Yan Wushi was used to seeing beauty, but struck with the vision that was Shen Qiao in women’s clothes, he was still taken aback and found his surprise stuck in his throat.
That was his first thought.
The second thought was: I have great taste.
When it came to changing one’s appearance, there was a considerable amount of technique involved, unless you were like Huo Xijing directly swapping on another’s face, you couldn’t achieve immediate total alteration of your appearance, so in Shen Qiao’s completed transformation, his face was not dissimilar to how it appeared before, the Huanyue Sect maidservants had been skilled and attentive, they did their work in the details, softening and feminizing the contours of his face, now even someone who knew Shen Qiao from before would have a hard time recognizing him.
The attractiveness of Shen Qiao’s usual features, with the addition of make-up, could only become more extraordinary, even if Shen Qiao wore maidservants’ clothes, with not a single accessory or precious stone in his hair, still he drew attention at first glance.
Yan Wushi also noticed this problem: “Make his face more dull.”
Moments later, Shen Qiao’s face and neck were made more jaundiced and ashen, the maidservants managed to cover up his allure in part, they were very careful, they changed even the colour of his hands, in case someone picked up on the discrepancy.
Bian Yanmei and Shen Qiao were both men, they didn’t know bone retraction technique, after crossdressing their height was still there, in order not to appear too out of place, Puliuru Jian being very detail-oriented, particularly had looked for two maidservants in his manor who had similar statures, women from the north were taller on average anyway, they weren’t too hard to find, although still shorter than Bian Yanmei by half a head, after adding a shoe-lift, the difference was no longer that prominent, other people might think that these four maidservants entering the palace were all slightly on the tall side, but what was important was that they wouldn’t pay particular attention to Bian Shen these two.
After it was all arranged, it was the shichen for their entry into the palace, Shen Qiao Bian Yanmei with the task delegated to them from Sui-guogong manor, entered the palace with the other two maidservants.
Shen Qiao was not too concerned about his safety, with his wugong, as long as he didn’t face Xueting head-on, even if surrounded by palace guards, he could still escape from danger if he wanted to, but if he were to bring along Sui-guogong’s two sons, and the empress, that would be quite difficult, if there was any mishap, even if Puliuru Jian didn’t blame Shen Qiao, Shen Qiao’s self-respect will be set to running water, and he would no longer have any face to wander the jianghu.
As his thoughts reverberated in his head, he set foot in the palace, although his expression was unchanged, he had already begun calculating which path would make the quickest exit.
“Stop looking,” Bian Yanmei seemed to know what he was thinking, with his mouth closed, he used his inner qi to say: “Yuwen Yun named five empresses, although the one we are going to save is the empress consort, she is the least favoured, so her quarters are in the northwest corner, from there to where we are now, there is a long distance to walk.”
Shen Qiao also used his qi to reply: “Aren’t there four sets of gates into the palace, why don’t we use the northern gates to exit?”
Bian Yanmei: “The northern gates are not in use, the palace walls are high, even if we can jump over them, to bring along two three more people will really impede us, Yuwen Yun’s people also have teeth, at that time as long as the archers let loose their barrage, while the others surround us, it will be difficult for us to escape.”
Shen Qiao furrowed his brow.
Before their departure, the plan had been set: Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei after seeing the empress will draw the guards at the door in and put them down, then they will leave together with the empress and Puliuru Jian’s two sons, if along their route they can avoid the various martial masters and guards meandering the perimeter, at the gates Puliuru Jian’s people will be waiting, they would be safe then.
Without hostages, Puliuru Jian can start his uprising, Xueting was currently in Qingliangsi, where Yan Wushi could confront him, Sang Jingxing and Yuan Xiuxiu were not in the capital, Hehuan Sect was like a headless dragon, truly a heaven-sent opportunity, Puliuru Jian had also liaised with the capital military, if this attempt was successful, then a new sovereign stands, a new horizon emerges.
The plan could be perfect, but reality was much more vexing, even the most elaborate plans have holes, keeping in mind how rushed this whole ordeal was, with its numerous variables, whether or not it would succeed, only the heavens knew.
Of course, even if Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei weren’t able to rescue anyone, they would have startled Yuwen Yun, by then Puliuru Jian will be forced to revolt anyways, but this outcome would not be the one they intended.
But things were already set in motion, overprudence was not helpful, Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei followed the two maidservants, crossing hall after hall, step by step they headed towards Qingningdian, where Puliuru-shi resided.
The inner court eunuch that had led them to the entrance of Qingningdian, his old face smiled strangely: “The empress is inside, before you enter, please open the goods you brought with you, the guards need to do their inspection.”
In truth they had already been inspected at the main gates to the palace, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to enter at all, but the emperor detested Puliuru-shi, those in the palace with eyes also took the opportunity to follow-up with a rock down the well, wherever there was life there would be people who flatter the strong and step on the weak, it was not news to anybody.
The two maidservants had been to the palace with Dugu-shi before, seeing this they stepped forward, and pushed a heavy embroidered bag into the eunuch’s hands: “A small token, for your pleasure, please don’t mind the small amount.”
The eunuch traced the amount through the fabric, it wasn’t silver, but jade ornaments that were more valuable than silver, his smile turned more genuine, he didn’t call the guards for inspection: “The empress must be waiting, you should hurry in, after speaking come back out, don’t stay long.”
The maidservants made a sound of acknowledgement, thanked the eunuch, and brought Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei inside.
The empress had received word that the emperor had given permission for people from her family to enter the palace to visit, she had long been sitting and waiting with her two brothers in the main hall.
Logically, the empress as the head of the six palaces, wouldn’t need the emperor’s acknowledgement to receive visitors in the palace from her family, but after the founding of the Jin dynasty, rites and customs went into disarray, muddled regulations, now reaching the time of Yuwen Yun’s rule, he definitely adopted a novel approach, simultaneously naming five empresses, although Puliuru-shi had seniority, there was no historical precedent, even Liu Cong himself had only named four empresses, Yuwen Yun was truly irreplicable, Puliuru-shi came from an esteemed family, even if she didn’t show it, in her heart she would’ve felt felt the humiliation.
After so many days of detainment, seeing someone from her family arrive, her eyes turned red-rimmed immediately.
A maidservant gave her greetings: “Zhugong and zhumu have been missing the empress and two langjun dearly, they’ve prepared these clothes and foods, and instructed us to enter the palace to present them to you.”
As she said this, she made a hand gesture.
The empress understood at once, drew them in to one of the side rooms.
“There are guards outside, speaking here they won’t be able to hear, it’s safe enough, a-die a-niang must have a message they wanted you to pass on?”
The maidservants didn’t say anything, turned to the people behind them.
The empress had seen them earlier with their heads bowed, similarly attired, and hadn’t paid them much attention, now looking at them again, she felt something was amiss.
Her family didn’t have maidservants that were so tall? They appeared a whole head taller than even the maidservants in her own residence.
“And you are…?”
Bian Yanmei had no intention of wasting his breath, he succinctly introduced himself and Shen Qiao, and then summarized the rescue plan.
The empress appeared torn: “This is too dangerous, you may not know, Xueting may have left the palace, but his disciples remain to keep counsel with the emperor, there’s also Hehuan Sect people here, the entire way you have to bring us along with you, I’m afraid it’s beyond what you two can achieve, even a small error will sink the whole enterprise.”
She was not a jianghu person, had spent so many married years in the palace, even if she had heard of Huanyue Sect and Xuandushan, she had no way of knowing how strong Shen Qiao’s wugong was.
Bian Yanmei had no time to converse further: “We are acting on Sui-guogong’s request, if we didn’t have some margin of confidence, we wouldn’t gone to such risky lengths.”
Puliuru-shi hesitated: “But these maidservants of mine have always stuck with me through hardship, if we leave like this, they’ll surely be punished…”
Bian Yanmei: “I hear that your relationship with Empress Zhu is very good, after we leave, your maidservants can head to Empress Zhu’s residence and hide out there for a while, the emperor’s attention will be on us, he won’t remember to chase after those maidservants.”
The empress’ two brothers had recognized Bian Yanmei, and had walked up to him, Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei each picked up one, the empress seeing this said no more, hurried after them.
But just at this moment, the empress’ personal maidservant rushed in, panicking: “Bad news, dianxia, the emperor is coming this way with his people!”
The emperor rarely ventured this way, a once-in-a-thousand year phenomenon, the empress froze.
Yuwen Yun coming now, there would certainly be Hehuan Sect and Buddhist martial masters accompanying him, it would not be easy for Shen Qiao and them to still make an exit.
Bian Yanmei and Shen Qiao looked at each other, couldn’t help but adapt accordingly.
The empress only had time to tell her brothers to not say anything before Yuwen Yun arrived with his people.
Yuwen Yun had an odd personality, this oddness may have stemmed from the length of time he spent under the previous emperor’s thumb, in the sudden freedom he may have jumped to the other extreme, otherwise there was no explanation. The empress Puliuru-shi had a very kind personality, was fair in her dealings, towards those concubines abused by Yuwen Yun, those she could help she always extended a hand, people in the palace generally liked her, when Yuwen Yun insulted and raged at her she endured it silently, every difficulty she met with equanimity, but even someone like this, could not bear Yuwen Yun’s tempestuous turns, one can see the extent of the rot of this emperor’s personality, with what happened to Yuwen Xian and others as precedents, even if Puliuru Jian had no original intent to revolt, with time he had been forced to rise in revolution.
For the purpose of maximizing pleasure and minimizing criticism from his officials, Yuwen Yun had left the throne to his son Yuwen Chan, he didn’t take on the role of taishanghuang, instead he named himself Tianyuan Emperor, for the Zhou court officials, they had never seen such a thing, they didn’t discuss it openly, but in their hearts they thought it preposterous.
Typically Yuwen Yun very rarely came to see the empress, the only purpose would be to abuse her to quell his rage, today he was strangely enough in a good mood, he was even smiling, a face carrying the spring wind.
The empress greeted him outside the doors, Yuwen Yun held her hand and led her back inside, even asked her two brothers: “Little brother-in-laws, how is your time so far in the palace?”
Puliuru Jian’s eldest son faltered, while the younger was a bit more nimble, he pulled his older brother with him to pay their respects: “Thank you your majesty for you attention, we are both doing well.”
Yuwen Yun smiled and said: “Sui-guogong sent you what kind of goods today?”
Saying this, his gaze fell on Shen Qiao and his group.
The empress: “It’s a bunch of food and clothing, not worth a mention.”
Yuwen Yun: “The palace lacks for nothing, your father does too many unnecessary things, he even requested a special delivery into the palace, does he feel that I treat you poorly here?”
The empress rushed to reply: “Your majesty speaks seriously, it’s only because my two brothers are here with me in the palace, they’re young and haven’t spent any time away from home, my parents spoil them, please do not blame them.”
“Why are you so worried, I haven’t said no, if that were the case, they wouldn’t have been able to enter the palace!” Yunwen Yun chuckled, to Shen Qiao he said: “You, raise your head.”
Shen Qiao could not pretend he hadn’t heard.
Yuwen Yun: “Just now I felt your face wasn’t too bad, although your complexion is rather dull, if we were to feed you well, perhaps it’ll improve!”
Shen Qiao could not have predicted Bian Yanmei’s crow mouth, one sentence becoming prophecy, the emperor was making advances towards him!
Thinking this, he didn’t dare say anything, he feigned alarm, took a step back, and bowed his head again.
The empress stepped forward, towards the emperor she softly said: “Your majesty has not been here in a long time, I’ve missed you on my days and nights, it’s not easy to have a chance to be in your presence, I’m very happy, would I be able to keep your majesty’s company over dinner?”
One moment Yuwen Yun’s face was smiling, the next moment his face darkened: “What piece of shit are you to dare request my company, I’m disgusted everytime I see you, who knows if you’ll poison my food!”
The emperor’s tempestuous turns, Shen Qiao finally was able to see in person today, Yan Wushi was also temperamental, but completely not in this vein.
Yan Wushi, others can describe as having dominant wugong, unparalleled arrogance, but for Yuwen Yun what was there to say, if not for his position, he’d likely be hacked to death by various knives.
Hearing these words, the empress’ face drained of colour, she fell to her knees begging for forgiveness.
At this moment, Bian Yanmei suddenly moved.
His body in an arc as he leapt towards Yuwen Yun, like thunder striking before one could cover one’s ears!
Yuwen Yong naturally was escorted by a cluster of martial masters, there were several monks from the Buddhist sects, as well several men and women from Hehuan Sect, Yuwen Yun probably knew he was widely detested, so all twelve shichen in a day he was never alone, if Xueting was not at Qingliangsi praying for fortune on behalf of the royal family today, he would not have tolerated even one moment of Xueting-chanshi’s absence.
Bian Yanmei was deliberate in his calculations, although the martial masters escorting Yuwen Yun were high in number, there wasn’t anyone exceptional, nevermind at the grandmaster level, Xueting, Sang Jingxing, Yuan Xiuxiu were all absent, to capture thieves capture their king, as long as he could capture Yuwen Yun, with him in hand, they could walk out of here casually with the siblings.
Just now, he and Shen Qiao had come to a tacit understanding, he was responsible for grabbing Yuwen Yun, Shen Qiao was responsible for the rest of the emperor’s people, blocking them from interfering with Bian Yanmei.
In that instant, when Bian Yanmei revealed himself, someone beside Yuwen Yun moved as fast as he had, his form flashed in front of Yuwen Yun, his palm raised, the air rising, along with currents of zhengqi, domineering in strength, boundless, unforeseeable.
The person originally had a full beard covering most of his face, but as soon as he moved, his hair billowed, and Shen Qiao recognized the other’s true identity.
Xueting-chanshi!
He didn’t go to Qingliangsi at all, but was by Yuwen Yun’s side this whole time!
It was possible he expected that on the eighth day of the fourth month during his absence, Puliuru Jian would seize the opportunity to make his move, so he counterplotted, to draw the snake out of its cave, to let Puliuru Jian’s efforts fall to ruin.
At the same time, the other masters escorting Yuwen Yun moved in Shen Qiao’s direction.
Although Yunwen Yun had been prepared, he was still frightened into retreating several steps, he hollered for his guards outside: “Kill them, kill them, kill them all!”
Besides Xueting, among Yuwen Yun’s escort there was no one else that stood out, Shen Qiao ushered the empress and her brothers into an inner hall, he as their lone guard, not even ten thousand could pass, to stop everyone here was within his ability.
But on Bian Yanmei’s end, he definitely was no match for Xueting, if Bian Yanmei fell, and Shen Qiao had to come deal with Xueting, no one would be left to guard the children.
This is also what Xueting-chanshi thought.
When he struck out with his palm, his expression changed slightly, as he realized how wrong he was!