Chapter 503
Gazing at the imperial uncle before him, Gan Sheng’s throat bobbed a few times before he managed to squeeze out a single sentence, “Imperial Uncle... to enter the palace with armed guards without being summoned, for what purpose?” As for the grave crime of abandoning his post and entering the capital without orders, in the struggles of the past two days, despite holding the moral high ground as emperor, he had not gained the slightest advantage.
Gan Sheng cast a wary glance at the man behind Prince Cheng, then quickly averted his eyes.
Prince Cheng stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Because of his armor, his stance was especially straight, like a blade drawn from its sheath.
He did not answer immediately, but tilted his head slightly to glance at the empress beside the couch.
The empress met his gaze, calmly setting down the medicine bowl, rising, and folding her hands in a proper bow, her posture impeccable and beyond reproach. “Your nephew’s wife pays respects to the Imperial Uncle!”
Prince Cheng nodded, then met the murderous look from the frail, ailing emperor, and did not mince words. He said bluntly, “My dear nephew, you can see from this outfit of your uncle’s what I’m here for! It’s not that your uncle is forcing your hand, it’s that your own body simply won’t cooperate! Don’t blame your uncle for being heartless. For the sake of our Gan family’s empire, I’m afraid I have to put you through some hardship!”
He swept his gaze over the others in the bedchamber. “You wouldn’t want the empire our Gan ancestors fought so hard to build to one day fall into the hands of outsiders, would you?”
Prince Cheng sat down on the low stool beside the bed. Aside from their childhood encounters, this was the closest the uncle and nephew had been in over a decade.
Gan Sheng closed his eyes. He truly did not want to see Prince Cheng’s face right now, that look of a victor already assured of triumph, gazing with pity upon him lying in bed, unable even to move as he pleased—the countenance of the strong looking down on the weak.
He had long heard the rumors circulating in the capital about himself and had prepared countermeasures. But even shifting the blame onto Yue Fuguang could not save his throne or his life!
Because the emperor’s health was poor, only two basins of ice had been placed in the vast Yuchen Hall. It should have been somewhat warm, but with Prince Cheng’s arrival, everyone present could not help but shiver.
By the bedside, the empress had already picked up the medicine bowl again and stood at the foot of the dragon couch. The medicinal liquid, once scalding hot, had cooled somewhat due to Prince Cheng’s sudden intrusion—just the right temperature for drinking. Her gaze fell upon the dark brown liquid, her nostrils filled with the nauseating bitter smell of medicine, her expression as indifferent as if she were watching a grand play that had nothing to do with her.
Standing outside the hall, watching the drama unfold, Yue Fuguang took in everyone’s expressions. Only the empress’s expression puzzled her.
The empress had no son. The current crown prince was the eldest son born to the emperor and his favored concubine. From this, it was clear that the relationship between emperor and empress was not as harmonious as rumor suggested. But then again, Gan Sheng was exactly the type to put on a good show on the surface.
Yet the fleeting flash of hatred in the empress’s eyes made her think the discord between emperor and empress was not simply because of a favored concubine wedged between them.
There was hatred in those eyes, yet it was hidden. Surely there was something deeper going on!
Just as Prince Cheng was pressing Gan Sheng harder and harder, a sound of urgent footsteps suddenly came from behind Yue Fuguang and her companions—not the quick, shuffling steps of eunuchs, but the clashing of armor, the heavy thud of leather boots stomping on white marble bricks. Dull, orderly, carrying a chilling killing intent.
It was the patrol squad under Prince Cheng’s command. They deliberately kept their distance from Yuchen Hall, which gave certain people an opportunity.
Yue Fuguang watched as a short, small eunuch quietly opened a door and squeezed through it in a flash.
“Hurry, let’s follow and get front-row seats to the drama!”
The people inside the great hall also heard those footsteps heavy with murderous intent. The empress’s hand holding the medicine bowl paused slightly, then returned to normal—she did not even twitch an eyebrow.
The stagnant atmosphere of the hall was broken by the arrival of a single person. The foster son of Zhao Quan’an, the emperor’s chief eunuch—Little Anzi—scrambled and crawled his way into the inner chamber.
Before he could even see the situation inside, he threw himself to his knees with a thud, his voice shaking uncontrollably. “Your... Your Majesty, the palace gate... the palace gate has already... been surrounded by Prince Cheng’s troops! This servant cannot get out!”
Before he could finish, Zhao Quan’an’s scolding voice rang out from inside the hall, “Little Anzi, this is none of your business. Go wait outside!”
“Yes!” Little Anzi did not dare lift his head, and quickly obeyed, hurrying out. But Yue Fuguang and her group of four, who had followed in behind Little Anzi’s footsteps, remained inside, finding a prime spot from which to enjoy the drama, and stood there awaiting the developments to come.
Watching the hall doors close again, Prince Cheng let out a derisive snort. “My dear nephew, your uncle already told you—the entire palace is in my hands. Why bother struggling further? Wouldn’t it be better to just listen to your uncle obediently?” His voice was booming, full of vigor, piercing through layers of curtains and reaching every corner of the inner hall—a stark contrast to the ailing Gan Sheng, who could barely even speak properly.
“You...” Gan Sheng’s voice was as hoarse as rough stone scraped by sandpaper. “How many men have you... brought into the palace? How is... how is my mother the Empress Dowager?”
Prince Cheng laughed heartily at the question. “My dear nephew, your uncle sees no harm in telling you. This time I entered the palace with three thousand elite armored soldiers under my command, with another five thousand outside the imperial city. Just outside this very hall, there are three hundred warriors.”
At a single command from him, they could rush in at any moment and take the emperor’s life.
Prince Cheng patted the edge of the bed triumphantly, the phoenix-tail patterned nanmu dragon couch letting out muffled thumping sounds. “Let me give you another piece of news. My fifty thousand troops have all entered the city through Desheng Gate today.”
Desheng Gate—he had specifically chosen this gate of entry to secure a favorable omen, for the name meant “victory.”
“Wei Guang, he...!”
“Don’t blame Minister Wei. He did his best!” Best at putting on a show, without letting anyone see that he had long since become Prince Cheng’s man.
“Not blame him? Not blame him for defecting to the Imperial Uncle?” Gan Sheng, thinking that Wei Guang had likely opened the city gates without any resistance to let Prince Cheng’s army in, felt as if a heavy hammer had struck his chest.
At this moment, because his chest was filled with immense hatred, Gan Sheng suddenly felt a surge of strength in his body. He let out a roar. “Treacherous ministers have ruined me!”
He slowly struggled to sit up, and Zhao Quan’an quickly fetched several soft pillows to prop behind his back.
“Master, what did you do to Gan Sheng?”
“Give him a little strength. A quarrel is only interesting when both sides are evenly matched. A one-sided crushing is no fun to watch at all.”
How else could they lure out the others? Without chaos, how could they deplete their strength? Plant seeds of suspicion in everyone’s hearts, make them doubt one another, and they could never band together on the same ship.
Seeing the emperor’s sudden improvement, everyone in the hall felt a stir of hope—except Prince Cheng and a few others.
Gan Sheng reclined against the soft pillows and rested for a moment, a bitter curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Wei Guang had let Prince Cheng’s army into the city. The imperial guards must not have offered much resistance either, otherwise he would have received some warning before Prince Cheng entered the hall.
Where had Dai Ping’an gone? The commander of the imperial guards, Fang Huaying, was recommended by Dai Ping’an. That man had either already been bought off, or had hidden away out of fear of Prince Cheng’s power, or had concluded that the times were changing and it was time to switch masters.