Chapter 979: Princes of the Blood, Swine in a Pen

The "relatives" who had come with Qiao Shan stood at the front of the formation. Zhao's Camp had already split into many squads, each following behind one of these "relatives." Others were still shutting the gates of the royal city. The moment the crossbars dropped into place, Zhao Jin waved his hand. Under their guides, every squad advanced toward its objective. The dense sound of hoofbeats and marching footsteps began to rise within the royal city. Before long, startled cries rang out as well.

Zhao Jin's own column had two guides: Qiao Shan and his "relative." Zhao Jin's squad numbered a hundred men in total. Twenty-some rode horses; the rest advanced on foot. Around Zhao Jin, several household retainers with bows drawn and arrows nocked watched their surroundings with taut, nervous expressions.

The city where a prince of the blood resided was naturally nothing like the places where commoners lived. Outside, night had fallen, and most streets lay in utter darkness. Yet here within the royal city, lanterns burned at regular intervals, casting a considerable brightness. In ordinary times, this was the grandeur of the royal house, a display of fathomless wealth. At this moment, however, it offered Zhao's Camp no small convenience.

Once they entered the area of the outer residences and outer courtyards, they began to encounter people — some strolling idly, some heading back. Every squad of Zhao's Camp advanced openly through the streets, and collisions were inevitable. The overwhelming majority of the royal household's people would call out in astonishment and alarm...

"You lot..." Ahead of Zhao Jin's squad, two men out for a night stroll stood frozen at the sight of so many sturdy, weapon-bearing men marching toward them. They had no idea how to react. But they were given no time to react much at all. They had barely spoken two words before flying arrows cut them down.

Zhao Jin and the men around him had already masked their faces. They pressed forward in silence. By now, the formerly quiet royal city of the Prince of Lu had erupted into turmoil and clamor. Anyone with even slightly sharp hearing could make out the startled screams and agonized shrieks coming from every direction. Ahead of Zhao Jin's squad, corpses kept collapsing to the ground — either shot dead by arrows or run down directly by the mounted household retainers.

"The Commander truly has nerve, truly has daring." Amid the general silence, someone was praising Zhao Jin. His tone made it clear that, at this moment, he was utterly at ease.

"You didn't guess we'd do this?" The title "Commander" caught him off guard for a second. Zhao Jin, not particularly tense himself, shot the question back. At a moment like this, the only person who could speak so casually was Ma Chonghao, right there at his side.

"I had a vague guess, but I still never imagined the Commander would actually dare do this. Only once we were inside the city did this subordinate dare believe it."

Zhao Jin did not answer. He walked on in silence for a few steps, then spoke: "I have to thank the Incense-Smelling Sect for this great chaos."

"Was this not something the Commander arranged beforehand?" Ma Chonghao said with a faint, ambiguous smile. Having been brought along, Ma Chonghao knew he had finally been truly accepted. He had always been polite and deferential before, but at this moment he let himself relax.

"How could I possibly have arranged this? I'm no immortal. I merely lent a hand at certain moments."

A shrill, agonized scream rang out ahead. An arrow had been loosed, but the target had twisted away from his vitals, and the shaft only nailed him in the shoulder. He stood there shouting a warning at the top of his lungs. A mounted household retainer immediately charged over and finished him with a single saber stroke. The retainer who had loosed the arrow looked somewhat ashamed, but Zhao Jin offered no rebuke — for by now, screams were rising one after another in an unbroken chorus.

"Pick up the pace!" Zhao Jin urged. Everyone ceased their idle chatter and advanced swiftly toward the objective.

The royal city was a city within a city, tightly guarded and fortified. Yet precisely because of the royal city's sheltering protection, the various residences and courtyards inside were lax and commonplace. Most walls served only to divide spaces, not to obstruct. Even the slightly taller walls were easy to scale.

At the main gate of the royal mansion, there were still a dozen or so guards and officers. But when Zhao Jin led his squad charging over, he saw them scattering in flight. By now, anyone who wasn't a fool knew that something catastrophic had befallen the mansion of the Prince of Lu. Yet these men had no intention of fighting to the death. Those who took posts here all sought an easy, pleasant life. Who could have imagined they would face slaughter? The moment life and death crossed their minds, every man's legs went weak — to say nothing of fighting to the death in defense.

Only, at this moment, their chances of escaping with their lives were slim. By now, the squads of Zhao's Camp were pressing inward from every direction around the perimeter, like a sack being drawn tighter and tighter. Once the gates of the royal city were shut, no one would be able to flee this sack.

The guards before the royal mansion had scattered. The main gate and side gates were all tightly shut according to night-watch regulations. But this posed no difficulty for Zhao Jin's men. Someone simply hurled a grappling claw onto the top of the wall, then hauled himself up by the rope and climbed over. Startled cries and agonized shrieks sounded from within. Then the main gate was opened from the inside, and Zhao Jin led his men swarming through.

The real resistance came, rather, in the inner residence of the royal mansion. Among the night-watch guards there, some, knowing they were outmatched, fled. Yet others wished to show fealty and die in service. But their martial skills were inferior, they had no real combat experience, and their equipment was even worse. All they could do was show fealty and die.

Qiao Shan, who was guiding the squad, had also masked his face. This saved a great deal of trouble, sparing him the curses people would hurl as they died. Though Zhao Jin did not break into a run, his pace grew faster and faster. Perhaps at this moment, he too felt some tension and impatience.

"Old Qiao, the Prince of Lu and his sons inside the mansion — they should be hiding in secret passages or cellars by now, right? Can you find those places?"

"Commander, some of them can hide away, but others don't even know to hide. Generation after generation, they've been penned and raised inside this city. They've long been raised stupid," Qiao Shan said in a rasping voice.

Ever since the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, seized the throne in the Jingnan Campaign, princes of the blood had been forbidden to leave their fief cities. They were, in effect, penned inside — confined for a lifetime to a single city, generation after generation. And for someone like the Prince of Lu, whose line had been enfeoffed in the prefectural seat of Yanzhou ever since the dynasty's founding, they had long since lost any courage or worldly knowledge. Even normal human reactions were hardly worth mentioning.

Perhaps fearing that his own lament might arouse suspicion, Company Commander Qiao Shan gritted his teeth and added, "Commander, please set your mind at ease. Even if they hide, this lowly one has ways to find them."

By now, more than one squad of Zhao's Camp had entered the inner residence of the royal mansion. Aside from the guards who fought to the death or fled, all who remained were palace maids and eunuchs. A few brawny eunuchs grabbed weapons and clubs and fought desperately, but their only outcome was to lose their lives in desperation. They inflicted no real casualties on Zhao's Camp. As for the palace maids, they were all hiding, all fleeing. In such circumstances, everyone felt that calamity had descended. These masked bandits, fierce and terrifying — bandits dressed as government troops — had stormed the royal mansion. Surely they would burn, kill, rape, and plunder, running amok without restraint. In such circumstances, women were certain to suffer the worst.

Yet, to the palace maids' utter surprise, this gang of fierce, terrifying bandits did not let them flee. They rounded them up and held them under guard. But they did nothing else — just ordinary watch-keeping. They did not even take advantage with their hands.

No one could have imagined that anyone would storm the royal city. No one could have imagined that, with the city itself still untaken, anyone would strike against a prince of the blood — a noble second only to the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming. Caught so utterly off guard, getting answers was simple. No torture or beatings were needed. With a blade at the throat, they spilled everything.

The current Prince of Lu had not been enthroned long. His three children were all still minors and lived together with their parents. Grabbing a palace maid from outside and questioning her, they learned that the Prince of Lu's sons had gone to a side chamber, and the Prince himself was in the inner chamber. None of them had left the royal palace. They split their forces: some went to seize the Prince of Lu's children, while Zhao Jin, following the palace maid guiding the way, headed straight into the royal palace.

The royal palace was built on no small scale, but in the end, it was still an indoor space. The attending palace maids and eunuchs fled in panic, but there was nowhere for them to go. Once caught, they were taken directly outside. By the time they entered the Prince of Lu's bedchamber, it was much as Zhao Jin had expected: the Prince of Lu was nowhere to be seen. According to the senior palace maids, the Prince's two favorite concubines had also been here and had likewise vanished without a trace.

Household retainers familiar with the layout of noble residences were already preparing to step forward and search. No matter how secret a hidden chamber or tunnel, it always left traces. To a layman, nothing was visible, but someone who knew the trade could find it easily.

Ever since arriving at the door of this bedchamber, Qiao Shan's emotions had been highly unstable. He looked this way, then that. The household retainer watching him was already poised to kill at any moment. Just then, Qiao Shan lowered his voice and said, "Commander, let this lowly man give it a try."

His voice was very low, and he even leaned slightly toward Zhao Jin. It was fortunate the movement was small; otherwise, he would have taken a blade.

Zhao Jin shot him a glance, merely nodded, and waved a hand to signal him forward. Company Commander Qiao Shan drew a deep breath, stepped forward, and called out loudly, "Your Highness, this lowly one is Qiao Shan, Qiao Shan of the Guard Cadets. The heretical cult traitors lurking in the royal mansion have risen in revolt. This lowly one has led men and held them back. I have come especially to escort Your Highness to a place of safety."

"Your Highness, this place is no longer safe. Should the rebels break in, Your Highness's person is worth a thousand in gold..." Qiao Shan continued to shout.

"If there's some hidden wall or secret passage, can't they look out from inside?" Zhao Jin asked in a low voice from outside.

On this point, Ma Chonghao was knowledgeable. He lowered his voice and explained, "If you can look out, you can be seen from inside, and that makes it easy to be found. The ones meant for saving your life and escaping don't have that design. Commander, you needn't worry. These princes and such — they're terribly stupid."

No sooner had he delivered this assessment than a reaction came from within the bedchamber. From beneath the exquisitely carved great bed came a "click." Some kind of cover flipped open. Then a panicked voice called out, "Is that Qiao Shan? What's happening outside?"

Hearing this voice, Qiao Shan did not react. He merely sighed. The household retainers of Zhao's Camp charged straight forward. Amid a few screams and pained yelps, one man, four women, and two eunuchs were dragged out. Besides the Prince of Lu and his concubines, there were also attending palace maids and eunuchs.

"Wh-what is the meaning of this? Qiao Shan, didn't you say everything was fine?" The Prince of Lu, hauled over, was a mask of terror, yet the question he asked was utterly childish.

When he caught sight of Zhao Jin and the others — masked, yet clad in the armor and uniforms of government troops — the Prince of Lu's face immediately filled with rage. Blustering to hide his fear, he shouted, "You are officers and soldiers of the imperial court! How dare you show such disrespect to this Prince..."

Halfway through his words, he was thrown bodily to the ground. Only then did he realize something was terribly wrong. As for the several women and eunuchs, they had long since been scared out of their wits and were trembling uncontrollably.

The Prince of Lu was a pale, thin, middle-aged man. Struggling on the ground, he simply stared fixedly at Qiao Shan, asking in a rapid, desperate stream, "Qiao Shan, Qiao Shan, what in the world is going on?"

Second guaranteed update of the day, posted on a timer. Just when I'm gritting my teeth and pushing out updates to trade for monthly tickets to motivate myself, a whole flood of things comes crashing down. I have to head out again this afternoon. I never expected so many monthly tickets. I see now that I'm only nine tickets short of needing another bonus chapter. Everyone, rest assured: as soon as we hit a hundred, there'll be a bonus chapter. As soon as there's another Alliance Master, there'll be a bonus chapter. And it'll be posted the same day — never delayed.

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