As night fell and the curfew began, all gates were shut. Yet Cheng Yaojin, the Supreme Pillar of the State, Duke of Su, and Grand General of the Left Military Guard, barged into the Purple Void Monastery with dozens of armed guards, torches blazing, demanding the arrest of Prince Wu Yuan-gui and his attendant Yang Xinzhi.
The maidservants rushed into the private chambers with the news, startling everyone. Chai Yingluo suddenly stood up and began issuing orders:
"Fourteenth Uncle, Yang Da! Both of you, head to the alchemy hills behind the monastery—climb the wall and hide in the woods! I’ll stall General Cheng for a while..."
To the northwest of the Purple Void Monastery lay a hill where Chai Yingluo’s alchemy furnace was housed, a place Wei Shufen had once visited. The area was densely forested, and beyond the monastery’s low walls, the rugged terrain made for easy concealment. Yang Xinzhi acknowledged and moved toward the door, but Li Yuangui hesitated:
"Why bother? Even if we hide now, can we hide forever? I’ll just go with him. Whatever punishment is mine to bear, I’ll face it sooner rather than later—better to settle it and put my mind at ease!"
"Don’t be ridiculous!" The Master of the Purple Void Monastery glared. "As long as you remain at large, I can still plead with the Empress for leniency. But once you’re dragged into the judicial system and the matter escalates, who will have any influence left? Yang Da!"
At her call, Yang Xinzhi understood and stepped forward to haul Li Yuangui toward the door. The young prince struggled briefly, but Wei Shufen whispered urgently, "Fourteenth Young Master!"
Lacking Chai Yingluo’s quick wit in critical moments, she could only convey her plea through her gaze—yet it proved effective. The moment Li Yuangui turned and saw her, his resistance weakened, and Yang Rou-ta swiftly dragged him out the door, vanishing into the night.
Chai Yingluo took a deep breath and strode out to meet Cheng Yaojin at the monastery’s entrance. Wei Shufen followed closely behind. Once they left the courtyard, they saw the flickering light of torches—over a dozen fully armed guards with bows and blades stood waiting inside and outside the gate. At their center stood a man in purple robes, his face wearing a guileless grin: Cheng Yaojin, who had recently taken command of the Northern Military Camp.
The general looked just as Wei Shufen remembered—towering, with a face covered in dark stubble and an enormous belly. But this time, instead of glimpsing him from afar, she faced him directly. Beyond his fearsome appearance, she sensed the unshakable steadiness of a battle-hardened commander—still resembling a temple guardian deity, though stepping on a demon would have completed the image.
And who might that demon be...?
Chai Yingluo greeted him with a Taoist salutation, presenting herself as an imperial-appointed Female Taoist Priest. Cheng Yaojin, in turn, addressed her with casual familiarity, asking after her father’s health and chuckling about how long it had been since he last visited Prince Consort Chai. He carried himself like an uncle to the young priestess, which, given his shared military campaigns with Chai Shao, wasn’t entirely presumptuous. After exchanging pleasantries, Cheng Yaojin finally broached the matter at hand:
"I bear His Majesty’s verbal decree to apprehend the primary instigators of the unrest at Great Peace Palace. I’ve heard Prince Wu and his man are here. High Truth Master, do an old soldier a favor—don’t make this difficult for me, eh?"
"Dare I ask, General, who told you Prince Wu is in our monastery?" Chai Yingluo replied calmly. "This humble priest is but a monastic—how would I dare harbor an imperial prisoner? Surely you’ve been misinformed, or someone has deliberately misled you. Infinite Heavenly Lord, what a sin.""Ah, if Miss Chai puts it that way, this old Cheng is in a tough spot," Cheng Yaojin chuckled. "Mishearing is out of the question—I'm not so old that I'm deaf and blind. The Emperor himself issued the decree, and even with seventeen or eighteen heads, I wouldn't dare defy it. The man must be taken away. Your Purple Void Monastery is an Imperial Inner Sanctuary, not to be searched lightly. Your esteemed parents are both close relatives of the royal family and founding heroes of the dynasty, held in high regard even by the Emperor. This old Cheng wouldn’t dare act recklessly. So, what’s to be done?"
Wei Shufen stood behind Chai Yingluo, quietly exhaling in relief, as the female Taoist’s voice turned icy:
"In that case, since it’s getting late, General Cheng, please take your leave. The residents of the monastery also need to rest."
"Funny thing, how did I know Prince Wu was at the Purple Void Monastery?" Cheng Yaojin continued as if he hadn’t heard her. "This old Cheng was traveling from Yuanzhou to the capital and passed by Xianyang. One night... in a courtyard, I caught a glimpse—hey, wasn’t that the plump eldest son of Consort Yang?... Later, when I entered the capital to see the Emperor, we chatted casually, and oh, so that’s how it was... So I led my men straight to Xianyang, asked around about that night’s witnesses, and heh—just like High Truth Master’s reply, the man was gone! In other words, he’d already fled!"
Chai Yingluo remained silent. Wei Shufen’s heart clenched, realizing Cheng Yaojin was saying he had gone to Xianyang and found Pei Lvshi. Though Pei hadn’t revealed Li Yuangui’s whereabouts—or had, but they came up empty—he admitted to sheltering Li and Yang.
"Fled? Well, young lads have long legs and run fast—no big deal. So this old Cheng asked, what did you talk about with Prince Wu?... Oh, maybe heading to the Dali Temple, eh?... So off to the Dali Temple to ask around? Didn’t find those two there, but another young lad had been by..."
So this was how Cheng Yaojin had tracked Li Yuangui’s trail... He withdrew the guards at the city gates, letting them return to Chang’an without fear, while he followed a vague lead to the key witness and logically traced the path to the Chai siblings.
Wei Shufen couldn’t see Chai Yingluo’s expression but guessed it wasn’t good. The matter involved her own younger brother, even her father, and the female Taoist had much to consider. The eldest daughter of Chancellor Wei lowered her head in thought, then stepped forward:
"This humble woman, though untalented, has a question for General Cheng."
Cheng Yaojin had clearly assumed she was a monastery maid. Surprised by her appearance, he blinked and looked questioningly at Chai Yingluo, who explained:
"This is the eldest daughter of Imperial Secretariat Wei Xuancheng, temporarily residing in our monastery to cultivate the Dao and pray for her mother’s blessings—A Fen, what did you wish to ask General Cheng?"
Their goal was to buy time for Li and Yang to escape. Summoning her courage, Wei Shufen improvised:
"This humble woman has heard that the ancient sages established the night curfew to guard against theft and misconduct, to clarify the rhythms of work and rest, and to distinguish inner from outer. I’ve also heard that military discipline values strictness—army gates must not open at night. Now, the General, bearing an Imperial decree to guard the forbidden garden, opens the military gates at night, leads fierce soldiers into the pure grounds of an Inner Sanctuary where women practice cultivation, and declares his intent to search. What is your purpose?"
Cheng Yaojin burst into laughter: "Hahahaha! Truly the daughter of Wei the Goatee—looks and speech just like your old man! Little lady, let me tell you, don’t meddle in this. I’m here on Imperial orders to arrest a prisoner! The palace has decreed: take the men, not the women. For now, you’re safe, but who knows what comes next!""There are proper procedures for arresting suspects," Wei Shufen's stubbornness flared up. "In broad daylight, with justice and righteousness, one must present an imperial decree or official warrant before taking someone away. Since when do we barge into palace grounds to search for people in the dead of night? Does General Cheng intend to emulate Jiang Chong, sneaking into palaces at night to plant voodoo evidence? Or perhaps follow Cao Mengde's example, storming palaces to seize empresses and kill concubines? Or maybe the general fancies himself as Prince Zhao or Prince Qi of Western Jin, invading palaces at midnight to arrest Empress Jia—"
Ahem ahem. Chai Yingluo coughed pointedly beside her. Wei Shufen suddenly realized her mistake—she'd gotten carried away with historical allusions and accidentally compared the situation to that infamous, licentious Empress Jia Nanfeng of Western Jin... Fortunately, Cheng Yaojin looked utterly bewildered, clearly not having understood. She quickly changed tack:
"...sparking the War of the Eight Princes that destroyed centuries of unified rule! Purple Void Monastery is an imperial-sanctioned Inner Sanctuary honoring the royal ancestors, and High Truth Master is none other than the emperor's own niece by his full sister, personally ordained as a Female Taoist Priest by His Majesty. Does General Cheng hold such contempt for these sacred institutions that he would disrespect the imperial ancestral temple itself?"
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