusions he knows.” Wei Jingming glanced at it and chuckled.

“Look at this one; he’s even omitting rhyme in his use of allusions.” Liu Rui handed over a long poem.

“He’s deliberately trying to make things difficult for us, humph!” Lady Wei snorted disdainfully.

“This time there are four or five times more allusions than in the last ten days, and still more! Who knows what the next ten days will be like? Luckily, you came.” Fu Wan-niang rested her chin on her hand, sighing as she looked at the pile of writings filled with allusions but no actual writing.

“Ah Yao wanted to come too, and so did Li’er. If only they were here.” Wei Jingming thought back to the time they teamed up, feeling a pang of regret.

“Ah Yao is pregnant, and Li’er is still in her postpartum period. They are always thinking about things they should not. The three of you are enough. It is just a small Hongzhou, not the Hanlin Academy.” Fourth Madam Wu née Wei tossed the article in her hand onto the table.

“Madam, your letter.” Fourth Madam Wu née Wei’s maidservant brought in a letter.

Fourth Madam Wu née Wei hurriedly took it. Seeing the silk envelope coated with alum, her eyebrows rose. She quickly cut it open with scissors, pulled out the letter, and read it quickly. After a moment of stunned silence, she handed the letter to Wei Jingming.

“It’s from our master. He conveyed the Emperor’s words. You should also take a look.”

“Let us think about the Boss’s methods?” Wei Jingming quickly finished reading and passed it to Liu Rui.

“The other day, the Imperial Scholar Huang said he wanted to go to the Fu Family Library to copy books when he returned to Jianle City. These past few days, the Gossip Evening Post has been full of inquiries about where this book or that book is kept. Could we let them see it? Or perhaps we could print it for them?” Fu Wan-niang said with a smile.

“Those books in your Fu Family Library are all unique copies,” Fourth Madam Wu née Wei reminded her.

“When my grandfather was alive, he often said that it would be great if more books from the library could be printed and distributed,” Fu Wan-niang said with a smile.

“Anyone who wants to go to the Fu Family Library can go. We’ve all been there,” Wei Jingming said with a smile.

“We should follow the methods of the Boss,” Liu Rui reminded her.

“The Boss has the most ways to make money, all sorts of tricks, and she’s ruthless.” Thinking back to that academic debate years ago and the various betting schemes outside the arena, Lady Wei laughed more and more.

“Then let them pay first, and set the price high,” Wei Jingming said with a smile.

“Hmm, that has the air of the Boss.” Fu Wan-niang smiled, pursing her lips.

The second commentary, which analyzed quotations and allusions, included an appendix detailing the source of each quotation, the location of the book, and that anyone wishing to pre-order a specific book could do so at various Shunfeng Delivery Shops for one tael of silver per copy.

This second commentary convinced at least half of the scholars in Hongzhou.

This commentary must have been written in Yuzhang City, because on the morning of the eleventh day, the top three winners of the previous ten days would be announced in the connecting corridor outside the Tengwang Pavilion construction site, and this commentary on quotations and allusions would have been posted there when the silver was distributed.

Yuzhang City certainly did not have these books in its collection; there were no books to consult on the spot. This commentary relied entirely on extensive knowledge and a prodigious memory!

As for those rare and unique books that they had only heard of, or had never even heard of, buying a copy for one tael of silver was an immense act of charity!

Countless taels of silver flowed into Jianle City. The matriarchs of prominent bibliophile families like the Fu, Wei, Pan, and Wu, along with officials at the Imperial Academy, were busy selecting books, registering them, and printing the Morning News and Evening Post—working tirelessly through the night.

Meanwhile, scholars in Hongzhou were preoccupied with the essay selection process at the Tengwang Pavilion, scrutinizing the commentaries on classical allusions, racking their brains to recall the most obscure ones, and weighing which books to buy. Buying them all would be ideal, of course, but silver was scarce!

The minor officials were busy with Governor Luo’s series of new policies and occasionally glanced at the scholars’ antics and jokes. The merchants, needless to say, were too busy with business; the entire Hongzhou was bustling with activity, leaving them no time to pay attention to anything else.

The army outside Yuzhang City was silent; they had vanished without a trace.

……………………

Li Sangrou and her group of thirty or forty people, after passing through the stone gate, disguised themselves as shop assistants from the Ye Family Pharmacy and followed Ye Anping south towards Longbiao City.

After passing through the stone gate, the gleam of the four characters “Ye Family Pharmacy” drew countless exclamations of admiration from Meng Yanqing throughout the day.

A truly prestigious, golden signboard.

South of Shimen, the mountain path was rugged. Some sections allowed riding ponies or donkeys, while others required walking. Whether on horseback or on foot, Ye Anping arranged everything meticulously. When horses or donkeys were needed, local Bosstains or tribal leaders arranged everything, and on foot, excellent local guides led the way.

Ye Anping and Li Sangrou were equally impatient, setting off before dawn and resting after dark. Sometimes, finding no place to stay, they simply traveled through the night.

Traveling at night became frequent, and they even encountered corpse-driving convoys twice.

Ahead was a silent corpse-coachman dressed in black, followed by a row of lifeless corpses, seemingly alive, their hands hanging limply as they walked forward step by step.

The first time was just as darkness fell. Li Sangrou stood by the roadside, carefully observing the coachman and the corpses.

The second time they encountered the corpse-transporting procession, they had missed their lodging. In the middle of the night, they walked quickly and gradually heard the sound of eerie bells ringing ahead. Catching up with the procession, Meng Yanqing and Li Sangrou were in front. Just as they were about to bypass the procession, the long line of corpses suddenly stopped, and the bells ceased ringing abruptly.

Li Sangrou was about to stop and ask Ye Anping a question when a hoarse voice rang out from the front of the long procession, “You go first.”

Li Sangrou and her group quickened their pace, passing the corpse-transporters. Li Sangrou gave a slight bow. “Thank you; sorry to bother you.”

After Li Sangrou and the others had walked a short distance, the bells began to ring again.

Hei Ma, Mazha, and the others, filled with questions, dared not utter a sound, simply following behind Li Sangrou, keeping their mouths tightly shut, and hurrying on their way.

After passing the stone gate, if they saw anything strange or unfamiliar, they were told not to laugh or speak, but to pretend they did not see it—this was something Ye Anping had repeatedly instructed them to do.

As dawn broke, the group arrived at a small village. While eating at a small inn outside the village, Hei Ma could not hold back any longer and sidled up to Ye Anping. “The sun’s out now. Can you talk now?”

“Huh?” Ye Anping, who was drinking a cup of local wine, looked at Hei Ma with a puzzled expression.

“That corpse-driving…how come the dead looked like the living? I still could not see clearly!” Datou plopped down on Ye Anping’s other side.

“Was it dead or alive?” Mazha asked, peeking out from beside Datou.

“He told us to go first; what’s the meaning of that?” Meng Yanqing asked across the table.

“I’ve rarely encountered a corpse-convoy before; let me ask.” Ye Anping beckoned to the innkeeper, asked a few questions in the local dialect, and after the innkeeper explained, thanked him and looked at Meng Yanqing.

“They say if they encounter one with extremely strong malevolent energy, the God of Happiness will be afraid and unable to drive it away; the malevolent energy must pass first. Boss Meng, you are from a military background; perhaps your malevolent energy is too strong.”

Meng Yanqing raised his eyebrows, shaking his head and pointing at Li Sangrou.

When it came to malevolent energy, no one could compare to the Boss.

Ye Anping looked at Li Sangrou in surprise.

“The Boss has killed countless people,” Da Chang said in a low voice.

Ye Anping stared at Li Sangrou. “You, you’ve never killed anyone…”

“It’s me; she has not killed anyone. I—I’ve killed many people, many, many,” Li Sangrou said calmly.

Ye Anping was stunned for a moment, then sighed.

……………………

In Changsha, General Wu mobilized his troops and made arrangements; everything was ready, but the Northern Qi Army never arrived. A few days later, the third edition of the commentary on the Tengwang Pavilion essay, now with a drastically changed style, arrived in General Wu’s hands.

General Wu stared at the long commentary and the long list of books following it, lost in thought for a moment. He put down the Gossip Evening Post and went to the back office.

Concubine Su handed General Wu a bowl of sugarcane and water chestnut soup, carefully observing his solemn and gloomy face. “What’s wrong?” she asked with concern.

“The Northern Qi Army has not arrived yet. There’s not a sound,” General Wu said, sipping his soup with lowered eyes.

“Not coming? That’s bad?” Concubine Su could not figure out the reason.

“Hmm, something’s amiss. Hongzhou, Tanzhou, and only Changsha remain, an isolated city. Changsha is the final battleground. Northern Qi should have started preparing to take Changsha the day they captured Yuzhang. What good would further delay do them?

No good. There must be a reason. What is it?” General Wu sighed as he spoke.

“Should we send someone to investigate?” Concubine Su suggested. Seeing General Wu remain silent, she knew her suggestion was extremely naive. She thought for a moment, then frowned and asked, “Last time you said Boss Li was in Yuzhang. Is she still there?”

“A woman, her archery skills are excellent, but she’s just a rough-and-tumble hero. In a war between two armies, it is not about one person’s strength alone. Where she is does not matter,” General Wu said slowly.

“Hmm, any news from the court? Did the Emperor approve your last memorial?” Concubine Su sat down beside General Wu and asked softly.

“The court…” General Wu paused after saying “the court” and continued after a long pause, “His Majesty is extremely adept at forbearance. When he was a prince, he relied on forbearance, on concealing his abilities, and on carefully hiding his trusted confidants and backup plans, and then, when the late Emperor was seriously ill, he released them all at once, seizing the throne in one fell swoop.

Now, he is still the same, forbearing, guarding and concealing the elite troops of this route, the main army of that route, holding onto the troops and supplies, waiting for the opportunity to release them and seize the throne in one fell swoop.”

“What opportunity is there now?” Concubine Su sighed.

“Yes, vying for the throne and vying for the world are vastly different.

I often advised him to take action before, but he ignored me and remained inactive until he seized the throne.

Now, I am submitting memorials again and again. We cannot wait any longer; we cannot defend any longer. We must attack! We must attack! We must reclaim Hongzhou and reclaim Tanzhou! Shu cannot be lost! Alas!” General Wu pounded his fists on the couch.

“He probably thinks you were wrong before, and you are still wrong now,” Concubine Su sighed.

“I am not as good as he is at vying for the throne, but this is war, war! This is a battle of strategists! Alas!” General Wu looked up to the sky and sighed deeply.

He was powerless, like a trapped beast!