“Silence her?” Qin Chang Ge narrowed her eyes, looked at the nanny, knowing she couldn’t extract anything else, and waved her hand to dismiss her. Thinking about what the nanny had said about Qi Mo earlier, she raised her eyebrows slightly. What had Qi Mo done? Why did that old woman speak so harshly about her?
While she was pondering this, guards outside reported that they had caught a man and woman engaged in daytime debauchery.
Qin Chang Ge hummed acknowledgment and turned to see a disheveled man and woman captured at the bottom of the steps. The man was a large, fat fellow with dark, muscular flesh. The woman covered her face weeping, her peach-red mandarin duck bodice unable to conceal her jade-white shoulders and skin. From her silhouette, it was indeed Qi Mo.
Qin Chang Ge frowned and beckoned her guard captain over, saying, “Take my command token and go to Shandun Camp. Notify General Zhang to bring five thousand troops to Shengning Palace, saying we’ve heard that thieves plan to harm the Empress Dowager and we’re going to protect her. Send another group to Longzhang Palace to report this matter to His Majesty. Have everyone else turn around.”
Everyone followed orders. Qin Chang Ge also made a gesture to the shadows, and the hidden Phoenix Alliance guards received the command and departed. Qin Chang Ge descended the steps, draping her cloak over Qi Mo and seeing the bruises and bloodstains covering the woman’s body. Her gaze softened as she said gently, “You’ve suffered, Qi Mo.”
Qi Mo looked up in shock. She had thought that being caught in such a state would inevitably lead to humiliation, but the Grand Tutor didn’t ask her to explain anything and instead offered warm comfort. For a moment, thinking of how she had been forced to submit to enemies to protect and rescue the Princess during this period, enduring insults from nannies who didn’t know the truth – those who had been her daily companions treating her worse than this noble person who wasn’t particularly familiar with her – grief welled up from within and tears fell like rain.
Qin Chang Ge patted her shoulder and said, “You are loyal and devoted. You’ve endured through this period, and there will be good days ahead for you… Where is the Princess?”
Qi Mo wiped away her tears and said, “This servant knows. This servant will lead the Grand Tutor there.”
Passing by the bound fat man, Qi Mo couldn’t help but stop, tears in her eyes as she bit her lip viciously. Qin Chang Ge stood behind her with hands in her sleeves, saying calmly, “This person is yours to deal with. Just leave him alive for me to question.”
“Ahhhh!!!”
Blood splattered violently as Qi Mo viciously kicked and crushed the man’s groin.
The man rolled on the ground wailing in agony. Qin Chang Ge didn’t even look as she hurried away with Qi Mo.
Behind the kitchen was an inconspicuous storage room. Qi Mo carefully moved aside the woodpile in the storage room, revealing a dark hole. Qin Chang Ge frowned and said, “I rarely come to the back courtyard. I never noticed there was a hidden chamber here before.”
Qi Mo said, “Although Shanglin Nunnery is an imperial nunnery, no imperial family members have actually practiced here for many years. But every year palace maids are selected to be tonsured and enter the nunnery. These fake nuns, far from the emperor’s oversight, couldn’t endure the strict monastic rules and had some romantic affairs with outsiders. This cellar was probably dug out during that time.”
As they spoke, both had descended. Guards followed, but because the cellar was too small, only a few people could go down. The cellar was roughly and unevenly dug, winding and turning. The light from above couldn’t reach the bottom of the cellar at all. The cellar still faintly retained some unpleasant smell of pickled vegetables, and with poor air circulation, the darkness was filled with the stale, nauseating odor of preserved vegetables.
Qi Mo called softly, “Princess… Princess…”
No one answered.
Qi Mo was about to light the oil lamp in her hand when Qin Chang Ge stopped her, asking, “How many days has the Princess been here?”
Qi Mo answered, “Three or four days.”
“Don’t light the lamp yet, to avoid hurting her eyes.” Qin Chang Ge’s eyesight was naturally better than Qi Mo’s. She walked directly toward a pile of rotten cotton wadding in the corner, asking as she went, “You haven’t been able to come down before?”
“No one has been able to come down,” Qi Mo carefully groped her way, “I didn’t even know the Princess was here at first. I only knew she had suddenly disappeared, then we were all kept under watch with many strangers added. Later I had no choice but to…”
She was on the verge of tears again. Qin Chang Ge patted her shoulder in comfort. A guard wanted to step forward, but Qin Chang Ge stopped him. She was afraid that someone confined in darkness might be in a state of dishevelment due to confusion, and Princess Wen Chang was a Grand Princess who needed to maintain dignity. She personally stepped forward, channeling true energy into her hand as she lifted the motionless pile of rotten cotton wadding.
A pair of frightened eyes suddenly looked up. In the pitch-black darkness where one couldn’t see their own hand, those eyes shone with an abnormal brightness. As the cotton wadding was pulled away, the curled-up human form quickly burrowed deeper into the wadding, wrapping herself into a thick ball.
A flash of anger passed through Qin Chang Ge’s eyes.
Princess Wen Chang, who had always lived in luxury and honor, had never suffered any hardship in all these years. How dare these people try to trap her in this sunless cellar depths, intending to scare her to death or starve her to death!
Qin Chang Ge sighed and called softly, “Wen Chang… Wen Chang…” reaching out to touch the huddled figure’s shoulder.
Her gesture was about to make contact but hadn’t yet touched.
Sudden change erupted!
Cold light burst forth, brilliant shadows flashing like clouds suddenly illuminating the chaotic world. From within the cotton wadding, countless dazzling rainbow lights suddenly shot out, whistling as they enveloped Qin Chang Ge’s entire body!
Qin Chang Ge’s hand was still at the corner of the cotton wadding.
Amid cries of alarm, the guards behind rushed forward with great force.
With a swish, she powerfully pulled and shook the cotton wadding, making it stand firm as an iron plate. The brilliant light struck the cotton wadding with dull thumping sounds, piercing through the thin wadding and shooting directly at the person behind it.
But Qin Chang Ge had already grabbed Qi Mo and left their original position.
Several muffled groans, and two guards who couldn’t dodge in time fell to the ground with thuds, their bodies pierced with countless transparent holes, blood gurgling out.
Such powerful hidden weapons!
Qin Chang Ge sneered coldly as black silk silently flew out and wrapped around the neck of the black shadow trying to escape.
With a shake of her arm, she directly swung that person out like a giant hammer, slamming them into the cellar wall with a bang. With a rumbling sound, the earth wall cracked – it was only a thin layer. Amid the dust and yellow smoke everywhere, a person slowly raised their head from behind the wall’s interlayer.
Wen Chang.
Qi Mo, still in shock, rushed over shouting, “Princess!”
Qin Chang Ge retracted her black silk, quickly pulling that person back, casually sealing their pressure points and tossing them to the guards behind her, saying “Take them away! Don’t let him die! Question him thoroughly!”
Before her words finished, commotion could be heard from the opening above, as if someone was trying to stop something. Then with a muffled sound, a black shadow quickly rushed over. Before the person arrived, they called urgently, “Imperial Sister!”
Qin Chang Ge raised her eyebrows. Xiao Jue had arrived so quickly.
A gust of wind passed by her side as Xiao Jue had already rushed over, stepping forward to embrace Wen Chang, who was covered in dust and trembling constantly, having lost a layer of weight in just a few days. He said in a low voice, “Sister, sister, it’s alright, it’s alright now…”
Wen Chang slowly raised her vacant eyes, feeling from the silhouette and scent that it was Xiao Jue. Her whole body shuddered violently, and she suddenly hugged Xiao Jue tightly, crying loudly.
“A’Jue… she wants to kill you… she wants to pretend to be ill to trick you into visiting and then kill you… I heard it…”
Her fingers gripped tightly to Xiao Jue’s arm, veins bulging on her fingers. The pouring tears quickly soaked through Xiao Jue’s black and gold flying dragon robe. She seemed to use all her strength, desperately trying to vent all the panic, fear, terror, and grievance of these days.
Xiao Jue’s eyes reddened slightly as he gently patted his sister’s back, but fury and killing intent blazed fiercely in his eyes.
Qin Chang Ge didn’t disturb the embracing siblings, only turning her gaze toward Shengning Palace in the northwest direction of Shanglin Nunnery, showing a trace of cold smile.
The eleventh day of the ninth month in the fifth year of Qian Yuan, a night of autumn rain.
The autumn night rain silently and coldly painted layer upon layer over the earth. The palace walls and imperial roads of Shengning Palace, located in the northwest of Shanglin Mountain, all showed pale blue gleams under the rain’s moisture. The cypress trees planted around Shengning Palace were beaten by the rain-carrying wind, making pattering sounds. That monotonous sound added several parts of desolation to this quiet night.
In the rain, in the darkness, five thousand Shandun Camp soldiers stood quietly. So many people enduring wind and rain without even a single cough being heard, looking from afar like a row of stone tomb guardians.
Two red lanterns swayed through the rain curtain, carried by two little palace maids, followed by the head eunuch of Shengning Palace. It was nearly the hour of Hai, and he was going to check the doors and gates throughout the palace.
The old eunuch’s gaze swept over the thousands of armored soldiers patrolling outside the palace, his eyes showing slight worry. He looked up at the sky – a rainy night without even a trace of light, making one feel increasingly depressed.
…Storm clouds were gathering…
These soldiers had arrived at dusk and until now neither spoke nor moved, only surrounding Shengning Palace tightly. They also wouldn’t allow them to report to the Empress Dowager. An old hand like this eunuch who had been rolling around in the palace for many years, how could he not understand the danger in this? Not only did he not dare to report, he had to restrain all the palace maids and eunuchs to be cautious in words and actions, fearing that the slightest trouble would bring deadly disaster.
Only… whether they reported or not, the Empress Dowager would know… There were people everywhere here, some couldn’t get out, some couldn’t get in… Tonight was destined not to end peacefully. Both Concubine Yao and Concubine Shu were here, and now they couldn’t leave, anxious as ants on a hot pot…
The old eunuch was sighing and about to turn around when sudden commotion arose ahead.
Rapid sounds of horse hooves and wheels quickly approached, with a large contingent vaguely appearing. At the very front were thirty-six golden-armored cavalry, flying toward them like thirty-six golden whirlwinds.
The old eunuch’s eyes widened – His Majesty had arrived!
Ever since the Empress Dowager had been maintaining her health here, His Majesty had never come. Now arriving on a rainy night, it certainly wasn’t on a whim.
The old eunuch, who had heard his fill of the imperial family’s treacherous and bloody secret histories, was so frightened his hand went limp and the lantern fell to the ground and shattered, quickly igniting a small flame that created some eerie fervor in the desolate night.
With a rumbling sound, the palace gate opened. Almost without allowing any reaction, the thirty-six golden-armored guards swept in like wind, standing left and right, followed by the Imperial Guards who filled the palace courtyards and roads to capacity. Then the tall and jade-like Western Liang Emperor strode quickly inside.
Behind him followed a slender and graceful yellow-robed youth with casual bearing and elegant expression, yet with an air of looking down on everything. When his gentle gaze swept around like a bright moon, the old eunuch felt that his entire being, even his inner thoughts, were seen through completely.
The old eunuch’s knees went weak and he knelt by the steps, mumbling without knowing what he was saying. Xiao Jue and Qin Chang Ge didn’t even glance at him as they hurried through Shengning Palace’s long corridors, advancing rapidly amid the bowing and greeting sounds of palace servants. Xiao Jue’s steps were so swift, passing the fine grass on the side lawn of the eastern corridor. The grass prostrated beneath his black-bottomed gold-edged flying golden dragon brocade robe, just like this rivers and mountains, this empire, all people and officials prostrating at his feet.
He entered the inner palace at the fastest speed. While still in the corridor outside, he had just finished saying “Your son pays respects to the Empress Dowager” without waiting for a response, then coldly pushed open the palace door.
Inside the palace, three women looked up simultaneously – two frightened, one calm.
Xiao Jue stood at the palace entrance, his gaze slowly sweeping over the three faces. The anger that had been boiling suddenly subsided as he said flatly, “Mother Empress’s place is quite lively today.”
Without waiting for Empress Dowager Jiang’s response, he pushed the door and entered directly, completely ignoring Concubine Yao and Concubine Shu who timidly came forward to pay respects. Qin Chang Ge followed behind. Empress Dowager Jiang suddenly said, “Emperor, you are becoming increasingly lacking in manners. You even bring this outside minister into the inner palace?”
Xiao Jue said coldly, “In response to Mother Empress, this is Grand Tutor Zhao, currently serving as Minister of Inner Guards. According to Western Liang law, whenever the harem involves cases of treason, the Minister of Inner Guards has the right to carry imperial commands to enter and exit the palace forbidden areas to participate in trials. I wonder if this explanation satisfies Mother Empress?”
“Treason?” Even Empress Dowager Jiang’s calm voice showed cracks, and the two women on the ground looked up in horror, staring at Empress Dowager Jiang in amazement. Concubine Yao still didn’t understand, but Concubine Shu’s face had already turned deathly pale.
Xiao Jue sneered as he sat down boldly across from Empress Dowager Jiang, saying nothing.
Empress Dowager Jiang took a breath, placed both hands flat on her knees, looked up to meet Xiao Jue’s gaze directly, and said slowly, “Emperor, the Jiang family has always been in your palm for you to manipulate. You deposed the empress when you wanted to depose her, you can commit matricide when you want to commit matricide. You’ve exterminated the Jiang family, you’ve stripped all consorts’ relatives of power. You exclusively favored that vixen back then, and now rumors of your debauchery and male favorites spread throughout the court and countryside. All of this is up to you. Why must you fabricate such a shocking charge of treason to deal with your mother empress?”
“Mother Empress,” Xiao Jue bit down hard on these two words. He leaned forward slightly to look at Empress Dowager Jiang, his gaze sharp and fierce, as if wanting to see through this elegant woman before him, staring at her intently.
“Since you want to speak frankly tonight, I shall accompany you in speaking everything clearly. Perhaps this will be our last such conversation – I believe I have always been benevolent and righteous toward the Jiang family and toward you. But you have pressed me relentlessly. Rather than saying I want to commit matricide, it would be better to say you have always wanted to commit filicide. What was that golden crossbow about? What about Wen Chang? After Wen Chang heard your secret, you didn’t dare kill her for fear of alerting me, so you wanted to trap and frighten her to death! Last night you had someone report that your phoenix body was unwell to Longzhang Palace. If I hadn’t been busy with state affairs and Yu Hai hadn’t dared to disturb me without reporting to me, if I had known and come to see you, I would probably already be a corpse today, wouldn’t I? Mother Empress, if I were to die, who do you plan to enthrone as emperor? I imagine you certainly wouldn’t look favorably upon your six-year-old imperial grandson. So presumably you want to rule from behind the curtain? Following the example of Empress Dowager Yuan Gao?”
Every word Xiao Jue spoke came from between clenched teeth, each word cold as frost, each sentence piercing to the heart. Concubine Yao, kneeling on the ground, grew paler with each sentence she heard, finally swaying and fainting. Concubine Shu barely managed to support herself, prostrate on the ground and shivering.
But Empress Dowager Jiang coldly flicked her sleeve and said sternly, “Emperor, as the ruler of all under heaven, you must know not to speak lightly or act rashly. You say this dowager conspired in treason and attempted assassination – where is your evidence?”
Xiao Jue was actually stunned by her question. He had come in a rush with a chest full of indignant anger and a heart seeking justice for his sister. How could he have thought to collect evidence in such a moment?
Qin Chang Ge unhurriedly stepped forward and took out a bag of South Sea pearls from her sleeve pouch, smiling as she cupped them in her palm.
Concubine Shu’s expression immediately changed.
“These pearls, I wonder if Concubine Shu recognizes them?” Qin Chang Ge crouched down and poured the brilliant, gleaming pearls one by one in front of Concubine Shu, smiling gently.
“This palace… how would this palace recognize any pearls…” Concubine Shu looked away, too flustered to look at the rolling pearls. Meeting Empress Dowager Jiang’s stern gaze, the panicked light in her eyes gradually subsided. She steadied her breathing and said, “They’re just ordinary pearls. You want this palace to recognize them? What kind of attitude is this toward this palace?”
“Oh? Then it is this minister who was discourteous.” Qin Chang Ge smiled as before. Seeing her apologize, Concubine Shu’s courage grew and she said sternly, “Since you know you were discourteous, why don’t you—” Her gaze shifted to see Xiao Jue glaring at her viciously, and the words she had half-spoken were immediately scared back into her stomach.
“Your Highness may not recognize them, but this minister recognizes them,” Qin Chang Ge’s smile held no warmth whatsoever. “These pearls are of extremely good quality and can only be found in Yizhou near the coast. Because pearls transported from the Li Sea, apart from tribute items, are first sold in Yizhou. And such perfectly round pearls the size of thumbs can only be obtained by wealthy noble families. Moreover, this bag,” she shook the brocade pouch in her hand, “when turned inside out, the lining is a type of smooth brocade that can only be found in Yizhou… Concubine Shu, I remember you are from Yizhou?”
Concubine Shu’s face turned ashen. After a long pause, she stammered, “There are plenty of such things in Yizhou. You cannot pin such a grave charge on this palace just because I am from Yizhou!”
“Enough!” Xiao Jue roared in anger, and Concubine Shu trembled all over, no longer daring to speak.
A cold sneer curved at the corner of Qin Chang Ge’s mouth as she said softly, “Concubine Shu, no need to rush. Regarding evidence, as long as I want to investigate, I can find everything. Do you know? Your father’s clan residence in the capital has already been surrounded. With such a large family, there will always be one or two people whose mouths aren’t tight. Rest assured.”
She straightened up and said coldly, “I have to admire how well you all blocked information. If it weren’t for your inappropriate choice of people to guard Wen Chang – those indulging in female pleasures – and if it weren’t for the Princess’s personal maid using her own body to exchange for a chance to get out and notify me, His Majesty would probably have been assassinated today by the hidden forces under Grand Commandant’s men around Shengning Palace, wouldn’t he?”
She stepped out of the inner palace and made a single chopping gesture to the Shandun Camp commander waiting quietly outside!
Orderly footsteps immediately sounded, followed by sounds of fighting from the palace roof, corridors, gardens, and under bridges – everywhere people could hide!
Shouts of killing were everywhere, fires blazed everywhere. The continuous sound of roof tiles being shattered by fleeing and pursuing people came from the palace roof. The sounds of flowing robes and clashing weapons wove together like a net, covering the autumn rain-drenched Shengning Palace.
Amid those harsh collision sounds and sounds of bodies falling from overhead, the five people in the luxuriously warm, charcoal-heated inner palace remained completely silent.
All were silently confronting each other, silently listening to the collision between two forces – one that had been lurking for a long time, one that had come with accumulated momentum. Life and death struggle with no quarter given.
For a long time, the shouts of killing gradually died down. Groans could be heard faintly floating in the wind from afar, sounding somewhat chilling from a distance. The Shandun Camp commander strode through the accumulated rainwater and blood, splashing flying droplets of water and blood, loudly reporting, “Your Majesty, the treasonous villains have been suppressed. Total of two thousand people – three hundred seventeen dead, eight hundred twenty wounded, all the rest captured!”
The silent air became even more deadly quiet.
After a long while, Empress Dowager Jiang on her seat suddenly sighed and closed her eyes.
But Concubine Shu suddenly let out a wail and threw herself desperately at the knees of Xiao Jue, who sat unmoving with a cold smile.
“Your Majesty! Spare me! A couple for one day has kindness for a hundred days! This concubine is the only palace consort you have favored in these three years. You love me!”