Chapter 870: Gathering for Battle

The area within the Imperial City is a forbidden zone. Thus, the forty red barracks where the imperial guards take turns on duty are also arranged in four sectors. As they serve as the last line of defense for the palace, only soldiers from the top twenty-two guard units are rotated in to serve there, usually ten men per barracks. But now, as this is a critical pass, the number of imperial guards has increased dramatically. Some of the imperial horse guards are also stationed directly north of the imperial stables, ready to defend the area, making the security even more stringent than usual.

The area between the Meridian Gate, the Left Gate of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Heaven-Embracing Gate, the Right Gate of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and the Left and Right Gates of Chang’an is guarded by troops from the Flag Bearers Guard, Jiyang Guard, Jizhou Guard, Provincial Army Guard, Left Hubei Guard, Front Jinwu Guard, Front Yanshan Guard, and Front Yulin Guard. The area between the East Hua Gate, the Upper East North Gate, the Upper East South Gate, the East An Gate, and the Upper East Central Gate is guarded by troops from the Left Jinwu Guard, Left Yulin Guard, Left Provincial Army Guard, and Left Yanshan Guard. The area between the West Hua Gate, the Upper West North Gate, the Upper West South Gate, the Qianming Gate, and the West An Gate is guarded by troops from the Right Jinwu Guard, Right Yulin Guard, Right Provincial Army Guard, and Right Yanshan Guard. Finally, the area between the Xuanwu Gate, the North West Gate, the North East Gate, the North Gate, and the North An Gate is guarded by troops from the Rear Jinwu Guard, Rear Provincial Army Guard, Tongzhou Guard, and Left Daxing Guard.

In this way, the twenty imperial guard units each perform their duties in their designated positions. Every day, a commander from the Five Army Command Headquarters leads them, along with a thousand-soldier officer armed with a sword and a hundred-soldier officer armed with a sword, to stay on duty inside the palace and oversee the troops. After all, since the founding of the dynasty, many military households have fled, leaving many vacancies. Although rotations are supposed to occur regularly, many soldiers on duty inside the Imperial City have not been rotated for a month or even several months. In the first year of the Hongxi era, Zhu Gaochi showed compassion for the soldiers who couldn’t return home for months and decided to rotate the regular troops and imperial guards together, but this plan was ultimately abandoned after advice from his ministers.

Since no court sessions were held, most of the officials from the Six Ministries accompanied the emperor on his northern tour, and there were fewer people in the Grand Secretariat. Naturally, few officials entered or left through the Meridian Gate. Coupled with the soldiers patrolling in shifts, an eerie atmosphere filled the Imperial City. Even officials from the General Administration who occasionally passed by to deliver documents would be influenced by the synchronized footsteps, unconsciously adopting the same rhythm. The strange cadence of their steps even made some of the soldiers guarding the Meridian Gate drowsy.

“Huh…”

Halfway through a yawn, the sergeant jolted awake abruptly. Realizing there were no nobles, superiors, or strangers passing by, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, a low voice came from beside him: “Dainiu, be careful. The higher-ups have been in a bad mood these days. It’s not worth getting beaten with a stick!”
The sergeant naturally understood his companion’s kind warning and quickly nodded discreetly. After finally overcoming the drowsiness, he saw the person coming to take over his shift. They silently handed over the shift, and the troops being replaced didn’t dare move their heads or limbs, walking at the same pace as the patrol soldiers back to their own quarters.
These so-called “red quarters” were actually just unremarkable rooms shaped like pigeon cages, scattered throughout the various government offices inside and outside the imperial city. It was tough, but being part of the imperial guards was still better than serving in local garrisons. Moreover, in addition to the regular rations, they received extra rewards each month, which was enough to support their families.
However, serving in winter was the most grueling task—braving wind and snow. Now, back in the quarters with only a brazier, at dusk when the sun had set, they would inevitably fight over the warmest spot.
Warming his nearly frozen hands over the brazier, a middle-aged sergeant paid no attention to his cracked, chapped palms. Instead, he sighed contentedly before asking in a low voice, “Do you think this time the Prince of Jin will really be unlucky?”
“Of course. It was Lord Luo who said it—the entire estate of the Prince of Jin was searched thoroughly, but the key people weren’t caught. Still, they managed to gather a pile of documents and evidence. Just wait—if this is true, the Prince of Jin will become the second ‘King of Han’!”
“The King of Han? At least he’s someone who’s fought in battles, with many skilled soldiers at his command, and people willing to die for him. But what is the Prince of Jin? To put it bluntly, he’s just a second-generation noble! If the court sends an imperial envoy, he’ll probably surrender right away, crying and begging for mercy!”

The several sergeants by the brazier all nodded in agreement, with some even smiling ambiguously. While on duty in the palace, even ordinary eunuchs from the twenty-four bureaus could give them orders, let alone the high-ranking officials. Now that a prince was about to suffer misfortune, who wouldn’t enjoy watching the joke? After some laughter, someone took off their frozen boots. Though others immediately protested, soon everyone had taken off their boots, warming their stiff feet by the brazier. An indescribable smell filled the room.

“Da Niu, Zhao Da Niu!”

Hearing the noise outside, a burly sergeant warming himself by the fire turned around, quickly put on his boots, and stood up to go outside. He was usually quiet and reserved, so when he left, no one seemed to mind, and they quickly took his spot by the brazier. Outside, upon seeing the person approaching, he nodded at him, gave a quick gesture, then walked away without saying a word, heading in another direction.

After passing several nearby shops, Zhao Da Niu finally arrived at an unassuming courtyard behind the Treasure Coin Bureau. Among the twenty-four bureaus of eunuchs, the lowest and most obscure were the ones responsible for heavy labor like cleaning, such as the Supervisors, and the Treasure Coin Bureau, which handled ordinary paper. As a result, high-ranking eunuchs and officials never came here, and the regular eunuchs didn’t aspire to higher positions and rarely left, making it a very quiet and deserted place.

He entered the east wing of the courtyard confidently, where about a dozen people were already there. Without saying a word, he quietly chose a corner to sit. Soon, three or four more people arrived. The cotton curtains kept opening and closing, and the old doors creaked with each movement. Only an oil lamp illuminated the dim room, its flame flickering up and down due to the wind from the opening and closing doors, as if it might go out at any moment. After another while, the door creaked open again, and a person wrapped in a black cloak pushed aside the curtain, stepped in, closed the door behind them, and then locked it.

In silence, he counted the people before nodding in satisfaction. He made his way through the dozen or so people to the front. Though he was inside the room, he didn’t take off his wind hat. Instead, he cleared his throat gently and said, “Everyone is here. I won’t waste words. Over these past two years, we’ve endured so much hardship. It’s only now that we’ve managed to gain a foothold. Success or failure now depends on what happens next! Ever since the Holy Religion was destroyed and the Buddha Mother disappeared, we’ve been chased around like rats. Who’s to blame for this?”
His sharp, thin voice grew even more piercing: “It’s that Zhang Yue! And that dog emperor too! If it weren’t for him, still the crown prince at the time, backing them up, Zhang Yue would never have been able to wipe out all our brothers and sisters! With that dog emperor outside, there are plenty who can deal with him. The capital is full of weaklings—this is the perfect time for us to rise up! March into the palace and restore order! The Buddha Mother is gone, but we still have the Buddha’s disciples!”
“The fallen emperor is gone; the Buddha’s disciples rise anew!”
The people in the room murmured these eight words softly. As they repeated them over and over, their once dull faces gradually showed signs of fanaticism and unwavering belief. After a while, the figure with his back to the oil lamp, his face completely hidden by the wind hat, shrouded in shadow, raised a hand to silence them and said in a decisive tone, “That’s right. As long as everyone keeps repeating these eight words, they’ll be blessed by heaven and invulnerable to weapons!”
Looking at the crowd filled with unwavering faith, he waved his hand. Suddenly, a flame miraculously appeared in his hand, glowing brightly and overpowering the dim light of the oil lamp. The people around stared at the flame in awe, instinctively kneeling down and chanting strange scriptures.
It was unclear how long passed before the flame vanished abruptly. Even the oil lamp in the room seemed to be blown out by an invisible wind. Only when someone scrambled to light a torch did they realize the man in black had disappeared, leaving only a yellow notice on the wall, covered with strange symbols drawn in cinnabar.

It had long been past the usual feeding time at the third watch of the evening, but as soon as Zhang Yue returned from the military camp in the afternoon, he went to the Office of the Five Military Commanders, engaging in a fierce debate with several of them. Afterwards, he followed one of them to the Ministry of Revenue to discuss matters related to funds and grain, leading to more disputes. It was only then that the regular practice of having the imperial guards rotate every half month was restored—more than fifty years after leaving the country, people still spoke of the ancestral system, but these rules, which should have been unchangeable, had long become mere formsality. However, in the eyes of a few determined individuals, Zhang Yue’s hectic day—from the military camp to the Office of the Five Military Commanders and then to the Ministry of Revenue—seemed to have a reason, and they breathed a sigh of relief, paying no attention to the fact that Zhang Yue encountered the eunuch Jin Ying at the entrance of the Ministry of War, and the two seemed to chat casually for a while.

But once he crossed the three gates of the Ministry of War and entered his three-room dwelling, smelling the scent of lilies, the stern expression he had worn while scolding those clerks along the way, as if to vent his anger, vanished instantly, replaced by an unmistakable look of exhaustion. After all, arguing with those elders who were often twice his age, even if it was just for show, was by no means an easy experience.

So, when he saw Hu Qi stand up to pay his respects, he simply waved his hand and said, “Enough. Just tell me what you’ve found out.”

Since there were no urgent military developments in Liaodong or the north, and since there were already written reports, Hu Qi went straight to the point: “The security at the Prince of Shi’s mansion is much stricter than before, so it’s inconvenient to send more people there. I only had people keep an eye on the perimeter. It seems things have escalated—no one comes in or out during the day, not even for purchases, as the provisions in those mansions are enough for at least a dozen days. But after the night shift change, people came out of the Prince of Liang’s mansion. The Yanshan Front Guard, who was on duty, seemed not to notice and let them go.”

“The Prince of Liang?”

Zhang Yue was taken aback but not particularly surprised. Instead, he thought the choice was quite fitting. The Prince of Zheng was violent and the illegitimate second son of Zhu Gaochi, far inferior in status; the Prince of Yue, Prince Xiang, was an legitimate son, but with Zhu Zhanji leading the army outside, a single order would summon countless troops to support the throne, turning the capital into a besieged city—so he wasn’t a viable option either. Only the Prince of Liang, who had suffered the loss of his mother and brother, might act madly. Moreover, Marquis Wuding Guo Xuan was originally his uncle, so it made sense that he could manipulate Guo Cong. But how old was the Prince of Liang now?

A sixteen-year-old boy, without the help of a wise and almost supernatural monk like Dao Yan as Zhu Di did back then, nor the ability to project an aura of dominance everywhere, how could he possibly do such a thing!
“My lord, I’ve already had people keep an eye on him and found out where they’re staying.”
“We can’t delay. Think of a way to stop him—either inform the military department or alert others…”
Before he could finish speaking, another voice from outside came through: “My lord, there’s food delivered to your house!”
At this moment, how could Du Wan still let Jing Guan run around carelessly? Wasn’t she afraid something might go wrong? Zhang Yue stood up abruptly. Seeing Hu Qi get up as well, he said nothing more, only instructing him to stay behind before leaving the room. Once outside, before he could ask who the deliverer was, the servant stammered, “My lord, your family says it’s the elder lord…”
The elder lord? Was it his father?
Zhang Yue didn’t dare delay and quickly stepped outside. As soon as he stepped through the gate, he indeed saw a carriage parked against the wall, with attendants and the coachman being his own family members. Approaching the carriage, the coachman quickly set up a small stool and pulled back the curtain slightly. Zhang Yue stepped onto the carriage using the stool. Once the back curtain was lowered, he noticed that a windproof glass lamp had been lit inside.
“Father…”
“This is a letter from Wan’er for you. Keep it for now. She originally planned to come in person, but thought it would draw too much attention, so I had to deliver it on her behalf.” Zhang Zhuo handed a letter to Zhang Yue, paused for a moment, and added, “Your uncle Yuan asked me to remind you once again: You’ve dealt with matters involving imperial relatives enough during the time of King Zhao and King Han. Don’t play the villain again this time. Remember, the imperial clan is closely connected. If you keep taking action every time, the princes and relatives will inevitably become wary. If they seize the chance to retaliate later, you won’t be able to handle it.”