Several arrows were fired at the same time, and the luxurious carriage instantly became a sieve.

"Your Highness, be careful!!!"

The little prince was thrown to the ground by the palace maid, but fortunately the carpet in the carriage was thick and he was not injured.

The car window was shot through, and several cold iron arrows were across his head. The feathers on his tail were still trembling, emitting some strange powder. A strange smell suddenly spread in the air.

"Damn it, it's poisonous!"

Hongdou immediately wet the handkerchief with water and covered the boy's mouth and nose.

The loud shout with a strange tone just now made Zhou Huaiyan quickly guess the assassin's origin.

——Foreigner.

My uncle led the team of carriages when he entered the palace, but left alone when he left, leaving the team to me. In other words, the assassins should have mistaken me in the carriage for my uncle.

Zhou Huaiyan sighed, miserable.

When he got back, he would definitely ask his uncle for something good to compensate him for his injured heart. The sight of the bloody blade made him dizzy.

Bang!

An assassin broke through the car door and came in. Seeing the other party's unsurprised look, Zhou Huaiyan frowned.

——The other party seemed to recognize him.

While the young man was thinking, Hongdou had already fought with the assassin. This maiden was personally selected by her uncle and was said to be a former secret guard.

Zhou Huaiyan once had doubts, but now he is convinced. After all, not every palace maid can crush an assassin with her bare hands... Below.

“Ah ...

This was the first time in Zhou Huaiyan’s two lives that he had seen such a real bloody scene. He felt his stomach twitching a little.

"Red Bean..."

The young man was obviously weak, and the head maid was so frightened that she almost lost her soul. She quickly kicked the assassin out and came back to check on the Ninth Prince.

"Your Highness! How are you? Are you injured anywhere?"

"Girls' hands should be... a little more reserved."

Zhou Huaiyan handed her a dagger.

Anko: "...Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhou Huaiyan got out of the carriage, and a group of palace soldiers were gathered by Hongdou, protecting him in the center, using their bodies to form a wall. The cattle and horses outside were frightened and fled in all directions. The palace soldiers' space to play was severely restricted, but it was just a restriction.

Not long after, Zhou Huaiyan heard a roar in the distant sky.

——That’s my uncle’s horse.

【Well, it looks like the show is coming to an end. 】

He began to wonder, should he cry his heart out and add to his image as an incompetent little prince, or should he pretend to be calm and not let his uncle worry too much?

Well, it's a bit tangled.

But Duke Wei did not give him too much time to get tangled up.

"Huai Yan!"

Dark horse veteran, Silver Cold Halberd.

This was the first time Zhou Huaiyan saw his uncle killing someone.

He knew that Duke Wei had fought in countless battles, but now he was over fifty and his health was not as good as before. In Zhou Huaiyan's heart, he was just a serious, old-fashioned, yet somewhat lovable old man.

However, at this moment, the war horses flew through the air, the long spears swung, the bright red blood exploded in the air, and several heads were thrown up and down.

——This is much more exciting than the martial arts movies on TV.

Wow, so fucking handsome!

Duke Wei led the troops personally, and the assassination was over in less than half a minute.

"Huai Yan!"

Jiang Yi, his iron armor stained with blood, strode over with a look of anxiety on his face.

"uncle!"

Zhou Huaiyan thought of his character as an incompetent and weak little prince, and immediately decided to cry and even faint from fright. However, as soon as he took a step forward, he felt dizzy and his vision went black.

Huh?

The young man fell down.

——This time I really fainted.

·

Zhou Huaiyan had a high fever all night and passed out.

Hongdou also inhaled the powder on the arrow feathers, but was completely unharmed. The imperial physician only found out that it was a poison that only targeted men, but he didn't know what kind of poison it was.

The Duke of Wei was furious about this.

That night, tens of thousands of imperial guards went out of the camp and captured all the foreigners in the capital. There were tens of thousands of foreign slaves in the capital, some of whom were kept in the houses of high-ranking officials.

If someone refused to give, the soldiers would break in and force them to leave. If they dared to escape, they would be killed on the spot.

As soon as this happened, the court was filled with complaints and memorials were filed against him. According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was a serious crime for the Duke of Wei to privately use the imperial guards in the capital without the emperor's permission.

However, the usually stern emperor did not reprimand him at all. But Duke Wei was still anxious and angry. The poison was aimed at him, how could Huai Yan's body withstand it?

Fortunately, three days later, Zhou Huaiyan's fever subsided and he woke up.

He felt as if he had been roasting over a fire for three days, and now he was freezing cold.

"Where's my uncle?"

"The Duke is tracking down the assassin, Your Highness, don't worry."

After learning from Hongdou everything that had happened in the past few days, Zhou Huaiyan suddenly felt his head start to hurt again.

"It's still unavoidable."

Hongdou had gotten used to her master's occasional strange mumblings. She fed him the medicine.

"What can't your Highness avoid?"

Zhou Huaiyan's face was full of pain, but he did not directly answer her question.

"Well, it's so bitter... Uncle is too impulsive."

Duke Wei is a man of upright character, generous and unconcerned about details. He may be invincible on the battlefield, and can easily deploy troops. But in this imperial city, my uncle still cannot see through him.

Zhou Huaiyan knew from the day he was reincarnated as a baby that the emperor disliked him, or should I say disliked Duke Wei. He also disliked his younger sister and the child that the woman risked her life to give birth to for him.

Zhou Huaiyan never told his uncle that his beloved younger sister

——Jiang Xun’s death was not an accident.

Was sentenced to death.

He was reborn as a baby and heard his mother crying after giving birth. He repeatedly questioned the emperor why he was so heartless.

Zhou Huaiyan kept this secret for a long time.

Over the years, he deliberately ruined his health, pretending to be sickly, uneducated, greedy for money and women, all just to appease the emperor.

But now it seems that the emperor is still worried...

Zhou Huaiyan wanted to sigh again.

He had thought about persuading his uncle to hand over the military power, but since the emperor had killed Jiang Min, it was impossible for him to let Jiang Yi go. Zhou Huaiyan had been thinking about this for several days.

When Duke Wei learned that he had woken up, he hurried over to see him and left in a hurry, leaving him no chance to have a proper talk with his uncle.

Zhou Huaiyan felt depressed.

"Hongdou, take my cloak and go out for a walk."

"yes."

The weather was good today, and the maid of honor rarely stopped him.

The Duke's Mansion was a gift from the previous emperor. I heard that it was the residence of a prince in the past. It is very large, well-renovated, and has many rare and exotic plants.

Zhou Huaiyan was in a much better mood, which was rare.

Suddenly there was a noise coming from the front, as if a lot of people were moving something.

Zhou Huaiyan frowned and walked over

"Go and have a look."

These people all knew the Ninth Prince. After all, Zhou Huaiyan was the Duke's favorite, and no one dared to offend him. When Zhou Huaiyan walked over, there were people kneeling on the ground.

"What are you doing?"

The leader immediately stepped forward and knelt down.

"In reply to your Highness, the Duke has ordered a full search for foreigners. I have captured a few strange ones and am about to send them off for interrogation."

"Alien?"

Zhou Huaiyan looked at the large cage covered with black cloth not far away.

"Lift the cloth, Your Highness wants to see it!"

He raised his chin slightly, very arrogant.

"This......"

That person was in a dilemma, as they all knew that the Ninth Prince was weak, and if he got frightened or hit, they would probably lose their heads.

"Why, my words are useless?!"

Zhou Huaiyan frowned, imitating his uncle and trying to be fierce. Hongdou, who was standing behind the young man, glanced at the leading imperial guard sinisterly.

"Are you deaf?!"

"Yes! Yes! I will open it and show it to Your Highness."

As soon as the black cloth was lifted, the imperial guards immediately aimed their spears at the cage and swung their whips mercilessly. They held the chains under the slaves' feet tightly to prevent them from bumping into the little prince.

The slaves screamed in pain, and the scene was bloody and chaotic.

Hongdou stood in front of Zhou Huaiyan, looking unhappy.

"Your Highness, these are all filthy things. I will accompany you back."

However, the boy did not respond to her, but walked towards the cage.

Among the many screaming aliens, Zhou Huaiyan found a little guy huddled in a corner. His thin body was lying on the ground, his back was covered with scars, and he was trembling.

Zhou Huaiyan looked at him curiously.

She has black curly hair, blue eyes, and the corners of her eyes are slightly raised, just like a cat's eyes.

The little slave was dirty, skinny and scary, but his eyes sparkled beautifully in the sun.

Seeing the young man approaching, the little slave was obviously trembling with fear, but he still bared his little fangs and strained his throat to make a weak and hoarse sound.

This reminded Zhou Huaiyan of the long-haired cat he had raised when he was a child.

It also has curly black fur, and its eyes are a beautiful shade of cyan. They are prettier than any piece of jade my uncle had given me.

He stared into the little slave's eyes, lost in thought for a moment.

The nobles always have some special hobbies. Some love calligraphy and painting, some like jade, some like beautiful women, but most of them are those that are not allowed to be seen in public.

But Zhou Huaiyan is strange, he likes cats.

Hongdou knew that the Ninth Prince had a cat when he was a child. He loved the cat so much that he held it in his arms every day and even ate and slept with the cat.

Later, the cat died. The little prince fell seriously ill and almost died. From then on, the Duke never allowed the little prince to keep a cat or any other living creature.

As a result, the little prince developed a habit of collecting all kinds of beautiful jade, especially cat's eye stones. Whenever he saw them, he couldn't walk.

Hongdou looked into the eyes of the alien and knew in her heart that she could not hold back any longer.

Zhou Huaiyan took out a plum candy.

"Little guy, do you want to come with me?"

The tone was just like coaxing a little wild cat.

The imperial guards were almost scared to death, holding the chain tightly and not daring to let go. They wondered what was wrong with the young prince, why he would fall in love with such a lowly foreigner.

The little slave was stunned. He looked at the candy in Zhou Huaiyan's palm, then looked up at his face, seeming a little confused.

The young man was wearing a bright-colored war cape with the loose embroidered hood half opened. He had a kind smile, and looked like the son of God in an alien legend.

[This person is really...very good-looking.]

For the first time, the little slave was fascinated by what he saw.

Zhou Huaiyan waited for a long time, and suddenly thought that this foreigner might not understand Zhou Dynasty language. So he simply forced the sale and put the plum candy into the little slave's mouth.

"If you don't refuse, I'll take it as your consent."

He moved quickly, just like he had stuffed the dried fish into Cuicui's mouth. His soft fingertips pressed into her mouth along with the candy, and the little slave's eyes widened immediately.

Shock, fear, panic,

He seemed to be extremely frightened and tried frantically to retreat, but the chain around his neck locked him in place.

“Your Highness!!!”

Hongdou was frightened by what she saw, and rushed over to pull the boy's hand back, fearing that the alien would suddenly bite him.

Zhou Huaiyan was not frightened at all. He looked at the panicked little slave. His beautiful blue eyes were now filled with tears, reflecting watery light.

It looked exactly like the time when Cuicui was first held in his arms.

Many people know that the Ninth Prince loved a long-haired cat when he was young, and even fell seriously ill because of the cat's death.

But only Zhou Huaiyan knew that the cat named Cuicui died because of him.

The boy subconsciously clutched the fabric on his chest, clearly feeling his heart pounding.

"Red beans."

Zhou Huaiyan heard his own trance-like voice.

"Go tell your uncle that I want this little fellow."