That evening, Old Kang felt much better and was in high spirits. After thinking for a moment, he decided to set off with the Crown Prince back to the capital the next day. It was only about two hundred li away from the capital.
Emperor Kangxi and his guards were stationed at the edge of a field, far from the villages. This was a campsite that Kangxi had specifically chosen.
When night falls, it gets especially dark here, with darkness all around, and only the calls of a few partridges, making the night seem somewhat eerie.
The darkness provided the perfect cover, and a line of men dressed in night clothes advanced rapidly toward the location of Lao Kang and his guards. They seemed to be able to navigate in the dark, moving like hunting dogs, following the scent of their preordained target.
Meanwhile, Emperor Kangxi had taken off his clothes and was lying on the bed to sleep. Liang Jiugong set up a bed next to him so that he could immediately serve the emperor if he needed anything.
Emperor Kangxi was truly reliant on Liang Jiugong. He didn't use any other junior eunuchs, but instead relied on this man who was older than himself and nearing sixty.
Liang Jiugong had served Emperor Kangxi for over forty years and had developed a semi-conscious state. He could fall asleep quickly while remaining alert to receive Kangxi's orders at any time.
Suddenly, in the utterly silent wilderness, a faint, sharp slitting sound of necks being cut rang out. And it wasn't just one sound; several guards in succession had their throats slit. The air instantly filled with the stench of blood.
Emperor Kangxi was suddenly awakened from his sleep and whispered, "Liang Jiugong!"
Liang Jiugong was already asleep, but when Kangxi called his name, he still woke up as usual.
"Your Majesty! Your servant is here!" Liang Jiugong quickly sat up, lifted the cup off his body, got off the floor, put on his shoes, and crept towards Kangxi's bed.
"Did you hear that?" Kangxi had already sat up. He quickly pulled his soft sword from under his bedding and placed it in front of his chest.
"What did you hear?" Liang Jiugong lit a tinderbox and saw Kangxi sitting on the bed with a look of shock on his face, holding his self-defense item in his hand.
"Quickly, light the candles!" Kangxi said sternly.
Liang Jiugong didn't know what Kangxi was going to do, but he didn't dare to ask too many questions. He simply followed Kangxi's instructions and lit a lamp with a tortoise carrying a lotus flower that was placed at the foot of Kangxi's bed.
"Liang Jiugong, come here quickly and protect me!" Kangxi suddenly shouted again, his expression even more tense.
Just then, a series of clanging sounds came from outside the tent, likely the sounds of swords clashing. Liang Jiugong realized what had happened and immediately ran to Kangxi, standing in front of him.
"There's an assassin!" Liang Jiugong shouted.
"Shut up! A fight has already broken out outside. Do you need to shout? Now quickly help me hide over there, and then turn off the lights." Kangxi patted Liang Jiugong on the shoulder and said.
Following Kangxi's instructions, Liang Jiugong helped him hide in the gap under the desk, and then he blew out the candle.
The sounds of hacking and slashing outside grew louder, accompanied by the raucous cracking of blades, a harbinger of death reaping young lives time and again. The guards outside had already clashed with the men in black, but caught off guard, they were given the initiative. A small group of assassins had even begun to approach Kangxi's imperial tent.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince and the Thirteenth Prince had also woken up. They had both heard the shouts of battle outside, so they quickly got up, dressed, and waited quietly.
"No, Father Emperor is in danger! I must go out and summon the men I brought to rescue you!" the Crown Prince said urgently. It turned out that Emperor Kangxi, wary of the Crown Prince, had specifically ordered his men to be stationed three miles away. At this point, they were likely completely unaware of the situation here, and without the Crown Prince's orders, they wouldn't act on their own.
"No, Father Emperor has ordered that the Crown Prince cannot leave this tent," Thirteen immediately stopped him.
"Thirteenth Prince, if you dare to stop me at this time, you are disregarding the safety of Father Emperor. I must go out immediately and call for help!" The Crown Prince shouted angrily at Thirteenth Prince.
Thirteen was not yet twenty, and when faced with such a moment, especially one concerning the safety of Emperor Kangxi, he was momentarily unable to maintain his composure.
"Thirteenth Prince, Father Emperor only brought three thousand men. Judging from the commotion outside, there must be quite a few assassins. If you hesitate any longer, and Father Emperor is in danger, you will be a sinner for all eternity!" the Crown Prince said hurriedly.
Thirteen could not bear it any longer and said, "Brother Crown Prince, then I will go with you."
The Crown Prince nodded, and he and Thirteen slipped out from behind the tent. When they were outside, they saw several figures in the darkness, and the guards were already engaged in a fierce battle with the black-clad assassins.
Meanwhile, Kangxi and Liang Jiugong huddled under the desk inside the tent, while outside, shouts of battle filled the air. Kangxi held Liang Jiugong tightly in front of him, muttering, "They're incredibly audacious. My guards will surely kill them all."
"Yes, Your Majesty need not be afraid. It would be even better if the Crown Prince's men came," Liang Jiugong said. At this time, naturally, the more people the better.
“Shut up. What if these people were sent by him?” Kangxi said in the darkness.
Liang Jiugong shuddered, suddenly realizing that the rift between the Crown Prince and the Emperor was likely irreparable. It was truly lamentable that the most esteemed father and son in the world had descended into such mutual distrust.
The sounds of steel blades piercing bodies grew louder and louder outside, and Liang Jiugong's forehead was covered in sweat. He was actually terrified, because if an assassin were to break in while he was by the emperor's side, he would be the first to shield the emperor with his own body and die in the emperor's place.
"Brothers, kill that damned Tartar emperor and reclaim our Ming Dynasty!"
"The dog emperor is in that tent! Kill him, kill him, kill him!!"
Slogans rang out outside, probably to boost morale as the assassins were finished.
Gradually, more and more guards joined in. The assassins, numbering only five hundred, were no match for three thousand. One by one, black figures fell beneath the gleaming steel blades.
"So that's who they are, Your Majesty! Listen!" Liang Jiugong said happily.
"Hmph, overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming! How did they know my whereabouts, and how did they arrive at such a coincidence, just as my headache was acting up?" Kangxi seemed not to believe that they were the ones who were overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming.
“Your Majesty, these people are stubborn and inflexible. Our Great Qing is now a prosperous and powerful nation, thanks to a wise ruler like Your Majesty. What was so good about the Ming Dynasty? There were always people who couldn’t get enough to eat or wear, and people had to sell their children. In my hometown, nine out of ten households are starving, and the other one is a landlord,” Liang Jiugong said.
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