“County Princess Linfen Li Wanxi, the eldest daughter of the former Prince Xi, granddaughter of the Emperor Emeritus, and Your Highness’s cousin,” Li Yuangui deliberately slowed his speech, enunciating each word clearly, “She was mysteriously killed on her wedding night, and a male token was found by her side… At Ganyesi Temple, Your Highness wasn’t merely ‘failing in familial harmony,’ but rather being too ‘intimate with family,’ weren’t you?”
Li Chengqian closed his eyes briefly, his lips pressed tightly together, his right hand on the writing desk clenched into a fist.
When Chai Yinglu had earlier told Li Yuangui about the Empress’s reaction to the blood-jade thumb ring and deduced Li Chengqian’s intimate relationship with his cousin, Li Yuangui had been skeptical and thought that even if true, it wasn’t a major issue—having grown up in the imperial palace, he had heard too many similar scandals. But seeing Li Chengqian’s reaction now, he gained new insight.
Counting this Crown Prince’s disappointing actions to date: colluding with Consort Yin (his parents’ mortal enemy), persecuting his young aunt, neglecting and mistreating his legitimate wife, and having an affair with his cousin—any of these alone might be dismissed as “youthful indiscretions and unstable character,” insufficient to threaten his position. But taken together, these misdeeds clearly showed Li Chengqian’s extreme disrespect for his bloodline—the very reason he was made Crown Prince—and his willful behavior easily reminded one of the tyrannical Emperor Yang of Sui who destroyed his dynasty.
Additionally, with the fire at Ganyesi Temple, the successive security breaches at Da’an Palace, the Emperor Emeritus’s shock, and assassins running wild in the imperial gardens, Li Chengqian, who was in charge of security for the imperial gardens and Da’an Palace, couldn’t escape blame—this showed his “incompetence.” Wrong attitude combined with incompetence, plus having a favored younger brother Prince Li Tai of Yue who shared the same mother…
“Your Highness, Daoist Priestess Chai, and Palace Servant Wei have arrived.”
A sudden announcement came from outside—Chai Yinglu and Wei Shubin had been brought for questioning. They had needed more time to tidy themselves up. Li Yuangui hoped they had coordinated their stories and wouldn’t say too much…
Li Chengqian opened his eyes, let out a long breath, and his expression calmed.
“So,” he spoke to Li Yuangui first, ignoring those outside, “you were deceived by the barbarians, went with Sixth Uncle Prince Zhao to let them into the Seventeen Princes’ Compound, then were taken hostage by them at midnight, but fortunately escaped? You had no prior knowledge of this, Fourteenth Uncle?”
“Exactly. Your Highness is perceptive.” Very good, worthy of being the future Emperor of the Great Tang, decisive in the moment.
Li Chengqian’s thin lips curled into a bitter smile, and he muttered almost inaudibly, “Will Father believe this…”
“I request to withdraw,” Li Yuangui couldn’t think about what would happen when the Emperor arrived yet, “Seventeenth Sister is still waiting for my rescue…”
Li Chengqian gave him an irritated glare, turned his face away, and called out to the door:
“Fourteenth Uncle, return to your residence and do not leave. Be ready for His Majesty’s summons at any time!”
The meaning was clear: Go home and wait obediently. If you disobey and runoff, that’s your own responsibility, nothing to do with me.
Li Yuangui rolled his eyes, naturally not bothering to argue, and rose with a respectful acknowledgment to leave. Chai Yinglu and Wei Shubin were standing outside the Eastern Pavilion, both women now cleaned up and changed. The three exchanged glances, all giving slight nods.
“His Highness summons Priestess Chai and Lady Wei for questioning!”
As the servant’s announcement rang out, Chai Yinglu led the way with Wei Shubin following behind into the pavilion. Thinking about how Li Chengqian might intimidate them, Li Yuangui’s heart tightened.
But he was powerless to help, and there were more urgent tasks waiting outside.
Li Yuangui strode out beyond the Eastern Pavilion courtyard, found a horse among the clamoring crowd outside the ruins of Da’an Palace, mounted it, and galloped toward the Seventeen Princes’ Compound. Halfway there, he saw Sixth Brother Prince Zhao Yuanjing dejectedly following Zhang Shigui, both walking toward the Eastern Pavilion while talking. Feeling guilty, he avoided them without greeting them. Sixth Brother had been purely dragged down and severely implicated by him this time…
The Seventeen Princes’ Compound was also a scene of busy chaos, with people coming and going. It seemed the imperial guards had discovered the path the assassins had taken into Da’an Palace at night. Li Yuangui rode straight home, and just as he entered his residence gates, a servant ran out from the gatehouse:
“Your Highness! Yang Kuzhen sent me back to report…”
“Silence!” Li Yuangui dismounted, gesturing for him to follow to a quiet place to speak. This servant was named Achen, one of two servants he had sent with Yang Xinzhi to search for his sister.
Achen had just returned and was still catching his breath as he reported that Yang Xinzhi’s party had first taken tracking dogs to Palace People’s Lane, where the Seventeenth Princess was last taken. That night there had been many people and mixed scents, making it difficult for the dogs’ noses. After struggling for many hours in the night and making several large circles, the dogs finally picked up something near the northern fence of the imperial gardens, leading the search party north, straight to the banks of the Wei River.
The main road crossing the river north of the imperial gardens was at the convenient bridge directly opposite Xianyang City on the north bank. In this late winter and early spring dry season, the bridge deck was high above the water, convenient for carts and horses. During summer floods, there were docks on both banks for ferries, with warehouses and dwellings housing many boatmen and merchants. People called it “Xianyang Ferry West Market,” the first bustling small commercial town north of Chang’an.
But the tracking dogs led the search party not toward the bridge, instead continuing several li west along the south bank of the Wei River. At a hidden bend in the river, they discovered a remote small dock.
“A private ferry dock?” Li Yuangui frowned as he asked. Achen nodded: “Several merchant ships were moored at the dock, all empty. Master Yang said it might be a private crossing point set up by merchants to evade taxes and inspections.”
The bridge, being both an official road and a checkpoint for northbound traffic from the capital, naturally had guards posted, and merchant caravans couldn’t avoid some extortion. For well-established large merchant groups, this wasn’t a major issue, as they had long since greased all the necessary wheels, and frequent small shipments by private boats at small docks wouldn’t be very convenient. However, some small-time traders were very concerned about bridge taxes and willing to seek private crossings.
Private ferry docks couldn’t operate officially and were generally set up in remote locations far from official roads. People like An Yan naturally wouldn’t use official roads to take and hide the Seventeenth Princess. He was a merchant from the Western Regions, familiar with the roads leading west from Chang’an’s northern areas, and there should be many of his fellow merchant countrymen trading in the small commercial town north of the bridge…
“Does Master Yang believe the barbarians took Seventeenth Miss across the Wei River by private ferry? Heading toward Xianyang?”
“Yes,” Achen replied, “Master Yang took his men across the river to continue the pursuit and ordered me to return to report to you, Young Lord Fourteen…”
“Let’s go!” Not waiting for him to finish, Li Yuangui decisively turned and called for his mount. He didn’t know how much longer his strength would last, but even if he died of exhaustion, he would die on the road to rescue his sister.