Chapter 21 The Veiled Motives of the Allies

Mentioning this topic, Tan Weishi sighed and said, "It's all for that little brother of mine, whom I'm not even that close to."

The cause of the matter was not complicated. It happened on the road, at some banquet. Consort Lian, Chang Ling, had the young Tan Weizai recite a poem in his childish voice. The little fellow's face turned red as he struggled to put one together. In fact, for a child, even managing to string one together was quite impressive. Tan Weishi initially thought that her little brother, Tan Weizai, was quite talented. But what happened at the banquet soon made her feel disgusted. The child's naive creation was immediately praised as a masterpiece by some people, and the little bit of talent the child might have possessed was exaggerated beyond belief. It would have been one thing if it were just those pedantic scholars present doing this, but someone actually remembered Tan Weishi's identity as a famous patron of the arts and a renowned cultural critic, and asked for her opinion.

"If properly cultivated, he may well produce a masterpiece in the future," she said quite objectively. In fact, this statement was already very generous, but to her surprise, it instantly cooled the entire atmosphere. Tan Weishi's words only partially affirmed the intelligence of her little brother, Tan Weizai, and the rather successful early childhood education he had received, and nothing more. It fell far short of the praise that Chang Ling craved.

If that had been the end of it, it would have been fine, but one of the famous scholars of Chunnan, wanting to curry favor with Chang Ling, actually tried to lecture Tan Weishi, insisting that the poem was excellent. Annoyed, Tan Weishi said in front of everyone at the banquet, "Of course, I like my little brother, but apart from family dinners where we don't stand on ceremony like you all do, I haven't really been that close to Weizai. I'm not like you, with a need to suck up. Besides, his mother is so annoying that I don't need to lie and sing her praises."

These words undoubtedly had a wide range of negative effects, including petrification, slowing down, and dizziness. The already somewhat stiff atmosphere immediately plummeted to below freezing. After saying this, Tan Weishi left the banquet nonchalantly, and gathered her troupe and the young scholars to break away from the main group and leave first. That was basically how the conflict arose.

Ye Tao was speechless at this situation. Tan Weishi hadn't said a single false word.

Consort Lian, Chang Ling, had never been a particularly likable character. Originally, she hadn't married for a long time because of her unpleasant personality. In the end, she became a bargaining chip in a treaty between two nations, finally finding a good home. The fact that she exclusively possessed Golden Valley Garden (Jingu Yuan) did make her status somewhat unusual, and on the surface, she was indeed quite favored by Tan Xiaopei. But unlike the Queen, Zhuo Xiu, who never commented on any political matters, Consort Lian liked to ask about all sorts of things. Officials who sought her out, if sincere enough, could certainly get her to whisper sweet nothings into the Emperor's ear. As for her method of educating Tan Weizai, it was basically to isolate him from the rest of the family, purely according to her own ideas, disregarding the Tan family's tradition of harmony and their usual practice of allowing children to play freely, and constantly educating Tan Weizai in her own way. These actions made the Tan family siblings very dissatisfied. Now that Tan Weishi had openly disrespected Chang Ling, completely tearing off the facade and exposing the conflict to everyone.

Chang Ling knew that she could not compare with Tan Weishi, either in terms of status or popularity, so naturally, she didn't dare to do anything. Afterward, she merely smashed a bunch of things in a fit of anger.

Ye Tao chuckled and said, "Now, when it's time to visit relatives, I'm afraid those pedantic scholars from Chunnan won't be so clingy, right?"

Tan Weishi shook her head and said, "Not at all. They need our help with something much bigger this time. This is just something I heard. It seems that Chunnan might launch a counterattack against Xiling and needs Dongping to provide a large number of weapons, ballistae, fire oil bombs, horses, and so on. They also seem to want us to send some cavalry generals to help Chunnan quickly train their cavalry. Between allies, such a large quantity of goods, a little looseness can mean a difference of many, many taels of silver. Moreover, putting in effort during training and being truly responsible should be different, right? Otherwise, we've already sent a lot of soldiers to Chunnan to help, so why specifically mention this matter?"

Ye Tao frowned and asked, "Is this information accurate?"

Tan Weishi shook her head and said, "It was heard by that Guozijian student named... Qu Ge while he was drinking. Qu Ge came to me to report this matter, and I immediately had the Intelligence Bureau investigate. However, someone from the Intelligence Bureau said that there had been similar rumors for a while, so this time, a high-ranking official is needed to be fully responsible for the negotiations. Isn't that why you were called here? Didn't you know?"

"I didn't know..." Ye Tao was stunned, "No one has ever told me."

Tan Weishi suddenly realized and said, "No wonder the more you embarrass the Chunnan delegation, the happier Father is. It turns out he's preparing to make them think you're difficult to deal with, with an obstinate and eccentric temper, so that it's easier to drive a hard bargain during negotiations... Father is really quite skilled at doing these things. Then rest assured, the official document will probably be here soon."

"Me? Obstinate and eccentric temper? Difficult to deal with?" Ye Tao said aggrievedly, then cried out, "Injustice!"

Hahahaha... Tan Weishi and Dai Qiuyan hugged each other and laughed.

However, the information that Tan Weishi revealed seemed to have its reasons and reliability. At least Ye Tao himself had no doubt about the intention of His Majesty the King to use him as a beast of burden. Since he now had enough manpower, Ye Tao secretly gave instructions to start inquiring about the current situation in Yuhang. Although it was a bit of last-minute effort, he might be able to glean something from the clues.

Sure enough, a few guys from the Special Operations Battalion quickly found out about the movements of several important figures in Yuhang. Originally, Ye Tao was wondering why Chang Hongquan eagerly left Consort Lian's party and rushed back to Yuhang, but didn't come to see him much. Apart from a hurried hello, there were no further discussions. It turned out that Chang Hongquan was summoned by the King of Chunnan as soon as he returned to Yuhang, and stayed in the palace for several days, seemingly discussing important matters. And just yesterday morning, General Chen Xujing, the only one who could be called a cavalry general in Chunnan, arrived in Yuhang very quietly and was summoned into the palace in the afternoon. At the same time, many people of special status have been entering and leaving the palace in the past few days. Although it was impossible to get any important information from those low-ranking servants, they couldn't know what these people were discussing, but gathering this group of people together would definitely not be discussing the arrangements for Consort Lian's visit. It was like, if Tan Xiaopei summoned Zhuo Mang, Chi Xianping, Xu Jingtian, and others for several consecutive days in Danyang, everyone's reaction would definitely be whether a war was about to break out. Even if these people were really just playing mahjong for leisure, not many people would believe it if it was spread.

"Sir," just as Ye Tao was pondering about the scale of the potential Chunnan operation, the kind of assistance Dongping would need to provide, and how much time it would take to quietly arrange things without letting Xiling know, and then suddenly launch the operation, Feng Zi suddenly came to Ye Tao's side and asked with great interest, "There's a banquet tonight. I wonder if you have time to take a look?"

"Banquet?" Ye Tao looked askance at Feng Zi, knowing that things would definitely not be that simple. Feng Zi's temperament was very similar to his own, and he kept a respectful distance from all kinds of banquets. For Feng Zi to specifically mention it in front of him and clearly suggest that he attend, it must be an unusual banquet.

"Yes. Grand Duke Song Miao is hosting a banquet at his residence tonight, ostensibly to celebrate the third birthday of his grandson. Grand Duke Song sent someone to deliver the invitation, and the person specifically stated that guests include the Juxian Prince and Chen Xujing, among others. Mr. Guishan, Jiang Yan, although not a guest at the banquet, will attend midway," Feng Zi said with a smile.

"Who is this Mr. Guishan?" Ye Tao asked doubtfully.

"This..." Feng Zi didn't expect Ye Tao to not know Jiang Yan, and for a moment didn't know how to explain it. "Sir, didn't you prepare a very comprehensive document on the situation in Chunnan before you set off? You asked the Intelligence Bureau to send it to you, didn't you read it?"

Ye Tao replied without any shame, "Preparing is one thing, whether it's useful or whether I have time to read it is another."

Feng Zi sighed and introduced, "Mr. Guishan, Jiang Yan, is a good friend that the current King of Chunnan made when he was still the Crown Prince, traveling incognito. He is the son of Mr. Qianshan, Jiang Xu. After Jiang Xu died, Jiang Yan has been particularly cared for by the King of Chunnan, and he himself is also extremely talented. Eleven years ago, Jiang Yan participated in Chunnan's imperial examinations under the alias Yan Jiang, and ended up becoming the Zhuangyuan (Number One Scholar). He was recognized by the King of Chunnan during the palace examination. The King of Chunnan originally intended to make great use of this Jiang Yan, but this guy is in very poor health, and being an official would be too burdensome for him. Now, he is pretty much the most trusted advisor to the King of Chunnan. He rarely offers advice, but whenever he does, almost all of it is adopted. Everyone else is irrelevant. In fact, it is because of Jiang Yan's attendance that this banquet's level is so unusually high."

"You mean, this is an under-the-table meeting? The King of Chunnan wants to test my bottom line?" After Feng Zi said this, Ye Tao understood.

Feng Zi shrugged and said, "It should be so. After all, whether it's you, sir, or Her Highness Princess Xiu, most of the key figures in the younger generation of Dongping are dismissive of Chunnan and have been quite critical of marrying and allying with Chunnan. The news that Princess Xiu had a falling out with Consort Lian must have reached the ears of the King of Chunnan. Before deciding whether something can be negotiated, he has to know if there's any value in talking to you." Suddenly, Feng Zi smiled again and continued, "In fact, the King of Chunnan is overthinking it. Between countries, as long as there is a need for cooperation, even irreconcilable enemies can sit down and talk. Moreover, Ye Jinglue only dislikes Consort Lian. In addition, Grand Duke Song's youngest daughter is Chunnan's number one beauty, Song Xiangyun. It is said that she almost took Consort Lian's current position back then. Just to admire the beauty, this banquet is well worth attending."

Feng Zi's remarks were neither solemn nor polite, but they did indeed point out the value of this banquet.