The reason Prime Minister Bai had been summoned to the palace was a political coup of dire proportions.
This tempestuous upheaval had actually been brewing for a long time, tracing back to the previous succession of the throne. Prince Jing’an—the father of the skin-peeling bandit chief—had once been the most promising candidate for the emperorship. Among all the princes, Prince Jing’an was the most outstanding in both intelligence and martial prowess.
Unfortunately, fate is a fickle thing. Despite his excellence, Prince Jing’an lost due to his mother's lower status. Ultimately, the throne fell to the Third Prince, the son of the late Emperor’s most beloved consort. An imperial decree is as immovable as a mountain; Prince Jing’an had no choice but to accept his fate as a provincial prince on the frontier.
However, in the decades that followed, Prince Jing’an never abandoned his ambitions. He spent those years painstakingly building his faction and successfully returned from the frontier to the capital, leaping to become the most powerful figure in the current court.
Since his return, he had incessantly flattered the Emperor, presenting him with beautiful women and exotic curios, luring the sovereign into a life of hedonistic indulgence while he seized the reins of power.
Crown Prince Jing had recognized this perilous situation, which was why he had risked everything to flee the palace, hoping to escape Prince Jing’an’s control. Yet, fate played its tricks again; during his flight, he had accidentally caused the death of Prince Jing’an’s villainous son. Knowing that Prince Jing’an would never let the matter rest, the Crown Prince changed his plans once more. He had secretly contacted loyal ministers in the court, deciding to engage in a final showdown with his royal uncle!
This was the origin and development of the coup.
The current situation was that upon the Crown Prince's return to the palace, he discovered the Emperor had long since been poisoned to death by Prince Jing’an. The death had been kept secret, and the funeral suppressed; Prince Jing’an was merely waiting for the right moment to wipe out all opposition in one fell swoop!
However, although the Crown Prince was surrounded and monitored by Prince Jing’an’s men, he still held a trump card: three thousand elite troops stationed outside the city. The commander of this army was his loyal subordinate. With a single order from the Crown Prince, they could besiege the capital and fight the Prince to the bitter end!
While Prime Minister Bai was still immersed in his domestic trifles, a surging tide of revolution was silently unfolding in the capital. And he, this ineffective Prime Minister, was merely a pawn about to be used by others.
This game of power spared no one, including Prime Minister Bai.
Long ago, after Crown Prince Jing had mistakenly taken Prime Minister Bai as his godfather, spies had reported the matter to the Prince. Prince Jing’an immediately planted an informant by the Prime Minister’s side—none other than Uncle Diao!
That’s right! It turned out that the honest and loyal Uncle Diao, who had even deceived the Crown Prince, was actually a spy sent by the Prince!
Through Uncle Diao’s reports, the Prince had grasped the Crown Prince’s weakness—he had fallen in love with Prime Minister Bai!
By seizing the Prime Minister as a hostage, the Crown Prince would be forced to submit. Moreover, the Prime Minister was one of the enemies responsible for his son's death!
Thus, Prince Jing’an forged an imperial decree to lure Prime Minister Bai into the palace, intending to capture him while simultaneously sending men to surround the Bai estate. His goal was simple: he wanted to exterminate the nine generations of those who had killed his son!
While Lady Shangguan was still busy engineering her petty schemes of jealousy, a catastrophe of celestial proportions had already descended upon this ordinary, well-to-do household.
Returning to the Bai family courtyard, which was thick with the atmosphere of domestic strife:
Prime Minister Bai had been summoned to the palace for "deliberations." The women of the house assumed he was being favored by the court again, thinking it a great blessing. They were overjoyed, especially Lady Shangguan, who saw this as the perfect opportunity to deal with Leng Jing.
As soon as the Prime Minister left, Lady Shangguan ordered her confidants to lock the main gates. she sent the maids from the back courtyard away and cut off the connection between the front and back yards, waiting to settle scores. For this "domestic coup," she had spent no small amount of silver to bribe the household staff, but for the sake of her and her future children's status, she felt the expense was worth it.
Lady Shangguan sat aggressively in her courtyard, waiting for her servants to drag that "vixen" Leng Jing over.
Before long, several burly male servants indeed hauled Leng Jing over, wheelchair and all, and tossed him into the courtyard. Leng Jing maintained an expression of bewildered helplessness.
Lady Shangguan sneered and ordered everyone to withdraw, leaving only a few trusted maids. She then had the courtyard gates locked from the inside.
The sky suddenly turned overcast, a dark omen of things to come.
"What are you doing?!" Leng Jing asked, feigning panic.
Lady Shangguan gave a cold laugh. She was dressed entirely in white and sat cross-legged in a grand armchair. She had consulted a diviner who told her that one must wear white when inducing an abortion to prevent the fetal spirit from seeking revenge; she had even arranged the local feng shui for the task.
"What am I doing? You know very well." Lady Shangguan smashed the teacup in her hand. The maids on either side lunged forward, pinning Leng Jing down and dragging him from his wheelchair.
"Ah!" Leng Jing fell to the ground, looking up in feigned anger. "Have you lost your mind? Do you want me to miscarry?"
"I want exactly that!" Lady Shangguan stood up, hands on her hips, pointing at his nose. "Don't think you can act all high and mighty just because you're carrying a bastard! Men! Hold him down and bring out the tools!"
The sturdy maids pinned him down while an old crone took a length of white silk that had been soaked in black dog's blood and began to wrap it around Leng Jing’s midsection. Leng Jing asked curiously, "What are you trying to do?"
"Now, you can scream for heaven or earth, but no one will answer! Hahaha! What am I doing? Just you wait and see!" Lady Shangguan made a gesture, and a basin of cold water was splashed over him. Then, two old crones each grabbed an end of the white silk and began to pull with all their might—they actually intended to squeeze the fetus out of Leng Jing’s belly by sheer force!
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh~~~~~~~" The white mink, hidden behind Leng Jing’s back, provided the high-pitched screaming sound effects.
But an accident occurred at that moment—the pregnancy device malfunctioned. The "miscarriage mechanism" seemed to be jammed; nothing would come out.
The white mink wailed for a long time, but no blood appeared on Leng Jing’s abdomen. Its throat was nearly dry from screaming. Leng Jing also looked down at his belly, realizing where the problem lay.
The two old crones pulling the silk were panting for breath, but after all their exertion, there was no movement from Leng Jing’s stomach.
Lady Shangguan was stunned. Cursing her servants for being useless, she took matters into her own hands. Using her three-inch golden lilies, she kicked savagely at Leng Jing’s still-protruding belly. But it was no use; the device remained jammed.
Exhausted from kicking, Lady Shangguan finally ordered the servants to take wooden planks and beat Leng Jing’s stomach. She forbade them from hitting him anywhere else, fearing the marks of torture would be discovered. Thus, the maids used their imaginations, employing various methods to induce a miscarriage.
For Leng Jing, forget the fact that the blows were landing on a padded cushion—even if they hit his actual body, to a Primordial Dragon God like him, it was no different from a light scratch. So, he simply lay there and let them do as they pleased.
A chaotic "abortion festival" thus commenced.
The first maid suggested pushing Leng Jing from a high place.
Together, they hauled the "playing dead" Leng Jing onto the roof and pushed him down a ladder. But it was useless; his belly remained perfectly intact.
The second maid suggested using heavy weights. They found a massive stone in the garden and spent a great deal of effort placing it on Leng Jing’s stomach. But it was useless; even after a long time, the belly didn't budge or flatten.
The third maid suggested using freezing water. They filled a large wooden tub with water and ice and submerged Leng Jing in it. But it was useless; his belly remained as firm as ever.
The fourth maid suggested hanging him upside down. They strung Leng Jing up by his feet, but even by nightfall, his belly showed no reaction.
The fifth maid suggested a "soft" approach and volunteered to give Leng Jing an "abortion massage." She rubbed his belly according to the patterns of the Taiji Eight Trigrams for ages, but the "fetal movements" inside remained vigorous and strong.
The sixth maid, a young girl, simply jumped up and down on Leng Jing’s stomach, but that too was useless.
Finally, having exhausted every trick in the book, they still hadn't managed to dislodge the child. Everyone was utterly exhausted, and Lady Shangguan was on the verge of a breakdown. Everything before her suggested that either she had gone mad or she had encountered a monster.
"Hmph, woman, now you know my power! I told you, my child will be fine. Just wait to be divorced!" Leng Jing didn't forget to stay in character as the jealous rival.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh~~~~~" Lady Shangguan finally snapped. Clutching her hair, she screamed and fled into the house.
The miscarriage plan had, quite literally, miscarried.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Bai’s situation in the palace was not optimistic.
As soon as he entered the palace gates, he was intercepted by the Imperial Guards. The fierce-looking commander grabbed the Prime Minister’s arm and said, "Prime Minister, the Prince wishes to see you. Please come with me."
Bewildered, the Prime Minister could only allow himself to be hauled away to a side gate and led deep into the palace. Along the way, he saw nothing but fully armed soldiers; not a single maid or eunuch was in sight. Panic rose in his heart as he realized the world was about to change.
Sure enough, he was dragged into the main hall of a palace courtyard, where two guards immediately pinned his head and arms, forcing him to his knees.
Kneeling on the ground, the Prime Minister looked up defiantly at Prince Jing’an, who sat in the seat of honor. "You traitorous rebel! What do you intend to do?"
Prince Jing’an stroked his beard, looking calm and composed. "Bai Shaoqing, do you realize that I am about to become the Son of Heaven? Hmph, what I intend to do is exactly what you did to my imperial son—I shall repay it to you in kind!"
The Prime Minister spoke with righteous indignation, "The young prince committed atrocities and got what he deserved! Even a prince is subject to the same laws as commoners! He deserved to die!"
"Haha! 'Deserved to die,' indeed!" Prince Jing’an laughed in fury, smashing his teacup to pieces. He sneered, "Bai Shaoqing, I will make you understand the feeling of losing those closest to you!"
"You... what do you mean?" The Prime Minister’s eyes widened.
The Prince looked at him askance. "At this very moment, I have already sent men to surround your estate. I believe you know what it means to have one's entire house executed?"
"You madman!! Stop!!" The Prime Minister became frantic, struggling and shouting.
*Splash!* The Prince threw another cup of water into the Prime Minister’s face. "You dare insult this Prince? Bai Shaoqing, if you don't want your family slaughtered, you had better listen to me!"
"You...!!" The Prime Minister gnashed his teeth but dared not say another word.
"Hmph. Men, take this wretch to the Great Hall to confront the Crown Prince!" The Prince stood up and gave the order.
Back at the Bai estate, the farce of the attempted miscarriage had finally quieted down.
Before Lady Shangguan could catch her breath, a commotion erupted outside. She rushed out to look, only to have a gleaming broadsword leveled at her face.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh~~~~~" she screamed, only to be met with a sharp slap that sent her sprawling to the ground.
The Imperial Guards had already entered the Bai residence, rounding up every man, woman, and child into the front courtyard. It seemed the execution of the household was at hand!
Lady Shangguan never expected disaster to fall from the sky while she was sitting at home. Losing all her wits, she sat on the ground crying with the Old Madam. Leng Jing was also brought over and tossed onto the ground. Lady Shangguan forgot her personal grudges, and the three of them huddled together, weeping.
"Sister-in-law~~ my poor, bitter sister~~~" Lady Shangguan wailed, hugging Leng Jing’s neck.
Leng Jing: = =
Extreme, extreme, extreme! Leng Jing is heavily pregnant, the Bai family faces imminent doom, and the palace is fraught with peril. How will this coup unfold? How will Prime Minister Bai be used? Will Leng Jing give birth successfully? All the exciting results are in *Ugly Little Snake: The Tale of the Quest for the Snake, Chapter Eleven: Coup d'état and Caesarean Section*. Please don't miss it!
