The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 134 Trust That Person
Tang Shen, filled with confusion, sat down and obediently picked up his chopsticks to eat.
This was Tang Shen's first time entering the residence of the Right Prime Minister. The manor was located in the eastern part of the city, sprawling and magnificent. Just looking at the reception hall, the screen wall was adorned with a landscape painting by a renowned artist of the dynasty, while the walls were hung with authentic calligraphy by a master from the previous dynasty. The chairs were made of rosewood, and the table was a sandalwood octagonal table.
Any one of these items, if taken out, would be worth a thousand taels of silver.
However, Wang Quan had invited Tang Shen to his residence for a meal, and indeed, there were no other guests—just the two of them.
The vast Right Prime Minister's residence was eerily quiet at this moment. Servants brought dish after dish to the table, presenting a dazzling array of food, but Tang Shen only grew more puzzled and found it hard to eat. He pondered in his heart but worried that Wang Quan might adhere to the rule of not speaking during meals, so he decided to wait until after the meal to voice his confusion.
Who would have thought that the dishes from the kitchen kept coming one after another, seemingly endless?
Tang Shen sensed something was amiss. He put down his chopsticks and said, "This lower official greets Wang xianggong."
Wang Quan smiled, "Just call me Uncle."
Tang Shen was momentarily speechless, then said, "Uncle."
Wang Quan nodded, "Good."
Tang Shen, "Uncle, did you summon me here today because there's something you want to discuss?"
Wang Quan feigned surprise, "Why do you say that? Can't I just want to see you and take advantage of Zi Feng's absence to bring you here?"
Tang Shen: "..."
Tang Shen, "If Uncle wanted to see me, you could have done so at any time. There was no need to rush. Moreover, Wang.. Wang daren has gone to Youzhou and won't be back for at least ten days or half a month. Uncle, coming from a prestigious family, values etiquette. As a junior, it should be my duty to pay my respects to you during the New Year. It was my oversight to neglect this. If Uncle wanted to see me, you only needed to say the word, and I would have come. There was no need for such haste today."
"Haste?"
"Without a greeting card, just bringing someone here in a carriage—isn't that haste?"
Wang Quan stared intently at Tang Shen, stroking his elegant beard as he smiled, "Today, I finally understand why my nephew is so insist about you."
Tang Shen's face flushed, but fortunately, the deep night concealed it.
As the two spoke, the kitchen brought out two more dishes of pastries. The dishes kept coming faster and faster, with each new dish replacing the previous one before it could be fully eaten. Tang Shen, as a fourth-rank official, had followed Wang Zifeng and enjoyed many delicacies over the past five years, but the sum of all those meals couldn't compare to the feast before him today.
The more dishes that came, the heavier Tang Shen's heart grew.
He said, "Uncle, what exactly is going on?"
Wang Quan, "What's going on? Perhaps something, perhaps nothing. If it's nothing, then so be it. If it's something... let it be."
Tang Shen was stunned.
It was already past 11 PM, nearing midnight, and the sky was pitch black. Wang Quan leisurely sipped his tea, while Tang Shen sat silently beside him. As the clock struck midnight, the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly echoed outside the house. Wang Quan's hand, holding the teacup, tightened, and Tang Shen straightened his back.
However, the footsteps had nothing to do with the Right Prime Minister's residence. They seemed to pass by and then fade into the distance.
But from then on, the sounds of footsteps and horse hooves never ceased.
The glow of torches lit up half of Shengjing, dyeing the sky a bloody red. The common people had long been awakened by the sounds of soldiers marching, but none dared to open their doors to see what was happening. They all barricaded their homes, fearing intruders. However, these soldiers weren't targeting civilian homes. They marched north, straight into the imperial palace.
Just after midnight, a messenger rushed into the Right Prime Minister's residence with urgent news.
"The Second Prince is staging a coup!"
Tang Shen was shocked, but Wang Quan let out a long sigh.
Tang Shen quickly regained his composure and stood up, asking, "Is this true?"
The messenger, "The news came from the palace. How could it not be true? It's said that the Son of Heaven has been bedridden for a long time and remains unconscious. The Second Prince has colluded with traitors and is taking advantage of the situation to stage a coup. Now, the other two princes have received the news and are rushing to the palace to rescue him. This is all information that Right Prime Minister Wang daren had me investigate, using his connections. How could it not be true?"
Tang Shen slumped back into his chair.
After a long while, the messenger left, and the hall was once again empty except for Tang Shen and Wang Quan.
In Shengjing, the sounds of shouting, horses neighing, and soldiers marching echoed incessantly. The direction of the palace was now engulfed in flames. The Right Prime Minister's residence was some distance from the palace, so they could only see the red glow in the sky from afar. The surroundings, however, were eerily quiet.
But before long, the steward of the Right Prime Minister's residence came to report, "The Fourth Prince, Zhao Jing, has sent someone to invite Master to enter the palace and apprehend the rebels."
Wang Quan replied indifferently, "Have they been sent away?"
The steward, "They have been sent away."
Wang Quan, "Then there's nothing more to do."
As soon as he finished speaking, the kitchen brought out another dish. The porcelain bowl clinked as it was placed on the table, echoing Tang Shen's current state of mind. His thoughts were a chaotic mess. Since entering the Right Prime Minister's residence, he had been caught in a maze, unaware of what was happening. Now, he suddenly became clear-headed, as if an invisible hand had parted the clouds, allowing him to glimpse a sliver of the truth.
Tang Shen looked up and said, "Now, has someone also gone to my residence to invite me into the palace?"
At the same time, halfway across Shengjing, at Tanhua Residence, Yao San opened the door. He said to a middle-aged man who looked like an advisor, "My master is not at home. He left earlier."
The advisor was stunned.
Back at the Right Prime Minister's residence, Wang Quan's eyes lit up, "What do you mean by that?"
Tang Shen, "The Second Prince is staging a coup, and the other two princes want to apprehend him. They can't act rashly, as that would make their actions unjustified. They need to invite a high-ranking official to assist them, and the best candidates would be the first-rank officials, such as you, Uncle. However, while ordinary officials might be persuaded, if you, Uncle, don't want to go, even the princes can't force you. So, if you send them away, they have no choice but to leave."
"Correct." Wang Quan gestured for him to continue.
"But I'm different. As a Censorate official, I hold a fourth-rank position. No matter how much His Majesty favors me, I'm still only a fourth-rank official. If a prince orders me to do something, how can I refuse? If I join a prince's faction, it would represent Sir, Senior Brother, and even you, Uncle. That's why you sent someone to bring me here tonight—to prevent this from happening!"
Wang Quan burst into laughter, just as the sound of clashing weapons echoed outside the walls. He laughed heartily, seemingly unafraid of the chaos outside, and praised, "Zi Feng's affection for you is justified, as it should be!"
Tang Shen's fingers tightened, "But there's one thing I want to know."
"Speak freely."
"How did you know that the Second Prince would stage a coup tonight?"
"Why don't you guess?"
Tang Shen fell silent, deep in thought.
The sounds of fighting near the Right Prime Minister's residence had ceased, and everything returned to silence.
"Uncle, unlike me, you have been maneuvering in the court for many years, with trusted people everywhere. Perhaps you deduced this from the movements of the Five City Military Commissions tonight, from the troops coming and going at the military camp on the edge of the city, or from the Imperial Guards..." Tang Shen paused, hesitating before asking, "But since you already knew, others must have known as well. His Majesty is gravely ill and unconscious. The only ones who can stop this palace coup are the two princes. The Second Prince is staging a coup, while the Fourth and Fifth Princes are rushing to the palace to rescue His Majesty..."
Tang Shen's voice trailed off.
Wang Quan looked at the lavish spread of dishes on the table and smiled gently, "Do you sense something amiss?"
"Uncle, you are a pillar of the Great Song. If you had known about this in advance, you would never have allowed it to happen. Besides you, Prime Minister Ji must have known as well, and he would never have stood by and watched. So, the only person who could make you sit back and watch as the two princes clash with the Second Prince..."
Tang Shen suddenly fell silent, saying no more.
Wang Quan set down his teacup and sighed deeply, "A year ago, Zi Feng told me that he couldn't see through it either, but he trusts that person. As the saying goes, three cobblers equal one Zhuge Liang, but that's just a joke. In the Great Song court, who can compare to that person?"
Tang Shen, "But why is all this happening?"
"Why? You want to know, I want to know, and Zi Feng wants to know. But aside from that person himself, no one knows!"
In Shengjing, chaos reigned.
Officials wrapped themselves in their robes and got out of bed, trembling in their studies, unsure of what to do.
Left Vice Prime Minister Chen Linghai, upon hearing that the Second Prince was rebelling, immediately changed his expression, "How could this happen?" When the Fifth Prince, Zhao Ji, sent someone to invite him, he hesitated for a moment before sighing deeply, "Tell them I'm ill and cannot receive guests."
Right Vice Prime Minister Xu Bi was even more interesting.
Earlier that day, Xu Bi had left Shengjing for a leisure trip to a country manor in Northern Zhili. It was the New Year holiday, and no one knew that Xu Bi was not in the capital.
Meanwhile, outside the residence of Left Prime Minister Ji Wengji, envoys from both Zhao Jing and Zhao Ji waited on either side.
The gates of the Left Prime Minister's residence were tightly shut, and the interior was pitch black and silent. No one answered the knocking of the soldiers, but the soldiers refused to leave, standing guard outside.
In the northwest corner of the Left Prime Minister's residence, in a simple and secluded courtyard, a small oil lamp flickered, illuminating a modest room.
No one would have guessed that this was Ji Wengji's study.
The room had only one oil lamp. The Left Prime Minister and his wife sat across from each other at the table, using the dim light—one sewing clothes, the other writing.
Madam Ji finished sewing the sleeve and looked up, seeing the characters her husband had written on the paper. Her throat tightened, and after a moment, she said softly, "It's so late. Aren't you going to sleep?"
Ji Wengji, as if waking from a dream, looked up at his wife, "Are you tired, wife?"
It was already past midnight, and both of them were old. How could they not be tired?
But Madam Ji smiled and said nothing.
Ji Wengji lowered his head and looked at the characters he had written. His gaze paused, and he fell silent.
The entire sheet of paper was densely covered with a single character—
"Zhao."
Ji Wengji leaned back in his chair, staring at the paper filled with the character "Zhao." He pointed at it and said to his wife, "Wife, what character do you think I've written?"
"It looks like the character 'Zhao.'"
"It is the character 'Zhao.' But whose 'Zhao' is it? Is it Zhao Shang, Zhao Jing, Zhao Ji... It can't be Zhao Ao. Perhaps it's Zhao Fu?"
Madam Ji's expression changed. Although she was a woman of the inner chambers, she knew that Zhao Fu was the current emperor's name.
"Husband!"
"Or is it Zhao Xuan?"
Suddenly, Ji Wengji stood up and reached for his robes. Madam Ji hurried after him, "What are you doing?"
Ji Wengji smiled, "Someone is knocking at the door. Didn't you hear, wife?"
Madam Ji didn't know what was happening, but she could hear the sounds of slaughter throughout the city that night. Her eyes reddened, and she complained, "But can't you just not go out?" As she spoke, she helped Ji Wengji put on his robes.
"I can, and I can't."
"Ai?"
Ji Wengji laughed heartily, took his wife's rough hands, and said gently, "These past fifty years have been hard on you, wife. Life in Shengjing hasn't been easy. I remember we still have some farmland."
Madam Ji, "Why are you bringing this up now?"
"I just remembered, that's all."
Madam Ji personally saw Ji Wengji off. As he was about to open the main gate, she couldn't help but ask again, "Do you really have to go?"
Ji Wengji looked at his wife seriously, "Yes, I really do."
"Why?"
Ji Wengji laughed freely, "If it weren't right before my eyes, it would be one thing. But since it is, how can I let it happen again!"
In the next moment, Ji Wengji opened the gate. The envoys from the Fourth Prince, Zhao Jing, and the Fifth Prince, Zhao Ji, had been waiting outside for a long time. When Ji Wengji suddenly appeared, none of them reacted immediately.
Ji Wengji, dressed in a deep red official robe, surveyed the scene with an imposing presence. "Let us go to the palace."
"Yes!"