Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4888 Searching the Forbidden Palace
Snow was falling, and the snowflakes were like reed catkins, falling down in a scattering and rustling manner. The halo of the lanterns in the corridor in the distance was cut by the snowflakes, flickering vaguely. The tall roofs of the palaces were hidden in the darkness. Li Anyan, wearing leather armor, walked in the East Palace with a team of imperial guards. The snow made a "crunching" sound where they stepped on it, and they walked in a line towards the Lizheng Palace.

From Xuande Gate all the way south, passing through Bafeng Hall, Cheng'en Hall, Guangtian Hall and other places, it can be seen that even in the heavy snow, the security is still strict. At the sentry posts, soldiers stand motionless in the wind and snow. Only when they see Li Anyan and his party passing by, they kneel on one knee to salute.

Li Anyan, expressionless, led his team straight to the north side of Lizheng Palace, but was stopped by the imperial guards on duty.

This is already the prince's bedroom. The guards here are the prince's personal guards, which belong to a different system from the left and right Qianniu guards in the East Palace. Therefore, even the Qianniu guard Li Anyan is not allowed to enter the Lizheng Hall without permission.

The prince's personal guards are responsible for guarding the night palace, the left and right Qianniu guards are responsible for guarding the Eastern Palace, and the six officers of the Eastern Palace directly under the prince are stationed outside the city of Chang'an... In short, today's Crown Prince cannot directly command his army except for the hundred or so personal guards around him. The huge Eastern Palace is like a cage that imprisons the prince, and his life and death are in the hands of the emperor.

"The prince's bedroom, please stop, general."

The guards of Lizheng Palace pressed their hands on the hilts of their swords, their faces expressionless.

Li Anyan stopped and looked up at the tall roof of the Lizheng Palace that was barely visible in the snow. He said slowly, "I just received news that a mysterious convoy entered the East Palace. I am responsible for guarding the East Palace, so I must ensure the safety of the Crown Prince. Please inform the Crown Prince and allow me to enter the Lizheng Palace to search."

The guards of Lizheng Palace shook their heads and said, "After nightfall, unless there is an emergency, no one is allowed to enter the prince's bedroom without permission. General Li, who is guarding the Eastern Palace, should know the rules. Besides, the mysterious convoy you mentioned is just Princess Jinyang's clothes, accessories and daily necessities. There is nothing to search. General Li, please go back."

Li Anyan frowned, very dissatisfied with the attitude of the guards of Lizheng Palace, and said angrily: "All entrances and exits of the Eastern Palace must be strictly searched. Now in the middle of the night, several vehicles have entered the palace with strange whereabouts. The safety of the prince has been threatened, but you have repeatedly blocked me from exercising my authority. Do you have ulterior motives and want to harm His Highness? Get out of the way quickly. No matter what, those vehicles must be searched tonight, and no one can stop me!"

Seeing him so aggressive and relentless, the guards of Lizheng Palace looked at each other, and more than ten of them drew their swords and held them upright in front of them in a defensive posture. The blades flashed coldly in the wind and snow. The leader said in a deep voice: "Lizheng Palace is the prince's bedroom. The general has been making trouble and trying to break in late at night. Could it be that he has rebellious thoughts and wants to do something illegal?"

The imperial guards behind Li Anyan were a little afraid and hesitated to draw their weapons. If a confrontation occurred, the situation would get out of hand and it would be difficult to resolve.

However, Li Anyan showed no fear at all. He stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "You should go inside and report quickly. This concerns the safety of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I must search inside tonight!"

After hearing these words, the imperial guards behind them drew their weapons and confronted the Lizheng Palace guards in front of the palace gate.

The guards of Lizheng Palace had no choice but to send one person inside to report.

Soon he came back: "The Queen has ordered that since General Li insists on entering to search, please ask one person to go. His Highness has already rested, and Princess Jinyang is also staying in the palace. We cannot let outsiders disturb them."

Li Anyan hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's exactly what I should do!"

He repeatedly requested to search the house, which was his duty, and neither the Queen nor the Crown Prince could stop him, unless His Majesty issued an order to dismiss him. But after all, it was late at night, and the Queen, the Crown Prince, and Princess Jinyang were all precious women, and they must not be disturbed, otherwise it would be a huge scandal, and no one could bear the responsibility.

……

The roof of the palace was hidden in the darkness, the lanterns in the corridor were swaying in the wind and snow, and the lights were shining through the windows of the Lizheng Hall.

When Li Anyan entered the side hall, he saw the empress in a palace skirt, with her hair full of pearls and jade. She was sitting on a mat with her waist straight and her demeanor dignified. Her snow-white collar made her long, fair neck and sleeves look even more elegant, like a swan. She was picking up the teacup with her bare hands and bringing it to her red lips, taking a sip.

Opposite her, the beautiful Princess Jinyang raised her snow-white hands to cover her face, yawned secretly, and tried to stay alert.

"I have seen the queen and the princess."

"No need to be polite. The general must search the Lizheng Palace during the night shift. He is really conscientious in his duty."

Facing the Queen's ridicule, Li Anyan remained calm and bowed again: "Your Majesty has entrusted me with the important task of guarding the Eastern Palace. I feel that I have a heavy responsibility and will not slack off in the slightest. If I have been rude, I hope the Queen and the Princess will forgive me."

His expression was very respectful, but his attitude was very firm.

Princess Jinyang was now alert and looked at Li Anyan with curiosity. Her beautiful eyes flickered twice. "I heard that the general was very curious about my clothes, accessories and daily necessities, so he insisted on searching them personally?"

Li Anyan had a headache. He had always heard that Princess Jinyang seemed well-behaved but was actually naughty. Even Emperor Taizong often had trouble dealing with her in the past, especially because of her sharp tongue and cunning thinking. It was true when he saw her today.

The sentence "personally searched the princess's clothes and accessories" is a big trap. Although the Tang Dynasty princesses had a bad reputation, Princess Jinyang was an unmarried girl after all. It was inevitable that her personal belongings being "searched" by a military general would be suspected of "indecent assault". When the time came, there would be condemnation from all walks of life in the court and the public. Who could bear it?
"I would never dare to offend Your Highness in the slightest, but I cannot neglect my duty. Please send someone to accompany me in the inspection."

You send someone to take out all the things, and I just take a look, right?

Princess Jinyang blushed slightly, and said in a low voice, "It's disrespectful to look at a girl's things."

Li Anyan: “…”

He simply kept silent, but his attitude was firm and he did not give in.

According to the plan, the East Palace will be the top priority. If the crown prince cannot be controlled, the situation may collapse at any time, so the defense of the East Palace must be well understood. In case those carriages are not transporting Princess Jinyang's clothes and accessories but armor, crossbows and even firearms, it will greatly enhance the defense of Lizheng Palace, making the situation that seems to be a sure win change.

Queen Su waved her hand and said to a eunuch behind her: "Take General Li to have a look. Be careful not to damage His Highness's things."

"Here."

The eunuch responded and walked from the shadow of the lamp to Li Anyan. He straightened his bent waist and looked at Li Anyan with a pair of grey eyes like dead fish, without a trace of liveliness. His tone was even more awkward, as if he had not spoken for years.

"General Lee, please."

Li Anyan knew that this was an old eunuch in the Taiji Palace, probably an expert around Emperor Gaozu. Although there were only a few of them left after many mutinies and rebellions since the time of Emperor Gaozu, each of them was an incredible expert.

"I will take my leave for now."

After paying respects, Li Anyan followed the old eunuch out of the side hall, walked around several corners of the walls, and came to a more remote house.

In the middle of the night, the snow fell silently. Li Anyan walked behind the old eunuch. Seeing that the other party walked slowly but only left a row of shallow footprints on the snow, he became even more alert.

I just don’t know how many of these experts are coming with the Queen to Lizheng Palace. If there are too many people, I’m afraid the defense of Lizheng Palace will be greatly strengthened…

Dozens of carts were placed in the courtyard. The old eunuch said, "The carts are all here, and the items are inside the house. Please follow me."

Li Anyan's eyes swept across the cart and he walked forward to take a closer look, but the light was dim and he couldn't see it carefully.

There were soldiers stationed outside the room. The old eunuch waved his hand to dismiss the soldiers, went forward to open the door himself, held a lantern in his hand, made a "please" gesture to Li Anyan, and stepped into the house first.

Li Anyan followed closely behind.

The house was filled with boxes and crates piled high, and was filled with the scent of cosmetics.

The old eunuch stopped and said expressionlessly: "General, please point out which box you want to see. I will open it for you to inspect, but you are not allowed to touch it."

Li Anyan shook his head and looked around: "It is just my duty that I dare not slack off. Now that I have seen these things, I naturally have no doubts. How dare a vulgar person like me desecrate the princess's belongings? I will go back now, and please apologize to the queen and the princess for me."

After saying that, he turned and left the room.

Although the cart in the yard was covered with a layer of snow, it could still be seen that it was wiped clean. Most of the boxes and cages in the house were woven with fine bamboo and tender rattan and were fumigated with incense. They were obviously things used by women and there was nothing suspicious about them.

But the fact that there was nothing suspicious was itself suspicious. What kind of items had to be transported to Lizheng Palace in the middle of the night, secretly avoiding the patrolling imperial guards?
Why do delivery vehicles need to be wiped clean on snowy days?

Obviously, the boxes and crates in the house were definitely not the things delivered to Lizheng Hall tonight, but he was a military general and an external official after all, so it was impossible for him to be allowed to search Lizheng Hall at will.

The old eunuch looked calm and not surprised. He stepped out, locked the door, and escorted Li Anyan out of the Lizheng Hall with a lantern. He watched Li Anyan lead the imperial guards northward, and then went back to the side hall to report to the queen.

"Your Majesty, General Li has left."

"Well, has he figured out anything?"

Under the light, the queen sat in a dignified posture, her skin was as white as snow, and there was worry between her brows. Li Anyan was not a rough and reckless man. He was very thoughtful and resourceful. If he discovered the firearms transported into the Lizheng Hall and the hidden Cen Changqian and fifty students, and took precautions in advance, he would lose the initiative.

"I didn't notice anything unusual, but I guess I still have some doubts in my heart."

The old eunuch answered respectfully.

In any case, transporting things to the East Palace in the middle of the night was an extremely abnormal behavior, but Keli Main Hall had to do so. After all, it was impossible to hide it in the daytime.