Chapter Nineteen: Jia

After hastily ordering the thirteen suits of armor to be hidden in a secret chamber, Marquis Hou Junji dispersed the crowd. Alone, he lit a candle, his molars clenched so tightly they threatened to shatter.

In truth, Hou Junji possessed no small number of armors. Just those secretly withheld from the military and stored in his estate outside the city numbered over a hundred. Yet it was these mere thirteen suits of mysterious black iron armor that tore his heart apart.

The flickering candlelight in the dark room cast golden glimmers upon the armor, but to Hou Junji’s eyes, they resembled thirteen sinister specters sent to claim his life.

“Such ruthless tactics!” he gritted through clenched teeth after long moments alone. He racked his brain, but could not fathom who the mastermind behind this armor conspiracy was.

Over the years, he had made too many enemies. Even disregarding all else, so many had risen to accuse him when the scandal of embezzling the treasures of the Gaochang Kingdom broke. Some had even petitioned the emperor for his execution.

The one who framed him must be among them. Yet with so many foes, Hou Junji could not be certain which one.

But that was not the most pressing matter.

The very fact that someone dared to use the emperor’s own military armor to implicate him meant they had prepared thoroughly. It was likely that word of the hidden armors had already reached the imperial court. Soldiers dispatched to raid his manor and annihilate his family could be en route even now.

At the thought, Hou Junji felt an invisible hand closing in on him like a suffocating shroud.

No—he could not simply wait to die.

After nearly half a day in the dark chamber, he suddenly rose to his feet. His eyes caught the crystal hourglass in the corner just as its last grains of sand slipped away.

“Huh?”

He was stunned. Three full hours had passed? The fear that had gripped him since the discovery now seemed like a lifeline.

If no one had come to investigate or raid his mansion after all this time, perhaps the palace had not yet received the news.

Hou Junji never believed the emperor would spare him if the matter were known. Being released from the prison of the Ministry of Justice the day before had been a stroke of luck—how could there be mercy twice?

That explained his relentless terror upon seeing the armor.

Just then, the agreed secret signal sounded outside the chamber.

Without hesitation, Hou Junji opened the hidden door.

Outside stood Wang Meng, the captain of his personal guards.

“Weren’t you sent to investigate this matter?” Hou Junji asked sternly, furrowing his brow. “Why have you returned so suddenly?”

“My lord!” Wang Meng replied with a smile. “I have learned the palace guards have not lost any military equipment recently, nor has His Majesty shown any unusual behavior…”

“Is that true?” Hou Junji pressed anxiously.

“Absolutely, my lord!” Wang Meng nodded. “A sworn comrade of mine, who stands watch among the imperial guards, was just the one I inquired with.”

Hearing this, Hou Junji’s heart leapt. If the palace had not yet taken action, there was still a way to evade disaster.

“Has anyone suspicious been seen inside or outside the manor?” Hou Junji asked quickly.

“No,” Wang Meng answered. “I have ordered multiple searches. Aside from the inexplicable appearance of those few suits of armor, nothing unusual has been found. No one has been spotted tailing us outside either.”

“Heaven favors me!” Hou Junji breathed heavily, as though a suffocating weight had suddenly lifted.

Without hesitation, he commanded, “Immediately gather trusted men to move those armors out of the manor and destroy them in a secret place!”

“Yes!” Wang Meng responded promptly and departed.

Hou Junji remained stationed there, unwilling to leave. The fewer who knew of this matter, the better.

Soon, Wang Meng and a few guards packed the armors into crates and quietly transported them away.

Watching them leave the estate, Hou Junji collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. He finally allowed himself to relax but quickly ordered the household to resume normal operations, avoiding any suspicion.

He then retreated to the rear garden to rest.

In his view, as long as the armors were removed from the manor today, even if they were discovered before being destroyed, they could not be used to convict him.

Yet deep into the night, Wang Meng and his men still had not returned.

The relief he had just found vanished, replaced by mounting anxiety. He sent out search parties, but all night long no trace was found.

No fights or disturbances erupted anywhere in Chang’an City.

Wang Meng and his men had vanished as if into thin air.

What troubled him even more was that both inside and outside the palace, all remained eerily calm.

Hou Junji spent the night sleepless, the stress turning many of his hairs white.

This was too strange.

Someone had clearly set him up by inexplicably placing armor in his home—but the mastermind had yet to make any further move against him.

Just when Hou Junji thought he might escape this crisis, Wang Meng and the others disappeared…

He felt an unseen hand tightening its grip around his neck, and yet he was powerless to break free.

Restless and fearful, his mind suddenly conjured the image of the Crown Prince.

“Summon a horse!” Hou Junji rose abruptly, slamming his hand on the table. “Prepare to ride to the Eastern Palace!”

Servants brought him court robes, but he waved them away. “Fetch my old battle cloak!”

The tattered garment he referred to was the very one he had worn during the Xuanwu Gate Coup.

This signified his resolve to risk everything by heading to the Eastern Palace.

Draped in that worn, arrow-pierced cloak, Hou Junji mounted his horse and rode straight for the Eastern Palace.

At the Ganlu Hall, Emperor Li Shimin examined a secret report delivered by the Hundred Riders Division. A faint smile curled his lips.

“That fool actually went to seek out Gao Ming.”

“I wonder what choice Gao Ming will make this time…”

The emperor’s gaze suddenly turned cold as he ordered, “Those men are useless. Kill them all.”

“Yes…” A strange voice echoed in the chamber, though no one else was present.

Indeed, the men Hou Junji believed missing—Wang Meng and his comrades—were the very ones Emperor Li Shimin had just commanded to be eliminated.

The entire affair, from beginning to end, had been orchestrated by Li Shimin.

The armor was personally requisitioned from the palace guards and secretly sent to Hou Junji’s home.

As for Wang Meng and the others, they had been quietly apprehended on the emperor’s orders.

Yet Li Shimin had never intended to use the armor incident to remove Hou Junji outright—there was no need.

His purpose was to corner Hou Junji, forcing him into desperation so that he might once again be emboldened to incite Crown Prince Li Chengqian to rebel.

This had been planned ever since Hou Junji was released from prison.

Now, events were unfolding exactly as Li Shimin had designed.

The true climax of this grand drama was to be played out by Gao Ming himself.

Li Shimin gazed out into the night sky, his eyes reflecting the darkness like twin obsidian mirrors.