Qin Huaiyuan said in a deep voice, “People from Prince Zhongshun’s mansion. I am former Minister of Rites, Qin Meng. How is the situation in the mountain now?”
Upon hearing they were from the prince’s mansion, and that Qin Huaiyuan was a renowned capable minister who, though no longer serving at court, still maintained his reputation, Wang Su breathed a sigh of relief.
“Just now the Emperor was leading various officials into the underground palace to investigate, saying they had discovered traces of treasure in the underground palace. Who would have thought that just after entering, there was a tremendous explosion inside. We who were guarding outside tried to go in, but when we reached the entrance to the underground palace, there was another explosion. Flames shot out from the opening, and many brothers were burned and injured by the blast. After the flames died down, the entrance was blocked!”
“So you’re saying the Emperor is currently in the underground palace?”
“Yes!” Wang Su said anxiously, “At the time, the Emperor had Prince Zhongshun, Prince Consort Ji, and several ministers and nobles with him. Because the passages in the underground palace are narrow, their procession was stretched quite long, so I deduce they must have been scattered after the explosion. The collapsed rocks from various areas will surely have separated them.”
Wang Su scratched his head, his temples throbbing with worry.
Why did he have to be on duty when such a thing happened?
The brothers from the Five Military Camps’ Capital Guard Office had been searching and excavating in the underground palace for so many days without encountering any explosions or collapses, but just when the Emperor personally came with his ministers, disaster struck!
If anything really happened to the Emperor, these people probably wouldn’t even be qualified to be buried with him. Death by a thousand cuts would be considered too lenient—they’d probably all be burned alive to satisfy anyone’s anger!
Wang Su shuddered and quickly shouted to his men behind him, “Quick, rescue people first! Dig open the entrance, save people!”
Now there was no need to wait for the Empress Dowager’s orders. All soldiers and officers outside Chong Mountain were mobilized to excavate at the underground palace entrance.
Qin Yining was carried by two Tiger Guards to near the entrance of the underground palace halfway up the mountain, where they set her down under a large tree. The Tiger Guards then began helping Qin Huaiyuan and Huzi move stones alongside the Capital Guard Office personnel.
Qin Yining had Bingtang and Ji Yun attending her. She sat rigidly on the sedan chair’s soft seat, staring blankly at the scene before her and listening to the noisy shouts and cries for help, her mind feeling as if heavy hammers were pounding in it.
Whenever someone crawled out of the cave entrance, Qin Yining couldn’t help but stand up to see if it was Pang Xiao or someone she recognized. She repeated this countless times, never tiring.
Because she was pregnant, she couldn’t help with anything and could only sit there anxiously. Besides waiting in worry, she seemed unable to do anything.
Time passed bit by bit. As more and more rescued officials emerged, Qin Yining’s complexion grew increasingly pale.
Because Pang Xiao was not among them. Moreover, from their descriptions, the situation inside the underground palace was truly not optimistic.
“The interior is divided into many burial chambers. We were at the rear of the procession, so we were closer to the underground palace entrance. The Emperor and Prince Zhongshun were walking at the very front and had long since disappeared from sight.”
“Does anyone know the structure of the interior burial chambers? The Capital Guard Office people should know, right?”
Wang Su was immediately called forward to discuss with Qin Huaiyuan, taking paper and brush to draw a map of the underground palace’s interior.
Qin Yining wanted to move closer to look, but there were too many people there. Everyone was eager to rescue people and anxiously wanting to see the map. Since she couldn’t contribute anything and it would be inconvenient to push through the crowd, and even if she saw the map it wouldn’t be useful, she had to sit back down.
By afternoon, the sun was already trending westward. Most of the rescued officials had been sent back to the city.
The Empress Dowager had few trustworthy people to begin with, and this time the higher-ranking imperial relatives had all been brought to Chong Mountain by Li Qitian.
Several clan descendants, after being rescued from the underground palace, some were seriously injured while others were completely terrified, fearing further incidents on the mountain. They all found excuses to leave first, showing no intention of staying to help.
With no other choice, the Empress Dowager arranged for Li Weiliang, the chief eunuch of Ci’an Palace, to come and take charge.
Li Weiliang was in his thirties, tall and handsome with clear features, but his eyes held some arrogance, and he wasn’t particularly easy to talk to. While he could serve the Empress Dowager attentively and thoroughly, in front of outsiders he was the haughty chief official of Ci’an Palace.
Previously, when he had worked alongside Li Guanwen, his position had always been inferior to Li Guanwen’s, which rankled him. Later, when he followed the Empress Dowager in her palace, his status still couldn’t match Li Guanwen’s.
Now that such a major incident had been assigned to his management, his thoughts inevitably became somewhat arrogant.
Li Weiliang led a group of eunuchs and palace officials in commanding the scene.
“The rescued officials should return to their mansions first. Even if you’re concerned about the Emperor, it’s not appropriate for everyone to remain here, is it?”
“This matter should still be left to the Capital Garrison and Capital Guard Office personnel to handle.”
“Sir, if there’s nothing else, this servant will arrange for someone to escort you back to your mansion immediately.”
“And you, sir? You are?”
Li Weiliang approached Qin Huaiyuan with raised eyebrows, inquiring.
Qin Huaiyuan cupped his hands, “I am Qin Meng.”
“Oh. So you’re the former Minister of Rites, Master Qin? Why are you here? You’ve already retired—you should properly be at home enjoying your golden years.”
Qin Huaiyuan smiled slightly, “Surely Eunuch Li wouldn’t be unaware that Prince Zhongshun is this old man’s son-in-law? Moreover, the Emperor is currently still in the underground palace. This old man brought the prince’s mansion guards to help in order to rescue people as quickly as possible.”
“Ha.” Li Weiliang sneered coldly, then said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “Who knows? With such an incident occurring, this servant doesn’t dare trust anyone lightly. Besides, you’re no longer an official now. Wouldn’t it be better for Prince Zhongshun’s mansion guards to be managed by the mansion’s steward?”
Hearing Li Weiliang’s increasingly inappropriate words and seeing his attitude that revealed what the Empress Dowager really thought of them, Qin Yining stood up and said, “Eunuch Li, please don’t waste your breath here. Rather than spend this time talking, you’d be better off focusing on rescuing people.”
Li Weiliang stared at Qin Yining and sneered, “You wouldn’t happen to be Princess Consort of Prince Zhongshun, would you? This servant heard that you were the one who previously guessed there was gunpowder buried in the underground palace and even tried to force your way into the imperial mausoleum with people?”
Qin Yining could hear the distortion and provocation in Li Weiliang’s words but remained unmoved: “If you had listened to my report to the Emperor earlier and had the Emperor leave the underground palace sooner, things wouldn’t have reached this point.”
Li Weiliang cupped his hands and sneered, “The Empress Dowager was just wondering how the Princess Consort knew about the gunpowder in the underground palace. Originally, this servant was planning to visit the prince’s mansion to inquire about the matter. Since we’ve met now, please enlighten this servant, Princess Consort.”
Qin Yining’s brow furrowed, “I was present at the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet that day and heard the Emperor order someone to recite that phrase. I’ve been pondering it deeply until now before understanding, but unfortunately I was still a step too late.”
“Oh? Was it truly an inadvertent step too late, or was it deliberately a step too late?”
Li Weiliang looked at Qin Yining with sarcasm, “This question—if the Empress Dowager were present, she would certainly ask you as well. You’re a woman with an inconvenient condition—you shouldn’t remain here. Return to your mansion to wait for news. Later, when the Empress Dowager has time, she might just summon you to the palace for a thorough questioning.”
Qin Yining looked at Li Weiliang with a cold expression.
Seeing the increasing smugness on the man’s face, combined with her inability to find Pang Xiao and the overwhelming worry and anxiety in her heart, all these emotions surged up at once.