Chapter 63: Another Hidden Story, Another Round of Competition: Imperial Guard Lang vs. Prince Yong...
Fanglan Hall is next to Fangzhi Hall.
These two palaces occupy a very awkward position within the imperial palace.
If this place is called the land of the rising dragon, then since the emperor ascended the throne, he has never mentioned it, nor has he ever visited it. Even when strolling through the palace, he intentionally or unintentionally avoids this place.
The old servants who had served in the palace for a long time knew that the Second Prince had imprisoned His Majesty and Prince Yong, but no one dared to spread the word.
Since the emperor had decreed that Prince Yong be confined to the palace and heavily guarded, the guards reopened Fangzhi Hall, allowing Prince Yong to revisit his old haunts and ensuring he would not be uncomfortable.
Lang Xun is somewhat mean to everyone except Ying Xi.
Especially for a dissolute like Prince Yong, when Lang Xun went to the private room to escort the emperor that night, he vaguely sensed that the atmosphere surrounding the emperor and Prince Yong was very strange.
The guard dared not entertain any wild thoughts.
Prince Yong may be a beast, but these two are brothers!
In retaliation against Prince Yong, Lang Xun did not allow anyone to wash or change Prince Yong's clothes or prepare a meal for him before imprisoning him.
Outside Fangzhi Palace, a guard asked in a low voice, "Lord Lang, it's getting hotter and hotter. His Highness got into several fights before going in. Is that appropriate?"
Lang Xun considered Prince Yong's skills; he certainly wouldn't starve to death after a few meals. But for a prince who had been pampered for too long, Prince Yong would definitely suffer terribly.
Lang Xun raised the corners of his mouth: "Send them tonight, but don't let them eat their fill. If we let them out again, His Majesty will take our heads."
"Yes, yes..." the guard whispered, "This younger brother is a real handful."
"If Prince Yong awakens and wishes to see the Emperor, shall we announce his arrival?"
Lang Xun thought to himself, "What's the point of sending a message? The Emperor is about to personally go to the south of the Yangtze River to fight a war."
Lang Xun couldn't help but admire him.
The emperor was no ordinary person; which emperor wouldn't be afraid of making a mistake and stay obediently in the palace?
He had just brought up the topic of the emperor personally leading an expedition when, at Weiyang Palace, fighting became a minor matter; the biggest concern was stopping the emperor.
But is he someone who can be easily stopped?
Long before these pedantic civil officials knew, His Majesty had already gone out to suppress a bandit. Once the heart is set on something wild, it's like a cat, always wanting to sneak out whenever it gets the chance.
Speaking of cats, cats...
A slight itch brushed against Lang Xun's heart.
Compared to other officials, he was the only one in the court who spent the most time with His Majesty.
His Majesty has a pair of grey eyes, like those of glass. His gaze is lively, and his eyes are slightly upturned, like a cat's.
His Majesty is capricious; when happy, he can play shuttlecock with the palace maids and eunuchs. Other times, he will remain secluded for days, and when angry, he can be highly aggressive, like a cat.
His Majesty's appearance and demeanor...
Lang Xun's thoughts suddenly came to an abrupt halt.
A wicked thought lingered deep in my mind, which I could not utter, so I could only angrily try to distract myself.
When the emperor personally led the expedition, he did not bring himself along.
The army marched out in two routes, commanded by the governor of Xuzhou and Xie Meng, respectively.
The emperor had made arrangements beforehand, and actually had Xie Qianli lead the Longwu Army to personally escort him to the front line in Jingzhou!
Logically speaking, even if it's an escort mission, they should be the ones escorting the passengers themselves.
Lang Xun felt indignant.
He wasn't angry at the emperor; he was angry at himself.
Young men often have a strong competitive spirit. Did His Majesty not choose him to carry out the mission because he couldn't beat the man surnamed Xie?
After the flower-viewing banquet, the two of them never fought again; one cannot judge the future based on a single victory or defeat.
The thought of fighting Xie Qianli again someday popped into his mind. Lang Xun's cheeks ached with embarrassment!
The head guard could never have guessed that not bringing him along had nothing to do with martial arts, and that the emperor's personal expedition was not solely due to Ying Xi's playfulness.
The emperor wanted to go south to oversee the war, and he absolutely could not leave Xie Qianli alone in Chang'an.
By taking him along on his trip to Jiangnan and openly entrusting his life to him, Ying Xi was morally blackmailing Xie Qianli.
On the surface, it was still an act of bestowing favors, and anyone would have thought that the emperor truly valued the Duke of England.
Take Lang Xun for example.
Lang Xun grew angrier and angrier, almost to the point of death.
Just then, a guard, as he had instructed, brought dinner to Prince Yong.
Dinner consisted of a plate of steamed buns, which were still quite hot. There were two of them, along with a bowl of white porridge and some side dishes in the food box.
Lang Xun lifted the lid and glanced at the food box, his brow furrowing suddenly.
So, feeling annoyed, he grabbed a big steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth, his cheeks bulging out.
"Lang, Master Lang..."
Lang Xun glared at his subordinate: "What are you doing?"
"N-nothing."
The guard who delivered the food stared in disbelief and could only discreetly place the last remaining bun in the center of the porcelain plate.
Prince Yong was forced to halve his food intake.
***
The bed in Fangzhi Palace was soft and the living conditions were excellent, but when Prince Yong lay down there, he never felt at peace.
There was no other reason than that he was too familiar with Fangzhi Palace.
Since arriving in Chang'an as a child, he has been arranged to live here by the palace staff.
The palace servants dared not treat him too well, nor dared they mistreat him. What he found even more unbearable than the quality of his conditions was the stagnant loneliness of Fangzhi Palace.
He loved interacting with people during his childhood.
But he was deeply impressed by the fact that no one talked to him much, and the palace servants would always politely keep their distance when he approached.
Therefore, the twice-monthly reunion with his brothers became Ying Dang's only solace.
He always had a lot to say to his brother.
For the first few months, he said, "Brother, listen."
He spoke in great detail.
The older brother thoroughly enjoyed listening to this.
Later, his brother visited less and less often, and he began to find ways to kill time every day, such as counting the bricks of Fangzhi Palace and secretly learning martial arts from the guards... The unsubstantiated rumors outside the palace walls made him deeply resent Emperor Yuantai, and time accumulated Ying Dang's sense of loss.
Ying Dang was quite talented in martial arts.
He desperately wanted to get closer to his brother. The palace walls were several meters high. He looked at them and tried every possible way to climb up!
He practiced a martial art related to movement techniques.
Closer, closer still...
As his martial arts skills improved, Ying Dang was able to climb to a position a few feet off the ground, but he couldn't stay there and would always fall heavily.
But Ying Dang became more courageous with each setback, and his few feet grew into half a zhang.
Then he was able to push off between the walls, climb to the edge of the Fangzhi Hall wall, and then use his arms to grip the top of the wall.
This action is very dangerous; if you fall, you will inevitably break your bones and tendons.
This movement also requires the arms to support the body, and he can't hold it for too long.
Perhaps my brother is just too busy.
Ying Dang could understand.
If that's the case, he can take the initiative to visit his brother.
The first time Prince Yong climbed onto the wall was one morning. He waited anxiously for about half a cup of tea's time, and finally saw his brother with trembling arms.
It turned out that the elder brother was happily seeing off the confidants of Emperor Yuantai and thanking the emperor for the favor bestowed upon him.
Doesn't my brother know that our parents were killed by that scoundrel emperor?
And who was that boy who came to play with his brother later? Why was he allowed to enter and leave the palace at will?
"..."
Prince Yong struggled on the bed.
His long-standing grudge against Ying Xi caused his blood to surge, and his body felt like that of a dying fish.
He stubbornly broke through the acupoint.
But all the fragments of memories that angered him ultimately boiled down to the two brothers fighting over a knife, each afraid of hurting the other.
Prince Yong lay on the bed, his whole body drenched in sweat.
He rose from the bed, his face pale, and glanced at the dinner the guard had placed in the bedroom—a lone steamed bun lying on a large porcelain plate, particularly conspicuous. He knew this was Lang Xun deliberately teasing him, and gave a disdainful snort.
These foolish guards thought they were clever enough to keep him locked up in Fangzhi Palace, but little did they know that was in the past.
Now that he is a prince, he has never stopped practicing martial arts.
He is a hundred times, a thousand times stronger than when he was imprisoned in Fangzhi Palace as a child.
Ying Dang pushed open the door and went out.
Under the moonlight, he cast a long shadow, his legs straight, his chest open, his body covered with muscles far beyond what one would expect for someone his age.
Prince Yong easily climbed a magnolia tree in Fangzhi Palace.
The tree was very tall, its crown reaching the same height as the roof of the palace.
If you climb onto the roof and walk to the end of the palace, you can get almost close to the wall.
As long as one doesn't get caught jumping from the rooftop to the wall and then slowly descending from the wall, escaping this place is a piece of cake.
Now, Prince Yong stands high above, his feet resting on roof tiles, the night sky above him.
In this view, the palace walls line the passageway nearby, while buildings of varying heights stand in the distance.
The sky was filled with stars, a truly magnificent sight.
"Snap—"
But upon hearing a strange noise, Prince Yong stopped in his tracks!
It turned out that Fangzhi Palace had been in disrepair for many years, and the tiles could not withstand the weight of Prince Yong. He actually stepped on one of them and broke it.
This commotion alerted the guards outside the palace walls:
"What's that sound!"
Did you hear that just now?
Several guards drew their swords and searched the area.
Prince Yong lay prone on the roof, like a gecko, his hands gripping a tile in each hand. Even as the guards looked up from low to high, they couldn't see him. He curled the corners of his mouth into a smile.
Sure enough, the guards looked around blankly, then met up with each other, finding nothing: "Is there anything unusual there?"
"No!"
"What about the back door?"
"No one came out!"
"That's good. Lord Lang instructed that Prince Yong must be kept under close watch, otherwise if he runs away again, it might distract the Emperor and hinder His Majesty's next plans."
"Yes! We will do our utmost to guard it!"
The guards answered.
Prince Yong found it amusing while on the rooftop.
Then he'd have to give Lang Xun a big gift: after escaping, he'd set fire to Fangzhi Palace and make the whole thing public, then see how Lang Xun would handle it.
As for my elder brother...
What are your plans, brother?
His brother was extremely concerned about the country and was enjoying being emperor. Even though he had just fainted from anger yesterday, he still arranged new actions today.
Prince Yong scoffed.
The guards outside calmed down.
Prince Yong slowly climbed up from the roof. He used his arms to prop himself up, but with so much force, he lifted two tiles from under his hands, nearly losing his balance!
Fortunately, Prince Yong did not panic. He used his waist to pull himself back onto the roof.
Something thin and tubular suddenly fell out from under the tile and rolled down the slope.
Rolling around...
Ying Dang, unaware of what it was, moved his sleeve to hold it down.
He carefully put the tile back in its original position, then looked closely at the object, a puzzled expression on his face. It was a pen.
The brush is short and thin, and its shape is not typical of common stationery.
It seems to have been deliberately made in this shape for portability, as if it has always been placed here, waiting for someone to take it at any time.
Why would someone place a calligraphy brush under a roof tile?
When was it released?
This object, which should never have appeared, completely baffled Prince Yong.
He thought that since his elder brother became the crown prince, no one had lived in the two palaces since, in order to avoid that dark history of imprisonment.
Could this pen have appeared ten years ago... when they lived in those two palaces?
It was as if a bolt of lightning struck Yongwang from head to toe, making him vaguely realize that something was wrong.
Prince Yong slowly spun the brush handle in the moonlight.
The brush is completely dry, the handle has no markings, and the tip is black, indicating that this brush was indeed used by someone.
"..."
Prince Yong's forehead was covered in sweat, gripped by a sense of guilt.
There seems to be something he doesn't know about that lies between Fanglan Palace and Fangzhi Palace.
The doubts were like an ever-expanding balloon, causing Yongwang a painful tightness in his chest.
With a forceful snap, he broke the pen barrel in two!
A splinter pierced his palm, drawing a few drops of blood that made the tile surface bloom like red plum blossoms. At that moment, Prince Yong's curiosity reached its peak.
Ying Dang no longer had any intention of teasing the guards.
He leaped down from the courtyard wall, quickly avoiding the guards.
He only wanted to verify the information quickly, so Ying Dang rushed towards Weiyang Palace.
He walked too fast, his heart filled with anxiety, and the scenery on both sides became indistinct fleeting shadows.
There were several eunuchs on duty at the entrance of Weiyang Palace.
Prince Yong first kidnapped a eunuch, grabbed his neck with his arm, and held a short knife to his throat.
Prince Yong said fiercely, "Announce to me! I want to see His Majesty!"
The gleam of the blade turned half of the eunuch's face deathly pale.
Upon hearing Prince Yong's voice, the eunuch nearly knelt down in fright. Wasn't this very prince just imprisoned?
The eunuch could only plead, "Your Highness... His Majesty is not in Weiyang Palace! Your Highness, spare my life! Your Highness, spare my life!!"
"Not in Weiyang Palace? Where is my brother?"
Prince Yong's voice and expression were both stern.
The eunuch answered in a trembling voice:
"His Majesty dispatched a naval force to the south and ordered General Xie to escort him to the front lines to oversee the battle."
"His Majesty acted swiftly and should have already left Chang'an by now. Perhaps he is on the road or on a ship, not in the palace!"
At that time, the Han River.
After the decree to start the war between the North and the South was issued, waterways and trade routes were immediately cut off. The river was wide, but only warships with flags flying and dragon boats towering high were visible.
Volume Two: The Wind Rises in Yongning (End)
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