As she spoke, Cheng Yaojin was rubbing his large belly, his eyes blinking rapidly, seemingly unable to keep up with her words. It wasn’t entirely his fault for lacking education – Wei Shubin herself felt her thoughts were scattered and directionless, but this wasn’t a debate at the women’s academy… whatever.
“Listen, Miss Chai,” Cheng Yaojin, dazed for a moment, ignored Wei Shubin and spoke directly to Chai Yingluo, “if you think old Cheng has been disrespectful to your Venerable Master, or disrespectful to Her Majesty the Empress, ah, you can go report me directly to the throne, no problem. When old Cheng was risking his head fighting battles with Her Majesty, you young ones weren’t even…”
Before he could finish, suddenly there was a commotion from behind the courtyard wall, growing closer, with faint cheers of “We caught them!” Chai Yingluo and Wei Shubin exchanged pale looks, while Cheng Yaojin slapped his belly in delight, cursing “Their grandmother’s milk, what took so long,” and turned to exit the temple gate.
The temple people couldn’t help but follow out the door. They saw a group of soldiers carrying torches coming around from the western wall. As they drew closer, they could see two tall young men in the middle of the crowd – one sturdy, one thin – it was Li Yuanji and Yang Xinzhi.
Their headwraps were askew and their clothes were dirty and torn from fighting. Their waist daggers had been taken away, though fortunately there was no obvious blood on them. As a royal prince, Li was given preferential treatment – the guards hadn’t even bound them with ropes, just held weapons against them as they pushed the two forward empty-handed. Both wore dejected, gloomy expressions.
Wei Shubin felt her heart plummet into an endless abyss. Her legs went weak and she wanted to both scream and cry. At that moment, an arm reached out and steadily supported her waist.
Cheng Yaojin strode toward the group that had captured the fugitives, first asking a few questions to verify they had the right people, then clasped his hands in greeting to Li Yuanji saying “Pardon me,” before waving for the guards to take them away. He sauntered back to the temple gate with his big belly, looking pleased:
“Miss Chai, I’ll tell you something – this temple of yours was a military camp for the Prince of Qi’s guards before Zhenguan. Back then, Her Majesty had us plan countless times on wooden maps – if we were to attack, which positions were strategic points, where archers could provide cover, where camp residents would likely try to slip away… It’s been ten years but old Cheng’s memory isn’t bad, haha…”
Chai Yingluo remained silent. Wei Shubin, supported by her arm, suddenly understood.
Cheng Yaojin had never intended to search the temple.
His show of force at the gate was meant to provoke Li Yuanji and Yang Xinzhi into fleeing, while he had men waiting outside to catch them. This was much simpler and more convenient and avoided the crime of unauthorized entry into an imperial temple at night.
Their youthful schemes and calculations were laughable before a veteran who had truly waded through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
“General Cheng,” Chai Yingluo spoke, her voice much gentler, “Prince Wu is the Retired Emperor’s beloved son and Her Majesty’s trusted brother. The Great Peace Palace incident has many hidden circumstances. You know the Retired Emperor’s current condition – he cannot withstand any disturbance. I hope the General will consider carefully and treat the Prince and his servant well, not cutting off all paths…”
Wei Shubin could barely hear how Cheng Yaojin responded or how Chai Yingluo bid him farewell. She stood there in a daze until a maid helped her back into the temple, stumbling step by step into a room, collapsing onto what might have been cushions or a bed, staring blankly.
They were taken… what to do… how to save them?
“Shubin!”
Chai Yingluo’s voice called her back to the present. Looking up, she saw the female priest’s grim face in the lamplight:
“Pack up, we’re leaving tomorrow morning too.”
“What?” Wei Shubin didn’t understand. “We’re leaving too? Where to?”
“Silly girl, think about it,” Chai Yingluo sighed. “General Cheng now knows your identity. He commands the palace guards and can meet your father frequently. If your father hears you’ve returned to Zixu Temple, wouldn’t he-“
“Rush over immediately to take me home.” Wei Shubin’s mind finally cleared somewhat. “Right, I can’t stay here. I need to go-“
But where? To Consort Chai’s mansion? Her father could just as easily storm there to demand her return. To the Suobo residence of the Hu clan temple? After what happened to Master An and his son, who knew who was in charge there now or what the situation was like? To the Pei family farm in Xianyang? Cheng Yaojin had already found Lawyer Pei; she couldn’t further implicate the siblings…
In this vast world, where could she find refuge?
“Come with me, I have a place where you can stay temporarily for a few days,” Chai Yingluo said slowly. “Weren’t you planning to meet your mother at Xingsheng Temple? It’s only a few days away. Talk with her then, and we’ll discuss what to do after.”
Wei Shubin nodded, then grabbed Chai Yingluo’s hand, tears welling up:
“Sister Ying, what about Fourteenth Lord and Master Yang…”
“Don’t worry. At least they won’t suffer physical torture,” Chai Yingluo comforted her. “General Cheng may seem rough but he’s quite astute. Fourteenth Uncle and Master Yang have always had good relationships with the imperial guard. With the Yin siblings dead, no one will take revenge or secretly harm them. Think of it as being locked up for some rest – they’ve been exhausted lately… Ah, we who must find ways to rescue them are the ones suffering more!”
Despite her sorrow, Wei Shubin couldn’t help but laugh at Chai Yingluo’s words, though tears still streamed down her face. Wiping them away, she choked out “I’ll listen to Sister” and the female priest nodded:
“Get some sleep first. When dawn comes I’ll have someone help you pack. As soon as the palace gates lift the curfew, we’ll leave early – the longer the night, the more dreams there are.”
After giving instructions, Chai Yingluo rose to leave, but Wei Shubin called out again:
“Sister Ying… do you have any ideas about how to save them?”
“I have several thoughts, but haven’t sorted through them yet,” the female priest sighed. “Their crimes can’t be denied, so we can only pursue the path of ‘redemption through merit.’ Her Majesty gave Fourteenth Uncle two tasks – investigating Lady Yi’s case and finding the Crown Prince of Tuyuhun – both ended halfway. If we could solve either one, we’d have something to use in pleading to Her Majesty…”
“We’ll investigate for him!” Wei Shubin rose with determination. “No matter how difficult or dangerous, we’ll continue the work!”
Chai Yingluo gave her a tired and desolate smile, like ripples from fallen flowers on water, deeply etched in memory, lingering long after.
Notes:
1. Historical references Wei Shubin used to criticize Cheng Yaojin:
(1) Jiang Chong planting witchcraft evidence in the palace at night: In Emperor Wu of Han’s later years, favored minister Jiang Chong conducted a reign of terror, planting “evidence” of witchcraft throughout the palace. This led to the deaths of tens of thousands, including the empress and crown prince, with hundreds of thousands more implicated. This is known as the Witchcraft Incident.
(2) Cao Mengde storming the palace to capture the empress and kill consorts: The incident of Cao Cao breaking into the palace to kill Emperor Xian’s Empress Fu and Consort Dong is recorded in “Book of Later Han, Annals of Empresses, Part 2.” This wasn’t fabricated by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
(3) Princes of Zhao and Qi of Western Jin sneaking into the palace to arrest Empress Jia: Empress Jia Nanfeng, wife of the mentally challenged Emperor Hui of Jin, had committed many evil acts. During the War of Eight Princes, the Prince of Zhao Sima Lun ordered the Prince of Qi Sima Jiong to break into the palace at night to arrest Jia Nanfeng. Despite her loud protests, she was eventually forced to drink poison, but by then the chaos in the empire was beyond repair.
2. The “Prince of Qi’s Guards” during the Wude period of Tang’s founding, like the Prince of Qin’s Guards, was originally a special wartime arrangement but became a private army for the princes, directly leading to the Xuanwu Gate Incident. The New Book of Tang, Volume 55, Officials Part 4 records the detailed organization of these two princes’ establishments.
The normal guard units for imperial princes were the “Inner Household” and “Personal Affairs Office,” handling protection, security, and ceremonial duties. However, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji’s guards had additional organizations called “Left and Right Six Guard Commands” – Left One Right One, Left Two Right Two, Left Three Right Three, and six additional guard management institutions. Each of these six commands led to certain numbers of household troops. While the Inner Household and Personal Affairs Office together commanded only about a thousand men, the Left and Right Six Guard Commands led approximately eighteen thousand troops.
Although these 18,000 men likely rotated duty in the capital during peacetime rather than all being present simultaneously, it was still a considerable force. With so many guards directly under Li Er and Li Si’s command, there must have been dedicated military camps near the Prince of Qin and Prince of Qi’s residences to house them. These troops were likely the main forces involved in the fighting inside and outside the palace gates during the Xuanwu Gate Incident.