The Child Emperor-Chapter 253: Sleepless Night
The Empress Dowager returned to her bedchamber and sat down comfortably. Maiden Wang attended to her, with eight guards and four female attendants standing on either side. Grand Consort Cui sat alone on a small stool opposite her, without any attendants. She kept her legs together, sitting two heads lower than the Empress Dowager, with an even more diminished presence, like a little servant girl waiting to work under her master’s supervision.
Grand Consort Cui was willing to endure this – after all, she had endured for so many years already.
“Listen,” the Empress Dowager raised her hand to her ear. “Fighting has broken out at the North Gate. How interesting. The imperial city has the strongest walls in the world, but as far as I know, no battle has ever occurred here before. This is the first time. The previous palace coup doesn’t count – that was just some troublemakers from the pugilist world. Grand Consort Cui, at least you’ve learned your lesson this time and found more people to help.”
Consort Cui gave a slight smile. “No matter how strong the palace walls are, they only protect the Emperor. If the Emperor isn’t here, what use are thick walls?”
“Ah, I’m curious – where does your confidence come from, believing your son will definitely become Emperor? Just because you’re from the Cui clan?”
Grand Consort Cui smiled without responding. She had done what needed to be done – there was no need for verbal sparring, only quiet waiting.
The combined forces of the Tan clan and the law enforcement officers, led by Prince Donghai, numbered nearly a thousand men. Six-tenths had horses, and they quickly reached the North Gate.
As planned, the North Gate opened for this force. The crowd rushed in, shouting “Execute the treacherous Shang-guan Sheng” and “Avenge His Majesty.” Prince Donghai had already reminded everyone not to mention the Empress Dowager, trying to minimize resistance within the palace.
The force broke through two gates but was blocked at the third. Prince Donghai knew the general layout and realized this wasn’t far from both the Empress Dowager’s and Emperor’s chambers, so he ordered a forceful attack.
The scene became chaotic – after all, this wasn’t a regular army. While their initial charge and shouting showed great spirit, they became somewhat helpless upon encountering obstacles.
The Tan clan members distinguished themselves by quickly setting up three human ladders, planning to send some agile martial artists over the wall to open the gate from inside.
That’s when the palace began its counterattack.
Dozens of arrows flew from the darkness, dropping those who had just reached the top of the wall, while many below were wounded by arrows.
The scene grew more chaotic, with most unable to even determine where the arrows were coming from, only cursing and demanding their opponents come out to fight honorably.
The palace responded with waves of arrows – each volley consisting of several dozen arrows, not many in number but methodical and relentless.
Prince Donghai had stayed in the rear, relatively safe from danger, but was more anxious than anyone. He shouted at Tan Ye, “Where are our inside connections? What good is opening just two gates?”
Tan Ye grew anxious too, looking around the crowd until he found the eunuch who had opened the gates. “Old Xia, what’s going on? Who was supposed to open this gate?”
“Ch-Chu An,” stuttered the eunuch Old Xia, also confused.
“Let’s retreat first. No point in being target practice. I’ll send people to quietly climb the wall and eliminate those archers,” Tan Ye suggested.
Prince Donghai nodded and was the first to turn his horse around and retreat.
The retreat was even more chaotic than the advance, though these men showed their loyalty by carrying away all their dead and wounded.
The Tan brothers, Tan Ye and Tan Diao, dutifully gathered several dozen skilled martial artists, all trusted members of the Tan clan. They instructed them to extinguish their torches and quietly scale the walls, either to open the third gate or to find and eliminate the archers.
After making these arrangements, the two brothers went to find Prince Donghai. The force was becoming increasingly disorganized, and only Prince Donghai’s presence could keep the law enforcement officers and constables from losing heart.
Prince Donghai had already run to the North Gate of the imperial palace. He had a keen sense for danger and felt something was wrong: the third gate had not opened according to plan, which was no coincidence, and the arrows being shot from within the palace were certainly not from hastily assembled troops.
Shouldn’t the Empress Dowager be panicking after the Emperor’s death? Hadn’t most of the commanders of the Eight Palace Guard Camps promised not to interfere tonight? The more Prince Donghai thought about it, the more uneasy he became, and the faster he ran. Glancing back, he saw the three so-called experts sent by Hua Bin following closely behind him. This gave him some comfort, though he realized what he needed most right now wasn’t skilled fighters but soldiers who could both attack and defend.
His worst fears were realized – the North Gate of the palace was tightly locked, and no one knew who had the key.
“Is no one guarding this place?” Prince Donghai asked angrily. He was here to become Emperor, but he couldn’t possibly attend to every detail.
“I’ll check the situation,” said one of the experts.
The outer palace walls were much higher than the inner ones. After more people arrived, the expert formed a human ladder to climb to the top. After taking a look, he quickly returned to Prince Donghai and said with confusion: “There are palace guards…”
In the bedchamber, as the shouting outside gradually faded away, the Empress Dowager said, “It seems the palace walls built by our ancestors still serve their purpose.”
Grand Consort Cui finally could not contain herself and stood up. “What use is this stubborn resistance? The walls can only protect you temporarily. The Eight Palace Guard Camps that the Shang family worked so hard to expand will never be loyal to you.”
The Empress Dowager smiled without speaking.
Grand Consort Cui stepped forward. The guards moved to stop her, but seeing no signal from the Empress Dowager, they held back. Grand Consort Cui said, “Why make things difficult? Whoever becomes Emperor, you’ll still be Empress Dowager. I won’t compete with you. I just want to see Prince Donghai become Emperor.”
“I’ll ask again – where does your confidence come from?” the Empress Dowager asked.
Grand Consort Cui was silent for a moment. “Because the Graceful Emperor promised me.”
“Oh? When was this? I recall the Graceful Emperor rarely saw you after entering the palace.” The Empress Dowager smiled as if listening to a poor lie.
Grand Consort Cui laughed loudly. “You think the Graceful Emperor only favored you? When he was still Crown Prince, he promised me that my son would inherit the throne.”
“And you believed every word he said?” the Empress Dowager countered. “When the Graceful Emperor was Crown Prince, he lived in daily fear of being deposed or even killed by the Martial Emperor. Of course he needed the Cui clan’s support. His sweet words were just to please you.”
“That doesn’t matter. An emperor’s word is absolute. What he said as Crown Prince must still count. At least Maiden Wang never received such a promise, right?”
Maiden Wang, standing beside the Empress Dowager, blushed slightly. Since becoming pregnant, she had rarely seen the Graceful Emperor and never had a chance to be alone with him. Of course she had never heard any sweet “promises.”
Grand Consort Cui gave the Empress Dowager a cold smile. “It was acceptable for your son to become Emperor, but after the Thoughtful Emperor passed away, why didn’t you let Prince Donghai succeed him? Neither my son nor I accept this, nor does the Cui clan.”
The Empress Dowager stared at Grand Consort Cui for a while, then asked softly, “Then why did you kill my son?”
Lady Cui was stunned. “The Thoughtful Emperor? Everyone knows he was killed by you… what does it have to do with me?”
“Sister, you have caused me such suffering, making everyone believe I killed my own son for power. How could that be possible? I wanted power, but without the Thoughtful Emperor, my power became a castle built on air. That’s exactly what happened. Although I enthroned two new emperors, the court officials never wholeheartedly supported me. They just went through the motions, observed, and waited. My words were like stones thrown into water, making noise but nothing more. I had no choice but to use law enforcement officers to do my bidding, but even they weren’t loyal and were eventually won over by the Cui clan.”
Grand Consort Cui listened for a while until the shouting from the north completely disappeared. She said seriously, “I can believe that as a mother you wouldn’t kill your own son, but you can’t pin the blame on me either.” After a pause, Grand Consort Cui added, “You should also believe that if I had been plotting behind the scenes back then, I would never have let the throne fall to Maiden Wang’s son.”
The Empress Dowager laughed and said to a lady-in-waiting, “Bring them in.”
The lady-in-waiting went to the door to relay the order, and two guards quickly brought in a palace maid.
The palace maid was injured, with her hands bound behind her back. She faced the Empress Dowager without bowing, only paying respects to Grand Consort Cui.
“This is your person, isn’t she?” The Empress Dowager’s voice showed no anger, but rather carried a hint of languor, as if tired of this sleepless night. “Earlier tonight she tried to poison the Emperor. The Imperial Physician examined it – the poison was the same as last year’s, and the same as what was used on the Thoughtful Emperor before.”
“Hmph, the Imperial Physicians couldn’t even save lives – why should their words be trusted?”
A guard, following the Empress Dowager’s signal, stepped forward and said, “There aren’t many sects skilled in poison in the pugilist world, and most come from the south. If I’m not mistaken, this person is from the Ghost Mountain Sect. That sect has always had good relations with the bandits of Cloud Dream Marsh. It’s said that Marquis Junyang has been hiding there since fleeing the Capital – he must have brought the Ghost Mountain disciples into the city.”
“Is that wrong?” asked the Empress Dowager.
Grand Consort Cui’s lips remained tightly sealed. After a long while, she asked her maid, “Have you been to the Capital before?”
“No,” the maid answered. She had refused to speak until now, only willing to answer questions from Grand Consort Cui.
“So it’s just a coincidence that you and the person who poisoned the Thoughtful Emperor hired assassins from the same sect?” The Empress Dowager remained calm as she waved her hand. The guards left and brought in another person.
Lady Tan also refused to kneel before the Empress Dowager, only nodding to her mother-in-law, Grand Consort Cui.
The same guard spoke again, “The Tan family’s business spans the empire, and to ensure their goods move freely, they maintain good relations with both legitimate and underground forces. Grand Consort Cui has had close dealings with the Tan family for over a decade. Through them, she once hired a sorcerer to cast curses on the Empress Dowager and the Thoughtful Emperor, though it proved ineffective.”
“I remember the Thoughtful Emperor and I fell gravely ill – I suppose that was your doing?” said the Empress Dowager.
Grand Consort Cui remained silent.
The guard continued, “Two disciples of the Ghost Mountain Sect entered the Capital four years ago, with lodging arranged by the Tan family. They happened to leave the city in the same month the Thoughtful Emperor was poisoned.”
Grand Consort Cui still said nothing, but her maid asked, “Who exactly are you?”
The guard glanced at the Empress Dowager before answering, “My name is Meng Che. You may not know my name, but you should have heard of the Island of Righteous Men.”
The maid’s expression changed slightly, and she too fell silent.
The Empress Dowager smiled, “The pugilist world has many extraordinary people, but without help from the powerful, they could never get close to the Emperor. Grand Consort Cui, you have your extraordinary allies, and I have mine – let’s call it a draw.”
“False accusations,” Grand Consort Cui still refused to admit poisoning the Thoughtful Emperor but didn’t want to argue further. “Without the Eight Guard Camps, how long can the palace walls protect you?”
“Who says I don’t have the Eight Guard Camps?”
“Most of the Guard commanders agreed to stand down, and even if one or two camps follow Shang-guan Sheng’s orders, it won’t make any difference.”
“If I remember correctly, the camp commanders promised to stand down ‘tonight’ – look, dawn is breaking. They haven’t broken their promise, and they’ll soon come to protect the palace.”
Grand Consort Cui’s expression changed dramatically as she finally realized she had been tricked. The Empress Dowager had deliberately lured the Cui clan into staging a palace coup to capture them all at once.
“Ah, and there’s still a Southern Army outside the city. Meng Che, any news?”
Meng Che replied, “No clear news yet, but the city guards report that the Southern Army camp ten miles away is ablaze with fire – surely not for illumination.”
The Empress Dowager smiled at Consort Cui – revenge was best savored slowly.
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