It was the hour of the fourth watch1, the hour of the rooster’s crow.
The sky was still dark, and lanterns were lit under the eaves of the main courtyard. The new maid was waiting in the courtyard with a lantern. When she saw the two people coming out, she held a lantern to lead the way.
Ye Yunting sent Li Fengqi to the gate of the palace before stopping his steps. Although his expression was calm, Li Fengqi knew what he was worried about. He gently patted the back of Ye Yunting’s hand, moved from the wheelchair to the sedan chair, lifted the sedan curtain and waved his hand towards Ye Yunting. “Go back and rest.”
Ye Yunting nodded to him and watched the bearer lifting the sedan chair, followed by Wu Geng pushing the wheelchair, and the group headed towards the palace.
It took about two-quarters of an hour to go from the Prince’s palace through Zhaohe Main Street to the Taihe Hall2.
Zhaohe Main Street, which was bustling during the day, was very quiet at this time. As the old saying went, “People come at the first watch, gongs at the second watch, ghosts at the third watch, and thieves at the fourth watch1.” It was the time when people slept most deeply. There was only the dim light of lanterns and the dull sound of footsteps on the streets. Occasionally, there would also be other officials on the way to court, with those who were familiar with each other would exchange sleepy-eyed greetings.
Closer to the imperial palace were more sedans coming from various mansions. A group of major and minor officials rolled up the curtains of the sedans to catch up on small talk. The most mentioned topic was the events of the previous evening, when Prince Yong’an left the palace to greet the old Wangfei.
It was said that Prince Yong’an, who had been fatally poisoned for a short time, had actually recovered quietly.
Not all officials knew what had previously happened in the palace. But those who serve as officials in the court were not only smart; they also know how to observe people’s faces and emotions. Even if they didn’t know the exact situation within the royal residence, they could make a few guesses based on the emperor’s current attitude.
Everyone had secretly guessed impending collapse of the once-prosperous Yong’an Palace.
Some people sighed, while others gloated. But everyone unanimously remained silent. After all, Prince Yong’an’s life was not for long. It was really not a wise move to offend the emperor for a dying person. What’s more, those officials who were close to Prince Yong’an in the past were all silenced one by one; it wasn’t going to be their turn to take the lead.
Everyone stood their ground, just waiting to see where Prince Yong’an would end up. But they didn’t expect to be caught off guard by Prince Yong’an in the blink of an eye. Officials, big and small, with their own positions and factions, were all whispering about the subsequent impact of this incident.
Qi Shao, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, tucked his hands in his sleeves and said, “Today, all of you must be more cautious in your speech.”
All the officials tacitly understood that with Prince Yong’an doing well, His Imperial Majesty’s mood would certainly not going to be good. In this bad time, anyone of them might lose their hats and their heads.
“I’m afraid that the sky is about to change.” The old Imperial Censor carried a heater and squinted at the brightly-lit imperial city.
With the rabbit dead, the dog was cooked; with the bird gone, the bow was hidden. It was something seen time and time again throughout the ages. But the power gap between the Emperor and Prince Yong’an was too wide. Nowadays, if one didn’t kill a snake, there would be endless troubles. Prince Yong’an was not a clay Bodhisattva who couldn’t fight back.
Everyone was silent for a moment, silently speculating on the future situation in the court. Someone in the darkness suddenly exclaimed: “Is that the sedan chair of Prince Yong’an?”
Everyone was startled and followed the sound to see.
They saw a sedan that was taller and more spacious than ordinary sedans parked silently on the side. They didn’t know when it came. The curtain of the sedan was hung down so that no one couldn’t see to its interior, but the word “Yong’an” could be seen embroidered on the lower right corner of the curtain, looking especially eye-catching.
All the ministers stared at the hanging curtain of the sedan chair, wishing they could find a way to look inside.
Qi Shao, who was good friends with Li Fengqi, raised his eyebrows and asked loudly: “Is this the Prince Yong’an?”
As soon as his words fell, he heard a clear voice reply: “It’s been a long time, gentlemen. Have you been well?” At the same time, the low-hanging sedan chair curtain slowly rolled up, revealing Li Fengqi’s faintly-smiling face.
It really was Prince Yong’an!
All the officials were so shocked that they could hardly contain the emotions on their faces. They’d only heard the fortuitous news about Prince Yong’an yesterday evening, and today before dawn, they arrived to attend the court meeting.
It was clear that he was coming with great vigor.
They remembered what the imperial censor said just now, and feared that the sky really was about to change.
The various officials had different thoughts. The ministers who had always been close to Li Fengqi all came up exchange pleasantries, while the others listened with their ears pricked up.
Someone asked, “Wangye has just recovered from a serious illness, why don’t you rest for a few more days?”
Li Fengqi’s voice was neither high nor low, as cold as ice, and had a certain gloom in the dark: “I have something important to report to His Majesty.”
The crowd pondered what important matters Prince Yong’an had at the moment.
Before they could come up with a clue, they heard the bell ringing and the imperial palace gates opened wide.
The crowd had to stop talking, get off their sedan chairs and line up to go into the imperial city. After crossing the Jinshui Bridge4, they arrived at Taihe Hall.
The group of ministers lined up and climbed up the stairs. Only Li Fengqi was sitting in a wheelchair and was pushed up from the side by Wu Geng. When they arrived at the entrance of Taihe Hall, the Taihe Hall chamberlains took over.
Wu Geng handed the wooden box containing Zhao Yan’s head to the chamberlain and told him, “Carry it carefully, but don’t drop it.”
The chamberlain accepted it obediently before pushing Li Fengqi into the hall.
The crowd lined up according to their official positions, with Li Fengqi’s wheelchair at the front. Everyone was already standing in line when they saw a late-comer arrive, dressed in white and plain clothes. It was Taifu Han Chan.
Han Chan’s face looked a little pale. He glanced at Li Fengqi and stood beside him, side by side with him.
Emperor Li Zong had not yet arrived. No noise was allowed in Taihe Hall, and all officials, both civil and military, were silent. After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, Li Zong appeared wearing a bright yellow dragon robes.
He was still young, his face still had the tenderness of a youth, with a very pale complexion from a pampered upbringing. The bright yellow dragon robe made him look a little frailer.
If it weren’t for the dragon robe on his body, he wouldn’t look like His Majesty the Emperor5, but more like a somewhat gloomy scholar.
Li Zong walked to the center of the hall and sat down on the large dragon chair. The twelve beads on his crown swayed gently, covering his sombre and green face.
He stared glumly at Li Fengqi, his hands hidden in his sleeves clenched into fists. If not for the fact that he had already vented his anger in the harem, he would have had trouble maintaining his calm.
Cui Xi stood by the side, sounding his whip: “If you have something to say, please report it quickly. If you have nothing to do, leave the court——”
The slightly sharp and high-pitched voice echoed in Taihe Hall, and all the officials subconsciously focused their attention on Li Fengqi.
Who dared to speak first with the Yong’an Prince here?
However, Li Fengqi seemed oblivious to the gazes around him. His body relaxed, he leaned on the back of the chair, his hands folded, looking at ease, as if nothing could catch his eye.
At his feet lay the unexpected wooden box.
No one understood what it was about, and they didn’t dare to make the first move. Taihe Hall was so silent that the sound of a pin-drop could be heard.
Li Zong’s eyes were shadowed, and he glanced condescendingly at all the civil and military officials present. When he saw that no one dared to stand out, his expression became even more unpleasant. After a long stalemate, he finally couldn’t help but speak first: “The ministers have nothing to present today, and the Prince of Yong’an has just recovered from his serious illness, but he still insists on coming to court. Is there nothing to report?”
“I have something to report.” Li Fengqi sat upright casually, his eyes met Li Zong’s, and they exchanged glances across the room.
“What’s the matter?” Li Zong forced himself to calm down, his eyes shifting.
“I received an urgent military report from Northern Xinjiang, saying that Zhao Yan, who joined the army, secretly colluded with Yin Chengru, the governor of Jizhou, to plot a rebellion.” Li Fengqi lightly threw out the matter of Zhao Yan and listed Zhao Yan’s crimes one by one: “The military report said that Zhao Yan had only been in the Northern Xinjiang Governor’s Mansion for more than ten days. He behaved erratically, demanded and accepted bribes, and even falsely conveyed His Majesty’s oral instructions to deceive the military’s morale, with the intention of swaying Deputy Governor Zhu Wen to conspire with him in rebellion.
“Zhu Wen first pretended to agree, but actually secretly investigated and collected evidence. He accidentally discovered that Zhao Yan had been exchanging letters with Yin Chengru, the governor of Jizhou, and also found out that Yin Chengru secretly stationed tens of thousands of troops in the mountains at the junction of Wei and Jizhou, for unknown intention. In order to protect the peace of the two states, the deputy governor wanted to capture Zhao Yan and escort him to the capital for questioning. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yan resisted and was killed in the melee.”
He took out the correspondence from his sleeve and pointed to the wooden box on the ground: “This is the correspondence between Zhao Yan’s head and the two of them. Please read it, Your Majesty.”
The crowd did not expect Prince Yong’an to show up to talk about such a deadly matter. They all took a breath.
Li Zong gritted his teeth tightly and forced a ferocious smile: “Cui Xi, show it to me.”
At the sound of his voice, Cui Xi walked down the steps, took the letter, and then bent down to look at the wooden box on the ground. This wooden box was one foot square and completely black. Up close, the faint smell of blood and decay was perceptible.
He opened the lid of the wooden box with a cold face, and Zhao Yan’s ferocious appearance, with his eyes open in death, was revealed in front of everyone.
Cui Xi’s face was solemn as he picked up the wooden box. “Your Majesty, it is indeed Zhao Yan.” After that, he handed over the correspondence.
Li Zong took it, flipped it through a few times, and threw it on the dragon case.
He knew what was written in the letter without reading it. Zhao Yan went to Northern Xinjiang with his oral instructions, and Yin Chengru also received his secret order to station troops in the mountains. According to the original plan, Zhao Yan would go to Northern Xinjiang and pretend to inadvertently reveal Li Fengqi’s predicament in Shangjing in order to provoke Zhu Wen’s anger. Zhu Wen was impatient and irritable, but also loyal to Li Fengqi. As long as he took action, Li Zong could order Yin Chengru to lead troops to quell the rebellion on the charge of treason.
Li Fengqi’s beloved generals and Xuanjia army would have been eliminated openly and honestly. By then, Li Fengqi would have no backing and would also have to bear the charge of treason by his subordinates. Even if Li Zong killed him in anger, no one in the world would say anything.
But Zhu Wen unexpectedly didn’t fall into the trap, and also involved Zhao Yan and Yin Chengru.
If Zhao Yan was dead, then he was dead, but Yin Chengru must not get folded in.
Li Zong grinded his teeth and said with a stern face, “There are many doubts about this matter. It still needs to be handed over to the Ministry of Justice for thorough investigation.”
Li Fengqi did not object, and only said: “Jizhou guards the capital and plots rebellion, which is of great importance to the country. I am afraid that the Ministry of Justice alone is not enough. Along with Dali Temple and Imperial Palace of Justice, these three divisions need to conduct the investigation and the trial together. As for Yin Chengru, the governor of Jizhou, he mobilized his troops privately: no matter what his intentions are, he violated military orders. As a precaution, he should be dismissed from his official position and sent to Dali Temple Prison to await trial.”
He looked at the emperor from a distance. “What does His Majesty think?”
Li Zong stared at him for a long time before looking around the hall. “What do the Ministers think?”
“His Majesty should not do this.” Ye Zhili, Duke of Qi, said. “The Yin family has been loyal to the country. If this person is dismissed from his post and sent to prison without finding out the truth, I’m afraid that it will chill the hearts of loyal officials and generals.”
“What the Duke of Qi said is wrong. Treason is a felony punishable by death. It’s just a matter of temporarily sending someone to prison to await trial. How can it chill the heart?” Wang Qie, the minister of Dali Temple, came out to refute. “I have been in charge of the Dali Temple for more than ten years, and I have not had a single wrongful case. If he is found innocent, he will naturally be released and his innocence will be restored.” Wang Qie flicked his sleeves and sneered again and again. “If you can be so easily chilled, how can you be a loyal minister and a good general?”
After speaking, he paused briefly and then asked with suspicion: “Or is it that the Duke of Qi wants to show favoritism because of his marital relationship with the Yin family?”
Ye Zhili was blocked by him again and again until he was speechless. After the death of his first wife, the Wang family had broken off all contact with him, and Wang Qie opposed him at every turn. He knew in his heart that the matter was difficult to resolve, so after moment of deliberation, he threw up his sleeve and retreated.
After that, several more came forward to give advice. There were those who agree and there were others who refuted it. The hall was filled with a lot of noise. In the end, everyone looked at the Imperial Censor who didn’t say a word.
“What does the Imperial Censor think?”
The old Imperial Censor narrowed his eyes and said slowly, “Dali Temple will examine the case, and the Ministry of Justice will review it. I, the Imperial Censor, will only supervise the case. Since the two of you have agreed, I can’t object. His Majesty and all of the Ministers can rest assured, I will definitely fulfill my duties.”
In this way, the matter was settled.
No matter how much Li Zong wanted to protect the person, he couldn’t blatantly take sides. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and issued the decree: “Then, as the Ministers have said, Yin Chengru, the governor of Jizhou, will be suspended from his official position and sent to the Dali Temple Prison to await trial!”
After saying that, he stood up angrily and left Tianhe Hall.
Seeing this, Cui Xi sounded his whip again: “Dismissing the court——”
The civil and military officials slowly walked out of the hall, with Li Fengqi at the end. Han Chan walked beside him and said in a low voice, “Wangye is truly skilled. As soon as he showed his face, he broke one of the Yin family’s arms.”
The Yin family were part of the emperor’s inner circle, and Yin Chengru, the governor of Jizhou, was Yin Xiaozhi’s second son.
Li Fengqi would not sit idly by if the Yin family dared to make a move against Northern Xinjiang, As soon as he showed up, he used thunderous force to force the emperor to send Yin Chengru to prison.
Whoever went into the prison of the Dali Temple was going to lose their skin.. What’s more, the Minister of Dali Temple had always been at odds with the Duke of Qi, and naturally also disliked the Yin family. In this matter, there would definitely be a strict trial.
The two exchanged blows, but Li Zong was unable to fight back, and Li Fengqi obtained victory.
Han Chan sighed. “As expected, a dragon begets a dragon, and a phoenix begets a phoenix.”
Between his words, he seemed to be criticizing Li Zong.
Li Fengqi was uninterested in the implications those words had in his life, and he mocked, “Li Zong has always admired and respected you, but you only regard him as a pawn in the struggle for power. If he hears your words, he will probably go mad with anger.”
Han Chan said lightly, “Then don’t let him know.” He pointedly said, “Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Not everyone is qualified to enter this game.”
His expression was extremely cold, mixed with a few points of undisguised contempt. His untainted aura of being untouched by the ordinary world was destroyed, causing him to appear a bit more sinister, like an immortal who had fallen into the devil’s path. A man in his forties, he had eyes and eyebrows that were not stained by the traces of time, but his heart has been tempered to be hard and vicious.
However, Li Fengqi didn’t want to be led away by him, and said with a half-smile, “Taifu probably didn’t understand what I meant. Since I said that, of course I had to convey the original message to Li Zong. It is also good to tell him to see himself clearly, so that he’ll be less instigated to do something stupid..”
“…” Han Chan’s eyes twitched, and his cold voice was tinged with fire. “Why must Wangye be stubborn? If you and I work together, the country will fall in the blink of an eye. Don’t you want to know who you are? Don’t you want to know why you were raised in the Yong’an Palace all these years?”
“What I want to know, I will know sooner or later.” Hearing him mention his birth, Li Fengqi’s face darkened, and he looked at Han Chan with contempt. “Work with me? Are you worthy of that?”
He had been defensive and vengeful all his life. If anyone dared to attack his brothers and the Xuanjia Army, he wouldn’t spare a single one of them.
For Han Chan to think that he could negotiate with him over old tales that he didn’t know if true or false was simply a fool’s errand.
Li Fengqi’s patience completely ran out; he turned his wheelchair and picked up his pace to leave. Upon seeing him, Wu Geng, who was waiting outside, quickly stepped forward and pushed him out of the palace.
Han Chan looked at his back, his expression changing. He was suddenly angry and happy, as though he was looking at him but also looking at someone else through him. He murmured to himself, “He is indeed his son, even his temper is so similar…”
While he was deep in thought, a chamberlain came over in a hurry and called out: “Taifu, His Majesty is looking for you. Please go there quickly.”
Han Chan was forced to withdraw from his memories. There was a hint of impatience on his face, which he quickly concealed. “What’s wrong with His Majesty again?”
The chamberlain looked fearful. “His Majesty is losing his temper.”
Han Chan narrowed her eyes and followed the servant to the harem.
--
===Translator’s Notes===
Breaking this into two parts for the sake of my sanity because this is a 10K-character chapter. Oh goodness. The 2nd part should be up in a few days.
Li Fengqi taking care of things in one fell swoop! What a boss.
- 四更 (lit. fourth watch), approximately 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning, called the “rooster’s crow“. According to here, it’s considered to be the time when people slept the deepest, and so considered the time when thieves start to cause trouble. ↩︎
- I.e., Hall of Supreme Harmony (太和殿), the most important hall of the Forbidden City, where the emperor’s throne is centered – more info here. It was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties came to the throne, held court meetings, and held ceremonies. ↩︎
- 四更 (lit. fourth watch), approximately 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning, called the “rooster’s crow“. According to here, it’s considered to be the time when people slept the deepest, and so considered the time when thieves start to cause trouble. ↩︎
- Composed of five three-hole arched bridges. Walking through it is the entrance to the Forbidden City ↩︎
- Ninety-fifth Supreme (九五至尊): referring to the honorable position of the emperor. According to here, “In ancient China, numbers were divided into yang numbers and yin numbers, with odd numbers being yang and even numbers being yin. Among the yang numbers, nine is the highest and five is in the middle. Therefore, “nine” and “five” are used to symbolize the authority of the emperor, which is called “nine-five supreme” ↩︎
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