While Ying Zheng was busy waging a war of ideas in his study, his general was engaged in a more tangible conflict hundreds of li to the southwest. The alliance of pawns and proxies that Ying Zheng had so carefully constructed in Beijing was about to receive a powerful jolt of confidence, a confirmation that their unseen patron was a master of not just courtly intrigue, but of decisive, covert action.
The meeting was held in Prince Gong's study, the de facto headquarters for the anti-Cixi faction. The Prince, Viceroy Li Hongzhang, and the disgraced-but-now-essential Weng Tonghe were gathered. An atmosphere of tense anticipation filled the room. A secret dispatch had arrived, a message that had traveled a long and perilous journey. It had been carried by a military courier from the remote province of Sichuan to the office of one of Prince Gong's loyal subordinates in the provincial government, a man who believed he was merely relaying a sensitive report for a clandestine military operation. From there, it had been sent to the capital, hidden within a diplomatic pouch.
The message itself was a simple, thin piece of paper, covered in what looked like meaningless scribbles. It was written in the simple substitution cipher that Ying Zheng had taught Meng Tian before he departed, a code based on the grid system of a Go board. Shen Ke, the brilliant scholar who was fast becoming the alliance's chief intelligence officer, had been summoned to decipher it.
He worked quickly, his brush flying across a fresh sheet of paper, his mind a swift and silent calculating engine. The others watched in silence, their anxiety growing with every stroke of his brush. Finally, he was done. He took a deep breath and read the deciphered message aloud.
The report was written in the blunt, economical style of a military field commander.
"Have reached Chengdu," Shen Ke read. "Identity as spice merchant established. Made contact with the Serpent's Head Trading Company. Its manager is a man named Qian. Used the financial leverage as instructed. The man was… cooperative."
A grim smile touched Prince Gong's lips. He could well imagine what Meng Ao's form of "cooperation" entailed.
Shen Ke continued. "Qian has confirmed the existence of the Hidden Valley. He has provided the full route and schedule for the next winter shipment of medicinal herbs. The route is treacherous, through the Qionglai Mountains. He has also provided the timing for the spring caravan of new recruits. It is as the source predicted."
"Am now proceeding into the mountains," the message went on. "Will use the herb shipment as a dry run to scout the route, observe their security protocols, and identify the optimal location for the primary objective. Will await the spring caravan. The Emperor's will shall be done."
The message ended there. A profound silence filled the study. The three men stared at the deciphered text, the reality of the words sinking in.
This was not a rumor. This was not a piece of political maneuvering. This was a report from a deep-cover operative engaged in a high-stakes mission to find and neutralize the very source of Cixi's clandestine power. Their mysterious ally, the hidden faction they had only ever known through cryptic messages and the Emperor's strange pronouncements, was real. And it was spectacularsly effective.
Prince Gong was the first to speak, his voice filled with a new, powerful resolve. "He has done it," he said, a note of awe in his voice. "This man, this Meng Ao… he is a force of nature. He moves through the empire like a phantom and bends men to his will." He looked at the other two, his eyes blazing with a renewed sense of purpose. "Our mysterious 'Emperor's faction' is not just playing games in the court. They have a long reach. They have their own agents. And they are taking direct action against Cixi's roots."
Li Hongzhang, the great pragmatist, was visibly impressed. He had always been wary of the court's endless intrigues, preferring the tangible results of building armies and factories. But this was different. This was strategy on a grand scale, executed with a ruthlessness he understood and admired.
"To strike at the source of her agents…" he mused, stroking his long beard. "To cut off the supply of new assassins at the root. It is a brilliant and merciless strategy. Whoever is guiding these events is a master of both the court and the field."
This success, this tangible proof of their ally's power and competence, served to galvanize the alliance. Their secret patrons were not just whispering suggestions and manipulating politics from the shadows; they were actively waging a covert war. The knowledge that they were part of such a potent and effective operation emboldened both Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang to be more aggressive in their own efforts.
"Cixi is distracted," Prince Gong said, a predatory gleam in his eyes. "Her spies are on a fool's errand in the archives, thanks to the Emperor's 'dream.' She believes her greatest threat is a disgraced old scholar." He looked at Weng Tonghe, who flinched at the mention of his own predicament. "We will use this distraction. We will use her witch hunt as a pretext to launch our own."
His plan was simple. He would go before the Grand Council and express grave concern over the "mismanagement and lack of security" that led to the Silkworm Nursery fire and the theft of Li Lianying's treasury. He would use Cixi's own paranoia as a weapon against her.
"I will propose a new, special commission," he declared, "to investigate financial mismanagement and security lapses in all departments under the purview of the Imperial Household. It will be framed as a measure to support the Empress Dowager, to help her find the traitors who have so grievously wronged her."
Li Hongzhang nodded, seeing the genius of the move. "She cannot refuse without looking like she has something to hide. And the commission… it will give us legitimate authority to place our own men inside Li Lianying's departments, to scrutinize his every move."
The mood in the room had transformed from one of tense waiting to one of energized purpose. They were no longer just reacting to Cixi's moves or the cryptic messages from their secret allies. They were now launching their own offensive, a direct assault on the administrative heart of her power.
The episode ends with a stark cross-cut. In the quiet, lamplit study in Beijing, a group of powerful men plot a bureaucratic war. And hundreds of li away, in the cold, snow-dusted mountains of Sichuan, a lone figure cloaked in furs stands on a high ridge, observing a narrow mountain pass below. Meng Tian, a patient tiger, is waiting for his prey.
Back in his own study, Ying Zheng receives the news of both developments. His intellectual attack on the tutors was a success. And his general's mission is proceeding perfectly. He is fighting a war on two fronts—a war of ideas in the palace, and a war of silent action in the wilderness—and he is, for now, winning on both.