Chapter 26: The Assassin's Night Raid

In recent days, the affairs of state had been unsettled. It was said that for several nights in a row, the Emperor had summoned the Crown Prince and his ministers to the Chengkun Hall, seemingly troubled by the drought plaguing Lihuai County.

It was late at night, silence settling over Yunyan Palace.

Gu Li sat before her dressing table, allowing her maid to remove the pearl hairpins from her hair. Her delicate, unadorned face was clouded with sorrow, her mind weighed down by cares she could neither name nor dispel.

“Your Highness.”

Jasmine entered, carrying a bowl of white fungus and lotus seed soup, smiling as she spoke, “Your Highness hasn’t had much appetite these days. Perhaps you should have a little of this soup before bed to help you sleep?”

“No, I don’t want any.” Gu Li could not summon any interest.

“Your Highness, can you guess whom I just ran into on my way to the imperial kitchens?” Jasmine set the bowl aside, her voice lively with curiosity.

“Who?” Gu Li, noticing the hairpins had all been removed, stood and moved aside to wash her face.

“None other than General Chang’an.” Jasmine’s tone was gleeful as she noticed Gu Li’s hand pause mid-motion, and she suppressed a laugh. “It seems the Emperor summoned him into the palace late at night to discuss state affairs.”

“Oh,” Gu Li replied, unconcerned as she resumed washing her face, her tone cool and careless. “What does that have to do with me?”

Stubborn as ever, Jasmine thought to herself, barely able to keep from laughing aloud.

Just as she was about to say something, a sudden commotion erupted outside. Urgent, angry shouts rang out: “Protect His Majesty! Quickly!”

“Hurry, protect His Majesty! There are assassins!”

“Come quickly, protect the Emperor!”

“What’s happening?” Startled, Gu Li immediately stood and hurried toward the door, only then hearing the clatter of swords and the rapid footsteps of the palace guards outside.

“Could something have happened to Father?” Her face blanched. She was just about to return to her room for a cloak to investigate when Jasmine rushed out in a panic, only to come running back, breathless, with news.

“Your Highness, word is that assassins have broken into Chengkun Hall. It’s chaos outside, and all the palace guards have been mobilized. Just now, a message came from Her Majesty the Empress: you are to remain here and stay safe, nothing will happen to you. General Chang’an is already at His Majesty’s side.”

Gu Li’s heart pounded with fear, her body trembling, her face as white as a sheet.

Jasmine hurried to support her, guiding her to sit by the table and pouring her a cup of water to calm her nerves.

Gu Li took a sip, only then realizing her fingers were shaking.

Though the palace was always strictly guarded, Gu Li had only ever heard of assassins in the tales told by storytellers. Raised in pampered seclusion, she had never known hardship or fear, much less encountered real danger.

Now, hearing that assassins had attacked Chengkun Hall in the dead of night, she was terrified for her father. And knowing that General Chang’an was at the Emperor’s side, facing cold steel in the darkness, she recalled the scars on his body and felt as if her heart and soul were being wrung together.

That night, the palace was ablaze with lights.

Not until the hour of the ox did the Empress Dowager and the Empress each send word: the Emperor was unharmed, and she was not to worry and should rest.

Gu Li breathed a sigh of relief at the news, yet sleep eluded her. Ignoring Jasmine’s gentle urging, she sat by the table through the long, sleepless night.

At dawn, she sent several maids to inquire after the Crown Prince, and before long, a message was returned.

“His Majesty and the Crown Prince are both unharmed. There were three assassins—two of them, deathsworn, took their own lives by biting their tongues after being subdued by General Chang’an. As for their leader, a man of exceptional martial skill and inner strength, he fought with General Chang’an, was wounded, but managed to escape. His Majesty has ordered a pursuit.”

Gu Li clenched her hands and asked, “Was General Chang’an hurt?”

“General Chang’an distinguished himself last night in defending His Majesty and has already been rewarded. However, he was injured in his fight with the leader of the assassins.”

Gu Li’s face turned pale and she nearly fainted.

Jasmine, alarmed, asked on her behalf, “Is General Chang’an gravely injured?”

“This morning, His Majesty arranged for General Chang’an to rest in a side hall and summoned the imperial physicians. Fortunately, the wound is not deep and there is no danger to his life. With medicine and some rest, he will recover in time.”

A great weight lifted from Gu Li’s heart, though the knowledge that he had been wounded again pained her deeply. In her heart, she cursed the assassins a thousand times over.