Noble's Woman Guide

Chapter 44 - Assassins

The journey afterwards was very smooth, so they got back into the carriage again. Although the landscape was different the further north they went, it would still be tedious to look at for a long time. Right at that moment, Chu Jinglan and Pei Yuanshu were discussing Jingzhou's Deng clan, so Ye Huaiyang pricked her ears up to listen.

As the proverb went, a powerful dragon could not crush a snake in its old haunt. As the king with a different surname who was conferred a land and inherited the title since the reign of the great ancestral emperor, the Deng clan already became the overlord of this region. Though the late emperor had relentlessly straightened them out several times during his reign, he failed to eradicate them. After Chu Sanghuai ascended the throne, he didn't care about the situation in Jingzhou. Instead, he immersed himself in squandering the silvers wantonly and wallowing in sensual pursuits. Therefore, Deng clan's unruly heart grew like weeds in the Spring.

[T/N: 强龙不压地头蛇 (Qiáng lóng bù yā dìtóushé) - means even a powerful man cannot crush a local tyrant (because they have an advantage of knowing the homeground better)]

Lingnan was close to Jingzhou and was a land of abundant resources. Thus, it was inevitably coveted by others. In addition to the incident with Bai Xingzhi-which resulted in the discord between the royal court and Lingnan's garrison general-, Chang Xin, who secretly took refuge with the Deng clan under their repeated persuasion, pretended to be oblivious when the Deng clan staked claim and stationed troops in Lingnan. Thus, there was naturally no resistance.

This series of troublesome matters was something Chu Sanghuai hadn't even thought of when he disposed of the Bai family. This was why he was so enraged, but in reality, someone had already anticipated all of this-namely, Yue Ting.

It was unknown what he had told Pei Yuanshu before, who was very calm and collected the entire time. Taking all this in, Chu Jinglan seemingly asked casually, "I wonder what sound strategy Minister Pei has in regards to the matter in Jingzhou?"

When it came to official matters, Pei Yuanshu would immediately be stimulated that there would be no stutter in his speech. Furthermore, there was no redundancy in his words; they were completely methodical.

"Reporting to Wangye, this lowly official thinks that since we are going under the name of investigating the officials, we might as well play along and see what hand the other party will play before we make our move."

"Not bad." Chu Jinglan slowly pushed the small cup forward, a touch of admiration flashing across his eyes. "Deng Tianguan knows our trump card; we, however, do not know his. In such a situation, the best strategy is to use static braking*."

[T/N: 静制动 (Jìng zhì dòng) - It's from "Sun Tzu's Art of War: Military Stratagem" . If the enemy does not move, you do not move; if the enemy moves, you move. In other words, confronting a chaotic situation with a calm attitude.]

Pei Yuanshu bowed and received the cup of tea. He took a sip, "In addition to this, there is still another matter that this lowly official would like to consult you about."

"What is it?"

"You probably know that this lowly official's ancestral home is Lingnan, and that this lowly official has been in contact with officials of the same hometown since taking the official post in Wangdu. So this lowly official still somewhat has some connections in Lingnan. Hence, this lowly official wanted to take this opportunity to meet Chang Xin to see if she can be persuaded to realize her errors and mend her ways. This is tantamount to the Deng clan losing a major ally and will be beneficial to us both publicly and privately."

The tea cup lid swirled continuously in Chu Jinglan's hand as he raised his head and glanced at Pei Yuanshu. He languidly said, "The plan is good, but it's a little dangerous. If Chang Xin and Deng Tianguan are well versed about this, we might not be able to get out of Jingzhou."