Chapter 657: Unexpected Developments

In the evening, Li Qing’an finally arrived in Chang’an. He did not stay outside the city; instead, he ordered three thousand elite cavalry to camp outside while he took a carriage, escorted by three hundred cavalry, straight to the imperial palace.

As the weather grew hotter, many people in Chang’an went out for strolls and to escape the daytime heat at dusk. Zhuque Street was crowded with people. The carriage moved slowly, with the three hundred guards carefully flanking it, constantly scanning the surroundings warily.

Although they did not realize it was Li Qing’an’s carriage, the presence of those three hundred cavalry forced the people of Chang’an to make way.

As the carriage moved forward slowly, Li Qing’an sat inside, thinking about recent events. He had reached an agreement with Guo Ziyi: among the eight passes of the Taihang Mountains, Guo Ziyi’s forces would block and control Jingxing, while his own army would take control of the remaining seven passes, trapping An Lushan and Shi Siming’s forces in Hebei and forcing them to fight among themselves. Essentially, the situation in Hebei was now stable. The only remaining issue was Zhang Xun, who needed to lead a group of people to escape Hebei safely—a task assigned to his scout leader, Ji Sheng.

Li Qing’an’s thoughts turned back to the imperial court. At this critical moment, a miraculous event occurred in Chang’an, something he had not expected at all. Miracles were generally good omens, and Li Qing’an had considered carrying out similar actions himself, but he felt it was not the right time yet. When the conditions were right, he would naturally give orders to his subordinates.

Yet, a miracle involving inscriptions on turtle shells had happened in Chang’an. At first, he thought it was arranged by Zhang Yun and others, but after receiving a letter from the government office, he realized the matter was not so simple. An instinct told him it might be part of a larger conspiracy.

Throughout history, any change of power had never been easy, especially when it came to imperial power, which often ended in bloody struggles. Li Shimin ascended the throne after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Wu Zetian seized power after Emperor Gaozong’s death, Li Longji killed the Taiping Princess faction to claim the throne, and the MaWei Slope Incident occurred when Li Heng ascended the throne. Would things be that easy now that it was his turn, Li Qing’an?

Could this sudden miraculous event be the beginning of a counterattack against him? When passing through Xinfeng County, he learned that miracles had also occurred there and in Lantian County, deepening his doubts.

The carriage entered the Zhuque Gate and stopped right in front of the Inner Guard’s main gate. Qin Haiyang had gone to Wugong County to handle an urgent matter. The Inner Guard and the Intelligence Hall shared the same gate. In front of the gate, Hu Peiyun and Qin Haiyang’s deputy general, Zhao Yansi, along with dozens of other generals, came out to greet them.

Li Qingan stepped out of the carriage, and the dozens of people knelt on one knee in a military salute, saying, “Your humble servants pay their respects to the Great General!”

“Generals, no need for such formalities!”

Seeing that Qin Haiyang was not there, Li Qingan asked with a smile, “Where is General Qin? Why isn’t he here?”

Deputy general Zhao Yansi stepped forward and reported, “Your Greatness, a miraculous sign in the form of a silk scroll inside a fish was discovered in Wugong County. Both the discoverer and the fish have been taken under control by the Inner Guard. General Qin has rushed there to deal with it.”

“Is that so? Another one has appeared.”

Li Qingan smiled faintly. “It truly seems that fate cannot be defied!”

Hu Peiyun also stepped forward and said, “Great General, I have important matters to report.”

“Let’s go inside and discuss it at length.”

Li Qingan followed the others into the Intelligence Hall. First, he went over to the thousand-year-old sacred turtle, staring at this massive turtle that was slowly moving through the water tank. The inscriptions on its back glowed with a mysterious light under the light.

In fact, if no other miraculous signs had appeared, this thousand-year-old turtle would have been an excellent propaganda tool. Such turtles are extremely rare, and their appearance is usually convincing. It’s a pity, but it also shows that the planners behind this had put in a great deal of effort.

“Great General, the person who wrote these inscriptions has been identified, and it’s quite surprising.”

Li Qingan nodded and pointed to the inner hall, saying, “Let’s go inside and talk.”

The group entered the inner hall and sat down. The rest went about their duties, leaving only a few key figures to report to him.

Li Qingan took a sip of cool tea and asked first, “So far, how many miraculous signs have appeared in total?”

Hu Peiyun replied, “So far, there have been six miraculous signs in total. Three have been made public, and three have been suppressed by us in time.”

“Oh? Besides the silk scroll in the fish mentioned earlier, what else?”

“Besides the silk scroll in Wugong County, there’s also the white jade stele in Gaoling, and then there’s the precious pearl that appeared in the Wei River this morning.”

Li Qingan asked with interest, “How did the pearl appear in the water?”

“Your Greatness, it was discovered this early morning by a boatman on the Wei River. It was an unmanned boat with a jade bowl on it. The bowl had the same inscriptions as on the turtle’s back, and inside the bowl was a pearl the size of a chicken egg. It’s said to be a large pearl.”

“A boat?” Li Qingan smiled. “I thought the pearl was floating on the surface!”

He asked Hu Peiyun again, “Now you can tell me the inside story of this incident.”
Hu Peiyun hesitated for a moment. “Could the General come with me to see a few people first?”
“Sure!”
Li Qing’an stood up and followed Hu Peiyun to the back courtyard of the Intelligence Hall, where there was a row of rooms serving as the Intelligence Hall’s temporary prisons. Soldiers stood at the door of the cells. Upon seeing Li Qing’an arrive, they all knelt on one knee and saluted him.
They went to the farthest cell, where a middle-aged man was tied up. His hair was disheveled, his upper body bare, and his limbs were encircled by iron rings in a “big character” shape. This was the same middle-aged man who had been captured at the Guiqu Lai Xi tavern earlier that morning.
Hu Peiyun pointed at him and said, “This man’s surname is Wei. He is a low-ranking spy for the Southern Tang’s Investigation Bureau, disguised as a merchant. If it weren’t for a scroll found in his hair, we might have let him go.”
The Investigation Bureau was an intelligence agency established by Li Heng of the Southern Tang, directly controlled by Li Fuguo. It was said to have over a thousand spies who were responsible not only for monitoring officials but also for gathering information in Chang’an by disguising themselves as people from various professions. They operated very covertly. According to intelligence obtained by the Chang’an Intelligence Hall, the Investigation Bureau already had more than two hundred agents in Chang’an, forming a tight network with only single-line connections—so capturing one of them wouldn’t break the network.
Li Qing’an frowned and asked, “What was written on the paper?”
Hu Peiyun took a piece of paper from a copper tray beside him and handed it to Li Qing’an. “It was an order listing the names of eight taverns. We’ve interrogated him, and he was responsible for using various schemes to slander the General at these eight taverns.”
“I… I’ll confess everything. Please spare my life.”
The middle-aged man slowly regained consciousness and muttered something indistinctly.
Li Qing’an put the paper back in its place and asked, “What else did he confess?”
Hu Peiyun had brought Li Qing’an to see this man precisely to explain this matter. He nodded and said, “This man is just a lowly thug. Coincidentally, his superior happened to need to return to Chengdu, so he was temporarily under the control of his superior’s superior. That way, we were able to obtain information about his superior’s superior from him, and we captured him at noon.”
Hu Peiyun pointed to the next room. “General, please come with me.”
Li Qing’an went to the next room. The guards at the door stepped aside, revealing a man tied up inside. He was in his early forties, plump and fair, with no beard under his forehead and a smooth throat—resembling an eunuch. He hung his head, seemingly having suffered severe torture.

Hu Peiyun pointed at him and said proudly, “This man’s name is Yang Zhongyi. He is an eunuch and a trusted assistant of Li Fuguo. He is the head in the Investigation Bureau in charge of affairs in Chang’an. His cover identity is the owner of a Bashu silk shop in the Eastern Market, and he usually wears a fake beard.”
“You mean this man is Li Heng’s intelligence chief in Chang’an, right?”
“Reporting to the General, perhaps he was two months ago, but now his power has been stripped from him. All his subordinates have been taken away, leaving him with only five men who are responsible for propaganda.”
Before Li Qing’an could ask further, Hu Peiyun continued, “According to Yang Zhongyi’s account, two months ago, Li Heng planned a series of actions against the General, giving it a code name, ‘Counter Celebration.’ The Ruizhao incident was just one of their planned actions. There will be more assassinations, sowing discord, and attempts to turn others against each other, all under the full responsibility of Prime Minister Wang Gong.”
Li Qing’an suddenly sensed something and asked curiously, “Why wasn’t Li Fuguo in charge, but rather Wang Gong?”
“The General has indeed touched on a key point. It is from Yang Zhongyi that we have learned a little about the inner workings of the Southern Tang court.”
“What kind of inner workings?”
Hu Peiyun glanced around and said, “General, this matter is confidential. Please return to the inner hall so I can explain it to you at length.”
Li Qing’an nodded and followed Hu Peiyun back to the inner hall. After sitting down, Li Qing’an asked, “Go on! What are these inner workings?”
“General, Yang Zhongyi said that Li Heng and Crown Prince Li Xi have developed a serious conflict. It started when Li Heng led his troops to attack Xiangyang, while Li Xi remained in Chengdu as regent. But Li Xi overstepped his authority and made some important personnel changes, which caused Li Heng great dissatisfaction. That’s why Li Heng now intends to depose the crown prince.”
Hearing this, Li Qing’an couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s really in his style—refusing to let anyone else interfere with his power. I thought he really intended to appoint a new crown prince! It seems he still needs to choose one, and the new crown prince is likely Prince Peng, Li Jin.”
“The General’s guess is spot on. Yang Zhongyi said that Li Heng highly values Prince Peng. Not only does he praise Prince Peng in public for his outstanding qualities, but he is also preparing to appoint him as Minister of Revenue to oversee the Southern Tang’s finances.”
Li Qing’an pondered for a moment before asking, “Could it be that Wang Gong supports Li Jin, while Li Fuguo supports Li Xi? That’s why Li Heng has assigned Wang Gong to handle this matter?”

Hu Peiyun smiled and said, “That’s exactly right. Li Heng wants to use this incident to seize some of the power of the Investigation Bureau from Li Fuguo. So although Yang Zhongyi is the head of Chang’an’s intelligence network, all his subordinates have been borrowed away, effectively meaning his power has been taken from him, and he’s been sidelined. Li Heng’s plan to change the crown prince is kept very secret—only a few people involved are aware of it, not even high-ranking officials like Cui Yuan. This Yang Zhongyi is Li Fuguo’s confidant, which is why he knows this secret. We happened to catch him by chance.”
Li Qing’an paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. This information was indeed beyond his expectations. If it turned out to be true, there might be a split within Southern Tang. Could this mean the time to attack Southern Tang had come?
With this thought, he said to Hu Peiyun, “General Hu, I’ll think about this tonight and discuss it in detail with you tomorrow. For now, tell me about the omens—I want to know the specifics behind them.”
……