In the hunting grounds, Xue Heng was leading his men to find a place to set up camp.
The deer population in the Xishan hunting grounds is large, and the deer chosen as the prize was thrown into the hunting grounds like a drop of water flowing into a river—not so easy to find. During the day, Xue Heng led his men to search for the deer, and they did hunt quite a few, but they didn't find the one chosen as the prize.
He wasn't in a hurry. Seeing that it was getting dark and not a good time to hunt, he ordered his men to find a suitable place to set up camp.
After wandering around in the mountains for a while, the group quickly found a place where the forest ended and there was a water source, and set up camp on a grassy area with open space on all sides.
The accompanying young men, eager to show off, joined the guards in setting up camp. Xue Heng, not one to be pampered, also joined in. Having aspired to be a great general who pacified the borders in his youth, he had even trained in the army, making him quite skilled at setting up tents. Without anyone's help, he quickly erected his own tent.
They slept in the wilderness, and their food consisted of the prey they hunted.
Xue Heng picked out two rabbits and two tits from the game and smiled at his companion, saying, "I've heard that during the march, when the soldiers set up temporary camps, they often hunt wild animals in the mountains for food. Although the meat of these animals is delicious, it's inconvenient to process them in the wilderness and there's a lack of seasonings, so the taste isn't actually that good. Later, some soldiers started carrying small packets of salt and other seasonings with them. When they needed to hunt in the wild, they would marinate the game with the seasonings and then roast it, and the taste was very delicious."
As he spoke, he took out salt grains wrapped in oil paper from his waist and said, "I specifically asked for salt grains before I set off, so I can give it a try."
These young men were all scions of noble families who followed the Crown Prince. Because their families had bet on the Crown Prince, they had joined his ranks this time.
Originally, due to their families' instructions, they were all on edge, intending to show off in front of the Crown Prince. But who knew that the Crown Prince was easygoing and unconventional? Now that the Crown Prince had taken the lead, they, being young and lacking composure, quickly let their true nature show. They each took out the seasonings they had secretly prepared and, like Xue Heng, began to process the game themselves.
The atmosphere at the camp was very lively.
If it weren't for those old grudges, Xue Heng would actually have been a good crown prince, and probably would have been a good ruler in the future.
Xue Shen was not actually obsessed with the throne when he was young. However, he was his parents' only child, and he was taught from a young age that he should take on the responsibility of ruling the country and be a wise ruler. Therefore, he had no choice but to shoulder this responsibility.
But in truth, whenever Xue Heng told him that he would become a great general who would fight on the battlefield in the future, he felt envious.
At that time, after finishing his complicated political affairs, he would sneak out of the palace and drink with Xue Heng on the rooftop, which was his greatest indulgence.
Unfortunately, those days will never come again.
And he and Xue Heng were destined not to be close brothers.
Xue Shenyin watched from the shadows, his eyes deep and dark.
Around him were more than a dozen scattered assassins, waiting for his order to surround the camp at any time.
But Xue Shen remained motionless. He knew Xue Heng too well. He seemed relaxed at the moment, but in reality, he was on guard. If there was any unusual movement, the tree branch in his hand would also be a weapon to subdue the enemy.
Therefore, he did not act rashly, like a lone wolf lying in wait, keeping a close eye on its prey and patiently waiting for the other party to lower its guard.
As the sun gradually set, night spread across the horizon.
In the dark mountain forest, only the scattered campfires and the dim starlight cast a faint glow.
Xue Heng planned to continue hunting early the next morning, so he went to bed early.
Xue Shen patiently calculated the time, capturing the subtle movements in the camp.
After confirming that Xue Heng was fast asleep, he lit the first rocket and fired it at Xue Heng's tent.
This served as a signal, and the remaining assassins immediately sprang into action, leaping into the camp to take down the guards on night watch.
It was late at night, and everyone was fast asleep, at their most vulnerable. Even the guards on night watch were drowsy from the quiet atmosphere.
Before they could even react, their throats were slit and they fell to the ground as the assassins' long swords swung down.
Xue Shen's timing was impeccable. By the time Xue Heng realized what was happening, the assassins had already killed several guards and had the upper hand in numbers.
Xue Heng gripped his sword, scanning the assassins in the dim firelight, his expression cold and fearless: "Who sent you?"
The assassins naturally did not answer, and the two sides fought fiercely in the forest.
Xue Heng's swordsmanship was learned from Xue Shenyi; both of them had received personal instruction from the late emperor. Those assassins were no match for him.
The initial numerical advantage was quickly reversed after Xue Heng killed several assassins.
Xue Shen observed from the shadows before drawing his sword and joining the battle.
He held the knife in his left hand, and the curved blade darted towards Xue Heng from the side and behind. Xue Heng was startled and reacted quickly by twisting his body to avoid it, but the blade had already grazed his right arm, leaving a deep wound that exposed the bone.
"Who are you?"
Xue Heng covered his right arm, blocking the crowd that wanted to step forward to protect him, and squinted at the masked man in front of him.
The other person was dressed in black, with a strange demon mask on his face, and his entire body was covered up so that not a single inch of skin was exposed, even his hands were wrapped in cloth strips.
The knife technique he used was also extremely strange and unpredictable, unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Xue Heng looked him over, a strange sense of familiarity welling up inside him. But when he tried to think about it further, he couldn't recall where this sense of familiarity came from.
His expression was stern, his posture defensive: "Who exactly are you?"
If they were merely assassins, they wouldn't have concealed themselves so thoroughly. Xue Heng suspected the assassin was someone he knew, but he couldn't immediately recall any enemy with such a cunning approach.
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