Mu Jin returned to her tent, washed up briefly, and then lay down on the couch fully clothed, closing her eyes to doze off.
Despite being extremely exhausted, her mind was exceptionally clear, especially with the constant laughter and chatter of royal officials coming from outside the tent, making it even harder for her to fall asleep.
Mu Jin only opened her eyes when the noise outside the tent gradually subsided, replaced by the low chirping of insects and beasts in the forest, which was then covered by the sounds of the early-rising servants preparing food.
That night, Mu Jin didn't close her eyes. She kept an eye on the movements outside the tent. She wondered if Su Yi had drugged her, otherwise why would she be unable to sleep because she was worried about him?
Mu Jin sighed softly and got up from the bed. Ru Feng Ru Ying heard the movement inside the tent and entered, carrying washing utensils. After washing up, Mu Jin leaned back in the chair, her eyes slightly closed, and gently rubbed her temples.
"Miss Mu, did you not sleep well last night?"
Mu Jin paused when Ru Ying asked this question, but instead of answering, she asked, "Were there any unusual movements from the other families outside the arena last night?"
Ruying replied, "In the middle of the night, because the emperor had not returned, the Lin family, the Xie family, and some military officers rushed into the arena, seemingly to find the emperor inside."
"Could you send someone in with us?"
Ruying shook her head and said, "My master has ordered that we are not allowed to enter the inner area. I was really worried and wanted to go in with those military officers, but I was stopped."
Mu Jin was very puzzled and asked, "Why did you stop them?"
Ruying replied, "During the day, most of the ferocious beasts rest and usually come out at night, so the inner area is even more dangerous at night. Therefore, the guards of Shanglin Garden who are guarding the inner area resolutely refuse to let their subordinates enter."
"However, those military officers only went in for a little over an hour. They heard that there were too many ferocious beasts in the inner area last night, and the visibility was poor at night, so they all withdrew from the inner area."
"Didn't the Moon Shadow Guards inside send you any signals?" Mu Jin asked suspiciously. "Did your master tell you whether he would send you any signals after the mission succeeded or failed?"
Ru Feng and Ru Ying were both taken aback. They looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.
Ru Feng replied, "In this operation, our master only instructed us to do our best to protect Miss Mu. As for all other plans, we were not allowed to participate."
Mu Jin sighed softly and said helplessly, "Then you should go out first and ask the people who came back from the inner area last night to see if you can get any information about the inner area."
Ru Feng and Ru Ying left the camp upon receiving the order.
Watching the two leave the tent, Mu Jin felt a little disheartened. The thought of not knowing what the situation was like inside made her even more worried. She ate a few bites of food and then opened the tent door to go out.
She had only taken a few steps when she saw Ruying running quickly towards her from afar, shouting, "Miss Mu, Master is back!"
Upon hearing this, Mu Jin quickly asked, "Is he injured?"
Ruying replied with a hint of apology, "I didn't even have time to take a good look at you, Master, before I rushed over to tell you the good news."
Upon hearing this, Mu Jin felt a sense of relief and immediately smiled broadly at Ru Ying, saying, "It's good that you're back. Let's go and take a look!"
After saying that, Mu Jin led Ru Ying quickly toward the inner entrance.
Upon hearing that Su Yi and his group had returned, Mu Jin finally felt a huge weight lifted from her heart. As she walked, she asked Ru Ying, "Did the Emperor return as well?"
Ruying was taken aback upon hearing this, and replied, "This servant did not see the Emperor just now, but only saw Master leading the Moon Shadow Guards back from the inner area."
Upon hearing Ruying's words, Mu Jin's heart, which had just settled, involuntarily tightened again, and she ran even faster towards the inner area.
Not far from the entrance to the inner field, Mu Jin saw a group of Moon Shadow Guards running out from the inner field. The leader was Su Yi. However, what was very strange was that Emperor Gaozong did not come out of the inner field with Su Yi, and not even a single member of the Emperor's Imperial Guards was seen.
Those with even sharper eyes noticed that Su Yi and the Moon Shadow Guards seemed to have crimson bloodstains on their bodies and weapons.
In the nearby tents, many members of the royal family and officials seemed to have also received the news, and were now hurrying towards the inner gate while putting on their clothes.
Su Yi, mounted on his horse, exchanged a glance with Mu Jin. When he saw that Mu Jin was alright, he quickly looked away.
Soon, the entrance to the inner area was surrounded by a dense crowd of people.
An official in his fifties asked, "Young Prince, where is the Emperor? Why didn't he come out from the inner area with you?"
Mu Jin looked at the official, Ru Ying approached Mu Jin and bowed to her, saying, "This is Lu Changwei, the Privy Councilor."
Mu Jin understood immediately; this was the Lu family's secret secretary who was on good terms with the Lin family.
Mu Jin saw it clearly: among the crowd that had gathered, Xie Maochang and the surrounding ministers looked normal, but Lin Zhengyong looked at Su Yi with a ruthless expression.
Su Yi did not answer Lu Changwei's question. Instead, his expression turned slightly cold as he raised his hand to signal the Moon Shadow Guards behind him to bring the items up.
The shadow guards behind him threw a large bundle pulled by several horses onto the ground with a "bang," immediately causing a gasp from the surrounding women.
That thing was none other than the carcass of a huge black bear.
The black bear was covered in blood, with several broken arrows stuck in its body. It was easy to imagine how dangerous it must have been to hunt this bear.
The young ladies from noble families beside Mu Jin, their faces flushed with shyness, looked at Su Yi with delight. They whispered among themselves, praising Su Yi's bravery, after all, Su Yi had won the first prize.
Seeing that Su Yi ignored him, Lu Changwei secretly exchanged a glance with Lin Zhengyong before continuing to speak to Su Yi.
"Young Prince, didn't the Emperor enter the inner area with you? How come the bear has already been hunted, but we haven't seen the Emperor leave the inner area with you?"
Su Yi glanced at Lu Changwei, then turned and stared intently at Lin Zhengyong, his gaze as cold as ice. He said in a deep voice, "Yesterday, His Majesty and I were ambushed by a group of masked assassins in the inner area."
"After that, we killed the group of assassins, and as we were trying to leave the inner area, we ran into this black bear that had been drugged with a maddening drug."
"During the fierce battle with this black bear, His Majesty was unfortunately injured. I have now ordered the Imperial Guards to escort His Majesty back to Bianliang for treatment from the other end of the inner field."
Upon hearing Su Yi's words, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
An emperor being assassinated—what an earth-shattering event!
If Su Yi could conceal his true intentions, perhaps the Southern Shu Kingdom's court could still maintain a semblance of calm.
However, at this moment, Su Yi made no attempt to hide anything and openly announced "the assassination of the emperor" in front of all the royal family members and ministers. This was undoubtedly a formal declaration of war against those who plotted rebellion!
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