20demayo Chapter 7 Fire Breaks Out in the Eastern Palace
Chapter 7 Fire Breaks Out in the Eastern Palace
"Yes! Yes!"
Yu Wen was jolted back to his senses by the kick and scrambled out of the room.
"etc!"
Yang Yan called out to him again.
"Have someone go to the small kitchen and move all the lamp oil, liquor, and anything else that can be burned to the side room of the front hall! Be quiet and don't make a sound!"
After arranging everything, Yang Yan took a deep breath.
He straightened his slightly disheveled clothes and strode into the cold wind.
At that moment, the timid and submissive eldest grandson disappeared.
Instead, there is a desperate outlaw who will crush everything in order to survive.
As we passed through the dark, covered corridor, the clamor from the front hall grew ever closer.
The traditional string and wind instruments have stopped.
All that remained were Yang Yong's incoherent drunken curses, mixed with the crisp sound of a wine glass shattering.
There were also suppressed gasps and pleas for mercy from the palace maids and eunuchs.
Yang Yan quickened his pace and turned the corner.
Two rows of armored soldiers stood at the entrance of the main hall.
They were dressed in black lacquered two-piece armor and carried long halberds; they should have looked imposing.
At this moment, however, they were all ashen-faced, shrank their necks, and dared not look into the hall.
They all knew that what happened inside was a death sentence.
"Everyone, guard the door!"
Yang Yan emerged from the darkness.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable air of authority.
"No matter what happens inside, anyone who dares to take a single step closer, or utter a single word in private, will be killed without mercy!"
The soldiers trembled and immediately straightened their backs.
They looked at the usually unremarkable Prince Changning with fear in their eyes.
Is this still the same boy who blushes even when talking to them?
With a cold face, Yang Yan yanked open the heavy cotton curtain and stepped into the hall.
A strong, nauseating smell of alcohol, mixed with the scent of cosmetics, wafted towards me.
The hall was brightly lit.
Several musicians knelt in a corner, clutching their instruments, trembling like leaves in the wind.
The ground was littered with leftover food.
In the center of the main hall, a man sat crookedly.
His hair was disheveled, his face was flushed, and his eyes were glazed over.
The most jarring thing was the clothes he was wearing.
The ochre-yellow silk robe gleamed eerily in the candlelight.
On the wide cuffs, a five-clawed golden dragon, embroidered with gold thread, bared its fangs and brandished its claws.
The pearls inlaid on the collar were a style that only the emperor could enjoy.
This is not a dragon robe.
This is a death warrant.
"Drink! Drink it all!"
Yang Yong let out a hiccup and, with blurry, drunken eyes, slapped the table.
"Why? Why is it that hypocrite Yang Guang can win Father Emperor's favor?"
"I am the Crown Prince! I am the eldest son of the legitimate wife!"
He stood up abruptly, staggering slightly from being drunk.
He tore at his dragon robe and laughed loudly.
"Look! Does this dress fit? If Father won't give it to me, I'll make it myself!"
"I am the future emperor, and only I can wear this dragon robe!"
The Yun family member standing nearby was already terrified.
Her face, already as pale as paper from long-term worry, was now completely devoid of color.
She reached out, trembling, to tug at her husband's sleeve.
"Don't touch me!"
Yang Yong suddenly flicked his sleeve, throwing her away.
He lowered his head and stroked the golden dragon on his sleeve, a ferocious smile spreading across his face.
"It is the will of Heaven that I, the Crown Prince, wear this dragon robe! What is Yang Guang anyway? He's nothing but a pretentious slave girl!"
Yun stumbled and nearly crashed into the gilded lampstand if her maid hadn't caught her in time.
"Father! You're drunk!"
A sharp shout, like ice water poured over someone's head.
Yang Yan strode up the steps, his anger causing the surrounding eunuchs to stop in their tracks.
Yang Yong paused for a moment, then raised his head with blurry, drunken eyes.
He recognized the person who had come, and then burst into laughter.
"Yan'er? You've come at the perfect time!"
He grabbed Yang Yan's shoulder, his breath reeking of alcohol.
"Quickly! Kneel down and kowtow to your father!"
"When your father becomes emperor, he will make you the crown prince! You'll wear this dragon robe too!"
"We, father and son, are the rightful heirs of this Great Sui Dynasty!"
A flash of murderous intent crossed Yang Yan's eyes.
Saying such things at a time like this is a sure way to get yourself killed.
"shut up!"
Yang Yan stopped talking nonsense.
His eyes hardened, and he grabbed Yang Yong's wrist with his other hand, twisting it forcefully.
"what!"
Yang Yong screamed in pain, and his hand instantly loosened its grip.
Taking advantage of the situation, Yang Yan stepped forward and grabbed the collar of the ochre-yellow dragon robe with both hands.
Without the slightest hesitation, he used all his strength to pull hard to both sides!
"Sizzle!"
The expensive Suzhou and Hangzhou brocade made a crisp sound as if it were tearing.
The golden dragon, baring its fangs and claws, was broken in two.
"You dare!"
Yang Yong was both shocked and furious, and swung his hand to slap Yang Yan across the face.
Yang Yan turned slightly to the side, his palm brushing against the tip of his nose.
The next instant, Yang Yan grabbed Yang Yong's arm as he swung it away and pushed him with the force of the movement.
Yang Yong was pushed back several steps, his back slamming heavily against the nanmu pillar.
"Father, please forgive me, I was saving your life!"
Yang Yan stepped forward and stared intently at Yang Yong, who was leaning against a pillar, panting.
"Wearing the imperial robes without permission is a crime of treason!"
"Does Father intend for the entire Eastern Palace, numbering in the hundreds, to be beheaded tonight?"
"Do you want your second uncle, Yang Guang, to laugh out loud while looking at our whole family's corpses?!"
The name "Yang Guang" was like a needle piercing Yang Yong's mind.
His muddled eyes suddenly cleared a little.
The deep-seated disgust and resentment overwhelmed the illusions brought on by alcohol.
He trembled and lowered his head in a daze.
Looking at the torn dragon robe on his body, and then at his eldest son in front of him with a livid face.
Yang Yong's lips trembled: "I...I'm just so angry...that brat Yang Guang...he slandered me..."
"There's no use talking about this now! What's important is this outfit!"
Yang Yan interrupted his self-pity.
He turned around abruptly and glanced at the trembling figure at the doorway.
"Yu Wen! If you're not dead, bring all the oil in!"
Upon hearing his master call his name, Yu Wen, clutching a black pottery oil jar, scrambled in.
Upon seeing the pearl on the ground and the torn dragon robe, he was so frightened that his legs went weak.
"My lord... the oil... the oil is here..."
Yang Yan snatched the oil can away.
"Pile all the silk curtains and screens in the room, anything flammable, into a side room!"
Yang Yan gave the order, and at the same time turned to look at his mother, who was terrified, in the corner.
At this moment, Yun's face was covered in tears, and her makeup was ruined.
Yang Yan's heart softened, but he hardened his heart again.
"Mother."
His voice softened somewhat, but it remained unquestionable.
"You cannot see or hear what is happening here."
"Go back to the backyard immediately and do not come out no matter what noise you hear."
"No matter who asks, just say that Father hosted a banquet for musicians tonight and accidentally knocked over a candlestick, causing a fire."
"Do you understand?"
Looking into her son's frighteningly calm eyes, Yun instinctively nodded.
Although she was weak, she knew that at this moment, she could only rely on her eldest son, who was usually inconspicuous.
"Yan'er...you...you be careful..."
With a sob in her voice, Madam Yun hurriedly retreated, supported by her maid.
As he watched his mother's figure disappear outside the door, the last trace of gentleness on Yang Yan's face vanished completely.
He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the tattered dragon robe on the ground, over his father who was still drunk and slumped on the ground, and finally landing on the pile of lamp oil and strong liquor that Yu Wen had brought in.
His eyes were as cold as iron.
"Yu Wen".
"I...I'm here."
"ignition."
Yang Yan's voice was calm and without any ripples.
"Burn this place, along with this garment, to the ground. Tonight, the East Palace's front hall is on fire."