Chapter 75 Assassination

Duan Mingchong and Sui Yan stayed in Xiangguo Temple for another day.

Duan Mingchong was busy with the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven all day long, and Sui Yan had nothing to do, so he had to run to the stone lamp building in Xiangguo Temple alone to see the longevity lamp lit by Duan Mingchong.

The small building was filled with burning stone lanterns. As soon as Sui Yan entered, he ran into Master Geng Xue who was holding Buddhist beads.

Sui Yan: “…”

Sui Yan cursed under his breath, thinking that enemies often meet on a narrow road, but he couldn't just turn around and leave due to etiquette.

He walked forward and nodded as a greeting: "Master, how are you?"

Gengxue returned the greeting with a half-smile and said calmly, "What are you doing here, Lord Hou?"

Sui Yan said without blinking: "I'm lost."

Gengxue smiled, wondering if he believed his lies. He leaned over and said, "Where do you want to go, my Lord? I will lead the way for you."

Sui Yan smiled with a fake smile, gritted his teeth and said, "Go... go to the Dharma Hall to listen to the Dharma."

Gengxue smiled and said, "What a coincidence! Today is the turn of the poor monk to preach the Dharma in the Dharma Hall. Lord Hou, please come with me."

Sui Yan: “…”

Sui Yan gritted his teeth and followed Geng Xue to the Dharma Hall.

He stared at the back of the monk's head, his mind full of wild thoughts - if he grabbed a ball of snow and threw it at the monk's bald head, would Xue, who had seen through the world of worldly affairs, just beat him up without caring about his image?

But Sui Yan only dared to think about it, but he didn't have the courage or leisure to do it.

He kept imagining all the way, and finally followed Gengxue to the Dharma Hall.

Many monks have come to the Dharma Hall, all sitting upright on the Dharma seats, holding Buddhist beads in their hands and chanting with their eyes closed.

Gengxue walked to the platform in the center of the Dharma Hall, clasped her hands together and bowed.

There was a huge screen behind the throne, with vague images of wild animals painted on it. Sui Yan didn't pay much attention to it. He randomly chose a place near the door and sat down, planning to sneak away later.

He had just sat down with his legs crossed when a surprised voice came from the side: "Forgot to return?"

Sui Yan tilted his head: "Ah."

It's Gann and.

Jiang Enhe had a circle of small Buddhist beads in his hands and was kneeling until his legs were numb. When he saw Sui Yan suddenly appear, he looked at him with tears in his eyes, as if he had finally seen his loved one after traveling thousands of miles.

Sui Yan was startled and whispered, "Why are you here?"

Gengxue had already started to speak in a confusing manner on the throne about Sui Yan and Jiang En. The two of them were sneaking together and whispering to each other, so furtively that one would have thought they were plotting something bad.

Jiang Enhe sniffed and said with great grievance: "An assassin sneaked into the Marquis' Mansion yesterday, and General Sui Xun was assassinated..."

After saying only the first sentence, Sui Yan almost jumped up: "What?!"

Gengxue asked, "My Lord, is there any problem?"

Everyone turned their heads to look at him.

Jiang Enhe tried to pull him back: "With General Sui's skills, nothing will happen. Why are you so anxious?!"

Sui Yan was pulled by Jiang Enhe to kneel down again, smiled at Geng Xue, and continued to lower his head.

Gengxue didn't care and continued to preach.

Jiang Enhe was about to whisper something to himself when he was pulled up by Sui Yan, who could no longer sit still, and he quickly left the court without paying any attention to anyone's expressions.

Gengxue turned a blind eye and ignored him. As long as that unreasonable marquis didn't come to steal her fortune stick box, everything would be fine.

Jiang Enhe was dragged away by Sui Yan, still shouting: "Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute, wait a minute! I still want to listen to the Buddhist scriptures!"

Sui Yan pulled him to a quiet pavilion outside the Dharma Hall, then let go of him, took a deep breath, and said, "Tell me in detail what happened to the assassination yesterday?"

Jiang Enhe was still pointing at the Dharma Hall: "Scripture!"

Sui Yan probably couldn't wait any longer, so he grabbed a ball of snow from a nearby tree and threatened, "If you don't tell me, I'll stuff the snow into your neck."

Jiang Enhe: "..."

Jiang Enhe looked at him in shock: "Sui Wanggui! What's wrong with you?!"

Sui Yan grabbed Jiang Enhe's arm and asked, "How did my brother get assassinated? Has the assassin been caught? Who is he?"

Jiang Enhe was confused by his question, but seeing that Sui Yan's face was a little gloomy and seemed to be very worried, he said truthfully: "I told you that General Sui Xun is not a big deal..."

The Marquis' Mansion has always been heavily guarded, not to mention that the guards in Sui Xun's Courtyard are all brave warriors who have fought on the battlefield for many years. Those assassins naturally could not hurt Sui Xun at all.

It was just that the assassins came out of nowhere and rushed straight towards Sui Yan's side courtyard without caring about their own lives. Sui Xun happened to go to the side courtyard to look for something and ran into the group of black-clad assassins head-on.

Sui Xun didn't say anything and ordered his guards to capture all the people.

Sui Xun was not like Sui Yan who would resort to unconventional methods. He followed his habit in the military camp and asked his men to interrogate the man. It was not until the second half of the night that he learned a name from one of the men.

——Duan Ming Chong.

Sui Xun's face changed immediately. He secretly asked someone to silence the person and sent the message to Duan Mingchong of Xiangguo Temple overnight.

Gan Enhe was not very clear about the details. He only knew that before dawn, Jiang Ning suddenly opened the door, broke in, and dragged him out from under the quilt.

Jiang Enhe was awakened from the cold, and wailed in pain: "Sister! Second sister! I am your biological brother, do you want to kill me?"

Jiang Ning threw his outer robe on him with disdain and ordered in a cold voice: "Hurry up and wash and dress. I have something important for you to do."

Jiang En and Lai put on their clothes and asked reluctantly, "What's the matter?"

Jiang Ning said: "Go to Xiangguo Temple and ask for a peace charm for me."

Jiang Enhe: "..."

Gan Enhe suspected that he was still sleepy. Could he ask for this amulet for others?

"For whom?"

Jiang Ning said: "Sui Xun."

Jiang Enhe: "..."

Jiang Ning said, "I have to go to the Marquis' Mansion today, so I'm afraid I don't have time to go to Xiangguo Temple. Anyway, you have nothing to do at home, so why don't you go there for me?"

Jiang Enhe looked at her in disbelief with trembling lips and was speechless for a long time.

Jiang Ning made an impatient "tsk" sound, then casually pulled out a banknote from his sleeve and threw it to Jiang Enhe: "Here."

Jiang Enhe was completely devastated: "Sister, I am not a child anymore, I am not short of money!"

When Jiang Ning asked Jiang Enhe to do something when he was young, she would always give him a few coins or some change to run errands. Little Enhe was innocent at that time, and he was very happy when he earned money. He would happily grab the silver and go to help his sister do things.

As an adult, Jiang Enhe could spend a fortune anytime he wanted, so he didn't need Jiang Ning's money for running errands.

Jiang Ning took the banknote and said, "That's perfect. I can save some money to buy Sui Xun a pair of deerskin boots."

Jiang Enhe: "..."

Finally, under the pressure of Jiang Ning, Jiang Enhe ran to Xiangguo Temple alone with his clothes on and aggrieved.

Jiang Enhe squatted on the ground, holding his neck with his hands, and said aggrievedly: "Who knew that I would come here and listen to a Buddhist lecture here to ask for a peace amulet for another person? It is said that sincerity will be effective, so I had no choice but to listen there."

Sui Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He touched Jiang En and Gou Tou to comfort them.

"It's okay. I'll pray for a lucky charm with you."

Jiang Enhe looked up at him and asked, "Who are you asking for help?"

Sui Yan counted on his fingers: "One for my brother, one for your sister, and one for the Crown Prince."

Jiang Enhe immediately looked at him expectantly: "What about me? What about me?"

Sui Yan: "Oh, yes, there's you too. I'll ask you when the time comes. If you can give me one out of three, I'll give it to you."

Jiang Enhe: "..."

"Pooh!"

Knowing that Sui Xun was fine, Sui Yan was relieved and sneaked back to the Dharma Hall with Jiang Enhe. He pretended to listen to Geng Xue's lecture on the heavenly book for a long time and only then did he get a few amulets.

Sui Yan handed a peace amulet to Jiang Enhe: "Here, this is for you."

Jiang Enhe glared at him, but still put it away.

"What about my sister's? Give them to me and I'll give them to her."

Sui Yan shook his head: "No need, I'll go back and ask my second brother to give it to her."

This way, Sui Xun would not pursue the fact that I suddenly left the Marquis' Mansion and followed Duan Mingchong to Xiangguo Temple.

Sui Yan's plan went as planned. The two of them had a vegetarian meal at Xiangguo Temple, and then Jiang Enhe went down the mountain with the amulet.

Sui Yan had no mood to look at the longevity lamp. When he returned to the courtyard, he found that the palace servants were packing up their things, and it seemed that they were planning to return to the palace.

Sui Yan hurried into the room and saw Duan Mingchong sitting beside the couch, looking down at the excellent fortune in his hand, wondering what he was thinking.

"Your Highness?"

Duan Mingchong came back to his senses after being called by him. He raised his lips and smiled, saying, "I'm back. Is Xiangguo Temple fun?"

Sui Yan said a few perfunctorily, "Are we going back? Has His Highness's affairs been settled?"

Duan Mingchong nodded, pointed to the wooden box beside him, and said, "All the scriptures I copied in Xiangguo Temple are there. I have also discussed the matter of the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony with Master Gengxue, so there is nothing important to do."

Sui Yan said: "Okay then."

Naturally, someone would help Sui Yan clean up his things. He only had to hold tightly the wooden sticks he had sharpened and the amulets he had prayed for. He would not have to worry about anything else.

Half an hour later, the group came down the mountain in a mighty stream.

It was not until the sun set that Sui Yan and Duan Mingchong returned to the capital.

It was too late, and tomorrow was the Little New Year, so Duan Mingchong could not stay any longer and just had the carriage stop at the gate of the Marquis' Mansion.

Sui Yan tied the amulet he had asked for on Duan Mingchong's waistband with his own hands. After thinking for a long time, he made up his mind. He raised his head slightly and said, "Your Highness will be nineteen after the New Year. The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince have been married for many years, but you have never thought of taking a concubine. Are you..."

He pursed his lips and changed the question: "What kind of people do you prefer?"

Duan Mingchong was stunned, looked at him in surprise, and then his ears turned slightly red.

Sui Yan looked at him expectantly.

Duan Mingchong thought about it carefully before he said softly, "When you are in a high position, it is inevitable that you have no control over your own affairs. My father must be afraid that the power will fall into someone else's hands, so he has been wondering what kind of marriage to find for me. If the family background is too high, he will still be jealous. If the family background is too low, he will inevitably give people a chance to criticize him, so this has been delayed until today."

Three years have allowed Duan Mingchong to see through a lot.

He no longer blindly believed what the emperor and others said, but knew how to judge the situation and distinguish right from wrong.

Duan Mingchong was telling the truth, but it was not what Sui Yan wanted to hear.

Sui Yan said: "If His Majesty really grants you a marriage one day, what will Your Highness do?"

Duan Mingchong smiled and said, "Even if I give her a marriage, that person will probably just be a pawn to constrain me. It could be anyone. So for me, it doesn't matter what kind of person I like."

Sui Yan forced a smile, opened the curtain and jumped off the carriage, bowed to Duan Mingchong who was holding up the curtain with a puzzled look on his face, and said in a trembling voice: "Farewell, His Royal Highness."

Duan Mingchong was a little confused, not knowing where he had said it wrong, so he nodded: "See you tomorrow then."

Sui Yan stood up, looked up at him, and smiled again, saying, "Okay."

Duan Mingchong then left.

Sui Yan stood at the gate of the Marquis's mansion and watched the carriage go away gradually before returning to the mansion feeling a little tired.

When Sui Xun heard the news that he had returned, he came out to greet him with a gloomy face.

Seeing Sui Yan from a distance, Sui Xun shouted, "You ran out without saying a word, and you were gone for so many days, how could you remember to come back?"

Sui Yan looked up at him, rubbed his brows, and said, "I don't have any."

Sui Xun approached and found Sui Yan looked tired and pale. He frowned and said, "Didn't you go out with the Crown Prince? Why do you look so unhappy? Did the Crown Prince bully you?"

Sui Yan didn't do anything at all, but he felt inexplicably tired.

Hearing Sui Xun's question, he was about to shake his head to deny it, but somehow, after a moment of hesitation, he nodded as if possessed by a ghost.

"Yes, it's him."

Sui Xun: “…”

The author has something to say: Sui Xun: I was just asking casually, you left me speechless.