Chapter 640: Braving the Tiger’s Den

Ever since news of the emperor’s northern tour reached them, the defenses in Le’an City grew even stricter. Although Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu had previously had two of his guards removed, leaving him only with 5,000 troops from the Tiance Guard, no one believed his forces really consisted of such a small number. Just the armored soldiers gathering in Le’an City these days already far exceeded that figure, not to mention those from other parts of Shandong.

Like other princely estates, the Han Prince’s mansion resembled a city within a city—surrounded by high walls with four towering gates. Even ordinary people who peeked inside were considered guilty, and its rituals were almost on par with those of the emperor himself. The four gates—Duanli, Guangzhi, Tiren, and Zunyi—were guarded by 24 strong soldiers each, plus eight gatekeepers, all subject to military discipline, so no one dared be careless. Outside, things were orderly, but inside, areas like the ceremonial gates were much more relaxed. With important matters to attend to, the nobles could afford to slack off.

“There’s really a lot of stuff being brought into the prince’s mansion—let alone vegetables and meat; they even send batches of firewood.”
“What do you know? Back when the emperor was still Prince Yan, he even forged weapons here. No one is allowed to search this place. If he doesn’t make use of it properly, how can the prince achieve great things? This is stockpiling…”
“Shh! Be quieter. How dare you speak such dangerous things so loudly? Aren’t you afraid you’ll end up in a well? Fine, you can slack off, but stop talking nonsense and cause trouble for everyone! Hey, more deliveries have arrived… It never ends!”

An older servant slapped each of the two younger servants hard on the back of the head, scolding them before realizing it was two old women pushing a cart full of charcoal. With so much coming in and going out these days, though he complained, he merely went through a quick inspection. When it came to searching them, he glanced at the old women’s plump bodies and wrinkled faces and lost interest in teasing them, waving his hand to let them pass.

“Really, the prince ordered that no one from the inner courtyard may leave, and only women over forty may deliver goods. Now everyone coming in and out are just like this. If they were young and pretty, it might be okay, but they’re either as sturdy as men or these shriveled old women—there’s no way to even satisfy a craving for touch! But then again, even without such orders, these people are only here for hard labor. How would young and pretty folks agree to do such work?”

The voices came clearly on the wind, but the two old women pushing the wooden cart back and forth didn’t say a word. It wasn’t until they passed the corner that the one in the brown cotton coat straightened her hunched back. She quickly scanned the surroundings and, seeing no one around, gave a signal to the other woman behind her. Then she swiftly climbed up the left wall, took a quick look, and jumped down. She repeated the same action on the right wall and soon landed safely again.

“Third Sister, how is it?”

“Nothing has changed since my last visit. It seems I really do owe a debt of thanks to that deceased prince for bringing me here once. Qingshuang, everything should go as planned. Stay alert and don’t let any mistakes slip through.”

Despite her aged appearance, the old woman spoke in a young voice. If not for the increasing strictness of the Han King’s palace’s security, even with her skills, she wouldn’t have dared act rashly. Tang Qingshuang would not have planned everything carefully before sneaking in. Fortunately, according to the information she had gathered, Feng Yuanming was indeed inside and, for now, unharmed, allowing her to prepare calmly.

Getting into the palace wasn’t difficult, but rescuing someone and completing the mission was not easy—every detail had to be considered. Her earlier fling with that prince had greatly improved her strategic skills, but they still fell short of the plans sent by Zhang Yue’s people.

Seeing Tang Qingshuang nod, she moved back to the front, slung the rope over the cart poles, and with a gentle pull, started moving the heavy charcoal cart.

The two of them entered through a small gate along the narrow passage. All around, there were piles of various sundries—stacks of firewood covered most of the courtyard, along with large baskets of charcoal and other kinds of fuel. King Zhu Gaoxu, like his father, was afraid of the cold and started using heated beds for warmth as early as October. The entire palace often used over ten thousand pounds of charcoal per month, and now, for other purposes, even more high-quality silver frost charcoal needed to be stored.

Due to the incident involving Consort Wei, Zhu Gaoxu ordered that no women from the inner courtyard, from top to bottom, were allowed to go outside, with only women over forty allowed in. The ones working in this courtyard were all older women, and those delivering charcoal from outside were also rough-looking women, so there was little security. Thus, when a regular maid came to assign tasks as usual, she didn’t notice anything unusual about the two dark-skinned maids coming out. She simply told them to pull the cart and head inside.

There was a set amount of charcoal to be used throughout the inner courtyard, originally meant to be collected by people, but since it was considered the most menial and dirty work, no one wanted to do it. Thus, it gradually became customary to have it delivered. Even Tang Sair and Tang Qingshuang, who were trained in martial arts and used to hardship, were exhausted from making these trips over and over again. As for the maid in charge, after walking just half the way, she became too lazy to go in again. At each location, she would simply order the two of them to carry baskets of charcoal inside while she sat and rested.

Originally, there were no men in the inner courtyard of the prince’s mansion. But now that Zhu Gaoxu had changed from “the queen is ill” to “the queen is infertile,” those doctors had to be on call at any time, so they could only stay inside the large compound, guarded by eight strong eunuchs at the entrance. However, since these people had been “invited” there for three or four months with no one attempting to escape, they gradually became lax. After all, the youngest of them was already in his forties; escaping from the prince’s mansion was nothing but a foolish dream.

When they saw two old women carrying baskets in to deliver charcoal, they checked the baskets and, finding nothing amiss, let them pass. Once inside, Tang Sair saw that there were seven or eight rooms in the courtyard. At that time, many people were walking around outside, all looking sad and worried. Throughout the journey here, she had been observing carefully, and now she knew exactly where she was. Even though she had memorized the entire route, she knew this was the best chance, so she looked around and didn’t see Feng Yuanming, which made her anxious.

Just as she gave Tang Qingshuang a glance to signal she should buy time, the curtain of the large room in the north wing was suddenly pulled back, and a person stepped out. He was dressed in neatly washed blue cloth clothes, with white hair and a straight back. His face showed a cold expression as if someone owed him three hundred taels. Without even glancing at the others in the courtyard, he walked down the steps and, when he reached the center of the courtyard, began practicing Tai Chi on his own.

Once she recognized who it was, Tang Sair breathed a sigh of relief. She then started working while talking nonstop: “Mix the five flavors together, form them into pills the size of hemp seeds. Take one pill after each meal to relieve restlessness and heat-related ailments…”

Although the sound wasn’t very clear, everyone could hear it. Tang Qingshuang saw two maids in the yard stepping forward to scold her, so she quickly smiled and explained, “She’s lost her mind these days, constantly thinking about all these supernatural things. Not only during the day but even at night. Please forgive her, sisters. It’s pitiful. If only her master were still here, she wouldn’t be like this.”

While the speaker had good intentions, the listeners weren’t paying attention. The doctors in the yard, seeing Feng Yuanming come out, mostly went back inside. The two maids, hearing that the old woman was confused, stopped interfering as well. Only Feng Yuanming, who was practicing Tai Chi, paused for a moment before resuming his gentle, slow movements. But after practicing for a short while, he stopped angrily and shouted, “Since charcoal has been delivered today, bring more in! After sleeping on a cold bed for days, do you really want to freeze me to death? I’m an old man who fears the cold—I need foot warmers and hand warmers!”

If any other doctor had dared to shout like this, the two maids would have gotten angry long ago. But since Feng Yuanming had given orders from above to provide extra care, and they had also heard that the Han King’s condition had improved under his care, they quickly smiled and promised to deliver more charcoal personally. Unfortunately, Feng Yuanming was picky about everything, so they simply sent Tang Sair and Tang Qingshuang to handle it while they stood at a distance, complaining.

As soon as she entered the room, Tang Sair told Tang Qingshuang to watch the door, then rushed forward excitedly and called out, “Master!” Hearing those words from the “Essentials of the Taiqing Elixir Scripture,” Feng Yuanming, though already fairly certain, was deeply moved. He then snapped angrily, “What are you doing in such a place? It’s bad enough that I’m trapped here—I don’t need you to get involved too! Is that Qingshuang? Why did you bring her in as well?”

“Master, I don’t have time to explain. Quickly disguise yourself as me and go out with Qingshuang!”

As she spoke, Tang Sair began untying her hair and taking off her brown cotton coat. Seeing Feng Yuanming standing there in shock, motionless, she hurriedly urged him, “Don’t you know my abilities? I can get out safely, not just from the Han King’s palace but even from the imperial palace. Besides, my medical skills are almost as good as yours. I’ve already disguised myself as you before and learned to imitate your speech! Only the person who created the problem can solve it—the elixirs the Han King took were originally made by me.”

Hearing this, Feng Yuanming immediately recalled the incident from years ago when Tang Sair dressed up as him to treat people, and he grew furious. He could diagnose King Han Zhu Gaoxu’s illness just by feeling his pulse and asking a few questions. Though stubborn, he wasn’t an old man who failed to weigh consequences. He had used various tactics to earn Zhu Gaoxu’s trust to some extent. Knowing that his prescriptions would be carefully studied by the many doctors here, he simply pretended to be unsociable to further reduce suspicion.

After all, the master and apprentice had a long-standing relationship. Unable to resist Tang Sair, he reluctantly exchanged clothes with her and washed his face and dressed using a copper basin. When Tang Sair mentioned that Xiao Wu had gotten married, even he, who usually didn’t take things to heart, couldn’t help but feel annoyed and acted much more quickly.

“That’s why, even for your junior sister, you need to go. Her husband left for the north right after their wedding. If you go back, it might comfort her a bit.” By this point, Tang Sair had put on the mask, appearing exactly like Feng Yuanming. She gently held his hand. “Master, take care. Now, aside from Qing Shuang, you’re the only family I have.”

“You… Sigh, be careful too. Don’t play with fire!” Feng Yuanming sighed inwardly but said nothing more. Following Tang Sair’s instructions, he messed up his hair. Suddenly recalling the people he had met and the rumors he had heard these days, he hurriedly gave instructions for these important matters before saying, “They think it’s unlikely I’ll ever leave here, so they talk about many things without avoiding me. Mei Qing, King Han’s confidant, has returned. The Jiyang King in the capital is now responsible for sending messages from the Eastern Palace to this royal mansion—seems the Eastern Palace has insiders. And also…”

Outside, two maids thought the two old women had been inside for too long when they suddenly heard shouts and the sound of things being smashed. As they prepared to go in to see what was happening, they saw two people running out in a mess, with continuous cursing following behind. Realizing it was again the old man losing his temper, they hurriedly urged the two old women to leave quickly and then hid themselves, staying silent no matter how loudly they were scolded inside. It took some time before the cursing finally stopped.

With Tang Qingshuang by her side to help, Feng Yuanming made it out of the prince’s mansion unharmed. Once he arrived safely in Le’an City, he didn’t even have time to think about what he had gone through during those three months of house arrest. He quickly asked Tang Qingshuang many questions. However, having received instructions from Tang Sair, she refused to reveal too much, giving evasive answers. She managed to persuade the old man to eat first, and once the effects of the medicine took hold and he fell asleep, she immediately got to work dressing him up and then called over two young men.
“Take him out of the city right away. Say you’re sending the old man to Qingzhou to visit relatives. Once he arrives in Qingzhou, deliver him to that place, and then stay there—don’t come back. Do you understand?”
“But… only Miss Qingshuang and the Sect Leader are here…”
“Third Sister has already said—stop calling her the Sect Leader from now on! It’s easier for just the two of us to handle this. Third Sister is highly skilled and brave, and I can adapt as needed. Hurry up and leave—don’t delay!”
It wasn’t until Feng Yuanming was sent away that Tang Qingshuang truly felt at ease. According to Tang Sair’s plan, she was supposed to go with them too, but she simply couldn’t bear to leave her behind. Tang Sair still had a master, but aside from this third sister, she had no other relatives. She didn’t know what Tang Sair had promised Zhang Yue, but she certainly couldn’t leave her alone to take risks. If anything happened to her third sister, she didn’t want to live on either!