Chapter 20 Those with ill intentions were...
Song Gu noticed something was wrong when the Imperial Guards changed shifts in the middle of the night.
The soft footsteps and the sound of the scabbard clashing against the body seemed normal, but they were accompanied by the subtle rustling of leaves.
rustling, rustling...
“…!” Song Gu suddenly opened his eyes in the tent, his eyes now alert and clear-headed, with no trace of sleepiness left.
That was a new code word His Highness had specially taught them; it was the sentries in the trees giving an alarm! Different sentries were lying in ambush in different directions from the trees, surrounding the entire camp. The sentries in the same tree were further divided into two groups, each in a different direction, monitoring blind spots in a cross-cutting manner, and the overall organization was based on the "Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches".
The commotion right now...
It is the Bingzi direction.
The hairs on his body stood on end. Although the air was still circulating normally, the stillness of the night sounded terrifying to Song Gu, like a terrifying net had been laid.
He scrambled to his feet, looked around, gripped the knife he had bought with his own money, and climbed out of the tent.
To understand why Song Gu reacted so keenly...
If someone, like him, had experienced the entire terrifying palace chaos from beginning to end and survived it, truly experiencing a life-or-death situation... that person would also be sensitive to similar eerie atmospheres.
Song Gu's forehead was throbbing.
In the darkness, the caravan still formed a circle, with the tents of the elderly, women, and children in the very center, and horse-drawn carriages, including donkey carts and mule carts, surrounding them. Beyond that were the guards on patrol, making it look no different from any other night.
Song Gu dared not be careless. He lowered his body and moved slowly, almost touching the ground, until he reached the back of the carriage. He was about to tug at the person sleeping on the carriage frame outside to keep watch—whoever it was, he could wake His Highness.
Song Gu, however, missed his target.
The person on the carriage was gone. I touched it; the soft bedding still retained some warmth, indicating that the person had left not long ago.
Song Gu paused for a moment, looked around, and suddenly realized what was happening.
According to His Highness's coded signal, the few Imperial Guards with good hearing who are nearby must have already heard the warning. Perhaps the sentries are still passing the message around.
To unrelated people, those noises were just the rustling of leaves in the wind.
He also saw Mao Zedong squatting in the shadows not far away, with a thin, indistinct figure next to him, who could only be one of Xiao Dezi and Xiao Chengzi.
Commander Mao certainly wouldn't dare to delay and needed to notify an important person first. However, his physique was too conspicuous, so only a junior eunuch could approach him for a private conversation.
The situation was urgent, so Song Gu moved over as well, lowering his voice to ask, "What's going on?"
Keep in mind, they were a large group of nearly two hundred people. Although almost half of them were ordinary people, there were also a hundred imperial guards wearing cloth armor. Ordinary mountain bandits wouldn't dare to even consider targeting them.
Secondly, these cumbersome vehicles—horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, and mule carts—all bear dragon emblems. Even if some daring bandits were unwilling to confront them head-on, they might still covet their abundant supplies at night.
This is clearly a royal outing. Who's got the guts to do this? Rob a prince? Don't they have a death wish? Don't they care about their entire family?
Aside from the factors mentioned above, the Imperial Guards did not issue any overt warnings or alerts; instead, only the sentries were alerted and relayed messages discreetly…
This is even more intriguing.
Song Gu was completely confused.
Commander Mao, crouching in the shadows, succinctly offered an answer: "The scouts sent out by the traveler earlier discovered that there is a dangerous rockfall area on the way, which is unavoidable."
"So Commander Mao has slowed down the pace of the journey these past two days," Xiao Chengzi suddenly realized.
"My original intention was to send more people ahead to clear away the dangerous rocks before the convoy departed," Commander Mao said in a low voice. He was only being cautious, but he hadn't expected to encounter several suspicious figures.
"Didn't catch them?" Song Gu asked, narrowing his eyes.
"They seemed very familiar with this mountainous area; they disappeared in a few swift movements," Commander Mao shook his head.
This was a serious problem. Even if the hunters in the mountains had fled in fright, their appearance at such a sensitive time, on the dangerous terrain their convoy was about to pass through, made Commander Mao extremely nervous.
The calm on the road these past two days is merely an illusion.
He deliberately set up camp in a dangerous spot tonight, avoiding leading his convoy straight through at dusk, just to test the waters one more time—
Is there someone secretly plotting something?
"I see." Song Gu nodded slowly, glancing at Commander Mao with some annoyance.
His bait was actually quite crude; the campsite tonight was clearly a trap. Song Gu felt a lingering fear; what if the thieves hadn't intended to show themselves?
Tomorrow's perilous journey will be passed safely, but that will allow the thieves to hide even deeper! And their convoy might think there are no thieves and relax their guard... who knows, they might be suddenly struck by lightning one day.
Song Gu was truly terrified because his rebirth would cause His Highness's life to unfold differently than in his previous life... or even worse, what if His Highness died much earlier?
Pooh!
You must not curse His Highness.
Song Gu quickly cleared his mind of the unpleasant thoughts, but this did not diminish his annoyance; he still felt that Commander Mao had been too reckless.
Commander Mao was still speaking rapidly in a low voice: "The camp must create the illusion that no one is aware of this. I have secretly sent Youzi to lead men to encircle them—Old Hua is also there."
He added the second half of the sentence after noticing the displeased look in Steward Song's eyes.
Old Hua was the veteran liaison left to the Second Prince by the old Marquis of Weiyong. This means that not only was the Imperial Guard being used passively, but the manpower given by the old Marquis of Weiyong was also in action.
Song Gu's expression finally improved, and he calmly instructed, "We cannot be careless. What if it's just a smokescreen? We've sent out quite a few troops, and His Highness must be on guard all night."
Xiao Chengzi became anxious upon hearing this: "I have to go back right away!"
Even though he had only taken a few steps away from His Highness, the loyal little eunuch began to feel uneasy. The thought that someone was already plotting against his Highness so soon after leaving the capital, and that they hadn't even been caught yet, made him pale.
"—I'll go." Song Gu turned his head and gave Xiao Chengzi a calm and reassuring look, which calmed him down.
He gripped the knife tightly in his hand, finally abandoning his usual politeness and humility towards the prince's personal eunuch. He exuded a sharp edge and arrogance, an aura that suffocated people.
A hint of surprised admiration flashed in Chairman Mao's eyes.
He could tell that Xiao Chengzi was still a greenhorn, but this young eunuch had already experienced great things. Not only was he steady and reliable, but judging from his experienced way of handling the knife, he must have killed a few people.
It's not just an empty shell.
"..." This was the whole story that Chief Steward Song told Qi Chengming in a low voice after waking him up.
"Your Highness, we need to move to another place," Chief Steward Song stated calmly. His words were short but firm, "...Don't worry, I will protect Your Highness."
The small act of moving the carriage away could easily be done discreetly, using the carriage's outline as a cover. However, the suspicious Steward Song couldn't trust the carriage at all—
It was too conspicuous in the donkey carts and mule carts.
If it really is someone targeting His Highness, and they take advantage of the enemy's weakened state to attack the camp... then the first target is obvious.
Therefore, Your Highness needs someone to guard this side, and the camp's feigned nonchalance is correct. However, Your Highness should also move away from this target first and wait nearby for the time being.
"I understand," Qi Chengming replied, trying to appear calm, and silently followed the bowing young man to another spot.
Upon learning for the first time that a group of people might want to kill him and that danger was imminent, Qi Chengming's mind was in turmoil.
But despite the chaos... he wasn't afraid.
The thought that there were about two hundred people on the scene who depended on him for their livelihood, including Commander Mao, Xiao Chengzi, Steward Song, and Lao Hua, and that so many people wanted to protect him with sincere and resolute intentions at this moment, made Qi Chengming feel less afraid.
His other source of confidence is the "infrastructure system".
Qi Chengming opened the character panel and glanced at it. The health indicator had returned to "7", and the "fever" message had disappeared.
Full health, very good.
He calmly opened the online store, which he had almost never touched:
The points he had accumulated from completing missions since his transmigration were now ready to be used—to provide himself with another layer of protection.
Everyone has their own responsibilities.
Their duty is to protect him with all their might, and all he has to do is protect himself and not cause any trouble—that's how he maintains morale. Maybe he can even buy some items from the shop to help others?
Qi Chengming's gaze swept across the online store page inch by inch.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Chief Steward Song (racking his brains in a tense attempt to recall): His Highness never mentioned any attacks they encountered on their way to their fiefdom!
Could it be that I brought about this calamity?
·
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com