Chapter 11: The Second Wave of Riverside Assassinations: After testing, the host is currently dead...

Until daylight fell and there were no more assassination attempts, Qin Yuqing looked at the scenery outside the carriage window. After a short nap, her mind became much clearer.

The system's words made her feel a little creepy, she could sense that these people were intending to kill her, and she was just a person with no abdominal muscles, how could she possibly survive.

Could it be that the system wants to kill her?

[The host has misunderstood the system. Unless the host's mission fails, the system will not harm the host.]

Qin Yuqing reached out and pulled down a leaf. The system and she should be bound together, so it would not lie about the set program. Therefore, this is indeed the world of the novel "The Empress", and the assassination just now will not be life-threatening.

Could it be that Lu Jingchuan is so skilled in martial arts that he can protect himself from being besieged by so many assassins?

The carriage stopped by a small river. Lu Jingchuan lifted the curtain and stood outside and said, "The assassin is from the capital." Lu Jingchuan helped Qin Yuqing get off the carriage and explained, "The only hiding place is in the capital."

"Why?" Qin Yuqing took the grilled fish handed to her by the driver and thanked him. "You mean intercepting the carrier pigeons? Wouldn't it be more obvious in the capital?"

"Most families in Beijing have homing pigeons." Lu Jingchuan took out a clean handkerchief and handed it to Qin Yuqing, pointing at the corner of her mouth and continuing, "It became popular thirty years ago."

"The timing fits. The man in black is only in his early twenties. It seems someone started planning this a long time ago." Qin Yuqing recalled the plot of the novel. There was basically no mention of carrier pigeons and these raised assassins.

There is only one sentence that makes it relevant. After the male protagonist becomes emperor, he eradicates all unhealthy practices.

"Brother in black?" Lu Jingchuan looked over suspiciously. He naturally reached out and took the grilled fish from Qin Yuqing's hand. Then he handed a new one to Qin Yuqing and said, "The one from the first wave of assassinations?"

Qin Yuqing nodded. This freshly caught fish would be delicious even if grilled. "That's convenient." Qin Yuqing was still a little concerned about what the system said. After thinking for a moment, he asked directly, "What do you think of the assassination just now?"

"Nothing to be afraid of." Lu Jingchuan took out a handkerchief and wiped his fingers carefully, his indifferent look mixed with a hint of arrogance belonging to a teenager.

The driver chuckled, and Youyou added, "Master Lu, this is a golden wound medicine. Your wound has split open."

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Lu Jingchuan's face. He whispered a thank you and began to apply medicine on his arm.

Lu Jingchuan was injured?

Qin Yuqing looked carefully and found that Lu Jingchuan had changed his blue brocade clothes into ink-colored ones at some point, which was why she did not notice Lu Jingchuan's injuries at first.

Judging from the wound, Lu Jingchuan was seriously injured. White bones were faintly visible in some places, so it was not because Lu Jingchuan had high fighting power that he could protect her.

"Old gentleman, I see that you are quite skilled. Who are you? And why do you call us 'young masters'?" Qin Yuqing was quite concerned about the way the driver addressed them and always felt that this driver was no ordinary person.

The driver smiled amiably, brought a pot of water from the side and handed it to Qin Yuqing, saying, "I'm just a driver, and my job is to take the two young ladies to Wenshan to enjoy the flowers." The driver looked up at the sky and said, "It's getting late, it's time to set off."

Qin Yuqing looked not far away and saw two roads with completely different scenery, centered around a particularly large banyan tree.

One is a well-maintained carriage road, and the other is a road overgrown with weeds.

"Please wait a moment, young ladies." The driver picked up the fish bones and placed them on the rocks on the shore. Then he picked up a leaf and blew it by himself.

After a while, the driver looked at the boats approaching from a distance and explained with a smile, "The Baili family controls all the waterways of Great Yin. As long as different tunes are played, boats of different qualities will come."

Qin Yuqing looked at the fish bones on the shore. Just as she was about to ask what they were used for, the Baili family's black-sailed boat arrived, and the boatman's urging voice interrupted Qin Yuqing's thoughts.

"What are you standing there for? Are you waiting to feed the fish?" The boatman was wearing tattered clothes and picking his teeth with one hand. His attitude was extremely bad.

"My two young masters, my skills are limited, and I can only blow this boat here." The driver stepped forward, took out a package wrapped in oil paper and handed it to the boatman. After whispering a few words, the boatman's expression eased a little.

"My two young ladies, everything has been arranged. Please come in."

Qin Yuqing looked at the driver suspiciously, and boarded the boat with Lu Jingchuan's help, half believing and half doubting.

She had never been on such a small boat in modern times, so she couldn't help feeling curious and worried.

When the four people boarded the boat, the boat suddenly sank and some river water overflowed onto the deck.

The boatman knocked on the bow with his long pole, half scolding and half coaxing, "Old man, we'll take a break after this trip. Just hold on a little longer."

"Have you seen this driver in Beijing?" Qin Yuqing looked at the driver talking to the boatman, walked over to Lu Jingchuan and sat down, asking in a low voice, "I think there's something wrong with him."

"I've met him." Lu Jingchuan drank his tea slowly, a cold look on his face. "He is the eunuch beside His Majesty, Eunuch Jin."

"Eunuch Jin?" This is another character not mentioned in the novel.

Qin Yuqing held up her chin and looked into the distance. She didn't know when thick mist had gathered on the water surface. She couldn't see clearly and always felt that there was some danger lurking in it.

The Baili family was mentioned in the novel. They value profit the most. As long as the things you give are in place, let alone in the Great Yin Dynasty, as long as there is water access, their Baili family's boats can deliver it.

In the original book, the hero used the dowry prepared by Chen Cairen for the heroine in exchange for the help of the head of the Baili family, and thus the famous scene of the hero rushing thousands of miles by land and sea was born.

But now that I think about it, Concubine Chen didn't bring many valuables with her when she entered the palace, and she wasn't favored in the palace, let alone any rewards. So what could have persuaded the Baili family to use such connections?

"careful!"

Suddenly, Qin Yuqing was hugged by Lu Jingchuan, and the sound of a sharp weapon cutting through flesh came to her ears.

Another assassination!

This wasn't a large open space. If Lu Jingchuan took her with him, she would be in a passive position. So Qin Yuqing quickly said, "Let me go. I will protect myself. Don't worry."

"Okay." Lu Jingchuan handed over a stick and pointed at the people in the water not far away and said, "Hit them."

"No problem." Qin Yuqing had not yet adapted to the first assassination, but the second time was different.

Although I haven't formally learned any martial arts in modern times and cannot compare with the people here, I have learned some things such as Tai Chi, Five Animal Frolics, Bajiquan, etc., which are used for physical fitness and self-defense.

Qin Yuqing stared at the side of the boat. As long as someone approached, she would raise the wooden stick in her hand and hit them, like playing whack-a-mole, one after another.

The coachman and the boatman guarded the boat at the front and back, while Lu Jingchuan stood on the top of the boat, waving long arrows and killing the assassins who came from the air.

In this way, the surface of the water was soon dyed red, and countless corpses were washed away by the current against the boat.

Qin Yuqing observed that these people were clearly different from the first batch of death warriors.

The first batch of assassins, like the man in black, had independent self-awareness, but the group of assassins in front of him seemed to have lost their self-awareness.

Their eyes were dull, and although some of their arms had been cut off, they seemed insensitive to pain and tireless. Unless they were completely killed, they would keep climbing onto the boat.

"System, I'm in danger and need help." Qin Yuqing suddenly became curious about what answer she would get if she asked the system for help at this time.

[After testing, the host is not in immediate danger of life, and the system will not provide assistance.]

The same answer again, what is the basis for the system's judgment?

Suddenly, Qin Yuqing saw that a man in the water seemed to have something hanging around his waist, so she knocked hard on the man's head while squatting down and quickly picked up the token.

But because the movement was too big, Qin Yuqing fell backwards uncontrollably, and those assassins seemed to have found a breakthrough and rushed towards Qin Yuqing.

"Aruan! Be careful!" Lu Jingchuan swung the hidden weapon in his hand and hit the heart of the assassin in front of Qin Yuqing directly with a quick and decisive move.

"Damn it." Qin Yuqing quickly moved back, used the force to turn over, picked up the wooden stick and prepared to fight them, not letting them get any closer.

The next moment, a whistle sounded from nowhere, and all the assassins stopped their actions at the same time and left in the direction of the whistle.

Qin Yuqing was half-kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath. He couldn't hold the wooden stick in his hand anymore and it fell to the ground. There were bloodstains on the stick, which belonged to someone unknown.

"This body is still too weak." Qin Yuqing murmured to himself. After this Wenshan is over, it is time to exercise. This kind of thing cannot happen again.

"Hand." Lu Jingchuan half-knelt in front of Qin Yuqing, his tall shadow covering Qin Yuqing. She couldn't see Lu Jingchuan's expression, but still stretched out her hand obediently.

She had just felt a piercing pain in her hand, and she hadn't expected it to be bloody and some of the thorns on the wooden stick had pierced into the flesh.

"What did you just say?" Lu Jingchuan asked suddenly.

"What?" Qin Yuqing didn't react to what Lu Jingchuan was saying.

"It's nothing, just bite it." Lu Jingchuan handed over a dagger inlaid with sapphires. "It will hurt a little, just bear with it."

"Yeah." Qin Yuqing bit her tongue. She was not a sentimental person. If she didn't treat the wound now, it would be troublesome when the festering flesh and the wood splinters grew together.

But she still underestimated the pain without anesthetic. The dagger had been burned by a fire starter. No matter how careful or gentle the owner was, the pain and burning sensation would still sweep through Qin Yuqing's body in an instant.

Qin Yuqing knelt on the ground, sweat beads on her forehead. She bit the dagger tightly, looked at Lu Jingchuan with bloodshot eyes, and shouted incoherently: "Continue."

Lu Jingchuan took a deep breath and continued to remove the meat from Qin Yuqing's hand. The boatman and the coachman stood guard not far away, looking around vigilantly, fearing that the assassins would attack again.

From beginning to end, Qin Yuqing didn't say a word, and only her heavy and rapid breathing could be heard.

"Okay." Lu Jingchuan had just finished bandaging Qin Yuqing when he saw the woman in front of him shaking her body. After getting the accurate answer, her body relaxed, the dagger rolled to the ground, and she fainted in Lu Jingchuan's arms.

Lu Jingchuan's hands began to tremble unconsciously, and the dagger he used to treat the wound fell to the ground. He looked at Qin Yuqing somewhat at a loss. If Qin Yuqing was awake at this moment, he would see that his icy face was filled with panic.

"Miss Lu, take her inside to rest first." The driver patted Lu Jingchuan's shoulder gently and said, "It's okay, we two old guys are here in the back."

Lu Jingchuan nodded and picked up Qin Yuqing with both hands, but because his body was too tense, he almost fell out. But even so, his hands still held Qin Yuqing firmly.

Looking at Lu Jingchuan's back, the boatman came over and said, "This girl is quite impressive."

The driver sighed and looked into the distance.

"It's all suffering."