Upon returning to the capital, Xu Qinghuan was in an especially good mood that day.
By the window stood a low couch of huanghuali wood, with a chessboard of Chinese catalpa wood set upon it.
Black and white stones clashed fiercely across the intersecting lines.
Xie Yunwan wore a jade-colored jacket, her dark hair half-pinned up. She held a lustrous white stone between her fingers.
Her delicate brows were faintly furrowed as she stared at the endgame, repeatedly weighing the best place to play.
Sitting beside the couch was Xu Zijin, dressed in the blue robes of a scholar.
He held an inkstone from She County and slowly ground the ink.
The ink stick rasped softly against the stone. At first, the sound was steady and rhythmic, but without him noticing, it gradually slowed.
Xu Zijin's gaze drifted from the inkstone to Xie Yunwan's profile.
The warmth of the charcoal brazier had lent her fair face a faint blush.
He looked at her slightly furrowed brows, then at her pale earlobe tinged with red.
Good heavens! How could he not fall for her?
Xie Yunwan was concentrating on how to break the deadly formation of the game. When she sensed the gaze beside her, the fingers holding the white stone paused.
Her lashes fluttered twice.
As though sensing something, Xie Yunwan raised her eyes halfway and met Xu Zijin's gentle gaze head-on.
Her heart gave a small leap, and her fingertips trembled despite herself.
The white stone she had spent so long calculating suddenly slipped from her fingers and landed in a completely irrelevant empty spot.
The entire formation of the game immediately developed a gaping hole.
Quick as a flash, Xu Qinghuan, sitting opposite them, pinched up a black stone with two fingers and placed it squarely in the breach.
Then she swept her delicate hand across the board and shoved a large cluster of white stones, their liberties cut off, into the wooden bowl with a clatter.
“Oh, my, oh, my.” Xu Qinghuan propped her chin in both hands, her eyes brimming with mischief as they moved back and forth between the two of them. “Great Scholar Xu's skill at grinding ink has certainly improved by leaps and bounds.
“It's just that today, you failed to produce a single drop of ink, while completely disrupting Yunwan's concentration when she was making her move. Ha-ha-ha-ha!”
“I can say with confidence that I won this game from outside the board. Great Scholar Xu, does that count as helping me cheat?”
Xie Yunwan's cheeks instantly flared red. Embarrassed and annoyed, she shot Xu Zijin an irritated glance.
Xu Zijin's ears had turned bright red as well.
He hurriedly set down the ink stick, clumsily poured some hot tea, and gently pushed it toward Xie Yunwan.
His eager yet awkward manner completely dispelled the murderous tension that had filled the chessboard moments earlier.
Looking at the teacup beside her hand, Xie Yunwan's lips curved faintly upward. She picked it up and took a sip.
But before the warmth in the room had time to spread, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside in the courtyard, crunching through the snow.
Creak, creak.
“Miss!”
“His Highness the Third Prince, Prince Jing, has arrived by carriage! His Highness has already brought his people through the front hall and is coming straight toward the heated pavilion in the rear garden!”
Xu Qinghuan's hand stopped halfway to her lips.
Xu Zijin and Xie Yunwan exchanged a glance. Both were quick-witted and immediately understood each other's meaning.
Since this concerned imperial affairs, they naturally could not remain there.
Xu Zijin swiftly gathered up the unfinished game and began putting away the chess pieces.
Xie Yunwan rose to her feet, preparing to withdraw into the side room behind them.
Just before leaving, the corner of her eye caught the smear of ink on the back of Xu Zijin's hand, splattered there while he had been grinding the ink.
Her footsteps halted.
After glancing left and right, and taking advantage of the moment when Xu Qinghuan turned aside to instruct the maids to clear away the fruit platter, Xie Yunwan drew a plain handkerchief from her sleeve. It carried a faint, delicate fragrance.
She slipped it into Xu Zijin's palm.
With a glance, she indicated the back of his hand, then pressed her lips together and hurried behind the screen into the side room.
Xu Zijin followed the other passageway and quietly withdrew as well.
The moment they had left, a gust of cold wind swept in as the padded curtain was lifted.
Xiao Jingyan had arrived.
That day, he wore the splendid, sharply tailored robes of a prince, with a jade belt fastened around his waist.
Xu Qinghuan raised her eyes and studied him.
His steps were steady, his expression stern.
The unease and agitation that had once marked his confinement within the prince's residence had been washed away completely. The deep calculation in his nature and the keen edge forged through years of lying low had finally revealed themselves.
A smile curved Xu Qinghuan's lips.
“Your Highness certainly cuts an impressive figure today.” Xu Qinghuan rose unhurriedly and gave him an impeccably formal bow.
She then personally lifted the pot, poured a cup of hot tea, and pushed it toward the empty seat opposite her.
“In the past, whenever you came to my residence, you traveled with only a small retinue. Today, you walked through the main gate openly, wearing that conspicuous prince's robe. What is it? Has the wind outside finally convinced Your Highness that the time is right?”
Xiao Jingyan casually removed his cloak and handed it to the chief secretary behind him, then walked to the table and sat down with composure.
He cupped the teacup in both hands, feeling the scalding warmth seep into his palms.
“Whether the time is right or not, Jingyan would not dare make any rash claims. But if I continue hiding in the shadows, I will never get my hands on the real power that is falling into my lap.”
Xiao Jingyan blew away the tea foam and took a large swallow.
The hot liquid traveled down his throat, driving away the cold that clung to him.
“I came today to compare notes on something important,” Xiao Jingyan said bluntly. “Over the past two days, several informants I planted in Jiangnan sent back urgent secret reports.”
He raised one finger and tapped it against the tabletop.
“First. At the Jiangnan Grand Exchange Silver Bank in Jinling, several mysterious merchants with northern accents arrived over the past three days. Carrying a large number of banknotes stamped with the Grand Secretariat's seal, they cleared out three hundred thousand taels of silver from the bank's vault.”
He tapped the table again.
“Second. At the northern wharf, dozens of enormous ships from Sichuan and Guizhou have just docked. Those northerners did not even bother haggling. They paid three times the market price and bought up every piece of old-growth cedar and ebony large enough to serve as beams for the main hall.”
A trace of doubt appeared on Xiao Jingyan's face.
“But the third matter is the most serious.”
“In the south of Jiangning Prefecture, a group of people claiming to represent the imperial traveling headquarters suddenly appeared. They were carrying blank land deeds bearing the seal of the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture. Wherever they saw land, they enclosed it. Wherever they saw fields, they bought them.”
Xiao Jingyan drew in a sharp breath, his voice filled with barely suppressed shock.
“They have even set their sights on the ancestral graves and sacrificial lands of the three great clans of Jiangnan. To seize the land, they produced old land registers from the Xuande era and threatened to excavate the Yang family's ancestral tombs!”
When he finished, Xu Qinghuan felt a surge of delight.
Not bad. The Third Prince's intelligence network was truly impressive.
Xiao Jingyan had laid all his cards on the table and now asked Xu Qinghuan:
“Princess, today let us speak plainly. Give me the truth.”
“The emperor's grand plan to move the capital... has it actually reached the point where the ground is about to be broken?”
The corners of Xu Qinghuan's lips lifted slightly. Her eyes shifted as she tossed the question back to him.
“That is an interesting question, Your Highness.”
“If matters are truly as you suspect, and Jiangnan has already begun stockpiling timber, excavating ancestral graves, and acquiring the foundations of new estates, how do you think the court should play the game in the south?”
She did not need an informant who merely gathered news. She needed a player who could see through to the core interests underlying this great game of power.
Xiao Jingyan leaned back, sinking into silence.
His mind raced as he began sorting through the entire situation.
After a long while, a terrifying light appeared in his eyes. It was the political instinct that erupted after seeing straight through the lifeblood of the imperial court.
“Eldest Imperial Brother has spent ten years building his influence in the capital. He has woven an impenetrable network through the Six Ministries, the Five Garrison Commanderies, the Imperial Academy, and even the Directorate of Palace Administration.
“The old factions and senior officials are all tied to his chariot. If I try to fight him head-on here in the capital, these people will smother me alive in the end.”
Xiao Jingyan let out a cold laugh.
“But what if the imperial carriage moves south?”
He raised his hand and made a fierce gesture, as though uprooting something by its very roots.
“The estates, ancestral tombs, and marriage alliances of the powerful clans in the capital are all rooted in the north.
“Once the Emperor goes to Jiangnan, the vast networks these northern families have built will all become useless. The central government will move with the Emperor. Wherever the Emperor is, there lies the seat of power.”
“When we reach Jinling, it will be a whole new world, with the pieces rearranged.”
Xiao Jingyan lowered his head slightly and said solemnly, “No matter what happens, we still have to follow Father Emperor south.”
Xu Qinghuan applauded him inwardly.
Yes! Now that His Highness had seen through the situation, things were indeed looking promising!
“Your Highness’s informants in Jiangnan have done a good job as well. However, didn’t they leave out one crucial person?”
Xiao Jingyan asked in confusion, “Hm? Who would that be?”
Xu Qinghuan set down the copper tongs and brushed the dust from her hands.
“The person in charge at Jiangning County.”
She looked at Xiao Jingyan and revealed the truth one word at a time.
“My father.”
Xiao Jingyan’s breath caught sharply.
Earl Chengyi, the current Minister of Revenue, Xu Youde.
That was right! He had personally gone to Jiangnan. How could he have forgotten him?
No wonder the man’s methods were so seasoned, and he had dared to overturn the table on the great clans.
Xiao Jingyan suddenly understood. “That’s right, that’s right! The people below did report it. I simply forgot about this important matter! I was blinded by appearances, blinded by appearances!”
Seeing the shock on Xiao Jingyan’s face, Xu Qinghuan continued, “My father has already set out for Jinling to oversee the entire operation of surveying and laying the foundations for the new estates.
“As for how great a storm he can raise in the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, that depends on whether those old bones in Jiangnan, who have lived off their ancestral estates for generations, can withstand his upheaval.”
The amount of information contained in those words was immense.
The stance of the Earl Chengyi Residence, the Emperor’s secret decree, and the Ministry of Revenue’s money and provisions were all tied together by that single statement.
She was not merely acknowledging the relocation of the capital. She was also telling Xiao Jingyan that the Xu family had already entered the game in Jiangnan and taken the banker’s seat.
A flash of ambition and determination appeared in the depths of Xiao Jingyan’s eyes.
“Good.” Xiao Jingyan nodded heavily.
“But this journey south…”
He then said solemnly, “The situation in Jiangnan is unpredictable. Princess, if you hear of any developments, I hope you won’t forget to inform your ally.”
With that, Xiao Jingyan rose to his feet.
Just as Xiao Jingyan was about to leave, he happened to run into Xu Fu.
Xu Fu was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. He had been about to call out to his mistress, but the moment he saw the Third Prince, he hurriedly stopped and bowed in greeting.
Then he rushed over to Xu Qinghuan.
“Miss!”
“There… there’s an urgent letter!”
“It’s from the north again!”
Xu Qinghuan and Xiao Jingyan immediately turned their eyes toward the letter in Xu Fu’s hand.
