32 The Perfect Momen (1/2)
5:30 PM.
Prince Qi rambled on about the renowned sideshow troupe he had specially prepared. At the same time, Fang Minghe's army was calling for the palace gate to be opened.
”Burn it, burn it hard!” Meng Fuyao ran about, calling for the guards of the Xin Palace. She kicked open a door and pulled the quilt away from a sleeping guard, exposing his naked bum and shouting, ”Sleeping at this time? Go light some fire, 32 of them. I want all of you to burn this place down, or I'll personally kick all your asses out the door.”
More than 3,000 enemy troops were waiting outside the Qianan Palace for a signal from the Xin Palace to proceed with the plan. The Xin Palace's guards were aware that there was going to be a huge change that night. Despite it being a life and death matter, none resisted against her absurdly rebellious order. Instead, they speedily gathered whatever flammable substance and vegetable oil they could to prepare the fire torches...
The imperial concubines and palace maids of the Xin Palace were brought into empty rooms within the Sixth East Palace to hide. The number of empty rooms exceeded the number of concubines, so Meng Fuyao sent a batch of guards over to set all unused rooms on fire before seeking for shelter.
”Alright, that's all we can do for now.” Meng Fuyao clapped and smiled. ”As long as the crown prince comes out, he'll have the upper hand since his troops are already within the city, unlike Qi Xunyi's, who would have to rush over from the outskirts. That way, when a battle really breaks out, Qi Xunyi's bound to be disadvantaged.”
”Or he might not make it out,” Yun Hen remarked, worry evident in his eyes.
Meng Fuyao shook her head, smiling. ”We've come this far. If he's unable to sense the crisis and take the chance to flee, he might just be better off dead.”
Yun Hen kept quiet, light flickering within his cold eyes.
A red light flashed across the screen window behind him, and at the next moment, flames shot up in every corner. Since it was an arson attack, all it took was one second for everything within the Xin Palace's perimeters to be thrown into chaos.
The windows were instantly misshapen, and the corridor pillars gradually started twisting. The bright, red flames rose to the clouds, adding a red hue to the ashen sky above the Imperial City.
Vague, alarmed cries could be heard from the imperial guards standing outside the Xin Palace. Upon a signaling call, the main entrance was kicked open.
Meng Fuyao pulled Yun Hen into the underground passage before jumping in and closing the floor door shut. It happened half a second before the imperial guards barged in, which led to Meng Fuyao happily pulling out a V sign.
”Victory!”
...
6:00 PM.
After making an appearance at the feast, the emperor had left the princes to enjoy by themselves. Due to his illness, he had returned to the Qianan Palace's pavilion to rest his royal body.
Qi Xunyi clapped, signaling for the sideshow troupe to enter the hall. The leading lady had a slender, snake-like waist, and her fair underbelly was exposed. She had on flowy, golden pants and a deep red tube top with embedded pearls, which enhanced the plumpness of her snow-white boobs. The proportion between her gorgeous chest and her waist was so perfect that she exuded an alluring wildness.
The princes were used to seeing reputable, conventionally-dressed upper-class women, so this refreshing sight had them putting down their wine cups. Even the crown prince's attention was caught.
Every member of the troupe moved skillfully during their performance. Halfway through it, more than 10 performers stacked themselves up, one atop another and each slanting outward at a greater angle, to form a diagonal human tower. The audience watched on, so engrossed in admiring the artists' strength and flexibility that they hadn't noticed the human tower slowly inching toward the crown prince. They were just another head away from him.
The crown prince, too, had failed to notice because Qi Xunyi had taken something out from his sleeves, effectively robbing his attention. It was a diagram belonging to Xuanji Nation, with 36 rows and columns of Chinese characters. Reading them forward, backward, diagonally and vertically created different sentences, but what the sentences formed weren't poetry but military strategies.
”Isn't this the legendary betrothal gift that the crown prince of Wuji Nation had presented to his wife-to-be when he was 13 years old? It was said that there are 32 amazing strategies within, and it has been kept deep within the palace. How did you obtain it?”
”This is a replica of course.” Qi Xunyi grinned slightly. ”I know you're into the art of war and have spent a painstaking amount of effort to get it for you.”
”Wow, what a treasure!” exclaimed the crown prince, taking and studying it seriously.
Qi Xunyi raised his head, his eyes flashing across the hall.
The coquettish lady immediately made a flip, her ample breasts rising like waves and her toes dotting the air consecutively. Her golden jewels sparkled and danced with the wind as she made her way up the human tower within a few seconds.
The tower was so tall that she could easily reach out to touch the ceiling, but upon reaching the top, the tower collapsed.
”Ah!”
Cries filled the palace hall, and the human tower abruptly came to a stop.
Those performers had real skills and did not scatter from that intense movement. Instead, they fell toward the ground in a steep angle and caught themselves right before touching it. The lady, balancing right at the edge, had her body upside down and her face right in front of the crown prince. Her black hair hung down like a waterfall, successfully blocking the view of a palace hall guard who was stationed in the middle, while her mild, tender dimples and flame-red lips landed beneath the crown prince's eyes. Throwing a charming smile his way, it was as if she was waiting for him to reach out to touch her.
She was so close. Her slim and long fingers could touch his throat with a simple stretch.
...
6:15 PM
There was a chaotic mess outside of the Xin Palace, where over 3,000 guards had gathered, attempting to charge into the hall and rooms while subduing the fire.
Fang Minghe's main force, on the other hand, had met with an obstacle. They were about to open the city gate when they got disrupted by the sudden emergence of a team of soldiers. Its leader, dressed in a snow-white robe and had cherry-red lips, declared that Fang Minghe was pretending to act on an imperial order and that the palace gate mustn't be opened. Without further interaction, the team consecutively killed a few spies who were in charge of opening the doors, causing the army of 50,000 people to be stuck outside the city gate.
...