Volume One, Chapter 18: Luring the Snake from Its Hole
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“Wang Fugui, find a servant with the loosest tongue and a hint of greed. Let him ‘accidentally’ overhear that my Majesty’s recent irritability is due to practicing a rare technique that reverses internal energy on full moon nights, leaving me weak and vulnerable.”
“Jing Yun,” he turned to the black-clad assassin, “you will forge a personnel roster and operational plan for the ‘Pacification Department.’ The more authentic it looks, the better. Then ‘accidentally’ leave it behind in my study.”
He glanced back at Wang Fugui. “And you, find the sharpest-witted cook. Have her brew a nourishing tonic soup on the full moon night and deliver it with great fanfare. Make sure everyone knows about it.”
A meticulously interlocking plan quickly took shape in his mind.
There were two baits.
First, the Crown Prince’s cultivation mishap would render him weak on the full moon night—a perfect moment to strike or create chaos.
Second, the secret roster of the Pacification Department! This bait carried even greater weight, enough to drive any prince to madness!
Wang Fugui and Jing Yun exchanged a glance, each seeing excitement and reverence reflected in the other’s eyes.
His Highness’s mind was truly unfathomable!
“Do you understand your orders?” Li Xuan’s voice grew cold.
“By your command!” they replied in unison, bowing deeply before retreating.
The study was left empty except for Li Xuan. He walked to the window, gazing at the not-yet-complete moon hanging in the sky, a cold smile curling at the corner of his lips.
“Brothers, I have prepared a grand spectacle for you. I hope... you will enjoy it.”
...
Night deepened.
The entire Eastern Palace was shrouded in silence, broken only by the rustling of armored patrols and the distant clack of the night watch’s wooden clappers, adding a solemn tension to the air.
Li Xuan’s study still burned with candlelight.
Under the flickering flame, his face appeared pale, his breath slightly hurried, punctuated occasionally by suppressed coughs.
“Cough, cough... Wang Fugui, keep that roster safe for me. This is an urgent matter entrusted by His Majesty; there must be no mistakes!” he weakly instructed, pushing a gold-embossed book toward the corner of the desk.
“Your Highness, rest assured, this old servant will take care of it.” Wang Fugui hurried forward, carefully lifting the book and placing it reverently into a locked rosewood box before setting it prominently on the bookshelf.
Having done so, he looked at Li Xuan worriedly. “Your Highness, perhaps you should rest early. The Imperial Physician warned you—overexerting in cultivation injures your vital energy, and staying up late only worsens it.”
“No matter. I know my own body best.” Li Xuan waved him off impatiently. “You may leave. I will read a little longer.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Wang Fugui sighed and bowed before withdrawing.
The moment the door shut, a small eunuch responsible for sweeping outside the study’s door flickered with a glint of sharpness in his eyes. Lowering his head to feign indifference, he continued sweeping fallen leaves with ears pricked attentively.
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Inside, the sickly expression on Li Xuan’s face vanished without a trace. He lifted his teacup, blew on the steam, and a barely perceptible smile curved his lips.
The show was beginning.
...
News spread like wildfire throughout the capital’s grand mansions.
At the Second Prince’s residence.
Li Zhan, clad in white, sat alone in a pavilion playing chess. After hearing his spy’s report, he paused mid-air, holding a white piece between his fingers.
“Training gone awry? Weakness on the full moon night?” He chuckled lightly, placing the white piece on the board with a crisp “snap.” “That sounds exactly like the kind of foolishness our capable Crown Prince would pull.”
“Your Highness, about the Pacification Department’s roster…” the spy whispered.
“Pacification Department…” Li Zhan’s gaze sharpened suddenly. “Father actually entrusted him with that dagger? That’s the real key!”
He pondered briefly, a ruthless gleam flashing in his eyes. “Is the source reliable?”
“It’s from an old hand we placed in the Eastern Palace years ago, called Xiao Linzi. He’s always dependable.”
“One isn’t enough.” Li Zhan shook his head, smiling cunningly. “Tell Liu’er to find a way to verify it. If the roster is genuine, obtain it at any cost! If Li Xuan truly becomes vulnerable on the full moon night... all the better.”
Watching the fierce battle on the chessboard, he said softly, “Tell Liu’er this is her chance to rise like a phoenix. If she succeeds, I will grant her the position of a secondary consort.”
“Yes!” The spy’s eyes gleamed with greed as he bowed and left rapidly.
Liu’er was the Second Prince’s carefully trained assassin and his deepest planted chess piece in the Eastern Palace. Disguised as a palace maid from the Laundry Bureau, she was usually silent and unremarkable, yet highly skilled in martial arts and stealth assassination.
...
At the First Prince’s residence.
Upon hearing the news, Li Yuan slammed the table so hard the teacup jumped.
“Useless! A complete waste! Given such a noble background, and he’s turned himself into a cripple!” His face twisted in rage as he paced the room. “Pacification Department! Father’s favoritism! He actually entrusted that department to him!”
His strategist cautioned, “Your Highness, please calm down. This matter isn’t confirmed; perhaps it’s the Crown Prince’s scheme.”
“A scheme?” Li Yuan sneered. “By him? A brute who only knows how to wield sword and spear? This is his own death sentence! Issue orders—prepare the guards. If the news is true, on the full moon night, send him to his end!”
Compared to the Second Prince’s caution, the First Prince was far more direct and fiery.
For a time, the entire capital was thick with an ominous tension, as countless eyes fixed intently on the Eastern Palace, awaiting the full moon night three days hence.
Yet the mastermind behind it all, Li Xuan, appeared as calm and unaffected as ever.
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During the day, he continued handling state affairs, summoning ministers, even leisurely accompanying Xiao Ningshuang to admire flowers in the garden.
Only no one noticed the teasing spark in his eyes when he looked at her.
“What does the Crown Princess think of tonight’s moonlight?” he suddenly asked.
Xiao Ningshuang paused pruning a peony, then met Li Xuan’s gaze. For once, a faint smile graced her usually cold face. “A dark, windy night—perfect for murder and mayhem.”
Li Xuan laughed heartily.
This woman was becoming more and more to his liking.
At last, the full moon night arrived.
A silver disc hung high in the night sky, its cold light bathing the Eastern Palace’s pavilions and towers in a mysterious silver frost.
At midnight, the Eastern Palace kitchen was brightly lit.
The newly promoted cook barked orders at several young maids as they ladled a pot of fragrant tonic soup into a large food box.
“Be careful! This is His Highness’s life-saving soup! If a single drop spills, I’ll skin you all alive!” she shouted, her voice booming as if she wanted half the Eastern Palace to hear.
The procession carried the food box, proudly and loudly, toward Li Xuan’s bedchamber.
Meanwhile, inside the bedchamber’s study.
Li Xuan sat upright, his face paler than in recent days, his breath weaker.
Before him lay the rosewood box containing the ‘Pacification Department roster,’ left unlocked but slightly ajar.
In the shadows outside the study, atop the beams and behind the artificial rockery, Jing Yun and his most elite subordinates crouched like poised leopards, holding their breath, blending seamlessly into the darkness.
Everything was ready, waiting only for the fish to bite.
Time ticked by, second by second.
The soup delivery party had long since departed, and the entire chamber had fallen silent again.
Just as Jing Yun began to grow impatient, a faint, nearly imperceptible black shadow drifted in silently from beyond the courtyard wall like a fallen leaf.
The movement was exquisitely light, landing without a sound. The figure’s slender form revealed it was a woman.
She was none other than Liu’er, the Second Prince Li Zhan’s ace.