Chapter Nine: Bite

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Foreign officials seldom met with palace women, especially the Empress, and such encounters were usually infrequent. Yet in the current Tang Dynasty, with the emperor plagued by continual minor illnesses and often neglectful of duties, the Empress had effectively become the acting sovereign.

Outside the hall stood rows of imposing imperial guards clad in heavy armor, their swords hanging at their sides, eyes cold and indifferent as they watched the ministers enter. Seeing their armor, Wu An instinctively licked his lips. Had he and his troops worn such heavy armor back in Hexi, they would have easily broken through the encircling Tibetan forces.

Hao Chujun, at this moment, had bypassed Wu An and stopped by the hall’s door. Exchanging glances with a few colleagues, he straightened up with trembling composure and loudly proclaimed toward the entrance: “Your humble servant Hao Chujun respectfully requests an audience with the Empress Dowager to present matters of great importance!”

Shangguan Wan’er stepped forward, her gaze fixed on him with a hint of surprise. Hao Chujun immediately felt displeased—he saw a faint smile flicker in the female official’s eyes. How dare this ignorant woman mock a minister presenting affairs for the great Tang realm?

He flicked the sleeve of his official robe and raised his voice again: “Palace Attendant Hao Chujun requests to present his memorial!”

His voice echoed before the hall as the ministers nearby straightened and began to announce their names and titles one after another, their voices rising like a tide that shook the great hall.

Then, shockingly, someone shouted aloud: “The Empress Dowager’s direct recall of a rebellious warrior from the frontier violates Tang law!”

Shangguan Wan’er listened to the clamoring, her eyes passing over the ministers to rest on the young man standing behind them. The smile in her eyes slowly faded.

The Empress Dowager’s power did not rise steadily. Several years ago, following the deaths of ministers like Xu Jingzong, many posts on her side were left vacant, with no successors in sight.

At first, Shangguan Wan’er was pleased, believing the Empress Dowager had found a capable aide. But after many twists and turns, she ultimately could not overlook the issue of this man’s identity.

If he truly was the Empress Dowager’s nephew and had shot Li Jingxuan at the frontier, unless he had shot the Crown Prince, it would have been no more than a self-imposed penalty of three cups.

But everyone knew very well he was absolutely not that man.

Thus, the Empress Dowager’s actions quickly shifted from protecting a junior family member to openly challenging the entire court.

She was recklessly promoting a man who was a traitor and enemy collaborator, using him to attack the current prime minister!

The emperor was ill, the Empress was usurping power.

In the era of Zhenguan, there was Wei Zheng.

Now, decades later, there were those who upheld the rules sustaining the Tang.

Among their reproaches, the fierce beasts perched atop the eaves of the hall seemed to awaken, their eyes reflecting a bloodthirsty rage.

A slender figure finally appeared at the hall’s entrance.

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An elderly eunuch approached Shangguan Wan’er’s side, his gaze coldly sweeping the crowd below before calling out:

“By the Empress Dowager’s decree, Wu An is summoned into the hall.”

The old eunuch inhaled deeply. Amid the astonished and angry stares of a prime minister and several senior ministers, his voice, strained from volume, rang out clearly:

“By the order of the Empress Dowager of the Great Tang, Wu An, grandson of the late Taomiao official Wu Shirang and nephew of the current Empress Dowager, Commander of the Hexi Zhenwei and Courageous Captain of the Great Tang, is summoned to address the court!”

Several ministers’ eyes reflected disbelief. Their expressions darkened as they looked up in shock and glared fiercely at the eunuch.

Was this a challenge?

A declaration of war!

Wu An...

Hao Chujun hesitated slightly, but before he could react, he saw someone pass by him.

The young man who had been deferential and respectful outside the palace gates now calmly approached the base of the nine-tiered platform in front of the hall and bowed deeply to the old eunuch standing above.

“I am present,” he said gravely.

Having faced death on the battlefield, no grand scene could compare to the sea of corpses. Wu An knew exactly how to carry himself.

At the same time, he understood something else.

Behind him,

Hao Chujun’s entire body trembled slightly as he stared fixedly at the young man.

Shame and fury intertwined within him. Though usually praised by his peers as a gentle gentleman, he could no longer suppress his heavy breathing.

Unlike the astonishment of his colleagues, Hao Chujun was so enraged by their brief exchange that he wished he could end his own life right there before the hall!

He had cultivated refinement all his life, but today his composed nature was utterly shattered.

“Wait!”

He swept his long sleeve and shouted angrily, “This man is a criminal, yet he lives in luxury within Chang’an, openly entering the palace. Surely someone is behind this, enabling and harboring him! I demand he be immediately arrested and sent to the Dali Court prison...”

The old eunuch turned to him, straightening his frail, aged back. His voice took on a disdainful, commanding tone:

“If the Left Prime Minister finds the Empress Dowager’s words unsatisfactory, he may petition the Emperor himself for a just ruling!”

Hao Chujun immediately shut his mouth, his face dark as he bowed his head.

The eunuch gestured with his hand.

Wu An began to ascend the steps with measured pace.

Unlike yesterday, today behind him stood over a hundred armored guards, indifferent and still, while several ministers deeply embedded in the true ruling class of the Tang clenched their teeth and glared fiercely at him. Among them was even a prime minister.

He passed the old eunuch and stopped at the hall’s entrance, motionless.

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Shangguan Wan’er turned and entered the hall. After a moment, she returned and summoned again.

Inside the hall,

The arrangement was as it had been yesterday, yet somehow felt different.

The middle-aged woman, once dressed luxuriously, now wore a more solemn and formal attire. Her hair was pinned in a circular knot with a hairpin; her robe was wide-sleeved and grand. Draped over her shoulders was a snow-white fox fur coat, pure white yet exuding a chilling aura.

She seemed oblivious to the noise outside, simply raising a hand to beckon Wu An forward.

Wu An stepped closer and knelt before her.

“How were your meals and lodging last night at the Duke of Zhou’s residence?”

“I ate and lodged well, Your Majesty.”

The Empress Dowager nodded slightly, studying Wu An’s heroic features before asking again:

“Did you hear everything that was said outside?”

“Every word, I have committed to memory.”

“I had originally planned for you to study peacefully for a few years, to travel and learn from many places, so that one day you could take charge and forge your own path.”

At this, the Empress Dowager smiled wryly to herself.

“Who could have imagined that they would not even grant me this small measure of time and respect, but instead press me relentlessly on all fronts?”

“Poor me, an ignorant woman, laboring day and night within the palace, yet the entire court’s civil and military officials treat me as their greatest enemy.”

She looked at Wu An with some resentment:

“I have been in the palace for many years. Few of my kin remain alive. I wished to secure a prosperous future for you, but they have blocked me. Now, they even want your life!”

Wu An listened silently. Though he knew these words were spoken with ulterior motives, the scene outside had changed his impression of the woman before him greatly.

After a moment of silence, he did not offer flattering words.

Instead, he lifted his head and, his voice hoarse, declared:

“I am the grandson of the late Taomiao official Wu Shirang. By imperial decree, I led the campaign in Hexi, shedding blood and mud. Now, before the Empress Dowager of the Great Tang, I report...

“Li Jingxuan, commander of the 180,000 troops in Hexi, has betrayed the empire, colluding with the Tibetan chief Lun Qinling, accepting bribes, secretly plotting border divisions, and carving up Tang territory;

“Furthermore, Left Prime Minister Hao Chujun has accepted heavy bribes from Li Jingxuan, inciting his colleagues maliciously in court, attempting to monopolize power and dictate the administration...”

He paused briefly, then knelt deeply before the Empress Dowager.

“I humbly beseech Your Majesty to adjudicate!”