storming the palace
"Have Madam Zhai send a message to the manager of Xiaoyao Tower, asking him to meet us in the courtyard of Zhenghua Ward." Wei Shu picked up Jiang Jin, afraid that the evening chill would affect her.
"Let's go." Wei Shu led Jiang Jin to an abandoned temple as the sun set.
"His Majesty ordered this secret passage to be dug to prevent such a thing from happening." Wei Shu pushed open the rickety wooden door, and a cloud of dust made Jiang Jin cough.
Before him stood a colossal Buddha statue, its surface weathered but still bearing traces of its former glory. Wei Shu carefully circled around to the back of the Buddha, and with a click, Jiang Jin felt as if something had been opened.
"Ah Jin, come up!" Wei Shu reached out a hand to grab Jiang Jin, then grasped the rope and jumped into the secret passage. As they plummeted, looking at the dark, bottomless void, Jiang Jin felt a little scared.
Suddenly, the two stopped. Wei Shu stepped onto a platform with practiced ease, and Jiang Jin noticed that there were at least seven or eight similar platforms in the cave.
"Below are spikes; once you fall, there's no chance of survival. Only one platform in this area leads to Zheng Hua Fang." Wei Shu grasped Jiang Jin's hand. Along the way, Jiang Jin had seen mechanisms she had never heard of before.
"Was all arranged by His Majesty?" Jiang Jin looked at the pitch-black scene behind him and then at Wei Shu, who was intently focused in front of him.
"His Majesty naturally wanted to prevent anyone from entering the city through this secret passage. There's something else at the entrance." Jiang Jin watched as Wei Shu patted the iron gate, followed by a similar patting sound from outside. He then placed half a token at the opening. A click sounded from outside, and a candle appeared in Jiang Jin's eyes.
"This is Manager Wan of Xiaoyao Tower. He's the one who puts half of the token into the slot outside to open the door; otherwise, we'd be trapped in the secret passage." Wei Shu adjusted Jiang Jin's cloak.
"Has any news come from the capital?" Only after the three of them entered the house and sat down on the stools did Jiang Jin begin to feel a sense of reality.
"No, Princess Zhaoyang and His Highness the Crown Prince are leading troops to defend outside the Zichen Palace. The palace is now divided in two, achieving a strange balance," Manager Wan said, recounting the latest news he had received.
"How many men does the Third Prince and the turned Imperial Guards have?" Jiang Jin didn't think they could take the capital with that many men; otherwise, the other guards might as well hang themselves.
"The Martial Guard, the Imperial Guard, and the Gate Guard are almost all gone. The Golden Guard is mostly composed of sons of nobles who didn't make it in the end. The Left and Right Guards, the Thousand Bull Guards, and the Feathered Forest Guard are stationed in the Imperial City, with the Third Prince having the largest numbers." Jiang Jin felt a slight itch in her throat again; she knew she couldn't delay any longer.
"We can't wait any longer. The Third Prince will definitely capture the capital before the main army returns." Jiang Jin remembered that he had given all the tokens he had to Zhai Wan.
"I'll be back from Xiuningfang within an hour. We'll discuss our next move then." Jiang Jin covered her face with her cloak, popped an antidote into her mouth, and ran towards Xiuningfang where Zhai Wan lived.
"It's me, A-Wan." Jiang Jin knocked twice, then knocked three more times. Zhai Wan opened the door, pulled Jiang Jin into the room, and they went inside.
"His Highness is trapped in the Zichen Palace, and the entire imperial city is controlled by the Imperial Guards. We can neither advance nor retreat." Zhai Wan, like an ant on a hot pan, completely failed to notice Jiang Jin's unusual behavior.
"How many of us are still in the city?" Jiang Jin pressed down on Zhai Wan's shoulders, forcing her to sit on a stool.
“Five hundred men—that’s a challenge even for the Commander of the Imperial Guards, let alone the rest.” Zhai Wan was about to get up when Jiang Jin pressed her back down to sit.
"How much poison do you have left, the best non-lethal kind?" The only way Jiang Jin could think of to achieve victory with fewer poisons was to use drugs.
"I have plenty of sleeping pills and anesthetic herbs, but I don't have the ability to knock out so many people." Zhai Wan watched as Jiang Jin turned her gaze to the paper kite inside the room.
"If I need anything, I'll come find you." Jiang Jin left the courtyard carrying the kite, along with sleeping pills and a token. Before leaving, she also took several bottles of antidote pills from Zhai Wan.
At 9 PM, a house in Xinghua Ward was brightly lit. Wei Shu and Jiang Jin were busy making kites, while Manager Wan was pouring sleeping potion into Xuan paper.
"Ah Jin, aren't we alerting them?" Wei Shu thought, recalling Jiang Jin's plan, and felt it was rather audacious.
"What's there to be afraid of? Whether you stick your neck out or not, you'll still get stabbed. Isn't that just putting the knife in your own hand?" Jiang Jin applied water infused with anesthetic herbs to the kite.
"Let's take a gamble tomorrow night. I don't think the Third Prince is a smart man to conspire with a tiger. That Fu family member clearly hates the royal family to the core; he actually believes they'll help him rebel and ascend the throne." Jiang Jin turned away and took an antidote pill, feeling a little better.
"If A-Jin is tired, go and rest," Wei Shu advised, looking at the still-bleeding wound on Jiang Jin's arm.
"It's nothing, just a minor injury." Jiang Jin quickened her pace, and finally, just as the sun was rising, the small kites filled the entire courtyard.
"I'll go contact some help; you all wait here for me." Jiang Jin, wearing a veiled hat and holding a token, arrived at a residence in Anfu Ward, West Market.
A gentle knock came from inside, followed by a sweet, coquettish voice. Jiang Jin didn't dare to be negligent and identified herself.
"Please come in, Madam Jiang." The beautiful woman ushered Jiang Jin into the courtyard, where several women were watching her warily.
"I am Jiang Jin." Jiang Jin took out a white jade token. Although this token could not command everyone, it could indicate who was with her.
"You must be Jiang Jin, the lady-in-waiting beside His Highness, the female clerk?" A young woman who didn't look very old looked at Jiang Jin curiously.
"It is I. Now that the Third Prince has rebelled and trapped His Majesty in the capital, are you all willing to take a gamble with me?" Jiang Jin asked, looking into those bright, sparkling eyes.
"The merit of saving the emperor will surely be richly rewarded; I'm willing to take the gamble with Lady Jiang!" Zheng Xi emerged from the house, dressed in Hu clothing, but his eyes were filled with a desire to achieve great deeds.
"If we win, we'll share in this prosperous era; if we lose, we'll be reduced to dust in the underworld. Jiang Jin, do you dare?" Zheng Xi walked up to Jiang Jin and raised his hand.
"I dare! If you win, I'll serve as an official alongside you in the court; if you lose, I'll go to the Yellow Springs with you!" Jiang Jin grasped Zheng Xi's hand without hesitation.
“Select a few of you to come with me to General Wei’s place to discuss countermeasures. The rest of you stay where you are.”
In the end, Zheng Xi and Yue Niang, who had just opened the door, accompanied Jiang Jin back to Zhenghuafang.
"Ah Jin." Wei Shu looked at the two behind him, his expression already knowing. "Tonight, we'll use the kites to attack the Commander's Guard, open the city gates and let the defenders of Bocheng come to our aid. The remaining kites will fly towards the Imperial Guards guarding the Imperial City gates, knocking out as many as we can."
After finalizing her initial plan, Jiang Jin then tried to contact people in the palace.
"Zheng Xi, do you have any signal arrows?" Jiang Jin suddenly remembered the signal arrows Zheng Xi had given him back in Yuezhou.
"When we subdue the Imperial Guards, we'll have the palace's Imperial Guards fight amongst themselves from the inside, creating a pincer movement. Therefore, the commanders of the city gates must hold their positions, otherwise we'll be the ones trapped," Jiang Jin instructed, holding the map.
"The bottom of this kite is sealed with a layer of sleeping potion. We can shoot it directly at the city gate with arrows; they'll definitely stop us. Once we puncture the sleeping potion, we'll add some anesthetic, and then we can attack. Of course, we can also release the kite to lure them into shooting arrows and causing it to fall." Jiang Jin knew this plan was extremely risky, but he had no choice but to take the gamble.
"I have some firecrackers here that I can light and throw into the army to distract them." Zheng Xi took out the firecrackers from his pocket and placed them on the table.
"Tonight, I only ask for one thing: to win. I want to enter the court as an official, regardless of rank or the dangers ahead. We must have the same opportunity as men to achieve great things!" Zheng Xi looked at Wei Shu. She knew Wei Shu was the Emperor's confidant; even a word of comfort from him would be appreciated.
"You will all enter the court through merit, just like Jiang Jin!" Wei Shu raised his finger and swore, "I, Wei Shu, hereby swear that if we win this game, I will definitely let you all enter the court through merit; otherwise, I will be condemned to hell and never be reincarnated!"
"Alright, I believe you!" Zheng Xi and Yue Niang bowed to Jiang Jin and Wei Shu. "You go ahead and attack the city. Yue Niang and I will fight to the death to keep the Commander Wei outside the city gates!"
Everyone knew that this journey was fraught with danger, but no one hesitated. They yearned to stand on equal footing with men, and even if they were as small as fireflies, they wanted to illuminate the entire sky.
At 9 PM, Jiang Jin swallowed the remaining three antidote pills, picked up the bow and arrows Zhai Wan had prepared for him, and headed towards the imperial city.
A black kite silently flew into the night sky above the guards, followed by the firing of an arrow. The guards reacted quickly, grabbing their swords and slashing the kite apart. The sleeping potion inside was then sprinkled directly onto everyone's heads.
Shortly after Jiang Jin fired the signal arrow, sounds of fighting erupted from within. Jiang Jin and Wei Shu led their men forward, pressing onward. When Wei Wei saw Wei Shu, they were momentarily stunned before launching a fierce counterattack.
The Imperial Guards and Jiang Jin's group formed an encirclement, and by the time the Third Prince reacted, they had already breached the city gate.
"Third brother, surrender!" Lou Xuan stood before the Imperial Guards, looking at the Third Prince who was showing signs of defeat.
"The current situation isn't exactly friendly to you!" Lou Xuan laughed as he looked at Jiang Jin, Wei Shu, and his soldiers behind him.
"Lou Zuo, are you even a man? How dare you let your sister trample on your head and command the Imperial Guards!" The Third Prince was still trying to sow discord even now.
"Enough with the nonsense! I advise you to surrender now!" Lou Zuo was protected by the Imperial Guards to prevent him from being exposed to the Third Prince.
"It's a bit too early to say that now." The masked man stepped out from behind the Third Prince.
"Lou Xuan, your methods are not bad, and Jiang Jin is very loyal, but did you think I had no trump cards at all?" The masked man smiled and took out a porcelain bottle from his waist.
"You are all familiar with this, aren't you? I killed quite a few people to make this pill. It's a pity that Nan Yi was destroyed by Jiang Jin. But heaven has blessed me and allowed me to successfully make it. Lou Xuan, do you think anyone in your army has been infected with this poison?"
Lou Xuan frowned, a bad feeling creeping into his heart. "How can you believe the words of such a despicable person as you!"
Seeing that Lou Xuan was about to be restrained, Xue Ya seized the opportunity and quickly spoke up, "What we see is that you have lost. Forcing the palace and rebelling is punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family. Your Highness is kind-hearted and will pardon those who lay down their butcher's knife, but if you are stubborn and do not repent, then do not blame the law for being severe!"
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