assassin
"Girl, they are coming." Jinxiu reminded in a low voice.
On the mountain path, a figure approached. It was Hu Quan, dressed in plain clothes. Although he had been exiled, his gait still carried the dignity of the Censorate.
"Where is the other one?" Liang Hongyu looked towards the mountain road.
Before he could finish his words, the sound of horse hooves rushed over. It was Feng Xingshi, who had resigned from his post. As he dismounted, a broken ivory tablet fell from his arms.
"Brother Feng, this is..." Hu Quan bent down to pick it up.
"No need to pick it up." Feng Xingshi wiped his sweat. "Since I've resigned, what do I need this thing for?"
The three of them sat down to the table. Liang Hongyu raised her glass first, saying, "We part today, and I don't know when we'll meet again. Let us drink this cup to the full, and pray that the land of the Great Song remains safe and sound!"
After three rounds of drinks, Hu Quan said, "Young Master Liang is quite resourceful. He printed out my memorial and scattered it throughout the streets and alleys of Lin'an, turning the entire city upside down. Did you know that Qin Hui's sedan chair bearers found a copy the next morning, and frightened the traitor so much that he even claimed illness and didn't attend the morning court?"
Upon hearing this, Liang Hongyu smiled and said, "Brother Hu, you're too kind. Your memorial is the key." She pulled a roll of yellowed paper from her sleeve and said, "Look, in every brothel in Lin'an, storytellers have already compiled the memorial into drum lyrics. Even three-year-old children can sing 'Qin Hui is a jackal.'"
There was a cunning glint in her eyes. "Prime Minister Qin can silence the officials, but can he also silence the people of the world?"
Feng Xingshi clapped his hands and laughed. "Brilliant! I can even recite Brother Hu's memorial by heart. 'As a minister, I will not stand under the same sky with Hui and his ilk.' Every word is as sharp as a knife. No wonder the treacherous prime minister is in such constant fear." Speaking of this, Feng Xingshi sighed, "It's a pity we still haven't been able to bring him down."
After these words were spoken, the three of them fell silent. Liang Hongyu thought that she would be able to overthrow Qin Hui this time, but she did not expect that Qin Hui's position in the emperor's heart had reached a position that ordinary people could not shake.
Hu Quan suddenly took out a brush and ink from his bag and wrote on the pillar of the pavilion: "I do not wish for wealth and honor, and I cannot expect to be in the imperial palace." His brush strokes were as sharp as a knife, and the ink penetrated deeply into the wood grain.
Feng Xingshi grabbed the pen and scribbled on another pillar: "A man's heart is as strong as iron until death. Let's try our hand at mending the crack in the sky!"
Liang Hongyu used her sword as a pen to carve the following words on the bluestone floor: "Live as a hero, die as a ghost hero."
The three of them smiled at each other and drank again. As dusk deepened, Hu Quan pulled out a copy of a memorial from his bosom: "Going to Lingnan, life and death are uncertain. This original manuscript of the "Please Execute Qin Hui" is for Mr. Liang..."
"No," Liang Hongyu pushed it back. "Lord Hu, you should keep this manuscript with you. When the historian compiles history in the future, he will definitely ask Lingnan for this text."
"Okay." Hu Quan said as he put the memorial back into his arms.
It was already dark when Feng Xingshi jumped on his horse and said, "Take care, you two. I will go to join Marshal Yue's old subordinates tomorrow and go ahead."
Young Master Liang said softly, "It's time for us to set off. Brother Hu, do you have somewhere to go?"
Hu Quan replied, "There's an unnamed temple thirty miles to the south. The abbot is an old friend of mine. I'll go there first to say goodbye to him, and then make plans later."
"Okay, take care, Brother Hu." After saying that, he and Jinxiu mounted their horses and galloped towards Lin'an City.
"Girl, where are we going?" Jinxiu asked on horseback.
"Ju Qiufeng's secret report says that the Jin envoy has arrived in Lin'an and is heading to Zuixian Tower first."
Although it was the dead of winter in Lin'an City in December of the eighth year of Shaoxing, it was much warmer than the ice and snow in the north. The sky beside the Qiantang River was sunny and cloudless.
On the shore, a thousand soldiers were standing guard along the riverbank, surrounded by hundreds of people holding colorful flags in their hands. In the middle were two large sedan chairs and a dozen small sedan chairs. Several officials were waiting eagerly by the river.
"Here it comes!" someone whispered.
A red-lacquered official ship slowly approached the shore. At the bow stood two men, both dressed in Jurchen attire. The leader, a man about forty years old with a pale complexion and no beard, was Zhang Tonggu, the Jin envoy. Around his waist hung a golden tiger-head medallion bestowed by the Jin emperor.
"Play music!" Chief Censor Gou Longruyuan shouted at the top of his voice.
Suddenly, drums and music blared. Twelve dancers flung their sleeves and danced gracefully on the red-carpeted dock. Along the riverbank, a thousand imperial guards stood at attention, their rifles drawn, the red tassels on their tips fluttering in the wind.
By the time Zhang Tonggu stepped onto the human stool to disembark, Gou Longruyuan was already kneeling at the end of the gangplank. This chief censor, who normally disdained even the prime minister, now had his forehead pressed to the ground.
"Jiangnan Censor Gou Longruyuan respectfully welcomes the angel."
Zhang Tonggu snorted in response. He glanced at the people waving colorful flags on the shore. They seemed to be cheering, but their eyes were burning with anger. One old woman even spat quietly on the ground and was quickly dragged away by the officers.
Two large sedan chairs, embroidered with gold and phoenixes, had already been prepared. Zhang Tonggu was about to board one when he saw a figure in red flash through the crowd. He looked again, but saw only a few young men who looked like Imperial College students, pointing and commenting at his sedan chair.
"Lift the sedan—"
With a long shout, the honor guard slowly moved toward the city. Three hundred guards led the way, followed by twenty-four Jin cavalrymen, and then eight hundred imperial guards, each wielding a halberd, their silver armor gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight. The streets were packed with civilians, some standing on tiptoe to peer, others whispering to one another.
"I heard that we are required to pay tribute?"
"Hush, keep your voice down, there are jackals from the Jin Kingdom in that sedan chair!"
"Bah! Minister Qin actually wants the emperor to kneel down to receive the imperial edict..."
The sound of discussion drifted into the sedan chair, and Zhang Tonggu sneered. He lifted a corner of the curtain and saw a crowd of people on the street, pointing and talking at his sedan. Further away, a man who looked like a scholar stood at the teahouse window, a half-rolled book in his hand, his eyes sharp as a knife.
When the sedan chair team reached Qinghefang, something unexpected happened.
"Whoosh!"
Three black-feathered arrows flew through the air, striking Zhang Tonggu squarely on the roof of his sedan chair. With such force, one pierced the leather of the sedan's roof and burrowed deep into the interior. Zhang Tonggu felt a chill on the side of his face, and reaching out to touch it, he found a streak of blood. The other two arrows lodged in the sedan door, their white feathers still trembling.
"There's an assassin! Protect the king!"
The imperial guards were thrown into chaos.
"On the roof!" someone exclaimed.
Zhang Tonggu lifted the curtain and looked out, only to see a red shadow moving between the rooftops, like a dancing flame. The figure rose and fell a few times before disappearing among the rows of tiled roofs, leaving only a red figure vanishing through the streets.
"The whole city is under martial law! Search every house!" Gou Longruyuan rolled out of the sedan chair, his official hat askew and his face as pale as paper.
Zhang Tonggu touched the wound on his face and suddenly changed his mind: "Let's not go to the post station, let's go directly to Qin Xianggong's mansion."
Gou Longruyuan led the Jin envoy to the prime minister's residence. From a distance, he saw a group of soldiers guarding outside the residence, and there were also two groups of soldiers lined up on the east and west sides of the gate.
Zhang Tonggu got off the sedan chair, and the soldiers at the door knelt on the ground. Zhang Tonggu walked straight to the lobby.
Qin Hui had already opened the main door upon hearing the news. He was wearing a casual brown robe and looked like an ordinary rich man at first glance, except for his hawk-like eyes that revealed his shrewdness.
"Tianshi Zhang was frightened." Qin Hui poured the tea himself, using the Jian kiln rabbit-hair cup bestowed by the emperor.
Zhang Tonggu put the teacup down heavily and said, "Mr. Qin, is this how you treat guests?"
"The angels can see clearly that this must have been done by some rioters." Qin Hui glanced at Wanqi Xie who was standing behind the screen. The latter immediately understood and quietly withdrew to arrange a search.
"Rampage?" Zhang Tonggu sneered, "That assassin is clearly well-trained."
Qin Hui's fingers trembled slightly as he poured tea. "I have sent people to capture the assassin."
Liang Hongyu was pursued by the soldiers to Fengle Tower in the south of the city. Her hurried footsteps thumped against the wooden stairs. As she passed a private room, she heard the sound of a loud finger-guessing game: "Five winners! Six sixes!" Just as she was about to pass by, the door suddenly flew open, and a large, bony hand yanked her inside.
"Bang!"
The door slammed shut behind her, instantly muting the pursuers' shouts. Liang Hongyu stumbled a few steps, then looked up to see seven or eight military commanders sitting in the private room, all wearing armor, with a silver-armored general sitting in the middle.
He wore no helmet, his long hair tied up high, with a few strands hanging down beside his sword-like brows. His face was as if carved by a knife and an axe, and his high nose bridge added a touch of bravery and heroism.
Isn't this Han Shizhong? How did he end up in Lin'an?
She was about to speak when the pursuers outside the window shouted closer: "Search every room! The red-clad assassin must be inside the building!"
"Excellent archery! What a shame you didn't penetrate that bastard's throat!"
Seven or eight military commanders sat in the private room, all former members of the anti-Jin army who had been stripped of their military power. Han Shizhong, seated at the head of the table, was drunkenly flushed, his armor half-undone, revealing a three-inch arrow scar on his chest—the scar he'd received while protecting the emperor in the fourth year of Jianyan.
"General, be careful with your words," a thin young man whispered. This young man had picturesque features, and the white cloth wrapped around his chest was faintly visible under his armor. It was Liang Hongyu in disguise.
Suddenly, there was a clatter of footsteps on the stairs. The door was kicked open, and Wanqi Xie rushed in with more than twenty officers.
"Searching for the assassin under orders! Oh, General Han is here too?"
Han Shizhong shouted, "Lord Wan is so arrogant that he even wants to control my drinking habits?"
Wan Qi Xie's eyes wandered over everyone's faces, and suddenly he fixed his gaze on Liang Hongyu: "This young general looks very unfamiliar."
Liang Hongyu lowered her head to pour wine, and the short sword in her sleeve had already slid to her wrist.
"These are my newly recruited personal soldiers." Han Shizhong suddenly put his arm around Liang Hongyu's shoulders. "Why, Lord Wan, you're even interfering with me on who I employ?"
Wan Qi Xie stepped back with a wry smile, but caught a glimpse of a bow in the corner. He quickly stepped forward, his fingers stroking the still-dry blood on the bowstring: "General, this bow..."
“Bang!”
Han Shizhong suddenly smashed the wine bowl, and all the generals stood up at once, and the sound of swords being unsheathed was endless.
"Master Wan," Han Shizhong narrowed his eyes, "three years ago, I, Han, used this bow to kill over a hundred Jin soldiers at Heshangyuan. Do you want to test its power?"
Wanqi Xie's forehead was covered in sweat. He clearly remembered that last year, a censor wanted to investigate Han Shizhong's accounts, but the next day he was found drowned in the toilet.
"Your subordinate...your subordinate shall take his leave."
After the officers had all left, Liang Hongyu breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Han Shizhong, saying, "Why is the general here?"
"I'm here to welcome the Jin envoy by order of the emperor. I was drinking with the other generals when I heard the news that the Jin envoy had been assassinated. They said it was done by a woman in red. I immediately guessed it was you, and it turned out to be true."
Liang Hongyu looked towards the Qin residence in the twilight: "Qin Hui will definitely become suspicious if he sees you here."
"It's okay." Han Shizhong stroked his arrow scar. "Qin Hui doesn't dare to touch me. When you are in Lin'an City, you can dress as a man for the time being."
Liang Hongyu nodded, picked up the wine glass, and said, "I understand. Let's continue drinking."
The banquet continued, and the generals toasted Liang Hongyu one after another: "General Liang was so powerful today that he almost took the head of the golden envoy."
Suddenly, a drizzle began to fall outside the window, in the study of the Qin Mansion.
Wan Qixie replied, "I didn't catch the woman in red, but when I chased her to Fengle Tower, Han Shizhong and his generals were drinking in a private room."
Zhang Tonggu stroked the bloody arrowhead with his fingertips. "I heard that Han Shizhong has a female general who is skilled in bows and crossbows. Is this true?"
Qin Hui replied, "This woman's name is Liang Hongyu, and she is indeed known as the 'Red-robed Divine Arrow.' During the Battle of Huangtiandang in the fourth year of Jianyan, this woman fired thirty-six arrows from atop the mast, each piercing the Jin soldiers' armor. Does the angel suspect the assassin was this woman?"
Zhang Tonggu nodded, "Yeah."
"But Han Shizhong is one of the three great generals. I cannot touch him for the time being. But don't worry, just because I don't dare to touch him now doesn't mean I won't dare to touch him later."
"Everyone in the Jin Kingdom is watching Prime Minister Qin's performance. As for Liang Hongyu," Zhang Tonggu broke the arrow in his hand, his eyes filled with ruthlessness, "I will make her pay the price."
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