Things went far more smoothly than expected, and the situation was far better than expected.
The reason could not have been simpler: Huan Wen had arrived.
Not only the Qiang groups in Luoyang, but Liu Cheng too had learned of it. No one had played Cao Wushang; rather, Huan Wen had sent messengers with letters at the same time as he dispatched his troops. The official envoy was Fu Tao, who had already reached Xuchang. There was also an ad hoc military messenger, one of Xue Qiang's men, who had traveled downstream along the Yellow River in a small boat. He had originally been looking for Dai Shi, but happened to run into Zhuge Nanyue, who had remained in Juan County. Zhuge Beiyue had then been sent hurrying over with the news.
Huan Wen was, after all, a protagonist of this age, and one whose part kept growing. His offensive and defensive contest with Murong Ke, one in the west and the other in the east, had been the underlying basis of Liu Cheng's earlier battle with Yao Xiang. The Yao Xiang Group had never been an enemy singled out for destruction. It was Huan Wen and the court's strategic response to the Murong Xianbei, while Liu Acheng's expedition had, in essence, also been an operation carried out under orders to provide support on the flank.
Thus, when Huan Wen truly arrived as promised, all attention shifted to him.
After entering Sishui Pass, Jiang Gan was surprised to discover that not only had Yao Xiang hurried off to Luoyang, but, naturally enough, the man left in command was none other than the ailing Wang Liang... He did not, of course, see Wang Liang directly. The garrison could hardly let an enemy learn that their second-in-command was bedridden. Yet once Wang