The young imperial envoy was calm and composed, exuding confidence. Upon hearing this, the wealthy merchants present were all relieved and raised their glasses to toast him.
The kitchen.
Liu Ximing saw Zhu Sen'ao serving porridge, walked over slowly, and asked him casually, "I wonder what Lord Zhu plans to do?"
Zhu Sen'ao paused, his hand still holding the porridge, and looked at Liu Ximing: "What do you mean by that, Master Liu?"
Liu Ximing snorted coldly: "Lord Zhu, you wouldn't be thinking of going along with Lord Wei's wishes and doing your best to provide disaster relief, would you? I'm here just to remind Lord Zhu not to forget what you did with us. The truth will eventually come out. Just look at his behavior today. Lord Zhu, you can imagine that if he finds out what we've done one day, even ten of our heads wouldn't be enough for him to chop off!"
Zhu Sen'ao knew that although there was an element of deliberate intimidation in his words, he was still inevitably frightened. His hand trembled, and the scalding hot porridge splashed onto his hand. In his pain and surprise, he accidentally knocked the bowl to the ground, making a crisp sound.
He seemed to be suddenly awakened, staring intently at Liu Ximing: "Then, Mr. Liu, what do you think we should do?"
Liu Ximing turned around and looked up at the sky. He didn't know when, but the bright white moon on the horizon was shrouded in dark clouds. At this moment, in the sweltering weather, a violent wind carrying humid air swept in. Looking into the distance, there was an atmosphere of impending rain.
He sighed silently and said in a deep voice, "It's a dark and windy night."
With those words, Zhu Sen'ao's mind suddenly cleared.
A dark and windy night for murder.
"But... I've heard that this Lord Wei is someone of great importance!" He hesitated, rubbing his hands together, unable to make up his mind.
Liu Ximing smiled grimly: "So what if he has a powerful background? He died in Songjiang City, not at our hands. Lord Zhu, don't forget what he came here for. Isn't there room for us to make a fuss about this?"
"It's alright if you can't bring yourself to do it. I'll give the orders. I just ask that Lord Zhu doesn't ruin my plans." After he finished speaking, he went to the pot, ladled out another bowl of porridge, and carried it into the courtyard.
Zhu Sen'ao hesitated for a long time, but his hesitant gaze gradually hardened, and he left the kitchen with Liu Ximing.
After the banquet, Zhu Sen'ao personally led Wei Qinglou to the easternmost wing room. He smiled and said, "Although the conditions are limited, etiquette cannot be neglected. This wing room originally belonged to me, but since you have come, you should stay here. I can rest in the guest room on the west side as well."
Wei Qinglou nodded, not bothering to be polite with him over such a trivial matter.
In the latter half of the night, Liu Ximing glanced at the sky. It was already late at night, and the darkness outside the window was so thick it was impossible to see through. He lightly tapped the table with his finger. Upon hearing the signal, the people waiting outside the door split into two teams as he and Zhu Sen'ao had previously instructed. One team went west and the other went east, forming a two-pronged encirclement to surround the room where Wei Qinglou was located.
As for the guards outside the door, they have already taken care of them.
The door to the side room was pushed open a crack, allowing a person to slip in sideways. The assassin assigned to carry out the assassination silently crept in, then raised his long knife high towards the figure on the bed. Just as he was about to stab, at the critical moment, Wei Qinglou suddenly opened his eyes, gripped the dagger in his hand, and before the assassin could react, counterattacked him and ended his life with a single blow.
Unfortunately, the assassin eventually made a sound, alerting those outside the door, who pushed open the door and entered to fight Wei Qinglou.
They acted swiftly and ruthlessly, because the orders they received were to kill without mercy, so they held nothing back, and almost every move they made was a killing blow.
They outnumbered him, and Wei Qinglou knew he had no chance of winning. So he lured them out of the room, hoping to find a chance to escape. However, he was outnumbered and had no time to escape. He was already feeling weak and was about to be defeated when suddenly, an arrow shot out of the air with the force of thunder and struck the man who was about to slash him with his knife.
Wei Qinglou took a heavy breath, and then continued fighting with his opponent.
Soon, others joined the battle, helping Wei Qinglou turn the tide. As for those sent to assassinate Wei Qinglou, they were either dead or wounded, and were all firmly held captive, unable to fight back.
For the first time in his life, Wei Shaoqing, who was always proud and meticulous, lay on the blood-stained ground without any regard for his image while fully conscious.
He strained to lift his eyes and smiled warmly at the person who had come to him.
"I was just wondering if you would come."
His tone was so light that it was as if he had not just experienced any life-or-death battle, but had merely watched a play, or perhaps simply ridden across a slanting bridge and met the girl in front of him at the bridgehead amidst a riot of red sleeves and willow branches swaying in the spring breeze.
Zhu Jiayu nodded: "That's why I came."
She reached out her hand, and Wei Qinglou took her hand, using the strength in her hand to stand up, and smiled silently.
Yes, she has arrived.
Strangely enough, when the knife was raised above his head, the only thought that remained in his mind was that Zhu Jiayu had saved his life. He wondered if Zhu Jiayu would be angry if he died here without knowing why.
After all, she's so stingy and unreasonable.
Zhu Jiayu had no idea that he was still badmouthing her in his heart. After glancing at him and seeing that he didn't seem to have any serious injuries, she asked him, "What's next? Do you know who did this?"
Wei Qinglou thought for a moment, shook his head, and after a while nodded: "I know a little bit about it. Let's detain Zhu Sen'ao and the others first."
"What about these people?" Zhu Jiayu pointed to the kneeling assassins on the ground and suggested casually, "Why don't we just kill them? They're not of much use anyway."
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