Sima Yu opened the letter from Wang Tanzhi's father, Yangzhou Governor Wang Shu. After reading it, his expression remained unchanged; instead, he smiled and replied, "Your father thinks the Prince of Wuling merely wants to hunt wild boar?"
At these words, everything in the little courtyard went on as usual. The weather was still sweltering, the cicadas still cried without pause, and Gao Song and Liu Jili seemed to turn their heads to wipe away sweat instinctively in the heat.
"Is that what my father said?" Wang Tanzhi froze briefly, then answered frankly. "Your Highness, I don't think Father means that the Prince of Wuling really intends to go hunting. He simply thinks, as we did before, that the Prince of Wuling lacks the nerve, and used this comparison to put Your Highness at ease."
"Indeed." Sima Yu continued smiling and nodded. "I just asked Liu Langya again. He also said that the South of the Yangtze is unlike the North. Unless some great upheaval occurs, unless the situation itself becomes sufficiently perilous, the Prince of Wuling will not stir up trouble."
"For someone of his temperament to say that, having children these past two years must have tempered him." Wang Tanzhi sounded somewhat helpless. "In the past, even knowing this amounted to nothing, he would probably still have urged Your Highness to take up arms... but Your Highness should feel reassured now. Whatever happens, Liu Yulong will never join forces with the Prince of Wuling."
Sima Yu laughed heartily at this. Ignoring only the latter half of the remark, he turned to look at someone else. "Jili, that is actually much like what you said."
Liu Jili could only smile along awkwardly.
After a pause, the topic seemed to end there. Sima Yu once again brought up Liu Cheng's