assassin?
Is there an assassin tonight?
Huairou showed a hint of panic: "How could this happen?"
As she spoke, she began to look around.
Their campsite was chosen in a gentle part of the valley.
Looking around from the camp, it is surrounded by mountains on three sides, but there are also river valleys on three sides that can be used as escape routes.
However, if someone were to ambush them here and attack from the three river valleys, they could be completely surrounded...
Yuan Yao also noticed this.
She looked at the Ninth Prince: "Father, shall we take a detour?"
There's still time to leave before it gets completely dark.
The Ninth Prince shook his head: "I won't take a detour."
Not leaving?
Yuan Yao frowned and asked, "If we don't leave, wouldn't that be playing right into the assassin's hands?"
The Ninth Prince said coldly, "Since they dared to come, they must have made preparations."
Tonight, I'll see who makes way for whom.
Anyone who stands in my way shall die!
Huairou did not stay long.
As night fell, after having dinner, Huairou returned to his carriage.
Most of the accompanying guards were sent to clear the road.
Very few remained at the camp.
Among them, a considerable number of people were assigned to protect Huairou and the envoy delegation escorting the bride...
After dinner, Yuan Yao washed up with clean water and was then carried onto the carriage by the Ninth Prince.
Lying in the soft brocade quilt, looking at the Ninth Prince sitting in the carriage reading a book, Yuan Yao felt uneasy: "Father, do you know whose person he is?"
The Ninth Prince smiled and said, "Guess."
His tone sounded very relaxed.
For some reason, Yuan Yao also breathed a sigh of relief.
Since Father is so confident, he must have a plan in mind.
However, Yuan Yao then became worried about Huairou, who was alone in a carriage...
The Ninth Prince used a silver hairpin to adjust the candlelight and said in a low voice, "Little Yao'er, it's time for you to sleep."
Yuan Yao blinked: "Daddy, Yao'er isn't sleepy."
The Ninth Prince gazed at her intently: "I think you're sleepy."
Yuan Yao: "..."
Yuan Yao opened her mouth wide and yawned.
Okay, she was really sleepy.
Yuan Yao pulled the blanket up, only her little head peeking out: "Daddy, goodnight!"
The Ninth Prince bent down and placed a feather-light kiss on her forehead: "Sweet dreams."
Yuan Yao smiled sweetly and drifted off to sleep.
In the middle of the night, a light drizzle began to fall.
Raindrops drifted down onto the roof of the carriage.
The sound of rain was mixed with the metallic clang of swords clashing.
Occasionally, screams could be heard...
Yuan Yao didn't sleep very well.
Her eyelids twitched, and she opened her eyes.
The candles inside the carriage were still lit.
The book in the hands of the Ninth Prince was only half-read.
Yuan Yao asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Father, what time is it?"
The Ninth Prince tucked the blanket around her and replied, "It's the hour of Yin (3-5 AM)."
Yin hour?
Around 3 a.m.
Yuan Yao's throat was a little dry.
She blinked her bright black eyes: "Daddy, I'm thirsty."
"Come on," the Ninth Prince said, extending his hand.
Yuan Yao stretched out her small hand and grasped the somewhat cool large hand of the Ninth Prince.
The Ninth Prince pulled her up and held her in his arms.
He poured a glass of water that was warming on the stove and fed it to Yuan Yao: "Drink slowly."
Yuan Yao held the teacup and gulped down the entire cup of water.
After drinking it, my throat finally stopped being dry.
The Ninth Prince wiped the water droplets from her lips and asked, "Are you still sleepy? Want to continue sleeping?"
Yuan Yao shook her head: "Yao'er, sit with Father for a while."
Outside the carriage, the sounds of swords clashing continued...
The Ninth Prince nodded: "Very well."
He pulled the blanket up a little, just below Yuan Yao's neck, and supported Yuan Yao, who was leaning against his leg, with one hand while continuing to hold the book with the other.
Yuan Yao opened her round eyes and asked curiously, "What book is Daddy reading?"
The Ninth Prince smiled and said, "A storybook."
A storybook?
Yuan Yao became interested: "Daddy, tell Yao'er a story?"
Upon hearing this, the Ninth Prince put the book aside and asked with a smile, "What story would Little Yao'er like to hear?"
“Anything is fine!” Yuan Yao’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “As long as it’s something Father says, Yao’er wants to hear it!”
"Aren't you making things difficult for your father?" The Ninth Prince chuckled.
"I'm innocent!" Yuan Yao said softly, "Father, why don't you tell me about the Dark Guard Camp?"
Why did Father decide to establish the Secret Guard Camp?
The Dark Guard Camp?
The Ninth Prince gently stroked Yuan Yao's head: "The reason for establishing the Dark Guard Camp is to keep one person here, so that he has something to do."
Yuan Yao: "?"
My gossipy heart is burning fiercely.
Yuan Yao blinked: "Is the person Father wants to keep Ying?"
The Ninth Prince raised his eyes and glanced through the carriage curtain at the flashing sword light and tall figure outside the carriage: "When I was eleven years old, I had not yet experienced the destruction of my family. I was a noble young master, as bright and clear as the moon and the wind."
That year on the Lantern Festival, I was boating on the lake admiring the lanterns when I pulled a young man, about my age, seriously injured from the water...
I saved him and healed his wounds.
Later, my family was destroyed and I died, and he disappeared without a trace...
When we met again, I was a rising eunuch serving the prince, while he remained my shadow, always by my side…
After saying that, the Ninth Prince sighed softly: "In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed, and he and I... have both grown old."
Yuan Yao, the Ninth Prince, and Ying, how could they have such a past?
Why would someone as powerful as Ying be willing to serve as the Ninth Prince's bodyguard for so many years?
This story is quite touching.
Yuan Yao wrinkled her nose, nuzzled against the Ninth Prince's leg, and said sweetly, "Father is not old, and neither is Ying!"
From the moment Yao'er opened her eyes and saw her father, he had always been so young and handsome; he hadn't changed at all over the years!
The Ninth Prince smiled with delight: "You little rascal, you just know how to make me happy."
“Yao’er isn’t lying!” Yuan Yao pointed to the carriage storage cabinet: “If Father doesn’t believe me, take out a mirror and look at yourself!”
Looking in the mirror in the middle of the night?
The Ninth Prince sighed, "Father believes you, isn't that enough?"
Yuan Yao smiled especially brightly.
The sounds of swords clashing outside the carriage lasted for a full hour before finally subsiding.
The sky began to lighten, and the rain gradually stopped.
After resting with his eyes closed for about half an hour, the carriage curtain was lifted from the outside.
A slightly damp breeze from the fan hit me, bringing with it a pungent smell of blood.
Ying, carrying her sword, asked, "Want to get out of the carriage for some fresh air?"
The Ninth Prince glanced at Yuan Yao.
Yingweng said in a low voice, "The body has been cleaned up."
The Ninth Prince nodded.
He put on his black boots and outer robe, and reached out to Yuan Yao: "Little Yao, come here."
Yuan Yao was wrapped in a small cloak.
The muddy ground after the rain, after the fight, was covered in mud everywhere.
The mud was bright red...
The Ninth Prince frowned, picked up Yuan Yao, and said, "Canfeng, go find Lin Xuan and have him gather everyone together."
"yes!"
The lingering wind passed quickly, and soon, everyone in the wedding procession, except those who had gone to clear the road, had arrived.
The assassins' bodies were piled up like a small mountain.
After just one glance, Huairou and some of the palace maids vomited.
The Ninth Prince beckoned: "Huairou, come here."
Huairou, pale-faced, lifted the hem of her skirt and walked over: "Your Majesty..."
The Ninth Prince pointed to the piles of corpses: "Did these people disturb your sleep last night?"
Upon hearing this, Huairou turned pale.
Last night, there were no assassins outside her carriage...
Huairou swayed slightly: "Your Majesty, I swear on my life, these assassins were absolutely not sent by my father!"
"Of course it's not him," the Ninth Prince said coldly.
Not the emperor?
That……
Yuan Yao was slightly surprised and looked at Huairou.
Could it be that the Empress sent them?
No!
wrong!
An empress who doesn't fight or vie for power would never do such a thing!
So, he's one of the Crown Prince's men?
Or rather, they are members of the princeling faction!
After years of peace, is a new storm finally about to break?
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