Chapter 149: Trapped in Peril

With this order of departure from Zhu Hao, he spurred his horse forward, followed closely by over three hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard officers. The imposing procession surged toward the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Commission.

At this hour, the Surveillance Commission had long since passed its official working hours, and its gates were shut tightly. However, officials of the Surveillance Commissioner's rank typically resided in the official residence located behind the commission offices, which served as a perk provided by the imperial court to a province's top judicial official.

Arriving outside the gates of the Surveillance Commission, Zhu Hao pointed directly at the main entrance and shouted, "Call the gate open for this Prince! If no one opens it, batter it down!"

Having said this, Zhu Hao turned his gaze to Feng Gongcheng and barked, "Commander Feng, take a squad of men and surround the entire Surveillance Commission! If a single person escapes from this place, I shall hold you solely responsible!"

Hearing Zhu Hao's command, Feng Gongcheng dared not dally. He promptly acknowledged the order and left to execute it. Meanwhile, the Embroidered Uniform Guards began pounding on the gates. Seeing that there was no response from within the Surveillance Commission after a long while, Zhu Hao knew that the old turtle Gao Yuan was deliberately pretending to be deaf. He let out a cold snort and commanded, "Break it down!"

Upon hearing this, the squad of guards hammering on the gate immediately charged forward, slamming their bodies against the doors. Although the gates of the Surveillance Commission were tall, they were ultimately just for show and lacked any real thickness. Under the wave after wave of impact from the guards, the doors could not bear the strain after barely a quarter of an hour. With a deafening crash, the grand gates of the Surveillance Commission collapsed inward.

Upon witnessing this, Zhu Hao vaulted down from his horse, gripped the Emperor's Sword, and led the Embroidered Uniform Guards charging into the compound. Yet, to Zhu Hao's astonishment, the Surveillance Commissioner, Gao Yuan, did not flee in a panic, nor did he commit suicide out of fear of punishment. Instead, he stood in the courtyard before the main hall just inside the gates, waiting in battle array with his forces fully prepared.

Taking in Gao Yuan's battle formation, Zhu Hao realized that the man must have made preparations in advance. Nevertheless, he had brought over three hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards with him and had no fear of the resistance put up by the commission's clerks and runners, as those men were simply no match for the guards.

With these thoughts in mind, Zhu Hao fixed his eyes on Gao Yuan, who returned the gaze. Before Zhu Hao could speak, Gao Yuan took the initiative to press charges, demanding aggressively, "Your Highness the Prince of Xin, although you are an imperial prince and an imperial commissioner, you have no right to lead the Embroidered Uniform Guards in an armed assault against a provincial Surveillance Commission of the imperial court! Such conduct utterly lacks decorum. I shall most certainly memorialize the throne to impeach you for your contempt of the court today!"

Listening to Gao Yuan's words, Zhu Hao understood that the man was attempting to intimidate him into retreating. However, having gone to such lengths to mount this grand operation, Zhu Hao was naturally not going to be frightened away by a couple of sentences from Gao Yuan. He let out a cold laugh and retorted, "Oh? I have come today to arrest you, yet you wish to impeach me? Splendid! Once you have fully accounted for your own crimes, you may speak of impeaching me! Guards, take Gao Yuan into custody!"

Hearing Zhu Hao order his men to make a move right after this brief exchange, Gao Yuan grew furious. He shouted with a booming voice, "I am the Surveillance Commissioner of Zhejiang! Let me see who dares lay a hand on me! I may be powerless against the Prince of Xin, but as for you wretched curs who have forced your way into the Commission, can you bear the grave crime of assaulting an official government office?"

The thunderous roar from Gao Yuan actually caused the Embroidered Uniform Guards brought by Zhu Hao to hesitate, their steps faltering as they dared not advance. Seeing this, Zhu Hao let out a cold snort and declared, "You are all acting under my direct orders! Whatever consequences arise, I shall bear them entirely upon my own shoulders. It has nothing to do with any of you! Why do you not capture the criminal Gao Yuan at once!"

The Embroidered Uniform Guards continued to stand motionless despite Zhu Hao's words, a reaction that sent a prickle of unease through him. Just as he was about to berate the guards once more, Gao Yuan burst into hearty laughter. "Very well, Your Highness the Prince of Xin. I have no wish to continue acting out this farce with you. Come forth, all of you! Grant the Prince of Xin a clear understanding of his fate so he does not set off on his final journey in ignorance!"

Gao Yuan's words amounted to dropping all pretense and completely tearing off the mask of civility. As his voice trailed off, three more layers of troops materialized outside the perimeter of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, completely surrounding the entire Surveillance Commission. Examining the attire of the surrounding soldiers closely, Zhu Hao recognized them as troops from the Hangzhou Garrison. However, these were not forces he had arranged. Zhu Hao realized at once that he had fallen into a trap today, though he never imagined that Gao Yuan possessed the capability to mobilize the Hangzhou Garrison troops.

A brief moment of reflection brought clarity to the situation. Gao Naiqian, the commander of the Hangzhou Forward Guard whom he had briefly encountered in the Hangzhou prefectural prison, was Gao Yuan's nephew. This explained why these Hangzhou Garrison troops had appeared here at this exact moment. Yet, Zhu Hao still found it difficult to fathom how Gao Yuan could have made such thorough preparations in so short a span of time.

Knowing that this was not the moment to dwell on such matters, Zhu Hao immediately directed his reprimand at Gao Yuan. "Gao Yuan, what are you trying to do? I am an imperial prince! Do you truly dare to raise a hand against me? I advise you to cease your resistance. If you confess everything you know, I can intercede before His Majesty to spare your life another day. I hope you will pull back from the brink of the precipice and not remain obstinately blind to reality!"

Gao Yuan showed neither fear nor retreat upon hearing Zhu Hao's words. Instead, he let out a long, loud laugh and replied, "Your Highness, you and I have already broken all ties. Do you truly believe I would still trust your words? Yet, I must truly admire Your Highness's composure in the face of crisis. Trapped as you are like a turtle in a jar, you still attempt to use His Majesty to frighten me. If I had not made foolproof preparations, how could I have set up such a grand formation today to welcome Your Highness?"

Here Gao Yuan paused for a moment, let out a soft sigh, and continued, "Your Highness, truth be told, I had no desire to resort to this. But Your Highness, even a lowly ant clings desperately to life. I have no wish to perish by Your Highness's hand, so this is truly a measure forced upon me by circumstance! Rest assured, Your Highness, once you have passed on, I shall memorialize the court to report that Your Highness was unfortunately killed in action while leading a campaign to suppress mountain bandits, having fallen into their ambush—thus preserving Your Highness's noble reputation."

Gao Yuan's intent was glaringly obvious: today, he meant to murder Zhu Hao right here within the offices of the Surveillance Commission.

Understanding Gao Yuan's implication all too well, Zhu Hao burned with intense rage. He let out an angry, cold snort and thundered, "Uttering wild nonsense! Do you truly believe anyone in the imperial court will swallow a falsehood so crude it could not even deceive a three-year-old child? I advise you to rein in your horse at the edge of the precipice and not bring about your own destruction!"

Gao Yuan shook his head slightly, sighed, and said, "Your Highness, why is it that you still do not understand? As I said just moments ago, you have offended no small number of people in the court. Those very people are yearning for some accident to befall you so that you remain forever in Hangzhou! Who among them would ever question my account? Besides, every official in Hangzhou, great and small, can bear witness for me that my words are the truth. Even should His Majesty retain some suspicion, he cannot withstand the chorus of so many court ministers, and the matter will ultimately be swept aside and forgotten! Well, I have said enough to Your Highness. I shall waste no more breath. The hour is late, and I shall now escort Your Highness on your final journey!"

Unyielding in the face of Gao Yuan's cold indifference, Zhu Hao snorted and retorted, "Gao Yuan, you are truly incorrigible! Do you honestly believe a mere two thousand soldiers can truly kill this Prince? Do not forget that I still have over three hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards at my side! Should I manage to fight my way out of the encirclement today, tomorrow will mark your executioner's day. Are you truly determined to stake everything on this single throw of the dice?"

Gao Yuan shook his head with a faint sigh. "Your Highness, why are you so slow to comprehend? As I mentioned before, had I not made absolute preparations, how would I ever dare commit the capital crime of assassinating an imperial prince, a transgression punishable by the extermination of one's entire clan? Ah, very well! In consideration of the acquaintance we share, I shall grant Your Highness the grace of dying with a clear understanding today!"

With these words, Gao Yuan called out toward the rear, "You two, step forward and join me in seeing His Highness off!"

Following his command, two figures emerged from behind Gao Yuan. Looking closely, Zhu Hao recognized one of them as Gao Naiqian, the commander of the Hangzhou Forward Guard and Gao Yuan's nephew, whom he had briefly met outside the Hangzhou prison.

As for the second person, Zhu Hao was struck utterly dumb with shock and disbelief. For this individual was none other than Feng Gongcheng, the commander of the Zhejiang Regional Thousand-Household Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, who had accompanied him to Zhejiang to oversee the investigation.

At the sight of Feng Gongcheng, every piece of the puzzle clicked instantly into place in Zhu Hao's mind. Why Cheng Sanjin had died so abruptly, why both Provincial Administration Commissioners and Gao Yuan had learned of the student arrests with such astonishing speed, why Qian Qianyi had allegedly committed suicide out of fear, and why Gao Yuan had been able to assemble such a formidable trap in so brief a time—all of it was undoubtedly linked to the covert betrayals of Feng Gongcheng.

Putting the whole truth together, Zhu Hao glared with wide, furious eyes at Feng Gongcheng and roared, "Feng Gongcheng! As a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, you have actually colluded with local officials! Have you completely forgotten the regulations of the Embroidered Uniform Guards through such behavior? Have you forgotten that I am your superior, the Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guards?"

Hearing Zhu Hao's stern reprimand, Feng Gongcheng curled his lip in utter disdain and replied, "Your Highness the Prince of Xin, spare me the empty intimidation of that nominal title as Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guards! Who among the guards does not know that Lord Tian Ergeng is the actual master of the Embroidered Uniform Guards? Had Your Highness not pushed matters too far, I would have gladly shown some respect to your empty title. But today, Your Highness has gone too far, and this subordinate can no longer obey your commands. Besides, I attempted to advise you earlier, yet Your Highness refused to listen. This subordinate had no other choice. Your Highness has brought this fate upon yourself, so you can blame no one else."

At last, Zhu Hao understood why he had been unable to command the Embroidered Uniform Guards by his side. Clearly, Feng Gongcheng had already instructed them beforehand to ignore his orders. Surveying the three-fold rings of encirclement and looking at the mere dozen loyal guards remaining by his side, Zhu Hao knew all too well that escaping alive today was an almost impossible luxury.