Chapter 41: Silence (III)

“Your Highness, I deserve death!”
Li Kuo knelt on the ground, bowing his head in apology.
Suddenly, many armored soldiers rushed into the room, startling Li Heng, who was on the carved bed. Upon realizing it was Li Kuo, the new commander of the Shule troops, Li Heng was both shocked and enraged. Quickly putting on a robe, he pointed at Li Kuo and demanded, “General Li, what’s going on? Why did you bring so many soldiers into the mansion in the middle of the night?”
Li Kuo’s heart sank. After a moment’s thought, he replied, “Your Highness, I was chasing a group of thieves here. I saw them flee into the mansion, so I…”
“Li Kuo! I’ll ask you once more—why did you enter the mansion at night? Who gave you orders?”
Li Heng didn’t believe his excuse at all and snapped angrily.
“Your Highness, please stand up for me!”
The woman on the bed, around thirty years old, covered her chest with a thin sheet and cried uncontrollably.
“Enough! Stop bothering me!”
Furious, Li Heng glared at her. Turning back, he said coldly, “Li Kuo, I’m still asking you questions.”
Sighing inwardly, Li Kuo knew he couldn’t deceive them any longer and decided to tell the truth.
“What? You think this is Gao Xiuyan’s private residence?”
Shocked, Li Heng asked urgently, “Weren’t there guards patrolling this mansion? Why didn’t they stop you?”
“Your Highness, it’s bad! It’s really bad!”
The steward rushed in in panic, shouting, “A group of rogue soldiers have broken in!”
Turning around, he realized the person he was talking about was right in front of him and said quickly, “It’s them! They broke in recklessly, Your Highness.”
Only then did Li Kuo notice that the steward had a pale face and a high-pitched voice—truly a palace eunuch!
Realizing things might get worse, Li Kuo ignored formalities and bowed to Li Heng, asking, “May I ask, Your Highness, who is this lady?”
“Dare you!”
The steward pointed at Li Kuo’s nose and said, “You blind little soldier! How dare you speak rudely to Lady Wei? Apologize to her now!”

“Princess Wei!” Li Kuo’s mind flashed—this person must undoubtedly be the former crown princess, Wei. Having grown up in Chang’an since childhood, how could Li Kuo not know of Wei’s reputation? Ever since she was appointed crown princess, she and the crown prince had led a loving life together. However, the case of Wei Jian in the fifth year of Tianbao shattered this harmonious relationship—Wei Jian was convicted and died, and the crown prince thus fell under the emperor’s suspicion. Li Kuo only knew that after that, the crown prince issued a divorce decree and parted ways with Wei, after which there was no news of her again.

Why was Wei here in this private residence now? And why was the crown prince meeting her here?

“May I ask, Your Highness, is this house one of Your Highness’s private estates?” Li Kuo asked urgently, a terrifying thought suddenly crossing his mind.

Li Heng calmed his anger slightly and snarled, “Yes.”

“With all due respect, is this house used to imprison Princess Wei?”

“Dare you! Li Kuo, this is my family matter. How dare you ask!” Li Heng roared, trembling with fury.

“Your Highness, it’s not that I lack respect—it’s that I fear this might be a cunning scheme by some villain. I hope Your Highness will tell me the truth so I can analyze the situation,” Li Kuo replied calmly, bowing slightly.

Li Heng shook his head, inwardly sighing bitterly. This house indeed was where he had imprisoned Kun’er. After he was forced to divorce her, she had been locked up here ever since. But how could he reveal such palace secrets?

“Your Highness, just answer yes or no!”

“You!” Li Heng was stunned by the young man’s persistence and was too angry to speak for a moment. After a long while, he nodded and sighed, “Yes.”

“That settles it.” Li Kuo exhaled deeply. “If I’m not mistaken, this must be a trap set by Gao Xiuyan.”

“What? A trap set by Gao Xiuyan?” Li Heng was increasingly confused. At first, he thought Li Kuo had stumbled upon this estate by chance, but it seemed there was more to it.

“That’s right. I was originally investigating Gao Xiuyan’s affair with Tubo and traced him here. I thought I’d finally understand what was going on, but who would have thought…” Li Kuo explained the whole situation.

“Come with me outside immediately!” Li Heng sensed something was wrong. He got up from the bed, quickly put on a robe, and hurriedly stepped out of the inner room.

“Shiver.” As soon as he stepped outside, Li Heng shuddered—there wasn’t a single guard in the entire estate.

“Where are the guards? Where are they?”

Li Heng was utterly enraged—all the guards in this mansion had disappeared. If it hadn’t been Li Kuo who led the troops to storm in, but assassins, he would likely already be dead, separated from his head.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, I really don’t know either. I shouted until my voice was hoarse, but General Wu and the others still didn’t show up.”
The eunuch immediately began complaining, one sentence after another.
“Enough!”
Li Heng had no time to listen to the eunuch’s complaints. All he wanted to know now was who was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
“General, General!”
Li Sheng rushed into the mansion gate with over a dozen personal guards, shouting loudly.
“Dare you! Don’t you kneel before the Crown Prince?”
Having been ‘intimidated’ by the soldiers before, and now backed by the Crown Prince, how could he not get angry? He crossed his arms and scolded shrilly, spitting saliva right at Li Sheng’s face.
Li Sheng was momentarily stunned before kneeling down: “Your humble servant pays respects to the Crown Prince!”
But Li Heng had no mood to listen to his salute. He waved his hand and said, “Get up. Why were you so panicked just now?”
“In reply to Your Highness,” Li Sheng replied, calming himself down, “The soldiers of the Jinguwei Guard suddenly appeared from all sides and have surrounded the mansion!”
“Really?”
Li Heng bit his lip and laughed bitterly. “It seems the Prime Minister intends to kill me this time. Well, come with me—let’s see who’s staging this farce!”
“As ordered!”
With things having come to this, there was no better choice. Li Kuo sighed and followed Li Heng outside.
As soon as they stepped out, the blinding flames made it impossible to open their eyes. Nearly a thousand Jinguwei guards had arrived on horseback, surrounding the mansion completely.
The leader of them was none other than the new Jinguwei Guard General, Gao Xiuyan!
Everything became clear instantly!
Seeing that it was Gao Xiuyan, Li Heng smiled and said, “I wonder why General Gao came to my residence in the dead of night?”
Gao Xiuyan dismounted and bowed, saying, “Crown Prince, I heard noises of fighting in Chongye Fang, so I sent people to investigate. To my surprise, I found over a hundred armored soldiers outside your mansion!”
Having prepared in advance, Gao Xiuyan answered smoothly. These hundred armored soldiers were irrefutable evidence—no matter how Li Heng tried to deny it, it would be useless.
“Oh? Then I’m puzzled. If these people are all General Li’s subordinates, how could they be fighting among themselves and making such noises?”
Gao Xiuyan laughed heartily and said, “Crown Prince, you’re too busy enjoying yourself in your luxurious tent to know what’s going on outside. How about I search around to see if I can find any clues?”
“You!”

Li Heng never expected Gao Xiuyan to be so audacious, leaving him momentarily speechless. Clenching his fists tightly, his eyes blazed with fury. If looks could kill, Gao Xiuyan would have died many times by now. After a long while, Li Heng closed his eyes, shook his head, and finally relented. “Enough, let it be as you wish!”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
Gao Xiuyan smiled and ordered, “Search him!”
Note 1: The Wei Jian case in the fifth year of Tianbao truly frightened Li Heng. The direct consequence of this case was that Li Heng divorced his crown princess, the Wei family.