readbooksol Chapter 5533 Straight into the Imperial City
Chapter 5533 Straight into the Imperial City
Chapter 5533 Straight into the Imperial City
As the night deepened and grew quieter, Fang Jun sat alone by the window, drinking tea. The pattering rain outside made him restless.
Something's off tonight.
Outside the city, the Left Guard routinely assembles every night, with all soldiers and officers gathering near their tents. Cheng Yaojin has not entered the city to return home for several days. It seems that he is only assembling and not taking any action, but it has a strong sense of "feigning weakness while making strength appear weak," and he may suddenly enter the city at any time.
Inside the city, the Left Guard followed almost the same steps, concentrating their forces in the Wubenfang area. Soldiers patrolled and moved about, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.
In particular, the Right Guard suddenly made a move. Zheng Rentai suddenly left his residence at 3:45 PM, leading his personal guards to the Yanshoufang garrison...
The imperial city was quiet, with no unusual activity reported.
The absence of any abnormalities is itself the biggest abnormality; otherwise, why would Cheng Yaojin, Liang Jianfang, Zheng Rentai, and others all enter the military camp at the same time?
The rain intensified, and Fang Jun got up and walked to the door. Wei Ying and the other personal guards were all standing under the eaves. When they saw Fang Jun come out, they all greeted him and said, "Second Brother!"
Fang Jun said in a deep voice, "Send two people to guard outside Yanxi Gate. If any news of Wang De gets out, report back immediately."
"Here!"
Wei Ying agreed and was about to send two people to carry out the order when Fang Jun suddenly waved his hand to stop him.
Fang Jun looked up at the dark, rainy night, paused for a moment, then turned around, picked up the raincoat prepared inside the door, put it on, put on the bamboo hat, and strode out the door.
"I will go and wait for news myself. You take your men and guard the house. If anyone dares to attack the mansion, kill them without mercy!"
"Here!"
Following the previous mutiny, the Fang family strengthened their defenses, constructing numerous arrow towers along the inner side of the outer courtyard wall and stockpiling a large quantity of firearms. Unless someone assembles more than a thousand men equipped with heavy siege weapons such as arrow towers, battering rams, or catapults, it would be impossible to breach their defenses.
A guard led over a warhorse, and Fang Jun took the reins, mounted the horse, and walked toward the main gate surrounded by dozens of guards.
As soon as I stepped out of the backyard, I saw Fang Xuanling standing with his hands behind his back under the eaves.
Fang Jun dismounted, took two quick steps to his father, bowed, and greeted him: "Father."
Fang Xuanling nodded, his gaze sweeping over the group of personal guards, and asked, "What happened?"
"Tonight, there were unusual movements from both the Left Guard and the Left and Right Guards, but there was no sound from within the Imperial City. I felt something was amiss, so I went to Yanxi Gate to wait for news. If anything unusual happens, I can make a decision as soon as possible."
"Could someone from inside the palace be sending a message out?"
"Yes, I have made an agreement with Wang De to send out messages at noon and midnight every day, regardless of whether anything happens in the palace."
Fang Xuanling glanced at his son, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but didn't.
Wang De was the most trusted eunuch of Emperor Taizong and His Majesty, in charge of the inner palace. How could he have gotten involved with his own son?
After a moment's thought, he warned, "No matter what ambitions or ideals you have in your heart, you must understand that there are some things that cannot be done, and once done, there is no turning back. Moreover, if the bottom line is crossed, then there is no such thing as a bottom line."
If one can harm His Majesty today, then if the Crown Prince blocks one's path in the future, one will not even feel the slightest guilt when it comes to harming the Crown Prince.
Fang Jun shook his head and said, "Father, rest assured, I have no intention of disloyalty whatsoever. On the contrary, I will do my best to protect His Majesty."
While the supreme power of the emperor can hinder social development, if the imperial power were to completely collapse, all order would vanish, causing far greater damage to the world and society.
There was absolutely no room for constitutional monarchy or other similar systems to survive in the Tang Dynasty at that time. To rashly impose those systems from later generations on the Tang Dynasty would only result in a poor imitation, completely severing class, society, and productivity.
An emperor is necessary, and he must maintain a certain level of authority.
Fang Xuanling had complete faith in his son and was full of confidence in him. Upon hearing this, he nodded and said, "Then go and get on with it."
He turned around and went back inside.
Fang Jun straightened up, took the reins, went out through the side gate, remounted his horse, went out of the gatehouse, and headed towards Yanxi Gate.
……
The city of Chang'an was pitch black on a rainy night, except for a faint light coming from the city tower of Yanxi Gate. Rain dripped down the edge of a straw hat, blurring the view.
When Fang Jun arrived outside Yanxi Gate, the personal guards who had been waiting there for news from the palace immediately ran over.
Fang Jun looked up at the tall city gate of Yanxi Gate and asked, "What time is it?"
Someone replied, "It's the third quarter of the hour of Zi, almost the hour of Chou."
Fang Jun then looked at the guards waiting for news: "Not only is there no news coming out of the palace, but there is also no movement at Yanxi Gate?"
"Yes."
Fang Jun's brows furrowed even more.
The agreement with Wang De was that the news must be sent out that night, once at midnight and once at dawn. Because it concerned the changes in the situation in the palace and involved the general trend of the world, Wang De kept the agreement and dared not slack off in the slightest. He reported on time regardless of whether there was anything happening in the palace, so that Fang Jun could keep abreast of the changes in the situation.
There has been no news since then, which must mean that something has happened to Wang De.
Does Wang De's incident mean that the Crown Prince and Empress are also in trouble?
What is Your Majesty's current condition?
Who's causing trouble?
He turned to his personal guards and asked, "May I carry my name card?"
"I brought it with me."
"Now, take your visiting card to the Duke of England's residence and request an audience with Li Jingye."
"Just requesting an audience?"
"Yes, we need to confirm whether he is still at home."
"Here!"
The guard leaped onto his horse, the sound of hooves echoing crisply through the rainy night city as he galloped away.
Fang Jun then instructed one of his personal guards: "Go to the Left Jinwu Guard garrison in Yongxingfang and ask Cheng Wuting to come here."
"Here!"
The guards rode away.
Yanxi Gate is located north of Yongxing Ward, while the Left Jinwu Guard is stationed in the southeast corner of Yongxing Ward. The journey was very swift. When the personal guards returned, Cheng Wuting, wearing a straw hat and raincoat, also came along and saluted from horseback.
"Grand Commandant!"
"Well, no need to be polite."
Fang Jun waved his hand, pulled on the reins, and urged his warhorse to ride alongside him.
"Is there any unusual activity from the Left Guard?"
Cheng Wuting said, "After nightfall, the troops gathered within the Wubenfang area, and the entire army retreated without making any unusual moves. I have been keeping an eye on them."
Fang Jun raised an eyebrow: "Isn't suddenly assembling troops considered an unusual movement?"
Cheng Wu was taken aback: "Does the Grand Commandant mean... that something is about to happen?"
Fang Jun stared intently at the Yanxi Gate tower for a while, then sighed, "I'm afraid something has already happened."
Cheng Wuting's face was serious as he advised, "Second Brother, sending troops into the capital is tantamount to treason, punishable by the extermination of three generations of your family! Without solid information, we must not act rashly. With the Left and Right Imperial Guards at our disposal, we can still protect ourselves even in the worst situation. We must not take unnecessary risks."
The news of the breakdown in the relationship between Fang Jun and His Majesty is now common knowledge, and the Crown Prince, whom Fang Jun supports, is at odds with His Majesty. If someone were to detain Wang De and deliberately prevent him from transmitting information, thereby misleading Fang Jun into making a wrong judgment and leading him to attack the capital, that would be giving his opponent a handle and putting him in a passive position.
Conversely, if Fang Jun dares not enter the capital, he can only watch helplessly as events unfold within the palace. Once the dust settles and everything is settled, there will be no way to reverse the situation, and he will be at the mercy of others...
Cheng Wuting understood the crux of the matter and his attitude was very direct: he would rather watch the palace change than lead his troops into the capital and threaten the palace.
Fang Jun sat silently on horseback, raindrops dripping from the edge of his straw hat as he weighed his options.
After a short while, he said, "Send troops to take over Chunming Gate and Tonghua Gate, and keep Zuowuwei outside the city. Under no circumstances should Cheng Yaojin lead a single soldier into the city. At the same time, contact Xuanwu Gate and ask Wang Fangyi to find out the situation inside the palace, but instruct him to guard Xuanwu Gate and wait for orders, and not to lead troops into the palace without authorization."
He then said to the guards behind him, “Go to the Right Jinwu Guard’s garrison in Yanshoufang and inform Sun Renshi that he should divide his troops to block the four gates of Shunyi, Hanguang, Zhuque and Anshang, await orders and be ready to enter the imperial city at any time, while also monitoring the Right Lingjun Guard.”
"Here!"
Military orders are absolute, and Cheng Wuting did not hesitate for a moment. He immediately relayed the order to his deputy generals. After the deputy generals went to carry out the mission, he turned back to look at Fang Jun with a slight hesitation.
"Grand Commandant...is this too much of a move? Although it is different from directly entering the capital, it is still inappropriate to cause a stir in the capital."
Fang Jun calmly said, "Something must have happened in the palace. It is imperative to take control of the Left and Right Imperial Guards and the Left Martial Guard as soon as possible. The imperial city must be under our control."
If His Majesty is not in trouble, even if he is dissatisfied with the blockade of the capital, he will only issue an edict to reprimand him and understand that he has no other choice.
If something happens to His Majesty, the Left and Right Guards and the Left Martial Guard will likely be implicated. How can we allow them to enter the Imperial City, blockade the Palace, and seize control of the situation?
At that time, it will be a city-wide war, a fierce battle.
Whoever wins is the rightful heir, and whoever loses is the traitor!
The left and right Imperial Guards were both prepared and ready to go.
……
Suddenly, the side gate of Yanxi Gate opened, and more than ten warhorses filed out, after which the city gate was quickly closed.
Cheng Wuting waved his hand: "Stop them all!"
"Here!"
The soldiers behind them swarmed forward and surrounded the dozen or so horsemen who had just left the city.
Although these dozen or so riders were all wearing straw raincoats and bamboo hats, it was clear that they were all eunuchs...
They were surrounded by a large army as soon as they left the imperial city. The eunuchs were startled and asked in trembling voices, "Who are you? How dare you gather outside the imperial city?"
Fang Jun remained unmoved.
Cheng Wuting rode forward two steps: "I am Cheng Wuting, the Left General of the Golden Guard. I have discovered some unusual activity by the Left Martial Guard outside the city and the Left and Right Imperial Guards inside the city. I was about to enter the palace to ask His Majesty for instructions. Why did you leave the city in the middle of the night?"
One of the eunuchs said, "We have left the palace on His Majesty's orders to summon all civil and military officials to the palace for an audience and to discuss important matters."
As he spoke, he took out his palace pass and the imperial edict issued to the ministers.
Cheng Wuting's face was ashen. After carefully examining the imperial edict, he turned to look at Fang Jun.
Fang Jun said calmly, "Let them go."
"Here!"
Cheng Wuting waved and let them pass.
The dozen or so eunuchs were terrified. They realized who was standing on horseback not far away, and became even more apprehensive. They dared not say a word and dispersed to their respective destinations to deliver the imperial edict.
Cheng Wuting said, "Something has indeed happened in the palace."
Fang Jun nodded and said without hesitation, "Notify Sun Renshi to lead his troops into the capital!"