Ruan Xingzhu's first reaction was disbelief. Only after repeatedly confirming it with the scout did she learn that it was true, and that it had happened just two or three days ago. The news had been delivered by carrier pigeon through the relay stations the Ruan family had established along the route.
"Xia Zhen?" Song Qingshu frowned. He had stayed in Lin'an for a time, but the name sounded unfamiliar. The people he dealt with then had either been princes and noble sons or high-ranking ministers; even if he had met an official like this before, he might not have remembered him.
"How could Xia Zhen possibly have the nerve? Jia Sidao must have been pulling the strings behind him." Ruan Xingzhu spoke through gritted teeth, her knuckles turning white from how tightly she clenched them.
Song Qingshu still shook his head. "As far as I know, the Jin Dynasty could not possibly have demanded Han Tuozhou's head as a condition for peace. They did not want an all-out war with Southern Song either, so why would they demand the head of Southern Song's foremost minister? Wouldn't that guarantee the peace talks failed?"
Back in Jiangling Prefecture, Ruan Xingzhu had personally witnessed Jin cavalry wipe out the experts from Hero's Island. Though Song Qingshu had never mentioned anything, her intelligence and careful nature had led her to guess that he had some connection to and influence over the Jin Dynasty—though even with all her imagination, she could never have guessed that he was now the one running the Jin Dynasty. Thus, when she heard him say this, she believed that the Jin Dynasty truly had no intention of taking Han Tuozhou's head.
"Jia Sidao must have colluded with the envoys to spread this monstrous lie!" Ruan Xingzhu nearly bit her