A streak of fresh blood stained his face, crimson seeping into the depths of his darkened eyes; tattered fragments of his garment fluttered incessantly, like a butterfly with a broken wing. His heart pounded wildly, aching with a dull pain; the blood in his limbs surged back toward his chest. Amidst the suffocating carnage of the battlefield, only four words echoed in Li Ce's mind: desperate fugitives. These men were reckless desperados, heedless of life or death, fighting desperately to cut them off here. But why?
Yan Yun was locked in fierce combat with a lone assassin, yet had not unleashed his full strength.
"Your Highness!" he shouted, "Let me capture one alive; we must learn what these fiends truly are—daring to assassinate the royal prince!" Leaving a prisoner was vital for interrogation, to uncover the mastermind behind the scheme and unravel the truth. But doing so would restrict their tactics and increase vulnerability.
Amid the pervasive stench of blood and the swirling winds atop the hillside, Li Ce commanded, "Preserve your own lives! No prisoners!" Survival was paramount, outweighing any clues.
In this deadly encounter, the brave prevail. Perhaps Li Ce's order took effect, or perhaps the assailants had other motives, but the assassins fought while retreating, eventually vanishing down a narrow mountain path at Kingfisher Hill, circumventing the earthen mounds.
"Pursue!" Yan Yun charged ahead.
"Return!" Ye Chang Geng called out to restrain him.
Yan Yun halted and turned to Li Ce, eyes bloodshot with fury, unwilling to let the culprits escape unscathed.
Li Ce glanced at the seven or eight corpses strewn about and descended the slope step by step. These assassins were not only reckless in killing others—they cared nothing for their own lives. If capture loomed, they would rather end their own lives.
"Wait for the troops from the Jìn Prefecture Governor's Office," Li Ce said calmly. "Then scour the mountain."
Yan Yun nodded in obedience. Li Ce made his way back to the carriage.
"Where is Lord Lin?" he inquired.
"Alive," Qing Feng replied from a distance.
Yet Lin Qing was nowhere to be seen in the woods. Li Ce looked up and found Lin Qing clinging tightly to a tree trunk. Beneath it lay two assassins. Qing Feng stood by the trunk, arms crossed, sneering coldly, "Lord Lin, I keep my word. Are you satisfied?"
Lin Qing slowly slid down, face pale, and glanced toward Li Ce: "Your Highness, did you know there would be assassins when you set out?"
"I did not expect such peril," Li Ce replied, kneeling on one knee to lift Hu Jia's frail body.
Hu Jia was pinned to the ground by a narrow sword, blood pooling beneath him, life hanging by a thread. Li Ce removed his outer garment; Ye Chang Geng produced a vial of wound medicine from his supplies, while Qing Feng cautiously drew his sword. They applied the medicine to the wound, swiftly wrapping Hu Jia's abdomen with fabric, pressing firmly to stem the bleeding.
"Oh dear, what shall we do?" Lin Qing, unaccustomed to such scenes, nearly fainted.
"For now, this will suffice," Ye Chang Geng said. "Once inside the city, a doctor can stitch the wound. Whether he lives or dies depends on his fate."
Hu Jia had not yet lost consciousness; his eyes, the size of beans, stared wildly, incessantly muttering, "It hurts like hell! If I die, tell my wife at home not to remarry! Wait for me to be reborn, so I can marry her anew."
Qing Feng rubbed his head and said, "If she doesn't remarry, how will you wed her again? Besides, are you sure you'll even be reborn as a human?"
Before he finished, Hu Jia fainted. Finally, the troops from the Jìn Prefecture Governor's Office arrived, belatedly.
Governor Zhou Ci nearly fell from his horse in fright. Upon seeing the bodies were all assassins, he exhaled sharply. Although Li Ce was clad only in a bloodstained undergarment, his face pale and his wounds few, relief washed over him.
"How—how did this happen? Your Highness, why didn't you inform me before setting out? If anything had befallen you in Jìn Prefecture, even ten heads wouldn't suffice to atone for it!"
He Dong Circuit Military Commissioner Zheng Feng'an arrived as well. He was far calmer than Zhou Ci. Surveying the scene, he lifted the veil of one assassin and examined closely before shaking his head: "No prisoners?"
"About a dozen fled into the mountains," Ye Chang Geng replied.
Zheng Feng'an nodded gravely and sought Li Ce's approval: "My humble suggestion is to scour the mountain."
Li Ce had already intended as much. Zheng Feng'an advised rest and proper wound care in the city, but Li Ce declined. Qing Feng and Lin Qing remained to tend Hu Jia and escort him to the city for treatment, while the others abandoned their mounts and set out on foot to search Kingfisher Hill.
In the late afternoon, deep within Kingfisher Hill, they discovered a cavern concealed by a massive boulder. Moving the stone aside revealed a profound darkness within. A cool breeze from the cave whispered past Li Ce's ear, stirring memories of childhood entrapment in tomb tunnels. Instinctively, his body stiffened.
Ye Chang Geng lit a torch and stepped forward, leading the way inside.
"Beware of ambush," Li Ce warned, gripping his arm.
"I don't smell blood," Ye Chang Geng reassured him.
Yet Li Ce remained uneasy, following closely. Suddenly, he halted and pointed to the cavern's innermost recess, voice low: "Found it."
The four-chambered cavern was meticulously arranged. At its deepest point, a wooden rack bore numerous arm-crossing crossbows, their mechanisms gleaming in the torchlight, scattered from floor to ceiling, dazzling the eye.
"So many!" Zhou Ci rubbed his eyes but stood rigidly some ten paces away from the rack, reluctant to advance further, as if fearing even a touch would entangle him with the deadly weapons.
"What on earth is going on?" he stammered, turning toward Li Ce, Ye Chang Geng, and Zheng Feng'an, the He Dong Circuit Military Commissioner.
Li Ce's face was grave; Ye Chang Geng appeared shocked and perplexed; Zheng Feng'an glanced thoughtfully toward the cavern's mouth.
No one answered Zhou Ci's question. No one dared to know.
"Bring them back to the Governor's Office," Li Ce ordered. "Inventory and report to the court."
These crossbows could arm an entire vanguard unit. Whoever was behind this, for whatever reason, had committed a grave offense.
The scale and layout of the Tang Eastern Palace mirrored the Imperial City, only smaller in scale. Its main gate, Chongming Gate, stood on par with the Xuanyang Gate of the palace's outer court. The Crown Prince conducted affairs in Chongjiao Hall within Xuanyang Gate, receiving officials and guests and conferring with aides.
In Crown Prince Li Zhang's mind, his aides fell into two categories: those known to the Emperor, and those unknown. Fu Mingzhu belonged to the latter. Of noble birth as the Prime Minister's legitimate son, Fu Mingzhu's reputation was tarnished after secretly meeting his lover following his engagement to Ye Jiao. He was paraded down the imperial street, enraging the Duke of Anguo's household, leading to the broken engagement. The Emperor, deeming Fu Mingzhu's premarital conduct disgraceful, banned him from all imperial examinations, hereditary privileges, and official recommendations.
Though his official career was blocked, Fu Mingzhu had extensive connections in the capital and sought refuge with Li Zhang. Li Zhang, both out of respect for the Prime Minister and admiration for Fu Mingzhu's unscrupulous methods, gradually entrusted him.
Yet today, Fu Mingzhu's report was restrained.
"The Ministry of War has uncovered matters unfavorable to His Highness the Crown Prince," Fu Mingzhu disclosed.
With a whole night before tomorrow's court assembly, Fu Mingzhu had already obtained the information destined for the Ministry of War and delivered it to the Eastern Palace.
Li Zhang accepted the documents with a furrowed brow.
"Is this true?"
"It should be," Fu Mingzhu replied. "Though I do not know who is framing you, once the Ministry of War's Vice Minister receives this, he will report it at tomorrow's assembly."
When that time came, even if the Crown Prince sat beside the imperial desk, no one could stop it. The court officials would know, and so would the Emperor.
After a year of hardship, Fu Mingzhu had grown mature and composed. He stepped back, awaiting Li Zhang's decision.
Li Zhang slowly raised his gaze, regarding Fu Mingzhu with amused interest.
"Master Fu, you are unlike before."
Fu Mingzhu's handsome face stiffened. "Not really?"
"In the past, you would say," Li Zhang mused, "'Only silence can solve this.' Or if you knew the other party's weakness, use it to suppress them. But this time, you say nothing, and seem worried."
Fu Mingzhu forced an awkward smile and lifted his sleeve. "Your Highness worries too much. What Ye Jiao and I had is long forgotten. I merely fear this concerns Prince Chu, and rash action is unwise."
"Then do not act rashly," Li Zhang stood, hands clasped behind his back. "Let her report what she has found. Have them issue my decree: all officials of fifth rank and above may attend tomorrow's assembly. I want to see if she dares to speak openly."
Ye Jiao had initially not wished to attend—not out of fear, but due to spring fatigue and the desire to sleep late. Yet after reporting her findings to Jiang Min, Jiang persuaded her of the matter's gravity and the necessity of joint presentation.
"Rest assured," Jiang Min comforted, "you represent the Ministry of War, serving the nation and its people. Fear not the Crown Prince."
Thus, at the morning assembly, when the Ministry of War reported matters, Li Zhang slightly tilted his head and spotted the resolute figure in scarlet amidst over a hundred officials. Today, Ye Jiao appeared as fearless and defiant as ever, as if the Great Ming Palace were her home, utterly undaunted and unconcerned for her remarkably striking intellect.
She strode boldly to the center of the hall, knelt, and declared, "I have ascertained that during the Crown Prince's campaign against Tubo, the Northwest Army lost three hundred and seventeen arm-crossing crossbows."
Meanwhile, the tally of crossbows in the Jìn Prefecture cavern had been completed.
"Your Highness," Qing Feng reported cautiously, "including those held by villagers in Dahuaishu, the total is exactly three hundred and seventeen."
Without error.