“The prison guards of the Imperial Clan Court are very special,” Yang Zhao remarked. “They spend most of their lives guarding this place, and they never interact with the Imperial Army or the Golden Guards. They know nothing about what’s going on inside or outside the court. Even though we might have special status, they still don’t know who we are.
“But fortunately, Her Majesty gave us the Sage Emperor’s token. When I first entered the palace, I was rather curious about the Imperial Clan Court, so I borrowed Her Majesty’s power and took the Sage Emperor’s token to look around once. Otherwise, I truly wouldn’t dare guarantee that you would be able to get inside.”
Yang Zhao gently smiled. Ignoring the fierce guards, he strode forward and guided Wang Chong toward the Imperial Clan Court.
This action immediately made Yang Zhao the focus of all the guards, but Yang Zhao did not panic. Without waiting for these men to speak up and bar his path, he took out the five-clawed dragon token and prepared to show it to the guards.
But just then, a clattering of armor could be heard, accompanied by the thumping of footsteps. Two columns of ten-some Imperial Clan Court guards suddenly marched out from the sides of the building and rushed to the gate without even glancing at Wang Chong and Yang Zhao.
“Come! Close the main gate of the Imperial Clan Court! Those above have decreed that visitors are forbidden from entering the Imperial Clan Court for the next seven days. All persons to be seized are to be done so after seven days have passed!”
The guard captain had his back to Wang Chong and Yang Zhao as he pointed at the black bronze gates of the Imperial Clan Court.
Bang!
As the pair watched on, the seven-meter-tall gates of the Imperial Clan Court were swiftly closed, and then two guards came up and threaded two thin chains made of Xuan Metal through the bolts to lock them. Right behind them were two more prison guards who posted two announcements on the gate that overlapped on each other. One declared ‘Prison Ground’ and the other declared ‘Intruders Will Be Executed’, and a large red seal was stamped upon them. Anyone who broke in would have to break these two posters, so they would naturally see what had been written on them.
“What-what’s going on here?!”
Yang Zhao’s face was pale and his jaw open in disbelief. For the Imperial Clan Court to be closed right at the moment they had come was far too much of a coincidence.
Wang Chong stood behind him, his brow slightly creased.
Yang Zhao, his face dour, immediately stepped forward and harshly shouted, “What’s all this? What are you doing?!”
To his surprise, the guard captain turned his head and shot back with a rebuking shout, “Who are you? Are the matters of the Imperial Clan Court something you can interfere in?!”
“Bastard! What did you say?!”
Yang Zhao raised an eyebrow in fury. He had just been boasting in front of Wang Chong, but then the Imperial Clan Court had been closed right in front of his eyes, visitors banned for seven days. In other words, he had humiliated himself!
Yang Zhao immediately took out the dragon token.
The dazzling token immediately drew everyone’s attention, and the prison guards grimaced upon seeing the golden dragon upon it.
“I order you to open the gate and let me and the King of Foreign Lands go inside!” Yang Zhao sternly said.
“Hmph, even if you have the Sage Emperor’s token, it’s still no good. If no one is allowed inside, that means no one! For seven days, no one is allowed to enter the Imperial Clan Court!”
Unexpectedly, the guard captain sneered, his stance unflinching in the face of the five-clawed dragon token.
“Such audacity!”
Yang Zhao was further infuriated, his face twisting into a nasty scowl.
Yang Zhao was backed by Consort Taizhen, and no one in the palace dared to offend him. However, Yang Zhao was someone who had crawled up from the bottom, and he always chose to use his cunning and social skills to handle his affairs, rarely using his status.
In the palace, there was very little that Yang Zhao couldn’t do, but this time, he had never imagined that even though he had already taken out the Sage Emperor’s token, he would still be rebuffed from the Imperial Clan Court by its guards.
He had just been boasting to Wang Chong that he could get him in.
“Bastard thing, don’t think I can’t take your head!” Yang Zhao angrily roared.
“Forget it. Let’s go!”
Just when Yang Zhao was about to explode from rage, a palm reached out and pressed on his shoulder.
“Wang Chong?”
Yang Zhao had just been about to break into curses, but when he saw that it was Wang Chong who had stopped him, he froze.
“Since entry into the Imperial Clan Court is forbidden for the next seven days, we can’t go in,” Wang Chong indifferently said, much calmer than Yang Zhao had imagined.
“But if we can’t see the Fifth Prince, we’re missing key information. Doesn’t that leave you with no clues to start investigating?” Yang Zhao said.
“Heh, no need. I’ve already obtained the information I needed.”
Wang Chong let out a surprising chuckle. As he looked at the two posters on the gate, his eyes gleamed.
The red seal placed on the ends of those two posters was extremely striking, and Wang Chong had recognized it at a glance.
The Sage Emperor’s jade seal!
‘Accepting the Mandate of Heaven, Let the People Live Long and the Country Forever Prosper1.’ These were words that even the children of common folk knew, and they were the symbol of the Sage Emperor, the most powerful object in the empire.
Not even Yang Zhao’s five-clawed dragon token could compare.
If the two posters on the Imperial Clan Court’s gate had this seal, it was no wonder the guard captain showed no signs of backing down.
The First Prince!
This thought had immediately occurred to Wang Chong. Although he couldn’t get into the Imperial Clan Court to see the Fifth Prince, the sight of the Sage Emperor’s jade seal on those two posters told him everything.
While he had already been suspicious after hearing about what had happened from Yang Zhao, at this moment, he was absolutely sure.
This disruption of the harem, the alleged affair between the Fifth Prince and Jade Consort Xiao, and Jade Consort Xiao’s death… all of this had only one person behind it all.
The First Prince!
With the Sage Emperor retired, only the First Prince could use the Imperial Seal to seal the Imperial Clan Court.
“Let’s go! Take me to look around Jade Consort Xiao’s palace!” Wang Chong sternly said.
Since he couldn’t see Li Heng, he could only start with the deceased Jade Consort Xiao. As the evidence could only be found in Jade Consort Xiao’s residence, he would have to look there.
Whoosh! Before Yang Zhao could react, Wang Chong turned around and headed toward the carriage.
Behind him, Yang Zhao watched in a daze as Wang Chong boarded the carriage, then hastily followed.
“Wait for me!”
With the rolling of carriage wheels, the two departed.
______________
1. This saying is only eight words in Chinese, . When Qin Shihuang ended the Warring States Period and founded the Qin Dynasty, he ordered Li Si to carve these words on a piece of jade that would become the Imperial Seal of China, also known as the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. I notice on Wikipedia that it says that these words are supposed to mean that the emperor should live a long life, but the explanations I have read in Chinese interpret them to mean that the emperor should make it so that the people should have long lives and the country is forever prosperous.↩
Chapter 1619 - Jade Consort Xiao's Palace!
Chapter 1619: Jade Consort Xiao’s Palace!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
In another part of the Imperial Palace, the mood was entirely different.
Flapflap!
The beating of wings was constant as one carrier pigeon after another flew in through an open window of the Eastern Palace. A black-armored guard was standing at the ready to take the messages from these birds and deliver them.
In the main hall, an advisor glanced through the letter and quickly reported the contents, bowing as he did. “Your Highness, Wang Chong and Yang Zhao have just left the Imperial Clan Court and are heading for Jade Consort Xiao’s residence.”
Everything within the Great Tang Imperial Palace was under First Prince Li Ying’s control, and not even a single blade of grass could escape his sight. From the moment Wang Chong’s carriage had left the King of Foreign Lands Residence, Li Ying had been watching.
Carrier pigeons were reporting on his position at every moment.
“Hmph, truly exactly as I predicted!”
Li Ying was seated behind a desk, his hands fiddling around with an object. His eyes coldly flashed as he heard the news.
Upon close inspection, one would realize that Li Ying was playing around with a square jade seal that was intricately carved and exuded a sacred and dignified air. One could see at a glance that this was no ordinary object. On the top of the jade seal was a five-clawed golden dragon, its eyes so vivid that it seemed ready to soar into the sky. This was none other than the symbol of highest authority in the Great Tang Empire: the Sage Emperor’s jade seal!
The First Prince was lightly caressing the seal, hardly able to put it down. From the moment he had been made regent, the First Prince had never let the seal leave his side.
“Li Heng just got into trouble and you immediately entered the palace, even borrowed Consort Taizhen’s power. Wang Chong, you seem determined to be my foe!”
Cold killing intent flashed in the First Prince’s eyes as he caressed the seal.
Everything that had happened since he had started plotting against the Fifth Prince, even Wang Chong’s reactions, had been within his expectations.
Every movement Wang Chong had made since he had left the King of Foreign Lands Residence had been predicted by the First Prince.
A voice spoke up at the First Prince’s side. “Your Highness, the King of Foreign Lands has a divine grasp of military strategy and is not easy to deal with. Now that he has intervened in the Fifth Prince’s matter, the situation is bad, especially now that he has the token the Sage Emperor gave to Consort Taizhen!”
The one who had spoken was the Assistant Minister of Personnel, Zhu Tong’en.
The Imperial Court had decreed that all Princes were forbidden from forming factions, but the struggle for the throne meant that they were forced to do such things. Almost all the Princes from top to bottom did so. The Ministers of the Six Bureaus were too sensitive to touch, but this level of official was fine.
Zhu Tong’en was one of the First Prince’s important advisors, and many of the First Prince’s plans had been revised and completed by this man.
Previously, the First Prince had been very fearful and had not dared to invite Zhu Tong’en into the palace, but now that he was the regent, he could simply summon him for an audience, making everything much easier.
Zhu Tong’en had played a vital role in this operation. The War of the Princes had always been cruel, and there was no going back. Only by cutting a path through a sea of blood and a mountain of corpses could one obtain that supreme position, could one have a sliver of survival and become one of those valued subjects who had assisted the emperor to the throne.
Zhu Tong’en had barely spoken when he was rebuked by a cold jeer. “Hmph, Lord Zhu, there’s no need for you to ruin your own side’s morale.”
The speaker was a man with a sinister air and slender body. He was dressed in back, and his face from his nose down was covered by a black Asura mask.
His needle-like hair hung down over his face, and his eyes exuded a sharp and intimidating light.
“Our plan this time was carried out flawlessly. Jade Consort Xiao is dead, so even if he has entered the palace, he won’t be able to find any clues. And besides, we left behind no evidence connecting us to this incident. On the contrary, the evidence that Li Heng was meddling in the harem is firm and his crimes are grave. Does Lord Zhu truly think that this sort of person will be able to leave the Imperial Clan Court alive?
“And besides, even if he survives, he’s committed such a heartless and immoral action. Does he even have the ability to compete against the First Prince anymore? Would the officials permit such a person to become the heir apparent?”
Zhu Tong’en fell silent, his brows furrowing, but none of his worries were alleviated. He subconsciously turned to the First Prince.
The First Prince merely smiled. It was obvious that while these words had been spoken by the half-masked man, they were actually the First Prince’s opinion.
“Heh, Lord Zhu, relax!”
The First Prince gripped the seal and confidently smiled as he stood up from his seat. An immense and domineering energy erupted from his body.
Although the First Prince had only been the regent for a few months, he had seemingly completely transformed. A taste of the greatest authority in the world had caused the nascent aura of a sovereign to appear on his body.
This was the allure of power.
“No matter what the King of Foreign Lands is thinking, it’s not that easy for him to save Li Heng! The Imperial Palace is not the border, nor is it the Bureau of Military Personnel. He can’t command everyone as he pleases here. Moreover, no matter what idea he has in mind, it’s all too late.”
The First Prince chuckled, but there was a sharp and cold gleam in his eyes.
“Because I have already decided that the matter of Fifth Brother carrying out an illicit relationship with Jade Consort Xiao is to be publicly announced before the entire court!”
Buzz!
Zhu Tong’en trembled in shock, his mouth dropping open as he stared at the First Prince.
A public announcement!
The Imperial Court had its laws, and there was a set process for handling such things. Why was it seven days? Because in those seven days, Fifth Prince Li Heng would be given a chance to wash away suspicion and clear his name.
Until this period passed, it was forbidden for this royal scandal to be leaked out.
This was the law!
But the First Prince clearly had no intention of following this law. If the Fifth Prince’s crime of meddling with the harem were announced before the entire court, even if he eventually cleared his name and was released from the Imperial Clan Court, he would have already lost the right to vie for the throne.
Whether or not he could reestablish himself in the Great Tang Empire would depend entirely on the First Prince’s will.
“Hmph, Lord Zhu, what are you even thinking? How could the First Prince personally do such a thing? It will naturally be someone from the Imperial Clan Court incautiously leaking the news. Although the Imperial Court has its laws, you can’t do anything about people having loose mouths. And you can’t blame the First Prince for that, right?” the man with the Asura mask said.
The First Prince silently smiled.
“Fifth Brother just couldn’t sit still. He actually colluded with the Wang Clan and tried to vie with me for the throne. I’ll deal with him now, and then I’ll handle the Wang Clan. I’ve already told the King of Foreign Lands more than once about the relationship between sovereign and subject, but alas, he continues to support Fifth Brother. A new sovereign brings his own officials, and once I take the throne, I can’t be blamed for being harsh!”
Although the First Prince was smiling, his implied meaning chilled one to the bone.
He had carefully planned out this harem incident, providing the evidence and even silencing Jade Consort Xiao. The plan was flawless.
This was his killing blow to Li Heng!
And tomorrow, he would have the matter publicly announced, and then, not even someone with as prodigious abilities as Wang Chong�
��s would be able to stop it.
“But while I’m not afraid of his investigation, I can’t let him do as he pleases. The inner palace has its rules.” The First Prince sneered as he ordered, “Eunuch Yin, go and warn him. Let him understand who the true master of the inner palace is.”
After a long period of silence, a voice came from the darkness behind him. “This old slave will deliver the order.”
Eunuch Yin departed as silently as a ghost.
……
Meanwhile, Wang Chong and Yang Zhao, unaware of what was going on in the Eastern Palace, proceeded toward Jade Consort Xiao’s Shuhua Palace.
With Yang Zhao, a frequent guest of the inner palace, guiding the way, they reached Jade Consort Xiao’s residence with little obstruction.
“So this is Jade Consort Xiao’s palace?”
Wang Chong looked through the window at the distant building.
Its original resplendence was now covered by white curtains, and on the ground, strings of paper money waved in the wind. The entire place exuded an air of death and mourning.
Even before Wang Chong and Yang Zhao had gotten close, they could hear bitter wailing and cries of ‘Mistress, Mistress!’
“Haaa, these are all maids who served Jade Consort Xiao in Shuhua Palace. With Jade Consort Xiao dead, these people face unfortunate fates. They’ll be driven out of the palace or demoted to places like the laundry room where life is tough and exhausting, perhaps even banished to the cold palace.”
Yang Zhao walked out of the carriage and sighed.
All the consorts and concubines had their own maids, and they would normally not employ the maids of other palaces, especially now that Jade Consort Xiao had committed suicide. To these consorts and concubines, hiring such maids might bring them bad luck, and they also believed that these maids had not been meticulous enough in their service, as Jade Consort Xiao would not have died under their watch otherwise.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 999