Chapter 18 Assassins
Tian Ruidong hurriedly slowed down his pace and straightened his clothes when he was close to the carriage. He approached and bowed, “Is Junzhu ready to return ho?”
“Indeed,” Hua Liuli glanced at the restless young masters and servants in the corner, pretending not to notice their intention to fight, “Are all the young masters here for leisure?”
Tian Ruidong wanted to nod in agreent, but when he thought about the famous Liu Lane on the adjacent street, he quickly shook his head, “We just happened to pass by. We were about to go ho to study.”
He had heard that the Third Young Master of the Hua family was preparing to participate in the imperial examination. Fushou Junzhu should prefer a young man who enjoys studying.
“I see,” Hua Liuli covered her mouth and chuckled softly, “Even in studying, one should maintain a balance between studying and entertainnt. Second Young Master Tian shouldn’t overexert himself.”
Tian Ruidong was a bit dizzy. Was Fushou Junzhu genuinely concerned about his well-being? Thinking back to when he had frightened this young lady and made her fall ill… yet she still cared about his health? What a kind-hearted girl she was.
“You’re right, Junzhu, you’re absolutely right,” At this mont, even if Hua Liuli pointed at a burly man by the roadside and said that he looked handso, Tian Ruidong would only applaud and say, “Junzhu has excellent taste”.
Seeing Tian Ruidong’s innocent and hearty smile, Hua Liuli’s smile beca even gentler, “In two days, His Majesty will hold a palace banquet. Will Second Young Master Tian attend?”
“I will, I will,” His aunt was an esteed consort and his family had a long history of serving in the governnt. He still had enough face to join in the festivities.
“It’s wonderful that you can co, as my brother and I have been stationed on the frontier for many years, we are not familiar with the young masters and ladies in the capital. My brother is not good at drinking, so I hope Second Young Master Tian can take care of him at the palace banquet,” Hua Liuli turned her head and coughed a few tis before continuing, “If it’s too much trouble for Second Young Master Tian…”
“How could it be a trouble?” Tian Ruidong said, “The Third Young Master of the Hua family is both talented in literature and martial arts and has a dignified appearance. Even without , countless young masters would want to befriend him. I am grateful that Junzhu gave this responsibility. I will take care of the Third Young Master along with my friends, so that no one will force him to drink.”
“Thank you, Second Young Master Tian,” Hua Liuli thanked Tian Ruidong.
Suddenly, a young master exclaid in surprise. Hua Liuli raised her head and looked over. Several servants were pinning down a servant boy dressed in gray.
“What’s going on?” Tian Ruidong felt sowhat uneasy. He had just told Fushou Junzhu that he was passing by, but now they started fighting. By doing this, weren’t they clearly telling Fushou Junzhu that he had lied?
“This servant had a weapon on him,” Tian Ruidong’s personal servant gritted his teeth, “Nubi noticed earlier that he kept trying to get close to Young Master, but Nubi never expected him to have this idea.”
“Chen Wei, what do you an by this?” Tian Ruidong realized that this servant boy actually wanted to kill him!
The laws of the Great Jin had long stipulated that common people were not allowed to carry weapons freely on the streets. All blades and weapons in each household had to be registered, otherwise, it would be a grave offense of “illegally possessing weapons”.
“This… this…” Upon hearing Tian Ruidong’s question, the young master nad Chen Wei looked bewilderedly at the servant boy who was being pressed on the ground.
He had witnessed the dagger falling out of the servant boy’s body. In front of everyone’s eyes, he couldn’t even say that it was Tian Ruidong who frad and set him up.
“Your Highness, Tian Ruidong seems to have had a dispute with soone. Shouldn’t we go and see?” On the other side of the street, a eunuch noticed Tian Ruidong, who was surrounded by the crowd.
Ying Wang, sitting in the carriage, heard the commotion and quickly lowered the raised curtain. “Don’t look, hurry back to the estate.”
If he ddled any further, he would be a fool.
“Detain the person first,” Tian Ruidong apologized to Hua Liuli, then walked up to Chen Wei, “Chen Wei, although we usually don’t see eye to eye, it hasn’t co to the point of drawing knives between us. What’s the aning of this?”
He extended his foot, intending to stylishly kick the dagger on the ground, but his foot slipped and missed the target, nearly causing him to stumble.
Awkwardly adjusting his posture, Tian Ruidong pretended not to notice the dagger on the ground, “If you don’t explain this matter clearly, we will have to report it to the authorities.”
Quarrels among younger masters were considered re play. If it escalated to reporting to the authorities, it would beco a conflict between families.
Chen Wei also understood the seriousness of the situation. Although he disliked Tian Ruidong’s dogged and unyielding appearance, he still suppressed his anger, “This matter has nothing to do with . I didn’t know he had a weapon on him.”
“This servant has been by your side for so long and has always been loyal to you. Who do you think you can deceive by claiming ignorance?” A dandy young master who was friendly with Tian Ruidong retorted sarcastically, “Who knows what you’re plotting in your mind.”
Tian Ruidong furrowed his brows. Recently, the Emperor had bestowed many rewards upon Ying Wang, while Ning Wang had received nothing. The Chen family must have felt envious. Did Chen Wei co to vent his frustration by stabbing him?
“If I really wanted to retaliate against him, I would find a place with fewer people to beat him up with a bag. Is it worth it to let my servant stab him in broad daylight?” Chen Wei argued, “I’m not a fool to even attempt this.”
They were all high-status and influential dandies in the capital. The reason why he didn’t like to associate with Tian Ruidong and his group was simply that they were too foolish. He was afraid that if he stood with them, others would think he was as foolish as them.
After speaking, he bent down to pick up the dagger from the ground, hoping to find so clues on it.
“Wait.”
A gentle breeze blew by, carrying a faint fragrance. Chen Wei looked up and saw a girl wearing a white fox cloak approaching slowly. His bending motion ca to a halt.
“Young Master Chen, be careful, the dagger is poisoned,” Hua Liuli stood five steps away from Chen Wei and turned her head to look at Hua Changkong, who had co with her, “Third Brother.”
Hua Changkong squatted down and glanced at the dagger on the ground before standing up, “Report this to the authorities. This dagger is coated with a highly toxic poison that can seal the throat with a drop of blood,” He turned his head to look at Tian Ruidong, considering him lucky. This kind of poison was sotis used on arrows to assassinate enemy generals. Due to its complicated manufacturing process, there were very few people in the world who could produce such a poison, making it worth a fortune.
If Tian Ruidong died from this dagger, it would be considered a precious death.
“Report it to the authorities, imdiately,” Chen Wei’s expression darkened as he turned to the other servants behind him, “Return to the estate and investigate who this young servant is close to, where he usually frequents, and if he has any connections with people outside the estate.”
This servant had been in the mansion for three or four years and had been his personal servant for the past two years. He had never imagined that this seemingly insignificant person could have almost hard his entire family.
In the Departnt of Ministry of Justice, the Minister of Justice touched his increasingly sparse hair and let out a long sigh. The departnt had a number of pending cases; Ying Wang had been closely following up on the case of the poisoning attempt on Fushou Junzhu, while the Emperor had ordered the Minister of Justice to investigate the attempted assassination case in the Eastern Palace. He hadn’t slept well for many days in a row.
“Daren.”
Seeing the hurried appearance of his subordinate, the Minister of Justice knew for sure that another difficult case from the capital had been pushed to the Ministry of Justice.
“What case is it this ti?” the Minister of Justice touched his thinning hair and sighed again.
“Young Master Chen sent soone to report a case, saying there was an assassin who lurked around him. They claim that this assassin pretended to be his servant and attempted to assassinate the Second Young Master Tian.”
“Which Chen family? Which Tian family?” The Minister of Justice hoped that it wasn’t the two families he was thinking of.
“It’s… the maternal family of Consort Rong and the maternal family of Consort Xian.”
The Minister of Justice’s hand trembled, pulling out a few fragile hairs.
Trembling, he looked at the hairs in his palm and angrily said, “What’s been happening recently? Even the assassins are getting a boom in business now? Within a short month, several assassination attempts have occurred?”
“Daren, please calm down,” the Deputy Minister of Justice walked in, calmly saying, “Let’s try to think positively.”
“What positive things are there even to think about?” the Minister of Justice threw his beloved hair on the ground, put on his official hat, and jealously glanced at the Deputy Minister of Justice’s thick hair, “Nothing good has been happening recently.”
“For us, the fact that several assassination attempts involving noble figures have failed is already the best outco,” the Deputy Minister of Justice, Pei Jihuai, saw his superior staring at his hair with envy and knew that his old habit of being unable to stand other people having good hair had resurfaced. He made a double entendre, saying, “Try to take it easy.”
“The person who is being relentlessly questioned about the progress of the case by Ning Wang is not you. Of course, you can take it easy,” the Minister of Justice sighed and wiped his face, feeling lancholic, “I get a headache every ti I see soone related to Ning Wang. Jihuai, today, handle this case for . You go and deal with it.”
Pei Jihuai remained silent.
The Minister of Justice held his hat, covering the top of his head, and looked at him without saying a word.
Pei Jihuai helplessly bowed, “I’ll comply with the orders, Daren.”
The Minister of Justice was satisfied. Those with more hair should bear more responsibility.
Pei Jihuai hurried to the cri scene and saw a young lady standing beside Tian Ruidong and the other dandies. His first thought was how smooth and thick her hair looked.
“I heard a major case has occurred here?” A pleasant yet imposing voice sounded behind him. He turned around and noticed a carriage that had stopped behind him, surrounded by guards.
The curtain of the carriage swayed slightly, and a fair hand lifted the curtain, revealing the person sitting inside the carriage.
“This humble servant pays my respects to Your Royal Highness, the Crown Prince,” Pei Jihuai quickly saluted.
“You don’t need to be so formal outside, Deputy Minister Pei,” The Crown Prince got off the carriage. “Gu just ca casually to take a look,” He turned his head towards the group of dandies, raising an eyebrow, “So many people, quite lively.”
“Your Royal Highness,” Hua Liuli saw the Crown Prince and extended her hand from under the cloak, giving a distant greeting.
“Why is this little girl here too?” The Crown Prince walked towards Hua Liuli, reaching out to touch the fox fur on the edge of her cloak, “Did you also go to watch the cuju match today?”
“Third Brother took to join in the fun. Your Royal Highness, were you here earlier?” Hua Liuli pulled the cloak’s hood down, covering her face, “This humble servant didn’t see you.”
“No,” the Crown Prince placed his hand behind his back, “One of the retired court officials fell ill, so Gu represented the Emperor in visiting him.”
“Deputy Minister Pei,” the Crown Prince turned to the respectful Pei Jihuai standing by his side, “Go investigate the case. Don’t mind Gu.”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness,” Pei Jihuai thought to himself, with a Crown Prince standing beside him, who could truly not mind him?
Across the street, in a teahouse, a man smashed a teacup on the head of one of his subordinates.
“Never make mistakes? Huh?!”
“Please, spare , Young Master.”
“If I spare you, then how will you explain to our master?!” the man stood up and kicked his subordinate’s shoulder, “The last useless person who told he wouldn’t make mistakes, his corpse is buried in Huanghuai County, and grass has already grown on his grave.”
“Please, Young Master, give this subordinate another chance,” the subordinate, with his head bleeding from the impact, dared not speak.
“I don’t want to hear those words again,” the man’s eyes turned bloodshot with anger.
“Then… then let rephrase it,” the subordinate hurriedly said, “This subordinate will definitely handle the matter beautifully.”
“Heh,” The man sneered, wanting to drink so tea to calm himself, but he rembered that he had used the teacup to hit soone. Unable to hold back, he kicked his subordinate again, “No matter what thods you use, capture that Junzhu of the Hua family.”
He wouldn’t let that little girl, who had disrupted his plans three tis, die too easily.
“Yes, I understand, Young Master.”
After the young master left, the subordinate squinted his eyes, trying to see clearly across the street. He wanted to improve his vision.
Originally, his assassination skills and qinggong techniques were the best among killers, but due to his poor eyesight, he could only rank third.
[Qinggong is a martial arts skill that focuses on lightness and agility. It involves techniques and training thods to enhance one’s speed, balance, jumping ability, and overall mobility. Practitioners of Qinggong are able to move swiftly and lightly, exhibiting extraordinary acrobatic and aerial skills. This skill is often depicted in Chinese martial arts fiction and movies, where characters can effortlessly leap across rooftops, scale walls, and perform gravity-defying stunts. Qinggong requires a combination of physical conditioning, body control, and proper technique to achieve mastery.]
The physician said it was because he only ate at and not vegetables when he was young.
In his opinion, that physician was just talking nonsense. Don’t rabbits eat grass every day but their sight is still good?
“Big Brother,” Another subordinate approached, whispering, “Young Master deceived you. The grave of the previous person who failed in his mission hasn’t grown any grass.”
“He hasn’t died yet?” the subordinate felt a glimr of hope.
“That’s not it,” the other subordinate shook his head, “It’s winter, no grass can grow on a grave.”
“Get lost.”
“Huh?” Hua Liuli suddenly felt a bit cold, so she put the hood of her cloak back on.
Reviews
All reviews (0)