荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

Li Heng’s eyes erupted with a bright radiance for a moment, but he quickly shook his head, and his eyes began to dim.

“But the matter this time is extremely serious. I hear that they even found my personal jade token in Jade Consort Xiao’s bedroom. It won’t be that easy!”

Li Heng bitterly smiled. He still found the entire matter inexplicable, but all the evidence pointed to him, and any words he spoke to defend himself were wasted.

“Your Highness, don’t lose heart. If you didn’t do it, you didn’t do it. Others might not believe you, but I and the King of Foreign Lands have known you for so long that we naturally know what’s going on. And has Your Highness forgotten that when the King of Foreign Lands set off for the Battle of Talas, everyone thought that the enemy was far too strong and that victory was impossible? The danger back then was much greater than the danger we’re in right now, but didn’t the King of Foreign Lands still win? Even if the Confucian Sect, the First Prince, and King Qi are working in concert to control the court, didn’t they still recently suffer a setback from the King of Foreign Lands? The First Prince probably hates the man to his bones, but he was still compelled to make him a rank seven civil official,” Li Jingzhong argued.

If Wang Chong had been listening, he would have undoubtedly been left slack-jawed and wide-eyed.

This number one treacherous eunuch whom he had always rejected was actually one of his most ardent believers.

Fifth Prince Li Heng seemed to think of something, and the clouds of sorrow on his face greatly dispersed, and even a smile began to form on his lips.

He had been constantly observing the border incident as it developed, and he had even heard that the First Prince had been compelled to make Wang Chong a rank seven civil official and had also broken a few precious objects in the palace. Li Heng had almost broken into laughter at the time.

Truly, Wang Chong seemed to possess some inconceivable strength, like that of a bamboo shoot breaking out of the earth. The tenacity he revealed left a truly deep impression, and it seemed like nothing in the world could stop him. As a friend, he was the best kind of friend one could have.

And as an enemy, Wang Chong was definitely the worst enemy one could ever run into.

It’s true. Li Heng raised his head and quietly said to himself, King of Foreign Lands, I’m alone and without allies in the palace. You’re the only one who can help me!

......

The Imperial Clan Court had an inner court and outer court. The outer court was set outside the Imperial Palace specifically for imperial relatives, whereas the inner court was set up in a remote corner in the northwest part of the Imperial Palace and was meant specifically for members of the imperial family. In addition, this court was also responsible for crimes committed by maids, consorts, and eunuchs.

Wang Chong’s carriage didn’t need long to reach the Imperial Clan Court.

Upon getting off the carriage, Wang Chong looked up at the oppressive black eaves that stood in stark contrast to the golden resplendence of the Imperial Palace. Even before he went inside, he could already feel waves of cold sweeping over him. Just as Yang Zhao had said, the Imperial Clan Court was heavily guarded, and the fierce guards all seemed extremely vigilant. Wang Chong and Yang Zhao had only just gotten off the carriage and were already being closely watched. Even though one was the Great Tang War God of prodigious strength and the other was Consort Taizhen’s cousin, the prison guards regarded them like any other.

“The prison guards of the Imperial Clan Court are very special,” Yang Zhao remarked. “They spend most of their lives guarding this place, and they never interact with the Imperial Army or the Golden Guards. They know nothing about what’s going on inside or outside the court. Even though we might have special status, they still don’t know who we are.

“But fortunately, Her Majesty gave us the Sage Emperor’s token. When I first entered the palace, I was rather curious about the Imperial Clan Court, so I borrowed Her Majesty’s power and took the Sage Emperor’s token to look around once. Otherwise, I truly wouldn’t dare guarantee that you would be able to get inside.”

Yang Zhao gently smiled. Ignoring the fierce guards, he strode forward and guided Wang Chong toward the Imperial Clan Court.

This action immediately made Yang Zhao the focus of all the guards, but Yang Zhao did not panic. Without waiting for these men to speak up and bar his path, he took out the five-clawed dragon token and prepared to show it to the guards.

But just then, a clattering of armor could be heard, accompanied by the thumping of footsteps. Two columns of ten-some Imperial Clan Court guards suddenly marched out from the sides of the building and rushed to the gate without even glancing at Wang Chong and Yang Zhao.

“Come! Close the main gate of the Imperial Clan Court! Those above have decreed that visitors are forbidden from entering the Imperial Clan Court for the next seven days. All persons to be seized are to be done so after seven days have passed!”

The guard captain had his back to Wang Chong and Yang Zhao as he pointed at the black bronze gates of the Imperial Clan Court.

Bang!

As the pair watched on, the seven-meter-tall gates of the Imperial Clan Court were swiftly closed, and then two guards came up and threaded two thin chains made of Xuan Metal through the bolts to lock them. Right behind them were two more prison guards who posted two announcements on the gate that overlapped on each other. One declared ‘Prison Ground’ and the other declared ‘Intruders Will Be Executed’, and a large red seal was stamped upon them. Anyone who broke in would have to break these two posters, so they would naturally see what had been written on them.

“What-what’s going on here?!”

Yang Zhao’s face was pale and his jaw open in disbelief. For the Imperial Clan Court to be closed right at the moment they had come was far too much of a coincidence.

Wang Chong stood behind him, his brow slightly creased.

Yang Zhao, his face dour, immediately stepped forward and harshly shouted, “What’s all this? What are you doing?!”

To his surprise, the guard captain turned his head and shot back with a rebuking shout, “Who are you? Are the matters of the Imperial Clan Court something you can interfere in?!”

“Bastard! What did you say?!”

Yang Zhao raised an eyebrow in fury. He had just been boasting in front of Wang Chong, but then the Imperial Clan Court had been closed right in front of his eyes, visitors banned for seven days. In other words, he had humiliated himself!

Yang Zhao immediately took out the dragon token.

The dazzling token immediately drew everyone’s attention, and the prison guards grimaced upon seeing the golden dragon upon it.

“I order you to open the gate and let me and the King of Foreign Lands go inside!” Yang Zhao sternly said.

“Hmph, even if you have the Sage Emperor’s token, it’s still no good. If no one is allowed inside, that means no one! For seven days, no one is allowed to enter the Imperial Clan Court!”

Unexpectedly, the guard captain sneered, his stance unflinching in the face of the five-clawed dragon token.

“Such audacity!”

Yang Zhao was further infuriated, his face twisting into a nasty scowl.

Yang Zhao was backed by Consort Taizhen, and no one in the palace dared to offend him. However, Yang Zhao was someone who had crawled up from the bottom, and he always chose to use his cunning and social skills to handle his affairs, rarely using his status.

In the palace, there was very little that Yang Zhao couldn’t do, but this time, he had never imagined that even though he had already taken out the Sage Emperor’s token, he would still be rebuffed from the Imperial Clan Court by its guards.

He had just been boasting to Wang Chong that he could get him in.

“Bastard thing, don’t think I can’t take your head!” Yang Zhao angrily roared.

“Forget it. Let’s go!”

Just when Yang Zhao was about to explode from rage, a palm reached out and pressed on his shoulder.

“Wang Chong?”

Yang Zhao had just been about to break into curses, but when he saw that it was Wang Chong who had stopped him, he froze.

“Since entry into the Imperial Clan Court is forbidden for the next seven days, we can’t go in,” Wang Chong indifferently said, much calmer than Yang Zhao had imagined.

“But if we can’t see the Fifth Prince, we’re missing key information. Doesn’t that leave you with no clues to start investigating?” Yang Zhao said.

“Heh, no need. I’ve already obtained the information I needed.”

Wang Chong let out a surprising chuckle. As he looked at the two posters on the gate, his eyes gleamed.

The red seal placed on the ends of those two posters was extremely striking, and Wang Chong had recognized it at a glance.

The Sage Emperor’s jade seal!

‘Accepting the Mandate of Heaven, Let the People Live Long and the Country Forever Prosper1.’ These were words that even the children of common folk knew, and they were the symbol of the Sage Emperor, the most powerful object in the empire.

Not even Yang Zhao’s five-clawed dragon token could compare.

If the two posters on the Imperial Clan Court’s gate had this seal, it was no wonder the guard captain showed no signs of backing down.

The First Prince!

This thought had immediately occurred to Wang Chong. Although he couldn’t get into the Imperial Clan Court to see the Fifth Prince, the sight of the Sage Emperor’s jade seal on those two posters told him everything.

While he had already been suspicious after hearing about what had happened from Yang Zhao, at this moment, he was absolutely sure.

This disruption of the harem, the alleged affair between the Fifth Prince and Jade Consort Xiao, and Jade Consort Xiao’s death... all of this had only one person behind it all.

The First Prince!

With the Sage Emperor retired, only the First Prince could use the Imperial Seal to seal the Imperial Clan Court.

“Let’s go! Take me to look around Jade Consort Xiao’s palace!” Wang Chong sternly said.

Since he couldn’t see Li Heng, he could only start with the deceased Jade Consort Xiao. As the evidence could only be found in Jade Consort Xiao’s residence, he would have to look there.

Whoosh! Before Yang Zhao could react, Wang Chong turned around and headed toward the carriage.

Behind him, Yang Zhao watched in a daze as Wang Chong boarded the carriage, then hastily followed.

“Wait for me!”

With the rolling of carriage wheels, the two departed.

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1. This saying is only eight words in Chinese, 受命于天既寿永昌. When Qin Shihuang ended the Warring States Period and founded the Qin Dynasty, he ordered Li Si to carve these words on a piece of jade that would become the Imperial Seal of China, also known as the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. I notice on Wikipedia that it says that these words are supposed to mean that the emperor should live a long life, but the explanations I have read in Chinese interpret them to mean that the emperor should make it so that the people should have long lives and the country is forever prosperous.↩