Chapter 696: I Bet on Her Kindness

The leader of the Secret Intelligence Department men pointed his saber forward and shouted toward the runners of the Court of the Imperial Clan around him:

"You are ordered to join our Department in killing these jianghu rebels!"

The runners looked at one another.

No one objected.

One after another, they turned their weapons toward the side room.

But none of them rushed forward to be the first to fight.

Any yamen that became too deeply entangled in personal relationships would inevitably develop problems.

And across all Great Yan... no office in existence was more deeply entangled in family relationships than the Court of the Imperial Clan.

So the overwhelming majority of its runners were actually members of the imperial clan or relatives of clan members.

Men who could no longer make a living outside.

Men who did not want to travel far away and enlist in the army.

They begged grandparents, called in favors, and finally squeezed themselves into some post here.

On ordinary days, they were useful enough for filling out the appearance of the yamen.

At critical moments... what they were best at was slacking off.

So the Secret Intelligence Department agents charged first.

Several of the more skilled men even leapt directly onto the roof.

But first... there were only about ten of them.

And on the other side... every last one was an expert.

So the moment the two sides actually clashed... a chorus of miserable cries erupted.

There was simply no fight to be had.

The two agents who jumped onto the roof suffered the worst.

They had barely landed before they were struck so hard they vomited blood and flew backward.

The runners of the Court of the Imperial Clan frowned.

Originally, they had planned to wait until the Secret Intelligence men more or less finished off these jianghu people, then rush forward and wave their blades around a few times for appearances.

Who knew the situation would become this one-sided?

Immediately... every runner in the courtyard retreated three paces.

As though this were not the Court of the Imperial Clan at all... but some alley mouth on an ordinary street.

On the roof, Qin the Hunchback, who still had not forgotten to drink, narrowed his eyes.

"Something's wrong."

These Secret Intelligence men... were far too easy to beat.

Against the four of them, being outmatched was perfectly normal.

But there should not be a single capable fighter among them?

Then... a figure shot upward from an angle nearby.

The man carried a longbow.

Three arrows rested on the string.

His aura was gathered tightly inward.

The instant he appeared... every one of the four great experts felt warning bells ring inside his heart.

But then... the danger vanished.

Because the man's arrows were not aimed at them.

They were aimed... at the side room below.

"An army expert!"

Qin the Hunchback shouted.

Then threw himself downward.

He intended to use his own body to block the arrows.

The other experts hesitated.

Clearly... they could not bring themselves to display the same kind of self-sacrificing righteousness.

Their cultivation realms were high.

But high cultivation did not mean they could not be crippled.

Did not mean they could not die.

They were retainers.

Not deathsworn.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Three arrows flew.

Qin the Hunchback hurled his wine gourd forward.

The gourd struck the first arrow before it reached him.

Bang!

The gourd exploded.

Arrow and gourd canceled each other out.

Then... the second and third arrows arrived.

Qin the Hunchback caught one arrow in his left hand.

Blood instantly sprayed from his palm.

Ignoring the injury, he twisted in midair and kicked toward the remaining arrow with one leg.

The sole of his shoe tore apart.

Only barely did he knock the arrow off course.

He landed.

The hand gripping the arrow trembled.

His other leg trembled too.

His face filled with shock as he stared toward the archer standing above and ahead.

At that moment...

Zhou Chang charged forward with his staff.

Three steps.

Then he sprang into the air and lunged directly at the archer.

Wu Ying and Liu Mingyang moved from the rooftop as well, circling around from both sides.

They absolutely could not allow the archer another chance to fire three arrows at once.

The target was inside the room.

If they had to keep blocking arrows... they would be far too passive.

But Qin the Hunchback shouted:

"Watch the surroundings!"

The other side moved cleanly and efficiently.

Their style obviously carried the imprint of the army.

And if that was so...

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

In an instant... armored soldiers vaulted over the courtyard walls from every direction.

Behind them, a second line of troops stood atop the walls holding bows and crossbows.

This... was precisely the kind of situation jianghu experts feared most.

They were not afraid of yamen runners.

Not afraid of local tyrants.

What they feared was an enemy who arrived already organized.

And for the hired experts present... the most terrifying detail was not even the formation.

It was that every bow and crossbow... was aimed not at them... but at the side room.

"Damn it!"

Qin the Hunchback cursed.

They could break out now.

And most likely succeed.

But the problem was... they had come here to protect someone.

Protect the mother and daughter from being killed by outsiders.

And also... protect them from killing themselves.

"Impudent! This is the imperial capital! Whoever dares mobilize troops without a military tally has committed a crime deserving death!"

A furious shout thundered from farther away.

Then... from even farther out... a group of armored soldiers wearing masks and cyan armor charged toward the courtyard at astonishing speed.

Beyond them... from rooftops surrounding the rear courtyard of the Court of the Imperial Clan... another group of crossbowmen suddenly loosed a concentrated volley.

The first group of troops had never imagined that while they themselves lay in ambush... another force had already been waiting behind them.

In the blink of an eye... arrows tore through their ranks.

Men fell everywhere.

At the center, the archer who had fired the first three arrows saw Zhou Chang charging again.

He fired two rapid shots at him.

Zhou Chang had no desire to trade an injury in a situation that had suddenly turned favorable.

He retreated without hesitation.

Then... the archer nocked three more arrows.

Aimed once again at the side room.

"We would like to see who exactly is this lawless, daring enough to run wild inside the capital!"

A long cry came from nearby.

Following it... two streams of green force flashed through the air.

One swept across the front, forcing the archer to stop his shot.

The other slashed in from behind, cutting directly toward his back.

The archer twisted at the waist and flipped sideways.

His arrows turned toward the newcomer.

"Arrogant!"

Wei Zhonghe was not Zhou Chang.

First... his cultivation was higher.

Second... this was Yanjing.

This was Wei Zhonghe's home ground.

Here, other men could retreat.

Wei Zhonghe... could not retreat a single step!

In the blink of an eye...

Wei Zhonghe appeared directly before the archer.

His left hand extended in a soft palm.

His fingertips brushed down the arrowheads with incredible speed.

At the same time, another stream of force burst from his right sleeve.

In an instant... the protective heart-mirror on the archer's armor shattered.

The man himself was blasted backward.

Zhou Chang, who had retreated earlier, immediately surged forward again.

One sweep of his staff knocked the bow from the archer's hand.

Then knee and elbow locked him down.

He was captured alive.

Afterward...

Zhou Chang looked up toward Wei Zhonghe and smiled.

There was a trace of restraint in that smile.

Wei Zhonghe smiled back warmly.

The bald monk immediately looked somewhat bashful.

Given the difference in strength and status between them... before Wei Zhonghe, Zhou Chang truly had the feeling of a shrimp meeting a great fish.

Once upon a time, the Sword Saint had been most irritated by one sentence from the Prince of Jingnan:

The jianghu cannot make it onto the stage.

Heroes and bold men were always shouting things like:

"At worst, eighteen years from now I'll still be a good man!"

But in truth... people with real confidence did not need to shout.

Wei Zhonghe swept his gaze across the experts.

He felt somewhat emotional.

Experts were indeed experts.

But they were not useful in the same way true subordinates were.

Usually, you kept them around as prestigious decorations.

When the critical moment came... they refused to press forward.

They were already thinking about retreating.

The group beneath Sixth Highness... really was...

Then Wei Zhonghe shook his head and laughed.

In truth, an imperial prince had less reason than anyone to worry about what kind of subordinates he possessed.

Once he became Emperor... everything belonging to the present Emperor... would become his.

Below... the cleanup was already nearing completion.

The masked soldiers in cyan armor moved like ghosts when they killed.

Wu Ying and the others could not help feeling chilled as they watched.

One-on-one, naturally they were not afraid.

But if whole squads hunted them in formation... even they had no confidence.

The man leading the masked force walked into the center of the courtyard.

He removed his mask.

Revealing the face of Lu Bing.

This Vice Director of the Court of State Ceremonial now radiated a cold, murderous aura.

"His Majesty has issued a decree. Bring the prisoners before the court."

"This minister obeys!"

Lu Bing turned.

Pushed open the door.

And entered the side room.

Eunuch Zhang's left hand was clamped around A'Rou's throat.

His right hand pinned her wrist.

The little girl stood in the corner crying:

"Mother! Mother! Mother!"

The instant he saw Lu Bing...

Eunuch Zhang released a long breath of relief.

Then instinctively let go.

Lu Bing stepped forward and personally seized A'Rou.

First, he forced her mouth open and checked between her teeth for poison capsules.

After confirming there were none... he searched her body for concealed weapons.

In truth...

A'Rou knew a little martial arts.

She also understood a little Qi Refining.

She had learned some techniques inside the palace.

But those skills were only enough to help noble masters massage their bodies and calm their nerves.

If one actually asked her to fight... they were not worth much.

After completing the inspection...

Lu Bing pulled a black cloth sack over A'Rou's entire upper body.

At that moment...

Wei Zhonghe also entered.

He looked at Eunuch Zhang and laughed as he cursed him.

"You couldn't even pretend for a while and wait until We came in before releasing her?"

By immediately releasing A'Rou to Lu Bing...

Eunuch Zhang had effectively revealed that he... and therefore Sixth Highness behind him... had long since guessed Lu Bing's true identity and the force standing behind him.

Eunuch Zhang smiled ingratiatingly.

"This slave was anxious. Too anxious."

Wei Zhonghe made a delicate orchid-finger gesture toward him.

Then reached down and picked up the little girl.

Perhaps intimidated by the aura around Wei Zhonghe... the girl actually stopped crying.

"Heh-heh. Are We really that frightening? We have always thought Ourselves quite kind-looking."

"The Heir says the same thing. After returning home, he kept shouting that he wanted to learn sleeve-sword techniques from Uncle Wei," Eunuch Zhang hurriedly said.

Where had the Heir seen Wei Zhonghe?

Naturally... at Lady Fengxin's residence.

And why would Wei Zhonghe appear at Lady Fengxin's residence?

Naturally... because he had accompanied His Majesty.

"Hahahaha!"

Wei Zhonghe laughed loudly.

Then cursed:

"You little bastard truly have no fear of death. Even if your master wanted to win Us over, he wouldn't dare say things this blatantly."

"Master is Master. This slave and Eunuch Wei are different," Eunuch Zhang replied.

"Stop spouting nonsense. The character has only just gained its first stroke. Keep your tail pressed down. Your master is a man who knows how to hold his nerve. Don't embarrass him."

"Yes. Eunuch Wei's instruction is correct."

Wei Zhonghe played with the girl in his arms for a moment.

Then asked:

"Is she truly the Crown Prince's blood?"

Eunuch Zhang smiled.

"What do you think?"

"We understand."

Wei Zhonghe turned toward Lu Bing.

"We'll trouble Lord Lu to send someone ahead and report first. Say that someone at the Court of the Imperial Clan mobilized Imperial Guards in rebellion. Say We became trapped here in fierce battle. Ask His Majesty to issue a decree to suppress the rebellion."

Lu Bing gave Wei Zhonghe a meaningful look.

Then nodded.

Outside... the courtyard had already been cleared.

Those who needed killing were dead.

Those who needed capturing were captured.

There had been no "fierce battle."

But to accuse Wei Zhonghe of falsely reporting military conditions and deceiving the sovereign merely so he could claim merit... that would be absurd.

It would be insulting the stature of the Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

And the present Emperor... at no time... was a man anyone could deceive.

So... this instruction came from His Majesty.

Then... a genuine senior handler of the Secret Intelligence Department entered.

He saluted Wei Zhonghe.

"Eunuch Wei, the carriage is ready."

"Good. Let's go. We shouldn't keep His Majesty and the ministers waiting. Oh, right. Eunuch Zhang seems to be especially skilled at driving carriages, isn't that so?"

Eunuch Zhang hurriedly answered:

"Yes."

"Then we'll trouble you."

"You're too courteous. Driving a carriage for Eunuch Wei is something this slave dreamed of doing from the day he entered the palace. Enormous face."

"Let's go."

"After you."

Wei Zhonghe lowered his arm.

The girl who had been sitting in his embrace suddenly dropped.

Then Wei Zhonghe caught the back of her collar with one hand.

Like a little chick... he carried her out of the side room.

A'Rou, meanwhile... had an Eight-Gate Lock fastened around her by the Secret Intelligence men.

Small.

Delicately made.

It did not injure the wearer.

But it made suicide impossible.

Even an expert placed in such a lock would find it impossible to break free.

Carrying the girl out, Wei Zhonghe saw Qin the Hunchback standing in the courtyard.

The old man looked miserable, blood still running from his wounds.

Wei Zhonghe smiled.

"If a jianghu man wants to make it onto the stage, he has to bleed. Old sir, you love drinking, but at least your mind isn't muddled."

Qin the Hunchback hurriedly bowed.

"Age has climbed. The mind has grown clearer."

"Not bad."

With that...

Wei Zhonghe tossed the girl to two nearby Secret Intelligence agents.

They placed the girl and the locked A'Rou into the rear carriage.

Wei Zhonghe himself... entered the carriage at the front.

Eunuch Zhang climbed into the driver's seat.

The convoy began moving.

They took the Imperial Way.

With banners displayed ahead, they could enter the palace by the fastest possible route.

After traveling for a while...

Wei Zhonghe emerged from inside the carriage.

He simply sat down beside Eunuch Zhang.

Then said:

"This is rather interesting."

"If Eunuch Wei wants to know anything, ask. This slave will answer everything."

"This woman... isn't she Aunt Rou?"

As chief steward of Fengzheng Palace... how could Wei Zhonghe possibly fail to recognize her?

They were old acquaintances.

They had even bickered back in the old princely residence.

The reason Wei Zhonghe had deliberately entered the side room a step late... was because he wanted Lu Bing to control the woman first.

He had no desire to meet her face to face.

Exchange greetings or not... either way, it would be pointless.

"Yes."

"Min Clan?"

"Yes."

"Now that's strange."

Wei Zhonghe laughed and shook his head.

"One ring linked to the next. Since the chain failed to close, then somewhere along it... something must have gone wrong."

"Yes. Eunuch Wei sees clearly."

"Explain it. Lay the cards faceup now. There's nothing left that can't be said."

"Yes. She was sold into the Min Clan when she was young. The Min Clan trained her, settled her family properly, then assigned her into one of the residences."

"That does fit the Min Clan's style. Rich enough to drown people in money, so they always liked doing this kind of thing."

Wei Zhonghe spoke with genuine feeling.

When you had enough silver... you could gather more hands.

Once you had enough hands... your people naturally began appearing everywhere.

Then another thought struck him.

A spy raised by the Min Clan... had actually hidden beside the Empress and retained her complete trust for so many years.

Aiya.

Aiya.

"And after that? Forget it. No need to discuss the old history. Just explain this matter."

"Lord Lu was already waiting here. This slave assumed the palace side already knew."

"Heh. Lu Bing was protecting imperial blood," Wei Zhonghe said. "Get to the important part."

"Yes. Originally... we intended to use this move."

That move... naturally meant exposing the Crown Prince's loss of virtue.

Using it to strike the Crown Prince.

To drag him down.

"And then?"

"And then Master said one thing."

"What?"

"Master said she had been sold into the Min Clan when she was still very young. At such a young age, how much feeling could she still have for the Min Clan? For her parents? For brothers and sisters? How could those things possibly outweigh the greater part of her life spent inside the princely residence and imperial palace? Master said... he was willing to believe in Aunt Rou's loyalty."

"That counts as enough?"

"He was willing to believe in Aunt Rou's loyalty to the Empress. And to the Crown Prince... her loyalty as well."

"Oh."

Wei Zhonghe understood.

This was a trap.

A trap woven long ago.

The Crown Prince's moral disgrace... was a killing weapon.

The Sixth Master's faction could use this move to strike the Crown Prince dead in one blow.

And the Min Clan's arrangements from decades ago... could achieve miraculous effect.

The trap looked perfect.

Elegant.

Enough to make anyone marvel.

But the Sixth Prince had stepped outside the trap.

From the beginning... he did not believe that such a trap could remain unchanged across decades.

People... were not objects.

People changed.

A'Rou had once belonged to the Min Clan.

When the Min Clan's Side Consort married into the princely residence, A'Rou saw her there as well.

At that time... she probably still belonged to the Min Clan in truth.

But for decades... the Empress had treated her like a sister.

The Crown Prince had treated her like an elder.

That little girl from years ago... had begged a noble household to buy her so that her family might have a road to survival.

Then the Aunt Rou of today... would once again choose to sacrifice herself for her family.

But who... was her family now?

Who were the people she truly cared about now?

This was an arrow left behind by the old head of the Min Clan.

No.

More accurately... it was one arrow among many.

Scatter enough nets.

Wait for luck.

But perhaps... this was also an arrow the Crown Prince himself had preserved long ago.

When his Sixth Brother decided to use this arrow... it looked as though he intended to wound the Eastern Palace.

In truth... the arrow would eventually wound him instead.

Because once loosed... this arrow could never return.

When the Sixth Master's faction exerted all its strength and tried to force the Crown Prince's faction to the edge of the cliff... the Sixth Master's faction itself had already walked to the cliff's edge.

Then... at the most critical moment... the arrow would turn traitor.

The one falling... would no longer be the Eastern Palace.

It would be the Sixth Prince.

Remnants of the Min Clan.

Scheming against a brother.

Great rebellion.

Deceiving the sovereign...

Things that could originally have been concealed beneath layers of darkness... would suddenly be laid openly in the light.

Just like the situation now inside the Golden Hall.

Mistakes that could be committed in darkness... became fatal under sunlight.

So... the Crown Prince's initial loss of composure... had been an act.

He had been waiting for the Sixth Prince to enter the urn.

But the Sixth Prince knelt first.

And shouted that he himself had lost virtue.

In one instant... the Crown Prince's entire arrangement had been destroyed.

Worse... the Crown Prince himself had been forced back toward the abyss.

What followed... was no longer acting.

Because by then, the Crown Prince realized that matters could no longer be brought to a clean ending.

Ridiculous.

He was the defender.

Yet... he had lost while attacking.

In this entire matter... whoever became deliberate... lost.

Because if the investigation continued to the end... there would be no clean conclusion.

"Whose man is the Grand Director?"

"Eunuch Wei, you understand. Many people look like ours. Then turn around and become theirs. There are plenty who place wagers on both sides."

"Mm."

Wei Zhonghe nodded.

"But We are curious about one thing. Was your master certain from the beginning that Aunt Rou was no longer his person?"

"No. Master actually weighed it for a very long time. Perhaps even while attending court today... Master was still weighing it inside his heart."

In truth...

Eunuch Zhang was not telling the whole truth.

What had truly made his master decide... were the words Xue San brought from Marquis Pingxi the previous night.

After Xue San left...

Master had asked him:

"Tell me. Who does that bastard Zheng hate this much? He has a wife but no child. His background is clean. He barely has family. Who is worth this much hatred from him? Who is worth helping someone avenge?"

Then Master answered his own question:

"The Prince of Jingnan."

Master paced.

Walked to the window.

He did not actually open it.

Yet he drew a deep breath as though standing before an open window and taking in fresh air.

"The Tian Clan exterminating itself... there's nothing there to avenge. If there's revenge to take... then it has to be for the old Marchioness of Jingnan. He wants revenge for his sister-in-law. Then who... is the enemy?"

Just as Eunuch Zhang prepared to help think through it...

Master suddenly changed subjects.

"Wasn't Du Juan born from the Silver-Armored Guard too? Wasn't she also sent into Great Yan when she was young? And now... isn't her son living safely inside Marquis Pingxi Residence? Heh-heh-heh-heh..."

Ah.

Tsk.

Eunuch Zhang had watched his master return to the desk.

Pick up a handful of preserved plums.

Then slowly loosen his fingers.

One by one... the plums slipped through the gaps and fell.

And Master said:

"Fine. I... bet on her kindness."

[End of Chapter 696]