One by one, the palace lanterns were lit, yet the palace city remained wrapped in an unsettling silence. Eunuchs moved swiftly through the corridors and pavilions with lowered heads and subdued voices, relaying the Empress Dowager’s newly issued decree to all corners of the palace.
The gates of Linhai Hall were indeed not sealed shut, but who would dare risk their head to go watch the commotion? The palace servants did not know exactly what had transpired within the hall; they had only seen the decree in black and white, stamped with the Empress Dowager’s seal that was still wet and soaked in blood.
Consort Dowager Wu had been sleeping fitfully for days. Some time ago, Lu Lingcong had sent word saying that the transition between spring and summer brought unpredictable weather and that Lu Shuqing had caught a slight cold. He had been staying at the estate to care for him and had avoided entering the palace to pay his respects, worried that he might transmit the illness to his mother. Although it was no great matter, her heart remained uneasy, and she could get no definite answer regarding Lu Lingzhen’s return date.
Awakening from a light sleep, she caught the sound of hushed whispers and raised her voice to ask, “What is going on?”
The servants of Mingluan Hall shared a silent understanding regarding the news of Lu Lingzhen’s death, but they could not bear; and did not dare, to inform Lady Wu. They had just received another message from Prince Zhao, instructing them not to take a single step outside Mingluan Hall for the next few days. Meals and water would be delivered as usual, and once matters had settled, he would personally come to receive Lady Wu.
“It is nothing,” a servant hurried to reply. “The wind outside knocked over a flower stand. Please go back to sleep, Niangniang.”
“No, I cannot sleep soundly.” Lady Wu shook her head while sitting up and draping a robe over her shoulders. She ordered someone to light the lamps. “Bring me that unfinished jade belt. When Zhenzhen returns in a few days, it will go perfectly with the new summer clothes tailored for her.”
After receiving the Empress Dowager Wang’s decree, Lu Lingcong’s first action was neither to go to Mingluan Hall to seek out his mother, nor to resolve the standoff between the two Yulin Guards.
He did not even hurry to leave Linhai Hall. Instead, he held his position and ordered a squad of the Hewei to “escort” the head eunuch of Linhai Hall, who carried the Empress Dowager’s token, out of the palace to deliver an order: close every gate of Jinling City.
Within the Imperial City, news spread outward from its center at Linhai Hall. However, after Lu Lingcong ordered the gates sealed, information outside the Imperial City, but still within the capital, began to flow inward from the four city gates.
Consequently, the high and low-ranking commanders of the Yulin Guards all caught wind of the situation in no time and rushed into the palace overnight.
Although Cui Jishi was an Outer Military Aide of the Yulin Guards in charge of several thousand men, he was not the highest authority. On equal footing with him were the Central Military Aide, and above him stood the Outer and Central Supervising Commanders, as well as the overall commander-in-chief—the general of the Yulin Central Guard, none of whom were easy to deal with. Among these people were both members of the Wang faction and sons of other aristocratic clans; none of them could truly be considered aligned with either the Cui clan or Prince Zhao’s Mansion.
The general of the Yulin Central Guard was a clansman of Wang Chu. Last year, during the spring hunting at Mount Tang, after the previous Central General followed Lu Lingzhang’s orders and “accidentally” let Lu Shuqing escape, Wang Chu had him removed and personally elevated this man to the position.
He called out to Cui Jishi from a distance, “You have privately conspired with Prince Zhao to trump up charges against the Prime Minister’s Mansion. Do you intend for the entire Cui clan of Qinghe to follow you in becoming rebels?”
“General Wang’s words are quite mistaken,” Cui Jishi merely sneered. “Prince Zhao has just obtained a decree from the Empress Dowager. Do you intend to frame the Empress Dowager herself for ‘trumping up’ charges? Her Majesty is most devoted to the state, daring to set aside her kinship with the Wang clan of Langya; unlike you, General, whose head is filled with nothing but your own private schemes!”
Lu Lingcong arrived at Gongche Gate just as these words reached his ears. The barracks of the Yulin Guards were also located within the Imperial City, and the soldiers had gathered there en masse since early morning, awaiting orders. Thus, when the general saw him, his instinct was to raise his hand and command his troops to engage.
However, the strategic advantage of Lu Lingcong having captured the armory first became apparent at that very moment—the off-duty Yulin Guards were unarmed. Even if they refused to be swayed and chose to oppose him, there was little they could do.
Moreover, he also carried the Empress Dowager’s handwritten decree.
Lu Lingcong called out in a powerful voice while remaining firmly seated upon his horse without even unsheathing his sword, “When a sage ruler ascends the throne, he prioritizes benevolence and filial piety above all. To avenge the Eldest Princess is the ‘benevolence’ His Majesty shows as a brother; to follow the Empress Dowager’s decree in purging the Prime Minister’s Mansion is the ‘filial piety’ he demonstrates as a son. General Wang, as the commander of His Majesty’s personal guard, if you continue to follow Wang Chu’s directives, you first disregard the grievance of the Eldest Princess’s sacrifice for the state; second, you scorn the integrity of the Empress Dowager in upholding justice over kinship; and third—you force the Son of Heaven into a position of being neither benevolent nor filial!”
He shifted his gaze to scan the area and looked into the face of every commander present. “Generals, the Son of Heaven and the Empress Dowager are our sovereigns, while all of us here are their subjects! Throughout history, has there ever been a case where ministers caused their ruler to be cast as lacking benevolence or filial piety?”
Having finished, he tossed the scroll to a Hewei beside him and said with chilling coldness, “Take the Empress Dowager’s decree to the generals. Let them read it properly and carefully. It is late and dark—make sure not a single word or sentence is missed.”
The scroll was passed from one person to another. They read it in turn while exchanging hesitant glances. Finally, it was passed back to General Wang. Just as he was about to speak in rebuttal, his subordinates behind him had already dropped to their knees across the grounds, trembling as they cried out,b”We respectfully obey the Empress Dowager’s decree and stand ready to serve the Empress Dowager and His Majesty!”
“If all of you truly possess such resolve and loyalty, then tonight’s incident at the Gongche Gate would be of no consequence. It would merely be a case of an imperial decree failing to be conveyed in time, causing some misunderstanding among the Yulin Guards; loyal men who are one heart with the Son of Heaven, and nothing more.”
“However,” Lu Lingcong raised an eyebrow, looking at the Central General who was now caught in a dilemma, and said indifferently, “if His Majesty and the Empress Dowager were to ask about this in the future, General Wang should consider carefully what you would have me reply.”
General Wang glared back at him coldly. However, everyone around him had submitted to the Empress Dowager’s handwritten decree. Although he had been promoted by Wang Chu, it was an open secret that there was a rift between the Sovereign and the Prime Minister. If Prince Zhao truly were acting on the emperor’s orders to deal with the Prime Minister’s Mansion, he could not help but fear a future reckoning by the emperor.
After a long silence, he had no choice but to dismount without a word and kowtow toward the Empress Dowager’s decree to show his submission.
Lu Lingcong let out a faint sneer and no longer spared him a glance. Turning back to Cui Jishi, he said, “I leave all palace affairs entirely in your hands for mediation, Lord Cui. Guard every gate of the Imperial City, the Palace City, and all halls to the death. Without my order, no one is permitted to enter or leave.”
He looked back toward the Linhai Hall and Shenlong Hall shrouded in the ink-black night, “Those who are already inside are to remain there in peace; those that are empty are not to allow anyone in.”
Not long after the city gates were locked, news reached the Capital Prefecture Army. Several of the primary generals had followed the emperor out of the city. Once the old subordinates of the Tiger Division remaining in the camp received the message, they knew it was time for them to be of use. Having already exchanged secret communications, they were fully equipped and assembled, merely waiting for their former master’s command.
The orders Lu Lingcong gave were to split the troops into five routes. He himself would lead the Hewei from Taichu Palace, while the Tiger Division veterans in the four great camps and the “rebelled” Capital Prefecture Army also required leaders to head for the North City Gate by the Yangtze River to congregate, and then “reclaim” the Son of Heaven from the hands of the Wang family.
However, military power is unlike other matters that require management; Lu Lingcong would only feel at ease entrusting the Tiger Division to someone entirely trustworthy. Coupled with Lu Lingzhen’s unexpected absence, the number of dependable candidates was sparse.
Mufu Mountain and the North Camp are not far apart, so Xiao Yao took temporary command of both. The East Camp lies in the same direction as the Li Mansion, so it was handed to Li Qi. Meanwhile, Zheng Xiao, who originated from the West Camp and commanded great prestige and deep-rooted connections there, naturally took charge of it. But the remaining South Camp—both the furthest from the destination and the unit with the weakest ties to Prince Zhao’s Mansion faced the uncertainty of being leaderless.
Yet at that moment, Zheng Xiao’s children and Li Qi’s nephews—Li Ye and Li Kuang, volunteered to take command of the South Camp.
Though the siblings were young and did not outwardly resemble martial artists, with Li Ye being serene and Li Kuang reserved—they had actually followed their father and uncle through the capital’s military circles since childhood and were well-versed in martial arts and military affairs.
Setting aside the shelved marriage between Li Ye and Xie Jun, the three of them were first and foremost like-minded close friends. However, a few days ago at the Star-Plucking Tower, when Li Ye and Li Kuang suddenly reunited with their “long-deceased” friend and lover after four years, they showed no signs of great joy or sorrow. After the initial shock, both of their expressions turned cold in unison, and they could not even bring themselves to exchange pleasantries.
At the time, Li Qi told Lu Lingcong: “As expected of twin siblings; they are resentful that Jun’er gave no word for four years, and they’ve lost their tempers.”
Zheng Xiao, who was always the clumsy-tongued “good old man,” spread his hands with a wry smile: “How can I make the decisions regarding the affairs of the younger generation? I have no choice but to let them settle it among themselves.”
Consequently, Lu Lingcong kept things strictly professional; aside from detailing the plans for the night of the uprising to the Li siblings, he asked nothing else.
After being replaced by the Yulin Guards, Xie Jun was free to lead the Xuanshi guards away from Mingluan Hall. He returned to Lu Lingcong outside the palace walls to prepare for their next objective: the North City Gate.
While Lu Lingcong ordered the deputy general of the Hewei to muster the troops, he asked Xie Jun, “Do you wish to come with me, or remain here to guard the palace?”
“Naturally, I will go with Your Highness.”
Lu Lingcong deliberated for a moment, “I know you are anxious for revenge, but you are the only immediate kin your little uncle has left. He surely must have exhorted you to preserve your own life at all costs.”
He gazed at Xie Jun and said solemnly, “Jun’er, you are Zhiwu’s own nephew; we are family. I must protect you, but I also want you to do what you desire. Therefore, as long as your heart is set, I will not stop you.”
Xie Jun thought for a long while, then said slowly and firmly, “Your Highness has suffered the painful loss of the Eldest Princess, while my little uncle bears the hatred of a clan’s extermination; neither is faring any better than I am. Since both of you have gone to such lengths by possessing the patience to plot, the courage to rise up, the daring to venture into danger alone, and the lack of fear in living beneath the gates of your enemies while enduring humiliation—then what do I have to fear?”
Hearing this, Lu Lingcong knew his resolve was clear and asked no more. He raised a hand to straighten Xie Jun’s shoulder armor, suddenly noticing the weapon at his waist had been changed, “Where is Flying Light? I recall you have kept it with you all these years.”
Xie Jun smiled slightly: “On the day I reunited with my little uncle, I finally returned it to him. He told me that Flying Light was the first gift Your Highness ever gave him; although it is a lethal blade meant for drawing blood, for him, its use as a weapon for self-defense is far surpassed by its use as a means to steady his heart.”
When Lu Lingcong arrived at the North City Gate, the veteran units of the Tiger Division had already finished assembling and were stationed beneath the city walls. Zheng Xiao spurred his horse forward to report: “Aside from the forces stationed at Mufu Mountain, who are holding their position, the remaining twenty thousand or so men of the Tiger Division, together with ten thousand from the capital garrison willing to defect, make a total of roughly thirty thousand; all gathered here.”
“That is enough,” Lu Lingcong said. “The Prime Minister’s Mansion only took twenty thousand with them in total.”
However, Xiao Yao approached with a somber expression and handed him a military report, saying: “The scouts I dispatched returned just before the city gates were locked. They say that before Wang Chu followed His Majesty out of the city, he was concerned about the capital being left vacant and privately sent a message to Cheng Wen, the Prefect of Huaiyang to order him to mobilize his troops to protect the throne and prevent any unrest. Currently, the Huaiyang garrison is less than five days’ journey from Jinling.”
Zheng Xiao frowned, “Your Highness said that night that among the surrounding commanderies, only Cheng Wen of Huaiyang is uncooperative and refused to ally with the Prince Zhao’s Mansion; moreover, he has always feared the Prime Minister’s Mansion, so it is only natural he would deploy troops. But if Wang Chu uses His Majesty’s banner and applies pressure to Jiyin and Xiapi as well…”
Lu Lingcong remained quite calm while simply waving his hand, “Tomorrow at dawn, the moment the Empress Dowager’s edict is proclaimed throughout the capital, the Jiangnan clans aligned with Jun’er’s maternal family; those he contacted earlier, will immediately submit memorials to the Department of State Affairs, listing the numerous crimes of Wang Chu and the Prime Minister’s Mansion. By then, Wang Chu will have neither sentiment nor law on his side and will be unable to use His Majesty’s banner at all. Even if he uses threats or inducements, the various commanderies can simply feign ignorance and ignore him.”
Xiao Yao continued, “At the same time, Wang Chu sent Wang Qi personally to Kuaiji Commandery to gather grain and provisions from the estate of the Wang clan of Langya and have them transported north to the capital. I suspect this is meant to ease the urgent needs of the twenty thousand troops and the various officials over the next few days.”
Zheng Xiao was taken aback for a moment before catching on, “His Majesty and the officials were originally supposed to return to the city today after receiving the Eldest Princess’s coffin. Bagua Islet is a solitary island in the middle of the river; once a stalemate is prolonged and their retreat is cut off, providing rations for over twenty thousand people will become a massive problem. No matter how much grain the Prime Minister’s private estates produce, they cannot sustain such a drain for many days!”
Lu Lingcong nodded and said faintly, “Whether he wants to fight or play a game of attrition is not up to him. If he wants to play these sinister tricks, I will see him through to the end.”
On the eleventh day of the sixth month in the fifth year of Jingyu, the North City Gate was opened. Prince Zhao led more than thirty thousand troops to encamp along the banks of the Yangtze River, facing from afar the forces the Prime Minister’s Mansion had brought out of the capital. Former comrades of the capital garrison now leveled spears and halberds at one another, the two sides locked in a tense standoff.
Rumors that “the Prime Minister’s Mansion was the true culprit behind the Eldest Princess’s death for the nation” spread rapidly among the people of the capital, yet because the emperor and the court officials were all under the Prime Minister’s control, no ruling on the matter from the Son of Heaven, the highest authority, had yet come.
The stalemate was not entirely without conflict. Xiao Yao, Li Ye, and Li Kuang each led troops into battle once; though they all returned victorious, the scale of these skirmishes was limited and failed to directly change the overall situation.
The Empress Dowager’s Edict was now known to everyone; it was nearly impossible for the Prime Minister’s Mansion to clear its name or gloss over the situation by claiming the decree was a forgery. Even though the scholar-clans submitted memorials enumerating the Prime Minister’s various crimes of abusing power for personal gain and seizing wealth through land annexation, these were all matters the common people were already aware of. The heavy crime that truly acted as a stone cast into water and stirred up a thousand waves and caused public resentment to boil over, was the murder of the Eldest Princess, who had long held great prestige and won the hearts of the people.
On the fourteenth day of the sixth month, the Right Prime Minister Wang Chu, who had been missing for days, suddenly appeared. He arrived at the front lines without his official cap and dressed in plain white robes. At the same time, atop the highest floor of the Jade Terrace—a grand and magnificent pavilion on the nearby riverbank, a person with his hands tied behind his back was pushed to the edge of the terrace, directly facing the two armies.
The soldiers of the Tiger Division focused their eyes to look closely, and all were struck with horror—it was the person who was once the spouse of their commander, Princess Consort Zhao, and now the Right Vice Minister of the Department of State Affairs and a minion of the Prime Minister’s Mansion: Xie Jing, Xie Zhiwu.
At the other end of the riverbank, behind Wang Chu, stood Lu Lingzhang, whose face was obscured by the surrounding imperial procession along with a dense crowd of cautious officials who did not dare to breathe a word.
Wang Chu pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve and held it high, “The letter received by the Eldest Princess before her martyrdom was personally written by the traitor Xie Jing in the Quxia calligraphic style and bears his private seal. The evidence lies here in black and white for all to examine!”
An uproar broke out along the riverbank as he followed up with a cold, sharp shout, “Prince Zhao has distorted the truth, framed the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and deceived the Empress Dowager; his intentions are damnable! The Wang clan of Langya upholds justice for the officials and the people; we hold Criminal Xie here and request that His Majesty pass sentence so as to appease the soul of the Eldest Princess in heaven!”
