Fen Ling, holding Zhou Gu with one hand, and sheathing his sword with the other, withdrew from the combat circle.
Zhou Gu finally spoke, "Thank you."
Fen Ling smiled at him and let go of his hand, "If you want to thank someone, thank my sister! She anticipated that you would be ambushed on the road and that you did not have many people with you, so she asked me to bring men to protect you."
Zhou Gu was silent for a moment before responding, "Alright, I will express my thanks to her."
Fen Ling giggled, "Just kidding. My sister probably doesn’t need your gratitude."
He didn’t finish his sentence, intending to say that it was enough that Zhou Gu was fine, whether he thanked her or not didn’t matter.
Zhou Gu paused upon hearing this, momentarily unsure of what to say next. He turned his attention back to the fighting scene, wanting to suggest leaving a survivor, but decided against it, realizing that there would be no use since they were committed fighters, providing no useful information even if they were captured alive.
He Zheng, clutching his waist, thanked Fen Ling, "Thank you for saving my life, Master Feng!"
He couldn’t help but feel alarmed at the perilous situation. If it hadn’t been for Fen Ling’s timely arrival, not only would he have lost his life but Zhou Gu would also have been unable to escape. Their entire group today would have been killed here.
Before he left the Capital City to investigate the case at the Buddha Temple, he learned that Ning Man had been murdered a hundred miles away. Without a second thought, he called upon Zhou Gu to leave the city with him to investigate the case. Who could have expected that within the hundred-mile radius of Capital City, while investigating a case and bringing back two suspects, they would face an ambush by hundreds of assassins and nearly lose their lives.
He was so startled that he was covered in cold sweat, still reeling from the shock. He truly felt that he owed Fen Ling a tremendous debt for saving his life today.
"Captain He, no need for thanks. If you want to thank someone, thank Lord Zhou. I came to save him. You were just incidental," Fen Ling said bluntly.
He Zheng: "..."
Looking at Zhou Gu, indeed he also owed Zhou Gu his life. Several times when he was on the brink of death, Zhou Gu was the one who lent a helping hand. This resulted in him getting injured. Considering Fen Ling’s words, he realized that he owed Zhou Gu an even greater debt.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Gu turned back, rubbing his eyebrows, and asked Fen Ling, "Did Second Young Master Ye know you were coming?"
Fen Ling immediately understood his meaning and nodded, "Yes, when my sister instructed me, Second Young Master Ye was right beside her, having breakfast together."
Zhou Gu nodded, and did not ask any more questions.
At this point, He Zheng also closed his mouth but was still puzzled. He had been surprised when Su Rong took the initiative to break off her engagement with Zhou Gu. They didn’t argue when they met, in fact, Su Rong even invited Zhou Gu to have dinner together. Now, she sent people to save him. For a moment, he couldn’t quite grasp the nature of their relationship.
However, it didn’t matter if he didn’t understand, as long as he was alive and well.
The shadow guards brought by Fen Ling efficiently eliminated the assassins dressed in black until only a few remained. He asked Zhou Gu, "Lord Zhou, do you want to keep any alive?"
"No need to keep them alive," Zhou Gu shook his head, "Since they are committed fighters, they would be useless even if kept alive. Just kill them!"
Fen Ling nodded and waved his hand, "Proceed as usual. Leave non alive."
As his words fell, the shadow guards quickly finished off the remaining combatants. After the last black-clad fighter fell unwillingly, the shadow guards split up into several groups to inspect the battlefield for survivors. Those who were still alive were promptly finished off with a swift sword blow.
Searching bodies, finishing off enemies, dealing with corpses - they were skilled at their tasks.
Watching their efficient actions, He Zheng was dumbstruck. He widened his eyes at Fen Ling, "This, this..."
Were they too experienced?
The few remaining imperial guards, despite their grief and relief at narrowly escaping death, also couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed. Even though they were imperial guards and had seen their share of bloodshed, they had never witnessed such a large-scale attack. After all, those who dared to break into the Imperial Palace to assassinate the Emperor were a minority, and spies from enemy countries hadn’t engaged in such actions for years. If it weren’t for their involvement in the case that implicated the imperial guards, they wouldn’t have experienced this even once in their lives.
Now, their horizons had truly been broadened.
Their faces were pale from the after-effects of the trauma, but in contrast, the men brought by Fen Ling, all clad in black with their faces covered, appeared calm and unfazed. Just showing a pair of eyes, it was obvious they were well-accustomed to such situations.
After searching the bodies of the committed fighters and finding some gold and silver articles, they also found a comb from one who appeared to be the leader. The comb’s tail end was engraved with a peach blossom.
The shadow guard handed the comb to Fen Ling, who examined it before handing it over to Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu took it, a thoughtful expression on his face. Without showing it to He Zheng, he tucked it into his robe.
Fen Ling saw the continuous bleeding on Zhou Gu’s right arm, the back injury seemed severe too as the blood had already stained his clothes. He was unsure how serious the injuries were. "I have some medical skills, should I tend to your wounds first, Young Master Zhou?" he said to Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu shook his head, "I can do it myself."
He was about to tear a strip from his robe to bandage his arm when Fen Ling quickly stopped him, "This won’t stop the bleeding."
He quickly took out wound medicine from his pocket, sprinkled it on his arm, then grabbed the cloth in his hands and wound it around his arm. He then signalled him to bend over, so that he could also apply the powder on his back. He tore a piece of cloth from Zhou Gu’s body, tied it from the back to the front, fastening a knot.
He moved impeccably, and after finishing, he told Zhou Gu, "This can only temporarily stop the bleeding. After we return to the Capital City, you must see a doctor for proper dressing."
Zhou Gu nodded, "Thank you."
Fen Ling looked at He Zheng, who didn’t dare to trouble Fen Ling, "I will do it myself."
At this time, a group of people and horses were coming from the direction of the Capital City. The person at the front was recognized by Zhou Gu, who was a guard of the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince had four personal guards. The first one, Yun An, had been sent away by the Crown Prince a few days ago, before Su Rong entered the capital city. The man who came now was Yun Ze, one of his personal guards.
Upon arriving, Yun Ze saw the secret guards handling the bodies, burning them. Without a word, he dismounted, bowed to Zhou Gu, "At the order of the Crown Prince, I came to welcome Young Master Zhou Gu. We ran into trouble on the way, which is why we were late. Please forgive me."
Zhou Gu knew that the Crown Prince, once he received the news, would definitely send people to meet him. Their late arrival was surely due to a delay. He nodded, "That’s fine, Fen Ling and his men saved us."
Yun Ze naturally knew Fen Ling. They had practiced together while in the Eastern Palace. He bowed to Fen Ling, "Master Feng.", and then looked at He Zheng, "Commander He."
He Zheng hurriedly nodded. In his heart, he thought that the Crown Prince had even sent his personal guards.
Fen Ling smiled, "Now that you’re here, I’ll hand this place over to you. I have to leave! I was halfway through my breakfast when I rushed over."
Yun Ze nodded, "Please go ahead!"
Fen Ling looked at Zhou Gu, "Young Master Zhou, shall I leave?"
Zhou Gu nodded, "Please!"
Fen Ling waved his hand, and the secret guards stopped what they were doing, handed the site over to the Eastern Palace guards, and retreated with Fen Ling, returning to the Buddha Temple along the same route.
Yun Ze waved his hand, and the people from the Eastern Palace took over from Fen Ling’s men, beginning to handle the bodies scattered around.
The Imperial Guards, including He Zheng, had brought thirteen men, and now only four, including He Zheng, were left. Zhou Gu had brought ten men, and counting himself, eleven. Although they had not lost as many people as the Imperial Guards, they had also lost five, and the remaining ones were all seriously injured.
Zhou Gu felt a deep pang in his heart. Those who were lost had grown up with him, and he knew every one of their names.
He said to Yun Ze with a somber face, "Those two monks over there, tie them back to the horses and take them back to the Capital City. I will not let what happened today go easily."
Yun Ze nodded, personally led some men there, checked both of them, and found out that they were only unconscious. He then directly tied them onto horses.
It was then that Zhou Gu asked, "What trouble did you encounter on your way out of the Capital City? Was it also a gang of assassins?"
Yun Ze nodded, "Nor many, but aimed to prevent us from uniting with you."
Zhou Gu nodded, looked at the pile of hundreds of dead soldiers’ bodies, and said with a cold voice, "We should take all of these back to show the Emperor what a dead soldier looks like."
"I’ve already sent a message to the people in the Government Office of the Capital. They should be coming soon. If these bodies are not cremated, we can hand them over for processing." Yun Ze said.
Zhou Gu thought for a while. They had barely survived. If these bodies of dead soldiers were cremated on the spot, leaving only a comb as evidence, it wouldn’t necessarily convince the Emperor no matter who was identified. He might even let it go lightly. However, with these hundreds of dead soldiers, and the testimony from the people of the Government Office, the Emperor may get furious for having such many dead soldiers ambush them deep inside the Capital City.
He nodded, "Leave some people here, watch these bodies, wait for the people from the Government Office, and we will return to the Capital City." After a pause, he added, "Take the bodies of the Imperial Guard and the Duke Residence’s elite guards who were killed or injured first."
Yun Ze agreed.
A moment later, a group of people got on their horses and continued on their journey.
As He Zheng was walking, he had been holding back for a long time, and finally asked Zhou Gu, "That Fen Ling, no, Lady Su Qi, how does she have such a skilled group of people? They seem very experienced."
Zhou Gu glanced at him and didn’t say anything.
He Zheng lowered his voice, "Can’t you tell me? But if we leave these bodies of the deceased soldiers here, do we say that they were saved by the Crown Prince?"
That would be deceiving the Emperor!
"You can say it." Zhou Gu said calmly, "She is the princess of Nanchu."
Her identity has already been known by many people, including the Emperor. It won’t take too long for everyone to find out. Adding one more person, He Zheng, doesn’t make much difference.
He Zheng widened his eyes in shock, was there a princess in Nanchu?
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