Chapter 18: The Embroidered Uniform Guard Raid

The Northern Bastille of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

A young eunuch holding an imperial decree stood in the main hall of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and shouted loudly: "Guard Commander Luo Yangxing of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, receive the decree of the Eastern Palace!"

Luo Yangxing hastily led a group of Embroidered Uniform Guard officials out to kneel and hear the decree.

"By decree of His Highness the Crown Prince, Guard Commander Luo Yangxing of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is ordered to arrest and confiscate the households of Liu Rong, seal-holding eunuch of the Armory Bureau, and Ma Xianxiang, superintendent eunuch of the Armory Depot."

"This humble officer accepts His Highness's decree!"

Having suddenly received a decree from the Eastern Palace, Luo Yangxing was puzzled at heart, yet dared not be negligent. He asked in a low voice: "May I ask, Eunuch, does Your Majesty have any decree as well?"

After all, the Armory Bureau was one of the Twenty-Four Offices; moving against them was no small matter.

The eunuch delivering the decree was none other than Wu Zhong. He looked at Luo Yangxing and smiled: "What, Lord Luo, can't His Highness the Crown Prince command you anymore?"

"I wouldn't dare." Luo Yangxing glanced at Wu Zhong, feeling somewhat displeased, and silently cursed the eunuch bastard.

But on second thought, if the Eastern Palace lacked His Majesty's authorization, how would it dare to move against the Armory Bureau so lightly? With that thought, he felt somewhat reassured.

"Lord Li, come with me for a trip to the Armory Bureau!" Luo Yangxing looked at Li Tingbiao. He was still somewhat uneasy and intended to have Li Tingbiao accompany him.

Normally, he wouldn't want to drag Li Tingbiao along on such a lucrative confiscation job, but since Li Tingbiao was the Crown Prince's man, he had no choice but to bring him along to share the credit.

Li Tingbiao did not decline either. This was His Highness the Crown Prince's decree—surely His Highness was about to do something big, so he naturally needed to keep an eye on things.

Luo Yangxing quickly summoned several trusted Chiliarchs of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the office for deliberation.

Before long, several hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard officers clad in blue-green brocade robes with embroidered spring sabers at their waists filed out of the Northern Bastille yamen.

With so many Embroidered Uniform Guard officers coming out, anyone could tell at a glance that some high official was about to be in trouble.

"Who knows which official offended the Son of Heaven—they're in for it now!"

"Indeed, the Embroidered Uniform Guard hasn't deployed like this in years."

Near the Bastille yamen, quite a few passersby gathered together, discussing animatedly. When they saw Luo Yangxing leading a troop of Embroidered Uniform Guard officers toward them, they hastily scattered like birds and beasts.

Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard had not been as powerful in recent years as before, after all, they still carried over two hundred years of fearsome reputation, which struck terror into many hearts—they feared that private discussions might land them in the Imperial Prison to be tortured.

Of course, they were overthinking it. The Imperial Prison was not a place anyone could enter just by wanting to; those without status could only be thrown into the dungeons of the Five Wards Troops and Horses Office to receive beatings.

Before long, Luo Yangxing led several hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard officers to surround the Armory Bureau and sent men inside to make arrests.

But after waiting for quite a while, the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers who had gone in came out and told Luo Yangxing that Liu Rong, the seal-holding eunuch of the Armory Bureau, and Ma Xianxiang, the superintendent eunuch, were not inside—they should be at their homes.

Luo Yangxing spat and angrily cursed: "Damn it, a wasted trip. Split into two teams—go to Liu Rong's and Ma Xianxiang's homes respectively and bind them both!"

Li Tingbiao silently cursed him for a fool but just stood to the side without saying a word.

Luo Yangxing considered for a moment before finally deciding to have Li Tingbiao lead one team to Ma Xianxiang's home while he himself led another team to confiscate Liu Rong's household—handling matters separately.

Li Tingbiao was unaware of his little scheme—wasn't it just that he worried Li Tingbiao would watch him during the confiscation and affect his chances of getting rich?

Silently despising him, Li Tingbiao said nothing more and led his men straight to Ma Xianxiang's residence.

The Ma residence occupied an extremely vast area—it was the mansion of Ma Xianxiang, superintendent eunuch of the Armory Bureau. In the Ming dynasty, powerful eunuchs were no different from officials; they had their own mansions outside the palace, were respectfully addressed as "Lord," and even took wives, living quite respectably.

Although eunuchs of the Ming dynasty could not be called men, they still counted as half-men. Because before the Ming and including the Ming, all eunuchs only had their testicles removed—the cannon was not dismantled. Only in the Qing dynasty were eunuchs cut clean with a single stroke.

For instance, during the Jingtai era, a eunuch surnamed Wei would summon prostitutes to accompany drinking at his banquets, and even used his power to violate a military officer's wife and forcibly take the officer's daughter as a concubine.

Taking wives, keeping concubines, and forming "duishi" partnerships—those were privileges of high-ranking, powerful eunuchs. What about those low-status menial eunuchs? What did they do? Naturally, they went outside the palace to hire prostitutes and visit brothels.

Li Tingbiao ordered his men to surround the Ma residence and sent someone forward to pound on the gate.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is conducting official business—open up quickly, or we'll blast the door with cannons!"

An Embroidered Uniform Guard Chiliarch, clenching a fist the size of a clay pot, hammered violently on the Ma residence's gate while bellowing loudly.

Many people inside the Ma residence heard the knocking, and though puzzled, they dared not open the door.

Ma Xianxiang was in the courtyard savoring fine tea and amusing his birds when he saw the steward rush over in a panic to report. His brows immediately knitted tightly: "What's going on? The Embroidered Uniform Guard has come to arrest me? Are your ears faulty—did you mishear?"

"My lord, it's true! I saw the flying-fish robes with my own eyes through the crack in the door!"

"Open the gate and let them in." Ma Xianxiang said calmly. Though he didn't know what was happening, if the Embroidered Uniform Guard truly had come to arrest him, keeping the gates tightly shut would be useless anyway.

Seeing the Ma residence's gate open, a crowd of Embroidered Uniform Guard officers charged into the mansion, shoving aside the steward and several household retainers, and headed straight for the main hall.

Ma Xianxiang was already seated in the main hall. He looked at Li Tingbiao as he walked in and asked: "Why have you come to arrest me?"

Li Tingbiao glanced at him and said coolly: "When the Embroidered Uniform Guard conducts business, we never ask the reason why. We only ask when, where, and who."

If Zhu Cilang were here, he would definitely roll his eyes—wasn't this just like a courier delivering packages?

Ma Xianxiang was stunned and blurted out: "Is this His Majesty's decree?"

Li Tingbiao said: "It is a decree issued by the Eastern Palace."

"Hahahaha..."

Ma Xianxiang let out a string of sinister, mocking laughter. Hands tucked into his sleeves, eyes narrowed to slits, he smiled without sincerity: "A decree from the Eastern Palace? The Armory Bureau is, after all, one of the Eight Bureaus among the Twenty-Four Offices. Without an arrest warrant, on what grounds does His Highness the Crown Prince arrest me!"

An arrest warrant represented the imperial will—a document for apprehending persons issued by the Office of Scrutiny for Justice. Since the Zhengtong era, both the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard had required an arrest warrant before taking action.

Li Tingbiao's brows furrowed slightly, and he said coldly: "Enough nonsense. Take him away—confiscate the household!"

A eunuch jumped out from the side, pointing at Li Tingbiao and shouting angrily: "How dare you! Without an arrest warrant, you dare to seize Eunuch Ma..."

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a chill at his throat and could no longer utter a word. Then he crashed to the ground, convulsed a few times, and kicked the bucket.

The moment he jumped out to speak, Li Tingbiao had instantly drawn his saber and slashed across his throat, killing him on the spot.

Ma Xianxiang was horrified and stumbled back several steps, trembling with fear, stammering: "You... you... how dare you?"

"What era is this—still needing an arrest warrant?" Li Tingbiao smiled as he wiped the bloodstains from the tip of his blade, then suddenly his smile turned cold as he barked: "Bind him and drag him away!"

Seven or eight fierce Embroidered Uniform Guard officers rushed in and pinned Ma Xianxiang to the ground, whereupon others brought ropes to bind him and dragged him away by force.

It took a full four hours of searching before Li Tingbiao finished registering and cataloging all the possessions in Ma Xianxiang's residence.

When he saw the results, he was greatly startled—from this dead eunuch's residence they had confiscated five hundred thousand taels of silver in cash, not even counting the antiques, calligraphy, and paintings.