Chapter 16: His Majesty Has Nowhere to Run! (Part 1)

"How could Han Shizhong rebel?!"

It was not Zhao Jiu who rebuked Zhao Ding, but rather Li Gang, the Grand Councilor of the Great Song, who spoke out first to voice his objection despite being utterly exhausted. Having caught a chill from the cold wind the night before, he had then presided over meetings, relocations, and troop deployments, and finally trudged here through the bitter winter cold. Now, upon hearing this, he still forced himself to be the first to respond.

"That's right." Zhao Jiu also came to his senses. "How could Han Shizhong rebel?"

"Your servant also believes it impossible!" Zhao Ding, covered in mud and with a look of fierce indignation on his face, replied only to His Majesty. "But he truly has rebelled. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Impossible." Zhao Jiu shook his head repeatedly, even forcing himself to stay calm by lowering his head to take a bite of rice. "There must be some misunderstanding. Censor Zhao, why don't you rest a moment, and then we can analyze it in detail!"

"There is no need for analysis!" Zhao Ding prostrated himself directly by the campfire inside the tent. "Your Majesty, flee at once! If you delay any longer, it will be too late! Censor Niu, who traveled with me, has already been killed by the rebel troops. They are no more than twenty li from here!"

Zhao Jiu was once again stunned on the spot.

And Li Gang, who had just been about to rise and speak again, slumped heavily back down.

"Tell me in detail!" Zhao Jiu, having come to his senses, still did not believe it, but he could no longer avoid analyzing the situation.

"Your Majesty, your servant and Censor Niu were ordered to go and meet Han Shizhong. As it happened, we ran headlong into his troops at Baichi Town in Wanshou County to the east. At first, the forward scouts were fine; they spoke with us normally and relayed military intelligence. But when we encountered a commander in the town, his language turned foul, and in the end, he simply bared his blade!" A crowd of high ministers who had originally been in His Majesty's tent had already gathered around, and Zhao Ding's voice grew more sorrowful and indignant as he spoke. "Your servant and Censor Niu saw the situation was bad and tried to flee back. But they gave chase on horseback, bows drawn, deliberately driving us into the winter river. Then they pressed us with arrows, watching and amusing themselves. I barely managed to escape by clinging to my horse. Censor Niu was stout and couldn't struggle free, and he was drowned alive in the river. They just laughed from the shore..."

By this point, Zhao Ding was already weeping profusely, but he forced himself to continue: "I fled back in a wretched state, and they were still shouting from across the river ditch, saying I might escape today but not tomorrow, because they would soon come before Your Majesty and perform this same archery game! They would kill all the civil officials! Your Majesty! Flee at once! Baichi Town is no more than twenty li from here. I encountered the rebel bandits in the afternoon. If those villains have a mind to pursue, I fear something unspeakable could happen at any moment!"

The faces of those around him all changed color. Zhao Jiu, dazed and confused, seemed to latch onto something: "So, you're saying it's just a mutiny by Han Shizhong's troops at Baichi Town over the treatment of civil and military officials, and you never actually saw Han Shizhong himself intending to rebel?"

"Your Majesty!" Before Zhao Ding could speak again, Yang Yizhong, his face already pale, knelt directly and urged him. "This is no longer about whether Han Shizhong himself intends to rebel. Even if Han Shizhong himself has no rebellious intent, what if his forward army surrounds the imperial encampment and commits an unspeakable act, pulling a 'Chen Bridge story' on him? And even if Han Shizhong, utterly loyal, later executes the forward army, what remedy would that be? Han Shizhong has seven or eight thousand troops, and the forward army is at least two thousand. We have only a few hundred palace guards here!"

Zhao Jiu suddenly understood, but he still did not stand up. Instead, he held his bowl and turned sideways, forcing an argument: "But even the forward army doesn't seem to have completely rebelled. Perhaps we can placate them..."

"It's useless!" Yang Yizhong grew even more frantic. "Your Majesty doesn't understand these ruffians who hang around the army. Even if the forward army truly has no intention of rebelling right now, by the mere act of killing a censor for sport, they have already drawn blood. And once killing starts, the mutinous soldiers run wild without restraint, and not even the gods can control them! Your Majesty has read many history books. Do you not know what happens to a fleeing sovereign who falls into the hands of mutinous troops? So please, flee at once!"

Not only that, but Li Gang, who had been silent for a long time, also forced himself to stand with the help of his son. Tears streamed down his face as he bowed his head to confess his fault: "Your Majesty, today's calamity is entirely due to my carelessness. I beg Your Majesty to go on ahead at once. I will stay here and face it."

Zhao Jiu recognized the situation. His hands and feet turned ice-cold, and he had nothing more to say.

Now, consider this poor His Majesty. Ever since he had transmigrated, facing such a chaotic world of war, as a modern young man with an overflowing sense of superiority, had he never fantasized about being a Han Wudi or a Tang Taizong? But as it now appeared, he was actually worse off than the original Zhao Jiu. At the very least, that Zhao Jiu had been decisive in running away!

And what about himself? His own hesitation at the Mingdao Palace seemed to be the very origin of today's calamity. Otherwise, how could he have been blocked by a mere Huaixi bandit like Ding Jin, and then encountered news of the Jin invasion here? And all of that led to today's disaster?

In a sense, if he truly died today, then even the conservative outcome of going to Hangzhou to enjoy a few songs of leisure would be something he himself had thrown away.

But then again, thinking about it the other way, what did it matter if he died? Had he truly integrated into this era at all? If he died, could he go back? The Dao Ancestor ought to be responsible, right?

And even if he truly died, whether it was Han Shizhong or Yue Fei rising to contend for the realm, or Li Gang protecting that infant to seek refuge south of the Yangtze, it might not necessarily be worse than the original situation, right?

Carrying these absurd thoughts, for some reason, Zhao Jiu's hands and feet grew warm again. He shook his head repeatedly: "This has nothing to do with you, Grand Councilor Li. It is my own fault. I never truly treated this situation as a time of chaos. And this is not the time to assign blame... You all tell me to flee, but in the current situation, where can I go?"

"Cross the river! Go find Liu Zhengyan and Miao Fu!" Zhang Jun, the Censor-in-Chief, suddenly interjected.

"Your servant is willing to go to Baichi Town to placate the mutinous troops." Yuwen Xuzhong also interjected.

"We can have Yang Yizhong lead the palace guards to escort Your Majesty across the river!" Li Gang said, forcing himself to speak. "But do not alert the mutinous troops. Going to placate them now will only let them know the true strength of the imperial encampment, and it will easily invite disaster! After crossing the river, Your Majesty should not go to find Liu and Miao. It would be best to gallop along the river toward Shunchang Prefecture (formerly Yingzhou, later Fuyang) on one hand, and on the other, send someone to recall Liu Yan's Red Heart Troop! Once inside the prefectural city, then you can negotiate with Han Shizhong and Liu Zhengyan."

This seemed like a feasible plan. Zhao Jiu suddenly stood up, threw down his rice bowl, and went to untie his horse behind him.

But as soon as he touched the reins, he came to his senses again. He turned back and demanded, "If I cross the river to go to the prefectural city or to find Liu and Miao, how many troops should I take? And if the mutinous troops come, what will become of the civil and military officials and their families here, who are completely defenseless? And what about Consort Pan and the imperial heir? They cannot gallop with the army... What would be their fate? Besides, the moment I leave, this place will surely fall into chaos, won't it?"

"Your Majesty!" The others were all momentarily speechless. Only Zhang Jun bowed his head and spoke in a low voice. "Your Majesty just said it yourself: the situation here is already a time of chaos. Since ancient times, when a ruler encounters such times, can such things be avoided?"

Zhao Jiu shook his head repeatedly, but then let go of the reins and turned back to face them: "I have read few books, but I know quite a bit about the Three Kingdoms... Minister Zhang, I can be Emperor Xian of Han, but you cannot be Dong Cheng! In this situation, anyone who is a minister of Han should only think of being Marquis Wu."

By the campfire, not only did Zhang Jun look up in astonishment, but everyone else also fell completely silent.

PS: The mutiny by Han Shizhong's troops, which resulted in the killing of a censor right next to the imperial encampment, is an event recorded in historical records and should be quite famous. For this, Han Shizhong was severely punished. This is a common occurrence in times of chaos. Why do you all think I made it up?