At this critical juncture, being able to “live leisurely for a lifetime” didn’t sound like a blessing, but rather like a curse!
Li Qitian looked around in despair. Only a few secret agents and several palace servants led by Xiong Jinshui remained by his side—not a single other person was willing to stand with him!
Song Quan, Yu Ziqiu, and the other Northern Ji remnants turned and departed. The Palace Guards and attendants they had brought stepped forward, speaking with respect mixed with arrogance: “Please, Your Majesty, proceed to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.”
Li Qitian’s face turned ashen. “Why!”
“Please proceed, Your Majesty.” The guards were unyielding in their attitude, offering no further explanation as they pushed Li Qitian and his group toward the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Li Qitian’s expression was dark as he looked left and right, seeking some means of escape. But everywhere he looked, he saw Imperial Guards, Jinwu Guards, and Palace Guards moving freely throughout the palace, frequently escorting various masters from the inner palace toward the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
By this point, what didn’t Li Qitian understand?
While he had been immersed in worry and panic about the future, these Northern Ji remnants had long been disturbed by that proclamation from Zhou Lian. They had used this time to secretly arrange everything, treating him as a bargaining chip to pledge allegiance to Pang Xiao! And he, caught in the midst of it all, had been completely unaware.
In this vast imperial palace, he could no longer control his own future? His performance as emperor had been utterly pathetic!
Just as he stepped into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he saw the Empress Dowager and Empress hurrying toward him together. Both bore expressions of illness. After Hao Ge’er’s disappearance, these two most noble women in the inner palace had become like madwomen, frantically ordering people to search for him daily without any progress. This had long since worn away all their refinement and dignity, making them like common shrews whose very presence irritated the already vexed Li Qitian further.
Now that they were all confined to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, they couldn’t avoid meeting even if they wanted to.
“Your Majesty! What is happening!” The Empress’s voice trembled, her face full of panic.
The Empress Dowager also said anxiously, “Those dog slaves have truly grown bold as tigers and leopards, daring to show disrespect to this dowager! Why don’t you order their arrest!”
As the Empress Dowager and Empress pestered Li Qitian with their questions, the other consorts also cautiously observed the situation. When women conversed in low voices during good times, it sounded like birdsong; when they were agitated, it only made one more irritated.
Li Qitian swept his sleeves and pushed the two women aside, turning to look inside the hall. It was already late afternoon, yet no one had lit the lamps. The slanting sun was like fire, casting oblique light on the bright paper of the latticed windows and throwing shadows across the floor, making the interior appear even darker and more oppressive, filling one with depression and despair.
A muffled “clang” startled everyone, and even the conversations stopped for a moment. Following the sound, they saw that the main doors of the Hall of Mental Cultivation had been heavily shut, and immediately the sound of hammering came from outside. From the shadows, they could see people using wooden boards to seal the doors and windows shut!
“What do we do! What can we do!”
“Your Majesty, they mean to trap us all here to die!”
“I don’t want to die, I’m only seventeen, I don’t want to die here…”
Everyone was in chaos, and some young consorts had already collapsed in tears.
Li Qitian didn’t answer, slowly turning around with clenched fists to watch the shadows cast on the window lattices. Wooden boards were being nailed crosswise over the doors and windows, sealing up all the window frames covered with bright paper.
These Northern Ji remnants were determined to commit treason, confining him and his consorts here! What these people intended to do next was easy to guess without much thought!
And now that he found himself in such dire straits, where were the Li family relatives?
Where were those relatives who had lorded it over others because he was emperor? They had probably already fled with their tails between their legs, or had already joined Pang Xiao’s camp, wishing nothing more than for this emperor to disappear quickly!
This was the coldness of human nature, the warmth and coldness of human sentiment.
The Empress Dowager finally emerged from her anger, listening to the commotion outside and grabbing Li Qitian’s hand with a deathly pale face: “My son, what can we do? They’re committing treason!”
Li Qitian turned with exceptional calm to look at everyone in the room.
“Are you all afraid?”
As soon as he spoke, the hall fell silent, even the sobbing was forcibly suppressed.
Li Qitian’s footsteps were heavy as lead as he walked step by step toward that heap of powder and rouge, smiling. “Ordinarily, when you see me, you all use every means to curry favor and flatter, competing in beauty and using every trick imaginable. Why don’t you care about your appearance today? Look at you—you’ve cried until the powder on your face is smeared, making you nauseating to look at. And you—don’t you make me feel disgusted just looking at you?”
He pushed away two consorts in disgust. These two consorts fell to the ground, sobbing in despair.
Li Qitian said, “When you entered the palace, you should have understood that accompanying the king has always meant sharing both glory and disgrace. Did you only want the wealth and honor I could give you from the beginning, without wanting to share hardships with me?”
“This consort wouldn’t dare.” A consort hurriedly kowtowed.
The other consorts came to their senses and all kowtowed as well, pledging their loyalty.
But Li Qitian remained completely unmoved.
At this moment, he only felt bored—everything was utterly boring!
The Empress looked at Li Qitian’s back, then turned to look at the wooden boards nailed over the window lattices outside the great hall. Her heart was bitter, yet she quietly felt a trace of relief.
Fortunately, she had properly arranged Hao Ge’er’s future. Otherwise, having her beloved son trapped here suffering with her—how could her heart endure it?
“How is the situation in the city?”
Outside the sprawling encampment, Pang Xiao stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the city gates of the capital in the distance and quietly asking Huzi beside him.
Huzi said, “Yesterday we sent the paper kites out, so the news has probably spread throughout the city. But yesterday their city gates didn’t open, so our people had no way to relay messages. We haven’t seen any carrier pigeons either—probably because the other side is watching strictly and pigeons would be too conspicuous. It seems the princess consort’s method was extremely useful.”
“Indeed.” Pang Xiao remembered Qin Yining whispering in his ear about “perhaps winning without fighting,” and couldn’t help but smile. Qin Yining was simply the softest place in his heart. Seeing her like a female Zhuge Liang filled him with sincere pride and joy.
“Your Highness, look!”
Just then, the northern city gate in the distance suddenly opened a crack. That crack grew larger and larger until the city gate was completely open.
Since the other side had kept the city gates tightly shut, forbidding anyone to enter or exit, this sudden opening was particularly attention-grabbing and drew everyone out to look.
Qin Yining and Qin Huaiyuan were in their tent teaching Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er to play chess when they heard people discussing outside.
“The northern city gate actually opened today. I wonder if the other city gates are the same. Has the emperor learned to use the empty city stratagem?”
“Ha! Empty city stratagem? That only works when you don’t know the real situation. We know their situation inside and out—they have no money and no men. What kind of trouble could they possibly cause?”