Chapter 134 Assassin
"Princess, you must not go!"
Xia Lan held onto the carriage tightly, but didn't dare knock on it. She could only shout, "His Royal Highness has instructed me that you must not go to the battlefield. It would be dangerous. His Royal Highness has instructed me!"
Xiao Beiheng had ordered Su Mo not to go to the battlefield. But she hadn't been careful, and Su Mo had sneaked out. Fortunately, she caught up with her in time. If she had been allowed to go, who knows what would have happened to her.
The carriage made two soft noises and the driver immediately stopped the carriage.
"Xia Lan, help me up."
The car door opened, and a green hand stretched out from inside the car. Xia Lan didn't bother to wipe the tears from her face, and hurried over to help Su Mo get out of the car.
The weather outside the pass was cold. Both Su Mo and Xia Lan were wearing exquisite cotton clothes, thick cloaks, and thick cotton hats on their heads.
On both sides of the road, the withered yellow weeds were almost as tall as a person's waist, swaying in unison in the cold wind.
"Princess, it's not safer outside the Great Wall than inside. If you're in danger, the Crown Prince will kill me." Xia Lan's usual smile appeared on her face. "Besides, it's so cold outside. Shouldn't we go back to the camp?"
She deliberately made the situation sound serious, hoping Su Mo would return to the camp as soon as possible. In fact, there were a hundred elite Dingbei Army soldiers guarding Su Mo's carriage, so it was impossible for her to encounter any danger.
Su Mo didn't answer her, but instead looked up at the end of the road in the distance. Dozens of plumes of smoke rose from the yellowish hillside ten miles away, dyeing the afternoon sky a deep black. Even the air seemed to have a pungent smell.
"Xia Lan, is the Crown Prince really fighting the Northern Di army?"
"Yes... yes." Xia Lan smiled nervously. "His Royal Highness has specifically instructed that on the battlefield, swords and guns are merciless. We women are not allowed to get close."
If it were anyone else, she would have tied him up and taken him back. But Su Mo was the master, and she was the servant. No matter how much she hated it, she couldn't say anything harsh. She could only persuade him with kind words.
"I don't think so," Su Mo shook her head slightly. "With so much smoke, it looks like a fire. What did the prince say?"
Xia Lan blinked and said vaguely, "I heard that a Northern Di army was approaching us, and His Royal Highness was leading the army to meet them. I have been accompanying the Crown Princess the entire time, so I don't know much about it."
Su Mo pondered, "If the enemy dares to come and fight our Dingbei Army, they must be a strong force. But Bei Heng only led 3,000 cavalry and left all the generals in the main camp, which means that the enemy is not a large army. If it is not a large army, why do they have the courage to challenge us?"
Xia Lan felt that her smile was almost completely frozen.
The Crown Prince's Consort is really hard to fool.
Su Mo was thinking when the Dingbei Army soldiers standing guard shouted, "Who is it?"
The weeds beside the road rustled, and a shadowy figure burst out from the bushes, charging towards Su Mo. Its momentum was ferocious, like a hungry beast that had been lurking for a long time.
"Madam is in danger!" Xia Lan screamed, protecting Su Mo with her body and pulling out the dagger.
Without waiting for her order, the Dingbei soldiers on guard nearby had already raised their halberds, and several of them pierced into the chest and abdomen of the incoming man.
Su Mo looked over Xia Lan's shoulder and saw a young man from Beidi, who looked to be less than twenty years old. The sharp knife he had raised had fallen to the ground, blood was gushing from his mouth and nose, and the clothes on his chest and abdomen were gradually being soaked with blood.
"Xia Lan, get out of the way." Su Mo ordered calmly.
Although it was her first time on the battlefield, she was not like an ordinary woman. She was born with the courage to face danger without fear.
Xia Lan refused to move aside, still holding the dagger: "Madam, you can't go over there. What if he hurts you in his dying struggle?"
"He's not a Beidi soldier, just an ordinary man." Su Mo walked around Xia Lan and walked towards the Beidi man. Xia Lan didn't dare to pull him away, so she just walked beside her.
Anyway, the man was hit by several spears and it was obvious that there was no way he could be saved.
"Who are you?" Su Mo asked, half squatting. "Why do you want to assassinate me?"
The Beidi man's eyes were bloodshot and he was screaming something. With every shout, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Su Mo didn't understand the Beidi language, but she could tell that the other party's hatred for her seemed deep-rooted.
The Northern Di man shouted twice, one short, one long. His head drooped, and he died. The surrounding soldiers drew their bloodstained halberds and looked around warily.
"Go search the bushes to see if there's anyone else lurking!"
Upon hearing the order from the guard leader, dozens of soldiers immediately rushed into the bushes by the roadside, waving their swords and searching around to see if there were any other assassins lurking in the bushes.
The guard leader stepped forward, kicked the sharp knife away, squatted down, and used a halberd to turn the man over for a closer look.
"Crown Princess, he is dead." After checking that everything was correct, the guard commander stood up and said to Su Mo.
Su Mo lowered her eyes and said nothing, just nodded slightly.
Xia Lan said, "Princess, it was very dangerous just now. Fortunately, we have guards. Let's go back quickly."
"Does anyone among you understand Northern Di?" Su Mo did not answer her, but looked at the soldiers around her, "Tell me, what did he say before he died?"
Hearing Su Mo's question, everyone around looked at one of the soldiers.
The soldier initially wanted to hide behind someone, but when he saw everyone was looking at him and he had nowhere to escape, he said in a panic, "I understand, but I dare not say it."
Su Mo didn't say anything, but turned to look at the guard leader.
The guard commander shuddered and shouted at the soldier, "What are you afraid to say? If the Madam tells you to, just say it."
"Yes, yes," the sergeant whispered. "He said... he said 'devil.'"
Xia Lan laughed and said, "Haha, we are mortal enemies with Beidi, so of course we are demons in their eyes. Princess, let's go back."
"He must have said more than that," Su Mo said to the sergeant without moving, "What else did he say?"
The sergeant hesitated and looked at the guard commander.
The guard leader glared at him and said, "What are you afraid of? Speak!"
The sergeant could only say, "He said 'the devil who destroyed our village.'"
Su Mo's eyes suddenly widened, and she turned her head to look at the smoke billowing in the distance, muttering, "Bei Heng, you..."
Seeing the situation was not good, Xia Lan was about to persuade them, but Su Mo had already raised her foot and walked quickly towards the carriage, saying to the driver, "Take me to where the smoke is coming from right away."
Xia Lan was horrified and followed Su Mo and said, "Princess, there may be enemies there. Don't go there."
"There are so many guards, why should I worry?" Su Mo held the car door and said to the guard leader, "You will protect me, right?"
The guard leader bowed his head and said, "I swear to protect the Crown Prince's wife's safety at all costs."
"That's good," Su Mo said to Xia Lan as she got on the carriage. "You've been chasing me all the way. Come on in too."
"Princess, you can't go." The smile on Xia Lan's face almost turned into tears, but she didn't dare to stop her master.
"Don't worry, if Beiheng gets angry, I will speak for you." Su Mo comforted her, "I will explain this to Beiheng myself, please get in the car."
Xia Lan had no choice but to get on the carriage. The soldiers surrounded the carriage, and the dust rolled down the road as it turned over the hillside.
Su Mo got out of the carriage with Xia Lan's help. Before she even took a step, she smelled the strong smell of blood in the air, which almost made her vomit on the spot. The choking smoke in the air turned the sky above her head black.
"Princess, ahem...it's too choking here." Xia Lan said, "Please return to the carriage first. I'll go check and come back...ahem...report to you."
"That's fine."
Su Mo covered her mouth, pushed Xia Lan's arm away with one hand, and walked around the carriage.
Before my eyes was a village engulfed in flames and corpses hanging from the branches of dead trees.
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