The next second, a man in black was seen slashing at Liu Siming's door with a knife.
Liu Siping drew his sword to block the man's attack, then quickly thrust the sword at the man in black's chest. The man in black barely dodged, and the two began to fight.
Liu Si'an retreated to Emperor Yong'an's bedroom, blocking the view in front of Emperor Yong'an's bed, and said.
"Your Majesty, the assassins are here again. Please take your musket for self-defense. My third brother and I will protect you."
Emperor Yong'an was also awakened by the sounds of fighting. He got up, grabbed the musket placed by his bedside, and said coldly.
"This time we must capture them alive. I want to see who is so audacious as to attempt to assassinate me multiple times."
When Eunuch Luo saw that Emperor Yong'an had gotten up, he spread his arms and blocked the emperor with his whole body.
"Your Majesty, this old servant will protect you even at the cost of my life."
Emperor Yong'an was not alarmed. He himself was skilled in martial arts, and he decisively picked up his musket, pulled the trigger, and aimed it at the assassin outside the door.
Liu Siping subdued the assassin without even needing to fire.
This assassin was clearly not as strong as the one last time, and Liu Siping captured him so quickly.
The man in black had poison hidden in his mouth. Seeing that he had lost the initiative, he put a red pill in his mouth. Liu Siping reacted quickly and slammed his sword down on the assassin's face. The assassin didn't have time to swallow the poison pill before he spat it out.
The man in black was beaten to the ground. Liu Siping stepped forward and tied the man's hands behind his back, rendering him unable to move.
"Guards, tie this thief up!" Emperor Yong'an shouted loudly towards the door.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Imperial Guards rushed in. The chief of the Imperial Guards felt a chill in his heart when he saw the situation. He hadn't expected that with so many people on his side, they hadn't discovered the assassin and that the assassin had even managed to sneak into His Majesty's palace.
He sent two Dragon Guards to tie up the assassin, and then went forward to confess his crime.
"Your Majesty, I am late in escorting Your Majesty. Please punish me." Emperor Yong'an ignored him.
Instead, he stared at the assassin with murderous intent in his eyes and asked, "Speak, who sent you?"
The assassin was quite tough and was not intimidated by Emperor Yong'an's imposing aura.
He looked directly at Emperor Yong'an and replied, "My assassination attempt failed. Do with me as you please. Don't expect to get any information out of me."
“Oh, he’s a tough nut to crack. Men, take this thief to the Ministry of Justice and let them find a way to get him to talk.”
Emperor Yong'an frowned and waved his hand, and the assassin was dragged away.
A quarter of an hour later, Gu Lingchen and Consort Hui also rushed over. Seeing that Emperor Yong'an was safe and sound, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Father, I must find out who is behind this."
Gu Lingchen then withdrew, intending to interrogate the assassin himself.
At this moment, Gu Lingyun rushed towards Emperor Yong'an's bedroom, ignoring the guards' attempts to stop him.
"Father, I've come to see you. Are you alright?" The eldest prince's voice could be heard from afar.
"Let him in." Emperor Yong'an glanced at the eldest prince's anxious expression and waved for the eunuchs and Imperial Guards to leave.
After Gu Lingyun was let in, he knelt on the ground to pay his respects, then looked Emperor Yong'an up and down, a fleeting look of disappointment in his eyes.
"It's good that Father is alright. Your son risked his life to enter the palace only because he heard that Father had been assassinated and was worried about Father's safety. Please punish me, Father."
Gu Lingyun pretended to be a filial son and even kowtowed.
"Are you worried about my health, or are you here to see if I'm dead?" Emperor Yong'an wasn't stupid.
He had just been attacked when Gu Lingyun rushed over. How could someone who was under house arrest get the news so quickly and risk his life to come and see him?
There's only one possibility: he knew in advance that his side was going to be assassinated and wanted to see if he could succeed.
"Your subject dares not. Please, Your Majesty, understand. Your subject truly cares about Your Majesty."
A bead of cold sweat dripped down the prince's forehead, and his kneeling legs trembled slightly.
"My son is very kind. I am tired. You may all leave! The eldest prince shall return to the palace and remain under house arrest. He shall not leave the palace without my decree. The chief of the Imperial Guards has failed in his duty to protect me. Go and receive twenty strokes of the cane." After Emperor Yong'an finished speaking, he gave a wink to someone in the shadows.
"Yes." Everyone withdrew, and Emperor Yong'an proceeded to Consort Hui's palace.
At the Princess's residence, someone also came to report to Liu Sisi about matters in the palace: His Majesty had been assassinated again, but the attacker had been captured and the Second Prince and the Ministry of Justice were interrogating him.
Upon hearing the news, Liu Sisi got up, dressed, and entered the palace.
She asked Liu Siping and Liu Si'an about the situation at the time, and she was puzzled.
"Third Brother captured the person all by himself? Could it be that this assassin's martial arts skills are not as good as the last one? Last time, that person killed everyone who tried to stop him, and even Gu Lingchen had to exert a lot of effort to defeat him. Could this person just be a decoy?"
She had a bad feeling, and sure enough, soon the sounds of swords clashing came from the palace gate.
This time, the Imperial Guards did not fail in their duties, but the people who came were highly skilled in martial arts, and several Imperial Guards were quickly killed.
"Third Brother, Fourth Brother, you protect His Majesty. I'm going to meet them." After saying that, Liu Sisi used her lightness skill to quickly fly towards the sound of fighting.
"Little sister, you must be careful and protect yourself," Liu Siping said worriedly.
They cannot leave; His Majesty is currently in Consort Hui's palace, and they must protect His Majesty and Consort Hui.
On the other side, before Gu Lingchen even reached the Ministry of Justice prison, he saw the assassin's corpse on the road, and even the Imperial Guards who escorted them were killed at the same time.
He glanced at the corpses on the ground, his heart sinking. "It's over, we've fallen into a trap." It seemed that the assassin's swift capture was merely a diversionary tactic.
"Ah Sheng, take care of yourself. I need to get back to the palace quickly." Gu Lingchen didn't have time to say anything to Ah Sheng before he used his lightness skill to fly quickly towards the palace.
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