Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 889 The Most Failed Palace Coup

Huang, the Vice Minister, had an idea and immediately whispered it to Zhao Dun.

Zhao Dun nodded repeatedly, praising, "Minister Huang's plan is very sound. This way, Yang Yuan will surely be fooled!"

Vice Minister Huang stroked his beard, a hint of self-satisfaction in his expression.

Although he has spent all these years dealing with numbers and ledgers.

But when it comes to strategic planning, well, it's just a small trick, something a young guy like Yang Yuan can't compare to.

The following day, Yang Yuan reported some matters to the Emperor in the Hall of Diligent Governance.

Yang Yuan now holds absolute power and is using a wartime mentality to address the various crises facing the Song Dynasty.

However, he could not exclude the emperor from decision-making.

At the very least, it cannot be excluded from public view.

Therefore, Yang Yuan would still bring the documents and proclamations that required the emperor's signature and approval to the emperor's presence.

"Alright, I won't look at the rest. Use the seal."

Zhao Dun looked somewhat uneasy and turned to instruct the eunuch in charge of the seals and seals.

Yang Yuan asked in surprise, "Why isn't Your Majesty looking? Is Your Majesty unwell?"

Zhao Dun said with a pleasant expression, "Minister Yang is mature and prudent, and I trust him with all decisions."

These past two days, the Empress Dowager has been unwell, and I am deeply troubled and unable to concentrate on anything.

Upon hearing this, Yang Yuan's expression turned serious: "Although the Empress Dowager has practiced martial arts since childhood, she is getting on in years. She must take great care of her health."

I have a pharmacist by my side named Luo Cheng'an, whose medical skills are superb, and he is especially skilled in the art of health preservation.

I recently borrowed Prince Jin's help to recuperate. If needed, he can be summoned to the palace to treat the Empress Dowager.

Luo Cheng'an, Yan Qingyu, and Luo Peiying are all descendants of the Jisitang and have intricate connections with Xiao Qianyue and others.

The three of them went to Tianshui to excavate the relics of the Jisitang, but were captured by Ren Dejing's men and taken to Xingqing Prefecture.

After Yang Yuan took over Xingqing Prefecture, he did not kill them.

Who would be willing to kill a divine physician like Luo Cheng'an?

When Ren Dejing, also known as Sister Min, led the extraordinary people of Yipintang to the West, these people did not go.

Yang Yuan would not let them leave again, so he half-forced them to stay at the "Tongzhou Association".

After Prince Zhao Qu of Jin was poisoned by that strange poison, his body was damaged. Yang Yuan then sent Pharmacist Luo to treat Prince Zhao Qu's illness.

Zhao Dun panicked for a moment and quickly waved his hand, saying, "It doesn't seem that serious yet."

"I have the Imperial Medical Academy here. If we easily borrow doctors from the common people, and word gets out, people will think that the Empress Dowager is already beyond saving. That would be very inappropriate."

Upon hearing this, Yang Yuan stopped insisting.

After the eunuch in charge of the seal affixed the seal to all the documents and proclamations, Yang Yuan had his attendants, Xiao Naizi and Xiao Yinzi, carry him back to the Hall of State Affairs.

After Yang Yuan left, Zhao Dun breathed a sigh of relief and revealed a smug look.

If we let Yang Yuan know this news today, it will be easy to trick him into the inner palace tomorrow.

Although Yang Yuan was determined to harm me, he was extremely kind to the Empress Dowager and Prince Jin.

When they hear that the Empress Dowager is critically ill, they will surely follow me to the inner palace without hesitation, hehe.

Yang Yuan finished his shift that evening and had just returned to the Prince of Yan's residence when the news he had inquired about during the day was delivered to him.

"The Empress Dowager is well and in good health. She eats as much as usual and often goes for a stroll in the Imperial Garden. Occasionally, when she feels like it, she will even practice swordsmanship."

"The king knows."

Yang Yuan nodded and gestured with his chin toward Da Zhuang.

Da Zhuang understood and immediately slipped the prepared tip into the sleeve of the eunuch dressed in plain clothes, then accompanied him out.

Yang Yuan let out a soft sigh, remained silent for a long while, and then sighed softly again.

Two days later, Yang Yuan once again brought many documents that required the emperor's seal to the Hall of Diligent Governance and personally explained them to the emperor.

The emperor and his minister were in a harmonious and pleasant mood, one giving a report and the other nodding and affixing his seal, when suddenly an inner court eunuch rushed into the hall.

Upon seeing Zhao Dun, he knelt down and screamed, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is in grave danger! She begs Your Majesty to return to the palace immediately!"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dun was greatly alarmed and hurriedly emerged from behind the imperial desk. However, he lost his footing and fell down the steps.

Yang Yuan quickly stepped forward and caught Zhao Dun with his hand.

"Why is the Empress Dowager unwell? Wasn't it said that her condition had improved in the past two days? Could it be... could it be a final burst of energy before death?"

Zhao Dun tried to appear panicked, but his mind had been somewhat unstable lately. Although his acting was poor, he did look genuinely disoriented.

"Minister Yang, you must come with me. If something truly happens to the Empress Dowager, I... I truly do not know what I should do."

With tears welling up in his eyes, Zhao Dun grabbed Yang Yuan's sleeve and refused to let go.

Yang Yuan sighed inwardly, but gently advised, "Your Majesty, please don't panic. I will accompany you."

Yang Yuan helped Zhao Dun walk outside, giving 'Xiao Naizi' and 'Xiao Yinzi' a deep look.

Yazawa Kanon and Tsubaki Kana nodded subtly, without making their presence known.

Yang Yuan helped Zhao Dun out of the Qin Zheng Hall and hurried towards the inner palace.

Fortunately, the Southern Song Dynasty's imperial palace was not large, and the Qin Zheng Hall was located between the front court and the inner palace.

The two men, accompanied by several eunuchs, hurriedly entered the inner palace and rushed into the Cining Palace.

Meanwhile, Empress Dowager Wu had already been tricked by the eunuchs around Zhao Dun and taken to Empress Dowager Xie.

"You may wait here, I will go and take a look!"

As soon as the two entered Cining Palace, Zhao Dun gave Yang Yuan an order and then ran into the Empress Dowager's bedroom.

"Grandma, Grandma..."

Zhao Dun was nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. His shouts were trembling, and he really looked the part.

Yang Yuan stood alone in the Cining Hall when he heard a series of loud bangs behind him as doors slammed shut.

Then, behind the curtains hanging between the pillars on both sides, a group of large, fat eunuchs appeared and surrounded him.

These eunuchs were all selected by Zhao Dun and trained in sumo wrestling. Although they were not as fat and strong as real sumo wrestlers, they were still burly and each weighed around 200 jin (approximately 100 kg).

Yang Yuan, who was originally a very upright person, suddenly looked somewhat frail when standing among them.

"By imperial decree, the treacherous minister Yang Yuan is to be arrested. Anyone who dares to resist will be executed without exception!"

The leading eunuch had a real sumo wrestler vibe, a mountain of flesh, and pointed at Yang Yuan with his carrot-thick fingers.

Two fat eunuchs on each side let out a strange cry and pounced on Yang Yuan.

"Why bother?"

Yang Yuan gave a bitter smile, and the four mountains of flesh pressed down on him fiercely, like Mount Tai crushing an egg.

"Boom~"

The four mountains of flesh were sent flying backward at a faster speed than when they were pressing down.

Those who fell to the ground or crashed into pillars all emitted terrifying, deafening roars.

However, the one that crashed into the curtain hanging from the roof of the palace tore it down, trapped inside, and struggled incessantly, but could not escape at all.

The head eunuch's face changed, and he screamed, "Kill him! Kill him!"

The other eunuchs immediately took out sharp knives over a foot long from their sleeves and pounced on Yang Yuan.

"Why bother."

Yang Yuan shook his head slightly and reached out to fasten his belt.

He was wearing official robes, and the leather belt around his waist was also of the official standard.

But when he pulled, he pulled a whip out of the belt.

This is a weapon that Gao Shuyao gave to Yang Yuan.

Although it is not Gao Shuyao's "Bukong Rope", it is made using the same manufacturing process and is also made from the skin of a giant python from the deep forests of Yunnan.

A chilling whistling sound echoed through the Cining Palace, followed by screams of agony.

In the main hall, Yang Yuan wielded a multicolored python-skin whip, standing almost motionless.

But with a flick of his long whip, he chased after the wailing eunuchs, running wildly throughout the hall.

Emperor Zhao Dun, who had taken refuge in his bedchamber, heard the chaotic commotion outside and assumed that Yang Yuan had already been captured.

Yes, with so many burly, fat eunuchs working together to deal with a Prince of Yan, wouldn't that be a piece of cake?

He ran excitedly towards the main hall, escorted by a group of guards.

Upon seeing the scene in the main hall, Zhao Dun's eyes widened in shock.

This...how is this possible?

Yang Yuan was like a cowherd, and the fat eunuchs running around the hall were like cows.

They screamed in pain as the cowherd disciplined them with his whip, but none of them could get close to him.

"Your Majesty, why is this so?"

When Yang Yuan saw Zhao Dun, he stopped whipping the eunuchs and instead looked coldly at Zhao Dun.

As Yang Yuan spoke, he put away the whip, wrapped it around his hand several times, and strode towards Zhao Dun.

Zhao Dun shuddered instinctively when he saw him, and when he saw him walking towards him, he was so frightened that he took a step back.

Zhao Dun shouted in a shrill voice, "Protect the Emperor! Quickly, protect the Emperor!"

Zhao Dun's guards immediately drew their swords and slashed at Yang Yuan.

Just then, the palace gate was suddenly smashed open with a loud crash.

Two eunuchs flew in backwards and crashed heavily to the ground.

Yazawa Kanon and Tsubaki Kana, still dressed in blue robes and hats as attendants, pounced in with the agility of raccoons.

The two of them rushed in at just the right moment.

As Zhao Dun shouted "Protect the Emperor!", Xiao Luo and another skilled eunuch from the Dragon Guard Hall had just pounced down from the beam.

They would not interfere in court affairs, nor would they allow Zhao Dun to order the killing of ministers.

But when the emperor was threatened, that was the moment they appeared to protect him.

However, their existence was not a secret to Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan even knew that their security was most lax in the inner court, with only two eunuchs from the Dragon Guard Hall usually guarding them nearby.

Yang Yuan and the two female ninjas had rehearsed this countless times at home.

Yazawa Kanon and Tsubaki Kana were planning to launch their attack the moment they appeared.

Yang Yuan, even before Xiao Luo and the others made their appearance, had already foreseen their location thanks to the inherent advantage of the Hidden Dragon Technique over the Dragon Protection Hall's techniques.

As soon as Xiao Luo and another skilled eunuch from the Baolong Palace appeared, the two female ninjas, one a cool and aloof older sister and the other a cute and innocent little girl, launched their full-scale attack.

Shuriken, Senbon needles, water chestnuts...

All sorts of bizarre and unusual hidden weapons swept over like a rain of pear blossoms.

Xiao Luo and the skilled eunuch instinctively used their Iron Sleeves Technique, which transformed into two large shields in front of them to block the ubiquitous hidden weapons.

Meanwhile, Yang Yuan kicked out a large, fat eunuch, using him as a human projectile to crash into several of Zhao Dun's guards.
The python-skin whip wrapped around his hand had already stretched out like a nimble snake.

It's a long story, but it happened in the blink of an eye. In an instant, the python whip had already wrapped around Zhao Dun.

With a flick of his wrist, Yang Yuan sent Zhao Dun flying with a scream, landing beside him.

When he stood next to Yang Yuan, he was so dizzy from spinning so rapidly in the air that he almost fell over.

But he couldn't fall, because a long python skin whip was already tightly wrapped around his body, making him stand there like a stick.

Having achieved their goal, Hanon and Xiaonai quickly retreated, each holding a kunai, and stood guard on either side of Yang Yuan.

Xiao Luo could only manage a bitter smile.

Ever since he met Yang Yuan, it was as if he had met his natural nemesis; he never escaped being humiliated.

At this time, Mo Long, the commander of the Palace Guard, and Luo Kedi, the commander of the Imperial Guard, were...

All the armed forces guarding the palace, including the Inner Palace Guard, Outer Palace Guard, Golden Spear Guard, and Imperial Dragon Guard, have already been mobilized.

They disarmed the Imperial City Guards and surrounded the entire palace, making it impenetrable!
(End of this chapter)