Chapter 505 — Palace Coup

The guards at the gate had heard the commotion, and seeing Ji Yong with Song's tablet, they hastily ordered men outside the gate to carry word to Liang Jifang's residence.

Ji Yong was uneasy. Climbing onto a guard's shoulders, he peered over the wall, and saw several of the gate guards outside gathered together, grinning and whispering among themselves. No one was going to carry the message.

His heart sank. He asked quietly of the Jinwu Guard inside the gate, "Is there any way to get word out past the Five Barracks Army men?"

The Jinwu Guard shook his head, troubled. "The keys are turned. Even with an imperial edict, the gates won't open till dawn."

Ji Yong thought it over, then headed for the Grand Secretariat duty room.

The one on duty was Dai Jian.

The young eunuch in the duty room told Ji Yong that Dai Jian was asleep.

A commotion that loud—he had heard it all the way from the Eastern Palace. Yet Dai Jian had noticed nothing at all...

Ji Yong slipped out of the duty room without betraying a thing.

For the first time in his life, he felt that this was not a game he could call "stop" whenever he pleased.

Ji Yong ran all the way back to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

The Crown Prince stood beneath the covered corridor, surrounded by a handful of loyal eunuchs.

"Your Highness!" He hurried over. "The letter cannot get out!"

The Crown Prince's expression shifted. He thought for a moment, then said, "Let us go find Song Yan!"

Bound by his station, the Crown Prince was at times less useful than Song Yan.

Ji Yong hovered a hand at the Crown Prince's side and guided him through the Hall of Union and Peace.

Before the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, the two sides stood facing off.

Song Yan comforted the Crown Prince in a low voice: "I have already sent men to surround the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. Unless the Prince of Liao uses the Emperor as a shield, he has nowhere to fly."

"But the Five Barracks Army posted outside has betrayed the Emperor," the Crown Prince said worriedly. "What I fear is collusion from within and without..."

"All we need do is hold out until dawn," Song Yan reassured the Crown Prince again.

But no sooner had the words left his mouth than a clamor rose from beyond the palace walls.

A Jinwu Guard came flying in, drenched in sweat: "Lord Song! The men of the Five Barracks Army have begun attacking the gate."

Before Song Yan could respond, the gates of the Palace of Earthly Tranquility swung wide. The false eunuchs who had just fought Song Yan and his men in a bloody struggle charged out once more, reckless of their lives.

"Quickly, get His Highness into the side chambers!" Song Yan shouted, drawing his blade to meet the enemy.

The others dragged and shoved the Crown Prince into the side room. Song Yan and the Jinwu Guard ringed it completely, and Song Yan, like a tiger descending the mountain, cut down and wounded several men in a fury.

Then someone cried out: "Song Yantang, have you no fear of your wife and children being killed!"

At those words Song Yan's hand faltered, and he nearly took a blade to a vital spot.

Seeing that the threat had worked, the men pressed further: "Carrier pigeons are kept in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. At a single command, your wife and children's heads will fall. And then we shall hang them from the city wall, so that they are not even left with whole corpses..."

Song Yan's eyes went red, and his strikes grew faster, truer, crueler.

The men surrounding him had no choice but to give way before his edge.

Behind him, the side room door gave a creak, and Ji Yong slipped out.

"What on earth is going on?" Heedless of all else, he lunged to seize Song Yan's lapel and nearly got himself wounded by his own side.

Song Yan flew into a rage: "Get back inside the side room and stay there!"

Ji Yong sneered: "Where are Shouyuan and Yuanheng?"

Song Yan pressed his lips together and said nothing.

But the men besieging them burst out laughing: "Lord Song's wife and children are guests at the Prince of Liao's residence!"

Ji Yong lunged at Song Yan, eyes blazing with hatred: "You bastard! How did Shouyuan ever marry you? For the sake of promotion and wealth, you would not even spare your own wife and child..."

Song Yan's body went slack for an instant, and Ji Yong's fist landed square.

Someone pulled Ji Yong away.

The Crown Prince stepped out.

He asked in astonishment: "What has happened?"

"Lord Song's wife and children have been carried off by the Prince of Liao, to threaten Lord Song..." a guard murmured.

"Yantang!" The Crown Prince and Cui Yijun, who had followed close behind, both looked utterly aghast.

Song Yan smiled bitterly.

That hairpin had been part of Dou Zhiwei's dowry.

It was said there was no second sapphire of the same size anywhere under heaven.

He had recognized it at a glance as his wife's.

Shouyuan—where was she now?

Truly carried off to the Prince of Liao's residence? Or hiding somewhere with the child?

Deep down, he had always nursed a small ember of hope.

Yet he understood even better that if the Prince of Liao meant to move against Dou Yan, he would surely send men from the Guard.

The men around Dou Yan might be skilled, but they were no match for soldiers seasoned by battlefields and drilled to discipline.

But if he were to throw himself under the Prince of Liao's protection on that account, taking the name of servant to a master, Dou Zhiwei's position would only grow more perilous.

The only thing he could do now was to keep the Prince of Liao inside the palace.

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Sisters and brothers, here is today's update.

o(n_n)o~