"He's still in there. It's just that he disguised himself. His identity has been changing frequently and he never stays anywhere for long, which makes it rather difficult to locate him. This time around, in a sense the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom have actually done us a favor by interfering in this matter. We might not be able to find Wang Xiangxin, but they can. Wang Xiangxin's death will make it a lot easier for us to settle the matter of Jiangzhou," said Yuwen Tong.

Wang Xiangxin had actually disguised himself. The very mention of it gave Ling Zhang headaches. Given that Jiangzhou was such a large prefecture and Wang Xiangxin had a lot of men helping him cover his tracks, controlling Jiangzhou behind the scenes, killing him was indeed no easy job. It struck Ling Zhang that Wang Xiangxin was indeed not a sitting duck, that he was ambitious, resourceful and quite sly. This kind of person was really troublesome.

"Are you saying that we'll play the long con once again?" Ling Zhang asked Yuwen Tong.

Since Yuwen Tong had just said that he would use the other two countries to find the target, it was safe to say that he would allow the diplomatic corps of the two countries to leave the capital city.

Yuwen Tong responded, "As the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom want to support Wang Xiangxin, there's no way they can do it without paying the price. This time around, I'll have those people suffer another setback in Jiangzhou, which will conveniently serve as a warning for their emperors."

Ling Zhang could tell that Yuwen Tong had made up his mind. It seemed that this time around nothing could stop him.

"How about I go to Jiangzhou?"

Ling Zhang had made this suggestion once when they'd been in the Ling Mansion, but Yuwen Tong had disagreed. On this occasion, after being informed of the complicated situation in Jiangzhou, Ling Zhang was even more anxious to go to Jiangzhou. Wang Xiangxin must be disposed of.

Frowning, Yuwen Tong demurred, "No. Jiangzhou is too dangerous."

Yuwen Tong made the same reply he'd made that day. He didn't want Ling Zhang to risk going to Jiangzhou. Currently, everybody in that place was like a turtle in a jar, and it was fraught with perils. The situation there was even more complex than Ling Zhang imagined. Jiangzhou retained the old law system established by the Zhou family, the former imperial household, and people there still saw themselves as subjects of the Zhou family. Wang Xiangxin possessed not only personal ambition but also finesse. Unlike those officials of Cangzhou who'd cruelly oppressed and exploited the common people, Wang Xiangxin was good at massaging his deeds. In Jiangzhou people's eyes, this commander of Jiangzhou garrison was a good Samaritan.

In other words, apart from Wang Xiangxin's soldiers who were protecting him, the common people in Jiangzhou were also part of the reason why Wang Xiangxin was in his element in Jiangzhou and hiding himself so well. The common people there were innocent, but sometimes they could be more formidable than any army, which was why under no circumstances would Yuwen Tong let Ling Zhang go anywhere near a place like that.

Ling Zhang could tell that Yuwen Tong was keeping something back from him.

"Is there something about Jiangzhou that you're not telling me?" inquired Ling Zhang directly, who had confidence in his great intuition.

Seeing Ling Zhang was determined to go to Jiangzhou, Yuwen Tong had no choice but to intimate to him the current situation in Jiangzhou. "Jiangzhou is still following the old law system established by the former imperial household. Wang Xiangxin is a master of hypocrisy and people in Jiangzhou hold him in very high regard. Presently things are very complicated in Jiangzhou. Most people there are in support of Wang Xiangxin. If you go there to work against Wang Xiangxin, you'll be putting yourself in grave danger."

Ling Zhang knitted his brows. It had never crossed his mind that the situation in Jiangzhou would be like this. However, the matter of Jiangzhou must be handled, no matter how bad things were.

"Then what should we do?"

Yuwen Tong gave it some thought and then said, "I'll send Jiang Xi there."

Ling Zhang shook his head. "He won't be able to handle it on his own. Now that things in Jiangzhou have come to this, what could he possibly do to make a difference in there?"

"In order for the people there to stop supporting Wang Xiangxin, we'll have to have them come to realize that Wang Xiangxin has led them into a hopeless situation. It'll take time. Jiangzhou has now been isolated. The people are hanging in there, but they won't be able to do that for long. It's only a matter of time before they start to question Wang Xiangxin's judgement. We must have Cangzhou, Yanzhou and Haizhou pressure Jiangzhou at the same time."

In fact, there was more Yuwen Tong could do. Although on the surface Wang Xiangxin seemed a good Samaritan, he had secretly done a lot of evil deeds, the exposure of which would facilitate having the people rise up against Wang Xiangxin. However, where there was resistance, there was bloodshed. Previously Yuwen Tong had always sought to settle things in a peaceful way, so he wouldn't resort to this unless he had to.

Now that he had become the emperor, when it came to rule his country, he would try to resolve problems in a non-violent manner whenever possible. Of course, if violence was unavoidable, he wouldn't be soft-hearted.

As a result, things might get ugly in Jiangzhou, and if Ling Zhang went there, he would inevitably see it. Deep down, Yuwen Tong didn't want Ling Zhang to see any of it.

Ling Zhang was unaware that Yuwen Tong was thinking about these things. If he came to know about it, he would definitely have mixed feelings. Yuwen Tong was being fiercely protective of him, but if he was to stand shoulder to shoulder with Yuwen Tong to see the same view that Yuwen Tong was seeing, he must go through these things.

Ling Zhang didn't know about Yuwen Tong's thoughts, and his suggestion was rejected by Yuwen Tong with the words "It's too dangerous." Therefore, he had no idea how to convince Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong could tell that Ling Zhang was anxious, but he pretended not to notice.

He would definitely go there himself if possible, but presently he must stay in the capital city to keep the situation under control. As for Jiangzhou, he would adopt necessary methods to solve the matter if the necessity arose.

"But right now we don't know in what way the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom will interfere. Since Clan Leader Ji said that there might be a disaster in Jiangzhou, I think we must be cautious. Let me go there. Please. I can't have complete peace of mind if I don't go there and see for myself."

They both refused to budge an inch on the issue, which meant that Ling Zhang couldn't convince Yuwen Tong for the time being. Angry, Ling Zhang spun around and stormed off.

Watching his receding back, Yuwen Tong sat there for a while before he called, "Qi San."

"At your service, Sire."

"How's the current situation in Jiangzhou specifically?"

"Wang Xiangxin is still in hiding. There were several occasions when our men almost killed him, but he managed to escape eventually all those times. He seems to have some kung fu experts protecting him. He's not only a master of disguise but also quite skilled in hiding himself among crowds.

The magistrate of Jiangdong County tried to send out a message but got killed. After that, several officials Li Rong and Cao Hua had secretly roped in chickened out. Wang Xiangxin has been in charge of Jiangzhou for ten years, and he's planted his men in all ten counties of it. Whenever anything happens in any of the county yamens, his men always inform him of it immediately.

In addition, as a considerable number of the Jiangzhou garrison are stationed at the four checkpoints, and they suffered heavy casualties in the fight against the Shengzhou garrison, Wang Xiangxin's army is severely understrength. As a result, he has ordered two call-ups in Jiangzhou this year. Currently almost all men in Jiangzhou have been press-ganged into the army, except for those who are old, weak, ill or disabled. After the two compulsory call-ups involving almost all men in Jiangzhou, the people there no longer hold Wang Xiangxin in as high regard as they used to. Wang Xiangxin did that because he had to, but his deeds indeed undermined people's trust in him. What with this and the blockade of Jiangzhou, presently Wang Xiangxin's prestige in Jiangzhou has reached its nadir.

The reason why Wang Xiangxin is still riding roughshod over the people of Jiangzhou is because he has some kung fu masters at his back. Those men have very good lightness skills and always act swiftly and wittingly. They appear very suddenly before killing someone and take the target's life in a very cruel and weird way. Owing to his tyranny of terror and blood, most officials and commoners in Jiangzhou don't dare resist.

In my opinion, to tackle the situation in Jiangzhou, we'll have to first dispose of the group of kung fu experts from Jianghu sects, and then locate Wang Xiangxin and kill him. With their deaths, the people of Jiangzhou will be extricated from the predicament. Of course, it'll take some time to get either of the two jobs done."

Time. Yes. What they needed was just a little more time.

Yuwen Tong was also fully aware of this, but the Wan Kingdom's and the Luohai Kingdom's interference would turn this thorny issue, the outcome of which was about to become a foregone conclusion, into something else.

This was not what Yuwen Tong wanted to see happen.

And if Ling Zhang went to Jiangzhou, he would inevitably be faced with the life-threatening dangers there.

"His Highness..." Qi San's voice was heard again, sounding somewhat unnatural and awkward. "We can keep His Highness safe."

Qi San made this remark in an uneasy tone. Consoling people was not really his forte. A few moments before he had seen Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang quarrel, and Yuwen Tong had appeared rather dispirited after Ling Zhang left. As a subordinate, Qi San, who was indeed not very good at offering comfort to others, had no idea what the right thing to say was.

Yuwen Tong flicked him a glance. "Don't concern yourself with that. Go and do what you are supposed to do."

Qi San raised his head, cast a look at Yuwen Tong and then quietly left. 'Well, I'm indeed not very good at comforting people. It goes beyond my usual duties,' he muttered inwardly.

Meanwhile, Ling Zhang came around immediately after he stormed out of the consultation hall. He was fully aware that the reason why Yuwen Tong refused to let him go to Jiangzhou was because Yuwen Tong worried about his safety and didn't want him to go anywhere dangerous.

Actually there weren't any disputes between the two of them. Ling Zhang glanced over his shoulder at the consultation hall, gave it some thought, scratched his head and then pivoted around to double back.

Qi San, who walked out of the consultation hall just in time to see him, paused briefly and then also scratched his head. Seeing Ling Zhang no longer appeared angry, he couldn't help but wonder whether he'd misread the situation. No wonder His Majesty had told him to stay out of it. Maybe this was what Yao Yi and some of the others had described as "spice", which was beyond his grasp.

Scratching his head, Qi San walked away. In the belief that what he'd done just now was a funny mistake, he didn't make any sounds while leaving, not alarming anybody, fearing that anybody might stop him and ask him about what had happened in the consultation hall a short while before. However, he should've realized that what with the poker face he always had at ordinary times, hardly anybody dared approach him, and certainly nobody would dare stop him or ask him about this kind of things. He was just overthinking it.

Ling Zhang, who was unaware that his conduct confused Qi San, entered the hall and saw that Yuwen Tong was still sitting there, who appeared somewhat surprised at the sight of him walking in, as though he'd been absorbed in thought just now and hadn't heard his footsteps. This was very uncharacteristic of Yuwen Tong. Previously every time Ling Zhang had approached this hall, Yuwen Tong had immediately perceived it and been waiting to make eye contact with him when he'd entered.

Ling Zhang inexplicably felt a pang of guilt, gave a little cough and began, "I, uh, I wasn't mad at you a moment ago. I was just a little anxious. If you really don't want me to go there, I'll drop the idea."

Yuwen Tong looked deep into his eyes. It was a while before he resignedly smiled, "Give me some more time to think about it."

Ling Zhang's eyes lit up, looking at him gingerly. "Take as much time as you need. I'm going out of the palace. I'll be back later."

"Going out of the palace? To what end?" asked Yuwen immediately, staring at him.

Ling Zhang answered, "I want to ask my father about the situation in Jiangzhou. Although in this life..."

Saying this, Ling Zhang suddenly realized that walls had ears and left his sentence hanging. After looking left and right to confirm nobody else was around, he walked up to Yuwen Tong's table and breathed, "Although in this life we changed the course of history, those people remain who they are. Given that Wang Xiangxin has so many kung fu experts as his helpers, it surely took him a lot of time to recruit them. Maybe those people joined him a long time ago, which means in Wang Xiangxin's last incarnation he definitely had those people under his command as well. I'll go and ask my father and see if he still remembers anything about it. Maybe he could help."

Yuwen Tong's heart melted completely as he saw Ling Zhang talking in a hushed voice for fear of people eavesdropping. Having no room in his mind for other thoughts, he rubbed Ling Zhang's head and said, "Be careful out there. Don't come back too late."

After having his head rubbed, Ling Zhang hastened to look left and right again. After all, he was an adult and also the empress. It'd be such a disgrace to him if anybody noticed. Seeing there was nobody else around, he heaved a sigh of relief and said to Yuwen Tong, "Don't do that again when we're outdoors. It looks as if you're stroking a child."

Yuwen Tong chuckled, "How about you give me a kiss?"

Ling Zhang wanted to refuse flatly, but then he recalled that a short while ago he'd been somewhat impulsive. Knowing they were the only ones present, he walked to the other side of the table and kissed Yuwen Tong. "You got your kiss now."

Yuwen Tong was astonished for an instant. He had originally thought that Ling Zhang would go berserk at his words, but unexpectedly, Ling Zhang had walked up to him on his own initiative and kissed him...

His eyes started burning. Yuwen Tong knew that Ling Zhang was guilty about losing his temper a short while before and was now trying to please him.

He reached out a hand and swept Ling Zhang into his embrace, holding him so tight that he couldn't move an inch.

Ling Zhang willingly let Yuwen Tong hug him, not trying to free himself. He even said in Yuwen Tong's ear, "I'll cook you something delicious tonight."

"Um," Yuwen Tong said and then spanked Ling Zhang. "Are you coaxing me like a child? How old do you think I am? Ling Maomao's age or Ji Xiaocong's?"

Ling Zhang instantly burst into laughter. Massaging his butt, he retorted, "Even Ji Xiaocong is older than you."

Yuwen Tong, whose eyes were also gleaming with amusement, let out a sigh, planted a kiss on Ling Zhang's eyes and said, "Go. I hope my father-in-law does remember something about it."

"Um," answered Ling Zhang, left Yuwen Tong's embrace, rearranged his robes and then walked out.

Watching Ling Zhang's retreating figure, Yuwen Tong, whose mood had lightened, collected his thoughts intending to deal with the matter of Jiangzhou. At the sight of the map of Jiangzhou, the look in his eyes instantaneously went cold and grave.

...

Ling Zhang went out of the palace in a low-key fashion, without the empress' guard of honor.

Ling Xingzhong and Ling Zhaowu, the father and son, who were studying a wash drawing, were surprised to see Ling Zhang walk inside.

"Zhang'er? Why did you suddenly leave the palace?" asked Ling Xingzhong.

"Grandfather, Father," called Ling Zhang, bowing with hands folded in front. "I came here to see my father. There's something I want to talk with my father about."

Ling Xingzhong looked from him to Ling Zhaowu and then said with a big wave of his hand. "Go ahead."

"I'll come back later to keep you company."

"That won't be necessary. I could use some quiet."

Smiling, Ling Zhang and Ling Zhaowu walked out of the study. Noticing the somewhat apprehensive look on Ling Zhang's face, Ling Zhaowu asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Father, does the name Wang Xiangxin mean anything to you? He's the commander of the Jiangzhou garrison," inquired Ling Zhang.

"Wang Xiangxin?" repeated Ling Zhaowu, a flicker flashing across his eyes as though he guessed the reason why Ling Zhang had left the palace and come here to see him. "Let's go to my place first and talk later."

The two of them returned to Ling Zhaowu's courtyard house, sat down and started talking.

"Did something happen in Jiangzhou?" asked Ling Zhaowu.

Ling Zhang gave his father a sketchy account of the situation in Jiangzhou and then added, "Wang Xiangxin has some kung fu experts protecting him, who are masters of disguise and adept at hiding themselves. It's very difficult for Yuwen Tong's men to locate them, so I came here to ask you whether or not you could provide any particular information about Wang Xiangxin or those kung fu experts at his back."

Ling Zhaowu said, "Speaking of Wang Xiangxin, I guess you came to the right person."

"Oh? What did he do in his last life that you remember vividly?" asked Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhaowu replied, "In my last incarnation, after Yuwen Tong settled down in the north-west and became his own boss, he actually kept the lifeline of the three countries under his control, deterring the three of them from attacking each other. Without any threats from outside, the Great Yue was subjected to civil strife. The Cangzhou garrison, the Jiangzhou garrison, along with the garrisons in some other prefectures, rose in revolt. The emperor from the Zhou family was unable to suppress the rebellion and could only stand by watching those commanders of prefectural garrisons become warlords. They fought each other from time to time, showing a total disregard for the authority of the emperor from the Zhou family, who vomited blood with anger several times.

Ling Zhang got the point. In his father's last life, the Jiangzhou garrison and the Cangzhou garrison had also revolted.

"Wang Xiangxin also wanted to be a warlord like Yuwen Tong?"

Ling Zhaowu inclined his head. "Yeah."