The three sons of the Nangong Family were coming strong, swiftly clashing with Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun who were trying to uproot the Nangong Family’s secret agents.
The influence of the Nangong family in Nanchu, entrenched for hundreds of years, was not a mere figure of speech. Thus, even if Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun were extremely capable and cunning, they couldn’t halt the overwhelming force of the three sons of the Nangong Family and their covert assassins within a short time.
Luckily, there were secret agents placed in Nanchu by the Crown Prince beforehand. Otherwise, no matter how competent they were, they couldn’t act rashly on Nanchu’s home turf.
Even so, they were placed on the defensive, very much on the defensive.
The two of them, along with their secret guards, launched a fierce battle of wills, strength, ruthlessness, and lethal tactics against the three sons of the Nangong Family.
Zhou Gu was injured countless times, and so was Zhang Yun.
The two of them had brought a significant number of secret guards to Nanchu. Apart from his own guards, Zhou Gu had also borrowed guards from his mother, the Duchess, who had contacted the leader of the Qinghe Cui Family. Since his childhood, Zhang Yun had been cultivating his own people, so the number of secret guards accompanying them was no less than what Zhou Gu had brought. Nevertheless, they were in a pretty rough spot with their guards sustaining continuous losses.
One day, forced to hide in a deep forest due to severe injuries, they couldn’t move nor reveal themselves for the moment. They could only repress their urge to act, hide, and recuperate their wounds.
It hurt all over just to take a breath for Zhang Yun. He sat against a dry tree trunk, panting for a while before he spoke to Zhou Gu, "We can’t go on like this."
Zhou Gu, less courteous than Zhang Yun and more severely injured, had lain directly on the ground. The deep forest, dense with grass, hadn’t been traveled for many years. Fallen leaves had piled up in countless layers on the ground. The old ones had rotted into soil and mud, while the recent ones were thick on the ground. As such, Zhou Gu didn’t feel damp or uncomfortable lying on it.
Heaving to catch his breath, he nodded in response to Zhang Yun’s words, "You’re right."
Zhang Yun looked at him and asked, "Is it comfortable lying there?"
"Um, it’s okay," Zhou Gu answered.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yun imitated him, shifted and abandoned his tree trunk support to lie on the ground as well. After a moment, he confirmed, "True, it’s comfortable, more than leaning against a dead tree."
He continued, "Let’s think about what we should do then."
Zhou Gu looked up at the sky. But with the dense forest and trees, he could only see small slits of sky. The bad weather had made these slits grey, and coupled with the forest’s low light, it looked like there was almost nothing to see.
After thinking for a bit, Zhou Gu suddenly proposed, "What if we stop taking down the Nangong Family’s secret agents and instead, use this opportunity to infiltrate the Nanchu Capital and rescue the Nanchu King?"
"What?" Zhang Yun wondered if he had heard wrong.
"Rescue the Nanchu King," Zhou Gu repeated.
Shocked, Zhang Yun turned his gaze to Zhou Gu, "Why would we kidnap the Nanchu King?"
"As long as the Nanchu King lives, even if the Nanchu Palace is taken by the Nangong Family and the Nanchu Royal Family, their authority will be illegitimate," explained Zhou Gu. "Su Rong’s claim will only be legitimate with the Nanchu King unharmed. For Nanchu, the king is its ruler. As long as the king lives, Nanchu will always belong to the Chu lineage. Only with the Nanchu King’s presence can Su Rong’s call be answered, swaying public sentiment in our favor. The Royal Palace is just a palace; how can it be more important than the king himself? With the situation so perilous now, there’s no need for the Nanchu King to persist in defending the palace. It’s better for him to fade into the shadows. Therefore, it’s in our best interests to sneak him out of the palace for now."
Zhang Yun abruptly sat up, "That makes sense."
Why hadn’t he thought of that?
He gave Zhou Gu a thumbs up and complimented him, "No wonder you’re the one who made the Princess give up on Ye Guixue."
Accepting the compliment, Zhou Gu’s mouth curled up in a smirk, looking content, "Of course."
Mentioning Su Rong, his smile somehow dimmed as he sighed, "I miss her."
Zhang Yun: "..."
Who doesn’t miss her? He did too.
He could only hope that Su Rong would finish up in Daliang and hurry here. They were really at their wits’ end.
He had lived for so many years, but it’s only after stepping into Nanchu this year did he experience the most thrilling and exciting moments. There were several times when they narrowly escaped death, almost getting killed by the mad dogs of the Nangong Family.
He felt that the fact they could hide in this deep forest alive was all due to their great fortune.
The counter-attack from the Nangong Family’s influence was too damn formidable.
"We’ll rest for two days to heal. Then we’ll set off. In two days, let Ziye and Lian Ying, who’s with you now, occasionally stage ambushes to confuse Nangong’s dog-like people. We’ll go straight to the capital." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Zhang Yun asked doubtfully, "Just the two of us, will that work?"
If that’s the case, they’d be stepping into the dragon’s den. The capital was the emperor’s territory, but it was also the domain of the Nangong Family, Ye Xiang Residence, and the Liu’an Prince of the Nanchu royal family. It was as if they’re tying their heads to their waists.
"It will," Zhou Gu said. "The Crown Prince has more secret agents in Nanchu Capital than in other states and counties."
With a sigh, Zhang Yun agreed, "Alright!"
He had always thought of himself as a madman, but when compared to Zhou Gu, he found himself saner than Zhou Gu. After all, Zhou Gu wouldn’t have twice infiltrated the Jibei Army Camp to carry out assassinations. Especially when the Princess was by his side, she even approved of him acting on his craziness.
Once the two had finished discussing their plans, they began their rest and treatment of their wounds.
Two days later, when their wounds had stopped bleeding and began to form scabs, the two set off for the Royal Capital under the anxious concern of Ziye and Lian Ying, without bringing a single secret guard along.
The two of them had a much smaller target. They took the mountain roads and met very few people, especially in the dead of winter. There were times when they came across people searching from the Nangong Family, but they were always able to fool them with their clever disguises.
Nangong Yin and the people from the Nangong Family would have never guessed that there were two people heading for the Royal Palace intending to steal the Nanchu King. Not just them, but Ye Xiang and the Prince Liu’an would never have guessed it either.
With Ziye and Lian Ying leading their men to create a diversion, not with the goal to eliminate the secret agents from the Nangong family, but to confuse them, things seemed to become much easier. Like a game of cat and mouse with the roles reversed, Ziye and Lian Ying spun the Nangong Family’s men around in circles to ensure the safety of their masters.
As a result, nobody noticed that Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun had successfully entered the Nanchu Capital undisguised and without obstruction.
For the past six months, the capital had been shrouded in dark clouds. Especially in recent months, the air had become so cold that it almost froze, casting a menacing air of tension.
The two of them went around the capital once and found the defence of the palace to be formidable, resembling an impregnable fortress. It was unlikely that they could sneak in by climbing over the palace walls using their martial arts. They would probably be shot to death as thieves as soon as they climbed over the walls.
After all, apart from the Nanchu King himself, Ye Xiang Residence was also extremely cautious and apprehensive, keeping a close watch over the safety of the Nanchu King, in case the Nangong Family got to him again.
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