4 The Second Assassination Attack (Minor Revision)
◎Paving the way for the hero to save the beauty◎
"Qinghe, I'm afraid you won't be able to return to the palace tonight."
On the way back to Qi Mansion in the carriage, Princess Jing'an told Xu Qinghe in detail what happened today.
"The courtyard is some distance from Kyoto, and by the time the news of your abduction reached us, it was already noon. Not long after, the Empress Dowager sent word that the girls from all families should disperse, and there was nothing important going on in the courtyard.
"In Kyoto, the palace heard that there were assassins causing chaos in the streets. Father immediately summoned several generals of the Imperial Guard to the palace to protect him. He even locked the palace gates early tonight, fearing that the assassins had sneaked into the palace in the dark.
"Later, I don't know if it was out of respect or something else, but they sent many more imperial guards to look for you."
By the time of Emperor Yongshun, the military of the Da Ling Kingdom had been relaxed, and the imperial guards were mostly children from wealthy families, who knew only fancy moves and were all good-for-nothings.
Therefore, after Emperor Yongshun discovered that Qi Sheng, the martial arts champion, did have some real talent, he did not hesitate to marry the princess to him and gave him the position of deputy commander of the imperial guards.
As for local military forces, only the Southern Border Army, formerly led by the Prince of Nannan and now led by the Duke of Fuguo, and the Northern Border Army, led by the Prince of Dingbei, have acceptable strength.
Therefore, although Nanyi Kingdom was a rising star, it was still able to invade Daying Kingdom in the southern border for decades.
The reason why Emperor Yongshun and Empress Dowager Wei later dispatched personnel from the imperial guards to look for Xu Qinghe was, firstly, they were afraid that the princess would be kidnapped in public, which would damage the reputation of the royal family, and secondly, they did not want to lose the support of the people.
After all, ever since the new war in the southern border broke out a year ago, the Queen Mother Wei in the palace spread rumors that the royal family treated the orphan of King Nannan with courtesy, building momentum among the people and earning a reputation as a kind elder.
Now that Xu Qinghe was suddenly kidnapped, the royal family had to put on some pretense.
"What about you? I heard from Qi Sheng that there were many assassins today, all armed with swords and knives. How did you escape? Do you have any other injuries?"
Jing'an asked with great concern, and Xu Qinghe told her what she had prepared long ago. When others asked about it after entering the palace tomorrow, she would answer like this:
"I was taken to a cliff by assassins. They said they wanted to kill me, but they didn't want me to die too quickly. I tried to distract them by guessing who was behind it, and finally took the opportunity to jump into the long river below the cliff. I luckily survived."
Xu Qinghe has always been bold. When he was young, he pushed the eldest princess born to Concubine Zhao into the lake to protect himself.
At that time, she had not yet been raised by the Queen Mother, but was only raised by Jing'an, the unfavored mother. Therefore, for as long as the eldest princess was unconscious due to a high fever after falling into the water, Xu Qinghe was punished by Concubine Zhao to kneel outside the house.
So when she talked about jumping off the cliff to save her life, Jing'an didn't suspect anything.
However, now the royal family has locked the palace gates in advance for fear of assassins, so Xu Qinghe seems to have no choice but to stay at the Qi Mansion.
"Jing'an, you and Qi Sheng..." she spoke hesitantly.
Unlike her, Jing'an has developed a very patient character because her mother was not favored since childhood and has suffered a lot of cold eyes.
She and Qi Sheng were originally married blindly, and Qi Sheng was very popular in the court. Even if he treated her badly, Jing'an would probably swallow it herself and would never talk to anyone.
After warming up in the car for a long time, Jing'an's frozen body finally relaxed. She smiled and said, "Don't worry. I didn't expect him to treat me wholeheartedly. Now he is busy with official business, but he has never treated me harshly, which is exactly what I want. He will definitely be kept in the palace as a guard tonight. It's a good thing you are with me. It makes me feel more at ease."
Seeing that her face was a little rounder than the last time he saw her, Xu Qinghe felt relieved.
The carriage arrived at Qi Mansion after two quarters of an hour, and Xu Qinghe helped Jing'an get off.
Jing'an and Qi Sheng got married half a year ago. During this period, Xu Qinghe only met her in the palace. Today was her first time to come to the Qi Mansion.
Unlike other noble families in the capital, the layout of the Qi Mansion is not elegant and noble, but very simple.
There is a martial arts training ground in the front yard, which takes up almost half of the entire mansion. Fortunately, the mansion given by Emperor Yongshun covers a very large area. In addition to the martial arts training ground, there is also a small garden and several octagonal pavilions in the backyard. It is much larger than the palace where Jing'an lived when he was a child.
Xu Qinghe followed Jing'an into the guest house. Princess Jing'an had already had someone clean up the room for her. Now she was helping her settle down while asking someone to invite the court physician.
"Is there a palace doctor in the mansion?"
This was not uncommon in the noble families in Beijing, but Qi Sheng was not from a prominent family. It was said that he was just a hunter in the mountains with some skills to support himself. Later, Qi Sheng was lucky enough to become a disciple of a master, and only then did he learn a set of skills and win the first place in the martial arts examination.
She really didn't expect that the Qi family actually attached so much importance to medicine.
Princess Jing'an lowered her head, her ears slightly red.
Xu Qinghe then realized that this court doctor was specially prepared for her by her husband.
When the court doctor arrived, Xu Qinghe discovered that the other party was a female doctor who was about forty years old.
The female doctor was a taciturn person. After checking her wound, she didn't say much. She just reminded her that the wound was not deep and not vital. Later, it was bandaged in time. Now she is fine. She just needs to rest well in the next few days and be careful not to let the wound get wet.
Later, he prescribed several healing medicines and asked the mansion to prepare them, and even gave her a few bottles of scar-removing ointment to prevent her from getting scars on her body.
Such a skilled, calm and reliable female doctor made her feel more at ease about Jing'an's life in the mansion.
At night, Princess Jing'an insisted on sleeping with her.
"You were attacked by an assassin during the day, and now you're outside the palace tonight. You're still injured, so I'll be able to stay with you and at least look after you."
It is precisely because the assassin might come again tonight that Xu Qinghe cannot involve Jing'an.
She had just gotten married and couldn't stand any changes.
She shook her head and refused. "You and I are both powerless. How can we help each other if we are in danger? I can respond quickly by myself. Besides, this is the general's residence after all. General Qi is well-known, so the assassin may not dare to be so rampant."
When she said this, her expression inadvertently turned cold, and her beautiful features added a bit of coldness. Princess Jing'an felt a little timid for no reason and had to give up.
After bidding farewell to Jing'an, Xu Qinghe rested for a while on the couch.
Yesterday she was punished to kneel until midnight. The injury on her knee was already painful. Later she was robbed, injured, and fell into the water. Finally, she finally rushed back to the city. Now that everything has settled down, she began to be swept by fatigue.
At this time, a hot water bath is the best way to wash away fatigue. She has always been clean and fell into the water today. If she doesn't take a bath, she is afraid that she will not be able to sleep all night.
"Nanzhi, take a bath."
As soon as he said this, he remembered that Nanzhi was not by his side. She must have returned to the palace. He didn't know if the chaos during the day had hurt her.
Following this line of thought, she thought of the woman who blocked her way in the street today.
The timing of her appearance was too strange. Did she and the assassin plan it in advance, one blocking the car frame and the other coming out to hijack?
Or was it just a coincidence that the woman had no other choice but to stop the car, and the assassin took advantage of the opportunity, causing chaos?
No matter which one it is, I will have to return to the palace tomorrow and see Nanzhi to find out.
Outside the room, two maids specially hired by Princess Jing'an to serve stood quietly. When they heard the princess calling, they knocked gently on the door and asked in a low voice, "Princess, do you want to take a bath? We will go and fetch water."
A quarter of an hour later, several maids came into the bathroom carrying hot water, and finally only the two servants guarding the door were left to serve.
Only half of the water in the bathtub was poured out, just enough to not reach the wound on the chest. The two maids who stayed behind began to help the princess undress.
Layer upon layer of luxurious clothes were taken off, leaving only a thin inner garment, outlining the princess's slender and graceful figure.
When the belt of her shirt was opened, the apricot-red bellyband with plum blossom pattern and half of her snow-white skin as white as jade were revealed. When the two maids saw it, their faces couldn't help but blush.
The princess was so fair, with a slender and tall figure but not thin, and her exquisite curves would make even women feel shy.
"Ah!" a maid suddenly exclaimed.
It was because the princess' skin was as white as snow and jade that any scars would be very obvious. And now, there were two red and swollen lumps on the knees of the princess's straight and slender legs.
The two maids were both servants. Although they had never been mistreated, they could easily guess that the injury on the princess's knee was caused by long-term kneeling punishment.
Isn't it said that this princess is treated with great respect by the royal family? If so, how could she be punished to kneel like this?
The two were confused, but as servants, these were not things they should inquire about, so after the exclamation, they returned to silence and quietly served the princess.
Xu Qinghe stepped into the bathtub without changing her expression. The warm water surrounded her in an instant, and her body, which had been tired all day, finally relaxed.
"Don't tell the princess about this." After a while, she suddenly spoke.
The two maids were pouring water on her body. Upon hearing this, they looked at each other and said, "...Yes, Princess."
For a moment, the only sound in the bathroom was the sound of running water.
A quarter of an hour later, Xu Qinghe came out of the bath and sat on the soft couch next to the charcoal basin to comb her hair.
By the time everything was cleaned up, it was already past midnight before she was finally able to go to bed.
The scarlet gauze curtains were lowered layer by layer, and the wooden door closed with a creaky sound, and no one knew what was going on inside.
On the 29th day of the winter month, the moon was almost invisible in the dome. When the cold wind blew, the lanterns under the corridor swayed, flashing a faint light in the cold air.
The entire mansion was silent, immersed in the silence of the third watch.
It was a cold winter day, and Xu Qinghe had asked the two maids to go back to their rooms to sleep. Now there was no one guarding the door.
Two dark shadows climbed over the wall into the courtyard, found the guest room, and after confirming that it was the princess inside, they took out a magic incense from their arms, lit it, and blew it in through the window paper.
After about a quarter of an hour, the two men estimated that the person inside had fallen asleep, so they drew their daggers and tried to remove the bolt to enter.
Unexpectedly, the slender blade could penetrate inside without any obstruction.
The two looked at each other and saw bright smiles in each other's eyes.
It turned out that the princess thought that this was General Qi's residence and it was safe, so she relaxed her vigilance and didn't even lock the door.
The two of them are well-trained assassins. At this moment, if they were to kill a weak woman in the deep palace, wouldn't it be easy for them to capture her?
The two of them gently pushed open the door, stepped into the inner room with the help of the light from the corridor, and found the screen again.
Going around, you will see the bed where the princess is lying.
The two men lifted the curtain, and with a "swish" sound, they drew their long swords from their waists and stabbed the man on the bed in the chest, waist and abdomen.
It's just a pity that this princess, who was so beautiful, died at such a young age.
Any sharp blade piercing into flesh should make a sound, but the sound just now was so dull that it was almost silent.
One person reacted very quickly and completely lifted the curtain to take a look. Under the candlelight, there was no princess at all, but only a pillow with two big holes poked in it!
"Oh no! We've fallen into a trap!"
【Author’s words】
I've already read Chapter 4, why not read Chapter 5? qwq
I'm easy to support. Just give me a collection and comment, and I can write 100,000 likes! (Exaggeration)
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