They just spouted some kind of "bond" and went for it.
Slapped and slightly regaining his senses, Tang Qi immediately reached for the dagger hidden in his clothes. With a clean and swift strike, the blood rolling from his palm stimulated Tang Qi's nerves. He suddenly rolled off the bed, his legs buckling and nearly collapsing to his knees.
"He's really gone mad, resorting to such a despicable trick." He cursed himself inwardly and then immediately looked up at Cheng Junshi.
"Cheng Wang? Cheng Wang! How are you?"
Cheng Junshi braced himself against his legs to keep his head from falling.
"I...I'm intoxicated by incense, there are people outside!" He managed to squeeze out these words.
Tang Qi grabbed a round stool from the side, strode over to Cheng Junshi, and used his body to separate him from the window before turning his head to ask, "How are you feeling?"
Cheng Junshi shook his head: "Not good, I can't get any strength out of it."
Tang Qi tensed up, her eyes first glancing out the window before suddenly turning to the tea table: "Cheng Wang, hang in there a little longer." With that, she rolled onto the table, grabbed the teapot, and plunged two fingers into it before quietly whispering "I'm sorry" to Cheng Junshi, then splashed the teapot all over his face.
"How are you? Are you awake yet?" Tang Qi asked him, tossing aside the teapot.
Cheng Junshi was a little dazed from being splashed. He squinted his eyes several times before exclaiming, "More or less."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a crossbow bolt shot from the window. Tang Qi deftly blocked the arrow by tilting the stool upwards. Seeing the dark figure making another move, Tang Qi immediately turned around, pushed Cheng Junshi, and shouted, "Get behind the table!"
Cheng Junshi stumbled a few steps after being pushed, then rushed behind the table without hesitation. He grabbed the table leg and flipped it over, smashing the teacups to pieces. Only after completely overturning the table did Cheng Junshi shout to Tang Qi, "Come here quickly!"
Tang Qi glanced at him sideways, then used a round stool to deflect several arrows before finally dodging towards Cheng Junshi.
"I was careless," Tang Qi said regretfully, then continued with a serious expression, "We need to break out of here quickly, Ah Hu and the others are still next door."
Cheng Junshi nodded and asked him, "Did you see how many people there were?"
"Two shadowy figures, it's unclear whether there's anyone else outside." Tang Qi picked up a shard of teacup from the side, tossed it in his hand, and then looked at Cheng Junshi with a smile, "Has Shaoqing ever thrown a throwing knife before?"
"Hmm?" Cheng Junshi looked at him in confusion.
Tang Qi continued to smile at him, then pinched two fingers together, his eyes coldly fixed on the dark shadow reflected in the window. He seized the opportunity and suddenly threw the porcelain shard, which viciously pierced through the window paper and stabbed the shadow's neck, instantly splattering blood across half the window.
He had just curled his lips into a smile, ready to take care of the other one, when he saw the other half of the window splattered with blood in the next instant. Tang Qi's eyes widened slightly as he turned to Cheng Junshi beside him and asked, "You've trained too? Your aim is so accurate."
Cheng Junshi shook his head blankly and handed the broken pieces in his hand to Tang Qi: "I haven't had time to throw them away yet."
"Huh?" Tang Qi asked in surprise.
He and Cheng Junshi craned their necks to look outside when the door was suddenly flung open with a bang. Hu Xingche rushed in and shouted, "Boss! Are you alright?"
"Ah Hu?!" Tang Qi leaned out and looked at him with her eyes lighting up: "You're alright!"
"What about Lu Juezhen? How is he?" Cheng Junshi asked as well.
Hu Xingche hurriedly came over and said with a hint of helplessness, "He's fine. He's next door, sleeping like a log."
"Someone ambushed us." Tang Qi cursed under his breath again, then looked up at Hu Xingche and asked, "You guys weren't hit?"
Hu Xingche shrugged: "He must have been hit. I slapped him in the face several times but he didn't wake up."
"Are you alright? You didn't get infected?" Cheng Junshi asked in surprise.
"It's all thanks to him. If he hadn't fallen asleep as soon as he got into the house and was snoring loudly, I wouldn't have gone out for a stroll in the middle of the night and happened to run into those two people with crossbows in front of your door when I came back."
Hu Xingche took out a medicine bottle and poured a pill into each of Tang Qi's and his companions, then said, "Boss, take this first to clear your head."
After swallowing the pill, Tang Qi twisted his wrist and said in a fierce voice, "They dare to try to ambush us. I think they're tired of living."
The two men at the door lay in pools of blood, their throats slit. Tang Qi squatted down, picked up a crossbow bolt from the side, glanced at it, and then suddenly laughed, saying, "Oh, this assassin is eating the government's food, huh?"
Cheng Junshi frowned slightly, and Tang Qi, with a cold look in his eyes, said to Hu Xingche, "Go and bring the innkeeper here."
Hu Xingche immediately responded and went to arrest the people. Cheng Junshi didn't move, but just leaned against the door with his arms crossed, looked around, and chuckled softly, "There are quite a few people. I can't guarantee a win if we rely on just the two of us."
Tang Qi chuckled and raised his eyebrows, saying, "As long as Shaoqing makes sure he doesn't get hurt, that's enough."
No sooner had he finished speaking than several figures flew out from the dark rooftop, landing on it. Under the moonlight, the cold glint of their weapons flashed incessantly in Tang Qi's eyes.
"You really can't even let people sleep in peace," he sneered.
Soon, several figures rushed towards them. Tang Qi and Cheng Junshi leaped to the sides. Tang Qi was known for his ruthless attacks. As soon as the assassin arrived, he grabbed the man's arm, flipped his hands, and heard a cracking sound as he decisively broke the man's arm. Then he kicked the man several meters away.
Tang Qi, wielding the longsword he had just swiped, blocked the sharp blade thrusting at him. In the brief pause between their sword strikes, he casually remarked to Cheng Junshi, "How about it, Shaoqing? Can you handle it? I can take on a whole bunch of them, you know~"
Cheng Junshi glanced at him quickly and snorted coldly, "You really have a lot of leisure time."
Unlike Tang Qi, who was ruthless, Cheng Junshi, who also worked for the government, always felt there was still room for maneuver, so he did not kill him and avoided taking vital points at every turn.
"Here you go!" Tang Qi dislocated another arm and casually tossed the newly stolen sword to Cheng Junshi. He had lost count of how many people had died on his side, and seeing that Cheng Junshi was still showing mercy, Tang Qi pouted and raised his voice, shouting at him, "If you continue to show mercy, Shaoqing, believe me, I'll die right here!"
"They're using deadly moves. If we don't put away our illusions, it'll be you and me who die."
The latter took the sword, twirled it in his hand, and then stared coldly at the assassin in front of him, replying to Tang Qi, "I gave them a chance—"
Then, with his longsword drawn, Cheng Junshi's hand remained extremely steady as he sliced open the neck without trembling even slightly.
"Not bad, Shaoqing," Tang Qi said with a smile, as he continued to kill and dodge until he was right next to Cheng Junshi. He then used the back of his hand to wipe away the blood that had already smeared on his face. "I underestimated you."
Tang Qi felt excited as he watched the people slowly approaching them, his heart pounding. He turned to Cheng Junshi and said, "Guess how many more waves there are."
"Ideally, it would be the last wave."
After saying this, Cheng Junshi drew his sword and charged forward, but before he could even hit the assassins in front of him, several of them suddenly froze and fell to the ground. Just as he was bewildered, he saw the crossbow bolts stuck in their backs. Tang Qi walked up to him leisurely and said with a smile, "Shaoqing, none of the children I've raised are exactly the kind of people you'd expect."
Hu Xingche stood on a tree not far away, firing his crossbow in quick succession. With Tang Qi and Cheng Junshi each wielding a sword, they quickly wiped out the remaining men.
"Not bad, quite quick-witted." Tang Qi put his arm around Hu Xingche's shoulder and laughed.
Hu Xingche put away the crossbow bolts and replied with a smile, "Boss, if I don't even have this much awareness after following you for so long, there's no need to continue."
Tang Qi chuckled and kicked the person at his feet, then crossed his arms and asked Cheng Junshi, "What are your thoughts, Shaoqing?"
Cheng Junshi didn't say anything, he just pouted and sullenly.
"Who do you think they're after?"
Cheng Junshi remained silent and even turned his head away.
Tang Qi chuckled, then deliberately frowned and pretended to think, saying firmly, "Oh dear, they're deliberately lying in wait here. This is the only way to cross the Jin River. Oh dear, who are they waiting for here, you tell me?"
"Me," Cheng Junshi finally said reluctantly.
Tang Qi finished his clumsy performance and looked at him with a smile, saying, "Finally deciding to face reality, Shaoqing? Oh right—" Tang Qi seemed to remember something else and asked, "Didn't you say you were going to resign? Did you resign?"
Cheng Junshi shook his head and said, "His Majesty did not agree. He was very angry and thought I was being ridiculous."
"That's true." Tang Qi nodded and gave a serious evaluation before asking him, "Then why are you going to Jin Shou? Aren't you going to take care of the Shaoqing's affairs?"
Unexpectedly, Cheng Junshi looked at Tang Qi and said, "Although His Majesty did not agree to my resignation, he did remove me from my position as Vice Minister and demoted me to Jinning as a county magistrate."
"Huh?" This time it was Tang Qi's turn to be dumbfounded: "You've been demoted again?" Cheng Junshi hummed in agreement, and Tang Qi shook his head and said quietly: "Your official career has really been full of ups and downs."
"However, His Majesty truly values you, allowing you to act so presumptuously so many times. You should know that some officials walk on thin ice; one wrong step and they fall off a cliff, losing their lives in the process."
Cheng Junshi lowered his eyes and slowly spoke, "I know, that's why I—"
"That's why you don't want to doubt His Majesty, and you don't want to ruin the image you have of him." Tang Qi looked at him and continued slowly, "But Cheng Wang, people are complicated, and even sincerity can be mixed with falsehood. It's useless to indulge in fantasy. The court is a treacherous hell. Aren't you just asking for trouble by looking for pure sincerity there?"
“I didn’t,” Cheng Junshi finally raised his eyes and retorted, “I’m not stupid.”
"Yes, yes, you're just used to deceiving yourself."
Seeing that the two were about to continue their back-and-forth banter, Hu Xingche immediately interjected, "But Cheng Shaoqing, since His Majesty has demoted you to Jinning, why are you going to serve as the governor of Jin?"
“Oh right,” Tang Qi also realized and looked at him, then continued, “Jinning and Jinshou seem to be in two directions. The fork in the road is right outside here. Are you still going to Jinshou?”
“Of course I’ll go,” Cheng Junshi replied.
"Are you crazy? This is dereliction of duty. No matter how much His Majesty values you, he cannot tolerate this." Tang Qi suddenly scolded him.
“Traveling on the official road is slow. I have sent someone to disguise himself as me and ride in a carriage to Jinning. The two places are not too far apart. I will ride quickly to Jinning to investigate the case, and then go to Jinning to take up my post after I finish.”
Tang Qi was surprised again: "Cheng Wang, aren't you taking too much of a risk? I remember there's a time limit for taking office. Are you sure you can make it?"
"have."
Tang Qi frowned, pouted, and said to him, "Why are you so confident when you haven't even tried? I suggest you go to Tianjin and investigate if you can, but if you can't find anything, don't waste your time..."
How do you know I haven't tried it?
Tang Qi was suddenly interrupted by Cheng Junshi. He froze on the spot, his mouth agape for a long time before he waved his hand and said, "Fine, then pretend I didn't say anything."
The two of them suddenly fell silent again.
"Wait a minute—" Hu Xingche suddenly spoke up from the side: "Boss, have we forgotten someone?"
Tang Qi and Cheng Junshi exchanged a glance, and after a moment, they exclaimed in unison, "Lu Juezhen!"
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