If not for her duty as a guard, Huo Qi Lang’s days at the outer residence in Yandu Ward could be described as extremely pleasant. The steward here, Madam Yu, believed in practicality, and her management style was completely different from Madam Li’s. The small courtyard didn’t have as many rules as the Prince’s residence—one could enjoy fine wine and there were resident musicians.
What a pity that the beauty was constantly meeting with people to discuss affairs and strategize, exhausting himself nearly to collapse. She was reluctant to disturb him at night, otherwise it would have been perfect.
After staying here for two consecutive days, as Prince Shao’s most trusted personal guards, all the attendants had learned the general plan. They cast aside their complacency, each preparing their equipment and sharpening their weapons, eager to distinguish themselves and earn military merit in this battle.
Only Huo Qi Lang remained unambitious, spending her days listening to music and enjoying herself, as if she were on vacation during her rotation leave. Yuwen Rang couldn’t help but advise her, “At least sharpen your blade. With your skills, obtaining the rank of Military Cavalry Captain would be easy. Last time you let the Xu brothers take credit for beheading the bull at the night banquet—you can’t miss another good opportunity!”
Huo Qi Lang shook her head with a smile, pointing to the musicians and repeating the lyrics they had just sung: “You literate fellow, listen to how wonderfully this song is written: ‘Must worry spring night is short, don’t complain the golden cup is full. When encountering wine just laugh heartily, how much can human life be?’ Military ranks can neither be eaten nor drunk—how can they compare to present enjoyment?”
Yuwen Rang was so frustrated he rolled his eyes, secretly cursing that these wandering martial artists were simply incomprehensible. Opportunities to receive their master’s favor and attention were what others desperately sought, yet she paid no attention to them, behaving like a temporary laborer in the ward, just mixing days away for pay.
Estimating that the Right Guard personal troops should be making their move soon, Li Yuanying planned to return to the residence today to await good news, ordering Madam Yu to arrange departure preparations.
Who knew that the carriage parked in the neighboring courtyard had mysteriously broken a wheel, and the servant in charge of the vehicle had also disappeared without a trace. Madam Yu found this very strange—the Prince’s residence had always paid servants generous monthly wages, and there had never been cases of runaway slaves. There was no reason for someone to flee just because a carriage broke down. Though there were still two horses in the courtyard, Li Yuanying’s physical condition hadn’t fully recovered, and Madam Yu was uneasy about him riding.
When Prince Shao went out publicly in the past, to let Liu Kun and others clearly see his movements, he always traveled with nearly a hundred people in ceremonial procession. Now most of them had been quietly taken away by Yuan Shaobo to set up ambushes, and there was no one available as replacement. Madam Yu sent her trusted maid Cailu to change into men’s clothing and ride back to the residence, to notify the household manager to send another carriage to fetch them.
However, half an hour passed and Cailu didn’t return. Madam Yu became alert, cracked open the door to peek outside, and discovered that the usual pedestrians and street vendors who moved through the ward streets had all vanished. In broad daylight it was as empty as during deep night curfew, and an ominous premonition immediately rose in her heart.
She hurriedly barred the door, ordered servants to brace it firmly with wooden poles, lifted her skirts and rushed toward the back courtyard. Li Yuanying was writing letters while Huo Qi Lang sat cross-legged with Huang Xiaoning and others on mats by the entrance, throwing dice to compare sizes.
“Young master, flee quickly!”
At this low cry from his wet nurse, Li Yuanying immediately dropped his brush and decisively threw a stack of letters into the charcoal brazier to burn. Huo Qi Lang and the others instantly understood, immediately abandoning their dice to grip their weapons and rise. Madam Yu had already run to the hidden door beside the sleeping platform and tried to open it, but couldn’t push it open no matter what.
“Let me!” Huo Qi Lang rushed forward to replace her with an arrow-like leap, pushing hard, but the door didn’t budge at all. She then rammed it with her shoulder, and the door panel cracked open a large gap—someone seemed to have braced it from behind with wooden blocks. She rammed it a second time, and the door panel was torn apart by brute force, revealing a gap at the top large enough for one person to pass through.
Song Yinghui was about to help Li Yuanying crawl out when two feathered arrows shot in from outside, striking the door frame with two “thunk” sounds.
“Trouble—the back door is blocked.” Madam Yu’s face instantly turned ashen, her heart plummeting straight into an ice cellar.
Cailian rushed in panic-stricken, her voice trembling as she reported to Prince Shao: “There are people outside shouting, claiming to be Liu Mian visiting, and to protect Your Highness’s safety, they want to search for foreign spies lurking in the residence.”
Liu Mian was Liu Kun’s younger brother, commanding three thousand Left Guard personal troops under his authority. He was Liu Kun’s closest confidant general and his designated successor. This man actually controlled military power, held high position and great influence, with a temperament more sinister than his elder brother Liu Kun. His first half-sentence claimed to be “visiting,” but the latter half emphasized “searching,” with a pressing aggressive tone.
Madam Yu lowered her voice and anxiously informed Li Yuanying that the carriage in the neighboring courtyard had been sabotaged in advance, and Cailu who went out to the Prince’s residence still hadn’t returned—clearly Liu Mian had premeditated this.
Those who come with ill intent don’t come in peace. Li Yuanying glanced at the arrows embedded in the door frame, then simply straightened his clothing and crown, walked to the central courtyard, and signaled for his wet nurse to negotiate with the arrivals.
Madam Yu forced herself to remain calm, raised her voice, and called through the door: “Who goes there?”
A cold male voice came from outside the courtyard wall: “Left Wing Commander Liu Mian. I’m here on official business—please open the door and let this official search inside.”
“Commander Liu, without evidence or proof, how can you claim there are foreign spies in the residence? My prince is recuperating here due to illness, and the residence is full of women—how dare you disturb us at will!”
“It’s not that this official is rash. We received a secret report claiming Khitan spies are hiding here. Please open the door, madam, and let us search to prove your innocence.”
Madam Yu spoke sternly: “Outrageous! Commander Liu, don’t speak nonsense. What is Prince Shao’s status—how dare you act so lawlessly! Even if your elder brother were here, he would have to bow and yield his seat to His Highness!”
While she was exchanging words with Liu Mian, Huo Qi Lang gathered her energy and climbed the large tree in the courtyard to look outside. She saw several hundred fully armed personal troops surrounding the outer residence completely, with archers positioned in the empty residences on both sides.
The outer residence was built as a private dwelling, so the courtyard walls weren’t particularly high. She had originally planned to carry Li Yuanying and quietly scale the wall to escape before conflict erupted, but seeing the archers in battle formation, she knew they couldn’t escape with someone in tow.
Liu Mian specifically demanded to search for “Khitan spies,” and there indeed was a Khitan person in this outer residence—the biological son of the Wugu Khan. She suspected someone in her heart. After descending the tree, she charged straight toward the room where the barbarian child lived. The boy didn’t understand Chinese and paid no attention to the exchanges outside, sitting cross-legged on the bed tossing and catching sheep knucklebones in play, while Kang Simo, who had been responsible for accompanying him, was nowhere to be found.
Her suspicions were confirmed. Huo Qi Lang cursed aloud: “Those not of our race must have different hearts—that bastard is indeed a traitor!”
She turned and ran back to the central courtyard, informing Li Yuanying and the other dozen or so personal guards of what she had seen and heard. Everyone’s hair stood on end, knowing that with such a formation, this was definitely not as simple as “searching for spies”—it was just a pretext to break in and slaughter them. It seemed their plan had been exposed, though they didn’t know how much had been discovered.
Li Yuanying’s expression was dark as water as he said in a low voice, “Delay as much time as possible.”
Cailian frantically dragged the barbarian child to hide under the bed. Song Yinghui directed the attendants to fetch bows, arrows, long spears, shields, and other weapons, completely surrounding the central courtyard rooms. With their current severe shortage of manpower, protecting the entire courtyard was far from sufficient—they could only retreat to defend this one building.
To prevent enemies from shooting arrows from the wall tops, Prince Shao was hidden inside the central courtyard rooms. This way, even if doors and windows were breached, with the corridors and decorative walls blocking the line of sight, archers couldn’t see his figure clearly.
At this time, Liu Mian had exchanged several rounds with Madam Yu and was also feeling anxious and irritated. Two days ago, Liu Kun had received scout intelligence discovering traces of Khitan activity within the city. After several periods of surveillance, they realized these people actually had dealings with Prince Shao’s outer residence.
Though Prince Shao was the Youzhou Regional Inspector under the Regional Governor, he represented the authority of the Li Tang imperial house. Unless necessary, it was best not to come into conflict with him. But if he was colluding with foreign tribes, attempting to overthrow Liu Kun and replace him, then it was a life-or-death crisis requiring inevitable confrontation. After the brothers discussed it, Liu Mian would use “searching for spies” as a pretext to come and test the situation.
Madam Yu’s tone was firm, absolutely refusing to let anyone enter. Liu Mian gritted his teeth and ordered someone to throw a bundle over the wall.
A servant saw this bundle was soaked with fresh blood. Trembling with fear but mustering courage to unwrap it, he discovered it was a woman’s severed head. Madam Yu steeled herself to look, and her face instantly lost all color. It was Cailu’s head.
Liu Mian calculated privately in his heart. This prince was born in the deep palace by women’s hands and raised in the Ten Princes’ Mansion, with a weak constitution. Though he had some eloquence and quick wit, he ultimately hadn’t experienced real battlefield bloodshed. Taking advantage of his current absence from the Prince’s residence while lingering in this pleasure den, using a severed head to intimidate him should force him to meekly surrender. After binding him and throwing him in the sub-city prison, there would be no more worries.
However, after the head was thrown in, the residence fell into deathly silence—neither the sound of women screaming and weeping, nor the chaotic commotion of panic.
Liu Mian called out twice more: “If you don’t open the door, this general will search by force!”
There was still no response from inside the residence. Liu Mian waved his hand fiercely and ordered them to break down the courtyard gate. The main gate of this outer residence was just an ordinary private dwelling’s wooden door. Though braced with wooden poles, after the personal troops hit it twice with a battering ram, it shattered directly into a pile of wood chips.
The doorway was narrow. Three personal troops rushed in competitively, and just as the last one stepped over the threshold, he felt a chill at his throat and his body collapsed powerlessly to the ground. Huo Qi Lang drew her blade and guarded behind the door. With her weapon rising and falling, she instantly cut down all three, removed the last one’s head, and kicked it flying out the door. The bloody head, just like the one thrown into the courtyard earlier, flew straight into Liu Mian’s arms and nearly knocked him off his horse.
“Shield bearers! Advance!”
The Youzhou personal troops were all elite warriors experienced in battle. After the unexpected loss of the first wave, they quickly regrouped. Commander Liu Mian immediately withdrew into the army, closely surrounded and protected by his personal guards. At a squad leader’s command, four shield bearers wearing fine scale armor, holding leather-covered shields and gripping horizontal sabers, filed in.
Intense battle cries immediately erupted from within the narrow doorway. However, with cold light flashing, in just the blink of an eye, all four men vanished like fish swimming in a boiling cauldron.
The personal troops outside the courtyard wall saw the last man split diagonally from shoulder to hip, his iron armor included, while his shield was also cleanly severed, blood gushing like a waterfall. Seven corpses piled up at the doorway, with entrails scattered across the ground, forming a dam of flesh and blood. Anyone wanting to enter through the main gate would no longer find it so smooth.
It was that master who beheaded the bull at the night banquet!
When that unexpected incident occurred that night, Liu Mian had also been present and personally witnessed that unknown Prince’s residence guard’s shocking and extraordinary skills. The severed large copper plate was later examined by many people and had long been famous throughout the army. So he had also followed Prince Shao to the outer residence?
All registered military personnel of Prince Shao’s residence totaled only about a hundred, and Youzhou city was their own territory—this was the confidence that allowed the Liu brothers to dare come directly to the door. They hadn’t expected this frail prince to dare openly engage in battle and instantly kill seven men.
Liu Mian’s face turned iron-blue, knowing deeply that in this situation, they could only break completely. After silencing everyone in the residence, he could then get two Khitan people to extract confessions under torture, forge several documents, and arrange whatever charges he wanted to justify himself. The court would have no way to verify.
He shouted loudly: “Prince Shao Li Yuanying has colluded with enemies and committed treason—his crimes are unforgivable! Today we came to arrest him on orders from the Regional Commander. The enemy has committed violence and resisted arrest—kill without mercy! Archers to the walls!”