Chapter 505 — Palace Coup
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Cui Yijun's words left the Crown Prince visibly shaken.
True, Ji Yong was not on duty today, but since the afternoon he had been at the Eastern Palace discussing Yellow River governance with the Crown Prince, who, on account of this year's floods, had listened with uncommon attention; even when the palace keys were turned for the night, the two were still talking with great zest, and Cui Yijun had simply told the eunuchs to keep a room for Ji Yong in the side chamber. When the commotion broke out at the Qianqing Palace in the dead of night, it was Ji Yong, too, who urged the Crown Prince to go to the rescue.
Ji Yong, with a rare show of embarrassment, said, "This waist tablet is a forgery! I had it made by a master craftsman after Song's own."
The Crown Prince and Cui Yijun were struck dumb.
As though afraid they would not believe him, Ji Yong handed the tablet to Cui Yijun.
Cui Yijun had only ever seen Song's tablet; as for telling true from false, he truly had no idea how it was done, let alone in such circumstances. Smiling, he returned the tablet to Ji Yong. "To my eye it looks exactly like the real thing—it even fooled the Jinwu Guard." Inwardly, though, he grew all the more wary. "Why would you forge Sir Song's tablet?"
Ji Yong gave a sheepish laugh. "Song Yan and I have a private grudge. I meant to make trouble for him, so of course I couldn't let anyone notice the tablet was flawed!"
The Crown Prince and Cui Yijun exchanged a glance.
Ji Yong called Song by his bare name at every turn, plainly at odds with him—and yet they now depended on Song Yan for their protection.
Cui Yijun smiled. "What grudge is this? Shall I play the peacemaker?"
"No, no," Ji Yong said awkwardly. "Only a small matter."
Cui Yijun could not press him further.
The Crown Prince said, "The Jinwu Guard shields the forbidden palace, and its charge is grave. Jianming, how could you do such a thing?"
Ji Yong hastily bowed his head. "Your servant knows his crime! Never again."
Seeing this, the Crown Prince softened his voice. "Still, we owe you thanks today—without you, we would never have known that something had gone wrong at the Qianqing Palace."
Whether or not Ji Yong was the Prince of Liao's man, whether or not a great pit lay waiting for him ahead—once he resolved to come to the rescue, he was already inside it. Standing outside the Qianqing Palace gate would not have spared him.
He drew a deep breath and walked into the Qianqing Palace with steady steps.
The false eunuchs had fallen back to the Kunning Palace, and corpses lay scattered across the Qianqing Palace. Song Yan stood before the palace gate drenched in blood, his expression harried. Seeing the Crown Prince come in, he hurried forward, made his salute, and blamed himself. "Your Highness, it is all my negligence—I let men pass themselves off as eunuchs and slip inside..."
The shambles, like a scene from hell, and the thick reek of blood on Song Yan nearly turned the Crown Prince's stomach.
Wang Yuan came scrambling and tumbling over, wailing, tears and snot running together. "Your Highness, save His Majesty, quickly! The Prince of Liao has taken His Majesty hostage!"
The Crown Prince had long since guessed it, yet hearing Wang Yuan speak aloud the name buried at the bottom of his heart, he still froze for a moment.
Cui Yijun called softly, "Your Highness."
The Crown Prince came back to himself.
This was his chance to establish his authority!
Forcing down the churning in his breast, he consoled Song Yan gently. "You may command the Jinwu Guard, but what happened here is not your doing. Are you wounded? Cui Yijun has an excellent wound salve—have him look at you."