Steadying herself, Hua Zhi considered her strategy against the enemies before her.
The opposing side would certainly want to end this quickly and would not allow the standoff to drag on. Just as she was thinking this, she saw people emerging from Fushou Palace — one after another, perhaps around twenty of them.
An Yi’s heart sank. Holding off the previous group had already been their absolute limit; not only could they not handle dozens more, even five additional enemies would crush them.
“An Er, protect His Highness and retreat along the way we came. I’ll cover the rear — move!”
With those words, An Yi gave several rapid hand signals and charged out first. An Er, without the slightest hesitation, shielded His Highness and began withdrawing along the route they had entered.
The hidden shadow guards also shifted positions. They did not go to reinforce their leader An Yi — regardless of any circumstances they encountered, protecting their master came first. That was the very purpose of their existence.
With the shadow guards launching a frenzied assault, the Chaoli tribespeople were momentarily unable to break free. Hua Zhi seized this opportunity and, keeping her body low, slipped out from hiding. A shadow guard who heard the movement nearly struck out, pulling back only at the last instant upon recognizing her.
The Crown Prince’s taut body relaxed slightly the moment he saw the Grand Tutor. He had known it — the Grand Tutor would surely come!
“Your Highness, come with me. The rest of you, hold them off.”
The shadow guards looked to the Crown Prince, who nodded without hesitation. Even if half of Daqing had gone over to the Chaoli people, he trusted that the Grand Tutor stood on his side.
There was no time to waste. Hua Zhi took the Crown Prince’s arm and ran toward a section of the palace — an unoccupied hall. She could not win in a fight; no matter how many ways she turned the problem over, she always arrived at the same conclusion. Their only option was to hide and wait for reinforcements. Fu Gang was somewhere in the inner palace and should arrive shortly.
Their luck was not great. The moment they pushed the door open, the stench of blood hit them. Almost by instinct, Hua Zhi turned and covered the Crown Prince’s eyes — but quickly she lowered her hand and bowed her head in apology. “Your subject overstepped.”
Inside the hall, palace maids and eunuchs lay in bloody heaps, the blood pooling beneath them into a crimson stream. The Crown Prince gripped the Grand Tutor’s arm, staring at this scene of carnage, his pupils contracting sharply. This was… this was…
Hua Zhi pushed him forward and pulled the door shut behind her. Steeling herself, she dragged the Crown Prince deeper inside, cautioning him as they went: “Do not let your shoes touch the blood — we will be found.”
The Crown Prince drew a deep breath and, keeping his eyes low, followed the Grand Tutor’s footsteps to an open space beside the heap of bodies. Hua Zhi crouched down and examined the floor carefully; only when she was certain no footprints had been left did she let out a breath. She pushed the Crown Prince further in and positioned herself on the outer side — this was the spot least likely to be discovered.
The Crown Prince sat on the ground, staring numbly at the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood before him. “They lived to serve me, and now they die to protect me with their bodies.”
“Then let Your Highness remember them — remember this feeling of powerlessness. A nation governs through civil officials, yet it also requires military generals to serve as a deterrent. Prioritizing the military over civil affairs brings no blessing to the people, yet placing excessive weight on civil affairs at the expense of the military leads to having no generals worth using and invites humiliation from others — just as we see in our current predicament. Our enemies have studied Daqing’s weaknesses with perfect clarity. If Daqing had even a few more capable military commanders, how would a small Chaoli tribe dare attempt such a daring gambit?”
Hua Zhi kept her ears pricked toward the sounds outside while conducting an impromptu lesson for the Crown Prince. “Your Highness must also bear this in mind: a situation like the entire court depending on the leader of the Seven Lodges must never happen again. A nation strong in only one person is useless — that person cannot split himself into many. The moment something goes wrong, one person alone cannot be anyone’s savior.”
“Yes. I will remember it.” He would remember it always. The Crown Prince watched the Grand Tutor before him — her slight frame shielding him from behind — and thought of her gesture earlier, covering his eyes as they entered the hall. The small stirring in his heart dissolved into warmth. He did not need much. Only that what he had now might still be his on the day he died. That would be enough.
Sounds came from outside. Hua Zhi raised her dagger in her right hand, holding it across her chest, ready to strike at any moment. Her left hand opened instinctively, shielding him further behind her as she eased backward a step.
The door was pushed open. Someone entered and went directly toward the far room, then she heard a voice: “No footprints on the floor. They’re not here.”
The people inside departed swiftly. The sound of footsteps grew distant. The door had been left open. Both of them strained their ears toward the sounds outside; when Fu Gang’s voice rang out — “Seize them!” — Hua Zhi sank down onto the ground.
They had waited for it at last.
Even if the imperial guards could not hold on indefinitely, having more hands would at least provide some resistance. As long as they waited for the Seven Lodges to arrive, the situation on the battlefield would stabilize.
“I never imagined that Nanny Yuxiang was a Chaoli tribeswoman. She served Grandmother for an entire lifetime… how could I have been on guard against her?”
“No one could have imagined it. To devote a lifetime to accomplish a single thing — on that point, I respect her.” Something occurred to Hua Zhi and she turned to look at the Crown Prince: “The one who is called the Wiseman is surely no longer young, and would not easily show himself. The most likely place he would be right now is at the Empress Dowager’s side. In a moment, please have Your Highness send someone to slip inside and assess the situation. Whenever possible, we must bring the Empress Dowager out — we cannot allow the other side to hold such a great bargaining piece.”
The Crown Prince agreed without reservation, yet — “Grandmother, she…”
“The Empress Dowager will come to no harm.” Hua Zhi stated it with absolute certainty. “The Empress Dowager is their shield. Until their goal is achieved, they will not do anything to her.”
Yes — precisely so. The heavy stone in the Crown Prince’s heart settled down at last. Just then, a loud bang sounded from outside, startling him enough that he instinctively covered his ears.
Hua Zhi felt a surge of elation. The Seven Lodges had arrived — and they had brought black gunpowder. With that to aid them, it did not matter how formidable the Chaoli tribespeople’s physical conditioning was; it would count for nothing!
Several more bangs followed in quick succession. Hua Zhi instructed him: “Your Highness, stay here. Your subject will go and assess the situation.”
“Grand Tutor.”
Hua Zhi looked back.
The Crown Prince stepped forward, moving past her. “I will go with the Grand Tutor.”
Hua Zhi paused for a brief moment, then, there beside the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood, she bowed her head and smiled. She was not afraid of a ruler without sentiment — she had already mapped out a retreat for herself and Yanxi. Yet if a ruler proved to be a person of feeling and honor, that was of course best. Who would ever want to watch a child they had raised grow into someone who forsook all bonds of kinship?
The two of them crouched at the door’s edge, watching the bloody battle raging outside. As they observed the powerful Chaoli tribespeople being blasted through the air, a fierce satisfaction rose in the Crown Prince’s heart. You invaded our borders, slaughtered our countrymen, and humiliated my elders — this is the price you pay!
“This is black gunpowder. What does Your Highness think of it?”
“Formidable!”
Another bang entered their ears. Hua Zhi’s expression grew complex. “Every weapon is a thing of great violence, and black gunpowder is no exception. It all depends on whether the hands wielding it are good or evil. We use it now to protect our nation, yet if this substance fell into the hands of another country it would become a sharp instrument for that country’s invasion. Therefore, as the one who provided this weapon, your subject earnestly requests that Your Highness keep a firm rein on this dangerous thing and not allow it to flow outward lightly.”
The Crown Prince, eyes unblinking as he watched the scene outside, nodded with deep feeling. “I have seen its power. Once this matter is resolved, I will carve out a dedicated battalion to handle this weapon — and with that, the members of the Seven Lodges will also have a place to go. What does the Grand Tutor think?”
“Excellent.”