The current situation in the Luohai Kingdom was the same as that in the Great Yue during the reign of its former emperor surnamed Zhou. There was fierce covert infighting going on in the court. Three forces, headed respectively by Mu Rongfeng the crown prince, the Dugu family who were relatives of the queen consort, and a group of generals with Nian Feng the General-in-chief as the leader, had shaped the political landscape into a tripartite confrontation. Mu Rongfeng, undoubtedly, was fighting for himself; the Dugu family were in support of a puppet prince; Nian Feng the General-in-chief was also assisting one of the potential heirs to the throne. In recent years, Mu Hengtian, the incumbent monarch, had been in worsening physical condition, and could well kick the bucket in a couple of years, which was why the three forces had been fighting at outrance for the throne.

What with what happened in Jiangzhou five years ago, Mu Rongfeng hated Ling Zhang’s and Yuwen Tong’s guts, and in no circumstances would he cooperate with them. Nian Feng, who had the majority of the Luohai Kingdom’s troops under his command, believed that his victory was certain, so it was next to impossible to convince him. The Dugu Family was the only potential ally. Although the Dugu family had almost half of the court at their service, in fact they were relatively less dangerous compared with the other two sides, despite the fact that they were quite formidable on the surface, because firstly, the prince they were in support of was not the queen consort’s son but a concubine’s, which left him in a very low position in the line of succession to the throne; secondly, the Dugu family had no armed forces at their disposal and thus didn’t stand a chance of defeating Nian Feng.

As a result, both Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had chosen to use the Dugu family to make inroads into the Luohai Kingdom.

The strategy they’d adopted was not to reveal their identities to seek cooperation with the Dugu family, because after all, for the Luohai Kingdom, people of the Great Wen were outsiders, which meant that it’d be very difficult to get the Dugu family to trust them completely even if he agreed to cooperate. Therefore, Ling Zhang had made use of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce to carry out his plan.

As early as three years ago, when the Luohai headquarters of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was set up in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom, Ling Zhang dropped a hint to the chairman of the chamber of commerce, who then made contact with the Dugu family. In others words, the Dugu family was now one of the shareholders of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. In the Luohai Kingdom, the patriarch of the Dugu family was one of the three people who shared the final say in important decisions. For years people had been speculating who the owner of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was. The Dugu Family didn’t know the truth either, but they believed that they did, and they were also under the false impression that they owned eighty percent of the Luohai branch of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, that they actually ran the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce de facto. They were very ambitious – they were seeking to put the whole Luohai branch of the chamber of commerce under their complete control, and even had plans to gobble up its branches in the Wan Kingdom and the Great Wen. Ling Zhang had deliberately had his men create these spurious impressions to hoodwink the Dugu family into believing that they had securely controlled the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce.

Of course Ling Zhang was not so stupid as to hand the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce to the Dugu family on a silver platter. He was just utilizing the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce to get the Dugu family to drop their guard. On the surface the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was a trade organization, but actually it owned a secret intelligence network which had been growing and improving, and which had helped the Dugu family win a lot of rivalries for interests and solve many troubles. Correspondingly, the Dugu family had been getting more and more dependent on the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. The intelligence and funds this trade organization had been providing for the Dugu family were like some kind of tasty, slow-acting poison, one that the Dugu family were becoming increasingly addicted to…This was exactly what Ling Zhang wanted. The greater the Dugu family’s dependence on the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was, the more he would be able to do to manipulate the political situation in the court of the Luohai Kingdom. Presently, the Dugu family was like a pawn, a weapon that the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce had in hand.

Back at the time when Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had first made this plan, the former had worried about it for quite some time, fearing that the Dugu family might not take the bait.

It was not until Ling Zhaowu had come to the Luohai Kingdom, secretly helped Lian Hai hook up with the Dugu family and tricked the Dugu family on board that Ling Zhang had felt a sense of relief.

As regards Lian Hai, he was a talent that Ling Zhaowu had personally recruited. According to Ling Zhaowu, Lian Hai had been his right-hand man in his last incarnation and was a scrupulous, smart man. It had turned out that Lian Hai was indeed quite competent and had never disappointed his master. He undeniably deserved great credit for the Dugu family’s growing reliance on the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce during the past few years.

Ling Zhang appreciated Lian Hai very much, and Lian Hai had always been quite respectful and loyal to Ling Zhang.

This time around, the objective of Xue Yi’s visit to the Luohai Kingdom was to convince the Luohai monarch to sign a covert cooperation agreement with the Wan Kingdom. More than half of the courtiers of the Luohai Kingdom would agree to work hand in glove with the Wan Kingdom to deal with the Great Wen. And almost all those people served Mu Rongfeng the crown prince. Because of what happened to Mu Rongfeng five years ago, they harbored deep hatred towards the Great Wen, so it was unfeasible to use any of them to frustrate the Wan Kingdom’s plan. The Dugu family, on the contrary, would help hinder Xue Yi because of the benefits he could get out of it.

Before Xue Yi entered the city, they had to have some ‘false’ intelligence delivered to the Dugu family to mislead the Dugu family into making the judgement they wanted the Dugu family to make, so that the Dugu family would take action to stop Xue Yi from getting in touch with any members of the faction led by Mu Rongfeng the crown prince.

It wouldn’t be easy, but it must be done.

Gauging the time of Mr. Han’s arrival, Ling Zhang picked up another piece of snack and resumed eating. Recently, after he made a breakthrough and reached the sixth layer of the mental cultivation method of internal energy, his appetite had suddenly grown appreciably. He felt hungry quite often and needed to eat a lot to fill his belly. He had to have his fill before Mr. Han showed up lest his stomach rumble during the conversation.

…

After Ling Zhang finished the whole tray of snack, the sound of footsteps came from outside.

“Young Master, Mr. Han has arrived,” reported Yang Liuzi in the doorway.

“Let him in,” said Ling Zhang, rearranging his clothes and shifting his sitting position.

Before long, a middle-aged bearded man in his forties or fifties, dressed like a scholar, followed Yang Liuzi into the reception room. He had jet-black hair and didn’t look old at all, his face pleasant, his eyes bright, his pace sedate and measured.

“I’m honored to bow before you, Childe Ling.”

“You may rise, Mr. Han.” Ling Zhang looked at him with calm eyes. “Please take a seat.”

This man’s name was Han Shu. He was a native of the Luohai Kingdom. It was also Ling Zhaowu who’d discovered this person. Before being recruited to the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, Han Shu had been in rough shape. It was not that he’d been in poverty because of his incompetence, but that he’d displeased some members of the Luohai royal family, and Mu Hengtian had had all his family members executed, except for his eldest grandson. He and his grandson, while running for their lives, had been rescued by Ling Zhaowu and been hiding in the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce ever since.

Han Shu were mortal enemies with the Luohai royal family and had every intention of getting his revenge on them, which meant that he and Ling Zhang had a common goal.

Han Shu used to work in the court of the Luohai Kingdom and thus knew very well people in the court and their contacts outside the court, especially the faction headed by Mu Rongfeng the crown prince, for he used to be a member of that faction, but afterward Mu Rongfeng and Mu Hengtian had joined hands and persecuted him because of his discovery of some secret he hadn’t been privy to.

“May I ask how I could be of service to you, Childe Ling?” asked Han Shu.

Currently, Han Shu was in the full swing of his activities in the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. He was in charge of internal affairs, while Lian Hai was responsible for handling issues involving dealings with the outside world. The two of them made a perfect team. Thanks to their efforts, the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce had gained a firm foothold in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom within merely over three years.

“I won’t be receiving any visitors in the next two days. You and Chairman Lian have to keep a close eye on the matter of Xue Yi, and you must figure out a way to have the Dugu family make their move. I expect to see everything going as planned when I come out two days later,” said Ling Zhang.

Han Shu rose, made a bow and said, “Rest assured, Childe Ling, I promise I’ll fulfill this task you assigned me.”

Ling Zhang inclined his head, asked him about the current situation in the chamber of commerce and then let him leave. Watching Han Shu’s receding back, Ling Zhang had a thoughtful look on his face. Han Shu’s mental endurance was manifestly higher than that of Lian Hai. Lian Hai didn’t even have the courage to look at his eyes, while Han Shu at least had made brief eye contact with him before averting his gaze.

Those who’d been hardened by the situation in the court were indeed somewhat different.

“Young Master, Brother Wang and Brother Liu have come,” reported Yang Liuzi.

Ling Zhang gave a nod of permission for the two of them to come in.

Meanwhile, Han Shu, after leaving, glanced over his shoulders at the courtyard house, an astonished expression in his eyes. Ling Zhang thought that he’d been unaffected by the eye contact, but in fact, Han Shu had been just as shocked as Lian Hai had been. Cold sweat slowly broke out on his back as he thought back to that moment. This was what made him different than Lian Hai – he could temporarily control his feelings.

He was fully aware of the true identity of this ‘Childe Ling’ he’d been serving, and he also knew what consequences he’d have to face if he did anything disloyal, but he was grateful to the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce and they had a common goal, so he wouldn’t betray his master.

However…

Han Shu thought of those people in the court of the Luohai Kingdom. Comparing them with Ling Zhang who was the consort of the Great Wen, had amazing tolerance and was progressing with unstoppable momentum, Han Shu felt as though he could see how the Luohai Kingdom would end up in the future…The air about Ling Zhang, to some degree, represented the fortune of the Great Wen. From the vantage point of the present, the Great Wen was at its zenith, while the Luohai Kingdom was stuck fast in internecine struggles. During the past few years, instead of racing against time to grow stronger like the Great Wen and the Wan Kingdom did, the Luohai Kingdom had been weakening itself with civil strife all along, and it was showing signs of decline and fall…

Had he not undergone that painful experience, he wouldn’t have woken up to reality and might well have still been in the faction led by Mu Rongfeng who was fighting for the throne, utterly blind to the current international situation and the fact that the Great Wen had become unstoppable.

Han Shu raised his hand to wipe the fine beads of sweat from his forehead, rearranged his clothes and put on a poker face, preparing to make arrangements for the rest of the plan to be carried out.

…

“You need to perform closed-door cultivation, Young Master? Is it because you’re feeling some kind of discomfort?” Wang Dashan and Liu Yi both got anxious as they heard that Ling Zhang had suddenly decided to start a two-day period of closed-door cultivation.

Ling Zhang slightly shook his head. “Don’t be nervous. I’m fine.”

After hearing these words of Ling Zhang’s, Wang Dashan and Liu Yi exchanged a glance and neither of them persisted with their questioning.

During the past few years, as Ling Zhang had made one breakthrough after another in his cultivation of internal energy and had been the consort for a long time, his bodyguards’ confidence in Ling Zhang’s abilities had grown considerably and they no longer had to repeatedly confirm Ling Zhang was okay before they could have complete peace of mind as they used to. Right now Ling Zhang’s ability to take care of himself was more than enough to spare his bodyguards from the necessity of worrying about him. Since Ling Zhang was telling them that he was okay, they naturally believed Ling Zhang.

“After Xue Yi enters the city, Lian Hai and Han Shu will covertly incite the Dugu family to hinder him from getting what he wants. I need you guys to keep close watch on those people’s every move and tell me all the details after I finish my closed-door cultivation,” said Ling Zhang.

“Consider it done, Young Master,” answered Wang Dashan.

Ling Zhang inclined his head. There was no need for him to arrange for any of the other matters to be handled. Having served him for years, Wang Dashan, Liu Yi and the others had long since learned how to deal things of this kind and many other kinds. Besides, there was no way Xue Yi could gain the Luohai monarch’s trust within merely two days, even if the Dugu family made no efforts to stop him, because the two countries had quite some old scores to settle, some of which had been there for years. On no account would the Luohai Kingdom or the Wan Kingdom place any trust in the other side before they wiped the slate clean.