48: Chapter 48: Sending the Secret Letter of Rebellion to Huang Zicheng

After Jiang Wan finished speaking, the hall was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

Only a few reckless spring insects were tirelessly bumping against the horn palace lantern, making faint popping sounds.

After a brief, deathly silence.

"Bang!"

Chang Sheng stepped forward, his bowl-sized fist slamming hard against the golden nanmu pillar, shaking dust down from the rafters.

"Are these people tired of living?! Spending one hundred thousand taels of silver to hire water bandits to intercept and kill the imperial envoy? They even dared to bribe a garrison Qianhu! No, how dare they do this?"

General Wang Bi was so angry he laughed, panting heavily while gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist, his fierce face twisting. "Your Highness, let's just request an imperial edict to mobilize two guards of troops, flatten Songjiang Prefecture first, and then fish out all the turtles in Taihu Lake and boil them! Regardless of whether they are Textile Bureau ambassadors or salt merchants, hang their entire families on the city gate tower to swing!"

Duke of Cao did not join in the commotion this time, his gold-painted folding fan tapping rhythmically against his palm.

"You two, don't be so hasty." Duke of Cao spoke up suddenly, closing his fan and pointing at the secret report in Jiang Wan's hand. "Murdering for goods, concealing farmland, colluding with officials—these are the standard tactics of local magnates, and everyone understands this tacitly. But bribing a garrison Qianhu, mobilizing government troops, and having Taihu Lake water bandits intercept and kill an imperial prince on the road? This is no longer just about greed; this is a full-fledged rebellion."

"Jiangnan is the heartland, not some godforsaken Liaodong. The Taicang Guard is right under the nose of Yingtian Prefecture. A mere Qianhu, how much courage could he possibly have to dare lead troops to intercept and kill the Prince of Wu? Even if he managed to kill the person, his nine generations would be executed by slow slicing. What kind of massive benefit did the Wu Family promise him that could buy his entire family's lives?"

Chang Sheng and General Wang Bi were stunned, both sensing something was wrong, and looked at Jiang Wan.

"The Marquis may not know." Jiang Wan's voice was steady. "That Qianhu's real name is Qianhu Wu Changgui, an illegitimate son of the second branch of the Suzhou Wu Family. Years ago, the Wu Family spent silver to buy him a military household status and pulled strings to get him into the Taicang Guard. For years, the Taicang Guard has been collecting pay for ghost soldiers, and the actual number of combat-ready soldiers under Qianhu Wu Changgui is no more than three hundred, all supported by grain and supplies secretly provided by the Wu Family. Rather than calling them imperial troops, it would be more accurate to call them the Wu Family's private soldiers."

"Still not right," Duke of Cao shook his head, turned around, and bowed deeply toward the main seat. "Your Highness, this matter reeks of something sinister."

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong nodded, looked at Jiang Wan, and asked: "Is the source of this information reliable?"

Jiang Wan stepped forward, his back straight. "Replying to Your Highness. Commissioner Zhao Meng of the Songjiang Prefecture Salt Administration once received a life-saving favor from this humble servant years ago. Although he serves as an official in Jiangnan, his family has always remained in the old residence in the capital. He handed this secret letter personally to an undercover agent of the Embroidered Uniform Guard under the guise of transporting tribute salt."

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong set down his teacup and chuckled. "Interesting. However, I would like to see what kind of trouble they can stir up."

Chang Sheng was anxious. "Your Highness! A person of high status should not put himself in danger. Since we know there is a fiery pit ahead, we cannot just jump straight into it. Those scholars are best at playing dirty. Jiangnan has a complex network of waterways. If the boat were to leak in the middle of the lake, or if we were surrounded by hundreds of smuggling speedboats in a narrow waterway, even with many personal guards, we wouldn't be able to maneuver!"

"Uncle is right." Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong stood up and tossed the scroll to Duke of Cao. "Therefore, we will not take the waterway."

Duke of Cao scrambled to catch the scroll, confused. "Not take the waterway? But to go to Suzhou, taking the Grand Canal is the fastest and safest route. If we go by land, we would have to take such a long detour, and the post stations along the way might not be able to support a large entourage."

"Who said I was going to Suzhou?" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong walked to the map of the territory, his slender finger moving past Suzhou Prefecture and pointing precisely at an inconspicuous location.

"My first stop is Taicang."

"Taicang?" The military generals looked at each other.

The Taicang Guard was the place where the Great Ming stationed heavy troops in Jiangnan, the gateway for defense against Japanese pirates and maritime smuggling. It was also the place mentioned in the secret report that had been bribed by the Jiangnan gentry.

"Didn't they say they bribed the Qianhu of the Taicang Guard?" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong turned around, his eyes cold under the lamplight. "I will go to the camp of the Taicang Guard and have them host a welcoming banquet for me. Jiang Wan."

"I am here."

"Keep a copy of that secret letter. Find an agile Embroidered Uniform Guard and have them deliver the original to the mansion of Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng with great fanfare. Just say that I found a piece of scrap paper in the Eastern Palace and would like the Hanlin Academician to help me examine it."

Everyone in the hall was shocked. Delivering someone else's secret letter of rebellion directly to the leader of the civil officials in the imperial court? What kind of insane operation is this?

At this moment, deep inside the Qianqing Palace, the lights were dim, and the night wind blew in through the carved windows, carrying the biting chill of early spring. Zhu Yuanzhang, draped in an old, washed-out dragon robe, was sitting cross-legged on the kang in the Warm Pavilion, reading memorials sent from the provinces by candlelight.

Eunuch Wang Fu stood with a hunched back, three steps away. This old eunuch had just finished listening to the report from the secret guards at the Eastern Palace and was now recounting everything that had happened in the side hall to this ruler of the Great Ming.

Hearing that the people of Joseon had offered four stunning dancers, Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly. "A tiny country that only knows how to use these underhanded tactics."

When he heard that Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong not only refused the women but also forced Yi Bang-won to cough up three thousand warhorses as tribute, the old emperor was stunned at first.

Then, a burst of loud laughter erupted from his withered chest, making him cough repeatedly, his face turning red.

"This kid!" Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at empty space, laughing and cursing incessantly. "Three thousand warhorses! That tiny Joseon state has always been stingy. I fear Yi Bang-won hasn't even reached the Han Dynasty borders, and he must be spitting blood halfway there! This grandson of mine is truly a skin-flaying, tendon-extracting character. He takes after me! Hahahaha!"

Eunuch Wang Fu quickly brought a cup of warm ginseng tea and said with a fawning smile: "Your Majesty is right. When Yi Bang-won left the palace, this old servant sent people to watch him, and he was even stumbling as he walked..."

"Hehe..." Zhu Yuanzhang took a sip of ginseng tea, his smile gradually fading. He toyed with the lid of the teacup and said in a deep voice: "Do you really think Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong went to all that trouble just for a few horses?"

Eunuch Wang Fu bowed his body, not daring to answer.

"He is probing the bottom line of that Joseon prince." Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes became sharp. "Hmph, this Yi Bang-won looks restless..."

The old emperor stood up and walked to the copper pillar radiating heat from the floor heating to warm his hands.

"Joseon is poor. To squeeze out three thousand top-quality warhorses, Yi Bang-won will surely have to engage in massive extortion back home. Once he does that, will his brothers and veteran officials tolerate him? There will definitely be chaos in Joseon. Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong has planted a mine without spending a single soldier. This grandson of mine has quite the ambition."

Eunuch Wang Fu nodded repeatedly, bowing his waist even lower, his face filled with a perfectly humble smile as he echoed the agreement.

Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and looked at the map of the Great Ming territory on the wall. His gaze lingered on the prosperous Jiangnan region for a long time, and suddenly, he blurted out, "Old Wang, Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong is fifteen years old this year, isn't he?"

Eunuch Wang Fu was stunned for a moment, his brain spinning rapidly, and he immediately replied: "Replying to Your Majesty, Prince of Wu has passed his birthday on the second day of the second lunar month and is exactly fifteen years old."

"Fifteen already..." Zhu Yuanzhang walked back to the edge of the kang and sat down, sighing deeply. In this sigh, the cold sharpness of calculating the world's affairs was gone, replaced by the twilight of an ordinary old man.

"Biao'er got married when he was sixteen."

Listening to this, Eunuch Wang Fu immediately sensed the meaning behind the old emperor's words. Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang's next sentence was: "It is time to arrange a marriage."