By the middle of the night, the rain over the mountains had weakened. After joining forces with Zhang Yue, Prince Ling’s troops rested briefly in a hollow valley on the western side of Mount Pingnan.

Things had gone wrong quickly. An hour earlier, word had first spread through the army of Pei Lan’s betrayal, and then Yun Xi had appeared at Mingyin Temple with the Zhongyong forces, joining Pei Lan to crush Xuanwu and Huaiji’s armies. It was said they had even rescued Cheng Chang amid the chaos of battle.

Learning that Cheng Chang was still alive, Prince Ling was not surprised.

It wasn’t that he had much faith in Cheng Chang’s own abilities.

Ever since Luo Fuyou had sent word that Emperor Zhaoyuan had forced Cheng Chang to remain at Wenxian Terrace, Prince Ling had already guessed his father’s intent to kill had been decided.

Yet somehow, he had a nagging instinct that Cheng Chang would survive — just as he had survived the fall from the cliff at Baiyun Temple, just as he had survived the fire at the Imperial Guard Bureau. It was as though this man had some divine protection watching over him.

Zhang Yue’s army had retreated from the northwest of Mount Pingnan, where they had run into the Palace Front Command’s imperial guards.

Only then did Prince Ling realize that Emperor Zhaoyuan had anticipated his rebellion all along, and had planted men in advance, intending to wipe out both him and Cheng Mingying in one stroke.

He too was his father’s own son by blood, yet this father of his seemed never to have considered him at all — willing to let him and Cheng Chang destroy each other, all to secure a peaceful reign for Cheng Xu.

But no matter. Being born into an imperial household meant that the bond between father and son had long since worn thin; it was already fortunate enough that they hadn’t openly become mortal enemies. At this point, he no longer cared which side Emperor Zhaoyuan favored.

Prince Ling had never expected this campaign to go smoothly — raising a rebellion in a time of peace was, from the very start, a gamble with his own life. But ever since news of Pei Lan’s betrayal had come, the situation had only worsened by the hour. Zhang Yue’s men had been crushed by the Palace Front Command, while on the other side, Xuanwu and Huaiji had been driven back by Yun Xi.

Now he rested in the hollow valley, waiting for Xuanwu and Huaiji to arrive and regroup.

Beside him, Zhang Yue, seeing the rain had thinned, relit his torch and asked for instructions: “Your Highness, what should we do with these people?”

He meant the several bound members of the imperial clan and their households tied up beneath the trees — when the gunpowder had gone off at noon and Tian Ze had led his party to take shelter at Chuien Palace, several clan members had been left stranded in the mountains, unable to return. Tian Ze had sent the Household Guard to search for them, but they had instead been found by Zhang Yue’s men first and bound as hostages.

Prince Ling looked them over. Among them, only the only son of the Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and the County Mistress of Pingyang were of any real value; the rest were people of no particular consequence.

Prince Ling said: “Keep them for now. We’ll decide later.”

He closed his eyes to rest for a while. Then, from beyond the mountains came the sound of marching troops; opening his eyes, he saw shadows of soldiers approaching nearby — Xuanwu and Huaiji had finally arrived.

Zhang Yue hurried to greet them: “How many men do you have left?”

“A little over forty thousand,” Huaiji said.

At first, having fallen for Pei Lan’s deceptive scheme, they had lost several thousand men and were on the verge of collapse. Fortunately Huaiji had cut his losses in time, and seeing morale crumbling, decided not to keep fighting Pei Lan and Yun Xi, leaving behind two thousand men to hold the rear while withdrawing the bulk of his forces.

Hearing that Huaiji still had forty thousand men left, Zhang Yue found it hard to believe, and personally made the rounds with a raised torch to check — seeing the mountainside dense with soldiers, he finally let out a breath of relief.

With their combined forces now totaling seventy thousand, the situation remained far from favorable. Not to mention the Palace Front Command’s army stationed outside Chuien Palace — Yun Xi and Pei Lan also commanded many fierce generals of their own. Should they clash with them again, it would likely be another brutal battle.

Xuanwu said: “Your Highness, Pei Lan’s betrayal today was truly unexpected. He was already a traitor to begin with, and to prove his loyalty, he was bound to clash with us. Even if we manage to defeat his troops, what remains of our exhausted, battered forces stands no chance at all against Xuan Zhi.”

“Indeed, Your Highness,” Zhang Yue added. “As long as there are green hills, one need not worry about firewood. Since we have no hope of victory now, we should change course and head north at once. With seventy thousand troops, if we head north, few armies along the way could stop us.”

But heading north — to what destination? Zhang Yue left the rest unspoken.

In this rebellion of his, beyond the binary of victory or ruin, Prince Ling actually had a third path — to flee to the northern frontier, carve out a territory along the borders of Great Sui, declare himself king there, and then slowly plot his next move.

But to do this, he would inevitably have to ally once more with the Daman tribe’s Second Prince.

Such a thing was treachery with a foreign power — far too shameful to speak of aloud.

Hearing this, Prince Ling gave no clear response, and instead asked Huaiji: “Is there still gunpowder left in the mountains?”

Huaiji said: “The cache buried to the southwest has already been detonated, cutting off the road between Jinling and Mount Pingnan. I’ve also buried some in the mountains behind the temple, but that’s too close to Chuien Palace to be of any use.”

To detonate that gunpowder, someone would have to go there in person — but the area behind the mountain was patrolled by the Palace Front Command’s troops, who would certainly grow suspicious if Prince Ling’s men suddenly showed up there, and would prepare defenses in advance.

Prince Ling asked again: “Where is Cheng Mingying now?”

“The Third Young Master has gone toward Chuien Palace.”

“He’s going to Chuien Palace?” Prince Ling was taken aback.

Huaiji said: “Yes. General Mingwei had originally planned to escort the Third Young Master down the mountain, but for some reason, she changed her mind.”

After today’s chaos at Mingyin Temple, Emperor Zhaoyuan would surely not let Cheng Chang off easily. Having just been rescued by Yun Xi, he should have descended the mountain at once — regardless of anything else, Emperor Zhaoyuan was already near the end of his life; once this crisis passed, a new order would follow in due time.

But thinking it over carefully, Prince Ling understood the reason behind it.

Going to Chuien Palace must have been Cheng Chang’s own idea.

With the mountains in chaos, it was still unclear who was traitor and who was loyal. Yun Xi had come to Mingyin Temple in violation of her house arrest in the first place — if she escorted Cheng Chang down the mountain before her own loyalty was established, and Emperor Zhaoyuan later branded her a rebel, she would never be able to clear her name, no matter what she did.

For Cheng Chang, descending the mountain would indeed have been the safest choice.

But if he went down the mountain, he would no longer be able to protect Yun Xi.

Prince Ling gave a bitter, mocking laugh in his heart — he truly hadn’t seen it coming, that this cousin of his, who had grown indifferent to everything since his fall into the water, would one day fall so deeply, so sincerely for a woman.

But this was good, actually — it gave him one last chance at survival.

Prince Ling said: “We’re not retreating. We’re going to Chuien Palace too.”

———*—

Inside Chuien Palace, the lamps flickered on and on. Midnight had long since passed; aside from Emperor Zhaoyuan, whose health could not bear the strain and who had retired to a side hall to rest, all the other members of the imperial clan and court officials remained waiting in the main hall.

A fine drizzle wrapped the quiet night in a hazy veil. Tian Ze kept glancing anxiously toward the hall’s entrance — batch after batch of Palace Front Command men had been sent out, yet still no sign of the clan members left stranded in the mountains. Fortunately, word had just come that Yun Xi had led troops to Mount Pingnan and, joining forces with Pei Lan, had already rescued Cheng Chang from the chaos of battle.

By now, Tian Ze too had begun to see the pattern behind it all.

The reason Emperor Zhaoyuan had insisted on keeping Cheng Chang alone at Wenxian Terrace earlier was likely to find an opportunity to have him killed amid the chaos of battle.

Yet though he was an imperial prince himself, having only just returned to the palace, he had little power of his own; caught now in the undercurrents of the power struggle, aside from Tian Si and Cheng Ye, he had almost no one he could truly trust.

He could only keep sending men from the Household Guard out to gather information, hoping to bring this rebellion — which, in the end, had all started because of him — to a swift end while Emperor Zhaoyuan rested.

Before long, a scout from the Household Guard came to report: “Reporting to Your Highness, the heir apparent and General Pei Lan of Mingwei are leading troops toward Chuien Palace. They are currently waiting at the foot of the mountain — does Your Highness wish to summon them?”

Hearing that Yun Xi had come, Tian Ze said at once: “Bring them to the hall immediately.”

“Your Highness, I believe this would be unwise.” At this, an old official stepped forward to object. “General Mingwei was clearly under house arrest until now — for her to suddenly bring troops to Mingyin Temple to aid the emperor today is highly suspicious indeed. How could she possibly have known in advance that Prince Ling would rebel? And what of General Xuanwei? Why has he not come? In my view, it would be best to have General Mingwei wait at the foot of the mountain for now, and observe how things unfold.”

Among the clan members in the hall, many were Emperor Zhaoyuan’s trusted confidants, and those who understood the emperor’s true intentions naturally spoke in his favor.

But Tian Ze answered calmly and without haste: “General Mingwei brought troops to aid the emperor precisely because she learned of Prince Ling’s plans in advance through Pei Lan — what is suspicious about that? Mingwei and Pei Lan have rendered great service in repelling the enemy. Let us not keep them waiting too long at the foot of the mountain, lest we chill the hearts of our soldiers.”

“Jinghuan.” Having said this, Tian Ze called out to Cheng Ye.

“Present.”

“Go down the mountain at once and bring them here.”