Chapter 43: Reactions from All Sides

It seemed that the tempest had completely subsided at last...

Yet at this moment, the city of Chang'an seemed to be gasping for breath within the deepest, ink-like darkness before the dawn.

Inside the grand mansions of the Inner City in particular, numerous high-ranking officials tossed and turned, unable to sleep throughout the night.

Meanwhile, Zhao Mu, the very person who had casually stirred up this earth-shattering upheaval, was fast asleep in his small courtyard, hugging his quilt and looking utterly peaceful, as if the storms raging outside the window had nothing to do with him at all...

At the fifth watch, outside the palace gates.

Civil and military officials had gathered here one after another, waiting for the morning court session.

The morning mist had yet to disperse, but it could not conceal the strange, restless stirring running through the crowd.

"Have you heard? Last night..." A green-robed official with swollen eye-bags lowered his voice, but before he could finish, his sleeve was yanked by a colleague.

"Silence!" The older official wore a solemn expression, the tired corners of his eyes twitching slightly as his peripheral vision swept over the nearby Uniformed Guards standing at attention with their swords. His voice dropped even lower. "Affairs of the inner palace are not to be discussed lightly!"

The green-robed official who had just spoken instantly fell mute!

Yet, despite those words,

the news had already spread across the entire Inner City the previous night, as if it had grown wings.

Last night, the Crown Prince had forced his way into the palace, only to return safely to the Eastern Palace!

Such an earth-shattering event, even without an official decree announced, was already the subject of wild, whispered rumors beneath the surface!

Now, it was silently communicated through the shifting glances exchanged among the officials.

Closest to the palace gates, Zhao State Minister Changsun Wuji, clad in purple robes and a jade belt, stood alone on the left with his arms folded and tucked into his sleeves, his expression as calm as still water.

However, the fingers hidden within his sleeves trembled uncontrollably, a clear sign that the turbulent waves in his heart were still raging fiercely even after a whole night!

"To dare force his way into the palace..." Changsun Wuji felt both shock and anger in his heart.

As the Crown Prince's own uncle, he understood what this meant better than anyone else!

This was a heinous crime, a capital offense grave enough to warrant deposition!

Yet what pained him even more was that such a rash act had been committed without a single person stepping forward to dissuade him.

What on earth were those subordinate officials in the Eastern Palace doing?

And had the Crown Prince completely turned a deaf ear to the principles of governance taught to him by his uncle on ordinary days?

In truth, what shocked Changsun Wuji even more was the Emperor's attitude.

Not only had there been no severe punishment, but the matter had also been quietly hushed up.

This abnormal handling allowed the chief minister, deeply versed in the art of statecraft, to catch a whiff of an unusual current. He narrowed his eyes, sweeping his gaze across the ministers gathered before the hall in an attempt to capture any trace of a clue from their expressions, while a faint image surfaced in his mind—the dashing figure he had seen at the mortal paradise that night...

"Brother Fuji." Fang Xuanling slowly approached, his voice dropping to a whisper. "This matter..."

"Wait and observe developments." Before Fang could finish, Changsun Wuji interrupted him, his tone cold and stern. "His Majesty has his own sage judgment on this matter; Prime Minister Fang need not worry further."

Whether acting as the de facto head of the Tang civil officials or as the Crown Prince's uncle,

Changsun Wuji knew very well that he had to stabilize the situation at this moment.

Unlike the civil faction, whose members were all hesitation and worried expressions,

Cheng Yaojin on the military side was chatting and laughing heartily with several generals, his voice booming like a bronze bell.

"Old Cheng, I heard that last night..." A general began to speak.

Only to be cut off by Cheng Yaojin's loud laughter. "Hear what nonsense! This old man didn't hear a damn thing!"

Patting his belly, he said with utter indifference, "Anyway, His Majesty will issue a decree for whatever he wants us to know, and if he doesn't want us to know, there simply won't be one."

"So why waste idle breath worrying over matters that have no decree?"

"Is the fine wine at home unpalatable, or are the tender beauties on the bed..." At this point, Cheng Yaojin lowered his voice with a slightly lewd look in his eyes...

Yet the surrounding generals burst into loud laughter upon hearing this, chiming in agreement one after another.

In their view, so what if the Crown Prince forced his way into the palace?

As long as His Majesty hadn't spoken, it wasn't a matter of consequence!

Besides, the empire of the Great Tang had been won by His Majesty leading them through countless battles with sword and spear; what storms hadn't they seen?

It was merely a bunch of childish nonsense kicked up by some brat from the Eastern Palace, not worth a damn!

Look at how those feeble civil officials, utterly incapable of trussing a chicken, were frightened—each and every one of them huddling like quails... Cheng Yaojin cast a disdainful glance toward the civil faction, then smugly stroked the morning dew from his mustache, completely unbothered.

In truth, though his words just now were crude and unpolished, they voiced the shared sentiment of the military commanders.

As battle-hardened veterans who had followed Li Shimin across the world in years past, they held a nearly blind trust in their emperor; succession struggles were nothing more than tedious parlor games played by the civil officials in their eyes.

Whoever His Majesty chose to be the Crown Prince would be the Crown Prince, and only when a hundred years had passed for His Majesty would the Crown Prince become the sovereign.

To sum it all up in a single sentence: as long as we keep following His Majesty to get things done, isn't that enough?

Living up to their reputation as fierce warriors of the Great Tang, these men were simply straightforward and brutally direct!

In stark contrast, the ranks of the civil officials were far more complicated.

Chu Suiliang furrowed his brows, calculating inwardly.

Wei Zheng, the foremost critic of the Great Tang, wore a calm expression, but the occasional twitch of his temples made it easy to imagine just how fierce the remonstrance he had prepared in his heart must be at this moment!

Even those officials who were ordinarily pedantic yet retained their integrity were exchanging glances with one another, evidently torn between the desire to remonstrate and the fear of acting rashly—after all, a gentleman does not stand beneath a tottering wall...

Meanwhile, the many officials who had previously attached themselves to the Prince of Wei all turned pale, evidently thrown completely off balance by this unexpected turn of events.

Most awkward of all were the several censors who had already drafted their impeachment memorials and had been designated by the Prince of Wei to lead the charge. Clutching the memorials hidden within their sleeves, their eyes flickered with hesitation, clearly caught in a dilemma where advancing and retreating were equally difficult...

Should they continue with the impeachment?

His Majesty clearly intended to let the matter rest.

Yet if they called off the banners and fell silent, they feared offending the Prince of Wei.

Terribly afraid of leaping out only to become cannon fodder, they could only curse silently in their hearts.

Why on earth did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have to go crashing into the palace for no reason at all?

And if you were going to force your way in, at least bring about a definitive result!

Either he should have perished so that they could achieve total victory alongside the Prince of Wei,

or it should have been a replay of the Xuanwu Gate incident, in which case binding the Prince of Wei as a token of submission to switch allegiances—even clinging to the dragon's tail—would still have secured them some status.

Instead, being left in this awkward limbo made them completely at a loss as to what to do!

Just as these scheming partisans of the Prince of Wei felt their hearts palpitate with anxiety,

the morning bell rang. With a heavy, grinding friction, the towering palace gates were slowly pushed open from within by the Black-Armored Imperial Guards, and the hundred officials hurriedly straightened their court attire and filed in.

Every face wore a well-measured look of reverence, as if nothing had happened the night away. Yet everyone knew that this storm was far from over; it had merely shifted from the open to the shadows, and perhaps at this very moment, it was continuing to ferment, brewing an even more violent tempest!

Changsun Wuji walked at the very front, the hand beneath his purple robes no longer trembling.

It had been replaced by a cold, resolute determination.

He silently swore that once the court session ended, he would head straight to the Eastern Palace to thoroughly discipline that reckless nephew of his!

The heir to the Great Tang could not afford to be so rash!

As the civil and military officials slowly ascended the long stone steps before the Taiji Hall,

the eastern light arrived and the morning sun rose, instantly seeming to banish the darkness that had shrouded the world all through the night...