Chapter 118: Imperial Power

Prime Minister Gao's shadow guard took the secret letter, flashed once, and vanished without a trace.

Prime Minister Gao stood by the window, where the sunlight outside was somewhat blinding. Just then, the steward arrived to report that the Emperor had summoned him to the palace.

Prime Minister Gao's eye twitched violently. "They come quickly indeed. This imperial palace is no longer enterable; I fear it will be a case of entering but never leaving."

A trace of resolve flashed in his eyes. "Come!" Prime Minister Gao shouted in a low voice.

A guard appeared at the doorway, kneeling on one knee: "Does the Prime Minister have any orders?"

"Inform the steward to take the women and depart via the secret passage."

The guard accepted the order and left.

Prime Minister Gao glanced at Gao Yuan, who was covered in blood, and said in a heavy voice:

"Immediately assemble all guards in the residence and prepare for withdrawal."

Gao Yuan's expression changed; he wanted to say more, but Prime Minister Gao waved him off:

"Time is critical, go quickly!"

Gao Yuan gritted his teeth, turned, and hurried away.

Prime Minister Gao took a deep breath and swiftly threw all the letters and secret dispatches from the study into the fire basin. He had to fight for a sliver of a chance at survival.

Just then, a rush of hurried footsteps came from outside the door. Prime Minister Gao frowned, looked up, and saw a guard rush in panic-stricken:

"Prime Minister, disaster! Prince Yi has surrounded the residence with troops, claiming an imperial decree to arrest traitors!"

"What?" Prime Minister Gao felt darkness sweep before his eyes and nearly fainted. He gripped the desk to barely steady himself, yet his heart had already turned ice-cold. He had calculated everything, yet he had miscalculated this one move by the Third Imperial Prince.

The Third Imperial Prince was sacrificing the rook to save the king for his own self-preservation, and he himself had become the discarded piece. The Third Imperial Prince intended to push him out to bear the blame.

Prime Minister Gao murmured that name repeatedly, a complex expression flashing in his eyes. That was his own nephew, the imperial prince he had raised with his own hands, yet now... only now did he realize the Third Imperial Prince was no longer that child who depended on him.

"Yi'er, oh Yi'er, you are truly ruthless and cruel..." Prime Minister Gao did not know whether he should weep or laugh.

He rapidly calmed himself, knowing that panic now would only accelerate his destruction. He took a deep breath and said to the guard:

"Pass the order: everyone withdraw according to plan; do not engage Prince Yi's forces in direct conflict."

Before his voice had faded, he pressed the mechanism on the armchair. The wall slowly shifted open, revealing a dark, deep secret passage. Prime Minister Gao glanced at the letters in the fire basin, now reduced to ash, and felt slightly reassured. At least, beyond the weapon workshop, all other evidence had been destroyed.

"Prime Minister, flee quickly!" the guard urged.

Prime Minister Gao nodded and was about to step into the secret passage; as long as he escaped Jingcheng, there would still be a chance for reversal.

Suddenly, a clamor erupted outside the door. Immediately after, the study door was shoved open, and Prince Yi rushed in with a squad of fully armed soldiers.

"Uncle, where are you going? Father Emperor is still waiting for you in the palace." The Third Imperial Prince's voice rang out.

Prime Minister Gao froze, then slowly turned around, his gaze stern as he looked toward the doorway. The Third Imperial Prince wore military armor, held a long sword, and wore a faint, almost imperceptible smile, yet his eyes were cold as ice. The soldiers behind him swiftly flooded into the study, surrounding Prime Minister Gao and the guard completely.

"Yi'er, what is the meaning of this?" Prime Minister Gao suppressed the sorrow in his heart; his tone remained steady, as if everything before him were merely an ordinary family conversation.

"Meaning?" Prince Yi chuckled lightly and stepped closer. "Uncle, why pretend ignorance? Father Emperor has already discovered that you imprisoned the Empress and privately manufactured weapons; he specifically ordered me to come and arrest you. You might as well surrender peacefully to avoid hurting our harmony."

Prime Minister Gao sneered coldly: "Yi'er, do you intend to personally send me to my death?"

The Third Imperial Prince shook his head: "Uncle, you misunderstand. I am merely following orders; Father Emperor has already secured all evidence of your crimes; you cannot escape."

Prime Minister Gao stared at the Third Imperial Prince, his eyes filled with disappointment and rage: "I raised you with my own hands, paved the way for you, and this is how you repay me?"

The smile on the Third Imperial Prince's face gradually vanished, replaced by a trace of ruthlessness:

"Uncle, you are wrong. I was never your pawn. Everything you did was merely for your own ambition."

Uncle? The Third Imperial Prince sneered inwardly; in this struggle for imperial power, what did family ties amount to? Since he had chosen this path, he should have known today would come.

Hearing this, Prime Minister Gao felt a surge of sorrow in his heart. Gazing at the nephew who had once depended on him, he suddenly felt him utterly strange. He took a deep breath and said slowly:

"Yi'er, you have indeed grown up." Prime Minister Gao's voice was low and hoarse, as if squeezed out from the depths of his throat:

"But do not forget, those old foxes in the court—none of them eat people without spitting out the bones. Do you think they will sincerely assist you? Without my support, sooner or later they will devour you until not even your bones remain."

The Third Imperial Prince smiled faintly and said, "That need not concern Uncle; I have my own plans."

Prime Minister Gao knew any further words would be futile; he glanced at the guard beside him and whispered, "Act!"

"Uncle, do not waste your effort," the Third Imperial Prince said coldly. "Your people have long been under my control."

At this moment, the Prime Minister's residence was in chaos; cries of weeping and shouts of cursing filled the air without cease. The servants and guards of the residence were escorted away one by one by the Third Imperial Prince's soldiers, and the wealth within the compound was stripped bare. Prime Minister Gao stood in the center of the study, listening to the clamor outside, his heart utterly dead.

The Third Imperial Prince waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to take Prime Minister Gao into custody. Two soldiers stepped forward and seized Prime Minister Gao's arms, one on each side. Prime Minister Gao did not resist; he slowly closed his eyes, let out a long sigh, and said, "So be it, so be it... Yi'er, take care of yourself."

The Third Imperial Prince spoke no more; he waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to escort Prime Minister Gao away. He stood in the study, gazing around, yet a strange sense of emptiness welled up in his heart. He took a deep breath, turned, and departed.

Inside the Gao residence, chaos reigned; the soldiers executed the Third Imperial Prince's orders expressionlessly, while the servants of the compound, panicked and bewildered, scattered in all directions.

The Lady Gao, who had already been hanging on by a single breath, received this fright and shock and immediately breathed her last.

Old Lady Gao, who had suffered a stroke several months ago and was cured by Seeing Jun Jun Zijin, now barely able to move freely, had already been overwhelmed by terror upon hearing that the Third Imperial Prince had surrounded the residence with troops; upon hearing further that Prime Minister Gao had been personally arrested by the Third Imperial Prince's forces, her blood rushed upward, darkness swept before her eyes, and she collapsed to the ground. She was carried away by the soldiers.

Concubine Wu, escorted by two soldiers, could not resist showing off her charms; she swayed her hips, deliberately slowed her pace, and looking at the soldier escorting her with eyes as seductive as silk threads, she cooed softly:

"Little brother, where are you taking me? I am but a weak woman; I cannot endure such hardship."

As she spoke, Concubine Wu pulled the soldier's hand toward her chest: "Oh, little brother, feel it; my heart is beating so fast."

The soldiers rebuked her expressionlessly: "Behave yourself!" They glanced at her coldly and continued escorting her forward.

Concubine Wu gnashed her teeth in secret fury; Prime Minister Gao had never been able to resist this trick of hers, so what was wrong with these men today?