Chapter 82 Part 2

Chen Sida, like Wei Juren, only found out about the whole thing tonight after it happened. It turned out that the crown prince had listened to a sorcerer and hid the dragon robe from everyone and brought it here.

If Liu Ceye had not discovered this matter through the people he had planted around Prince Kang a few days ago and taken precautions, he would probably have been imprisoned tonight without knowing what was going on.

Unlike Wei Juren who felt extremely fortunate afterwards, Chen Sida became more and more frightened the more he thought about his freedom.

In his opinion, being able to escape tonight was just luck. Thinking of the scene where Pei Xiaoyuan ordered his men to hold him the swords and spears, he was filled with fear and resentment.

To waver when decisiveness was needed, it only led to turmoil.

One Pei Xiaoyuan was enough. Since his arrival in Chang’an, Chen Sida had often found it hard to sleep at night, not to mention that now there was a princess who suddenly fell from the sky. This princess was receiving favor beyond precedent, and her relationship with the empress, Liu shi, and even the crown prince was clear to everyone. His current wealth, power, even his very life were entirely tied to the Crown Prince. The moment the princess officially returned to the court, he felt the huge pressure like a mountain pressing down on his head. Afterwards, he met with Liu Ceye in secret to express his concerns and urged Liu Ceye to make up his mind and take action first. If they waited and ended up on the losing side, they wouldn’t even know how they died.

However, in this matter, Liu Ceye showed his usual indecisiveness, or rather, he was afraid of the emperor and did not have the courage to start a rebellion, and refused to follow Chen Sida’s advice.

The words he used to persuade Chen Sida were always to wait patiently, saying that their real opponents were only Feng Zhenping and Prince Kang.

The emperor had only two sons. As long as he kept a close eye on Feng Zhenping and Prince Kang, and waited until the emperor expired his lifespan, everything would fall into place. By that time, everything else would be just a small matter.

Chen Sida was born a soldier. He was able to stand out in the Shenhu Army in his early years and was highly regarded by Pei Gu, naturally he was not an ordinary mediocre person. He had long wanted to do something big and had been secretly recruiting confidants and planning for a long time.

Normally, Liu Ceye’s persuasion would have calm him down, but after what happened tonight, Chen Sida was completely unwilling to listen. In his opinion, since they were camping was outside tonight and many officials and soldiers were drunk and asleep after the banquet, it would be better to seize this great opportunity and take action.

As long as they took advantage of the situation and took the initiative when no one was prepared, they could kill all the people in Feng Zhenping and Prince Kang’s party overnight, and then hold the emperor hostage and support the crown prince to ascend the throne.

However, without Liu Ceye’s support, Chen Sida did not dare to act rashly. After all, this was not a trivial matter.

To Chen Sida’s surprise and delight, Liu Ceye, likely also feeling the mounting pressure, seemed to have been convinced by the increasing threats. The emperor could, at any moment, take drastic action against the Crown Prince and the Liu family due to the princess’s influence. Tonight, Liu Ceye finally made up his mind and agreed to Chen Sida’s plan. Without delay, they summoned their trusted confidants in secret overnight to make arrangements.

The main force of the coup was the Shenwu Guard led by Chen Sida, who came with the emperor, along with the troops already loyal to them from the Lingjun Guard, and the Crown Prince’s personal guard, a total of two to three thousand people. After the discussion, everyone dispersed and prepared for action, and agreed to launch the coup at the Yin hour (3-5 am) in the early morning when most would be in their deepest sleep. The signal to act would be fire.

After Chen Sida and other generals who were about to participate in the operation tonight left secretly, the crown prince paced back and forth in the tent due to excitement and extreme nervousness. Suddenly, he rushed to Liu Ceye, bowed, and said in a low voice with sobs: “Uncle, Mao’er was negligent this time and almost caused you a big trouble. Fortunately, you rescued me and arranged such a wonderful plan tonight. If it succeeds, from now on, Mao’er will follow your lead in everything. But…”

He hesitated, seeming to be hesitant to speak.

There was a strange light flashing in Liu Ceye’s eyes: “Is Your Highness afraid that things will not go well?”

What in the crown prince’s mind was exposed by this word. The emperor’s sharp eyes appeared in front of him, and he couldn’t help but shudder.

“Uncle, I…” He stammered, but he didn’t dare to say it out loud. Unexpectedly, Liu Ceye nodded.

“Your Highness is right to be cautious. I, your uncle, may as well tell you the truth. I dare not have too much confidence in what happened tonight.”

The crown prince was horrified: “Then why did we agree to General Chen’s rebellion? This…if it fails, we will all be finished!”

“Your Highness, can’t you see? Chen Sida has become more arrogant in the past two years because of his past merits. He gathered a group of men under his command and no longer shows me any respect. He had plans to act for some time now, and he pressed me more than once. Tonight, he brought it up again, convince to seize the opportunity. Even if I refused, there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t one day conspire with someone else to make his move. If he succeeds, he might even turn against you, the Crown Prince. If he fails, we’ll be dragged down with him. That’s why Uncle decided to go along with his plan—let him act tonight and use the opportunity to rid us of Feng Zhenping, Prince Kang, and their lot.”

The crown prince was stunned, then reacted: “What about His Majesty?”

“This is what Uncle wants to tell you. After he takes action, the guards will rush to His Majesty’s tent as planned, but you must lead them personally. When you arrive, immediately expose Chen Sida’s crimes to His Majesty, making it clear that you knew nothing of this beforehand and that it was entirely Chen Sida’s doing. Then, ensure the safety of His Majesty and the princess! Chen Sida is desperate, there is no doubt that he will seek his own death tonight. But if the plan succeeds and Prince Kang and his allies are eliminated, His Majesty will have no choice but to favor you going forward. If he fails, your merit in protecting the emperor will be undeniable. Even if Chen Sida somehow survives and tries to implicate us, it will be dismissed as the reckless accusations of a cornered man. With the influential families supporting us, His Majesty won’t be able to take any severe action against us even if he harbors suspicions.”

Tonight’s events, regardless of whether Chen Sida succeeds or fails, could only work in the Crown Prince’s favor. That’s why Liu Ceye pretended to agree—letting him act freely in hopes of securing a gamble worth taking.

The crown prince took a long while to react, then bowed to Liu Ceye: “Uncle, this is a brilliant plan! Mao’er is very grateful, and I will follow your arrangements in everything!”

At the hour of Yin, when everyone in the camp was immersed in the deepest dream, a sudden burst of firelight from a burning tent signaled the beginning of the coup. Following the plan, Chen Sida and his confidants led the Shenwu Guard and Lingjun Guard in two coordinated operations. One group of people falsely spread the imperial edict, saying that Feng Zhenping and Prince Kang were plotting treason and they were ordered to protect everyone. They quickly subdued many unsuspecting officials and commanders, as well as several vassal lords from states such as Cao and An, all caught completely off guard in their sleep. Seven to eight of Feng Zhenping’s and Prince Kang’s closest confidants were assassinated in their tents before they even realized what was happening.

The other group, personally led by Chen Sida and composed of Shenwu elite troops, charged directly toward the sleeping quarters of Feng Zhenping and Prince Kang, aiming to eliminate them in one decisive strike.

Feng Zhenping’s survival could be chalked up to sheer luck. Earlier that night, his plans to bring down the Crown Prince had not only failed but had also cost him his salary and title, leaving him humiliated and enraged. Unable to sleep soundly, he woke at the slightest commotion, stepped outside to investigate, and quickly sensed that something was amiss. Without delay, he ordered his men to protect Prince Kang and summoned his own forces. The two sides fought.

Although Feng Zhenping was also a military general, he was old after all, and could not match Chen Sida, who was in his physical prime. In addition, he was in a hurry to deal with the enemy, who was well prepared. He was soon defeated and was forced to flee with the protection of the people around him. Chen Sida led his men in pursuit, and after chasing them for several miles out of the camp, they surrounded them from all sides and successfully trapped Feng Zhenping, Prince Kang and their followers.

At this time, Feng Zhenping was already injured, and Prince Kang had disheveled hair and even missing his boots from fleeing. The two were in a miserable state and were in despair, thinking that they might really die tonight. Suddenly, they heard the sound of golden drums behind them. Turning their heads, they vaguely saw Prince Ashina leading a group of armed guards in the gradually approaching light and fire in the distance.

Before they could react, drums started beating from the other direction, and Yuwen Zhi showed up with the Longwu Guard. Then, Hedu led the Wei Guards, Lantai led the Zhaoxiao Guards. These four young commanders, each commanding their respective troops, advanced from four directions, arriving just in time.

An important part of Chen Sida’s plan tonight was to take control of the commanders of each guard while they were not prepared. If anyone refused to obey, he would kill them without mercy. The purpose was to prevent such a situation from happening. He focused on guarding against these four guards and sent his personal soldiers to cooperate with the people of the leading guard to control them separately as soon as possible.

“Chen Sida, why don’t you dismount and accept death? His Majesty has already taken precautions! The main generals who led the rebellion with you have all been killed. How dare you still dream of causing trouble and holding His Majesty hostage?”

Chengping shouted at Chen Sida.

Chen Sida was horrified. He turned his head to look at the camp in the distance, where flames were rising to the sky. He quickly calmed down and turned to the more than a thousand men around him and shouted, “Brothers, do not believe their lies! Follow me, and as long as we break through, reinforcements await us outside! If Chang’an could fall to us once before, why not again now? When the day comes that we turn back and retake the capital, each of you will become heroes—granted titles, riches, and all the glory you desire!”

Most of his subordinates had been with him for many years, especially many generals, who had received great favors from him and were all devoted to him. Moreover, in this desperate situation, there was no retreat for them. With bloodlust already clouding their judgment, they unanimously rallied behind him, continued to charge.

Chengping, Yuwen Zhi and others led their troops in pursuit.

It was the darkest hour of the night, and the crowd was not familiar with the terrain around the hunting grounds. They finally found themselves in a river valley. In the hinterland, the terrain suddenly narrowed. The four guards, plus Chen Sida’s men, totaling nearly 10,000 troops, were suddenly bottlenecked and crowded together.

The lighting provided by the fire sticks carried by the guards was limited after all, and the moonlight above their heads was blocked by the trees above the valley. It was pitch black below, with people and horses mixed together, and the clothes of each guard were similar, so it was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe. Taking advantage of the chaos, Chen Sida’s troops blended into the confusion. The resulting melee saw soldiers mistakenly striking down their own comrades, only realizing their tragic error after the fatal blow had landed.

Soon, Chengping and others realized that something was not right, and they hurriedly called their men to call for a temporary ceasefire until they could distinguish between friend and foe, or withdraw from this narrow valley before making plans.

However, Chen Sida was an experienced veteran. He accidentally discovered this valley while hunting two days ago. At that time, he thought it was an excellent battlefield. Tonight, he deliberately led his opponent into this terrain. Seeing that his plan was successful, he wasted no time allowing the opposing forces to form their ranks against him. He immediately summoned archers to shoot arrows indiscriminately in all directions, and instructed his elite marksmen to specifically target soldiers holding fire sticks that illuminate the way for their comrades. As soldiers were shot by arrows one after another, the fire sticks fell to the ground and extinguished, plunging the already dim valley into near-total darkness. Almost all the guards became completely blind in the pitch-black environment, unable to discern the direction of the arrows fired by Chen Sida’s troops. Amid the chaos, men and horses pressed against one another. Those at the front, attempting to retreat, were blocked by those behind them. In the mayhem, many were struck by arrows and toppled from their horses, only to be trampled beneath the hooves of panicked horses and the feet of their fellow soldiers. The shrill cries of injured men and the incessant neighing of terrified horses echoed through the valley, creating a cacophony of anguish and turmoil.

What was even more terrifying was that the situation was already getting out of control. If this chaos could not be contained immediately, not to mention Chen Sida’s attack, the trampling of people and horses alone would be enough to cause a disaster.

Chengping and others were extremely anxious and issued orders repeatedly in an attempt to save the situation. However, the scene had become so chaotic that all actions were in vain.

Seeing that the pursuers were lured here, their advantage was lost in an instant, and the large number of men and dense horses became their fatal flaw. Chen Sida’s subordinates were all in high spirits and fought back vigorously.

Surrounded by a group of personal soldiers, Chen Sida grabbed a hostage, the now pale-faced Anguo prince, and laughed triumphantly: “Ashina! Yuwen Zhi! Hedu! Lantai! You little brats, you all think you can go against me? When I was making a name for myself in the Shenhu Army, you were all still suckling your mother’s milk! You’d better get off your horses and surrender now. When I return to Chang’an in the future, maybe I can spare your lives!”

Chengping and the others, after all, were inexperienced. Tonight, they had been careless and overconfident, coupled with acting independently in command, which led their troops into this dire predicament. In the dim light, they could hear the mocking laughter of Chen Sida’s men, mixed with the desperate cries for help from the Anguo prince. Their hatred burned fiercely, their eyes almost tearing from rage. As they scrambled to find ways to regroup their forces and reignite the extinguished fire sticks to restore order, a sudden blaze of firelight flared up on one side of the valley, at a high point several zhang above the ground. From the direction of the flames, a commanding voice bellowed, “Chengping! Yuwen Zhi! Hedu! Lantai! Follow my orders and direct your forces to form ranks and disperse!”

The sound was like a bolt of thunder from the sky, resounding throughout the valley, making everyone’s ears buzz and causing them to stop unconsciously.

Chengping and others were also startled. They looked up and saw a figure suddenly appear on a rock protruding from the valley wall. The man stood tall, holding a blazing fire stick in his hand. The constantly jumping red flames reflected a calm and resolute young face under the night.

“Pei Er!”

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