Chapter 374 Turmoil
Hao Yu and her group returned home safely, while Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan became increasingly busy.
The emperor has decided to abdicate in favor of the crown prince on the sixteenth of the third month. The second and third princes have little time left to change their fate, so their recent petty actions have become both frequent and intense.
Jiang Yuan was so busy that he wished he had three heads and six arms, as he had to handle official business and arrange for trusted people to protect the crown prince.
Xie Wanniang took on the responsibility of protecting herself, her child, and the rest of the Xie family all by herself.
Fortunately, she has always been willing to spend money to support her guards. Now, the number of fake servants and real guards in their household, dressed as servants, is more than double the number of guards on the surface.
Otherwise, she really wouldn't have been able to mobilize enough people to protect her uncle's family.
This tense and eerie atmosphere lasted for about seven or eight days, and as expected, chaos broke out in the capital.
That night, Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang were fast asleep when suddenly there was a loud, ominous knocking at the door.
The person knocking on the door came from the Eastern Palace and was one of the Crown Prince's close attendants.
After the gatekeeper let him in, he hurriedly bowed to Jiang Yuan with a worried expression, "Lord Jiang, the Second Prince has led troops to force his way to the palace, and His Majesty's palace is now surrounded. His Highness the Crown Prince has led most of the Eastern Palace guards to rescue the Emperor, but they are far outnumbered. There are also the Crown Princess and the various grandsons, and the guards protecting them number less than a hundred..."
Jiang Yuan frowned, interrupting his rambling, "Do you have the Crown Prince's warrant?"
The man paused, then shook his head with a troubled expression, "No, His Highness the Crown Prince left in a hurry..."
"I understand." Jiang Yuan didn't dwell on this point. He stood up and said, "Please wait a moment, Father-in-law. I'll go change my clothes and come right away."
The eunuch's lips moved as if he wanted to say something like, "What time is it? You're still thinking about changing your clothes," but when he looked up and saw the clothes Jiang Yuan was wearing, he awkwardly shut his mouth.
No matter how anxious he was, he couldn't force Jiang Yuan to go out wearing his undergarments...
Yes, because he came in a hurry and was in a rush, Jiang Yuan just threw on an outer robe and hurried out.
If he doesn't change his clothes, he'll have to go out in the street wearing only his outer robe, which is not something a decent person would do.
The eunuch paced restlessly in the front hall, while Jiang Yuan hurried back to the second courtyard, to his and Xie Wanniang's shared room.
Xie Wanniang had already prepared armor and other items for him. "What's going on?"
"Something has happened at the palace. The Crown Prince's eunuchs are rushing over and asking me to lead troops to rescue him."
Xie Wanniang also asked the same question Jiang Yuan had just asked, "Is there an imperial edict? Or is there His Highness the Crown Prince's order to mobilize troops?"
As Jiang Yuan changed his clothes, he gave Xie Wanniang a meaningful look. "No."
Xie Wanniang hissed, "Won't there be a problem if you just go out like this?"
Jiang Yuan nodded, "I've already prepared for the worst, don't worry."
He wasn't stupid. Since he knew the emperor's purpose in summoning him to the capital, he naturally wanted to prepare a backup plan and make adequate preparations in advance.
"I'm leaving the family to you. As long as you and the children are safe, nothing else matters."
Xie Wanniang smiled and replied, "You can temporarily give up your valuables, but when it's time to kill, don't hesitate. You'll bear all the consequences. In short, your own safety comes first."
This wasn't the first time Jiang Yuan had said this; Xie Wanniang could recite it by heart.
Jiang Yuan chuckled at her words. "That's right, exactly."
Xie Wanniang hugged him through the cold armor, "You must come back safely. The child and I will wait for you to come back."
Jiang Yuan hugged Xie Wanniang once, then walked out with a clattering sound.
Xie Wanniang watched his figure disappear at the courtyard gate, "Cunyu."
"This servant is here." Cunyu ran from the side room to Xie Wanniang's side.
"Go and wake up all the adults."
"yes."
Although it was an unexpected situation, it was one that Xie Wanniang had rehearsed several times in advance. Therefore, even though her orders were concise, Cunyu knew what he needed to do.
A moment later, she came running back hurriedly. "Princess, I have already passed on the orders. Half of the guards have been sent out to guard the gates and walls of the courtyard, while the other half have been divided into two teams. One team is patrolling back and forth inside the mansion, and the other team is urging everyone to gather towards the main courtyard."
This plan was arranged in advance by Xie Wanniang. She didn't have many servants in her household, and the vast majority of them were part-time guards or reserve servants.
Xie Wanniang had already organized all the servants and guards in the mansion into small teams, which were then combined into large teams. The captains of the large teams were directly assigned by her and Jiang Yuan.
Even before Hao Yu and his group left the capital, Xie Wanniang had already been working late into the night, preparing several contingency plans in advance.
The unexpected situation they are facing now is a perfect example of one of the emergency response plans.
Soon, the guards and servants who had been awakened gathered in the main courtyard. The men stood guard outside the courtyard, while the women and children were placed in the east and west wing rooms and the rear room.
The children were all very sleepy, and the younger ones hadn't even opened their eyes yet.
They nestled in their parents' arms, drifting off to sleep, oblivious to the impermanence of life and the danger they were in.
Haitang, who had just given birth, wanted to go into battle, but Xie Wanniang forcibly arranged for her to stay in the main house.
Her children, An'an and Linlin, are there, and Xie Wan'niang needs two people she absolutely trusts to help her look after the two children.
Haitang was one of them, as were Xiaoyang and one of the female guards she bought from the brokerage and trained with a lot of time and money.
The female guard had a large appetite and looked somewhat dull and clumsy, which was one of the reasons she was sold by her biological parents, but Xie Wanniang trusted her completely.
This girl not only has a big appetite, but she is also very strong. Although she doesn't seem very smart, she is stubborn and grateful.
Because Xie Wanniang provided her with plenty of food and good clothes, and did not allow others to mock or bully her, and always had a gentle smile and was very patient with her, she regarded Xie Wanniang as a deity who saved her from suffering, and always obeyed her completely.
She didn't have any of the ulterior motives that others might have. Usually, this girl just focused on practicing martial arts and doing her work.
With such an ideal choice of bodyguard, Xie Wanniang naturally wanted to use her to protect An'an and Linlin, who were the most important to her and had little ability to protect themselves.
As for Xiao Yang, this girl has learned a lot of different things, but she hasn't made any achievements in martial arts. She can easily handle three ordinary people, but when it comes to the assassins and death squads sent by the emperor's other sons... Xie Wanniang objectively estimates that she should be able to barely be considered as a match for them—the kind of match that can be dealt with in one strike.
Not wanting her to be in danger, Xie Wanniang simply sent her to the main house as well, so that she could stay with her two children.
After arranging for the elderly, weak, women, and children in the household who were not strong enough to fight, or who had no fighting ability at all, Xie Wanniang took out her long stick that she hadn't used in a long time, and together with the group of female guards surrounding her, they listened attentively to the sounds outside.
Not long after, two groups of black-clad assassins wielding weapons arrived outside the gate of their mansion.
Unlike the guards in Xie Wanniang's household who came from military backgrounds, these people were more adept at killing with a single blow.
Fortunately, Xie Wanniang was well-prepared. These martial arts practitioners, skilled in scheming and assassination, suffered a silent loss the moment they tried to break down the door or climb over the wall because of the traps, hidden weapons, and poison powders that Xie Wanniang had prepared in advance.
These hired assassins never dreamed that officials and noble ladies like Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang, who lived in luxury, would be even more despicable and unethical than them, these江湖人 (jianghu people).
What kind of good person would set up traps and hidden weapons near their own front gate and walls? Aren't they afraid of accidentally injuring high-ranking officials or dignitaries passing by outside the gate or walls?
And then there's the one that sprays shards of glass. Good heavens, this is a case of risking one's life but caring about one's reputation! Those dense shards were aimed straight at their eyes, foreheads, and temples. What kind of insidious person came up with such a vicious trick?
A group of assassins who thought they could take down the old, weak, women and children in this house were caught off guard and suffered a Waterloo in such a simple matter as climbing over the wall and breaking down the door.
After much difficulty, at the cost of their companions' lives, they broke through the various traps, hidden weapons, and poisons of the Jiang mansion, only to be met with a row of gun barrels.
The assassins: ? ? ?
Before they could figure out what these things were, the row of gun barrels opposite them opened fire simultaneously, and small, black spheres flew towards them at a speed that caught them completely off guard.
After this volley of bullets, about a third of the assassins were harvested, like leeks in a field.
The nearly two hundred men who had originally charged in with great momentum were reduced to just under one hundred after deducting those lost before entering the gate and those lost due to the muskets.
But that wasn't the end of it. The group of guards who had been wielding muskets and firing at them actually took a few steps back, and another group of gunmen came over instead.
The assassins scattered and fled, but these gunmen were the most accurate of all the guards, and under their rapid fire, about thirty more assassins fell.
The assassins, having made a bad start, began to consider giving up.
One of the assassins in black, who was trailing at the back of the group, let out a sharp shriek and then took the lead in running towards the gate of the Jiang residence.
However, at that moment, another group of people carrying bows and arrows appeared outside the Jiang residence.
At first glance, these people's clothing would make them seem like mere servants of the Jiang family, but now they are brazenly revealing the murderous aura and sharpness that they usually carefully conceal.
The assassins were all seasoned veterans; seeing this situation, they could easily guess that they had seriously underestimated the defenses of their target's residence.
Of course, you can't blame them for being careless. The blame lies with the guy who paid them, who didn't even know how many tricks the person he wanted to kill had up his sleeve.
The lead assassin suddenly turned around, and instead of heading straight for the door, he changed direction and ran towards the wall.
He reacted quickly enough to avoid being attacked from both sides, unlike most of the other assassins who were not so lucky.
Another wave of assassins was simultaneously wiped out, leaving only a dozen or so survivors who followed the leader of the assassins as they scaled the wall.
However, what awaited them outside the wall was not a smooth road. The walls of the Jiang residence, which had previously been sprayed with hidden weapons and powder, were once again blasted at them by a new wave of hidden weapons and powder as they climbed over the wall, thanks to the precise movements of the person secretly controlling them.
Many people were caught off guard because the section of the wall they chose to climb over this time was not the one near the Jiang Mansion gate as before.
To avoid the archers outside the gate, they instinctively chose a section of wall further away from the entrance. Then, they were met with a barrage of hidden weapons and powders that hadn't yet been used.
The assassins, who had finally managed to climb over the wall, secretly groaned inwardly, but their hands and feet kept moving non-stop.
They had to run and hide, otherwise they would soon be surrounded by the guards of the Jiang family.
However, while their idea was good, the chance of realizing it had been completely lost.
As they expected, the guards from the Jiang family arrived quickly. They didn't get close, but instead shot arrows at the remaining assassins from a distance.
The battle ended unexpectedly quickly. Before other families living near the Jiang family could even send out guards or servants to investigate, the guards from the Jiang family's residence had already begun cleaning up the battlefield.
Similar to the Jiang family's situation was the Xie family's. The entire Xie family consisted of scholars, and they didn't employ many guards in their mansion. Therefore, the only people sent to deal with them were twelve in total.
These twelve men originally thought they could silently storm into the inner courtyard from the gate and successfully capture all the Xie family members. However, at the critical moment when they were climbing over the wall into the courtyard, they fell into a trap and were caught like turtles in a jar.
Xie Wanniang's uncle and aunt were not as bold as her, nor could they find a good excuse, so they did not tamper with the side of their own courtyard wall facing outwards. However, they tacitly allowed the people Xie Wanniang sent to set up several small traps in the place where it was easiest to climb over the wall into their house.
Those twelve were unlucky; the place they chose was the easiest for them to scale the wall and sneak in, which shows they had excellent judgment. But because of this, it was always a key area of surveillance for the guards sent by Xie Wanniang.
The twelve men were all quite skilled. They swaggered over the wall and into the courtyard in unison, as if showing off. By the time they realized there was a trap inside and tried to struggle to save themselves, the guards sent by Xie Wanniang had already seized the opportunity to swarm them, leaving them with no chance to resist.
Wounded and captured alive, someone couldn't help but curse their rivals as "despicable."
The group of guards Xie Wanniang sent were so angry they laughed. They were despicable? So they were the ones who sneaked into someone's house in the middle of the night to do bad things?
Besides, they didn't invite these guys to climb over the wall at the same time. In the end, it was actually these guys who were careless and underestimated the enemy.
They're wicked and stupid; I don't know where these guys get the nerve to call them despicable.
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