assassination
"Are you alright?" Jiang Jin yawned and looked at Wei Shu, asking in return, "What do you think?"
"Judging from your appearance, you don't seem to have been too frightened." Wei Shu breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll stay here with you tonight."
"Do me a favor. If the Wang family has any doubts, protect Ersan for me." Jiang Jin looked at Wei Shu deeply. "I don't want to implicate innocent people."
"Don't worry, Wang Jiulang has always liked to indulge in debauchery outside, and it's common for him to stay out all night. They won't suspect anything for now, but by the time they do, he won't have the strength to fight back."
Wei Shu took out a paper package from his pocket. "I was afraid you'd be hungry, so I bought you some crispy cherries."
"So this is a test?" Jiang Jin stared intently into Wei Shu's eyes. "Wei Shu, since you left the city, have you tested me?"
"No, I won't test your safety again." Wei Shu put down the cherry blossoms and tentatively took Jiang Jin's hand.
“I know you don’t tell the truth, Jiang Jin, but as long as you don’t harm His Majesty and the Great Yan, I can turn a blind eye.”
Jiang Jin withdrew his hand and laughed, "General, I don't understand what you mean. I have told you everything you wanted to know, and I have only told you the truth."
"Jiang Jin, how did you conceal your tracks and evade the city guards to enter the city? And this isn't your first time killing someone. Can you explain all of this?" Wei Shu lowered his voice and reached out to hug Jiang Jin. "Are you working for the Crown Prince or the Third Prince?"
"Will you let me go if I tell you, or will you kill me and find someone else to impersonate me?" Jiang Jin leaned against Wei Shu, the two appearing so intimately close.
"No, I won't kill you. There's a secret room in the Wei mansion where you'll be trapped forever." Wei Shu reached out and touched Jiang Jin's neck. "Jiang Jin, tell me the truth, stop lying to me, okay?"
"I told you I'm not, I am Jiang Jin, I am Jiang Jin, the daughter of the Imperial Censor!" Jiang Jin pressed a dagger against Wei Shu's chest. "Let me go!"
"Jiang Jin, tell the truth!" Wei Shu tightened his grip on Jiang Jin's neck, but still retained some rationality. "Tell me, have you been lying to me from the beginning?"
"I can't breathe!" Jiang Jin grabbed Wei Shu's hand haphazardly, trying to buy herself a moment to breathe.
In the last second before Jiang Jin pretended to faint, Wei Shu released her. Jiang Jin vaguely thought she saw tears streaming down his face.
"How could Wei Shu possibly shed tears?" Jiang Jin tried to laugh but found she had no strength left.
"Jiang Jin, stop pretending! I just want to hear the truth!" Wei Shu's eyes were red, but he didn't want to let go of Jiang Jin's hand.
"I am not one of the Crown Prince or the Third Prince's men. If I am lying, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!" Jiang Jin leaned against the wooden table, glaring fiercely at Wei Shu. "Did you get the answer you wanted?"
"Fine, then I'll ask you, have you lied to me!" Wei Shu's expression turned sharp before he finished speaking, and he lifted the curtain. "Martial law! Someone's coming!"
A group of well-trained men in black descended from the sky and engaged the Imperial Guards in battle. Wei Shu glanced at Jiang Jin and said, "Stay put in the supply wagon and don't move!"
Wei Shu quickly jumped off the carriage, drew his sword, and engaged the man in black in combat. Jiang Jin, of course, wouldn't sit idly by and wait to die; he immediately got off the carriage, drew his bow, and shot an arrow, ending the life of one of the men in black.
"Wasn't I in the supply wagon then?!" Wei Shu swiftly walked to Jiang Jin's side with a sword thrust to the throat.
"My arrows are far superior to your swords!" Jiang Jin said with a laugh, killing another assassin.
"Let's go!" Jiang Jin glanced at the assassins rushing towards them and decisively grabbed Wei Shu's hand. "Let's go deeper into the woods!"
"Zhou Cong, split up!" Jiang Jin, disregarding the others, led Wei Shu directly into the bushes. Assassins kept approaching from behind, so Jiang Jin had no choice but to draw his bow and kill them one by one.
"Wei Shu, I'm running low on arrows!" Cold sweat beaded on Jiang Jin's forehead. These assassins were clearly not people's ordinary servants.
"This way!" Wei Shu gripped Jiang Jin's hand tightly and ran in the other direction. The two weaved through the forest. "Wei Shu, who did you offend?!" Jiang Jin gasped for breath, the assassins closing in from behind. Neither of them dared to relax.
"Jiang Jin, why don't you say it's someone you offended!" Wei Shu held Jiang Jin's hand tightly as they waded through the mud.
"Nonsense, would they need so many people to kill me!" The two ran to a precipice.
"Is this the way you led us?" Jiang Jin looked at the assassin who was now upon her and silently gripped her bracelet. "Could this be a test from you?"
"Am I crazy to risk the lives of the Imperial Guards to test you!" Wei Shu glared at Jiang Jin but silently shielded her behind him.
"Go for it! You claim to be a master of martial arts, but we have nowhere to retreat now!" Jiang Jin glanced at the dozens of people approaching him.
"I can take on ten at once, thirty is barely manageable, but fifty? Sorry, I'm human, not a god. Where are your arrows?" Wei Shu protected Jiang Jin as they slowly retreated.
"Three more arrows left. I can kill at most three." Jiang Jin drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at the approaching assassin. The arrow flew in and successfully pierced one of the assassins' bodies.
Wei Shu held Jiang Jin with one hand and swung his sword with the other, struggling to protect her from injury. Suddenly, they heard the sound of flesh being pierced. Wei Shu had been stabbed in the shoulder. Jiang Jin quickly kicked the assailant and plunged a dagger into his heart.
"Do you want to live?" Jiang Jin supported Wei Shu, covering his wound with her hand, her heart softening uncontrollably.
"Nonsense!" Wei Shu picked up his sword again and continued killing, blood flowing from the wound on his shoulder, soaking his moon-white robes.
"Then stop doubting me!" Jiang Jin successfully killed the person who tried to ambush Wei Shu from behind.
"Fine, I won't test or doubt you anymore!" Wei Shu's arm was slashed again.
"Yi Yi, Yi Er, leave no survivors." The words had barely left his lips when the ghostly figure joined the battle. In an instant, all the remaining assassins perished. Jiang Jin helped Wei Shu sit down, then used a small knife to slit open his clothes, tearing a strip of cloth which he hung on the edge of the cliff.
"Yi-yi, help him up, let's go." Jiang Jin glanced at the wrecked cliff edge and sneered, "Since they want to kill us, then let us die."
The four hid in the woods. Jiang Jin used her clothes to quickly bandage Wei Shu's wounds. "Did any of you figure out which organization trained these assassins today?"
"It doesn't seem like the work of an ordinary family; it's more like the work of a powerful clan." Yi Yi pressed some medicine onto Wei Shu's wound. "Wife, we need to leave as soon as possible, or we'll be in trouble if the assassins have any backup plans."
"Let's go to the cave first, and then we'll consider whether to contact Zhou Cong and the others." Jiang Jin led the three to the familiar cave, but Wang Jiulang's body had already been completely disposed of by Wei Shu's men.
"Put him by the rock." Wei Shu covered his wound and looked warily at Yi Yi and Yi Er.
"Stop looking. I won't hurt you, and neither will they. But don't try anything funny. You're at their mercy now. I can easily make your fake death real." Jiang Jin wiped the dagger on Wei Shu's body.
"Who exactly are you?" Wei Shu struggled to get up, but the wound on his shoulder worsened.
"I am Jiang Jin, and these two are my trained bodyguards, my trump cards. So if you show any dissent, I will kill you to silence you." Jiang Jin pressed a dagger against Wei Shushi's neck, drawing a wound.
"This is retribution for the scheme you set up to harm me when we first met. You tested and threatened me several times, but you also genuinely wanted to save me. You don't owe me anything, and I don't owe you anything either."
Jiang Jin sheathed his dagger and gave instructions, "Yi Yi, send a message to the people in the city to check on the situation at the cliff. Yi Er, you keep watch around there and report to me if anything unusual happens."
"Yes, my wife." With Yi Yi and Yi Er gone, only Wei Shu and Jiang Jin remained in the cave.
"I've truly gotten to know you today. I'd like to ask you, was today's assassination attempt a scheme by you?" Although Wei Shu's wound had stopped bleeding, the cave still reeked of blood.
“I’m not so cold-blooded as to use so many lives to scheme against you,” Jiang Jin retorted, echoing Wei Shu’s words.
"General Wei should consider where he offended the powerful clans, that such a large force is only here to kill you." Jiang Jin still had one arrow in his hand; if he were to find himself in danger, he would have no choice but to seek help from the people of Bianzhou.
"Have I offended enough powerful families?" Wei Shu leaned against a rock, the uneven surface hurting him slightly. Jiang Jin chuckled, got up, and helped Wei Shu lean against her.
"The dignified General Wei actually finds stones uncomfortable." Jiang Jin mocked Wei Shu, but her movements were very gentle.
"Please, I'm injured." Wei Shu looked at Jiang Jin with a somewhat shameless expression.
"That's because your own ruthlessness attracted the assassins." Jiang Jin ignored Wei Shu and instead cautiously looked outside the cave.
"Were you scared when you killed someone for the first time? I was terrified." The injured Wei Shu seemed to have let down her guard.
"Don't try to trick me into telling you anything. I don't trust you at all." Jiang Jin reached out and covered Wei Shu's mouth. "Instead of wasting time testing me, you should focus on healing your injuries."
"Waaah!" Wei Shu twisted his head, and Jiang Jin, afraid that he would pull on his wound, had no choice but to let go of the hand covering his mouth.
"Can't we trust each other a little if I don't trick you into saying anything?" Wei Shu sighed and said, "It's clearly because you have a guilty conscience that you feel like every word I say is a test."
"Please don't presume to know what I'm thinking. I just think you're a deep thinker." Jiang Jin leaned against a rock; the day's events had left her feeling somewhat weary.
“I’m not afraid. The first person I killed was the one who wanted to kill me, so I’m not afraid.” Jiang Jin laughed out loud, “Wei Shu, are you scared? I’m a man with blood on my hands.”
“Who isn’t?” Wei Shu chuckled easily as he wandered around the cave. “At least we have similar experiences. Jiang Jin, if one day we were to turn against each other, would you show me mercy?”
Wei Shu's words silenced the entire cave, but he continued as if he hadn't noticed, "It's best not to go easy on me, or it will be difficult if we arouse suspicion."
"Fool, you can't be merciful to your enemies," Jiang Jin muttered.
"In my heart, we are not enemies." Wei Shu closed his eyes. "Did you truly mean it when you saved me today?"
"Wei Shu, don't you really feel awkward talking about this here?" Jiang Jin asked, sounding tired and wanting to escape.
"If I die, at least let me take the answers with me." Jiang Jin slapped Wei Shu's face as soon as he finished speaking.
"Idiot, what's the point of all the trouble I went through to save you if you die? I'm just unlucky!"
Jiang Jin sighed, "For both public and private reasons, I will not let you die. As long as I am here, Wei Shu, you will definitely not die. I mean it."
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