3. Palace Coup

◎Let's go back.◎

The night was cool and still. A person wearing a jade hairpin and a dark court robe walked gracefully under the moonlight.

Qi Gu leaned against the window, gazing at Sima Xiuyuan, whose tall and elegant figure reminded her of the poem: "The moonlight on the celestial steps is as cool as water, and the immortal's beauty under the moon surpasses the moon's radiance."

With a "click," Aunt Qi closed the window. What was she doing here now?

Even though this is the princess's residence, no one dares to stop Sima Hong from entering. He is not the prince consort; he has only married the princess.

This was a privilege and honor bestowed upon him by the Empress.

Looking at her husband, who remained calm, Qi Gu couldn't understand why, after so casually trampling on her heart, her mother said it was for her own good, and Xiu Yuan remained so composed. They didn't seem to regard her pain as their own.

Qi Gu gave a self-deprecating laugh. They didn't care about her at all; otherwise, why would they keep everything from her and only tell her the result?

"Congratulations, Lord Sima, on your upcoming marriage to such a beautiful woman. You could have simply told me. If I had known that your beloved was a girl from the Gao family, I would not have married you, nor would I have interfered with your good fortune." Qi Gu had lost her usual gentleness and tenderness; every word she spoke was barbed.

"I thought you knew the inside story of this marriage." The person, as bright as the moon, stepped forward and looked down at her lying on the couch.

At that moment, the moonlight shone on her, and it uttered beautiful words that made her dizzy: "Alright, from now on I will return to the princess's residence to live permanently."

The Sima family and Empress Zhang were already inseparable; the imperial family and the Sima clan needed this strong bond.

The bond between him and Qi Gu was their marriage. As for Gao Ruyu, it was the result of a power struggle between his grandfather and the empress, and he had asked her that day if she was willing.

Like a child receiving a treat from an adult, Qi Gu immediately forgot why she had been angry and knelt up, "Really?"

Sima Xiuyuan looked at his wife, whose hair was disheveled but whose eyes were bright like stars, and his new bride, who was pouting. He bent down, picked her up, and carried her to the bed behind the screen.

The next day, Sima Xiuyuan got up and dressed. Qi Gu, who was behind the screen, slightly opened her eyes. "You're coming back today, aren't you?" She wouldn't forget the promise he made last night.

Sima Xiuyuan put on his cloak. "The palace has been busy lately. You should stay in your residence and not go out. Your confinement is still in effect."

Qi Gu lay back down on the bed. "Oh, could you please talk to my mother and ask her to lift my confinement?"

Sima Hong remained silent.

She asked again through the screen, "Then you'll come back when you're done with your work, right?"

"Hmm," the person who had finished dressing replied softly and left.

For the next few days, Sima Hong did not return to the princess's residence. Qi Gu knew he was busy, but he never made promises lightly, and once he did, he would not go back on his word. So she resigned herself to being a wife waiting for him to return home.

That day, Honghu suddenly rushed over to tell her, "Princess, I heard that Her Majesty the Empress is ill, and Gao Ruyu has gone to the palace to attend to her."

Qi Gu didn't want to know what the Gao family's daughter was going to do in the palace. She buryed her head in the sand, thinking that as long as she pretended not to exist, she wouldn't exist.

With Xiu Yuan's promise, she had long ago made up her mind to pretend that Gao Ruyu did not exist.

"What? The Empress Dowager is ill?" Qi Gu was only concerned about the Empress Dowager's health.

"Prepare the carriage, I need to go to the palace!" Qi Gu was so anxious that she hurriedly ordered someone to prepare a carriage.

Upon learning that the princess was going to the palace, Hongyan hurriedly tried to stop her, saying, "Princess, have you forgotten what Her Majesty the Empress and Lord He said?"

"But my mother is ill, how can I not go to visit her?"

Hongyan still felt it was inappropriate, "But..."

"Hongyan, are you going to stop me, or come with me to the palace?"

“Princess… I, I will go to the palace with you.”

The guards at the gate looked unfamiliar, but upon seeing her, they readily let her through. "Strange, why are there so many guards at the gate today?"

Honghu said, "Perhaps it's because of the recent border garrison rotation and the capital's martial law that there are so many guards."

Upon arriving at the palace, the atmosphere was strangely quiet, almost unbearably so, and the Yongle Palace, where the Empress Dowager resided, was completely deserted.

Honghu said, "Your Majesty the Empress is very busy with state affairs. Why don't we go to Xuanzheng Hall instead?"

Qi Gu nodded and walked all the way to the outside of Xuanzheng Hall. She felt increasingly strange. Usually, there were eunuchs and palace maids coming and going frequently, and guards patrolling back and forth, but she did not see them at all today.

"Strange, why aren't there any patrolling guards today?"

Hongyan also sensed something was wrong. "Princess, let's leave the palace quickly."

Honghu said, "We'll be at Xuanzheng Hall soon. The princess will not only be able to see the Empress, but also her husband."

Qi Gu felt increasingly strange, and then she remembered her mother's words that she had been confined to the princess's residence. "Never mind, let's go back."

Hongyan finally breathed a sigh of relief. The three of them prepared to leave the palace, but on the way, they heard shouts of killing.

"Charge!"

"It's terrible! The rebels have stormed the palace! Quickly..." One of the eunuchs shouted, but before he could finish, a scream of "Ah!" rang out, and then silence fell.

Thick smoke billowed from a distant palace, and the clanging of swords clashing echoed through the air. Qi Gu turned pale with fright, "What, what's going on?"

Hongyan immediately realized it was a palace coup!

She pulled Qi Gu into an inconspicuous palace. "Princess, you and Honghu hide here. Do not come out. I will go find someone to rescue you. Remember, do not make a sound!"

Then he turned to Honghu and instructed him, "Honghu, take good care of the princess."

Qi Gu grabbed Hongyan, "Hongyan, don't go. Let's wait here together. Mother and Xiuyuan will come to save us!"

Hongyan had a premonition that if they stayed here, all three of them would die!

She turned back and said, "Princess, remember my words!" Then she turned and closed the door.

Honghu asked fearfully, "Princess, will we die? I don't want to die yet."

Qi Gu had never seen anything like it before, but she still comforted her, "It's alright, we'll be fine."

As the night passed, the noise outside gradually subsided, and Qi Gu and Hong Hu, shoulder to shoulder, drifted off to sleep.

When Qi Gu woke up again, Hong Hu was gone! Qi Gu was startled awake instantly; something had happened to Hong Hu!

She got up, intending to go find Honghu, but heard a sound outside the hall.

A soldier in red armor was seen carrying a palace maid on his back with one hand. He kicked open the palace door and entered the hall where she was hiding.

The soldier threw the palace maid to the ground and began to unzip his pants, intending to commit an indecent act against her!

Qi Gu squatted back down, clenching her teeth tightly, and the woman's shrill scream rang out from inside the hall.

Seeing a wine pot on the table in front of the screen, she reached out, picked it up, and smashed it against the back of the head of the soldier who was committing the indecent act.

"Who goes there!" The soldier winced in pain, rubbing his head as he stepped off the palace maid, his tone filled with impatience at being interrupted.

Hearing the footsteps, Chu Qigu's heart jumped into her throat. Before she could react, she was suddenly pulled out from behind the table by a soldier.

She looked in horror at the soldier with a fierce face in front of her, who was leering at her with lewd eyes.

Qi Gu shouted, "How dare you! Do you know who I am? I am the daughter of the Empress, the eldest princess of the Great Jin Dynasty! How dare you be disrespectful to me? Do you know the consequences?" She hoped to scare the man away.

The soldiers weren't afraid at all; the Second Prince had promised them that they could do whatever they wanted once they stormed into the palace!

Moreover, the woman's voice trembled, which was nothing more than a show of bravado. "Princess?" The man approached Qi Gu. "That's even better. I've never tasted the flavor of a princess before. Today is the perfect opportunity to experience it. Hahaha."

The soldier grinned menacingly, his ugly face looming closer to her.

"Here, this is it, Commandant Cao, the eldest princess is hiding inside." Outside the palace gate, Honghu pointed to a soldier wearing red armor with a full beard.

Through the soldiers, Qi Gu saw the guilty look in Hong Hu's eyes. She understood that Hong Hu had betrayed her, or rather, that luring her to the palace was Hong Hu's premeditated plan.

She recognized the man Honghu brought as a guard from the Second Prince's side, surnamed Cao.

Captain Cao kicked Honghu away and pushed away the soldier who was grabbing her and trying to humiliate her. Qi Gu escaped a disaster for the time being.

But immediately, the bearded man tied his hands, gagged him with a strip of cloth, and carried her with one hand through a palace where blood flowed like a river.

Returning to the entrance of Yongle Palace, she saw the ground littered with corpses, her gaze sweeping over the bodies lying on the ground.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. The palace maid in the green palace dress was Hongyan!

A large patch of blood stained her green dress, making it look like blood flowers blooming on her chest, the green dress making the blood flowers even more vivid.

Qi Gu's mouth was tied with a strip of cloth, and she was being lifted up. She could only watch Hong Yan helplessly, shaking her head in pain.

It's all her fault for insisting on entering the palace. She was too foolish and caused Hongyan's death!

The bearded man threw her down heavily, and she fell in the main hall.

She looked around the hall and saw that, besides herself, several of her younger siblings and her father's favorite concubines had also been brought there.

Fortunately, she didn't see her mother, so her mother must be alright, which put her at ease.

At this moment, the Second Prince strode into the main hall with a spirited air.

Seeing his once glamorous brothers and sisters looking at him with fear filled him with immense pleasure.

These half-siblings, whether favored or not, are always an eyesore.

His father had many children and many favored concubines. He, his mother, and his sister struggled to survive in the palace, walking on thin ice.

That vicious woman, Zhang, repeatedly harmed them, mother and her two children.

If he doesn't fight for it, he can only wait for that wicked woman Zhang to support the little beast born to his weak and incompetent son to take over.

When that time comes, Zhang will hold absolute power and will certainly not let him and his mother have an easy time.

Since that's the case, his future is something he has to fight for himself, so why doesn't he take a gamble!

Inside the palace, he had his mother, Madam Guo, as his inside man; outside the palace, he had the financial and military support of his maternal family, the Guo family.

However, he led his troops into the palace in just one day and one night.

However, when he scanned the main hall, he couldn't find his beloved mother.

He squinted and saw Chu Qigu shrinking into the crowd.

Qi Gu noticed Chu Xiaocheng's sinister gaze falling on her, and a chill ran through her body. His eyes were filled with murderous intent.

She lowered her head slightly, hoping he wouldn't see her.

How could Chu Xiaocheng let go of the Empress's own daughter? At his signal, the soldiers dragged her in front of him.

He ripped the gag from her mouth. "Hahaha, you village girl, tell me where Mother and the Crown Prince are, and I'll consider sparing your life, how about that?" Chu Xiaocheng laughed rudely.

Qi Gu sighed. Her younger brother really thought too highly of himself. "Second brother, if I had known, would I have been dragged here by you?"

"Useless trash, idiot! How could someone like you be worthy of being the eldest princess!"

Chu Xiaocheng looked down on his elder sister, who had been orphaned at a young age. "It seems that Mother has abandoned you. You're still thinking about her at this time. What a pity, she doesn't care whether you live or die!"

If it weren't for his mother's plan to send her back to replace her sister in a political marriage, how could such an ugly and stupid woman have entered the palace and become a princess?

Even that vicious woman Zhang looked down on her own daughter and did not request that she be granted the title of Princess.

She was so presumptuous that she fawned over Sima Hong like a lapdog. If it weren't for her treacherous mother, Sima Hong would have been her brother-in-law and become his ally!

Sima Hong usually puts on an air of otherworldly elegance, appearing aloof and superior, but wasn't he also willing to cooperate with Zhang Shi and marry such a village girl for the sake of power?

Now he is about to ascend to that position and become the next master of the Great Jin.

Sima Hong looked down on him, didn't he? He'll make him regret choosing the wrong side.

Seeing that Chu Xiaocheng was not going to let the matter rest, Qi Gu was helpless and could only sigh, "Second brother, I know you are very angry, but don't be angry yet."

"Slap!" Chu Xiaocheng's cold, hard hand landed on Qi Gu's face.

Qi Gu felt half of her face was numb, her lips were itchy, and the taste of blood was spreading in her mouth.

With her hands bound, Qi Gu wiped her mouth, shook her head, and smiled bitterly. She was indeed as foolish as her mother had said.

"You can still laugh." Chu Xiaocheng squatted down in front of Qi Gu, grabbed Qi Gu's hair, and her scalp was torn and she was in excruciating pain. Qi Gu was in so much pain that tears welled up in her eyes.

Chu Xiaocheng's expression was ferocious: "You really are an ignorant country bumpkin. A vicious woman like Zhang actually gave birth to an idiot like you. A man as virtuous and upright as Sima Hong still had to hold his nose and marry someone like you."

"Hahahaha!" He spoke humiliatingly as if he were watching a joke. "But if someone like you were to marry Sima Hong, he would find it disgusting." Chu Xiaocheng said maliciously, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. When I ascend the throne, I will make sure that you two are a ghost couple in the underworld."

A large clump of Qi Gu's hair was pulled out, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably; it hurt so much.

Chu Xiaocheng was confident of victory and was in no hurry to kill Chu Qigu immediately. After all, the entire palace was now under his control.

He abandoned Chu Qigu and went to take revenge on his brothers and sisters who had offended him.

The whole world was his now, and he couldn't wait to taste the wonderful flavor of power for the first time!

Little did they know that the villains often die from talking too much.

[Author's Note]

They've completely lost all shame, just asking for likes and comments [laughing and crying emoji]