Chapter 100

The blood was sticky and difficult to clean, so Qu Duan rubbed his hands until they turned red before he washed them completely, even cleaning the gaps between his fingernails.

He leaned his hands on the edge of the water tank, stared at the shaking water surface, and began to regret.

The sour orange candies that Liuliu stuffed in my mouth have melted. If I had known earlier, I would have taken an extra one from Liuliu as a backup. He has a lot of candies anyway.

But even after washing, there was still some smell on his clothes.

Yu Ruo: "What's wrong with you? I have a doctor at home."

Although he often heard that 'the Seventh Prince has taken sick leave again today' and 'the Seventh Prince can't get up again', because Qu Dubian was sick and stayed in the palace, he was always lively and jumping up and down when he went out, and he also avoided him, so it was the first time that Yu Ruo saw him so pale.

Agumu felt it more clearly. When he was pulling his hair just now, he had used incredible strength, but now he was so pale that he seemed to be unable to even breathe.

He tried to come over, "Um, you..."

Qu Watanabe: "Stand there."

Agumuda stopped.

Qu Dubian said quietly, "Let the doctor see him. I want to take a bath."

Yu Ruo: “?”

"Now?"

Qu Watanabe nodded: "He is too dirty, I hate him."

Agumuduo: "I am dirty?"

Qu Watanabe: "It's your blood that's stained, I feel sick."

Agumuduo: “…”

He looked at Qu Dubian's ugly face, but didn't say anything - this man's brother said that he was weak, but that couldn't be true.

The contrast with the grassland is quite big.

Yu Ruo quickly called the doctor from the mansion to bandage Agumuduo's wound. Fortunately, it was only a superficial injury, with almost no injuries to the tendons and bones.

By the way, ask someone to boil some water.

Qu Dubian moved to the corner and squatted. After the water was boiled, he went straight to the bathroom in the side room.

Yu Ruo: "There are no clothes for young people in the house. I'll let you wear mine later? I have new clothes."

Qu Watanabe: "It's all right. I'll return it to you later."

He went into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Yu seemed to be thinking about something.

Is it because of mysophobia, or does he think human blood is dirty?

After a while, Yi Twelve and Gu Xin came back together.

Yi Twelve glanced around the yard and saw only Agumudo, who had stripped off his upper body to treat his wounds, but did not see Qu Watanabe.

Yu Ruo: "What's going on?"

Gu Xin: "I teamed up with the Seventh Prince's guards and killed five of them, leaving one alive. However, these people should be assassins, and they took poison and committed suicide as soon as they were caught."

"But we have dragged the body here, and it is outside the palace. Now the news has spread. I believe it won't be long before the emperor of the Great Zhou will receive the news."

Yu Ruo: "Alright, we'd better not interfere too much and let the people of Da Zhou handle it."

Yi Twelve walked up to him and said, "Where are the people?"

Yu Ruo pointed: "Showering."

Yi Twelve walked quickly to the bathroom in the side room. The light was on, and there was the sound of water and steam. He knocked on the window with his fingers, "Your Highness?"

The voice inside was lazy and weak: "Yes, I am here."

Yi Twelve breathed a sigh of relief.

Qu Watanabe: "Are you not hurt?"

B12: “No.”

"Liuliu, do you have any orange candies?"

"have."

Yi Twelve took out another piece of candy, slightly opened the window, listened carefully, found the right direction, and threw it over.

Qu Dubian raised his hand to catch it.

"Okay, I got it. Thank you Liuliu."

Yi Twelve closed the window and stood guard at the door.

-

The news of Agumud's assassination soon reached the palace.

Princess A Xiang was originally in the Cining Palace accompanying Concubine Zhou, and rushed to the Zichen Palace upon hearing the news.

"Royal brother."

Emperor Chongzhao looked unhappy: "Have you heard about it?"

Princess Axiang: "I only know that there are assassins trying to kill him, but I don't know what the situation is."

Emperor Chongzhao: "He is now in the Nanning hostage's house. He should be fine, just a superficial wound. Xiaoqi passed by and saw the assassination attempt. He had a guard hiding in the dark who stopped the assassin, so nothing happened."

Princess Xiang felt relieved, then frowned: "Brother, I will go out of the palace to take a look."

Emperor Chongzhao: "Not suitable, you stay in the palace and go back to the princess's mansion tomorrow to appease Agumuduo."

Princess Axiang: "What about Prince Yuruo?"

Emperor Chongzhao: "Xiaoqi is still in his house. I have already sent someone over."

-

The Fourth Prince brought a team of imperial guards and carried the assassin's body in front of Yu Ruo's mansion inside.

The Fourth Prince: "I came here under the order of the emperor. I apologize for disturbing you so late at night."

Yu Ruo: "It's okay, but why did the Fourth Prince bring the body in? I thought you would just carry it away."

The Fourth Prince: "Because corpses are easy to tamper with, in order to avoid having any more or less marks on them in the future, it is better for everyone to witness some things."

The corner of Yu Ruo's mouth twitched slightly.

It can't be what he thinks, right?

The fourth prince: "Strip them."

The imperial guards were swift and quick, stripping off all the clothes of the six assassins.

Agumduo came up, kicked them away, and looked through them one by one. "They are not northern border people, and there are no marks on their bodies."

Yu Ruo glanced at the Fourth Prince and asked curiously, "If they had fake seals on their bodies, for example, the national flower of your Great Zhou, the orchid, and you took off their clothes, wouldn't it be hard for you to defend yourself?"

The fourth prince raised his eyelids and said, "That is something that father will be responsible for explaining. I will handle this matter well to avoid endless troubles in the future."

Yu Ruo: “…”

Does the Emperor of the Great Zhou know that his son is cheating him like this?

The imperial guards carried the naked body of the assassin away and took away all the clothes on the ground.

The fourth prince looked at Agumuduo and said, "The Great Zhou will give you an explanation for what happened today. If you can still walk, the Imperial Guards will escort you back to the Princess's Palace."

Agumuda nodded.

The fourth prince said to the leader of the imperial guards, "I will not report to the palace. You go back and tell His Majesty that it is too late and I will go home to sleep. Please ask him not to assign me any errands at night in the future."

Team leader: “…Yes.”

He escorted Agumudo away.

Now, the only ones left in the palace were the Fourth Prince, Yu Ruo, and Qu Dubian who was still taking a bath.

Qu Duanbian had been listening to the noise outside and called out, "Fourth Brother! Is that you?"

The fourth prince's eyes, which had been drooping for years, slightly opened, revealing a hint of happiness that was visibly visible, and he walked quickly to the bathroom door.

Yi Twelve stretched out his hand to stop him.

The fourth prince didn't care: "It's me, Xiaoqi. It's so dark now. It's inconvenient to go back to the palace. You can go to my house."

Yu Ruo: "It might not be a good idea to go out after taking a bath. I still have a vacant room in my house."

The Fourth Prince glanced at him.

He remembered that Xiao Qi didn't like staying with this guy for a long time.

Qu Dubian stepped out of the bathtub, dried his body, and changed into Yu Ruo's new clothes that Yi Twelve brought in.

It's a lot bigger now, so he can wear it to mop the floor.

Qu Watanabe didn't put on his clothes seriously. He just tied his belt, put on his boots, wiped his hair and went out. There was still a little bit of bloody smell outside, but it was much better than before, so he could barely bear it.

"I went back to the palace and told Ye Banban that I would be back in the evening. If I didn't, he would be worried."

The fourth prince: "Then come with me."

Qu Dubian nodded and left with the Fourth Prince.

Yu Ruo looked at their backs and reminded them, "Don't forget, you owe me a meal."

Qu Watanabe: “Remember this.”

Yu Ruo smiled and no longer felt sleepy. He sat in the pavilion and poured himself a cup of tea.

After a while, Gu Xin came back: "They've left."

Yu Ruo nodded: "Today's incident is quite interesting."

He was sure that it was not Nanning who did it, and it was even more impossible for Da Zhou to kill Agumud.

"After all, the Northern Frontier and the Great Zhou are at peace on the surface."

-

The Fourth Prince accompanied Qu Dubian and walked for a long distance towards the palace.

"I was about to go to bed when my father asked me to come out to do something."

Qu Watanabe: "Fourth brother, you didn't do a good job on this mission. You handed it over to the leader of the imperial guards and didn't even report back to the palace."

The Fourth Prince: "Well done, there will be more and more errands in the future."

"My father sent me here on an errand, Xiaoqi, you can guess why."

Qu Watanabe fell silent.

really.

The two people who are fighting the most fiercely in the court right now are the eldest brother and the third brother.

The second brother did not get involved with them, but was still in the vortex of the political center and had to mediate with the eldest and third brothers from time to time.

After the fourth brother established his own mansion, he has been hiding behind. Our father assigned him tasks just to kick him to the table.

The fourth brother deliberately did not do his job properly, which was to tell the emperor clearly that he had no interest in the throne and that he should not be kicked to the table.

Qu Watanabe: "It is actually time for Father to choose a crown prince."

The Fourth Prince: "So he wants to examine us all, sometimes even forcibly. Perhaps, he is also selecting capable brothers for the future crown prince, like Uncle Ming, to become the crown prince's right-hand man."

"From my father's perspective, there is nothing wrong with testing us, but humans are not made of stone. If we continue to be tested like this, something bad will happen sooner or later."

Qu Dubian stopped and asked seriously: "Fourth brother, do you really not want that position?"

The Fourth Prince also stopped and looked down at him.

After a moment, he raised his hand, straightened his younger brother's messy collar, and smoothed his half-dry, half-wet hair.

The fourth prince also replied seriously: "Xiao Qi, that position is really not what everyone wants."

How many bones are there under the throne, who can count them? How thick is the blood stain on it, who can measure it?

To reach that position, how much price must be paid, how much human things must be abandoned, who can weigh and calculate it?

He's fine like this.

Qu Watanabe: "It can't be too useful, nor too useless, so Fourth Brother, you did your job, but not very well."

The fourth prince blinked and said, "If you are too useless, you will become a chess piece that can be discarded at any time. You must make yourself valuable."

Qu Watanabe: "Don't worry, I will keep it a secret for you!"

"Fourth brother, just send me here. I will walk the rest of the way by myself."

The fourth prince nodded: "Okay."

Looking at Qu Duanbian's back, the Fourth Prince said, "If you are interested, Fourth Brother will help you."

Qu Duanbian didn't look back, but raised his hand and waved, "Power is valuable, but life is more valuable. If it is for freedom, both can be abandoned."

The fourth prince smiled.

He watched the young boy in front of him, whose ill-fitting clothes dragged on the ground, staggering and lazily walked into the towering imperial city in the darkness ahead.

-

Qu Dubian walked slowly on the palace road.

"It's a bit lonely walking alone, Liuliu, come out and chat."

B12: “Yeah.”

It was said that they were chatting, but he couldn't even fart for a long time.

Qu Dubian was disappointed: "I read so many books in vain. How are you going to find a wife in the future when you are so bored?"

B12: "No."

Qu Watanabe: "You have to take care of your own business. You can't stay by my side forever."

B12: "I will be with you until you no longer need me. As long as you need me, I will always be there."

No need for that. After three days of drunkenness, he will find a place to die.

Qu Dubian patted him on the shoulder and said, "You still have to think about the future. I'm not an unsympathetic boss. But if you really want to be single and don't want to go out, I'll give you a pension."

"Okay," Yi Twelve was silent for a while, looked up at the position of the moon, and estimated the time.

"Your Highness, if you don't go back, Xiaoyuan will be angry."

Qu Watanabe's smile froze: "Oops!"

He grabbed Yi Twelve and ran away.