Chapter 313: Fallen into the Trap

In order to keep the little prince firmly under her control, the Empress Dowager had mobilized all her forces, leaving not a single weak point. Now, however, she had no one left to use—fortunately, Cao Guangyi still obeyed her commands.

But last night, they had walked right into a trap, suffering heavy losses.

She now feared that the incident at the Gu Residence would become leverage in Tingyuan’s hands, giving him grounds to attack her.

For the Gu family to vanish without a trace—and for everything hidden within the residence to disappear as well—the Empress Dowager believed it must have been the joint effort of County Princess Lin’an and Su Wan. After all, the plan had originated from County Princess Lin’an, and apart from her, no one else had the motive. The deathsworn would never betray her.

She did not believe that Su Wan alone could have wiped out all the deathsworn. The Empress Dowager suspected that either Tingyuan or Zhao Wei had a hand in it.

She instructed Cao Guangyi to have people keep a close watch on both the Defender Duke’s residence and the Regent’s residence.

Cao Guangyi had previously served as Governor-General, wielding immense authority over regional military and fiscal matters. Because he harbored disloyal intentions, he was transferred back to the capital, a move clearly aimed at stripping him of his power. But Cao Guangyi was not one to relinquish authority so easily. He had been in a prolonged standoff with the court, which had yet to assign him a suitable new post.

Now, he still held military command. Last night, he was ordered to surround the Gu Residence. Had everything gone according to plan, it would have been their chance to make a comeback. Unfortunately, the operation failed—making things even more disadvantageous for Cao Guangyi.

As a result, Cao Guangyi took the matter very seriously. He dispatched several elite units to stand guard outside both the Regent’s residence and the Defender Duke’s residence. He even ensured that the Eldest Princess’s residence was not overlooked.

Tingyuan brought Gu Jingyun out from the Regent’s residence and boarded a carriage, which slowly made its way toward the palace.

Hidden figures lay in ambush, their eyes fixed on Gu Jingyun. One of them shuddered—was this the little prince that Lord Cao had been searching for?

The group exchanged glances, unsure of what to do. After all, the person accompanying him was the Junior Grand Secretary. If they acted rashly and tried to snatch the child, what would happen if the operation was exposed?

In the end, they decided to send someone to seek instructions from Lord Cao. But who would have thought that Censor Meng had just submitted a joint memorial accusing both Lord Cao and the Empress Dowager, and that Lord Cao had already been summoned into the palace?

“What do we do? Stop them or not?”

“Lord Cao said the little prince concerns his future. If the prince isn’t in his hands, the court might deal with him however it pleases. But if he holds the prince, he can stage a brilliant comeback.”

“But… but that’s the Junior Grand Secretary. Offending him—”

“That’s why we must succeed. If we get the little prince back, what does the Junior Grand Secretary matter? We can simply accuse him of kidnapping the imperial heir!”

After some discussion, the group came to a decision—they would wait for the right moment to seize the little prince.

They followed the carriage into a bustling street. The wide road was packed with people, a steady flow of carriages and horses weaving through the crowd.

“If we go much farther, we’ll reach the office of the Five City Patrol Division. If we make a move there, their men will capture us on the spot—it’s the same as handing them evidence against us. And not far past the Patrol Division is the palace gate. We absolutely can’t act once they’re that close.”

Lin Yuan turned to Gao Song beside him. “We only have this one chance—right now.”

Gao Song didn’t respond for a long while, finding the right opportunity was too difficult.

Fortunately, the Junior Grand Secretary hadn’t brought many people with him—only a coachman and two accompanying attendants.

They had eight men on their side.

Just as they were about to make their move, the sound of gongs and drums suddenly rang out on the street. A noisy, festive procession broke out, lively and jubilant.

A long bridal procession was approaching from afar, and it looked like it would soon block the Regent’s carriage head-on.

The group exchanged glances and saw the same message reflected in each other’s eyes: This is our chance!

They reached into their robes and pulled out smoke bombs. When the wedding procession passed by, they would throw the bombs to create chaos, giving them a perfect opportunity to rush the carriage and seize the child.

If all went well, they might be able to capture the little prince without shedding a single drop of blood.

“Bang—”

A loud explosion rang out, followed by thick smoke billowing through the air, releasing a pungent, choking scent.

Pedestrians screamed in fright and scattered in all directions.

The wedding procession broke apart in confusion. The sedan chair carriers, afraid of missing the auspicious hour, didn’t dare wait for the smoke to clear. The stinging haze made their eyes water uncontrollably, and so they staggered forward, lifting the bridal sedan in a hurry, stumbling as they rushed past the carriage to flee the scene.

The elite unit, their faces half-covered, charged out and intercepted the carriage. Mo Li and the coachman engaged them in combat.

In the chaos, the horses were startled. With a shrill neigh, they reared up and galloped forward in a frenzy.

“Stop the horses!” Gao Song shouted urgently, ordering his men to block Mo Li and Mo Han.

The rest of the group entangled themselves with the coachman, trying to prevent him from regaining control.

Lin Yuan darted forward and thrust his sword downward.

With a thunderous crash, the horses collapsed, and the carriage toppled over.

Expressionless, Lin Yuan used his longsword to lift the carriage curtain—only for his pupils to suddenly contract. The carriage was empty.

Tingyuan and Gu Jingyun were nowhere to be seen.

“Impossible!”

They had followed the carriage the entire way—there hadn’t been a single stop. How could those people have vanished into thin air?

Lin Yuan looked around in confusion as several carriages brushed past him and disappeared down the road.

Suddenly, a realization struck him—when the smoke bombs were used as a diversion earlier, it hadn’t just been to create chaos. It had also served as cover to discreetly transfer the target and avoid exposing their identities.

Could it be that Tingyuan also took this chance to slip away, blending into the crowd?

No—

He was too conspicuous. If he had mingled with the crowd, he would have been spotted for sure!

Mo Li and Mo Han didn’t stay entangled in the fight. With a feint, they broke away and retreated.

Gao Song hadn’t been targeting the two of them to begin with, so he didn’t give chase. Instead, noticing something was off on Lin Yuan’s side, he called out, “What’s wrong?”

He saw the empty carriage—no sign of the little prince—and his face turned ashen. “The bridal sedan?”

“After it, quickly!” Gao Song shouted. He had noticed that Mo Han and Mo Li had retreated in the opposite direction, which made it obvious—the bridal sedan was highly suspicious.

Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? To run into a wedding procession at such a critical moment?

The bridal procession hadn’t gone far, and they soon caught up with it.

“Ah—murder! Murder! Help!”

The matchmaker, terrified by the fierce and murderous-looking men, screamed as she scrambled to hide.

The sedan chair carriers dropped the bridal sedan and scattered in all directions.

With a grim face, Gao Song yanked open the sedan’s curtain—inside sat a bride dressed in a red wedding gown, her slender figure trembling uncontrollably.

He yanked off the red bridal veil, revealing the bride’s pale and terrified face. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she stared at them in fear. Her lips trembled as if trying to speak, but she was too frightened to utter a sound—her body shook even more violently.

Gao Song clenched the red veil in his hand, then flung it to the ground with force.

“What now? Should we still go after them?” Lin Yuan’s face was grim as well. “We could take a shortcut—hurry ahead to intercept them before the stretch near the Five City Patrol Division—and search every passing carriage?”

“Are you looking to die?!” Gao Song snapped, his gaze shifting past Lin Yuan. His pupils shrank. “Run!”

The riders from the Five City Patrol Division galloped toward them at full speed, shouting, “Disturbing the peace in the Imperial City—do you still hold the law in any regard? Surrender now and spare yourself a beating!”

People on two legs couldn’t outrun horses on four. Lin Yuan and Gao Song managed to escape, but four others were captured by the Patrol Division and taken back for interrogation.

Mo Han and Mo Li stepped out from the shadows, regretting that four of the culprits had escaped. But they couldn’t publicly intervene to help with the arrests—still, four captured were more than enough to convict Cao Guangyi.

Mo Yuan arrived, leading two horses, and handed the reins to the two of them.

They mounted and galloped toward the palace. Just as they reached the palace gates, they caught up with Tingyuan and Gu Jingyun, who were just stepping down from the carriage.

Mo Li let out a breath of relief. His lord had anticipated that someone would try to intercept them, and had deliberately arranged a wedding procession to create an opening for those lurking in the shadows.

If those people hadn’t taken the bait, his lord had planned to release smoke bombs himself, staging an assassination attempt to draw the snakes from their holes—an opportunity those enemies wouldn’t have been able to resist.

But there was no need for the lord to stage the assassination—Cao Guangyi’s men lost patience and made their move first.

His lord had taken the little prince away in the bridal sedan, then switched to another carriage to enter the palace. After that, he sent someone to inform the Five City Patrol Division and had those men arrested.

The Commander of the Five City Patrol Division was one of the Regent’s people.

“It’s done, my lord,” Mo Li reported in a low voice.

Tingyuan gave a faint nod. He glanced at the increasingly silent Gu Jingyun, reached out to gently pat his head, and led him toward Weiyang Palace.