Chapter 19 Arrest

The assassination came extremely suddenly.

The emperor, accompanied by his trusted ministers, ventured deep into the hunting grounds, where the hunting areas for men and women were separated.

The women's quarters were located near the camp, which was the safest place, free from wild beasts and surrounded by guards.

The young fourth prince, Xiao Jin, naturally followed the empress and a group of female relatives.

Du Qianqian was among them. Like Ling Wei, she was not brought along as a family member of a subject, but as a playmate of a prince.

Her story had already spread, and none of the women were willing to take the initiative to talk to her. Du Qianqian was also unusually quiet today, staying on the edge of the crowd.

Until the assassin appeared and rushed straight for the Empress's carriage.

These assassins were extremely skilled, each move deadly. Although the empress's guards were elite, they were outnumbered.

The main force is guarding deep within the hunting grounds, and someone has already gone to report the news.

But in just a short time, the assassins had already formed an encirclement and kept advancing into it.

Because Du Qianqian was unusually low-key, Ling Wei paid extra attention to her every move. When the assassin appeared, Ling Wei subconsciously looked at her.

Faced with the sudden assassination attempt, Du Qianqian was not shocked at all; instead, she looked conflicted, as if she were going through some kind of struggle.

Suddenly, she made up her mind, her eyes filled with tears, and she glanced at the assassin with what seemed like guilt.

Following her gaze, even though only her eyes were visible, Ling Wei recognized her—Mu Han.

Mu Han's eyes were also filled with sorrow. Even in this critical moment of killing and hiding, his eyes were still filled with tears.

Instead of retreating, Du Qianqian advanced, moving closer to the core area where the Empress was located.

She clutched her chest tightly with one hand, as if grasping at some lifeline.

In a flash, Ling Wei realized what she was about to do.

Mu Han is a martial arts assassin who has accepted a mission.

The mission this time is to assassinate the fourth prince.

If the Fourth Prince dies at this critical juncture, the Second and Third Princes will definitely be prime suspects, and with Mu Han by Du Qianqian's side, it's hard to guarantee that they won't be discovered by those with ulterior motives.

She wanted to protect herself and the second prince.

The struggle for the throne involves a major shift in the timeline, and since Ling Wei joined the princess's camp, the system has been unable to offer any further reminders.

It finally breathed a sigh of relief when Ling Wei finally figured it out.

The system finally gave a prompt: "Yes, the timeline shows that Du Qianqian will use the medicine given to her by the divine doctor to take down the assassin, save the empress and others, and then be granted the title of county princess for her merits."

The assassin's mission failed, which is also a point of intense and tragic love between the two.

Finally, with the help of the divine physician, Mu Han faked his death, escaped the organization, and became part of Du Qianqian's harem.

Then he became a mad dog in Du Qianqian's hands, greatly strengthening the Second Prince's power by assassinating ministers from other factions.

Ling Wei reacted quickly, shouting, "Miss Du, watch out on the left!"

Du Qianqian was startled by her shout, and then an assassin spotted her and slashed at her.

Mu Han was shocked and tried to turn around to help, but it was too late.

Du Qianqian was so frightened that her face turned pale. She subconsciously took out the medicine powder from her bosom and hurriedly scattered it all out.

The assassin indeed convulsed and collapsed to the ground.

After escaping danger, Du Qianqian touched her chest, her face suddenly turning ugly. She glared at Ling Wei with hatred, her eyes seeming as if she wanted to devour her alive.

Ling Wei looked back innocently. Oh dear, all the medicine left by the divine doctor has been used up, and there won't be any more in the future.

Ling Wei had informed Xiao Yue about the unpredictable and cunning Doctor Jiang well in advance.

Such a major threat must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the Second Prince's faction.

The princess's mansion mobilized its talented members and they worked together to capture the legendary physician. Originally, Xiao Yue sincerely offered him great rewards in an attempt to recruit him into the imperial court.

Who knew this person was so arrogant and ruthless? Not only did he openly mock Xiao Yue, but he also inexplicably said that in his opinion, no woman in the world could compare to his Qianqian, and that Xiao Yue should not waste her energy.

He could make a pill of forgetfulness and give it to Xiao Yue.

"......"

Unable to be recruited, and with a problem in his head, Xiao Yue made a decisive move: if she couldn't have him, she'd just cut him off.

Ling Wei thoughtfully added insult to injury, worried that there might be a fake death drug, and specifically reminded him to cremate him.

Du Qianqian thought that Brother Jiang had just left without saying goodbye, after all, he was the kind of man who came and went like the wind.

Little did she know that her Brother Jiang had probably been blown to the seaside.

While Du Qianqian and Ling Wei were still gazing lovingly at each other, another assassin set his sights on her, this conspicuous target.

Ling Wei exclaimed softly again, "Ah, Miss Du."

The sound wasn't loud, and others might not have heard it, but Mu Han's ears twitched.

He was the most skilled martial artist on the field. Upon hearing the sound, he immediately looked over and saw that Du Qianqian was in danger. He could no longer care about anything else and turned back like lightning.

Ling Wei couldn't help but exclaim, "Du Qianqian is really useful!"

system:"......"

When the assassins arrived, Shen Qinglan drew her sword to defend herself. Now that Mu Han had turned around and was heading towards Du Qianqian, the pressure on her had eased considerably.

With a flick of the wrist, the attack instantly became fierce, and the assassins were immediately at a disadvantage, their numbers dwindling rapidly.

Their own morale soared.

Mu Han wasn't foolish enough to expose his relationship with Du Qianqian at this critical juncture. Instead, he gave Du Qianqian a light slap before anyone else could, pushing her away from the battlefield.

Even so, Du Qianqian was still pushed and rolled on the ground many times, looking at Mu Han with a pained and incredulous expression.

If this were a live football match, the referee would have blown the whistle long ago upon seeing such a spectacular tumbling performance.

But Mu Han didn't have time to watch. He rushed back to the battlefield. Fighting was a matter of moments. Shen Qinglan and the remaining guards took down many people as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

With reinforcements on their way, Mu Han knew that if he delayed any longer, he would surely die.

He stopped defending and risked taking a sword strike from Shen Qinglan. He used his injury to gain position and broke through the defense like a ghost. His iron claw-like hand grabbed the screaming Fourth Prince Xiao Jin.

Shen Qinglan hesitated to act rashly, and abruptly stopped her sword strike.

The dignified Empress Xie now resembled a madwoman, begging him not to harm her son.

"Don't hurt him! I'll grant you anything you want!"

Just as Mu Han was about to use Xiao Jin as a bargaining chip, he caught a glimpse of Princess Xiao Yue of Ruian, who was calmly directing the operation from outside the circle, and an intuition flashed through his mind.

He suddenly shielded Xiao Jin in front of him, but shot towards Xiao Yue like an arrow.

"Protect the princess!"

Most of the princess's guards around Xiao Yue had rushed to rescue the empress, suffering heavy casualties. At this moment, the assassins attacked, and apart from the princess's maids protecting her, the rest of them screamed and ran away.

Shen Qinglan tried her best to stop him, but Mu Han, who had several holes in his body, seemed to have an adrenaline rush and his lightness skill became even faster.

Just as the man's sword was about to reach her, the two maids embraced Xiao Yue with unwavering resolve.

That's a longsword. Are they going to hold it like that, three people in a chain?

Helpless, Ling Wei could only shake off Lin Shi's hand and rush over like a cannonball, using her body to knock Mu Han's arm away.

Mu Han's sword went astray, but he reacted quickly, flicking his wrist and sweeping the blade back. Ling Wei tried her best to dodge, but her left arm was still slashed, and blood instantly stained her sleeve.

A sharp pain shot through her, and Ling Wei staggered backward.

Shen Qinglan had already tackled him, but Mu Han's target changed again. He abandoned Xiao Yue and, taking advantage of Ling Wei's injury and loss of balance, instantly placed the cold blade against her neck.

He always had a beast-like intuition that if this woman were here, she would be Qianqian's greatest enemy!

He wanted to clear away the obstacles for Qianqian.

The man was about to strike.