Chapter 39 (Revised)
According to the plan of Wei Zhen, Jiang Weiqiu and others, Cheng Zi and the masters of Shura Valley also acted in two groups. One group secretly accompanied and protected the Duke of Ye and his family, while the other group, led by Cheng Zi, waited in the dense forests as Wei Zhen passed through, accompanying and protecting Wei Zhen's safety.
When he took on this job, Cheng Zi was mentally prepared for a long-term journey. Despite this, he did not dare to relax even a little.
Since Wei Zhen could plan all this, it meant he had someone behind him. And since Ah Lu was helping him this way, perhaps Prince Yu or even a sage was behind him. Besides, putting all that aside, Cheng Zi felt he had to live up to Ah Lu's trust.
Cheng Zi and the others secretly followed Wei Zhen for a while, and indeed noticed that not far away from them, there was another group of people from the Jianghu who were deliberately concealing their presence. Those people must have not noticed their presence and were slowly closing the distance between them and Wei Zhen.
Cheng Zi was puzzled - what did that mean? Was he getting anxious already?
Just as he was trying to figure out the other party's movements, Cheng Zi saw a slender black shadow shoot out from the opposite forest and head straight for Wei Zhen. Cheng Zi immediately recognized it as a dart.
Before he could complain about the other party's impatience, Cheng Zi immediately threw a dart.
Two darts came from both sides. The dense forest was so quiet that even if Wei Zhen was dull, he could still hear the sound of something breaking through the air on both sides.
Wei Zhen quickly lay down and rolled sideways off the saddle. As his feet touched the ground, two darts collided and fell to the ground. Before he could react, several more darts flew out from the dense forest, heading straight for him.
Wei Zhen, who was well prepared, dodged repeatedly, but just as he stood firm, he saw a masked man in black clothes appear in front of him, holding up a big knife and slashing down in the air.
It turns out that the darts just now were just a cover.
Wei Zhen was still thinking about the darts when he suddenly saw the big man who was about to chop him to death was kicked far away by a black shadow. He hit a big tree and couldn't stand steadily. He covered his chest and vomited blood.
"Good body skills."
Wei Zhen couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, and looked carefully at the young man who was protecting him.
The young man was tall and straight, with long arms and legs, sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a dark complexion. The confidence and composure revealed between his brows made his temperament truly befitting of the identity of "Young Master of Shura Valley".
"Young man, you are indeed good at martial arts."
A figure slowly approached from the dense forest. Seeing the person's face clearly, Wei Zhen frowned slightly: "Pan Liang?"
Although he had never seen Pan Liang in person, Wei Zhen had painted Pan Liang's appearance based on the descriptions of the Duke of Ye and others, and the appearance was almost identical to what he saw in front of him.
Pan Liang smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your concern. It is me." Then, as if he had thought of something, he smirked twice, his tone becoming more sarcastic. "No, now you are the deposed crown prince, demoted to a commoner."
"I thought I could send you off quietly, but I didn't expect you to have made preparations and hired experts to protect you." Pan Liang looked at Cheng Zi again, sizing him up and down, and said with regret, "It's a pity that with all your skills, you have to accompany the deposed crown prince to the underworld today. God is really jealous of such talent."
Since Wei Zhen had predicted their actions and made preparations in advance, he must not be allowed to walk out of the forest alive today.
Pan Liang waved his hand, and many men in black jumped out from behind him and rushed straight towards Wei Zhen and Cheng Zi.
"There are more people than expected." Wei Zhen frowned.
"They are just minions."
As Cheng Zi finished speaking, four figures appeared. They moved so quickly that Wei Zhen didn't even get a clear look at them before he saw Pan Liang's men being beaten without any resistance.
Cheng Zi protected Wei Zhen tightly, comforting the frightened horse while watching out for sneak attacks.
"I originally thought Shura Valley was just a scary-sounding name, but I didn't expect the martial arts were truly terrifyingly advanced."
Cheng Zi explained, "Before she fled her sect, my master was a top assassin in the martial arts world. She had no intention of founding a sect, but as she journeyed through the martial arts world, she met many others who, like her, refused to be controlled by assassin organizations. She also met some who still had some humanity left and refused to continue being assassins. As more and more people gathered together, my master simply built Shura Valley, providing a temporary resting place for people like her."
"These four seniors were all renowned assassins in the martial arts world," Cheng Zi said, kicking away the hidden weapon aimed at Wei Zhen. "If they want to win by sheer numbers, it's simply impossible."
At this point, Pan Liang's men were already at a disadvantage. Pan Liang thought to himself that something was wrong and was about to retreat quietly when he heard Cheng Zi shout, "Fifth Uncle, that man is trying to escape! Capture him alive!"
Pan Liang saw Cheng Zi pointing at him, and without thinking, he turned and ran towards the woods. However, before he had taken two steps, he felt a tightness on his foot. He looked down and saw a black iron chain wrapped around his ankle.
"Varied--"
Pan Liang, startled, had barely uttered a single syllable when he felt a powerful force yanking him backwards. He fell to the ground, dragged along by this inescapable force.
Pan Liang tried frantically to break free from the chains, but the chains were too heavy for him to untie, so he was dragged out by them.
The man holding Pan Liang was a middle-aged man with a large facial burn scar. Uncle Wu chained Pan Liang, knocked him unconscious with a palm strike, removed all his weapons, and threw him at Cheng Zi's feet.
At this time, the martial arts masters who had come to kill Wei Zhen were subdued by the four masters of Shura Valley. Two or three of them were left alive, and they were all tied up like dumplings.
"It was resolved so quickly." Cheng Zi kicked the man in black at his feet, "I didn't expect to be able to report to Ah Lu today."
Wei Zhen also nodded, took out a flare from his sleeve and threw it into the sky, which exploded into red fireworks.
At the same time, from the city gate tower, Prince Yu saw fireworks in the sky above two places in the forest outside the capital. This was the signal he had agreed with Wei Zhen before, and he would release red fireworks into the sky after the task was completed.
There are now two places in the forest, which means that Prince Su’s men have been eliminated, and Wei Zhen and the Duke of Yejun’s family are safe.
Prince Yu waved his hand to the soldiers guarding the city behind him and said, "Line up and follow me to capture the prisoner!"
Leading the troops that had been prepared, Prince Yu quickly reached where Wei Zhen was. To prevent the enemy from having any further plans, the people of Shura Valley remained by Wei Zhen's side.
Seeing Prince Yu coming, several people greeted him. Prince Yu did not put on airs towards the people of Shura Valley. After all, those people were considered the elders of the princess.
After a few words, they tied up the men in black and rushed back to the capital. At the city gate, they met up with another group of soldiers who were also holding prisoners.
Prince Yu did not delay and pursued the enemy, ordering the prisoner to be sent to the Jingzhao prison, where he personally interrogated him. Before leaving, he reined in his horse, turned to Cheng Zi and said, "Five days from now, Cai Shan will be executed." With that, he rode away.
Cheng Zi suppressed his smile and looked gloomy.
Wei Zhen bowed to Cheng Zi and said, "Thanks to Young Master Cheng for your help today, the reward will be sent to Prince Yu's residence tomorrow."
Cheng Ziqiang smiled and nodded. After watching Wei Zhen leave, he said to the Shura Valley people behind him, "Thank you for your hard work, elders. Thank you for taking this trip."
Uncle Wu shook his head. "It's just a stretch. We're going back now. You can go on your own."
Lin Han bought a house in the west of the city as a base for the people from Shura Valley to settle in the capital. The people from Shura Valley went to the west of the city. Cheng Zi stood there for a while and then walked towards the White Deer Academy.
*
Prince Yu led the imperial army and tied up the men in black and entered the city with great fanfare, with Wei Zhen following him.
Naturally, there were spies of Prince Su in the city, and they quickly passed the news to Prince Su's ears.
"waste!"
Prince Su was so furious that the tea bowl in his hand was swept to the ground and smashed to pieces.
"Not only did we fail to kill Wei Zhen, but we ended up in the hands of Prince Yu!"
The staff member serving beside him, though grimacing, did his best to comfort him, saying, "Your Highness, there's no need to worry too much. Those people from the Jianghu were recruited by Pan Liang, and they can't bring any accusations against the palace. Pan Liang has been with you for many years and is loyal to you. He will definitely not betray you."
The staff's words had some effect, and Prince Su gradually calmed down.
"That would be best. But we also have to be prepared for Pan Liang's betrayal. We can't let Wei Zhen lead us by the nose like this. Do you have any plans?"
Four or five staff members looked at each other and shook their heads, unable to think of any good solution for the time being.
Prince Su glanced at these people coldly: "They are all trash!"
As Prince Su's staff had said, those quacks only knew that Pan Liang had ordered them to ambush Wei Zhen on the road, but they had no idea who was behind the order. But what Prince Su and his companions didn't know was that no one could withstand Prince Yu's interrogation. No matter how tightly clenched their teeth, he could find a way to pry them open.
In the Jingzhao Prefecture Prison.
After a lot of torture, Pan Liang, who was covered in bruises and dying, pressed his fingerprints on the confession.
Prince Yu looked at the confession and smiled with satisfaction: "If he had spoken earlier, why would he have had to go through the gates of hell?" He then ordered the jailer, "Find a doctor to see him and don't let him die."
After collecting the confession, Prince Yu returned to the palace to report.
However, one day, the Su Wang Mansion was surrounded by the Imperial Guards, and the Su Wang and his staff were taken to the Dali Prison to await trial. This thunderous move caught everyone in the Su Wang Mansion off guard, not to mention those ministers who were on good terms with the Su Wang.
After being imprisoned in Dali Prison, Prince Su did not fail to request an audience with the emperor, but the palace was unwilling to see him. At this time, he gradually came to realize that this might be Wei Zhen's strategy.
He actually fell into Wei Zhen's trap?!
This time, Prince Su did not request to see the emperor, but asked to see Wei Zhen.
The news from the Dali prison reached Wei Zhen, and naturally also reached the Saint and Prince Yu.
Prince Yu said with interest, "Do you think Prince Su has realized something?"
The sage asked the person who replied, "What's going on with the prince? Is there any movement?"
“Not yet.”
The sage thought for a moment and said, "Call the prince in."
*
With Pan Liang's confession, Prince Su's deeds were exposed to the court. And with the evidence Jiang Weiqiu brought back from Prince Su's fiefdom that he had minted silver and coins, the evidence was irrefutable, and there was no chance of recovery.
While in his fiefdom, Prince Su accepted bribes from local officials, shielded their crimes, recruited private soldiers, minted silver and coins privately, and secretly contacted ministers in the court. After returning to the capital, he used the Duke of Ye to murder the empress, framed and attempted to murder the crown prince, and secretly accepted bribes from Cai Shan. These crimes were revealed to the public, shocking everyone in the court and no one dared to speak for Prince Su.
As Prince Su's crimes were exposed, the sage restored Wei Zhen's reputation and position as crown prince.
This battle for the throne came to a temporary end with Wei Zhen's victory.
Prince Su in prison ended in failure.
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