Chapter 77 The Moon Like a Hook, the Lamb
Under the cover of night, Zheng Zhai led his men silently to the Xuanwu Gate. Although the soldiers behind him wore the uniforms of the Right Valiant Guard, they were not all soldiers of the Right Valiant Guard; some were private soldiers mixed in. The route from the northern Forbidden Garden to the Xuanwu Gate was unobstructed, making it the best route to storm the palace.
Zheng Zhai waited in front of Xuanwu Gate for about a quarter of an hour before the gate slowly opened from the inside.
He waved his hand and said, "Let's go!" He then led his troops through the palace gates.
There were specks of blood on the bricks inside Xuanwu Gate. Several soldiers were dragging away the last two corpses and piling them up against the palace wall to avoid obstructing the march. Standing to one side of the gate was Qi Fang, the husband of Princess Gaoyang and the Left Guard General.
As Zheng Zhai passed by him, he raised his hand in a fist salute and said to Qi Fang, "Thank you for your trouble."
Qi Fang nodded.
People fell silent, horses hoofbeats echoed, and they filed in through Xuanwu Gate under the cover of the inky night.
A palace maid was already waiting there. When she saw the army entering the palace, she stepped forward and bowed to Zheng Zhai, saying, "General, I am from the palace of Consort Xian. Consort Xian ordered me to lead the way for you."
“Alright,” Zheng Zhai reined in his horse and asked, “Where is the Emperor?”
The Wang family said they would have Consort Feng try to keep the emperor there. Zheng Zhai was afraid that Consort Feng wouldn't be able to do it. If the emperor wasn't in Consort Feng's palace, then they would have to launch a full-scale attack.
"Currently in Consort Feng's palace."
"Very well," Zheng Zhai said with an arrogant and smug smile, gesturing for the palace maid to lead the way: "Let's go get the Emperor first."
The palace guards were only responsible for protecting the emperor. Zheng Zhai entered the inner palace as if it were empty, and arrived at the gate of Consort Feng's palace with almost no hindrance.
Zheng Zhai reiterated to his men that the emperor wanted the body alive. The second prince wanted to ascend the throne flawlessly according to etiquette, and the current emperor was still useful.
His trusted confidant asked him, "What should be done with Consort Feng?"
Zheng Zhai scoffed dismissively, "Consort Feng? The Feng family is plotting a rebellion, intending to harm the Emperor. We are here to rescue him; those who plot rebellion should naturally be killed without exception!"
"I've heard that Consort Feng is the most beautiful woman in the harem..." someone muttered quietly.
Those around him chuckled softly upon hearing this.
Zheng Zhai glanced back. It was the first day of the lunar month, the sky was dark and moonless, and although palace lanterns illuminated the road, they were not very bright. Everyone was dressed the same, making it impossible to tell who was speaking. He shouted sternly, "Tighten your skin! Anyone who dares to delay this important matter will not be spared!"
The emperor had few concubines; even including those who had only been favored once or twice, there were only a dozen or so. Most of the palaces in the harem were empty. Consort Feng resided in Yanjia Palace, which could be reached by entering through Xuanwu Gate and passing through several empty palaces and Chengxiang Palace, where two talented women lived.
The gates of Yanjia Palace were tightly closed, and the bronze crane lanterns in front of the gates swayed in the wind, casting circles of shadows on the stone path.
Several people dressed in the uniforms of the Imperial Guard stood on both sides, and the one on the far side was idly rubbing a crack in the stone brick with his shoe.
The clattering sound alerted the group. The man who had been hiding in the crevice stood up straight, placed one hand on his sword, and peered to the right, following the sound.
"Whoosh!" An iron arrow pierced through the darkness and starlight, grazed his cheek, and struck the bronze crane lantern, sparking a small burst of sparks.
"Who goes there?" a guard from the Imperial Guards shouted, drawing his sword.
His response was a second and a third iron arrow.
With blood streaming down his face, the Imperial Guard pulled a copper whistle from his robes and put it in his mouth. He had barely blew the first note when two horses raised their forelegs and charged at him. He immediately raised his sword and swung it at the horses' legs, but when the blade was still half an inch away, two spears pierced through his body.
Blood dripped from the protruding spearhead, trickling down the stone bricks and filling the white-stained cracks.
A strong smell of rust spread.
Two guards rushed up one after the other. One of them ducked down and slashed at the horse's leg, while the other slashed the rider's neck as he rolled off the horse.
A cold blade suddenly swung at the guard behind him from the side. He managed to parry with his own blade, but unexpectedly, a spear appeared behind the blade and embedded itself in his shoulder.
He pushed off the ground with both legs, tensed his waist and abdomen, clenched his jaws, and growled as he thrust the spear forward, forcing back the enemy before him. With each movement, the spearhead sank deeper, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings, his bloodshot eyes blazing with a terrifying intensity. He lifted his leg, intending to take another step forward. The spearhead pierced his chest, and before he could even feel the pain, another blade emerged from his chest, this time with a thin, red substance seemingly twitching and pulsating on its tip.
Someone kicked him from behind, and two knives were suddenly pulled from his body, leaving two strings of bright red droplets. His body fell uncontrollably to the ground. The horse, which was five or six steps away from him, was startled by the sound of his fall, took two steps back, and its hind hooves stepped on a soft, sticky object covered with a small piece of fabric that matched the Qianniu Guard's coat.
Only one of the bronze crane palace lanterns was still lit. A guard from the Imperial Guard slid off another lantern, revealing that most of it had been stained with liquid. Where the flame should have been, a handful of dark liquid rippled.
The gates of Yanjia Palace were wide open, and the area inside and outside was covered with a jumble of footprints, some deep and some shallow. Several palace maids and eunuchs screamed and scattered in all directions, only to be dragged out one by one by the soldiers and thrown into the courtyard.
There were too few people. The maid who had led Zheng Zhai in nearly vomited outside the palace; she stumbled in, her arms and legs weak, leaning against the wall. The entire courtyard was filled with the screams of palace servants and the shouts of soldiers. There were too few people, she thought to herself. How could there only be so many people at the Emperor's residence?
The maid leaned against the wall, looking somewhat bewildered at the men in the courtyard who were brandishing their mottled knives, each swing bringing with it a gust of bloody, sweet wind.
Zheng Zhai rushed out of the main hall with a knife in his hand. He grabbed a dying palace maid by the back of the head with his large hand and pulled her up from the ground without saying a word.
"Where is the emperor? Where is the emperor?" Zheng Zhai roared madly, his eyebrows furrowed and eyes bulging.
Half of the main hall's door was damaged, leaning precariously from the frame. Inside, there were magnificent curtains, exquisite display cabinets, shattered porcelain shards on the floor, and a long silence.
The dying palace maid couldn't withstand Zheng Zhai's torment and closed her eyes without making a sound. Zheng Zhai threw the maid aside, looked around, and saw a young palace maid still alive, curled up in a corner. He took a step to go over to her.
The crossbow creaked as it was cocked, and "thud," "thud," the sound of crossbow bolts hitting their targets echoed from outside the palace.
Several soldiers stumbled into the courtyard: "General, there are crossbows outside!"
Crossbow? Just that one word sent cold sweat running down Zheng Zhai's back.
Undeterred, he charged out of the palace with his knife, but his foot didn't land on the smooth stone bricks; instead, it landed on a muscular body. Many people lay scattered on the palace street, all wounded by crossbow bolts. A dozen soldiers formed a semi-circle around Zheng Zhai, nervously watching the direction from which the bolts had come.
Next door was Chengxiang Palace, where two talented women lived. Now, armored and sword-wielding guards were pouring out of the palace. The palace walls of Chengxiang Palace, which had just been empty, were now covered with crossbows, and the creaking sound of the strings being pulled could not be heard.
"General Zheng is truly diligent. Before the street drums of dawn have even sounded, the General has already begun a massacre in the palace." A head popped up on the palace wall of Chengxiang Hall and shouted to Zheng Zhai from afar.
The person was not close, hidden in the dim light of dawn, his face obscured and difficult to discern, but his voice was enough for Zheng Zhai to recognize him.
"Tian Ganyou!" Zheng Zhai almost ground his teeth to powder. Now that things had come to this, how could he not understand that he had clearly fallen into a trap?
Zheng Zhai chuckled twice, attempting to bargain with Tian Ganyou: "I came to rescue the Emperor because I heard that the Feng family was plotting a rebellion and that the Emperor was being held hostage by the traitor. In the urgency of the situation, it was difficult to distinguish friend from foe, and the night was dark, which is why I accidentally injured the brothers of the Thousand Bull Guard."
"There has been a change in the palace, and we, the soldiers of the Thousand Bull Guards, who are the emperor's personal guards, are unaware of it. How could the general, who is far away in the Southern Palace, have such better access to information than the inner court?" Tian Ganyou questioned.
Seeing Tian Ganyou's tactless behavior, Zheng Zhai knew that things were not going to end well today. His long-planned scheme had come to such a hasty end, and Zheng Zhai was so angry he felt like vomiting blood. He snatched a bow and arrow from a soldier beside him, nocked the string, and aimed at Tian Ganyou.
Although Tian Ganyou's martial arts skills were not top-notch, he was agile and alert. As soon as he saw Zheng Zhai turn around, he immediately hid behind the palace wall. By the time Zheng Zhai had nocked his arrow, Tian Ganyou was nowhere to be seen on the wall.
"Zheng Zhai broke into the palace at night with the intention of treason; he shall be executed without mercy!"
With a command given, a hail of crossbow bolts came whistling through the air. Zheng Zhai hurriedly retreated into the palace and ordered the doors to be locked.
Those who remained outside the hall fell one after another, their bodies slumping against the hall's doors, making the doors teeter on the verge of collapse.
They were like lambs hiding behind straw, waiting for the wolf to gnaw through the straw so it could slaughter them all.
Zheng Zhai's confidants surrounded him: "General, staying here is not a solution. Why don't we clear a path for you? As long as we can escape Xuanwu Gate, there is still a chance of survival."
The sound of bows clicking incessantly outside the palace; more than half of the two thousand troops were outside. The palace street was narrow and long, and the Thousand Bull Guards, occupying the high walls, used their superior crossbow range to suppress Zheng Zhai's army. Once the Thousand Bull Guards had wiped out the troops outside the palace, how long could these exquisitely painted palace gates hold them off?
Zheng Zhai slammed his fist against the wall. If he could capture the emperor, he could turn the tide, even if he had to kill the emperor... The veins on his face bulged like twisted earthworms writhing under his skin. The power to rule was right in front of him, yet he was about to suffer a crushing defeat. How could he accept this?
Since the emperor wasn't in Yanjia Palace, he must be in Taiji Palace. Zheng Zhai looked around. There were still several palace gates between here and Taiji Palace. If they had enough troops, there would be no problem in storming Taiji Palace. But could they hold out until then?
"General, we must not delay any longer," the trusted aide urged.
Zheng Zhai slowly opened his fist, his arm falling limply to his side. He uttered a few words, and his glory and power were completely destroyed with his last breath: "Break through, go to Xuanwu Gate."
Zheng Zhai galloped on his horse through the palace streets. He didn't know how he had escaped. He dared not look back and could not look back. He could only keep running forward.
Hurry, faster! Zheng Zhai didn't have many men left; some had fallen to the Qianniu Guards, others had been left behind. Xuanwu Gate lay ahead, its thick walls towering majestically. Wasn't it the new moon? Why was a full moon shining brightly outside the gate, urging Zheng Zhai to hurry, hurry?
The city gate cracked open, and a strong wind carrying dew rushed in, hitting Zheng Zhai's face. Before Zheng Zhai could even rejoice at his escape, he stood frozen in place like a stone statue.
Outside Xuanwu Gate, the troops stationed at the North Gate were lined up and had been waiting for a long time.
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