Chapter 853: Feint to the East, Strike to the West

After listening in silence for a while, Qian Liansheng sensed an indescribable feeling in the music and murmured, "I wonder who's playing?"

The fact that he asked the question at all showed he could tell this was no ordinary entertainer or hired musician.

In the pavilion atop the piled rocks, Guan Fangyi lit the lone lamp and hung it up. Beneath its glow, Niu Youdao could be seen seated calmly at the qin, playing.

He had not done it deliberately. He had simply noticed a qin on the platform and sat down to play on impulse.

As she listened to the cadence of the music, Guan Fangyi fell into thought while remaining quietly alert to their surroundings.

She had followed Niu Youdao for so long, yet this was only the second time she had seen him play the qin. The melodies beneath his fingers were empty and ethereal, mysterious in a way difficult to put into words.

Beneath the lone lamp, Wu Zhaoxing and Guan Fangyi stood to either side.

During this time, Old Second Wu returned to Qian Liansheng's room to check on them.

The people there had also grown impatient from waiting. The moment Qian Liansheng saw him, he asked, "Where is Master Dao?"

Old Second Wu gestured for him to lower his voice. "Master Dao is meeting someone. The imperial court has people watching this place. Once his business is finished and everything is arranged properly, he will naturally come see you."

Qian Liansheng was not the only one growing impatient. In the qin pavilion, Guan Fangyi gradually lost patience as well and asked softly, "Are you certain they'll really make their move tonight?"

Niu Youdao only smiled and continued playing without answering.

At first, he had not been completely certain.

But after seeing Gao Jiancheng's warning, he was.

He knew very well that in a place like the capital, Gao Jiancheng's high position was not merely for show. A man who could climb to his present rank through the treacherous struggles of court, where attacks were impossible to guard against completely, had powers of observation and judgment far beyond ordinary people. If even Gao Jiancheng said there was danger, then something was almost certain to happen.

...

At the Gao residence, the inner compound was pitch black.

Gao Jiancheng sat behind his desk with his eyes closed, seemingly resting. His entire body was swallowed by the darkness.

Fan Zhuan entered and said quietly, "No movement for now."

Gao Jiancheng asked, "And the Tong residence?"

"Very quiet. Nothing unusual can be seen."

Gao Jiancheng slowly said, "Nothing unusual to be seen is itself unusual."

"Yes," Fan Zhuan replied.

Gao Jiancheng continued, "If a major disturbance breaks out, it will mean he has the support of the man in the palace. If anything changes, immediately summon the manpower from my yamen and bring them here, in case Tong Mo uses the chaos to sweep us up as well."

Fan Zhuan's expression turned grave.

He understood.

Once Tong Mo had the palace's support, then no matter what he did, the man inside the palace would find it difficult to investigate too deeply afterward. Tong Mo might simply go all the way and seize the rare opportunity created by the commotion to eliminate political enemies along with everything else.

The possibility was not especially high, but his master's concern was reasonable.

They had to guard against it before it happened.

...

Inside the study of the Tong residence, Tong Mo had bathed and changed into loose robes with broad sleeves. His long hair hung unbound. With a brush in one hand and the other lifting his sleeve, he wrote sheet after sheet in bold, sweeping strokes.

The household steward, Tong Ming, hurried inside. He glanced at the ink-covered sheets scattered chaotically across the floor and picked his steps through the gaps, careful not to tread on them. Reaching the desk, he reminded him, "Master, it's about time."

Tong Mo did not stop writing. "A man who has survived great storms cannot be underestimated. Niu Youdao is not simple. There cannot be the slightest mistake in this matter. Once we act, there will be no road back. Has everything been confirmed? I want absolute certainty!"

Tong Ming replied, "There can be no mistake. We chose the residence where Niu Youdao is staying, and it was inspected in detail. Before he even arrived, we already had people stationed all around it watching. We can confirm that only those people went inside. If even one more person entered, our eyes could not have missed it. His defensive strength is limited!"

Tong Mo asked, "You are certain he is still inside?"

"Absolutely. The servants in that residence were all our eyes placed there beforehand. They've already sent word that Niu Youdao is in the pavilion playing the qin."

"Playing the qin?" Tong Mo's brush paused slightly as he frowned.

Tong Ming said, "With so many eyes watching him, there can be no mistake. He's in quite the mood. He probably thinks that with people from the three great sects protecting him, no one would dare move against them."

Tong Mo's brush began moving again. He rapidly finished the page, as if reaching his final decision at the same time. With a sweep of his hand, he tore away the finished sheet and tossed it aside to drift onto the floor. Then he dipped his brush heavily into the ink and brought it down onto another clean page.

The brush flew like dragons and snakes, the strokes vigorous and forceful. He wrote with such abandon that he looked almost possessed.

A low voice emerged from deep in his throat.

"Move!"

...

The imperial palace blazed with lamplight.

Niu Youdao was playing the qin.

Someone in the rear palace was also playing one, though this musician was a woman: Shang Jianxiong's favored consort, Aque.

Shang Jianxiong had suddenly felt like hearing her play, so Aque naturally obeyed.

Yet whenever she glanced up, she could clearly see that Shang Jianxiong was distracted. From beginning to end, his thoughts seemed nowhere near the music. Asking her to play had evidently been nothing more than a pretext.

In the lamplight, the beauty pressed all ten fingers against the strings.

The music stopped abruptly.

Shang Jianxiong did not even notice.

Only after quite some time did he suddenly come back to himself. Seeing Aque's bright eyes fixed on him, he smiled. "It sounded good. Why did you stop?"

Aque glanced toward the shadows of guards moving outside the doorway. "There seem to be many more guards outside tonight."

Shang Jianxiong rose and walked behind her, setting both hands on her fragrant shoulders. "An annoying fellow came to the capital today. This is merely a precaution."

Aque said, "I heard it was Niu Youdao, the man who took first place in the Tiandu Secret Realm."

"Oh?" Shang Jianxiong asked. "You pay attention to him?"

Aque had been about to say she had already heard of him back in Song, but when the words reached her lips, she chose not to mention her former state and only replied softly, "I'm merely a little afraid. Whenever the palace suddenly moves large numbers of men, bloodshed usually follows."

As she spoke, she glanced down at the hands on her shoulders.

Shang Jianxiong's hands visibly stiffened.

"You're thinking too much. Nothing will happen." He forced a smile.

The words had barely left his mouth when a heavy boom sounded outside. Fierce fighting erupted immediately afterward, and shouts of killing shattered the silence of the deep palace in an instant.

Chief Steward Tian Yu came running urgently from outside and shouted, "Your Majesty! Eunuchs in the palace have rebelled. They opened the palace gates and let assassins inside!"

Aque sprang to her feet in alarm and turned around. "Your Majesty!"

Shang Jianxiong remained calm despite the sudden crisis. He reached out and stroked her delicate cheek. "I am here. Nothing will happen."

A group of masked men in black had broken into the palace.

Arrows rained through the air. Palace guards fought desperately while retainer cultivators appeared one after another to intercept the attackers.

At the disturbance, Xiaoyao Palace Elder Xi Yao, Zijin Cave Elder Shen Baochun, and Lingjian Mountain Elder Luo Mingjian all flashed out at once.

"Could this be Niu Youdao?" Shen Baochun stood on a rooftop staring toward the fighting, bewildered and suspicious.

Nothing had happened earlier or later, yet precisely when Niu Youdao came to the capital, someone launched a night assault on the imperial palace. Given Niu Youdao's grievances with Shang Jianxiong, it was difficult not to suspect him.

Before long, disciples of all three great sects were rushing to meet the enemy.

...

The heavy rumbling came from the distance.

Gao Jiancheng, sitting in darkness, abruptly opened his eyes and barked, "That's the wrong direction. What's happening?"

Fan Zhuan was already running in. He reported urgently, "Master, something terrible has happened. Fighting is coming from the direction of the imperial palace. It sounds as though someone is storming the palace by force!"

"The palace?" Suspicion flashed across Gao Jiancheng's face. His eyes shifted rapidly for a moment before he suddenly stood. "Not good! Feint to the east, strike to the west. They're about to move against Niu Youdao!"

...

The qin music stopped abruptly.

Niu Youdao pressed all ten fingers against the strings and turned his head toward the direction from which the distant sounds of fierce fighting were faintly carrying.

"Sounds like the imperial palace," Wu Zhaoxing murmured with a frown.

Twang! Twang! Twang!

With a harsh series of snaps, every string on the qin broke beneath Niu Youdao's fingers.

Wu Zhaoxing and Guan Fangyi looked at him, unsure what he meant.

"Heh, heh." Niu Youdao gave a cold laugh. "They are all ruthless men. To deal with me, they've truly paid a heavy price. Looks like the people from the three great sects won't be able to come rescue us in time."

Guan Fangyi and Wu Zhaoxing both felt a chill.

They understood his meaning.

The disturbance at the imperial palace was probably meant to pin down the manpower of the three great sects.

Niu Youdao flicked his fingers and sent out a gust that extinguished the lantern. He scooped up the sword lying beside him, rose, and walked away. "The enemy has already sent the signal to move. Let's go."

The three quickly descended from the rocky pavilion. Instead of heading elsewhere, they turned directly into the artificial hill beneath it.

In a hidden corner within the rockery, an opening suddenly appeared in the ground.

Niu Youdao and the others slipped inside at once. Yun Ji was already waiting for them there.

She pressed one hand against the wall of the passage and used her art. The soil around the opening immediately began to surge and flow, sealing the entrance as naturally as a wound closing.

The group sank continuously downward. Soil merged behind them in layer after layer, blocking the path above, while the earth beneath their feet rolled open and then folded upward around the narrow space, sealing each level in their wake.

As they descended, Yun Ji said heavily, "What you're doing is dangerous."

Niu Youdao understood her meaning.

Yun Ji had warned him from the beginning. If she tunneled through the earth alone, she would be fine, but she could not carry several people and escape quickly underground. At best, she could only move like this.

If anything changed and the enemy immediately attacked from above, their rate of escape would never be faster than cultivators blasting open the ground.

"If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you seize the tiger cub?" Niu Youdao smiled faintly. "The cultivators from the three great sects aren't decorations. With them blocking things for a while, we'll be fine."

While listening closely to the movement above, he asked, "Is the passage sealed? Have Old Second Wu and the others all withdrawn?"

Yun Ji replied, "Everything is taken care of."

...

"Who goes there?"

The cultivators from the three great sects guarding Niu Youdao's residence had still been staring suspiciously toward the direction of the imperial palace when they suddenly sensed something abnormal and shouted.

A group of masked figures abruptly rushed from the darkness.

They gave no answer and charged straight toward the qin pavilion atop the artificial hill.

"Impudent!"

How could the cultivators of the three great sects tolerate assassins running wild here?

They flashed out one after another to intercept them.

The two sides clashed in an instant.

The disciples of the three great sects quickly realized there were not merely a handful of attackers.

There were probably more than a thousand!

A low voice came from the darkness.

"Do not let a single person escape. Leave no survivors. Kill!"

Plainly, they wanted to eliminate every possible accident and were afraid Niu Youdao might escape. After all, not everyone among them knew what he looked like.

...

"The qin stopped," someone inside the room muttered.

Then fierce fighting erupted nearby.

Qian Liansheng's expression changed. "Go out and look!"

The group had barely rushed from the room when black-clad attackers descended on them and began killing. The guards immediately surrounded Qian Liansheng and protected him.

In the midst of his panic, Qian Liansheng discovered they were not the only people under attack.

The envoys of Jin, Wei, Qi, Zhao, and Han were all nearby.

All of them were inside this same residence and under assault.

More precisely, they were all in the same courtyard.

They simply had not known the others were there.

[End of Chapter 853]