Female Consort Chapter 88: Allies

“Lord Qiu, you’re overestimating me,” Cui Wenshen coughed weakly, his breath faint. “If you all can’t get in, how could I?”

“You can.”

“And what if I say I can’t?”

“Then you die.” Qiu Che paused, smiling lightly despite Cui’s indifferent expression, then added, “And I’ll send your beloved lover, the son you bore, to die with you.”

Cui Wenshen held back his anger again and again, but his expression still shifted slightly.

“Lord Qiu, you’re a bit too confident. How do you know it won’t be you who dies instead?”

“Then what makes you so sure he will win?”

“He will.” Cui Wenshen fixed his gaze on her, a trace of caution in his voice. “He’s waited too long for this day and has prepared too much... You simply cannot win.”

“How do you know we’re not prepared?”

Cui Wenshen said nothing, but his eyes clearly spelled out one word: impossible.

Qiu Che’s reactions today had been exactly what he and Li Hengyu expected, not at all surprising, yet not quite a rehearsed performance either.

If this were all an act... After so many years by the Emperor’s side, Cui Wenshen had seen countless officials and concubines put on performances; many were skilled actors, but even he had failed to see through this one.

Well, then Qiu Che deserved to win.

Qiu Che merely smiled, showing no intention to explain: “I know your master is planning a coup... or rather, it’s the Crown Prince planning one. Am I right?”

“A coup?!” Fu Feng shouted aloud, then immediately covered his mouth, glancing around nervously.

The capital was still under curfew tonight; aside from a few hurried patrol squads, the streets were nearly empty.

Fu Feng led Li Qingwu, carefully avoiding patrols from the princess’s mansion all the way to the palace gates.

A squad stood silently in front of the palace, holding lamps and waiting.

When Li Qingwu calmly uttered the word “coup,” Fu Feng almost lost his footing on the palace wall.

But Li Qingwu steadied him with a hand on his shoulder, whispering, “Why panic? Haven’t you seen they haven’t made a move yet?”

Fu Feng stiffened.

He regained his balance and, hidden beneath the branches extending from the courtyard trees, no one noticed their presence.

Still...

“Your Highness, why do you say they’re staging a coup?”

“I guessed it,” Li Qingwu adjusted her uneven breathing from being hurriedly dragged along by Fu Feng. “But I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Looks like... Li Hengyu really couldn’t wait.”

A cold light flickered in her eyes as she said this.

Fu Feng looked full of questions, as if about to ask how the Third Prince Li Hengyu was involved.

But now was not the time for questions. Li Qingwu patted him and whispered, “Let’s go. First to Yaohua Palace.”

“Aren’t we supposed to find the Young Lord...?”

“I’m in charge. Listen to me, we’re picking up Consort Xu first.”

Fu Feng fell silent for a moment, then suddenly felt the same oppressive presence he once felt from Qiu Che.

The aura of a true leader.

He sighed inwardly, “...Understood.”

The two palace maids guarding Consort Xu’s door were knocked out by Fu Feng. Li Qingwu stepped forward and knocked, then whispered after a moment, “Open the door, Your Highness, it’s me.”

After a moment, Consort Xu cautiously cracked the door open. Seeing her two watchers unconscious, she visibly relaxed.

Li Qingwu sent Fu Feng to guard outside, then entered alone.

Consort Xu closed the door and nervously asked, “Almost all my guards have been pulled away tonight, only two remain. What’s going on? Why are you suddenly here again?”

Li Qingwu spoke quickly, “Something’s about to happen in the palace. You need to leave with my covert guard Fu Feng first, to stay safe. I’ll go find Prince Pingyi.”

Consort Xu frowned, “Can you manage alone?”

“This came on suddenly. We’re not fully prepared, so Fu Feng will escort you out of the palace, then return for me and Pingyi. There’s a secret passage outside. Follow it; our people are waiting at the end. You’ll be safe.”

“Wait.”

Though worried, Consort Xu did not question the plan. She hurriedly turned, pulled out a small square box from a hidden compartment beneath the bed, and handed it to Li Qingwu.

“This is what they’ve been after,” she whispered. “It might help you when the time comes.”

Li Qingwu glanced inside the box. Their eyes met and both understood the weight behind it.

Without delay, Li Qingwu slipped the box into her sleeve and watched Consort Xu leave.

“No,” Fu Feng couldn’t help but object. “If I escort the Consort out first, what about you and Prince Pingyi...?”

“Enough,” Consort Xu cut him off. “Go now. I trust her.”

Li Qingwu hadn’t expected Consort Xu to be so decisive and froze for a moment.

Then she saw Consort Xu turn and smile faintly, “We’re allies now, aren’t we?”

Allies should trust unconditionally, united in purpose.

After they left, Li Qingwu followed her memory of the palace passages, taking a shortcut to Fengyang Pavilion.

Everything inside the palace appeared normal, no sign of unrest. She guessed most inside hadn’t yet realized the coup attempt.

So Li Qingwu acted as if nothing was wrong. Upon meeting the palace maid who served the princess at Fengyang Pavilion, she casually said she was here to escort the princess out for the Lantern Festival parade the next day.

The maid hesitated but suspected nothing: “Is that alright? Without Consort Xu’s orders...”

Li Qingwu interrupted, “Consort Xu already told me. Perhaps she’s forgetful and forgot to tell you. Take me to see Prince Pingyi. If anything goes wrong, I’ll take responsibility.”

The maid bowed and said, “Yes, Your Highness.”

As they reached Prince Pingyi’s resting hall, suddenly a palace maid ran screaming from the pavilion gate, shouting, “Help! The Crown Prince is killing people! He’s going to kill the Emperor! Someone, help, ”

She was frantic and incoherent, clearly terrified.

“What’s going on?!”

The palace maid leading Li Qingwu suddenly stopped in her tracks. Before she could react, Li Qingwu had silently quickened her pace, slipped past her, pushed open the door, and hurried inside the hall.

Outside, the noise suddenly grew louder, screams from palace maids, pleas from eunuchs, the clanging of weapons, the muffled thuds of blades piercing flesh...

Each sound struck Li Qingwu’s heart, making her whole body tremble.

It wasn’t fear. It was sorrow.

In the courtyard, a matron who had heard the commotion led a sleepy Pingyi out cautiously, hiding behind a pillar to observe the situation.

Li Qingwu stepped forward and lifted Pingyi into her arms. Pingyi’s small voice whispered with surprise, “Sister!”

The matron anxiously asked, “Your Highness, what’s happening outside? Has something happened...?”

Before she could finish, several figures suddenly dropped down from outside the palace walls.

Li Qingwu instinctively took a step back, clutching Pingyi tightly. But as she recognized the newcomers’ faces, her tension eased.

The leader, Yu Yan, pulled back her hood and blew a sharp whistle to prove she wasn’t an imposter. “Your Highness, it’s me.”

Li Qingwu let out a breath, though still wary. “Why have you come?”

“You asked me to find the master, but the city gates have been sealed off by the patrol guards and the Imperial Secret Police. They’re guarding it tightly; none of our people can get out.”

Yu Yan stepped forward, took the confused Pingyi from Li Qingwu’s arms, and lowered her voice. “I couldn’t bear to wait, so I came to find you here.”

Li Qingwu knew that if Qiu Che were still in the capital, he would have sent her too.

Even if not, she would have done the same, women warriors never give up on anyone they consider comrades.

That was the military rule Qiu Che had set for them a year ago.

Li Qingwu nodded, about to say more.

Suddenly, the hall’s doors were kicked open. A swarm of prince’s personal guards flooded in, spears and blades raised, shouting, “Don’t move! Get down on the ground!”

Li Qingwu decided immediately. “Go!”

Yu Yan reacted just as fast. She tossed Pingyi to a nearby subordinate, then hoisted Li Qingwu onto her shoulder and, using momentum, leapt up onto the palace wall.

Li Qingwu, carried like that, thought to herself, “This posture feels oddly familiar…”

Two female subordinates reacted quickly as well. While Pingyi called out for the matron, the other rushed to grab the terrified matron and followed Yu Yan’s lead.

The guards standing in place were shouted at by their captain, “What are you waiting for? Chase them!”

“But, sir, that looks like the Princess, ”

“Who cares who it is?” The captain kicked the man, furious. “Her Highness said no one in the palace is to be spared today. Didn’t you hear that?”

“Yes! Yes!”

Yu Yan led her team, carrying Li Qingwu, as they dashed across the palace rooftops, deftly vaulting from eave to eave. Amid the rushing wind, she suddenly remembered to ask, “Your Highness, where to now?”

Li Qingwu was nearly sick from the jostling but still clutched her pouch tightly to keep its contents safe. She answered weakly, “Take Pingyi and the others away first. I... need to go to the Yangxin Hall.”

Yu Yan glanced back at the prince’s guards pursuing them, then veered off with her two subordinates while Li Qingwu headed straight for Yangxin Hall.

The guards hesitated for a moment, splitting up, two gave chase after Yu Yan’s group, the rest went after her subordinates.

“They’re, ”

“Don’t worry,” Yu Yan said lightly. “They’re all skilled fighters picked from the women’s corps, personally trained by me and the master. Nothing will happen.”

Li Qingwu was silent for a moment. “Aren’t you going to ask why I’m going to Yangxin Hall?”

“Your Highness and the master always have their reasons,” Yu Yan replied without looking back. “Besides, I trust the master, the master trusts you. So I trust you too.”

Ah, that phrase again.

Li Qingwu felt a little dazed. Somehow, everyone around her seemed to have an inexplicable confidence in them for various reasons.

Not that it was a bad feeling.

...Though next time, she wished Yu Yan would carry her differently.

When they arrived at Yangxin Hall, only two dozing little eunuchs were outside.

Yu Yan pressed herself against the eaves, blending into the night shadows, whispering in confusion, “I thought the Emperor was under strict guard? Why are there only two today?”

Li Qingwu fought back nausea and said quietly, “The prince must have pulled the eunuchs back early to force a palace coup.”

She caught Yu Yan’s attention just in time to see her swiftly knock out the two guards pursuing them, dropping them into a dense, concealed patch of the imperial garden below.

Yu Yan clapped her hands, turning back innocently, “What now, Your Highness?”

Li Qingwu thought for a moment, calculating the position, then pointed to a nearby brick. “Can you break through here? Quietly.”

Yu Yan took out a small knife and quickly made a small hole.

Thankfully, it was fairly quiet.

With the brick removed, Li Qingwu peered inside and frowned.

Yu Yan followed her gaze downward, just below was the inner chamber of Yangxin Hall.

The Emperor lay on the bed, pale, his fate uncertain.

From what they could see, no one else was inside.

Time was short. Li Qingwu could only send the stronger Yu Yan in first to investigate.

To avoid alerting the two eunuchs, they slipped inside one after another through a back window.

Yu Yan rolled silently to the floor.

Footsteps sounded behind her.

She spun around and pressed the freshly broken knife blade against the intruder’s neck.

After a tense silence, Li Qingwu managed to light a candle.

In the flickering light, the face of the chief eunuch, Fuzi, appeared.