The cavalry closed in, and Zhou Fu urged his horse forward to meet them.
“Open the city gates,” Cheng Jiao-niang said directly.
From behind, Duke Jin’an caught up. Seeing Zhou Fu’s partly hidden face under the hood, his expression darkened faintly.
So she had also left people and arrangements here in the capital.
“Open the city gates,” he also commanded.
Master Gu immediately stepped forward, just as Zhou Fu raised his head and shouted a name toward the top of the city wall.
Though a step behind, Master Gu also called out a name.
Up on the wall, the two men whose names were called glanced at each other in surprise, exchanging a look that said, So we’re on the same side. Without delay, they hurried down together.
“Undersecretary Fu.”
Just as the two were directing the soldiers to open the gates, someone called from behind.
“Who gave you permission to open the city gates?”
The two men froze, then turned to see Qin Hu, who had passed by earlier, now returning. Behind him came the sound of hoofbeats – a patrol of armored soldiers was rushing toward them.
“Young Master Qin,” Gatekeeper Undersecretary Fu saluted. “Duke Jin’an has returned to the capital.”
Qin Hu slowly approached, a faint smile visible on his face in the torchlight by the gate.
“Duke Jin’an has returned? Where is the Empress Dowager’s decree? Where is the clearance from the Imperial Archives?” he asked slowly.
“Young Master Qin,” another man stepped forward. “Her Majesty issued a decree several days ago.”
Qin Hu laughed heartily.
“Several days ago, Her Majesty issued a decree, which Duke Jin’an defied by not complying. Now he returns in defiance once more,” he said. “What exactly are his intentions?”
As soon as his words fell, he pointed a finger.
“Seize the two of them!”
The armored patrol behind him surged forward.
The commotion behind the gate was naturally heard outside the city walls, and the expressions of Zhou Fu and the others darkened.
“Open the gates,” Zhou Fu urged his horse forward and shouted again.
“Zhou Fu,” a voice called from within the gate. “It isn’t quite suitable to open the gates now. Why not wait a little longer?”
Zhou Fu stiffened.
“This is bad,” he said, turning to Cheng Jiao-niang. “Qin Hu has found out.”
“How did he find out?” Cheng Jiao-niang asked.
“He also just entered the city earlier, bringing a carriage with him,” Zhou Fu replied. “It was quite strange.”
Cheng Jiao-niang raised her head to look toward the city gate, her hood slipping down. In the flickering torchlight, her expression shifted between shadow and light.
“What should we do?” Master Gu asked. “Since someone is deliberately guarding the gate, it won’t be easy to enter.”
“Should we force our way in?” Zhou Fu asked.
Hearing this, Master Gu’s heart skipped a beat.
“Your Highness, what exactly has happened in the city?” he pressed. “What have you been keeping from us? What matter cannot be spoken? We trust you – you said to leave, and we followed. But you should give us some clarity. Entering without a gate pass, forcing our way through the gates in the middle of the night – and His Highness being a member of the imperial family – that would be a grave crime of rebellion.”
“I suspect something has happened in the capital,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
“You suspect?” Master Gu exclaimed. “Your Highness, are you joking?”
“My sister never jokes!” Zhou Fu snapped.
“It seems you were waiting here – could it be you also ‘suspected’ we would come?” Master Gu retorted coldly. “What a remarkably accurate suspicion.”
The atmosphere before the gate grew tense.
Ignoring them, Cheng Jiao-niang took a step back and looked up at the city wall. A figure appeared atop it, illuminated by two torches, gazing down at her from above as the night wind whipped his cloak.
To meet again so soon.
Qin Hu looked at the girl below the city gate.
Yet how he wished they were not meeting at such a time.
“Princess Consort,” he called out. “If you attempt to scale these walls, do not blame us for acting discourteously.”
As his words fell, soldiers lined the battlements, crossbows aimed squarely at them below.
“Qin Hu, how dare you!” Zhou Fu shouted, stepping in front of Cheng Jiao-niang with a fierce glare, his finger pointing accusingly at Qin Hu.
Qin Hu smiled faintly.
“If you dare, then so do I,” he replied slowly.
Silence fell both inside and outside the city gate. The night wind whipped at the torches, and the darkness grew thick with tension.
“Open the gates! Open the gates!”
Urgent hoofbeats and shouts suddenly rose from within the city.
“An emergency decree from the Empress Dowager summons you!”
An emergency decree from the Empress Dowager?
Qin Hu’s expression shifted to surprise as he turned to see two palace eunuchs rushing toward him from the city.
“What decree?” Qin Hu demanded.
The two eunuchs, taking in Qin Hu standing before the gate and the two detained gate officials beside him, looked visibly startled.
“Your Honors,” Qin Hu said, “these two attempted to open the city gate without authorization. Acting under the orders of the Prefect, I have apprehended them.” As he spoke, he shook out an official document from his sleeve.
In handling matters, one must be thorough – only others can be the ones who break the rules.
The two eunuchs paid him no mind.
“Quickly, quickly! Open the gate!” they urged.
“Might I ask what decree the two of you are delivering in the middle of the night?” Qin Hu pressed again, still not stepping aside.
The eunuchs grew furious.
“Young Master Qin, that is not for you to question!” they shouted.
The commotion inside was difficult to hear clearly from outside the walls. Cheng Jiao-niang took a few steps back, her eyes fixed on the city gate as her hand reached for the long rope coiled on her horse’s saddle.
“Absolutely not,” Zhou Fu said sharply, instantly grasping her intention. “It’s far too dangerous.”
“Lady Cheng!” Master Gu urged his horse forward and demanded sharply, “What exactly is going on?”
He called her “Lady Cheng,” not “Your Highness” or “Princess Consort.”
Both Zhou Fu and Cheng Jiao-niang turned to look at him.
Unnoticed, Duke Jin’an and the others had distanced themselves slightly, watching them quietly in the darkness. Since their departure, Duke Jin’an had not uttered a single word. Now, amid Master Gu’s questioning and the standoff between Zhou Fu and Qin Hu, he remained silent as though he were not even present.
That loud shout pierced through the city gate, startling the two eunuchs inside.
“Lady Cheng?” one of them said, his face lighting up with joy. He urged his horse forward, shouting, “Is that the Princess Consort Jin’an outside?”
“Yes,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied immediately.
“Open the gates! By the Empress Dowager’s decree,” the eunuch cried, holding the imperial edict high. “Her Majesty summons the Princess Consort Jin’an to the palace.”
Faced with the imperial decree, the guards at the gate no longer dared hesitate and rushed to open it.
“Wait,” Qin Hu said.
“Qin Hu, how dare you obstruct the Empress Dowager’s decree?” the eunuch shouted.
“I would not dare,” Qin Hu replied. “But is the decree summoning only the Princess Consort to the palace?”
The eunuch nodded.
Qin Hu nodded as well and gestured to the soldiers.
A line of troops raised their crossbows and arrayed themselves before the gate.
“What are you doing?” the eunuchs demanded, frowning.
“Outside is not only the Princess Consort, but also Duke Jin’an himself,” Qin Hu said, looking at the two eunuchs. “I imagine the Empress Dowager would not wish for Duke Jin’an to force his way into the palace at this moment.”
He emphasized the words “at this moment” and “force his way.”
The hearts of the two eunuchs dropped.
With the palace gates opened in the middle of the night to summon Gao Lingjun and Chen Shao, such a matter could not possibly be concealed. Surely some already knew something was wrong.
If a member of the imperial family were to barge in now, it would truly be a situation difficult to contain.
The two eunuchs said nothing more, silently accepting Qin Hu’s actions.
“The gates are opening!”
Master Gu shouted.
Everyone instinctively urged their horses toward the gate, only to see a troop of soldiers pour out from the slowly widening opening. Armed with bows and arrows, they formed an attack formation. In the torchlight, the gleaming arrowheads pointed straight at those outside the city.
Two eunuchs stepped forward, standing behind the soldiers. As they caught sight of the people outside the gates, their expressions grew visibly tense.
“Princess Consort of Jin’an, by the decree of the Empress Dowager, you are summoned to the palace,” one eunuch announced, raising the imperial educt high.
As soon as the words fell, Cheng Jiao-niang urged her horse forward.
“Jiao-niang!” Zhou Fu called out, spurring his horse to block her path. “How can you go now?”
Cheng Jiao-niang nodded to him.
“It’s all right,” she said.
Zhou Fu watched her, his expression dark and troubled.
“What has happened in the palace?” Master Gu demanded, urging his horse forward as if to advance.
“Loose arrows!” Qin Hu’s voice came from the other side.
At his command, a volley of arrows shot out and thudded into the ground diagonally before their horses. The startled animals whinnied and reared.
“Qin Hu!” Zhou Fu shouted.
Qin Hu stood behind the soldiers, his face hidden in the shadows of the gate, its expression unreadable.
“Your Highness should have clearly heard the content of the Empress Dowager’s decree, yes?” he said. “It summons only the Princess Consort – no one else.”
“Yes, I have heard it clearly,” Duke Jin’an replied.
This was the first sentence he had spoken since setting out that night.
Cheng Jiao-niang turned to look at him.
Duke Jin’an’s face was also hidden beneath his hood, his expression impossible to discern.
Cheng Jiao-niang withdrew her gaze, urged her horse forward, and passed through the gate guards, past Qin Hu where he stood, following the two eunuchs directly into the city. Soon, she disappeared into the darkness.
Zhou Fu stared in the direction she had gone, his hand tightening on the reins.
