Chapter 198: Continuous Turmoil

The street in front of the Shandong Military Command Office once had a grand name—Taiping Street. But ever since the Ming Dynasty established its military command there, the locals gradually began to call it by another name. Nowadays, if you ask someone on Qingzhou Street about Taiping Street, nine out of ten might not know it, but if you ask about the Military Command Street, everyone knows it. Thus, after entering the city, Du Wan easily found the location and sent Yue Shan to deliver the invitation.

That day, after meeting Zhang Yue, Meng Xian received an urgent letter from the Prince of Zhao in the capital. He immediately put aside his efforts to find medicine for his wife and spent his days outside, hardly returning home. Meng Min had no choice but to arrange for her mother to be taken there personally, pleading earnestly before Shi Quan. Although the chief physician was annoyed by Zhang Yue’s interference, he still diagnosed Lady Wu and prescribed medicine out of respect for Meng Min’s filial piety. However, he warned that Lady Wu’s condition was too severe, and the treatment could only relieve symptoms rather than cure the root cause.

Still, seeing that Lady Wu seemed a bit more energetic, Meng Min was deeply grateful to Zhang Yue. At that moment, sitting on the kang in the main room, she took the invitation handed to her by Hong Xiu, glanced at it, and then raised her head to ask, “How many people have arrived?”

“The messenger said there’s only one black carriage. Besides the driver, there are four attendants, and maybe one maid inside. Miss, although we’re traveling together with the Du family, we haven’t had much contact before. How would they know your mother is ill, and why would they come to visit specifically? That Miss Du comes from a prominent family in the south. How could Lord Du allow her to go out like this? It’s not proper! Could there be some ulterior motive behind this?”

Meng Min frowned and scolded, “Stop guessing nonsense. Since Lord Du is her teacher, he must have his reasons. Since Sister Du said she’s here to visit our mother, we must not fail to show proper courtesy. Go and ask Mother Zhang and Mother Zhao to take a few maids to greet them. It’s gloomy and it might snow; it’s not convenient for them to stay in an inn as newcomers. Also, have someone prepare a few rooms. I’ll go wait at the second gate first. Meet me there later.”

Although Hong Xiu was reluctant, she didn’t dare disobey. She reluctantly went to ask the two elder women to go greet the guests and ordered people to prepare rooms. After all this hustle, as she turned to head to the second gate, she saw snowflakes beginning to fall again. Annoyed, she stamped her foot and cursed angrily.

“It doesn’t snow early nor late, but it just has to keep snowing at this moment!”
Over by the second gate, Meng Min had already met Du Wan. After several months apart, both of them seemed a bit thinner. Du Wan was wearing a light autumn-colored, front-buttoned, long-sleeved silk jacket, along with a jade-colored Hangzhou silk skirt, covered by a rose-purple half-sleeved cloak embroidered with daffodils. Meng Min, on the other hand, wore a silver-red Lu-chou-style tight jacket and a lotus-colored crinkled silk skirt, with a silver-furred cloak over it. After exchanging a few words, the two walked inside hand in hand, with the others following from a distance. Hong Shou rushed over, hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation, but after being glared at by Meng Min, she reluctantly stepped back.
This time, Du Wan was going to Shandong and had left Xiao Wu at Qingshou Temple to take care of Dao Yan, bringing only her maid Chun Ying with her. Chun Ying had grown up in the Du family and was the complete opposite of Xiao Wu—she was truly quiet and uncommunicative. Despite Hong Shou’s attempts to probe, she couldn’t get anything out of her, so she gave up and sulked as she walked.
Although she had just arrived, since she was there to visit Lady Wu, after chatting for a while in Meng Min’s room, Du Wan followed Meng Min to Lady Wu’s main bedroom. During those days on the ship, Du Wan had come to know well that this noblewoman from a prominent family was extremely punctilious about etiquette, always sitting upright in public. Seeing her now, so sickly and emaciated with sunken cheeks, unable even to sit up to receive guests, filled Du Wan with sorrow, and she quickly comforted her gently.
At this point, already so ill, Lady Wu had nothing else to worry about but her daughter, whom she had raised all these years. Although she had a son, his status as the legitimate heir wouldn’t change even after her death, and as long as he strived, no one would dare look down on him in the future. But Meng Min was different. Though her husband loved her deeply, once she passed away, how could he not remarry? And once a stepmother entered the household, how would she tolerate Meng Min, the eldest illegitimate daughter?
At that moment, she tightly held Meng Min’s hand but said to Du Wan, “The roads must be difficult to travel in such heavy snow. Thank you, Miss Du, for coming to see me. My sisters are ordinary, and I usually don’t have a close female friend to talk to—so it’s always me who keeps them company. Since you’re here, please stay at our house for a few more days to ease her burden. Meng Min, take the others away first; I have a few words to say to Miss Du.”

Meng Min didn’t expect Lady Wu to suddenly say such a thing. She wanted to object but couldn’t overcome her stepmother’s firmness, so she had no choice but to take the maids in the room and wait outside. Although it was very warm inside with the charcoal fire burning, her hands were icy cold, and her heart felt gloomy as well. For a moment, she impulsively thought of going to Fuching Temple to give it a try, in the hope that the Buddha mother truly had the power to heal her mother. Yet this thought came and went just as quickly. Thinking of the others at home, all she could do was clench her handkerchief tightly.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when she suddenly heard some noise nearby. Seeing Du Wan stepping out with a worried expression, she quickly stood up to greet her, eager to find out what Lady Wu had said, but the words got stuck in her throat.

“Auntie is just worried about you and gave some trivial instructions,” Du Wan said. Though she could guess Meng Min’s thoughts, there were some things that were truly hard to say. So she stepped forward, took Meng Min’s hand, and smiled, “They say good fortune comes to those who deserve it. Auntie’s illness might be due to the poor weather these days. Once winter passes, we can invite some good doctors to take a look; maybe that will cure her. I came here not only to visit Auntie but also for another important matter that requires your help.”

Zhang Qian couldn’t send anyone else, so he sent Du Wan personally to Qingzhou. Many others were also sending messengers there one after another. Zhang Qian, who was in charge of the Qingzhou government office, received successive messages from the court and imperial edicts. In addition, several trusted eunuchs from the inner court also sent letters, so he was well aware of the situation in the capital.

But the more he knew, the more uneasy he became. Emperor Yongle, Zhu Di, had suffered from chronic illnesses and arthralgia for days now. Previously, he thought his strong health meant it wasn’t a big deal, but this time it had reached the point where he couldn’t handle state affairs. Thinking of the crown prince in Nanjing and the complex situation in Shandong, he paced back and forth in his room, his steps quick and hurried.

“The Jinyiwei commander Mu requests an audience!”

“Let him in!”

Anxious as he was, Zhang Qian didn’t expect the Jinyiwei to bring any good news so soon, but since Mu Ning came to see him now, it was still a good thing. However, as soon as the man entered and bowed, his first words left Zhang Qian stunned.

“Eunuch Zhang, news just came from Le’an—Wang Bin, the commander of the Tiance Guard, suddenly led his men out and captured dozens of people from the north bank of the Zi River, taking them back. That spy from the Jinyiwei seems to think it was an internal conflict among the Tiance Guard. Since Lord Zhang is still at the Han King’s palace, I came here specifically to report this,” Mu Ning said in a solemn tone, then added, “Additionally, I learned that severe snowstorms have struck Shouguang, Zhucheng, and other areas, causing countless houses to collapse. Many people have died from cold and hunger. Should the Qingzhou Prefecture take charge of distributing relief?”
It would be fine if it were just the guards of another prince’s palace, but with the three guards of the Han King plus the Tiance Guard, that’s four guards in total. Even if half of them are reduced, the remaining half is still formidable. With the precedent of the Jingnan Campaign, Zhang Qian initially thought that the Han King’s arbitrary use of troops might be an act of rebellion. It wasn’t until he saw Mu Ning’s calm expression that he realized he had overreacted. If it were rebellion, would the Jinyiwei’s Northern Pacification Bureau remain so relaxed? Only when Mu Ning mentioned the severe snow disaster did he frown slightly again.
“There are already precedents for this. In times of disaster, the Provincial Administration Department handles relief first and then reports to the imperial court. This matter will naturally be managed by the Provincial Administration Department. Lord Du is surely capable of handling such a minor task. As for me, I’m only in charge of matters related to the assassination of the Han King; civil affairs are not my responsibility…”
“Eunuch Zhang, Jinan Prefecture is 320 li away from Qingzhou Prefecture. With the heavy snowfall, it will take at least two days to travel back and forth. The Qingzhou Prefecture government currently has only one deputy magistrate, with all the other positions vacant. I heard that there’s a mountain of official work piled up, and it’s likely no one will think to provide relief to the victims. Logically, this shouldn’t be the Jinyiwei’s concern, but since the Provincial Inspection Department is essentially non-functional, there’s no one to oversee government affairs or criminal matters in Qingzhou Prefecture! If the people lose their means of livelihood, they’ll mostly become refugees. If there are too many refugees, and someone stirs up trouble…”
Just then, a loud voice came from outside: “Eunuch Zhang, urgent news from Shouguang County! The people in the county are causing trouble—three grain stores have been robbed, and they’ve even smashed the screen in front of the county government office!”
It happened so suddenly that Zhang Qian couldn’t help but glance at Mu Ning, whose expression remained as calm as ever. He thought to himself that whatever he said, it seemed to happen right away. At that moment, he began to blame the Ministry of Personnel for their slowness and the Cabinet for their incompetence. Even in the dead of winter, the Provincial Inspection Department in Shandong had been vacant for so long—not to mention the inspectors themselves, even the lower-ranking officials were all absent. Qingzhou Prefecture was even worse; it still had no chief official. The previous governor of Qingzhou had been transferred so quickly, so why was it so difficult to assign a new one?

He was just an eunuch in charge of surveillance. Although he had said he had received foreign kings overseas, he knew nothing about civil administration or relief efforts; he was merely sent there to handle cases! If the case of the Han King remained unresolved and led to civil unrest, how could he face his superiors upon returning?

Though furious, Zhang Qian, having spent over a decade in the palace, quickly ordered, “Send someone to report to the military headquarters and ask Commander Liu to send troops to suppress the situation!”

Once there was no sound outside, he immediately turned to Mu Ning and asked, “Governor Mu, if the Han King’s palace were to use the Tiance Guard without authorization, that would indeed be a serious offense. But that’s something your Jinyi Guard should report. Although the Han King is impulsive, he learned from past mistakes and likely won’t do anything extreme. As for you, do you still have no clues about the assassination attempt on the Han King?”

Although Zhang Yue had never called on the Jinyi Guard nor mentioned investigating the case, Mu Ning, with his extensive network of informants, already knew that Zhang Qian had passed on this troublesome task to Zhang Yue, which made him somewhat displeased. Still, he remained calm and said, “I’ve already found out that Prince Shouguang paid a large sum of money to bribe several soldiers from the Tiance Guard, spending no less than four thousand taels in total. As the second son of the Han King, it’s unreasonable for him to resort to such methods instead of using legitimate means.”