Chapter 1347: The Secret Is Out

Though the weather was freezing cold, the temporary palace in Youzhou was by no means lacking in warm, fragrant chambers. A censer sat in the hall, its fire blazing and smoke curling upward; the young eunuch who had added the incense retreated cautiously, leaving behind one eunuch who maintained a posture of humility.

Seated in the place of honor was Zhang Dejun, Commissioner of the Palace City, one of the two chief eunuchs of the Han palace, standing at the very pinnacle of power in the eunuch profession. To the eunuchs below him, he was a figure who could directly affect their wealth, prospects, and even life and death—and because Zhang Dejun controlled the Palace City Office, a secret intelligence agency, he was all the more feared and revered.

The eunuch standing respectfully below was named Chen Yanshou, formerly one of the powerful eunuchs of the Southern Yue state. In his early years, he had come into contact with the imperial court while on a mission to the Han, and was bought over by Zhang Dejun, becoming a spy for the Great Han in Southern Yue.

Before the Han army pacified the south, he had provided a great deal of internal intelligence about Southern Yue, keeping the state transparent to the Great Han for a long time. In the fifteenth year of Qianyou, when the imperial army marched south and Pan Mei led troops to conquer Lingnan, Chen Yanshou also worked behind the scenes, actively cooperating, and even made no small contribution when the Han army advanced on Panyu.

After Southern Yue surrendered, Chen Yanshou was sent to the Eastern Capital together with Liu Chang, the ruler of Southern Yue—though of course, he traveled north as a meritorious subject of the Great Han. And for meritorious subjects, Emperor Liu naturally would not treat them shabbily, even if this one was merely a eunuch, a traitorous villain of Southern Yue.

At first he was kept in the Han palace as Supervisor of the Palace Side Chambers, but later Zhang Dejun requested him and made him Deputy Commissioner of the Palace City Office. Perhaps it was his experience in Southern Yue that had given Chen Yanshou a wealth of expertise in intelligence gathering and collection; in the Palace City Office he found his element, performed well, and successfully attracted the hatred of a great many court officials.

"Who leaked the news?" At this moment, Zhang Dejun's face was overcast, his eyes cold and sharp as he looked at Chen Yanshou and asked.

"Yesterday, after the Worthy Consort paid her respects to Her Majesty the Empress, Her Majesty summoned Commissioner Cao and pressed him for answers," Chen Yanshou replied.

"And where did the Worthy Consort learn of the news?" Zhang Dejun pressed, his brows tightly knit.

"The Duke of Dai went to visit the Worthy Consort!" Chen Yanshou said.

Hearing this, Zhang Dejun sighed with a hint of regret and stopped pressing the question of how Zhe Deyi had learned of the disaster that had befallen the Mobei expeditionary army. News blockades always had a shelf life, and in the process of transmission, leaks were inevitable.

Moreover, within the palace, people were mostly sensitive, and the imperial relatives wielded enormous influence. It was very difficult to completely keep it from the Empress; in fact, managing to keep it secret this long was already no small feat.

Zhang Dejun also abandoned any thought of using this to strike at someone. If it were an ordinary person, that would be one thing, but the Duke of Dai, Zhe Deyi, was the Empress's father and the Worthy Consort's own father. The situation of the Han army in Mobei also concerned the safety of the two princes; even the Empress had overstepped her bounds, directly pressing Cao Bin for military intelligence.

It was clear that this matter was turning into the Emperor's family affair, which was not something servants like them could rashly intervene in. Therefore, even though he had figured out the cause of the leak, Zhang Dejun felt not a trace of excitement.

"Commissioner, this kind of thing can only be concealed for so long. The Zhe family has enormous influence in the northern frontier; it's not surprising they could obtain some information. The Duke of Dai had just arrived in Youzhou, and the Fourth Prince is his grandson; him letting it slip in front of the Worthy Consort was an unforeseen, uncontrollable matter!" Chen Yanshou said. "It's just that His Majesty previously issued a strict order—with this leak, I fear His Majesty's dragon wrath will be great indeed!"

"How could he not be angry!" Chen Yanshou had no sooner finished than Zhang Dejun said at once: "His Majesty ordered the news sealed precisely to spare the Empress and the Worthy Consort from worry. Now the Empress has fallen ill from anger—imagine how furious His Majesty will be when he returns!"

As he spoke, Zhang Dejun could not help but feel a headache coming on. As Emperor Liu's loyal household servant, Emperor Liu's mood was their barometer. And a furious Emperor Liu was friendly to no one.

"How is the investigation into the expeditionary army's situation going?" After thinking for a while, Zhang Dejun asked.

Although the Palace City Office's influence was limited to the capital region and Emperor Liu had not given Zhang Dejun any imperial decree on this matter, Zhang Dejun was conscientious enough to want to share the Emperor's burden—mobilizing resources, arranging personnel, and secretly tracking and investigating the matter.

However, it was clear that no results had been obtained. Chen Yanshou also showed a trace of helplessness as he replied: "Five teams were sent north, but only one returned, without any useful intelligence. The others were likely lost in Mobei—and these were all my capable officers and men..."

"If we could learn the whereabouts of the Prince of Wei and Duke Zhao, no matter how many we lost, it would be worth it!" Hearing this, Zhang Dejun said coldly: "Keep sending people! If our own men aren't familiar with the terrain, find guides who are—Xi, tribes beyond the northern frontier, even Khitan. Find those who can be used by us!"

"Yes!" With the matter put that way, Chen Yanshou could only accept the order.

"Has the Wude Office had any success?" Zhang Dejun's tone unconsciously carried a strange emotion.

Chen Yanshou: "According to our investigations, the Wude Office has also sent a large number of agents and scouts north. They have more personnel than we do and have operated among the northern tribes for longer, but they seem to have no results either. Commissioner, if even the Wude Office has no news, we're in a difficult spot too."

"I don't want to hear that. Why don't you think of it this way—if we were the first to ascertain the situation, what benefits would that bring?" Zhang Dejun said.

"This humble one will certainly urge my subordinates and send more people!" Chen Yanshou promised, though he still felt it was difficult.

As he spoke, he stepped forward, lowered his voice, and a sinister expression appeared on his face: "Commissioner, for this leak, could we not find a way to pin it on the Wude Office? Lately, His Majesty has repeatedly shown dissatisfaction with the Wude Office. If another such problem were to arise, then the Wude Office..."

As he spoke, Chen Yanshou laughed darkly. Hearing this, Zhang Dejun was somewhat tempted, but after a moment's consideration, he reluctantly refused, shaking his head: "Forget it! Such tactics would likely be of little use. If you could investigate and find out, the Wude Office may well know too. If we secretly scheme and it gets exposed, we'd only be bringing trouble upon ourselves."

"Moreover, scheming in His Majesty's family affairs—the consequences would be too terrible! On this matter, we must hold back. Seek no merit, but seek no fault; otherwise, we'd only be handing others a handle against us!"

Seeing Zhang Dejun's firm attitude, Chen Yanshou did not insist. He had only been casually offering a suggestion, after all. Emperor Liu was not Liu Chang; he was not easy to fool. The palace intrigue tactics Chen Yanshou had used in the Southern Yue palace he dared not employ recklessly in the Han palace, for that would be a path to self-destruction.

"When will His Majesty arrive in Youzhou?" Zhang Dejun asked.

"According to the latest report, the imperial carriage will arrive on the fifth day of the eleventh month," Chen Yanshou said.

"Send someone to report the situation in Youzhou to His Majesty in full, without omission," Zhang Dejun ordered without much hesitation.

After saying this, Zhang Dejun could not help but slowly shake his head and sigh: "When His Majesty returns, I fear there will be no small storm! The Empress this time—rage attacking her heart, she has actually fallen ill. His Majesty will likely have a hard time explaining himself to the Empress..."

Having served Emperor Liu closely for over a decade, Zhang Dejun knew him all too well, and also knew the affection between him and the Empress. People like them naturally cared only about the Emperor, but they could not afford to disregard the Empress either.

For the sake of the two princes, she had already summoned Cao Bin and pressed him for information, brazenly interfering in state affairs—the first time in all these years. One could see what kind of mood the Empress was in this time.