Chapter 62 Someone in the capital who could fight He Hansheng to a draw...
Chapter 62
Not far ahead is Dali Temple, and Fuling can vaguely see the stone lions in front of the temple gate.
Fuling knew that she would be safe once she got there. She thought to herself that for the sake of her unjustly killed wife and Xiao Wu, she would crawl into the Dali Temple, even if she had to crawl.
Shen Suining was already fighting with the two assassins who had caught up with her. She hooked the rope dart with her sword, jumped into the air, and pulled the chain straight to block the other flying iron claw. The metal collided with each other, making a crisp clanging sound.
With her right hand, she spun around, entwining two rope darts together. With light and swift movements, she leaped up the rope darts to the two assassins. With her left hand, she drew a short dagger from her sleeve and slashed one man's throat. With her right hand, she plunged her sword into the other man's chest, and blood splattered everywhere.
Two more assassins caught up from behind, leaping up with their knives drawn. Before Shen Suining could even catch her breath, her eyes sharpened, and as she drew her sword, she held it horizontally in front of her, along with the iron chain wrapped around it, forcefully withstanding the two large knives of the two assassins, her hands going numb from the impact.
At the same time, Shen Suining caught a glimpse behind the two people. The two men sent by He Hansheng seemed to be struggling to hold on. She frowned slightly. The two assassins who were holding her back exchanged a glance when they saw that she was distracted. One of them continued to block her sword, while the other raised his broadsword and swept it horizontally.
Shen Suining's pupils contracted, and she quickly dodged to the side.
The assassin holding her back wouldn't let go for a second, forcing Shen Suining to turn around and immediately fall into the encirclement.
Having achieved their objective, the two assassins decided to leave one of them to restrain Shen Suining, while the other quickly went in another direction to hunt down Fuling, who had not yet arrived at Dali Temple.
Shen Suining watched the black-clad assassin's back, forcefully blocking the knife in front of him. With her left sleeve blade, she slashed the assassin's wrist, and taking advantage of the moment when the assassin lost his strength in pain, she chopped the knife out of his hand with her sword, caught it with her foot, and twirled the hilt with her toe, thrusting it straight at the person chasing Fuling.
Hearing the commotion, the assassin dodged the knife and continued running towards Fuling without looking back. He was about to succeed when Shen Suining was entangled by the two assassins chasing after her and could not provide immediate support.
Just then, from the nearby pavilion, a man in black, cloaked in a cape, descended as if from the sky. He stepped over the towering wall as if walking on flat ground, and with his right hand twirling his sword, he swiftly blocked behind Fuling, then with lightning speed, stabbed at the assassin.
It was so fast that no one had time to react.
The assassin froze for a moment, then fell straight to the ground, motionless.
Meanwhile, Shen Suining, who had just dealt with the other two assassins, did not see this scene clearly. In the dim light of the night, she only caught a glimpse of the black figure blocking her and Fuling, and mistakenly thought that this person was the assassin who had just gone to kill Fuling.
Without saying a word, Shen Suining stepped forward with her sword and swung it. The two blood-stained swords clashed with a clang, their blades slicing through each other with a piercing sound, and drops of blood from the blades splattered onto their respective masks.
By the moonlight, Shen Suining could see the mask on the other person's face, which resembled a demon beast. The mask, with its gold and bronze base, was decorated with red and blue patterns. Its eyes were fierce and wide-open, and four horns of different sizes protruded from its forehead. Its red lips, large enough to swallow a fist whole, bared sharp fangs, and blood slowly dripped from the tips of its teeth. Under the moonlight, it was particularly terrifying, like a demon from the underworld.
Shen Suining was secretly alarmed. Although she did not believe in ghosts and gods, she was genuinely startled by the ghostly beast mask in front of her. For a moment, she even thought that this person was a ghost or god from the underworld who had come to the human world to take lives.
The two men clashed swords, neither willing to yield.
Because of past instances where her identity was revealed due to her fighting style, Shen Suining, as a Shadow Envoy, would deliberately hold back her moves to conceal her identity. This prevented her from fully utilizing her strength, putting her in a very passive position when facing opponents whose martial arts were equal to or even superior to hers.
While she had fought several people at the same time, Shen Suining was almost evenly matched with them. But now, facing this one person alone, she clearly felt a bit strained.
Shen Suining gritted her teeth inwardly, knowing that she couldn't fight back head-on, so she could only stall for time.
Perhaps sensing that Shen Suining's killing intent was gradually fading, the other party also withdrew from the attack. The two faced off against each other, secretly competing. Shen Suining deliberately allowed himself to be forced back several steps, keeping an eye on Fuling's movements out of the corner of his eye.
The masked man noticed the direction of her gaze and mistakenly thought she was looking for an opportunity to assassinate Fuling. He suddenly increased the strength in his hand and used his sword to pin her against a pillar.
With a muffled thud, Shen Suining's back slammed into a stone pillar, and the golden "Imperial" token she was carrying fell to the ground. The two of them looked down at the same time.
Meanwhile, Fuling had already staggered to the front of Dali Temple and banged on the big drum in front of the gate, the sound deafening.
Seeing this, the masked man sheathed his sword, turned around, and instantly disappeared into the night.
Shen Suining frowned slightly, probably realizing that the other party was not an enemy force. She was a little confused for a moment, but she didn't dwell on it too much. She bent down and picked up the imperial edict token.
...
Shen Suining tiptoed back to the bedroom.
Inside the bed curtains, He Hansheng remained in the same sleeping position as when she left, lying flat on the bed without moving. He was always like this, sleeping in the same position all night until dawn, very quietly. For someone like Shen Suining who was a light sleeper, this was a blessing.
Shen Suining tidied up briefly in the bathroom, then quietly climbed onto the bed and carefully lay down on the inside, without disturbing He Hansheng in the slightest.
She let out a soft breath, still feeling a bit scared thinking about the masked man she had just encountered. Coupled with the time she had broken into the funeral hall last night, every time she closed her eyes, all she could think about was that man-eating ghost.
Shen Suining tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, so she turned to look at He Hansheng beside her.
He slept soundly, his breathing even, probably because he was fast asleep. In addition, Shen Suining had specially sprinkled some calming incense into the incense burner before leaving, so he probably wouldn't wake up easily. Shen Suining thought for a moment and slowly moved closer to him.
Only when she could feel his warmth did Shen Suining feel a little at ease, and she finally slowly closed her eyes.
At that moment, He Hansheng suddenly turned to face her, reached out and hugged her, just like when they slept together on the boat a few days ago.
Shen Suining suddenly opened her eyes, her heart pounding, her body stiff and she dared not move.
He Hansheng made no further move, seemingly just an unconscious action while asleep. He gently put his arm around Shen Suining's waist, his chin resting on her forehead, his breathing steady.
Shen Suining slowly relaxed, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and hugged him back, finding a more comfortable position to snuggle in his arms and peacefully closing her eyes.
A moment later, Shen Suining fell into a deep sleep, while He Hansheng slowly opened his eyes, his gaze clear, not at all like someone who had just woken up from a long sleep.
He looked down at the girl in his arms who was gradually falling asleep, and all sleepiness vanished.
The next morning.
He Hansheng got up early as usual, changed into his official robes, and prepared to go to the palace for the morning court session. The difference this time was that he woke up Shen Suining, who was still fast asleep.
Shen Suining, who was extremely grumpy when she woke up, sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes still sleepy, and questioned him with great dissatisfaction: "If you wanted to get up early, fine, but why did you have to wake me up?"
Shen Suining has always been a heavy sleeper, and now that autumn has arrived and the weather is getting cold, she is even more inclined to stay in bed. In the past, He Hansheng would avoid waking her up when he got up early for court, and it was rare for him to pull her out of bed like this.
He Hansheng remained silent. He straightened his clothes with his back to Shen Suining, his expression quite solemn.
Xiangye and Mingke came in to help Shen Suining wash up. She took a mouthful of water, closed her eyes, tilted her head back to rinse her mouth, and then spat it into the water bowl. "Say something! Why did you wake me up so early?"
He Hansheng stepped forward, took the handkerchief that Xiangye had wrung out, and said, "You can go down first."
Xiang Yemingke responded, packed her things, and left.
Shen Suining squinted and saw He Hansheng standing motionless in front of her with a handkerchief in his hand, as if he had something to say.
She reached out and snatched the handkerchief from his hand, draped it over her face, rubbed her eyes which were hard to open, and even her voice sounded tired. "Can't you just say what you want to say? I don't want to guess what you're thinking."
“Ningning,” He Hansheng hesitated for a moment, “did you…go out last night?”
Shen Suining paused, thinking that He Hansheng must have woken up once in the middle of the night and not seen her, which was why he asked her that question.
She exclaimed "Ah!" and readily admitted, "Didn't Lingrui and Yanzhen go to Yunzhou? Lanzhu was left alone. She's new to Huadu and can't stay still for long, so I went to chat with her for a while because I was worried she'd be bored."
To conceal their identities, the people of Shuyu Manor did not stay together in one place, but were scattered in twos and threes throughout the capital. The three protectors of Bifeng Hall, who often had to meet Shen Suining, lived very close to the Marquis's residence, in the neighboring Lanjiang Ward.
Shen Suining's tone was sincere, and he didn't seem to be lying.
He Hansheng pondered for a moment, thinking of the imperial token that had fallen from the beast-faced man yesterday. It was something that only the emperor's personal envoys possessed. He thought that Shen Suining was not someone who would be willing to risk his life for the emperor.
Moreover, the emperor was a suspicious man. Neither Shen Suining nor Shen Yan could be considered close to him. Even if the emperor wanted to train another Imperial Shadow Envoy to work for him, he should choose from among his trusted confidants.
He Hansheng thought to himself that perhaps he was just overthinking things.
"What's wrong with you? You've been looking like you want to say something all morning," Shen Suining brushed her long hair behind her back, stood up, and looked at He Hansheng with suspicion. "You woke me up just to ask me this? That's not like you."
"No."
Shen Suining was always meticulous, and He Hansheng was afraid that she would overthink things, so he shook his head, reached out and put his arm around her waist, gently pulling her into his embrace, and whispered, "I just had a nightmare last night, dreaming that there was nothing beside me, and I couldn't tell whether it was reality or a dream."
“Ningning, you know,” He Hansheng tightened his arms, his voice a little hoarse, “I’m afraid you’ll suddenly leave me.”
Shen Suining paused slightly, then chuckled softly and reached out to hug him back. "What nonsense are you thinking? Even if I decide to break up with you, of course I'll discuss it with you first."
She lifted her head from his embrace and looked at him with a smile. "They say that even a day as husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness. I am not an ungrateful and heartless person. No matter what decision I make, as long as it is related to you, I will definitely tell you in advance."
He Hansheng hummed in agreement, then lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. "Then I'm relieved."
Shen Suining smiled, released He Hansheng, and smoothed out the wrinkles on his official robes. "Are you busy today? Do you want to come back and have lunch with your mother-in-law? She mentioned it yesterday, saying that you've been back for several days and haven't even had time to eat a meal together. If she complains again, I won't speak up for you."
"I'll be back early today." He Hansheng let her straighten his clothes, his expression so gentle it seemed like you could squeeze water from them.
After she finished tidying up and put her hands away, He Hansheng said softly, "I'm going to court. You can sleep a little longer."
"good."
Shen Suining smiled as she watched He Hansheng leave, her expression tender and affectionate, much like an ordinary couple.
However, as soon as He Hansheng's figure disappeared from sight, the smile on Shen Suining's face vanished instantly. She immediately put on her clothes and called Shen Fengyu over.
"Do me a favor," Shen Suining narrowed her eyes, her expression stern. "Secretly investigate who in the capital city is roughly on par with He Hansheng."
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