At nightfall when gates were being closed, Prince Chengxue-jin, Duke of Su, and Left General-in-Chief of the Army Cheng Yaojin led dozens of guards with torches and weapons to storm into Zixu Temple, specifically seeking to arrest Prince Wu Yuanji and his treasurer Yang Xinzhi.

When servants rushed into the private chamber to report this, everyone was shocked. Chai Yingluo suddenly stood up and commanded:

“Fourteenth Uncle Yang! Quick, head towards the mountain behind the alchemy furnace, climb over the wall, and hide in the forest! I’ll hold off General Cheng for a while…”

Northwest of Zixu Temple was a hill where Chai Yingluo had set up her alchemy furnace room in the mountain – Wei Shubin had been there before. That area was densely forested; after climbing over the temple’s low wall, the terrain outside was crisscrossed with ditches, making it easy to hide. Yang Xinzhi agreed and started to leave, but Li Yuanji hesitated:

“What’s the point? We can hide for now but not forever. I might as well go with him and face whatever charges myself. The sooner this is settled, the sooner my mind will be at peace!”

“Stop talking nonsense!” The temple master furrowed her brows. “While you’re on the run, I can still slowly petition the Empress for leniency. Once you’re arrested and sent to the law courts for interrogation, who could help if things escalate? Yang Elder!”

At her call, Yang Xinzhi understood. He went forward, grabbed Li Yuanji, and dragged him towards the door. The young prince still tried to struggle when Wei Shubin called out softly: “Fourteenth Lord!”

She lacked Chai Yingluo’s quick-witted eloquence and could only plead with her eyes, but the effect was just as good. When Li Yuanji turned to look at her, his resistance immediately weakened, allowing Yang’s bulk to drag him out the door and disappear.

Chai Yingluo took a deep breath before striding out to meet Cheng Yaojin at the temple entrance. Wei Shubin followed closely behind. As soon as they left the small courtyard, they saw torch flames everywhere outside. Over a dozen fully armed guards with bows and sabers stood waiting inside and outside the mountain gate, and in the middle was a man in purple robes with a foolish smile – it was Cheng Yaojin, who had just taken command of the Northern Garrison.

General Cheng looked just as she remembered – towering in stature, face covered in black hair, with an extraordinarily large belly. But this time instead of secretly watching from afar, she faced him directly. Beyond his fierce appearance, she could sense the mountain-like steadiness of this battle-hardened general – he did resemble the muscular guardian statues in temples and would look even more fitting with a small demon crushed under his feet.

Who would that demon be…

Chai Yingluo called out her religious title and greeted Cheng Yaojin with the status of an imperially appointed female Daoist. He casually asked about “your honorable father” and joked that “it’s been years since I visited Master Chai’s residence,” clearly positioning himself as an elder to the female priest. Given that he and Chai Shao had commanded troops together in battle before, this wasn’t entirely presumptuous. After exchanging pleasantries for quite a while, Cheng Yaojin finally brought up his real business:

“I have received Her Majesty’s order to arrest the main culprits of the Great Peace Palace incident. I heard Prince Wu and another are here. I ask the Venerable Master to cooperate and not make things difficult for old Cheng, haha.”

“May I ask General, who told you Prince Wu was in my temple?” Chai Yingluo asked calmly. “I am but a humble nun – how dare I harbor imperial fugitives? Perhaps the General heard wrong, or someone deliberately spread false information to mislead you. Praise be to the Infinite Heaven, what a sin indeed.”

“Ah, little Miss Chai’s words put old Cheng in a difficult position.” Cheng Yaojin chuckled. “I didn’t hear wrong – old Cheng isn’t so old as to be deaf and blind yet. Her Majesty gave the order personally; I wouldn’t dare disobey even if I had seventeen or eighteen heads. The men must be taken away. Your Zixu Temple is an imperially appointed inner sanctuary that cannot be searched carelessly, and your parents are imperial relatives and founding ministers whom Her Majesty respects. Old Cheng wouldn’t dare act rashly. So what should we do?”

Standing behind Chai Yingluo, Wei Shubin quietly let out a breath, then heard the female priest speak in an icy tone:

“In that case, it’s getting late. General Cheng, please return. The temple residents need to rest.”

“Speaking of which, how interesting – how did I know Prince Wu was at Zixu Temple?” Cheng Yaojin continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Old Cheng was coming to the capital from Yuanzhou and passed through Xianyang. One night… in a certain courtyard, what do you know – wasn’t that Yang Consort’s fat son? Later when I arrived at the capital and had an audience, chatting with Her Majesty, oh, so that’s what happened… Then I went straight to Xianyang, asked some people who knew about that night, hehe, and got the same answer as the Venerable Master – no such person! In other words, they’d already fled!”

Chai Yingluo remained silent. Wei Shubin’s heart jumped as she understood – Cheng Yaojin had gone to Xianyang to find Lawyer Pei. Though Pei hadn’t revealed Li and Yang’s whereabouts – or had revealed it but they were already gone – he had admitted to sheltering the two men.

“Running is fine, young folks have long legs and run fast, no big deal. Old Cheng asked around some more – what did they chat about with Prince Wu… oh, maybe about going to the Court of Judicial Review? So I went to ask there. They hadn’t seen those two, but another young fellow had been there…”

So this was how Cheng Yaojin had traced Li Yuanji’s whereabouts… He had lifted the arrest order at the city gates to let them return to Chang’an confidently, while he followed a vague lead himself, found the key witness, and logically tracked them to the Chai siblings.

Wei Shubin couldn’t see Chai Yingluo’s expression but imagined it couldn’t be good. The matter now involved her blood brother and possibly her father – the female priest had much more to consider. The eldest daughter of Minister Wei thought for a moment before stepping forward:

“This humble one has a question for General Cheng.”

Cheng Yaojin had assumed she was just a temple maid. Seeing her step up, he paused and looked questioningly at Chai Yingluo. The female priest explained:

“This is the eldest daughter of Minister Wei Xuancheng. She is temporarily residing in our temple to practice the Dao and pray for her mother’s health – Shubin, what did you want to ask General Cheng?”

They were trying to buy time for Li and Yang to escape anyway. Wei Shubin gathered her courage and improvised:

“This humble one has heard that ancient sages established the night curfew to guard against thieves and villains, to regulate work and rest times, and to separate the inner and outer spheres. I’ve also heard that military law values strictness and that fortress gates must not open at night. Today General Cheng, tasked with guarding the imperial grounds, opens military gates at night and leads fierce troops into an inner sanctuary where women practice cultivation, declaring intent to search – what exactly are you trying to do?”

Cheng Yaojin burst out laughing: “Hahaha, truly worthy of being old sheep-nose Wei’s daughter – you look and talk just like your father! Little miss, let me tell you – don’t meddle in this! I’m here on imperial orders to arrest criminals! The palace decree says arrest men, not women, so you’re safe for now, but who knows about later!”

“Arresting criminals has its proper procedures,” Wei Shubin’s stubborn nature emerged, “In broad daylight, following proper channels, presenting imperial edicts or official warrants before taking people away – since when did it involve storming imperial grounds at night to search for people? Is the General trying to imitate Jiang Chong, entering the palace at night to plant evidence of witchcraft? Or copy Cao Mengde, breaking into the palace to capture and kill consorts? Or perhaps the General compares himself to the Princes of Zhao and Qi of Western Jin, sneaking into the palace at night to arrest Empress Jia…”

“Ahem, ahem.” Chai Yingluo coughed beside her. Wei Shubin realized her mistake – in rattling off historical examples, how did she end up referencing the evil Empress Jia Nanfeng… Fortunately, seeing Cheng Yaojin’s confused expression, he probably didn’t understand. She quickly changed direction:

“…igniting the War of the Eight Princes that buried centuries of unified empire! Zixu Temple is an imperially appointed inner sanctuary that honors the imperial ancestors. The High Priest is the only daughter of Her Majesty’s birth sister, an officially ordained Daoist master. General Cheng showing such disrespect – are you not taking the imperial ancestral temples seriously?”