Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

A middle-aged man dressed in a butler's uniform strode through the long corridor and arrived at a grand courtyard adorned with gold and jade carvings. In the main hall of the courtyard sat a plump middle-aged noblewoman, about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old. She wore a pale yellow, wide-sleeved blouse that partially exposed her chest, with a crimson shawl draped over her shoulders and a floor-length skirt. Her entire body was covered with glittering jewels.

The noble lady had her hair styled in a cloud-like bun, her face was as round as the moon, her eyebrows were slender and long, her nose was high and straight, and her phoenix eyes gleamed with a shrewd and cold light. She held a celadon teacup from the imperial kiln in her hand, and was surrounded by dozens of palace maids behind her.

This noble lady was none other than Princess Taiping, Li Lingyue, who was very famous in the current dynasty.

Li Lingyue frowned slightly. Something unexpected happened today: her eldest son, Xue Wei, had been released.

A year ago, her eldest son, Xue Wei, was imprisoned and questioned for his involvement in the Li Chongrun case. The emperor was furious and smashed the jade inkstone. She was so frightened that she dared not ask any questions and assumed that her eldest son was dead.

But she never expected that her eldest son, Xue Wei, would be released. Logically, if the emperor were to release Xue Wei, he would surely inform her, his mother, first. But she hadn't heard a word about it, and Xue Wei was inexplicably released.

With her keen political sense, Li Lingyue immediately realized that this matter was very strange and must be hiding something.

At this moment, the deputy steward Liu Hong hurriedly entered the courtyard, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, I have already found out the truth."

Li Lingyue turned around and gave a wink, and more than twenty servants and palace maids withdrew, leaving only two trusted female guards to protect her.

Li Lingyue took a sip of bird's nest soup and said coldly, "Speak! Who released him?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, it is Zhang Liulang!"

"Clang!" The teacup in Li Lingyue's hand fell to the ground, and her expression changed drastically in an instant.

It was Zhang Changzong! Li Lingyue's hands trembled slightly. In the past few months, the Zhang brothers had been fighting fiercely with Wu Sansi over the issue of choosing a prime minister. They were irreconcilable enemies. Li Lingyue tried her best to remain neutral and not get involved.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Changzong released his eldest son from prison. What is he planning to do?

A cold smile slowly crept onto Li Lingyue's lips. She had guessed Zhang Changzong's intention: to use his eldest son, Xue Wei, to provoke conflict between her and the Wu family.

Li Lingyue knew, of course, why her eldest son was imprisoned. A year ago, her eldest son, Xue Wei, drunkenly declared that he would kill Wu Sansi to avenge his father, which angered the emperor. Soon after, the Li Chongrun case broke out, and Wu Sansi used this case to send Xue Wei to the Dali Temple.

After his eldest son was released from prison, he was likely to seek revenge on Wu Sansi, and Zhang Changzong wanted to use this to drag himself down with him.

No! She must sever all ties with her eldest son and absolutely cannot let the Zhang brothers' scheme succeed.

Thinking of this, Li Lingyue gritted her teeth and said, "Send him back to his old residence in Zhengpingfang, give him the treatment of a third-class servant, and find him something to do—feed the horses!"

Deputy Steward Liu Hong was stunned. The treatment of a third-class servant, feeding horses, is this...is this appropriate?

Li Lingyue glared at him fiercely, "Don't you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes! I understand, I'll make the arrangements right away."

Liu Hong dared not argue, so he quickly agreed and withdrew.

As soon as Liu Hong left, Li Lingyue coldly addressed a large tree, "Don't hide, I saw you!"

A middle-aged man emerged from behind a large tree. He wore a gauze hat, brocade robes, and a leather belt. He was short, with a small nose and eyes, and had an ordinary appearance. He was none other than Prince Ding, Wu Youji, the second husband of Princess Taiping, Li Lingyue.

Wu Youji chuckled, "I heard that Lord Wei has returned, so I came to see him!"

Li Lingyue said calmly, "I'm sure Your Highness has heard about my arrangements for him."

"I heard that, but why is Madam being so harsh on him?"

Stop pretending!

Li Lingyue sneered, "Isn't this all to give your Wu family an explanation? Don't say that I, the princess, am on the side of the Zhang brothers anymore."

"No, no! You are so righteous, Madam, that you put aside your own family ties. I admire you greatly."

..........

Xue Wei lay prostrate in the courtyard, head bowed. He had transformed back into a death row inmate in the Blackwater Prison, humble and timid. Many passing servants and maids stared at him in surprise. Was this still the arrogant and conceited young master Wei from a year ago?

At this moment, a young man dressed in fine clothes and with a slender build walked in from outside, followed by more than a dozen burly men. The young man's target was Xue Wei. He walked in slowly, glancing sideways at Xue Wei, his eyes full of provocation and mockery.

Approaching Xue Wei, the young master looked down at Xue Wei's face, then exaggeratedly widened his eyes and exclaimed loudly, "Hey! Who's this? Lying here like a dog!"

A dozen or so followers burst into laughter. Xue Wei slowly stood up, straightened his back, and looked calmly at the young master, his gaze as sharp as ice arrows.

The young master felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze. He curled his lip and sneered, "What, don't you recognize me? Oh! I know, you got beaten so badly at the Dali Temple that you ate shit. They say your brain was damaged, and you call everyone 'Dad.' Why don't you call me 'Dad' too? I'll reward you with a pile of dog shit, how about that? Ha! Ha! Ha!"

The young master threw his head back and laughed loudly. He turned around and said, "Manager Liang, go find a pile of dog poop."

Manager Liang had a large black mole on his nose with a few hairs growing from it, making it look just like a rat's nose. He smiled obsequiously and said, "I'll go find it right away and guarantee to find the biggest one."

The young master laughed even more wildly, and his entourage joined in with wide grins.

Xue Wei didn't recognize the young man at all. Looking at his arrogant and thin face and listening to his vicious words, Xue Wei slowly clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. His gaze towards the young master was filled with murderous intent, exuding an aura of death.

The young master's laughter abruptly stopped. He saw a bottomless chill in Xue Wei's eyes, and felt uneasy, but he couldn't swallow his pride. He suddenly fanned his nose. "Ugh, it stinks! It smells like rotting corpses. Disgusting, damn disgusting! Let's go!"

The young master stopped looking at Xue Wei and strode away with Steward Liang and a group of followers. Xue Wei remained motionless, his gaze fixed on the ground, as cold as ice.

Liu Hong, the deputy steward who was standing not far away, came out, sighed and said to Xue Wei, "Her Highness the Princess is busy and has no time to see you for the time being. Let's go! I'll take you to Zhengpingfang."

It sounds a bit ridiculous that his mother, who had been separated from him by death for a year, didn't even have time to see him, but Xue Wei didn't say a word and silently turned and left.

...........

Princess Taiping's residence was located in Zhengping Ward, occupying half of the ward's area and covering a full 200 acres. This was also where she and her first husband, Xue Shao, lived. After her remarriage, she rarely lived here and instead resided more often in her new husband's Prince Ding's residence.

"May I ask Steward Liu, what is the date today?" Xue Wei suddenly asked.

"Today is the third day of the second lunar month, and yesterday was the day the dragon raised its head."

"Oh!" Xue Wei didn't ask any more questions.

"Young master, do you not remember anything?" Steward Liu asked again in a low voice.

Xue Wei glanced at him and said calmly, "I have been tortured and forced to drink arsenic. Although I did not die, my memory was destroyed, and I do not remember many people and things."

"I see!"

Steward Liu sighed and explained, "That man was Wu Liankun, the son of Prince Ding and his ex-wife. He... he has always harbored a deep hatred for you, young master!"

It turns out he was the son of Wu Youji and his ex-wife. Wu Zetian poisoned his ex-wife so that Wu Youji could marry Princess Taiping, and that's when the hatred began.

But this doesn't mean Wu Liankun can insult him at will; he'll remember this debt.

Seeing that Xue Wei remained silent, Steward Liu whispered, "I used to be your father's page. I started studying with your father when I was ten years old."

Xue Wei simply smiled and did not respond. His experience at thirty years old and a year in a water prison had made him less likely to trust anyone easily.

"It's not that I don't want to help you, young master. I'm just a nobody with a wife and children at home. This kind of power struggle is beyond my reach, young master. I'm truly sorry!"

Xue Wei remained silent.

Manager Liu sighed and said nothing more.

The oxcart passed by the grand gate of a mansion, complete with a gatehouse, steps, and two stone-carved mythical beasts. Above it was a plaque with five gold characters on a black background that read "Princess Taiping's Mansion".

The main gate of the mansion was built by breaking through the wall of the neighborhood, which meant that it was not subject to the curfew at night. However, the gate was kept closed, and only the master could enter and exit through the main gate. Other servants and maids could only enter and exit through the side gate inside the neighborhood.

Xue Wei silently stared at the gate, perhaps his ex could enter and exit through it.

The oxcart circled into the neighborhood from the gate and headed north along the bustling street. Xue Wei gazed at the Tang Dynasty's bustling streets. On one side were the high walls and deep courtyards of Princess Taiping's mansion, and on the other side were various shops owned by ordinary people. The streets were teeming with people and very lively.

The oxcart finally stopped in front of a long, narrow alley, at the end of which was a very unassuming side door.

Steward Liu was tormented throughout the journey. Although he dared not disobey the princess's orders, he knew very well that making the eldest son feed the horses was an insult to the old master, Prince Consort Xue, and would become a laughing stock in the whole city if word got out.

Finally unable to bear the pangs of conscience, Steward Liu mustered his courage and said, "Actually, young master has a choice. He can go back to the Xue family; he doesn't have to stay here."

This was the most help he could offer, subtly pointing Xue Wei to another way out.

Xue Wei's gaze softened slightly, and he smiled faintly, "Thank you, but I will follow my mother's arrangements."

Manager Liu felt a little disappointed. After thinking for a moment, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "How about this? I'll arrange for the young master to stay in the outer courtyard. He doesn't have to go to feed the horses."

Xue Wei was treated as a third-class servant. If he lived inside the mansion, he could only have one room, but if he lived outside the mansion, he could be arranged to have a small courtyard. The key point was that he did not have to face the cold ridicule of the people in the mansion.

Xue Wei looked at him with surprise. "Then how are you going to explain this to my mother?"

Steward Liu had already come up with a reason: "I'll tell the mistress that everyone can't stand the smell on the young master."

Xue Wei was startled. He then realized that he still had a faint smell of corpse on him. This was a smell that was difficult to remove, and the ancients were very averse to this smell, as it was the smell of death.

"good!"

The oxcart turned around and headed towards the outer courtyard across the street...

The outer courtyard is a group of residential houses opposite the Princess Taiping Mansion, with ten small courtyards on each side of a small alley.

These twenty courtyards all belonged to Princess Taiping and were generally used as residences for stewards or accountants.

Xue Wei was assigned to the innermost courtyard, right next to the wall, which occupied about one acre.

Xue Wei walked into the courtyard and looked around his new home. The house was old, the mud walls were mottled, and large pieces of plaster had fallen off, but it was still clean. There was a locust tree in the courtyard and a well next to it.

Xue Wei also knew that his predecessor had a house and valuables, but after going to prison, he lost everything—the house, valuables, wives, concubines, servants, and so on.

He was stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner; now he is just an ordinary citizen with nothing.

Manager Liu handed him a money pouch. "There are ten taels of silver in here for the young master's meals. Daily necessities will be delivered later. There will also be a monthly allowance of three strings of cash, which will be delivered on the fifth day of each month. That's all."

"Thank you!" Xue Wei accepted the money bag.

Steward Liu turned to leave, but stopped at the door and said, "Young Master has just come out. It would be best if you kept a low profile for a few months and didn't cause any more trouble for Her Highness the Princess."

Xue Wei nodded slightly, "I understand, thank you for your consideration, Steward Liu!"

Manager Liu bowed and walked away quickly.

Xue Wei stepped forward and locked the courtyard gate from the inside. He sat down by the well, looking at this unfamiliar little courtyard. Was this his home in the Tang Dynasty?

Xue Wei had a thousand and one questions he wanted to know the answers to, but there were too many questions and he didn't know where to begin.

After a moment's hesitation, Xue Wei took out a wax pill from the inner pocket of his robe. This was the first task Zhang Changzong had given him. Xue Wei crushed the wax pill, revealing a slip of paper inside. He slowly unfolded the slip of paper.