Su Rong was kept to recover from her injuries in the Inspector Residence in Jiangzhou by the Lady for another ten days. Only after she deliberately bounced around in front of the Lady, working up a sweat and proving that her injuries had indeed healed, did the Lady allow her to leave for the Capital City.
There were two main reasons for Su Rong’s trip to the Capital City, one was to see the Crown Prince, and the second was to break off an engagement.
She planned to enter Capital City alone first to scout out the situation. Then, with Wet Nurse Zhao and Yuewan waiting for her signal, as soon as she settled in, the two would arrive with their luggage.
After all, barring any unforeseen circumstances, she was likely to stay in the Capital City for a while to assist the Crown Prince.
Wet Nurse Zhao had no objections, but she did warn Su Rong, "Little Miss Seven, you must ensure you have enough protection. Master Xie mentioned the other day that there are covert forces infiltrating into Jiangzhou. Due to our numerous guards in the Inspector Residence and that you have not left the Residence under the watch of the Lady, no harm has come to you. But the moment you step out of these gates, there will undoubtedly be those who will make their move against you."
Su Rong nodded, "Wet Nurse, don’t worry."
Xie Yuan knew Su Rong was going to the Capital City, so he visited the Inspector Residence that day and brought her a sword. "This sword is called Broken Snow. It was collected by a friend of mine who is adept at forging swords. I specifically asked for it for you. You no longer have to envy the sword in Zhou Gu’s hand."
Su Rong was ecstatic, "This is a great sword. It’s no less than Zhou Gu’s Frost Sword."
"Of course." Xie Yuan handed her the sword with a smile.
Su Rong held the sword, unable to put it down, "It’s called Broken Snow, right?"
"Yes, Broken Snow." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
Su Rong admired it, ran through a set of sword techniques in the courtyard, and finally returned the sword to its sheath. She grinned, "It can cut through iron like mud and accurately hits hard to reach targets – truly a fine sword! Uncle Xie, you’re the best."
Xie Yuan put on a serious face, "With twenty days left until the examination, there’s no need for you to rush into the Capital. From the day you leave the Inspector Residence, you can take your time. Along the way, behead anyone who tries to hurt you, no matter who they are. If they want to kill you, don’t let them come back."
Su Rong tilted her head, "Don’t worry!"
For years, she had endured humiliation and timidity, enough was enough. Although in the past those who wanted to kill her never returend, it was different. She had been lying low in Jiangning County. Now as she stepped out of Jiangzhou, let the assassins from Nanchu come. She wanted to see who would die faster, her or them.
"Hmm." Xie Yuan felt there was nothing more to instruct Su Rong about. The little girl was shrewd and cunning and had learned everything she needed to - and more. He waved his hand, "Off you go!"
Su Rong fastened the sword around her waist, "I’ll take half of the covert guards and leave half..."
"Take them all." Xie Yuan responded: "Rest assured, with me here, nothing will happen to Jiangzhou."
"Alright!" Su Rong didn’t argue further.
So, on the same day, Su Rong bid farewell to Xie Yuan, the Inspector, and the Lady. Under the guise of travelling light, she took only Fen Ling with her and set off from the Inspector Residence.
The eyes of the Lady were swollen with irritation, watching Su Rong mount her horse, she grumbled, "Worthless thing! You can’t wait to leave the family! The moment your injuries were healed, you couldn’t stand another second here. Heartless little thing, not a shred of reluctance."
Su Rong loosened the horse’s reins, turned around, and reluctantly gave the Lady a hug, "Alright, mother, be good. When I get settled in the Capital City, I’ll also bring you to stay for a few days."
Immediately, the Lady felt better, "That’s better, remember your promise."
"Of course."
"What about me?" The Inspector felt left out.
Su Rong released the Lady, stuck out her tongue at the Inspector, "You should just keep working diligently. Do some good deeds for the people. After seeing the mess that Jiang Sheng has made of Jiangzhou over the years, your great objective should be to win the people’s hearts, just like the people of Jiangning County did with their ’umbrella of a million people’."
The Inspector’s face fell, he scolded, "You disrespectful girl! All you do is put pressure on me."
Su Rong laughed, climbed atop her horse, and snapped her fingers, "I’m leaving now!"
"Write to us when you reach the Capital City. No, write to us on your way there, we must receive a letter every three days." The Lady instructed.
Su Rong absent-mindedly agreed, squeezed her horse’s belly with her legs, and the horse stormed off.
Fen Ling was right behind, the two together swiftly moved through streets and alleys, soon leaving Jiangzhou City.
Following close behind them were the guards, stealthily slipping out of the city as well, staying at a distance.
Sure enough, just as Xie Yuan had predicted, soon after they had left the city by a hundred miles, someone couldn’t hold their hand anymore. This group of assassins consisted of a full fifty people. Su Rong and Fen Ling looked at each other, without summoning the gourds, and equipped with golden needles in their bodies. The needles, fine as cow’s hair, were wielded by them defending each side. In an instant, a group of people fell to the ground, both front and back.
Out of fifty people, in the blink of an eye, more than half were gone.
The assassins were shocked, terribly scared, to think that just two people could reduce their number by thirty in just a single face-off.
In their shock, Su Rong and Fen Ling switched positions, releasing the golden needles for a second time.
The first time caught them by surprise, the second time the assassins hastily drew their swords to block the attack, but still, more of them fell.
The man leading the assassins, with the highest martial prowess, shouted, "Don’t give them another chance to use hidden weapons! Kill them!"
Although only about a dozen were left, they were just two, so they still had a chance.
The leading man, however, misunderstood. The hidden weapons skills of Su Rong and Fen Ling might be exceptional, but it was their martial prowess and swordsmanship that were even better. The seamless cooperation between the pair left the assassins unable to get near them. Moreover, anyone who did get close, fell as soon as they did, felled by fatal sword moves that showed not the slightest sign of mercy.
Realizing this, the leading man was left in terror, crying, "Retreat!" But it was already too late.
Su Rong and Fen Ling would never let him escape. With their swords, they held him pinned, unable to escape the fight, in a moment of desperation, he threw away his sword and in the momentary gap of defense, flung a handful of poison powder onto Su Rong.
The change in Fen Ling’s expression was unmistakable, "Master, be careful!"
Su Rong immediately held her breath and retreated, but in spite of the distance, she inhaled a small amount of the poison powder. Disgruntled, she watched Fen Ling slaying the man with a slash of the sword.
As soon as Fen Ling had finished off this man, he returned to Su Rong, looking pale, "Master, are you okay? The poison is..."
Weakly pointing to the pouch on her waist, Su Rong gritted her teeth, "This poison is called Blissful Death, I have an antidote here. Help me, it’s the green bottle."
Fen Ling quickly reached for Su Rong’s pouch, quickly finding a small green bottle, from which he poured a pill into Su Rong’s mouth, just as she started faltering.
Su Rong managed to swallow the antidote with great difficulty. After a while, she sighed with relief, cursing, "That son of a bitch was tougher than I anticipated, I was too careless. Thankfully, I brought a bunch of antidotes and poisons before taking off."
Fen Ling was also shaken, "Master, next time, let’s let the guards handle it. Let’s not be overconfident again."
They both ended up falling at their first hurdle. They had thought that they could deal with fifty people, hoping to try their luck. Little did they know that they would almost lose their lives in the process.
They had not even left the Jiangzhou border and they were already nearly defeated. If she had lost her life, he too would have had to atone for it with his own life.
"I was cocky!" Su Rong was visibly shaken. As the weakness passed, she stood with the support of Fen Ling and said bitterly, "Bury these dead men immediately after searching them. As for the leading man, hack his body several times more before burying him."
Fen Ling, harboring hard feelings, suggested, "Let’s just burn his body until nothing is left!"
He walked over to the horses, untied a wine flask from the saddle, and walked over to the dead leader. After searching the corpse and pocketing the few belongings he found, he opened his flask of wine, pouring it all over the body. Following this, he lit the body on fire with flintstone, within moments the body was set ablaze.
At this moment, a few of the guards emerged, all nodded at Su Rong in greeting, "Master!", and saluted Fen Ling, "Master Feng!"
Su Rong nodded.
Fen Ling gestured, "We’ll leave the rest to you! Have you seen the demonstration Master and I gave you? If there are any more assassins, we will not make a move. You’re up, just like this time, leave no one alive."
The guards had a clear admiration in their eyes as they all complied in unison.
Fen Ling turned to Su Rong who had nothing to say. The two mounted their horses and continued their journey.
Consequent to this, Su Rong and Fen Ling no longer acted recklessly whenever assassins approached them. After a round of defense, they transferred the battle to the guards, who were numerous enough to clean up any number of attackers, be it a handful or a hundred.
Thus, before exiting the Jiangzhou border, they encountered three groups of assassins. After leaving the border, they faced two more groups. Su Rong fulfilled what Xie Yuan had said: No matter who comes, everyone stays. Not a single one was spared, not even their messengers.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
