“What did you say!” The Empress Dowager’s face turned deathly pale. In her fury, she gripped tightly onto the armrest of her brocade sitting couch. “How is that possible? Those were all living people. How could they all suddenly disappear? You must not try to deceive this dowager with such absurd nonsense!”
“Empress Dowager, please calm your anger! This servant truly isn’t lying. Minister Sun, Minister Li, and the other ministers along with their families really did vanish overnight!”
“Those are people, not birds. Could entire families suddenly grow wings and fly away?”
The Empress Dowager rose angrily and paced back and forth. After a moment, she suddenly stopped and looked at the reporting eunuch with terror on her face.
“Who did you just say was missing?” Her mind raced as she asked in horror, “Those who disappeared—were they all from those who surrendered from the Yan Dynasty?”
The eunuch thought for a moment, and his face also turned deathly pale. Trembling with fear, he stammered, “R-replying to the Empress Dowager… yes…”
The Empress Dowager considered herself quite perceptive about court affairs—she simply hadn’t had the opportunity to participate in them before.
Now, putting her mind to work, she suddenly understood.
“Prince Yan and his father-in-law surnamed Gu—are they also missing?”
“Replying to the Empress Dowager, yes.”
The Empress Dowager vaguely sensed that this contained a massive conspiracy. She forced herself to calm down and said, “Summon Prince Li to the Ci’an Palace.”
“Yes.” The eunuch quietly breathed a sigh of relief as if granted amnesty, rose to bow, and stepped back.
The Empress Dowager added, “Also summon Marquis Qingyang to this palace.”
“Yes.”
After the eunuch left with his orders, the Empress Dowager restlessly paced for a while longer, her mind constantly churning with court affairs.
The Tatars could mobilize their troops at any time.
Now the ministers from the Yan Dynasty had also inexplicably disappeared.
And who knew whether Li Qitian, buried in the underground palace, was dead or alive…
After these past days, the Empress Dowager had already emerged from the initial panic and confusion upon receiving the news. Li Qitian’s existence was indeed the pillar supporting her wealth and honor. But she couldn’t rely on others forever.
If she wanted to ensure her family’s glory, rather than depending solely on Li Qitian, it would be better to take this opportunity to let the Zhou family gain the chance to grasp power. After all, the Li family’s empire could only bear the Li surname.
Though she felt sorry for her son and worried about him, things had come to this point. Even if she cried herself to death, it wouldn’t solve the problem.
Such a vast dynasty needed someone to take charge. Would it be better to wait until the realm fell into chaos before this Empress Dowager stepped forward?
The only inadequacy was that governing a country, contending with court ministers, and managing both internal and external affairs were all too difficult.
The Empress Dowager’s mind was now in complete turmoil—one moment worrying about Li Qitian, the next moment concerned that the disappearance of most of the Yan surrender officials was part of a massive conspiracy that she might not be able to handle.
Before long, a eunuch came to report from outside the door: “Replying to the Empress Dowager, Prince Li, Marquis Qingyang, and Princess Chang’an Imperial have arrived.”
“Let them enter.”
The Empress Dowager sat properly with her spine straight, once again assuming her dignified appearance of superiority.
The three entered the great hall. Prince Li and Marquis Qingyang both performed grand salutes, saying, “May the Empress Dowager enjoy golden peace.”
Only Li Helan curtsied slightly before quickly walking toward the Empress Dowager.
“Mother Empress! Is there good news from the mountain again?”
Seeing Li Helan arrive uninvited and behave so casually in front of Prince Li and Marquis Qingyang without showing particular respect, the Empress Dowager felt somewhat displeased. She thus bypassed Li Helan and said to Prince Li and Marquis Qingyang, “You two may dispense with ceremony. Please be seated.”
Seeing the Empress Dowager’s grave expression, Li Helan knew she had likely stumbled into some unpleasant matter. She said hesitantly, “If Mother Empress has matters to discuss with cousin and little uncle, your daughter will take her leave for now.”
The Empress Dowager gave a long “Mm” and waved her hand to dismiss Li Helan.
Marquis Qingyang observed the situation carefully. Seeing the Empress Dowager’s unhappy expression, there must be some troubling matter. He stood up to bow and said, “Whatever the Empress Dowager commands, this younger brother will brave fire and water without hesitation!”
Seeing Marquis Qingyang pledge his loyalty, Prince Li also quickly stood up, not to be outdone: “Marquis Qingyang speaks truly. Now that His Majesty’s whereabouts are unknown, we should unite even more to weather this crisis together.”
The Empress Dowager nodded with satisfaction. “Both of you sit down. This dowager just received some news that I can’t figure out how to handle, so I wanted to discuss it with you. The surrender ministers from the Great Yan Dynasty who came to serve in our court have suddenly disappeared overnight along with their families. Do you know about this matter?”
Marquis Qingyang shook his head and looked at Prince Li beside him.
Though Prince Li was serving as regent, the relationships in court couldn’t be sorted out in a day or two. What he knew were mostly matters already made public, so naturally he didn’t know this news.
Seeing both men look bewildered, the Empress Dowager sighed: “Previously this dowager heard the Emperor mention that Prince Yan and his father-in-law were originally imprisoned in the imperial prison, but both had disappeared. Now the Yan Dynasty ministers have also vanished without a trace. There must be something suspicious in this. This dowager wanted to consult with you about how to handle this matter.”
Marquis Qingyang said, “Could it be that these people from the Yan Dynasty have developed treacherous intentions? People can’t disappear overnight—they must have taken advantage of the recent chaos in court to secretly escape.”
“This dowager thinks the same. If these people fled, they must have some purpose to escape collectively. Combined with Prince Yan also being missing, could they have rebellious intentions?”
When Prince Li heard the word rebellion, his heart jumped. His regency was already stumbling along, and he hadn’t been given the chance to consolidate power. Must there now be trouble with the Yan Dynasty wanting to restore their country?
The north already had the Tatar rebellion. If the south also stirred up trouble with the Yan Dynasty, wouldn’t the Great Zhou be attacked from both front and rear?
Prince Yan furrowed his brow tightly.
Even more worried than Prince Yan was Marquis Qingyang.
If the Yan Dynasty really caused trouble, would he, the newly appointed commander of the Huben Army, have to lead troops on campaign?
“Empress Dowager, don’t think that way. We must look on the bright side of everything. When the Yan Dynasty people were first dealt with, they submitted completely. Prince Yan was willing to be a meaningless prince in our court, so he must be someone who fears death. Even if he escaped, he can’t stir up much trouble. As for those Yan Dynasty surrender ministers, I see His Majesty didn’t assign them important positions anyway. Their leaving won’t greatly impact our operations. We should immediately send people south to track them down.”
The Empress Dowager still trusted her younger brother. After careful thought, she agreed this made sense and said, “In that case, arrange for people to track them. Do it quietly—don’t alert them.”
“Yes. Empress Dowager can leave this matter to me.”
The Empress Dowager thought for a moment and said, “Also arrange for people to investigate how many Yan Dynasty surrender ministers there originally were, who escaped, what people are still in the capital—arrest them all and interrogate them strictly. These people very likely are spies the Yan Dynasty left in our capital.”
“The Empress Dowager is wise. Among the Great Yan Dynasty civil ministers, isn’t the most capable one Pang Zhixi’s father-in-law? I don’t know if he escaped. We’ll investigate carefully later.”
The Empress Dowager nodded. After careful consideration, feeling she had no oversights, she quietly relaxed and smiled: “With court instability, this is precisely when this dowager needs you to work together with one heart. You haven’t disappointed this dowager either. When the Emperor is rescued in the future and the realm is stable, this dowager will not forget your kindness.”
Marquis Qingyang cupped his hands: “Thank you for the Empress Dowager’s promotion!”
Prince Li also bowed. But he felt somewhat uneasy in his heart.
If Li Qitian was alive and saw him serving as regent, he wondered what fate awaited him…
If so, it might be better to let Li Qitian rest eternally in the underground palace.
Thinking of this, Prince Li had new plans regarding the Chong Mountain excavation.
The two men spoke with the Empress Dowager for a while, mostly offering verbal encouragement and painting quite rosy pictures for the Empress Dowager, which relieved her considerably about the Great Zhou’s future.
However, just then, a eunuch came tumbling and crawling in from outside, his shrill voice calling out in panic: “Empress Dowager! News from the north! Minister Wang from the Ministry of War requests an audience!”
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager felt her hair stand on end.
Could the Tatars be attacking?
The Empress Dowager quickly said, “At this moment we can’t worry about so many formalities. Invite Minister Wang to the Ci’an Palace to see this dowager!”
“Yes!” The eunuch ran off, which showed just how urgent the situation was.
The Empress Dowager truly couldn’t remain calm now.
First His Majesty was buried at Chong Mountain with many important court ministers dead or injured, then the Yan Dynasty surrender officials departed, and Yuchi Yan would definitely cause trouble. Now their greatest fear had materialized—the Tatars had actually begun military action!
The Empress Dowager felt her abilities couldn’t shoulder this pressure at all.
“Empress Dowager, Minister Wang from the Ministry of War has arrived.”
A eunuch announced from outside the hall doors, and they saw a tall man of about forty years old striding quickly forward.
After properly greeting the Empress Dowager, Wang Zhi wasted no words and said anxiously: “Replying to the Empress Dowager, Tatar Khan Wutejin is personally leading the army in a great assault. Of the four northern passes, Tianyu Pass, Tianlang Pass, and Tianshu Pass have already fallen! Dragon Guard Army Commander Kang Qiong has led the remnant troops to retreat and defend Tianmen Pass, sending an urgent message requesting reinforcements for Tianmen Pass!”
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager’s mind buzzed and she felt dizzy, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Kang Qiong was the Dragon Guard Army commander personally chosen by His Majesty, yet he couldn’t withstand those Tatar barbarians?
“When did this happen? How could the Tatars break through three passes without any warning?”
“Replying to the Empress Dowager, Marshal Kang’s meaning is that Khan Wutejin launched a surprise attack, catching us completely off guard.”
The Empress Dowager carefully considered the positions of those three frontier passes for a long while before sighing.
“Don’t panic. Tianmen Pass has treacherous terrain, and the Dragon Guard Army isn’t useless either. Since they’ve retreated to defend Tianmen Pass, as long as our reinforcements arrive in time, there should be no major problems.”
“The Empress Dowager speaks truly,” Prince Li also nodded in agreement.
Wang Zhi said, “Please let the Empress Dowager and Prince Li decide quickly, lest we have more troubles as the night grows long.”
The Empress Dowager slowly nodded and looked trustingly at Marquis Qingyang beside her.
But Marquis Qingyang felt all the hair on his spine suddenly stand up.
“Empress Dowager, if the Huben Army goes to support the north, what about the capital region?” Marquis Qingyang cupped his hands and said, “If there are troublemakers who dare come near the capital, I fear we won’t be able to protect it adequately.”
Minister of War Wang Zhi kept his head lowered, concealing all his thoughts perfectly. In a flat tone he said, “There are still the troops of the Three Great Camps and the Capital Guard. Moreover, if we let enemies reach the capital, even having the Huben Army here wouldn’t help much, would it?”