Golden ingots, heavy and gleaming, were casually pulled out by the little prince of Tuyuhun from his bosom, a handful thrust toward Li Yuangui's grasp.
Among the two secret discussions with Sang Sai, this was the scene that left the deepest impression on Li Yuangui.
Fen Dui and other interpreters explained to him: The merchant caravans traveling between the Central Plains and the lands west of the Pamirs, trading goods like silk, originally had two main routes—north and south. The northern route passed through Dunhuang and Yangguan to Gaochang, traversing deserts and small city-states of the Western Regions, where profits from trade along the way were greater. However, over the past few decades, the Turks' incessant warfare in the Western Regions had turned the northern route into a haven for bandits, forcing many caravans to avoid it altogether.
The southern route was the Qinghai Road, which crossed the grasslands of Tuyuhun, running from Yizhou and Songzhou to Fuqi City, then westward through the deserts to Khotan, eventually reaching the Pamirs. Though sparsely populated and perilously desolate, this path was far safer for trade.
Whenever turmoil struck the Western Regions, merchant caravans were forced to take the southern Qinghai Road, and Fuqi City, as a crucial stop, flourished with newfound prosperity. The great merchants lavished "tributes" upon the Tuyuhun royalty and nobility, while the rivers, streams, and caves around Qinghai Lake yielded abundant placer gold and nuggets. Skilled craftsmen refined these into exquisite wares, enriching the Tuyuhun aristocracy with vast gold reserves. Sang Sai, tasked with sowing chaos in Chang'an, had brought a substantial amount of gold ingots and cakes to bribe the Tang officials.
"Did Kang Sabao also take your gold to work for you?" Li Yuangui asked during the negotiations. Sang Sai shook his head, explaining that Kang Su-mi's ambitions were far greater—his demands extended well beyond mere bribes.
The merchant community in Fuqi City had also built a Fire Temple, overseen by a Sart who was Kang Su-mi's own brother and maintained close ties with the Tuyuhun royal family. It was through his introduction that Sang Sai sought out Kang Su-mi in Chang'an. These merchants had once controlled the policies of the Turkic Khagan, Jieli, and now they sought to repeat their scheme—manipulating the Tang and Tuyuhun to serve their mercantile interests...
A chill ran down Li Yuangui's spine. His foot pressed harder against the cliff, dislodging a rock that tumbled down with a clatter, roots and dirt scattering into the abyss below.
A strong, calloused hand reached out, gripping Li Yuangui's arm where it clutched the rope—both steadying his precarious position on the cliff and warning him to stay silent and still.
It was the tall foreigner who went by the alias "Qibi Luo," Sang Sai's most trusted subordinate. After midnight, Li Yuangui and Yang Xinzhi had slipped out of the residence and met these horse-delivering foreigners in the valley behind the Seventeenth Prince's Residence to begin their ascent. Qibi Luo had stayed close to Li Yuangui the entire time, his surveillance unmistakable.
The Great Peace Palace was built on the northwestern hills of the forbidden garden, its limited space within the defensive palisades forcing the main palace complexes to nestle along the mountain's contours—close to one another. The Seventeenth Prince's Residence in the valley and the inner palace where the Supreme Emperor and his consorts resided in the Great Peace Hall were separated by the towering, sheer cliffs of Cuiyun Peak. Scaling the southern precipice, breaching the watchtower at the summit, and descending a gentle slope to the north would lead them straight to the Supreme Emperor's bedchamber in the Great Peace Hall.
When Sang Sai revealed this plan during their discussions, Li Yuangui was stunned. Whoever devised this route must have possessed an intimate knowledge of the Great Peace Palace's terrain and defensive arrangements.Before the Zhenguan era, the Great Peace Palace had served as the Prince of Qin's Manor for four years, meticulously renovated and strategically laid out by the highly skilled and tactically brilliant experts of Prince Qin's Manor. At that time, constrained by circumstances, Prince Qin—the current Son of Heaven—could not station too many warriors within the palace. The entire defense concept was "controlling the surface with key points, prioritizing the exterior over the interior." The limited guards were mostly deployed along the outer perimeter, arranged in staggered and mutually reinforcing barriers of fences and abatis. The major areas within the palace were naturally separated by peaks, valleys, and streams, with watchtowers built on high points for surveillance and communication—clearly, Prince Qin Li Shimin at that time had no intention of considering "what if the Eighteen Scholars from the outer Literary Academy have illicit affairs with the concubines in my inner quarters."
After the Black Tortoise Gate Incident, the Prince of Qin's Manor was converted into the Great Peace Palace, intended as the residence of the Supreme Emperor. The number of Imperial guards still could not be significantly increased, and the defense system largely remained unchanged. The former outer Literary Academy was repurposed into the Seventeenth Prince's Residence for the Supreme Emperor's sons. The Chief Secretary, Military Commandant, and Kuzhen Guards of the manor were all officials who needed to be isolated from the inner palace filled with consorts, maids, and eunuchs. The method of isolation was to reinforce and heighten this Jade Cloud Peak Watchtower, increasing the number of guards on duty from three to six.
These six guards were not primarily tasked with preventing people from the Seventeenth Prince's Residence below from climbing the cliff—given their vantage point from the watchtower, unless they leaned over the railing and looked straight down, they couldn't even see the cliff beneath them. Their main duties were to monitor any unusual activity in the southern part of the Great Peace Palace and the forbidden garden, as well as to serve as the nearest command center to the Great Peace Hall, relaying signals via flags or smoke to surrounding watchtowers and sentries.
Thus, the route Sang Sai and his team devised—"climbing the cliff from the Seventeenth Prince's Residence up to Jade Cloud Peak"—was indeed a precise strike at the weakest point of the Great Peace Hall's defenses, akin to "the darkest place under the lantern." Of course, they still had to overcome three major challenges:
First, how to breach the multiple layers of defense around the Great Peace Palace and smuggle a group of assassins into the Seventeenth Prince's Residence without alerting anyone. For this, Li Yuangui could take full credit.
Second, they had to quietly scale the Jade Cloud Peak cliff in pitch-black darkness—if they attempted it during the day, while the watchtower above might not see them, anyone in the Seventeenth Prince's Residence below could easily spot the moving dots on the cliff face with a casual glance upward.
Third, after climbing the cliff, they still had to deal with the guards in the watchtower and the Imperial guards, maids, and eunuchs stationed outside the Great Peace Hall. Normally, these numbers were small, but after the recent chaos at the Palace Servants' Slope, the defenses of the Great Peace Palace had been reinforced, likely capable of quickly overwhelming the limited number of infiltrating assassins.
This only accounted for the difficulties before entering the Great Peace Hall. As for how the group would retreat unscathed after success or failure, Sang Sai merely claimed he had a plan but refused to disclose it to Li Yuangui beforehand. Li Yuangui didn't press too hard either, as he had his own plans—which certainly differed from Sang Sai's.
Each of the two young princes harbored their own schemes. In the latter half of the night, they met up in the Seventeenth Prince's Residence and stealthily made their way to the chosen climbing point by the cliff. Upon reaching the base of the cliff, Li Yuangui was surprised to find two thick ropes already hanging down the cliff face from the night sky, held by two of Sang Sai's men, as if someone had climbed up beforehand to set them up.Everyone was dressed in tight black clothing, their heads wrapped in black cloth and black scarves tied around their necks, ready to cover their faces once they scaled the cliff. Li Yuangui not only adopted the same attire but also wore two thick sleeveless jackets beneath his outer robe, hoping to bulk up his shoulders and chest to appear more imposing—lest his scrawny, monkey-like frame give him away too easily.
As for Yang Xinzhi, who had followed him all the way to the base of the cliff, Li Yuangui had never intended to let this mountain of a companion climb with him—his body was far too heavy to scale the rocks. Even if he managed it, his sheer size would instantly reveal the truth once they reached the Great Peace Hall, dooming both him and his master, Li Yuangui. Yang Xinzhi had been assigned another task, though he was deeply reluctant to let Li Yuangui venture alone among Sang Sai and his dozen or so men.
Two or three men led the way, followed by Sang Sai, with Li Yuangui and Qibi Luo behind them, and the rest bringing up the rear. Over a dozen men slowly ascended one by one, gripping two thick ropes.
The night was deep and silent. In the distance, the occasional torchlight flickered along the palisades of the corner towers, but beyond that lay only boundless darkness.
After climbing just a few zhang, Li Yuangui realized that scaling the cliff at night would have been impossible without the ropes to grip. Though the cliff face wasn’t sheer like a blade-cut or axe-chiseled surface—with rugged, overlapping rocks, patches of grass and shrubs, and uneven footholds—the real problem was visibility. The light was too poor. No matter how wide he strained his eyes, he could barely make out the vegetation and rocks within a few feet of his face. Above and below, there was only an abyss of darkness.
He could only cling tightly to the rope, hand over hand, while his feet groped along the cliff for stable footholds. Several times, his foot slipped, leaving him dangling by his arms. Fortunately, each time, "Qibi Luo" on the adjacent rope would reach out and steady him, allowing him to regain his footing and continue the climb.
How long he swayed between life and death, he couldn’t say. By the time he noticed the change in the wind and light above him, and felt the rope gradually tilting in his grasp, it felt as though several lifetimes had passed. With a final push from his legs, his head and face suddenly broke free into open air, greeted by a sharp yet sweet night breeze.
Scrambling onto the cliff top on all fours, he let go of the rope and knelt, gasping for breath. Only then did he realize his undershirt and both sleeveless jackets were soaked through, sweat seeping into his outer robe. The other men climbed up one after another behind him, their heavy panting rising and falling in the darkness, though not a word was spoken.
Li Yuangui lifted his head. Before him stood the solid foundation of the Watchtower atop Cuiyun Peak. Under the unobstructed glow of the stars and moon, his vision improved enough to trace the two thick ropes he had climbed—snaking across the ground, their ends looped and tied around the supporting pillars of the watchtower’s foundation.
“No need to worry about the climb—we’ve got help up here!” Sang Sai’s impatient voice rang in his ears. This was the “help” he had mentioned—impressively resourceful, managing to secure these ropes right under the watchtower guards’ noses and toss them down the cliff for their ascent.
Under their noses… A thought struck Li Yuangui. Struggling to his feet, he covered his face and followed Sang Sai, Qibi Luo, and the others as they vaulted onto the watchtower’s foundation and slipped inside through the entrance.The watchtower had three levels. The top floor was an observation deck with a roof and railings, while the lower two floors had no windows. The ground floor was neatly stocked with weapons like crossbows and arrows, and a brazier burned beside the dining table, its flames flickering in the empty silence. Qibi Luo pursed his lips and whistled, receiving an identical response from above. The foreigner first drew his waist saber, gripping it in one hand while using the other to grasp the wooden ladder beneath the central hollow frame of the watchtower, leading the way up.
Li Yuangui also unsheathed his blade and followed. As soon as his nose cleared the second-floor landing, he was hit by the thick stench of blood. By the faint glow rising from below, he saw several guards sprawled haphazardly on the floor, their postures serene as if asleep, yet blood pooled beneath them.
A black-clad figure rose from the corner, speaking in hushed tones with Qibi Luo—likely Sang Sai's inside man at Great Peace Palace, the one who had killed these guards and lowered the rope. Though only his eyes were visible beneath the black cloth masking his face, Li Yuangui found him strikingly familiar.
The wooden ladder at the central shaft trembled as Sang Sai climbed up, also holding a short blade. He strode directly toward the black-clad accomplice and spoke in a foreign tongue. Qibi Luo translated, "The prince asks: Have all the guards here been killed? How did you do it?"
Li Yuangui silently counted the bodies—four on the second floor, meaning two more should be on duty at the observation deck above. The black-clad man chuckled softly, "I slipped a sleeping draught into their meal. Soon after eating, they all dropped like dead pigs. Climbing up here, it was just a matter of raising the blade—one stab each!"
Li Yuangui recognized him now—the slick, roguish voice belonged to none other than Yin Tuo, the deputy palace supervisor of Great Peace Palace, younger brother of Consort Yin, nicknamed A-Ta.
Judging by his nimble movements, he must have emerged unscathed from the recent skirmish at Gongren Slope.
Over a dozen foreign assassins who had scaled the cliff now crowded into the watchtower, most remaining quietly on the ground floor. Sang Sai ordered one man to the observation deck to monitor the situation while he, Qibi Luo, and Yin A'da conversed in low voices, first confirming the current defensive arrangements around Great Peace Hall.
Aside from Li Yuangui, two other masked foreigners in black had ascended to the second floor. Yin A'da glanced at the three of them but didn’t recognize Li Yuangui, focusing instead on gesturing to Sang Sai and Qibi Luo: "After crossing a stretch of woodland downhill, there’s another palace wall ahead with patrolling guards outside—easy to avoid... Once over the wall, it’s straight to Great Peace Hall. No guards inside, but eunuchs and maids will be keeping watch in the corridors... Avoid them if possible, or cut them down quickly if not..."
At first, Li Yuangui was startled to recognize him, but the realization soon settled. This Yin A'da was undeniably a street-smart opportunist.
His sole backing in the palace was Consort Yin, whose own protector, Supreme Emperor Li Yuan, was now a flickering candle on the verge of burning out. Once the Supreme Emperor died, Consort Yin—whose misdeeds had long provoked public outrage—would immediately lose power, and Yin A'da would face dire consequences. What better path could he take than seizing this chance to collaborate with Sang Sai, amass a fortune, and perhaps even flee Chang'an—or Tang territory altogether—to seek refuge among the Tuyuhun?Sang Sai and his men had somehow managed to connect with Yin A'da, and the two parties hit it off immediately. Yin, who currently oversaw all internal and external affairs of the Great Peace Palace, found it effortless to carry out tasks like drugging the meals of the watchtower guards. As for the personnel arrangements within the palace walls of the Great Peace Hall, no one likely knew them better than him, from top to bottom.
With Yin A'da leading the way, the rest followed silently out of the watchtower, traversing the hillside woods until they reached the outer palace wall. This was a decorative lattice-patterned pink wall, more for show than defense, and not particularly high. The group of foreign assassins hid behind trees, waiting for the night patrol to pass before rushing to the wall and forming human ladders. In a few quick moves, they all scaled over and landed inside.
Within the palace walls, the gardens were lush, and the layered eaves of the Great Peace Hall's roof were faintly visible against the night sky. To the west of the main hall, on a raised platform, stood the Supreme Emperor's sleeping quarters. Li Yuangui had been barred from entering this courtyard for months, and the sight of it now brought a sudden sting to his eyes.
But there was no time for self-pity. The line of black-clad figures followed closely behind Yin A'da, weaving through rockeries and gardens. Soon, they silently slit the throats of two eunuchs on night duty beneath the corridors, drawing ever closer to the western pavilion. With each step, Li Yuangui grew more tense.
This section of the palace was built on a gentle slope, and due to the terrain, the layout was irregular, with various halls and rooms connected by winding corridors. The sleeping quarters shared by the Supreme Emperor and Consort Yin had corridors both in front and behind, with numerous maids and eunuchs stationed outside for night watches and lantern patrols. It would be impossible to carry out silent assassinations here without raising an alarm, as they had done earlier.
Yin A'da led Sang Sai's group to a spot behind a rockery very close to the western pavilion's corridor. He gestured for everyone to crouch low, then whispered to Sang Sai:
"Prince, this is as far as we can go. Any further and we'll definitely alert someone. You're on your own now. As agreed, I'll withdraw first."
The masked Sang Sai glanced at the still-distant western pavilion and asked, "Really no closer?"
"Really no closer. The Supreme Emperor is sleeping in that building. Just charge in." Yin A'da grinned and extended his palm. "The agreed-upon... ahem... the second installment..."
Sang Sai rolled his eyes, shook his head, and reached into his robe. Li Yuangui recognized the gesture—it was the motion of pulling out a gold ingot.
But before Sang Sai's hand emerged, Qibi Luo's fist, the size of a bowl, struck Yin A'da squarely on the back of the head. The downward blow drove his face straight into the dirt behind the rockery, muffling any scream.
The force wasn't lethal; Li Yuangui estimated it was just enough to knock Yin A'da unconscious. This certainly wasn't out of mercy—perhaps their plans still required this valuable insider.
Sang Sai tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and muttered a few foreign words, as if in prayer. Then he drew his waist saber, rose, and charged straight for the western pavilion's corridor, staying as low as possible.
The other foreigners followed, unsheathing their blades one after another. Li Yuangui deliberately lagged behind. Only when he heard the sounds of screams, shouts, and alarms erupting ahead did he break into a sprint. His first step landed squarely on Yin A'da's neck, still prone on the ground, accompanied by the crisp sound of snapping bone.
Ahead, cries of pain and chaos had already broken out, with footsteps scrambling and figures fleeing. Clutching his steel saber, Li Yuangui charged toward his sovereign father's sleeping quarters alongside a dozen foreign assassins.#####This chapter includes a photo of the "gold ingots" used by Sang Sai to bribe people. To view the image, please visit the author's Weibo account. Search for "Tang Dynasty Tour Guide Forest Deer" on Weibo.
OpenNovel