Chapter 18 The owner's confidant

Chen Yanheng glanced at the man sitting on the dragon throne. The latter paused, smiled slightly, straightened his clothes, and looked back.

As they looked at each other, Chen Yanheng already had an idea: he must not let the innocent little assassin fall into the hands of this guy.

He politely declined the emperor's "good intentions" and passed over the matter, returning to the main topic: "Don't bother, Your Majesty. I should have a proper identity when I go to Jiangzhou this time, and I shouldn't alert the enemy."

Su Yingtian felt a little sorry that he couldn't bring An Qin into the palace for a proper checkup. He sighed silently, "That's easy. I'll appoint you as an imperial envoy, in charge of all matters in Jiangzhou this time. You have the power to execute first and report later."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After receiving the imperial edict to be conferred the title, Chen Yanheng stayed in the palace tonight.

The stay lasted for three days.

Outside the palace gate, except for the time of eating, drinking, defecating and urinating, An Qin hid in the trees on the bank of the moat outside the palace, squatting from east to west, from south to north. After roughly figuring out the time when the guards at the palace gate changed shifts, he spent another afternoon using light skills to leave the city, ran to the cliff of Mishan outside the city and overlooked the entire imperial city, and then rushed back at night to get a clear understanding of all the palaces and guards in the palace.

Although the palace guards seemed strict and impenetrable, he still found a loophole.

Every day at the time of Xu when the shift changes at the North Palace Gate, a black-faced guard would always go to the corner of the palace wall to urinate half a minute in advance.

As long as he could sneak into the palace and see the Grand Tutor, that person would be his.

So when the Grand Tutor still didn't leave the palace on the fourth day, An Qin quietly changed into night clothes and squatted in the dark, waiting for the arrival of dusk. When the guards at the palace gate were changing shifts, he knocked out the black-faced guard and took the opportunity to sneak in and act accordingly.

The thin young man seemed to blend into the leafy jujube tree. Even if you got closer, it would be difficult to find that there was a person hiding in the tree. An Qin saw that the sky was getting darker, so he jumped down from the jujube tree easily and ambushed the corner of the black-faced guard's "urine pit" by sticking to the wall.

Less than half a minute after the hour of Xu, the guards outside the North Palace Gate began to relax their vigilance.

The dark-faced guard yawned, waved to his companions, then walked towards the corner while unbuckling his belt and humming a song.

An Qin gradually held his breath and concentrated, his sharp eyes falling on the neck of the tall guard, when he was suddenly patted on the shoulder from behind.

An Qin's body trembled, and he quickly grabbed the hand of the attacker and tried to push him against the wall. However, the attacker was also on guard and dodged sideways, lowering his voice and saying, "It's me, Ying Nineteen."

Shadow Nineteen? An Qin quickly stopped his movements.

Ying Shijiu glanced at the guard who was almost in front of him, grabbed An Qin's shoulders, and led him away.

It’s not that he was afraid that the two of them would be discovered by the guards at the gate, but he was afraid that An Qin would see something he shouldn’t see - although they were both men, this was the future master’s wife, and he could only see the master’s.

"Nineteen?" An Qin heard Ying Nineteen's voice and immediately relaxed his guard. His eyes flickered. "But what are the manor owner's instructions?"

"..." Ying Shijiu pursed his lips, looked at the young man in front of him with a complicated expression, and slowly took out a sealed letter from the inner pocket of his collar.

An Qin took it with both hands and saw the words "An Qin's Personal Letter" written in bold, unrestrained calligraphy. The characters were as free and uninhibited as the person himself, and the tail bore the imprint of Fengyue Villa and the owner's personal seal. An Qin's narrow, long eyes gradually widened, and beneath his cold expression, a flush of light shone, his spirits soaring.

It’s the owner’s handwritten letter!

He is not even a secret guard, yet he is so valued by the owner of the manor. It seems that in the previous selection of secret guards, it was not because he was inferior to the other two, but because the owner of the manor had other arrangements!

The owner of the manor must have trusted him very much, so he would have personally sent the letter to him!

Ying Shijiu looked into An Qin's bright eyes, opened his mouth, and hesitated to speak. After a few breaths, he followed his master's instructions and emphasized, "This mission is of vital importance. You must pay attention to it."

The mission was delivered personally by Ying Shijiu, and was also stamped with the owner's private seal. Even if Ying Shijiu didn't say it, An Qin knew the importance of what was said in the letter.

Even if tomorrow is the last day to take the head of the Grand Tutor, he has to put that matter aside and finish the task at hand first.

An Qin became serious and nodded solemnly.

Glancing around at the silence, he lowered his head, took out a lighter, lit it, and began to carefully open the letter.

With the dim light of the tinder, he could barely see the contents of the letter. An Qin's face gradually became serious, and he returned to the serious look he had when they first met.

His brows furrowed slightly in doubt, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "I understand. Master, please rest assured. An Qin will definitely complete the task!"

Ying Nineteen's expression was complicated. "Okay, I'll be leaving first."

"Goodbye, I won't see you off." An Qin nodded and watched Ying Shijiu go away. He turned back to look at the guards who had already taken care of their three urgent matters and then looked at the contents of the letter in the light of the tinder - he was not mistaken.

The owner of the manor wanted him, an assassin who only knew how to kill people, to be someone's bodyguard.

Get up early tomorrow morning at noon and escort a newly appointed imperial envoy to Jiangzhou from the willow grove outside the imperial city. Make sure to ensure the envoy's life and send him safely to Jiangzhou before returning to the imperial city.

Jiangzhou is only five days away from the imperial city, and the round trip is only ten days. By the time he returns to the imperial city, he will still have more than half a month to take the head of the Grand Tutor, so it is still in time.

An Qin has done many murders, but this is the first time he has to protect someone.

Although An Qin was quite puzzled by this, it was not his place to interfere with his master's orders.

Then he thought that although assassins mostly carried out assassinations, the secret guards of the manor owner selected from the assassins were mainly responsible for protecting the master's safety.

This opportunity might be a test from the manor owner. If he can deliver the imperial envoy to Jiangzhou safely, the manor owner will know that he is capable of serving as a secret guard to protect him!

Thinking of this, An Qin gathered his courage again, folded the owner's confidant, carefully stuffed it into the inner pocket close to his chest and hid it. He turned around to look at the brightly lit inner courtyard of the palace, turned around and left in the night.

【Author’s words】

Happy New Year, ladies!!!