Chapter 88 – Blood and Yellow Earth in the Imperial Palace
The day is not yet bright, the frightened Yuan Hongdao fled along a small alley in the west city, towards the side of the lotus pond square, careful on the way, avoiding the pursuit of the inspector general’s office and the patrols of the Kyoto guard division, and with great difficulty he came to a private room.
He wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and sat down at the table somewhat woodenly, dumbfounded, unable to speak for a long time. In his life, he didn’t know how many great things he had done, even the former phase master was also got down by his own hands, but this scene in the early morning of today, still made him feel shocked.
It must be that all the people in the Princess’s other mansion are dead, in a sense, these people were killed by Yuan Hongdao, and the problem is that in everyone’s perception, Yuan Hongdao is now a close friend of the Princess’s side, so if he didn’t run away earlier, I’m afraid that he would also have been killed on the spot by the sword hand of the six divisions of the Supervisory Yuan.
If Fei Jie hadn’t grabbed the first strike.
This private room was one of the most secretive staging areas of the Supervisory Court. Yuan Hongdao turned his head sideways and saw a cup of tea on the table, he drank it without hesitation to moisturize his extremely dry throat.
“Aren’t you afraid that there is poison in this tea?”
A middle-aged man smiled as he walked out from the inner room, it was none other than Duke Xiao Yan’s father, the former Four Commanders, Yan Ruohai.
Yuan Hongdao gave him a wary glance and said softly after confirming the other party’s identity, “I hadn’t expected to have to live any longer.”
In the opinion of this most successful Infernal Walker of Qing, this half hour of apprehension in the early hours of this morning had already shown that His Majesty no longer tolerated the Elder Princess, and he was confident that with His Majesty’s and President Chen’s power of action, it would only take half an hour for the Elder Princess’s side to be swept clean.
If the Eldest Princess no longer posed any threat, then he himself, the dead center, would naturally be wiped out of existence, but Yuan Hongdao didn’t have a trace of sadness, because from the time he began to follow Lin Ruofu many years ago, he had been prepared to sacrifice himself for the Qing Kingdom at any time.
However, Yan Ruohai just smiled and took out a set of clearance formalities and disguise needed that had been prepared for him, and said, “You haven’t been in the courtyard for a long time, so perhaps you’re not clear about it, His Majesty and Lord Dean, never abandon any of their subordinates so easily.”
Yuan Hongdao smiled bitterly after being slightly stunned.
At this time, another woman in civilian attire flashed in from the back door with a face full of fear. When this woman got a good look at Yuan Hongdao’s face, she could not help but have her lips wide open, revealing a stunned expression, as if she could not have imagined that the other party would appear here.
Yuan Hongdao was also incomparably surprised, because he had once seen this woman in Xinyang, and at that time, the identity of this woman was a close palace maid beside the eldest princess …… It turned out that this palace maid, was actually also one of His Majesty?
Yan Ruohai glanced at that palace maid, frowned and said, “You came out a little late.”
That palace maid bowed her head and repeated, “Yesterday night, I just left, Eunuch Hong personally came out and surrounded Guangxin Palace …… I didn’t dare to walk freely, so I was slow.”
Yan Ruohai glanced at the two of them and said, “Both of you are meritorious ministers of the imperial court, and His Majesty and His Excellency the President are very satisfied with your performance over the years. Today, things are urgent, so I had to let you take a look at each other, and also prevent unnecessary losses in the future if you don’t know each other’s identities.”
Without too many superfluous words, Yan Ruohai handed over a few sentences of something and began to work on sending the two most successful secret spies of the Supervisory Academy outside of Kyoto.
Yuan Hongdao frowned and said, “Where are we going?”
“You go back to Xinyang.” Yan Ruohai said word for word, “Go and wait in Xinyang.”
Yuan Hongdao somewhat couldn’t believe his ears and raised his head and asked, “Are you saying that …… Elder Princess will still go back to Xinyang?”
“Just in case.” Yan Ruohai said softly, “Royal matters, no one can say …… As for how to explain after returning to Xinyang, I will slowly tell you.”
He then turned his head to that palace maid and said, “You will lurk in the capital, if there are any changes in the future, you will still be needed to enter the palace.”
Finally this nominally retired senior official of the Supervisory Court bowed and saluted Yuan Hongdao and that palace maid very sincerely, saying, “Tough luck to you two.”
The room was quiet, Yan Ruohai looked at the wall outside the window, thinking about the fellow officer who had just left, frowning slightly, not knowing what he was thinking, and after a long time, he smiled.
With the strength of the Princess’s city means, the Supervisory Yuan only needs half an hour, can dig out her in Kyoto those hidden but not the power, with the fastest speed, the most thunderous means to sweep clean, seem so easy and comfortable …… completely inconsistent with the world’s reverence for the Princess’s assessment, is because, the Supervisory Yuan as early as a long time ago, has been buried two nails in the side of the Eldest Princess.
In particular, Yuan Hongdao, this nail, but also as early as when the eldest princess looked at that handsome Lin scholar in the imperial examination, was arranged beside the Lin scholar.
If the courtesan, just grasp some of the Princess’s temperament preferences, while arranging for Hong Zhu “coincidentally” found that the shady things, and Yuan Hongdao now as Xinyang strategist, for the strength of the Princess, the goal, but it is incomparably clear.
There is such a person secretly help the Supervisory Yuan to pass the message, the Princess side, and where can not stand the Supervisory Yuan’s wind and rain, the reason why Chen Pingping never take the Princess as an enemy worthy of attention, the reason why the Supervisory Yuan’s shot today seems to be so accurate and visionary, all because of this.
Yuan Hongdao is the first basket of nails spread out at the beginning of the establishment of the Supervisory Yuan, after so many years of wear and tear between the dynasty and the world, that basket of nails also left him alone, however, today he does not know, nowadays the Supervisory Yuan has long been not the Supervisory Yuan of the year.
Chen Pingping has long been coldly straddling the middle of these people and His Majesty, the so-called hollowing out, that is. All for the sake of Qing, or these people’s heart obsession, but in fact, their everything, must be arranged by Chen Pingping.
At the moment when the sky was still dark, in that very large mansion, that old man who loved to grow cabbages had already gotten up and used a wooden ladle to hold water to water the ground.
The most respected grand old man in the military, Elder Qin was getting older, so he woke up a bit earlier than the average person.
Today, his second son also woke up very early, Qin Heng, who now served as the Vice-Envoy of the Privy Council but was forced to detach himself from the Kyoto garrison, rushed over from the front garden with a face full of worry, his body haphazardly draped with a single goblin. He came over to his old father’s ear and whispered a few words.
Although he was no longer the commander of the Kyoto guard nowadays, after all, the Qin family had many eyes and ears in the military, and within the first hour, he knew about the strange movements in Kyoto in the early hours of this morning, and the actions of the Supervisory Yuan.
Elder Qin frowned slightly, a hint of surprise appearing on his aged face, “His Majesty made a move against the eldest princess …… Why?”
No one knew why, His Majesty, the Emperor of Qing would suddenly make a move after being quiet for so long, especially in the context of the Eldest Princess behaving so well behaved these past few months.
“What should we do?” Qin Heng asked worriedly. If His Majesty the Emperor’s action today was just the beginning of a big operation, who would be the next to fall in bad luck?
“We shouldn’t do anything.” Elder Qin sighed and said, “Could it be that you want to rebel? Such words shouldn’t even be asked.”
“But …… the eldest princess knows something about our family.”
Master Qin sneered and said, “What things? The dry shares of the Ming family or the sailors in Jiaozhou? Jiaozhou side your cousin is dealing with, there will not be any handle fall in the palace, as for the Ming family …… His Majesty is not so bad as to burn my old bones just for 10% dry shares.”
“But ……” Qin Heng is still a little worried, “If the eldest princess loses her power today, and we don’t make a move …… in the future, the dynasty will be dominated by Fan Xian’s faction, and I’m am worried about what Fan Xian will do in the future.”
Elder Qin frowned tightly and said, “The key depends on whether Li Yunrui can survive today.”
“Are you saying that His Majesty will grant the death of the eldest princess?” Qin Heng’s eyes widened, somewhat unable to believe his ears, “How could the empress dowager allow such a thing to happen! Is His Majesty not afraid of chaos in the court?”
Elder Qin laughed coldly and said, “If I were His Majesty, to deal with a crazy character like the Elder Princess, I would either remain motionless all the time, or I would have to kill …… But you are right, there is still a Empress Dowager in the palace, and His Majesty is a monarch who cherishes fame, so Li Yunrui doesn’t see to be dead. ”
“If Li Yunrui dies, nothing we do is useless.” Master Qin threw the wooden ladle to the ground and said, “If she can survive by chance, we can’t do anything right now …… Believe me, as long as she can live, her future counterattacks must be very frantic, and by then …… We will have a chance.”
The palace door was tightly closed, and the copper nails on the door looked like the protruding eyes of a ghost, staring at those people with worried faces outside the palace walls. There weren’t many people waiting for news outside the palace, mainly the Grand Prince and Kyoto Guard Xie Su and his group. They looked at the closed palace gates, not knowing what was happening inside, but they already knew that the Supervisory Court had already arrested all the senior officials on the Eldest Princess’ side and sent them to the Da Lisi.
The Grand Prince’s brows were furrowed extremely tightly, and after a moment, he suddenly said, “No, I want to go into the palace and give advice.”
Xie Su carefully pulled his sleeve and lowered his voice, “Grand Marshal! Don’t be confused, this is not a time when those of us who are subjects can speak.”
The Grand Prince frowned and said, “I can’t just stand by and watch this scene happen, what about Imperial Grandmother?”
Empress Dowager Qing was still lying high in the Hall of Containing Light at this time, sleeping very sweetly. The news transmission inside and outside the Hall of Containing Light has been cut off by the Emperor of Qing to ensure that there will not be people from other palaces who will come to disturb the Empress Dowager’s rest, and will come to tell the Empress Dowager what is happening in certain palaces.
Not far away from the Hall of Contained Light Guangxin Palace, is the Empress Dowager’s favorite youngest daughter, Qing Guo Li Yunrui’s bedchamber. At this time, the Guangxin Palace was not the same as the usual tranquil and wonderful scene.
A stooped old eunuch, like a dead tree in winter, stood at the entrance of Guangxin Palace.
With the withered tree here, there was no clear view at all.
Eldest Princess Li Yunrui stood outside the threshold inside Guangxin Palace, indifferently looked at the old eunuch outside the palace and said, “Eunuch Hong, I want to see mother.”
Elder Eunuch Hong did not speak, and no one else responded, the eunuchs who followed him to Guangxin Palace were busy inside the palace at this time, busy lifting and transporting corpses from all corners of Guangxin Palace.
Guangxin Palace twenty-seven palace maids, including the eldest princess close to the palace maids with martial arts, at this time all dead, there are a few corpses outside the palace under the wall, obviously at first intended to exceed the wall to ask for help.
However, since it was Elder Eunuch Hong himself who brought people here, the palace maids in Guangxin Palace did not have any ability to fight back, and were tragically killed in their entirety, and no one even had the time to say a word.
No one wanted to hear them speak, His Majesty’s decree was clear, no one was allowed to speak, all were killed.
The eunuchs carried the corpses of those court ladies onto several broken carriages, and then traveled towards the burning ground. Along the way, the carriage empty boards flowed blood water rippling, dripping down on the stone road inside the palace, looks particularly shocking.
And there are eunuchs holding brooms, pulling the car in the back of the soil, one side sprinkled soil on top of the blood, one side of the sweeping clean.
A few moments later, the carriage away, the blood on the slate mixed gray gradually shallow, gradually turned into a very shallow imprint, like nothing.
Until this time, Hong old eunuch slowly raised his head, said breathlessly, “Your Highness, the eldest princess, the empress dowager is resting, his majesty asked you not to disturb her, please wait for a moment, his majesty will come to see you in a while.”
A trace of resentment flashed through the pupils of the Eldest Princess’ clear eyes, and the hands hanging by her side slowly clenched. A few moments later, but she smiled, extremely courteous and slightly owed her body, saying, “Then this palace …… will wait here for the emperor’s brother.”
After saying this, she turned back and entered the palace, closing the wooden door.
Elder Eunuch Hong was still hunched over, like a withered tree, quietly guarding outside Guangxin Palace. Although the branches of this tree had no leaves, it gave the impression that it was stretching out in all directions of Guangxin Palace, wrapping around the upper and lower quadrants of the palace, making it a bit hard for that woman in the palace to breathe.
The East Palace is a noisy and chaotic, everyone is terrified. Not wearing jewelry and face out of the Empress Dowager, looking at those uninvited eunuchs, furious, e eyebrows up, cursing: “You dog slaves! You want to rebel, don’t you?”
Eunuch Yao respectfully made a bow and said softly, “Your Highness, I wouldn’t dare to, but I’m just burdened with imperial orders and have to follow them.”
Right at this moment, the pale-faced Crown Prince also walked out from the back hall, he looked at the eunuchs and guards in the hall, his eye pupils shrunk slightly, realizing that the people who had come were all the absolute cronies of his father’s father over at the Taiji Hall and the Imperial Study Hall. He didn’t know what had happened to make these lackeys dare to barge into the Eastern Palace to make trouble, but he was clear that this must be Father Emperor’s intention.
But …… why is this? The Crown Prince forcefully suppressed the flash of panic deep inside his heart and calmly asked, “Eunuch Yao, what is this doing?”
Eunuch Yao made a bow and respectfully reported, “His Majesty has heard that there are people in the Eastern Palace with unclean hands and feet, and is worried about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Empress, so he sent my little one to come and bring these subordinates to the Taishang Temple for interrogation.”
This is naturally a false excuse, the Empress and the Crown Prince looked at each other, seeing each other’s uneasiness and doubt, how could the death of a palace maid not make such a big commotion.
The Empress forcibly suppressed the anger deep inside her heart, and said through clenched teeth, “The affairs of the palace have always been managed by this palace, haven’t they? His Majesty is worried about the affairs of the country, why should he let these trivial matters trouble him, Eunuch Yao …… which lackeys were talkative and alarmed His Majesty?”
Eunuch Yao calmly stood below and did not reply.
The crown prince sighed and said, “Since it is father’s intention, then bring it to trial.”
At these words, those eunuchs and palace maidens who had already been assembled in the East Palace were in a state of wailing, although they didn’t know what fate was to greet them, they were also clear that that place in the Imperial Standing Temple was even more terrifying than the Black Prison.
“How many people to take?”
“All.” Eunuch Yao raised his head and said softly.
The Empress sucked in a breath of cool air, and after a long time trembling her lips, she said angrily, “Could it be that there is no one serving in this palace?”
“Someone will be redeployed to serve the two masters immediately.” Eunuch Yao respectfully said, then waved his hand and commanded the eunuchs and guards under his command to bundle up dozens of eunuchs and palace maids in the East Palace.
Along the way, there were people begging for mercy in low voices, however, these people brought by Eunuch Yao did more than just tie people up, they also tied up the mouths of these people.
The Empress knew that there must be a big problem with today’s matter, she looked back at the Crown Prince helplessly, wanting to know the truth of the matter from her son’s eyes. However, the crown prince’s face was white at this time, and he simply did not know how to respond.
Eunuch Yao and his group were about to leave the Eastern Palace when Emperor Qing came in from outside the palace, frowning slightly, saying, “What’s going on?”
Seeing this scene, the Empress hurriedly brought the Crown Prince forward to salute and said sadly, “Your Majesty, are you preparing to turn this place into a cold palace?”
The emperor gave her a disgusted look, but he didn’t even look at the crown prince, and directly said to Eunuch Yao, “What did I order?”
A very light sentence, Eunuch Yao was scared and knelt to the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, then turned back and said something fiercely.
The Empress and the Crown Prince looked at this scene dumbfounded, followed by the Empress screamed miserably and fainted on the Crown Prince’s body.
Because ……
Right outside the most sacred palace of the Qing Kingdom, the most lenient East Palace, those guards raised the swords in their hands and slashed downward violently!
Countless sounds of knife winds rang out, dozens of muffled grunts struggled to come out from the blocked mouths, dozens of heads fell to the ground, dozens of headless corpses convulsed on the ground, and blood swiftly dyed all over the East Palace courtyard, the smell of blood rushing straight into the temple.
The Empress fainted in fear, while the Crown Prince was all white and trembling, but whirled around and stared at his father with a stubborn and vicious look.