Chapter 50: Flipping the Table

Upon hearing this, Hou Xun was instantly overjoyed, and said repeatedly, "Good, good, very good. With a fierce general like Meng Ruhu, and under my command as the Viceroy, the pacification of the rebels is most promising! Once this battle is won, I shall personally memorialize His Majesty to generously reward the meritorious subjects, and I will certainly not fail the blood and tears shed by our heroes on the battlefields! General Hu, rest assured, I have already allocated the armaments, including ten thousand pieces of firearms, short weapons, and cotton armor. As soon as your troops arrive, they can be immediately replenished!"

When Hu Zichen heard Hou Xun's previous remarks, he remained completely indifferent, but the mention of armaments immediately stirred him, and he nodded repeatedly.

Seeing this, Hou Xun smiled and looked at Yang Dechang beside Hu Zichen, asking, "General Yang, I wonder what the Viceroy's view is on this?"

"The Viceroy... will naturally bring Commander Hu along." Yang Dechang's smile was somewhat strained.

For Hu Zichen to bypass Yang Wenyue and agree so readily was truly a severe slap in the face to Yang Wenyue.

"Haha, good, good!" Hou Xun laughed, paying little heed to Yang Dechang's expression. As the primary general, Hu Dawei was the core combat force of the Baoding troops. Although Yang Wenyue represented the civil officials, his military strength was weak, and having just suffered a defeat, he would be fortunate if Emperor Chongzhen did not execute him for his failures once the accounts were settled.

At this point, Hou Xun shifted his gaze back to Jin Shenghuan.

Having come this far, how could Jin Shenghuan fail to realize that Hou Xun was waiting for him to agree to join the campaign?

Seeing that both Yang Dechang and Hu Zichen had quietly stood by Hou Xun's side, and even the formidable troops of the Shandong Garrison seemed to have sworn allegiance to Hou Xun, the outcome before them seemed already clear.

Yet Jin Shenghuan remained completely unmoved by the gazes fixed upon him. He let out a dry laugh and said, "Reporting to the Viceroy, my unit will seize the opportunity to provide support from the flanks."

Jin Shenghuan's words instantly caused the smile on Hou Xun's face to freeze.

Read between the lines: while the phrase "seize the opportunity to provide support" sounded polite, who among those present was a fool? "Seize the opportunity"—what did that mean? If Zuo Liangyu was in a good mood, he might dispatch a thousand or two troops to just go through the motions; if he was in a bad mood, he would simply claim the tactical situation offered no favorable openings and refuse to go at all.

This was tantamount to a rejection.

Jin Shenghuan lacked the authority to make such a refusal on his own. It could only mean that Zuo Liangyu had never intended to come in the first place. This truly exceeded Hou Xun's expectations!

One must know that Hou Xun had always regarded Zuo Liangyu as his ultimate trump card. During the battle of Zhuxian Town, Hou Xun had been the first to send a letter urging Zuo Liangyu to preserve his strength, promising that once he arrived, the entire two hundred thousand taels of military funds would be poured into Zuo Liangyu's command.

And Zuo Liangyu indeed had no desire to fight.

Unfortunately, Hou Xun had never anticipated that Ding Qirui's coercion would be so relentless, ultimately driving Zuo Liangyu into a corner and causing him to simply run away.

Neither expected Ding Qirui to act with such ruthlessness, nor did anyone imagine that Zuo Liangyu would be even more eccentric than Ding Qirui.

Yet things had reached this stage, and Hou Xun still did not feel he had done anything wrong. In fact, he still considered Zuo Liangyu his trump card. He persisted in believing that even if the Baoding troops proved too difficult to coax into battle, Zuo Liangyu would at least grant him enough face to help pressure the Baoding troops.

However... never in his wildest dreams had he expected that the Baoding troops would be the first to be reined in. Just as Hou Xun prepared to reap the fruits of victory, Zuo Liangyu turned his back on him!

How could this fail to leave Hou Xun shocked beyond words?

For a moment, Hou Xun was somewhat at a loss as to what to do. Even when Wang Qianzhi hurriedly signaled him to bring in Liu Zeqing, Hou Xun failed to react in time.

The shock was simply too overwhelming!

An unusually awkward silence descended upon the military conference.

Seeing this, Wang Qianzhi decided to bypass Hou Xun and directly cast a meaningful glance at Liu Zeqing.

Yet when Liu Zeqing caught sight of Zhu Cilang once again twisting his teacup out of the corner of his eye, he kept his head lowered, pretending to intently study the tea leaves in the cup as if he had completely missed Wang Qianzhi's signal.

The silence in the hall was soon broken.

However, the person who broke it surprised everyone present.

A young, magnetic, and resonant voice rang out: "I wonder if the General Pacifying the Rebels is aware that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is currently in Kaifeng? As for seizing the opportunity to provide support, what exact opportunity are you waiting for? Rescuing the Crown Prince and escorting him safely to Nanjing—such a monumental achievement is enough to merit being granted a hereditary peerage of the first rank! Is this not opportunity enough?"

The speaker was, naturally, Zhu Cilang.

Upon hearing Zhu Cilang speak, Hou Xun was jolted with a violent start. He glared fiercely across the room, his expression a mixture of shock and fury as he snapped, "Qin Xia! You..."

"My courtesy name is Yiming!" Zhu Cilang delivered a polite yet firm rebuff before continuing, "Presumably, the Viceroy should have also received the imperial edict. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is to oversee military affairs in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Huguang, Sichuan, and Shandong. Calculating the time, that imperial edict should arrive any moment now."

"You actually..." Hou Xun was rendered speechless with anger. He never imagined that Zhu Cilang would boldly blurt out this tightly guarded secret!

Possessing advance knowledge of the contents of an imperial edict happened in every dynasty; those in power could naturally manage it. But using advance knowledge to maneuver behind the scenes for astonishing gains was something everyone understood. Yet who would ever think of leaking insider information aloud, shouting it as if terrified the entire world did not know?

Yet Zhu Cilang had simply smashed the table right then and there, ensuring that no one could ever use insider information to manipulate the situation again!

This effectively stripped Hou Xun of any chance to profit from the inside scoop. How could this fail to enrage him?

Yet his anger lasted only a moment before he abruptly forced himself to calm down. For before he could finish speaking, Hou Fang域 rushed hurriedly into the hall, lowering his voice to report urgently in Hou Xun's ear, "Father, the eunuch bearing the imperial edict has arrived!"

"Why such a coincidence?" Hou Xun cursed inwardly, staring at Zhu Cilang through clenched teeth.

He suddenly recalled the rumors circulating about Zhu Cilang being part of the "eunuch faction."

This was undoubtedly the handiwork of Zhu Cilang!

Naturally, this was a trap Zhu Cilang had laid beforehand.

The Prince of Zhou had known from the very beginning that the eunuch bearing the imperial edict had arrived in Henan alongside Zhu Cilang's military supply transport fleet. Naturally, given his status as the Crown Prince in person, couldn't Zhu Cilang choose to have the edict proclaimed whenever he pleased?

The Prince of Zhou certainly would not have mentioned this detail to Hou Xun, which naturally left Hou Xun completely in the dark.

Yet with the eunuch arriving to read the imperial edict, Hou Xun, in all his dignity as Viceroy, could not afford to slight him.

In an instant, the tone of the military conference shifted entirely, and the assembly hurriedly filed out into the central courtyard.

Before long, the servants of the Viceroy's Mansion had set up the incense burner table, and the officials stepped forward to welcome the slowly approaching imperial eunuch.

Zhu Cilang had the lowest seniority here; although his official rank was not the absolute lowest, You Huawen, the Magistrate of Fengqiu who ranked slightly below him, considered himself a principal civil official of a proper rank and believed that Zhu Cilang had offended Hou Xun, wishing to draw a clear line between them. Consequently, Zhu Cilang ended up standing at the very end of the procession.

Everyone else stood respectfully, smiling cordially at the imperial eunuch, while Zhu Cilang alone stood lazily near the back.

Catching a familiar face secretly casting a respectful glance his way, Zhu Cilang merely nodded with restrained dignity, signaling: This Crown Prince understands. (To be continued.)