Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Coup at Guiyue Palace
On July 17th, Dunluye's coffin left Shahe City. That very night, Dunluye led the Mona tribe in a surprise attack on Shahe City. Three days later, Shahe City fell, and the city was ravaged by burning, killing, and looting. The news reached the capital, shocking the court and the public. Fang Beirong had been plotting this for a long time. Sure enough, Ji Nuli then personally led an army of 400,000 men under the pretext of avenging Dunluye, and launched a three-pronged attack from Yanzhou, Ninghua, and Xingping.
With the fall of Yanzhou and the death of General Lu Mingshen, the Northern Rong western army advanced swiftly, splitting into two routes: one besieging Beizhou, and the other attacking Ninghua from the rear. Ninghua fell, leaving the western gateway of the Great Zhou wide open. Ji Nuli's central Northern Rong army, after joining forces with the western army, advanced with unstoppable momentum, first capturing Beizhou, then Qizhou, and by the end of July, marching straight towards Mengzhou.
Weizhou is only a thousand miles away from the capital.
Fortunately, the walls of Weizhou were sturdy, and the defending general was brave and skilled in battle, holding the city firmly.
Reports from the battles, delivered by urgent messengers, arrived in the capital like snowflakes. Countless horses died of exhaustion on the post roads, and the Jinglue Hall and Qinzheng Hall were bustling with activity day and night. The emperor, already in poor health, was further burdened by worry upon hearing of the successive falls of prefectures and counties in the northwest, and his condition did not improve for a long time. By August, the deputy general of Weizhou had been killed in battle, and the situation became increasingly critical. The emperor urgently summoned the Prince of Jin, who was on a campaign against Jiaozhi, back to defend the region, while also actively preparing to personally lead an expedition to the front lines in Weizhou to oversee the battle.
However, a decision on who should oversee the country could not be made immediately.
When the Prince of Jin went on a campaign against Jiaozhi, the only half-mother of the Emperor who hadn't participated in the succession struggle was the Prince of Zhao (the fifth prince). However, he remained a leisurely prince, indulging in flowers, birds, and amusement, never concerning himself with politics, and possessing neither connections nor influence in the court. The Emperor's uncle, the Prince of Han, on the other hand, had served as regent for several years during Emperor Xuanzong's personal campaigns, demonstrating his expertise in governance and holding considerable weight among the ministers. It was precisely because of his immense influence that entrusting the reins to him was truly unreliable.
After three days of debate, the emperor, disregarding public opinion, issued an edict appointing the Empress Dowager as regent. Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, when the emperor left the capital, regents had always been either the crown prince or a prince; an empress dowager regent was unprecedented. The civil and military officials harbored resentment, and the King of Han was furious, privately cursing, "That brat dares to doubt me to this extent!"
On August 12th, the emperor, who was ill, led 200,000 imperial guards north to Weizhou to oversee the battle, leaving only 100,000 troops in the capital region.
August 18th is the Empress Dowager's birthday.
War raged in both the south and the north, and in the Jianghuai region, poor harvests left tenant farmers unable to pay taxes, leading to unrest and disturbances. The Empress Dowager had no desire to celebrate her birthday, but the civil and military officials believed that propriety and rules must not be abandoned. The more chaotic and turbulent the nation, the more the Empress Dowager should act peacefully to appease the people of the capital. Therefore, on the 18th of the eighth lunar month, the birthday celebration was held as usual. Civil and military officials, noblewomen, and members of the imperial family entered the palace early in the morning to offer their congratulations and present gifts from various regions. At noon, the Empress Dowager hosted a banquet and a theatrical performance.
The play being performed was not the traditional "Tian Gong Shou," but rather "Xue Rengui's Three Arrows to Subdue the Tianshan Mountains." The story revolves around Xue Rengui, dressed in white, who kills the leader of the Tiele tribe with three arrows and massacres 130,000 surrendered soldiers, leading to the decline and eventual fall of the nine Tiele clans. The actor playing Xue Rengui possessed a powerful and resonant voice, capable of sending shivers down one's spine. However, Ruan Bi found the play too grating to listen to. Using the excuse of needing to use the restroom, she quietly slipped out of the west wing of the hall. She sat in a secluded spot surrounded by flowers and trees, where the sunlight was bright but not scorching. She was naturally prone to feeling cold, and the warmth of the sun felt comforting.
From the seventh day of the seventh lunar month to today, more than a month has passed, like a revolving lantern, leaving people breathless.
I never expected Gu Xiaobai to be so bold as to kill Dunluye.
However, in the Great Zhou Dynasty, probably only he was so audacious as to kill Dunluye.
When she heard the news, she broke out in a cold sweat. Although she suspected that the Ji Nu had ulterior motives, that the peace talks were a pretense, and that their real purpose was to spy on the military and political affairs of the Great Zhou, it was only a suspicion and speculation, and she had no absolute certainty. In case the Northern Rong genuinely wanted peace talks, a stable northwestern frontier would be beneficial to the Great Zhou's country and its people—at least, it was highly inappropriate for the Prince of Jin to open up another battlefield in the northwest during his expedition to Jiaozhi.
At first, the Empress Dowager thought Gu Xiaobai had killed Dunluye for her sake, and in a fit of anger, she imprisoned her in the East Palace again. It wasn't until the Northern Rong conquered Shahe and Ji Nuli led 400,000 troops south that the three northern tribes that had previously rebelled suddenly submitted to him. The Empress Dowager remembered her previous words and released her, but forbade her to leave the palace—she could sense the Empress Dowager's contradictions; sometimes she wanted to kill her, and sometimes she didn't.
Just as my thoughts were racing, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps, followed by someone shouting in a hoarse voice, "Urgent dispatch! Urgent dispatch!"
The sounds of string and wind instruments and opera singing on the stage came to an abrupt halt.
Ruan Bi's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly and quietly returned to the west side hall. There she saw a courier, his face and body covered in dust, kneeling in the main hall, panting heavily, presenting an urgent document with both hands. The civil and military officials in the east side hall, the ladies of the court in the west side hall, and the Empress Dowager, concubines, and members of the imperial family in the main hall—a total of several thousand people—all held their breath.
Prime Minister Shen stepped forward, took the official document, read it, his face paled slightly, and handed it to the Empress Dowager.
When the Empress Dowager saw that he was not announcing it to the public, she knew that nothing good was going to happen. She took the document and almost fainted when she saw it.
"Weizhou fell, the emperor was struck by a stray arrow, morale was low, and we retreated to Luzhou to regroup and prepare for battle."
Luzhou is less than 500 li away from the capital.
After a while, the Empress Dowager waved her hand, saying, "I'm tired. Let's call it a day."
Everyone scattered in a panic.
The Empress Dowager and a group of civil and military officials went to the Hall of Diligent Governance to discuss countermeasures. Late into the night, the Empress Dowager had still not returned to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility. Palace Attendant Lu and the others dared not sleep, dozing off in various positions. Ruan Bi was also restless and fell asleep fully clothed. In the middle of the night, she suddenly heard a commotion and awoke with a start, hearing faint shouts of "Fire! Fire!"
She jumped out of bed and ran outside the hall. She saw flames shooting into the sky from the direction of the Hall of Diligent Governance, illuminating the horizon like daytime. Many eunuchs were carrying buckets of water and running in that direction. After a moment's thought, she went back into her room, found a set of eunuch's robes, put them on, and also ran towards the Hall of Diligent Governance.
Just as I ran out of the Cining Palace, I heard the sounds of swords and spears clashing. I saw two rows of guards fighting each other, and judging from their uniforms, they were all from the Imperial Guard. One of the groups had red scarves tied around their necks. I immediately realized that there had been a palace coup, so I quickly ducked into a corner and crouched down in the shadows, not daring to move.
A moment later, a fully armored commander rode up on horseback, announcing that His Majesty had passed away in Luzhou, and that the Empress Dowager was concealing the truth and attempting to seize power. "How can our mighty Zhou Dynasty allow a woman to wield such power? Brothers, lay down your weapons immediately and go to Xuanming Hall to fetch Prince Zhao!"
These words left the guards half-believing and half-doubting. Some threw down their weapons, while others, though not throwing down their weapons, became weak and were knocked off their weapons by the Red Turban Army and tied up.
The commander gestured to his men to take the captured guards away, pointing to the Cining Palace: "Search them. The King of Han has instructed that Ruan Wu be captured alive."
So it turned out that the King of Han had launched a palace coup. But why did he want to capture her? Ruan Bi wondered, pressing herself against the wall, barely daring to breathe. After a while, when the guards entered Cining Palace to search, she took advantage of the guards' inattention and quietly walked westward along the base of the wall.
Along the way, the sounds of clashing swords and spears were incessant.
Upon reaching the Xihua Gate, they were overjoyed. Two columns of imperial guards were still locked in battle, locked in a stalemate, with no time to spare. Many palace maids and eunuchs were frantically running towards the palace gates; without thinking, they quickly joined their ranks. Reaching the gates in one breath, just as they were about to catch their breath, they heard the rapid clatter of hooves, followed by a familiar voice: "Kill all these traitors who have abandoned their masters!"
A series of screams erupted, and the palace maids and eunuchs running ahead collapsed to the ground. Ruan Bi looked up in horror, following the sound. She saw Ruan Chi holding a torch, leading a troop of imperial guards, who must have come to the emperor's rescue after hearing the news.
She looked at him, and he saw her too. He immediately narrowed his eyes and gripped the knife tightly. In the midst of a palace coup, and dressed as a minor eunuch, who would know, who would remember, if he killed her?
Running away was out of the question, so Ruan Bi could only stare at him intently as he approached step by step.
Ruan Chi reached Ruan Bi's side, bent down, and chopped down with force.
Ruan Bi was immediately slashed and sent flying, landing ten feet away. She clutched her chest and watched as he led the Imperial Guards swiftly into Xihua Gate.
He slashed her with the back of the knife.
For some reason, he didn't kill her.
In fact, Ruan Chi didn't know either. Looking back, he realized that he had been blinded by intuition for a moment.
Although the blade wasn't used, the force of the back of the knife was enough to inflict pain on Ruan Bi for quite some time. She got up and, along with a few other eunuchs and palace maids who had miraculously survived, made her way into a sparsely populated alley. Every now and then, the chaotic clatter of cavalry hooves and the orderly marching of infantry could be heard from the main street. Most of the people were awake, but all their doors and windows were tightly shut; occasionally, a baby's cry would be heard, but it was quickly muffled.
Ruan Bi hid in the alley, watching the imperial guards running around, most of whom wore red scarves, and knew that the King of Han had the upper hand. It seemed that this had been planned for a long time, otherwise why would he have only received the urgent report from the front today and launched a palace coup that very night? But now was not the time to think about that. The most urgent thing was to find a safe place to go.
Tiangong Embroidery Workshop is located on the main street, making it extremely difficult to avoid the Imperial Guards.
Needless to say, the Prince of Jin's residence was surrounded, and since the Prince of Han had launched a palace coup, he would certainly have surrounded all the residences of the princes.
As for the Ruan family mansion, remembering the phrase "capture Ruan Wu alive," it probably wouldn't be safe either.
That leaves only the Sanshiqiao road.
Ruan Bi had never been to Sanshi Bridge, but she knew it was in the west of the city, not far from the Ruan residence. Following the river westward, after walking for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, she indeed saw a stone bridge. Next to the river, a house was carrying a banner; upon closer inspection, it read "Cao's Sesame Cake Shop." It was Xiuzhi's house. With a slight sigh, she unconsciously pricked up her ears as she approached, only to hear whispering voices coming from inside.
"...Mother, what happened? It seems the palace is on fire."
"Anyway, it's none of our business, so don't worry about it and go to sleep."
"How can I sleep? I'm so anxious, the young lady is still in the palace..."
Ruan Bi grinned and tiptoed down the riverbank. A small boat was moored there, its awning painted with the character "Liu." Knowing it was undoubtedly Liu Shizhi's boat, she quickly jumped aboard. The boat rocked, and the river splashed loudly. The person inside the cabin was already awake. Without a sound, he lit a folding book, saw it was Ruan Bi, and without a word, jumped ashore, untied the ropes, pushed the boat forward, then jumped back up, pulled out a long pole, and propelled the small boat away from the bank with a splash.
Hearing the sound of water, Xiuzhi glanced out the window and said, "Mother, the boat has left."
Xiuzhi's mother glanced around and said in surprise, "They really left. How long have they been gone? About three months. Why did they choose this time to leave? It's so strange."
Fearing discovery, the boatman only lightly tapped the bank with his pole, and the small boat glided silently across the quiet, dark river. Ruan Bi, leaning on the boat's awning, looked north towards the imperial city; the fire seemed to be burning ever larger, shimmering and illuminating half the sky.
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