Chapter 54: Night Raid!

"Lord Li is truly a pillar of the state. To perform meritorious service at the borderlands and quell rebellions within the imperial court—what is known as commanding armies in the field and serving as a chancellor at court amounts to no more than this."

The old man in the purple robe stood before Li Jingxuan, offering a sincere compliment. Pleased by the remark, Li Jingxuan immediately exchanged a few words of mutual flattery with him.

The two men sat in the pavilion at the very center of the courtyard. Around them sat rows of motionless guards of the East Palace, casting cold, wrathful glares in their direction. The two men ignored the stares entirely, continuing to laugh and converse as if they were alone.

"I have been told this was the late Crown Prince's favorite place..."

Li Jingxuan lightly tapped the stone table before him, smiling as he said, "Viewing the blossoms, gazing at the moon, listening to the wind... appreciating the snow. All the vicissitudes of the four seasons are distilled into a single cup of muddy wine in this pavilion. Though the late Crown Prince is gone, this elegance of his still evokes fond memories."

"It is indeed a pity about the late Crown Prince. As for the current occupant, even if he isn't entirely incompetent, he is still no match for the late Crown Prince... he is simply too foolish."

The old man in the purple robe glanced around and remarked with a hint of irony, "Yet only a few years have passed, and to speak nothing of this East Palace, even the late Crown Prince's women have been bestowed upon a humble military man. Where in this world are there human relationships that never scatter?"

*First you watch them build their tall mansions, then you watch them feast their guests, and finally you watch their mansions collapse.*

This was the natural order of things.

As for human sentiment, it was even more ethereal and elusive than wealth drifting away like mist.

As if these words had touched upon something, the expression on Li Jingxuan's face paused for a moment, a trace of daze flashing across his eyes.

Back then, he and His Majesty... must also have shared a certain bond of affection, surely?

He remained silent for a moment, then slowly spoke, "The warmth and coldness of human relationships—at their fastest, it takes no longer than the brewing of a cup of tea; at their slowest, perhaps it can last for several decades."

"Who in this world is not greedy for wealth and beauty?"

The old man in the purple robe said indifferently, "With such things placed before them, let alone several decades, friendships spanning three generations can turn into bitter enmities, and deep hatreds accumulated over many years can be easily cast aside... Who would risk everything just to indulge a momentary impulse?"

Li Jingxuan nodded slightly. His eventual choice to place his bets on the side of the Empress Dowager had also been the result of careful calculation.

He was already old; the affection of His Majesty was gone, and by this point, it was far too late to go back to the East Palace to warm a cold hearth.

Therefore, for the sake of his remaining years and his family's prosperity, he had no choice but to throw in his lot with that woman.

Li Jingxuan's reputation might now be somewhat tarnished, but prior to this, he had stood unshaken in the court for decades. The influence and connections in his hands were more than enough to elevate the Empress Dowager's power to even greater heights.

In comparison, what value could a brute returning from the borderlands possibly have when matched against him?

Yet, thinking of the remarks just exchanged, he suddenly lost interest in continuing the conversation. He merely said indifferently, "I must trouble you to sit quietly with me here tonight, guarding these louts from dusk until dawn. Once the moon departs and the sun rises, all under heaven will be safe, and everything... will be at peace."

"Yet the Crown Prince's whereabouts remain unknown after all."

The old man in the purple robe glanced at him and probed cautiously, "No unexpected changes will arise in the East Palace, will there?"

"Naturally not."

Li Jingxuan said dismissively, "Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has already informed me of everything planned for tonight. The East Palace is one faction of rebels, and the Northern Gate is another. Both are firmly within Her Majesty's grasp. Even if the Crown Prince possessed the valor of Emperor Taizong of old, still... he does not have a Tiance Mansion by his side to brave life and death for him."

"Quite so, quite so."

Just as the old man in the purple robe was about to speak further, his expression suddenly shifted.

Li Jingxuan had his back to the end of the corridor, while the old man in the purple robe was looking straight down it. There, amidst the pitch-black darkness, clusters of torches suddenly flared into light, accompanied by a tremendous roar of commotion. In an instant, it seemed as though countless men were about to charge in.

"Hear those within! We act under imperial edict to root out traitors! Drop your weapons immediately and surrender in place!"

The shout reverberated through the air. The motionless figures seated throughout the courtyard simultaneously raised their heads. Their faces were obscured by the darkness, but their eyes reflected the scarlet glare of the flames.

Li Jingxuan's gaze tightened. He slowly rose to his feet and called out in a loud voice, "Guards of the East Palace, hear my command! You are charged by imperial edict to protect the East Palace; do not act rashly!"

Before his voice had even faded, another round of shouts rang out from outside: "By edict of the Empress Dowager, enter the palace to quell the rebellion!"

The old man in the purple robe assumed Li Jingxuan was about to step forward and take charge of the situation, but the next moment, Li Jingxuan lowered his head and spoke to him in a hurried, urgent whisper, "You stay here. I must enter the palace to report to the Empress Dowager... the situation has changed!"

The old man in the purple robe: "???"

Without waiting for his reply, Li Jingxuan could no longer suppress the surging anxiety within him, which was rapidly turning into a creeping panic.

He did not even dare to pin his hopes on the East Palace guards around him to defend him against the enemy.

This shouldn't be happening.

It couldn't possibly be like this!

According to everything he knew, no one else should have been coming to the East Palace at this hour!

The sound of footsteps grew increasingly dense. Figures of soldiers rapidly surged into the courtyard, aggressively drawing their blades against everyone present and barking stern commands.

"Don't move!"

"Seize Li Jingxuan! The rest are spared!"

The few civil officials and military officers who had accompanied Li Jingxuan into the palace barely had time to plead for mercy or draw their weapons before they were subdued one by one. The two military officers who tried to draw their swords in resistance were instantly cut down on the spot!

Fresh blood splattered onto the stone bricks, freezing into frost in the biting wind, while the heavy stench filled the entire courtyard.

Several East Palace commanders exchanged glances and rose one after another. After displaying their identities to the approaching soldiers, they demanded, "Which regiment do you belong to?"

"A Thousand Riders."

This was...

A look of utter bewilderment flashed across the eyes of the several commanders, their minds flooded with profound confusion.

Wasn't the Thousand Riders Regiment a force under the control of the Empress Dowager?

Weren't Li Jingxuan and the others sent by the Emperor and Empress Dowager to keep them in check?

Why would Li Jingxuan flee the moment the Thousand Riders arrived?

Only then did they notice that the force charging into the courtyard numbered barely a hundred men—far fewer than the East Palace guards surrounding them.

"Li Jingxuan has fled?"

The crowd parted as a young man clad in black armor stepped forward, fixing his gaze squarely upon them.

It was him?

Wasn't he the nephew of the Empress Dowager?

Recognizing him, a few of the East Palace commanders widened their eyes, feeling as though their brains were about to melt down from confusion.

What on earth are you people doing?

"You are soldiers of the East Palace; naturally, you know what must be done tonight."

Without waiting for them to ask further, Wu An spoke in a cold, stern tone, "Why are you still lingering here?"

"We..."

The commanders exchanged glances. One of them stammered, "Lord Li was just here holding the Emperor's edict, ordering us to remain seated quietly within the East Palace."

The Emperor's edict?

Wu An frowned, silently committing those three words to memory. Then, he declared, "That is a forged edict!"

Before his voice had even faded, he noticed several of the commanders instinctively resting their hands upon the hilts of their sabers.

"Captain Wu,"

Someone said slowly, "Though we know not what is happening tonight, we are all soldiers of the East Palace, tasked solely with its defense. As for other matters, I'm afraid..."

"Hah..."

How could Wu An fail to understand the thoughts harbored by these East Palace guards? Morale, once allowed to wane three times, was exhausted. By this point, since these men had already convinced themselves that the imperial edict was genuine, any hesitation on their part meant they could no longer be easily stirred to action.

After all, the law could not punish a multitude. With so many troops across the Ten Imperial Guard Garrisons of the East Palace, would the imperial court truly dare to strike against them all?

Wu An cast a cold look at them. There were many troops remaining in the East Palace tonight who had prepared to follow the Crown Prince; had they been willing to assist, breaking through the palace gates would certainly not have been a difficult task.

"Furthermore..."

The leading East Palace commander let out a soft breath, offering a self-deprecating smile. "We donned our armor and brandished our weapons tonight, yet the Crown Prince's whereabouts are entirely unknown. If Li Jingxuan had come and ordered us into action, could we possibly have refused him then?"

We were all prepared to lay down our lives for you, yet when the crucial moment arrived, you were nowhere to be found. No matter how one looks at it, this makes no sense.

"Had His Highness been present, we would gladly have obeyed his commands without the slightest hesitation. But..."

The leading commander glanced at the surrounding soldiers—each of them, like himself and his subordinates, had families to support.

"Is that truly the case?"

A voice rang out, causing the East Palace commanders to freeze. The desolate expression on one man's face instantly gave way to astonishment as he looked toward Wu An.

From behind the black-armored youth, a young man dressed in the garb of a common soldier slowly stepped forward.

"Captain Wu, had it not been for your warning this morning, this prince tonight..."

The Crown Prince raised a hand and rested it upon Wu An's shoulder, then turned his gaze toward the East Palace commanders.

In an instant, everyone in the vicinity began to bow and salute him in unison.

"Your subordinates pay homage to Your Highness!"

"Your subordinates pay homage to Your Highness!"

As though he had heard none of these voices, the Crown Prince kept his hand on Wu An's shoulder, giving it a gentle pat.

"You have rendered meritorious service in protecting the sovereign."

At this moment, the Crown Prince of Great Tang reached the absolute peak of overt favor toward Wu An, yet the latter replied with utter indifference:

"What of the promise Your Highness made to me?"

The Crown Prince withdrew his hand and looked at the commanders.

"Pass the order: issue two hundred sets of armor, and let the Thousand Riders take whatever weapons and military equipment they require."

"Your Highness, but His Majesty has already issued an edict,"

A commander stammered slightly, speaking with hesitation. "Perhaps you might wait until tomorrow morning, until His Majesty..."

The Crown Prince took a step forward. The ordinarily refined and scholarly visage of his now bore a hint of ferocity under the flickering torchlight.

"A few years ago, how did the late Crown Prince perish? Whose interests are you East Palace guards actually protecting?"

The late Crown Prince, Li Hong, had been diagnosed by imperial physicians as having suffered a sudden death. Everything had appeared entirely normal, and no one had raised any objections.

Yet tonight, the mere thought of those four words—"entirely normal"—sent a shiver rippling from the Crown Prince Li Xian's heart straight to his limbs.

How could he not dwell on it?

How could he stop himself from thinking further!

Furthermore, he had not even made his move tonight, yet his entire prearranged plan had fallen squarely into the trap set by his own mother. Did she guard against her own biological son to such an extreme degree?

Li Xian extended his hand backward. Wu An reached out, drew his side-arm, and placed the hilt directly into the Crown Prince's grip.

Lifting the blade, the Crown Prince pointed it toward the leading East Palace commander, his voice hoarse.

"Those who aid the House of Wu, remain where you are! Those who aid the House of Li, rise!"

In a flash, the figures sitting quietly in the biting wind began to stand up. Inside and outside the East Palace, the unceasing metallic chime of shifting armor filled the air. Several East Palace commanders took a step back, cupping their fists in salute to the Crown Prince.

"We obey your command!"

"Form ranks! Prepare to enter the palace!"

The shouts of the heralds began to reverberate throughout the entire East Palace, while blazing torches illuminated the deep, heavy veil of night.

"Hah..."

The Crown Prince turned back to look at Wu An, his hand trembling slightly.

Wu An took the blade back from the Crown Prince, slid it into its scabbard, and suddenly asked, "Do you want them alive, or dead?"

Isn't Li Jingxuan your enemy?

Without overthinking it, the Crown Prince forced his tone to steady and replied indifferently, "Dead or alive—however you please."

He paused, then added a reminder:

"The night curfew is lifted. Aside from us, who have the clearance to move through the palace gates, Li Jingxuan has nowhere to run except deeper into the palace; otherwise, no one can save him. However, you must remember—what are we entering the palace to do tonight?"

"I know."

Wu An did not leave immediately. Instead, he said, "Since we are storming the palace gates tonight and the morale of the East Palace troops is unstable, Your Highness would do better to hand them over entirely to my command."

"Can you... command troops?"

It wasn't that the Crown Prince was reluctant at this crucial moment; he himself knew full well how vital a capable military commander was right now.

"This prince will give you an additional three hundred men."

Without further questioning, the Crown Prince directly ordered, "You shall serve as the vanguard. Ride out of the East Palace, break through Xing'an Gate to the north, and fight your way from the Western Inner Park all the way to the Eastern Inner Park!"

...

"Seizing command of the troops just now was merely a minor interlude. The true battle begins now... The rebels are not us; the real traitors are within the palace!"

Walking at the very front without once looking back, Wu An declared, "For this battle, I shall lead the Hexi soldiers to spearhead the assault. In our hands, we still hold five hundred men!"

In truth, only two hundred men of the Thousand Riders Regiment had arrived—namely, the Hexi soldiers and the veterans of the former Hundred Riders Bureau.

As for the other three hundred soldiers, they had been deployed in advance near the Northern Gate. According to the prior agreement between Wu An and the Empress Dowager, the moment he arrived there, he would be able to mobilize them instantly.

Yet now, the Crown Prince had provided an additional three hundred men, perfectly making up the complement of five hundred.

It felt like some sort of preordained coincidence—back beneath Chengfeng Ridge, the force that had followed Wu An in a nocturnal raid on the enemy camp had also numbered precisely five hundred.

"Elder Brother."

Wu An turned to look at the man walking quietly beside him who had not spoken a word thus far, and said, "I am going to exact my revenge."

While Wu An was hardly well-versed in military strategy, ever since he had journeyed from Hexi to Chang'an, an exceptionally skilled military commander had remained constantly by his side.

Heiweichangzhi took the helmet handed to him by a Hexi soldier and settled it securely upon his head.

His massive, formidable frame was covered in a layer of lamellar armor, and a chilling aura of slaughter emanated from the interlocking iron plates.

While others followed Wu An for various considerations or orders, Heiweichangzhi was different.

Setting aside avenging his former subordinates or the bond of life and death he shared with Wu An... the very homeland where Heiweichangzhi had been born and raised had been destroyed by the Tang military!

"Help me," Wu An said.

Heiweichangzhi nodded silently, giving a concise reply:

"Agreed."