The two rode north all the way. Along the road, Song Qingshu suddenly asked, "Since the Red Tunic Army has such ties to the Yang family, why has the court stood by and done nothing? As far as I know, Liu Zhuo, the Pacification Commissioner of Huai Dong, has thirty thousand troops stationed in Chuzhou. Is Xia Quan really so unconcerned?"
A flicker of anger passed through the Yellow-robed Woman's eyes. "It was fine until you mentioned that Liu fellow. Now that you have, I'm angry."
"What happened?" Song Qingshu vaguely remembered that Yang An'er had seemed dissatisfied with Liu Zhuo as well.
"It all has to do with the struggle between Han Tuozhou and Jia Sidao..." The Yellow-robed Woman sighed and began explaining the entire matter.
Han Tuozhou had been wholeheartedly committed to the Northern Expedition, so he naturally valued these righteous armies of the Central Plains. He sent his trusted subordinate Xu Xiji to serve as Pacification Commissioner of Huai Dong, seeking to placate and win over those rebel forces, even providing them with money, provisions, weapons, and the like. But after Han Tuozhou fell from power, Xu Xiji could no longer remain in office. His successor was Liu Zhuo of Jia Sidao's faction. Liu completely abandoned the previous policy of conciliation and instead intended to wipe out those rebel forces entirely.
"The Emperor did nothing?" Song Qingshu asked in confusion.
The Yellow-robed Woman sneered. "You know perfectly well that our Emperor is one of the surrender faction. He was even worried that the Red Tunic Army's existence would anger the Jin Dynasty and bring trouble upon himself. On top of that, there were plenty of scum within the Red Tunic Army. Some commanders accepted money and supplies from the court while secretly colluding with the enemy and