Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 171 The Endless Night: How is Old Nine?

At this moment, Chengtian Gate.

Prince Jin followed slightly behind Prince Heng, and the two, accompanied by several guards, were walking towards the city gate.

The sound of horses' hooves suddenly rang out. Prince Heng turned around in surprise, and then his eyes flashed with fear. He saw Prince Yu, wearing golden armor, standing a hundred meters away. He shouted loudly, and his spear, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, rushed straight toward the city gate.

Prince Heng's guards almost instinctively rushed forward to stop them, and the two sides instantly engaged in a chaotic battle.

The shouts of battle were deafening; swords clashed, sparks flew, and blood glittered in the darkness, like a dance of death.

Prince Heng was completely unprepared for Prince Yu's actions, who was supposed to be waiting for an audience at his palace. After his initial shock, he hurriedly retreated to the city gate, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly in his panic.

Wang Cong, the military officer in charge of guarding Chengtian Gate, was a subordinate of Chen Xuan. Just as he was about to cooperate with Prince Yu to open the city gate from the inside, an arrow, with the force of wind and thunder, struck Wang Cong right between the eyebrows.

Song Chengrui, the newly appointed captain of the Tianwu Army, put down his bow and arrow and looked at Prince Jin with a swaying gaze.

......

Inside the Taiji Palace, the lights were on full display. The elderly emperor sat on his throne, his face dark and inscrutable.

"Your Majesty, Minister Liu and Lord Xie, along with five others, have been imprisoned. Vice Minister Zhuang and Vice Minister Xu of the Court of Judicial Review are currently interrogating them separately." After kneeling and reporting this, the guard disappeared into the shadows.

The eunuch Zhang Quan's fingers trembled involuntarily as he held the whisk. Forcing himself to calm his emotions, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Third Prince and Commander Chen have now joined forces at Chengtian Gate. The safety of His Highnesses Heng and Jin..."

The emperor's dark and cold eyes burned with a fierce flame, as if to scorch through the night. "Third Prince... brave but reckless, Seventh Prince pretends to be clever, Zhang Quan, you have served me for decades, what do you think of Ninth Prince?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Quan knelt down with a thud, his throat so dry he could barely make a sound.

He swallowed hard, and finally said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, this old servant dares not say more. Of all the princes, this old servant only sees that the Prince of Jin... has a resemblance to Your Majesty's demeanor when you were still a prince."

The emperor looked out of the hall, seemingly not having heard Zhang Quan's reply.

......

The sky darkened completely, the vast expanse of sky as black as ink.

In Chongren Ward, two wards away from Dongshi Street, amidst a fine, hair-like drizzle, Madam Zhou, along with Mingwu and the others, remained hidden in the shadows. Madam Zhou, around forty years old, was dressed in a black, close-fitting night outfit, her eyes gleaming as she stared intently at the Prince of Jin's residence.

Mingwu listened intently to the sounds of fighting coming from afar and shifted her body uneasily.

"how?"

Madam Zhou's voice was tinged with vicissitudes, and she asked with a hint of concern.

"Master, the patriarch took Uncle Zheng to Ninghe, and the madam also dispatched some men to several shops on East Market Street. Many officials live on Fuqian Street. If a villain breaks in at night, can only the eldest young master and the steward guard it?"

“What you can think of, Madam Yun can surely think of too. Don’t worry, Old Zheng has left behind seven or eight real ‘killing gods’ who have survived the battles in the army. With them around, the Tang family is safe.”

"As for the shop, although it has been open as usual these past few days to avoid leaking the news in advance, the valuable items in the shop have long been transferred away under some pretext, so even if those scoundrels go there, they won't get anything."

"Master, has Disi Pavilion sent anyone?" Mingwu had always known about the existence of Huanyun from Disi Pavilion. Huanyun used to run an embroidery shop in Jinnan, and the people who initially protected them were Mingwu and Mingyue, their two junior sisters.

Madam Zhou wasn't sure, so she said, "If you're worried, you might as well go and take a look. That young lady from Disi Pavilion has some connection with the Duke of Qing's mansion. Since it's inconvenient for Master to leave, why don't you take the two of them over to have a look?"

Dingxiang, clutching a kitchen knife, trembled as she hid at the kitchen door. Outside, three guards were fighting with the newcomers. Outnumbered, the newcomers were no match for the attackers, and one of the guards was already wounded.

After the last guard fell, a weasel-faced fellow cursed, "We were assigned to some embroidery shop, but Chen Mazi got assigned to the silver shop because he got involved with Brother Hu. I heard that Yongbao Shop is the most famous silver shop in the capital. Chen Mazi is going to make a fortune this time."

Another skinny man, as thin as a stick, spat and said, "Let's go to the silver shop and meet up with Chen Mazi. We can't take much of the valuable fabric from this embroidery shop..."

"We haven't checked the kitchen yet. If there's an embroiderer hiding here, it'll be a boon for us brothers."

The lewd words kept coming, and Dingxiang was so frightened that she almost screamed. She forced herself not to look at the cabinet, preparing to cut her own throat with a kitchen knife as soon as the door opened, so as to avoid being defiled by the thief.

Huanyun was trapped in the cellar by Dingxiang, trembling all over, tears streaming down her face. In that instant, she thought of many things, even life and death. In her short life, her father and mother had died because of her involvement in the deaths, Zhou Bai whose whereabouts were now unknown, Huayan who was trapped in the Prince's mansion and could not be free, and Dingxiang who was willing to sacrifice herself to save her...

"Clang—"

The door was kicked open, and Dingxiang finally couldn't help but scream. Just as she was about to swing the knife, she heard a loud thud, and her hand holding the cleaver suddenly fell to the ground. She turned around and cried out, "Miss... why are you doing something so foolish!"

"Hey, there are two beautiful ladies hiding here, quick, skinny guy..."

Before he could finish speaking, Mingwu, who had rushed over, stabbed him to death with her sword.

......

The Prince of Jin's residence, Ruyi Hall.

Granny Gui rushed into the bedchamber. "Miss, this old servant overheard Banu giving a coded message outside Guangzhi Gate. It seems the capital is in chaos now. Should we take advantage of the confusion...?"

Jiang Jie pondered for a moment and asked, "How should Chief Secretary Song deploy troops in the front hall?"

"Chen Ling just brought news from Chengyun Hall. Chief Secretary Song has ordered that all eight offices and four departments in the front hall must obey the command of the guards in the prefecture. Ten people should patrol the area where the front and rear halls meet, and no one should be negligent for even a moment."

"Guangzhi Gate is guarded by our people; we can retrieve anything Banu sends at any time."

Jiang Jie rose from the armchair, allowing Zhi Xue and the others to undress her. After a moment, she said coldly:

"In that case, proceed according to plan. Whether Tang Qingwan lives or dies tonight depends on her fate."

Granny Gui's expression hardened, a hint of ruthlessness flashing across her face. Consort Zhen was merely a lowly merchant's daughter, yet she dared to enter the palace on the same day as the Princess, vying for the Prince's favor. Not only that, she had even chosen an incomparably beautiful maid as a concubine. The Tang family's ambition was undeniable; they couldn't be allowed to remain and bewitch the Prince...

Granny Gui bowed her head in agreement, slowly withdrew from the bedchamber, exited the Ruyi Palace, and quietly headed towards the vicinity of Guangzhi Gate.

Outside the mansion, Banu was waiting with two people under the wall. One of them was carrying a bulging cloth bag, and there seemed to be something moving inside. This eerie scene was quite terrifying in the quiet rainy night.

From a distance of a hundred meters, Madam Zhou looked solemnly at the burly Banu.