Chapter 1 Assassination on the way to the wedding
Bianjing, the capital of the Song Dynasty, is a city of outstanding people, prosperity, wealth and rich resources.
At this moment, on the wide Yu Street running north and south, a huge and luxurious wedding procession is slowly moving forward.
Today is the big day for His Royal Highness the Eighth Sage Prince to marry the brain-diseased daughter of Luo Xueshi's mansion.
In front of this luxurious wedding procession, there are more than 30 drummers and musicians in wedding costumes, playing the auspicious song "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix".
Thirty-six warriors in bright armor and bright red cloaks, riding on tall and majestic red Hequ war horses, guarded both sides of the wedding procession.
In the middle of the procession was a luxurious and festive red sedan chair, carried by 18 sedan bearers, embroidered with phoenixes in gold thread and adorned with pearls.
Following closely behind the sedan chair were teams of servants carrying the bride's dowry, and the red dowry stretched as far as the eye could see!
The wide Yu Street had been sprinkled with water three days ago to clean it up, and the shops lined up on both sides were also decorated with silk and colorful decorations, and decorated in a festive and auspicious manner.
The streets were crowded with people coming from all directions, and there were crowds of people everywhere. The branches of the trees on the roadside were full of people watching the excitement.
Today, it was His Royal Highness the King of Qin, who was extremely noble and unrivaled in character, appearance and talent. The grand wedding of the silly young lady from Luo Xueshi's mansion who is not good at writing, playing chess, or sewing, but only knows how to eat, drink and have fun.
How can one not come to see such a rare and lively event with one's own eyes?
In front of the big flowered carriage, on a black and shiny horse with snow-white hooves, the groom, who is wearing a bright red wedding dress and a purple and gold double dragon crown, is sitting.
The groom on the horse is slender and fit, with a face as beautiful as jade, a temperament like a jade tree in Linzhi, seven parts masculine and three parts elegant, and a pair of deep starry eyes like the brightest stars in the sky. The groom
is Zhao Defang, who is known as the "most beautiful man in the Song Dynasty" and was just conferred the title of King of Qin three months ago. He is the son of Taizu, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty.
: "Alas! How could
His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin, who is as handsome as Pan An, as elegant as a jade tree, and as gentlemanly as jade, marry the silly young lady with brain disease from Luo Xueshi's family? What a pity!" "Who says it's not! His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin is such a clean and upright person, as handsome as a banished immortal. How could he be a match for the silly young lady from Xueshi's mansion who is illiterate, doesn't like needlework, and only loves eating and having fun?" "If
I were to say, among all the noble ladies in the capital, only the talented and beautiful second young lady of Prime Minister Zhao's family and the beautiful and talented young lady Luo from Shangshu Luo's family can barely match His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin."
"You don't know yet, do you? I heard that although this marriage was arranged by the Emperor, it was the Prince of Qin who appointed the princess himself and asked the Emperor for the imperial decree." A well-informed middle-aged
man who looked like a butler said. "Humph! The Prince of Qin must have been kicked in the head by a donkey. There are so many noble ladies in the capital who love him, but he was so stupid that he chose a fool to ask for an imperial decree for marriage." A man who looked like a businessman seemed to be gloating over the excitement.
Several people next to him didn't want to listen and glared at him!
: "How do you talk about this? King Qin, such as the people, is like a sage king who is high, and you can export and slander your dirty goods?"
: "You are full of birds with a full mouth, His Royal His Royal Highness, and the cotton and corn of cotton and corn from outside the domain, so how many poverty -stricken people can eat and wear warm. I
am grateful and respectful, and I want to find it! "
:" That's it! " The people who filled the long street watching the excitement, some sighed, some rejoiced, but there was no one who was happy and sincerely blessed the wedding. In the spacious and comfortable red flower carriage, the bride, wearing a phoenix crown and a red veil covering her face, leaned against the soft seat back without any image. The bride rested her long and beautiful legs on the cushion, complaining: "Ruhua, this broken phoenix crown must weigh more than ten pounds. It almost broke my neck." Ruhua kneaded the lady's neck and coaxed her softly: "My dear lady, just bear with it for a while! After we get to the palace and finish the wedding ceremony, I will secretly take it off for you to rest for a while, okay?" Siyu, who was squatting in front of the seat and massaging the lady's legs, also coaxed her quickly, "Miss, just hold on for a while. We have been out of Luo Mansion for more than half an hour, and we should be arriving at Qin Palace soon." The younger Tingting and Yuli sat opposite and secretly lifted the curtain to look out. The lively Yuli stared at the excitement outside without blinking, reporting excitedly. : "Wow! Damn! Damn! I finally understand what a lavish wedding dowry is. The team of bridesmaids is so long that you can't see the end! This will make the rich and noble ladies in the capital jealous?" The young lady's voice was heard from under the big red veil. "What's the use of having more dowry? I'm afraid it will be a waste of effort. The dog King Qin showed off the wealth of his palace and gave so much betrothal gifts. This young lady took out 60,000 taels of private money to support the family, so that my father would not lose face because of the small dowry." Yuli stuck out her tongue at Tingting, and dared not praise the grand occasion of the lavish wedding dowry with the young lady anymore. Tingting turned from the side of the sedan chair to the front, secretly opened the gap in the curtain, and looked for the figure of the groom. When Tingting saw the peerless and handsome profile of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin on horseback, she exclaimed sincerely, "His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin is so handsome that he can rival Pan An in appearance. He really deserves the title of the most handsome man in the Song Dynasty. He is so handsome! Miss, don't you always say that you are greedy and lustful, and that you like to look at handsome men on the street the most? Now you can have a feast for your eyes every day!" The young lady's mournful voice still came from under the veil, "It's useless to be beautiful. You're just a short-lived ghost!" Ruhua and Siyu, who were rubbing the young lady's shoulders and legs, were so scared that they hurried to coax and comfort her, "Miss, be careful with your words. This is too unlucky! If it gets to the ears of the King of Qin, will you still want to live?" Luo Li lay back weakly, and cried out in anger in her heart! [My beautiful and graceful daughter! You don't know that the Prince of Qin Zhao Defang is really a short-lived ghost!] Luo Li is a soul that traveled from the 21st century. The upright and wise Prince Zhao Defang in later storytelling and opera, who held the golden mace of the king's order and beat the tyrants and the treacherous, was simply a fabrication of later generations based on their beautiful imagination.
She had read history books in the library when she was in college and knew that the real son of Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Defang, was killed by the current Emperor Taizong of Song at the age of 23.
As the princess married by this short-lived man, her life would be in danger!
She was born at the bottom of society in her previous life and had suffered enough poverty and hardship.
Now she has the status of a high-ranking official's daughter in the privileged class, with luxurious clothes and food, and a house full of servants. Four loyal and considerate maids take care of her daily life and food.
[This lady really doesn't want to die! ]
Thinking of this, Luo Li felt anxious and angry! She wailed!
"You dog Qin Wang, you killed this lady!..."
"Miss, be careful with your words!..." Ruhua was so scared that she covered the lady's mouth.
Mo Wen, the shadow guard of the King of Qin, who was dressed as a sedan chair driver, glared at the sedan chair with anger, wishing to slap the silly princess with his eyes!
Seeing the prince and commander Yun, who had strong internal strength and better hearing, sitting on the horse leisurely and calmly, and holding the sedan chair pole unmoved, Mo Wen silently retracted his glare.
[I didn't hear it! I didn't hear it! I didn't hear anything, okay! ...]
Suddenly!
"Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!"... Three black arrows as thick as a child's arm flew towards him with a sharp murderous aura and a rapid sound of airflow!
Qin King Zhao Defang's eyes flashed! In a flash,
he turned his head to the side, stretched out his hand to grab an arrow shot at his face, and knocked away the two arrows that followed closely behind!
The thick and long crossbow arrow was extremely powerful. After being knocked away by the King of Qin, it shot straight to the roof in front of the right. The two masked men in black screamed and were carried into the air by the arrows!
"Protect the prince and the princess!..."
Yun Yi threw down the sedan chair on his shoulder, shouted an order, and then jumped up and rushed to the place where the crossbow arrows were fired a few hundred steps away.
Dozens of masked men in black suddenly stood up on the roofs on both sides. Half of them shot the bows and arrows in their hands, and the other half flew down with cold steel knives!
"Miss, be careful! Ruhua, you protect
the young lady!..." Hong Gu's urgent warning came from outside the sedan chair!
Luo Li pushed away Ruhua who was covering her mouth and pulled off the veil on her head: "What's going on?..."
Thirty-six guards on horseback drew out the steel swords at their waists and jumped from their horses to attack the enemy!
The shadow guards dressed as sedan chair drivers put down the sedan chair poles and tightly guarded the prince and the sedan chair.
The crowd watching the excitement on the street suddenly exploded, pushing and crying for their lives! ...
The slow-running ghosts were hit by the arrows or steel swords of the masked men in black, and fell into a pool of blood with screams! ...
The drummers in front and the servants carrying the dowry in the back also crowded together in panic, but no one dared to run around.
Arrows shot at the King of Qin on horseback like locusts!
The King of Qin used the thick arrow shaft in his hand to deflect the dense arrows, "Protect the princess in the sedan chair!"
The shadow guards dressed as sedan bearers did not carry any weapons. They all used their ability to catch sharp arrows with their bare hands to grab two arrows, and then used their left and right hands to fly up and down to deflect the dense arrows.
Hong Gu also grabbed an arrow in each hand and tightly protected the position of the sedan chair's curtain.
Hearing the chaotic noise and crying outside, Luo Li pushed Ruhua away, stood up and rushed to the curtain, lifted the curtain and looked out to see what was going on.
"Swoosh" a sharp arrow flew towards her!
Luo Li closed her eyes in fear!
[It's over! Why do you have to commit suicide when you are sitting in the safe sedan chair? 】
Waiting for the arrow to pierce her head, Luo Li heard a "ding!" sound in her ears!
"Miss, be careful! Hurry up and put your head back into the sedan chair!..."
[Not dead? ...]
Luo Li was so scared that she quickly put her head back into the sedan chair, her face was pale, and her heart was beating wildly!
Ruhua, Siyu, and Tingting Yuli were all scared and cried, "Miss, it's too dangerous! Hurry up and hide your body."
The four maids pushed the young lady down on the seat and lay tightly on her body, fearing that the arrow would shoot into the sedan chair and hurt her.