Chapter 167

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

That night, a black shadow appeared at the nunnery, going to see that troublesome flower fox: "... Tai Puzhe, do you still remember the purpose of this trip? Not only have you taken no action for days, but why are you now instead helping him manage the epidemic?"

In the wooden hut temporarily used for lodging, a single candle flame flickered unsteadily. Shaowei, in witchcraft attire with her hair in a hanging bun, sat cross-legged behind the desk, looking at the black shadow whose face was full of questioning.

She did not answer but countered: "I know, those rumors of fire burning that circulate among the common people — they are precisely your handiwork, meant to hinder Liu Qi's epidemic treatment."

The black shadow did not deny it, staring at her for a moment, then sneering: "So you're saying the Tai Puzhe actually knowingly and deliberately violates the Master's wishes?"

The young woman sat peacefully, her attitude serious: "Thinking like that is simply too stupid."

Hearing such offensive words spoken in a flat tone, the black shadow's expression darkened slightly, and then he heard her say: "Don't forget, I came by imperial decree to drive away the epidemic. If I don't even complete my own proper duties, such abnormality — isn't that clearly making things difficult for Liu Qi? If that's the case, he will surely be suspicious and guarded, and might even guess that I've secretly defected to the Sicheng. Then how could he possibly walk obediently into the trap I've laid? The Sicheng ordered me to act in secret; naturally I cannot easily expose my stance and intentions."

By the lamplight, the young woman's not particularly sharp features looked quite solemn: "Moreover, he is overbearing and domineering, wanting to monopolize all the merit for disaster relief, and he holds many prejudices against me. This time I've pacified the common people, doing what he couldn't do. On the surface he can't flare up, but in his heart he certainly won't be convinced — my doing this both reduces his suspicion and is meant to provoke him."

After hearing this explanation, the black shadow endured for a moment, not piercing through the fact that beneath this flower fox's overly deliberate serious demeanor, there was clearly also a hidden vain desire to compete with the Sixth Prince.

He didn't ask about her little thoughts of wanting to show off and earn merit; this explanation did have some logic. The black shadow now only asked: "So you already have a plan?"

That Liu Qi is treacherous and suspicious; all the originally set plans have completely fallen through, so we can only act according to circumstances.

The young woman slightly raised her chin: "Today a commoner, to repay me, told me something. I intend to use this matter to set a lure..."

She said: "Prepare more men, hide them in the dark, and listen for my arrangements at any time."

These commanding words made the black shadow feel only amusement. He reminded this naive witch god: "Although this is outside the city, it is still within the capital's jurisdiction. It is not a place where one can freely mobilize troops. The Master said beforehand that we must find a way to assassinate or poison, leaving no traces."

Even if Rui Ze has murderous intent, he would not be without scruples. Openly using a large force to kill a prince under the Son of Heaven's feet — that is clearly courting the Emperor's wrath. Once exposed, it is a capital crime.

"His martial skills are exceptional, guards at his side, and various officials accompany his comings and goings. If we only follow his daily schedule, how exactly could we assassinate without leaving traces? As for poisoning—" Shaowei countered with a "I think you're the naive one" attitude: "Haven't you already tried that method? Given his temperament, is there any possibility he'd fall for it a second time?"

The black shadow did not get angry, but just looked at her steadily: "Then it depends on whether you are willing to wholeheartedly set up a scheme for the Master."

"I am precisely creating an opportunity for you." Shaowei said: "Since I have this plan, naturally I won't choose to act in front of people. I will lure him to the most convenient place for action. At that time, let alone weapon traces, even the corpse might not be findable."

She explained the plan in a low voice. The black shadow listened, and his eyes changed slightly.

"This is also assassination, just more concealed. Preparing sufficient manpower is to ensure absolute certainty, one strike to kill." Shaowei finally said: "Such an opportunity comes only once."

The black shadow no longer rebutted her words, but replied noncommittally: "I need to return to the city first to report to the Master."

After a moment, the black shadow left. Shaowei withdrew her gaze, looking at the candle flame's jumping fire.

When they previously discussed countermeasures, Liu Qi had once firmly said that if she revealed this plan, given Rui Ze's nature, there was absolutely no reason he wouldn't agree.

That night she and he faced the lamp together, deliberating methods to kill him — from luring the enemy and laying out the scheme, to the killing strike, to the post-killing cover story — it could be said they spared no effort. Such a plan would surely be hard to refuse.

The next day, after receiving the reply that Rui Ze indeed had not refused, the flower fox began her "lure the enemy" process.

Another day later, before the sky had fully brightened, the flower fox took a squad of ten Imperial Guards and left the nunnery.

Soon news reached the County Office: "... There is an epidemic-stricken commoner in the nunnery who claims that three years ago, while hunting, he was injured and lost his way, and by chance entered beneath a peak in the Nanshan. He saw a dark river, black as ink, unfathomably deep, its source invisible. He barely escaped the mountain alive, and never dared enter that wild valley again."

"This hunter told the Tai Puzhe Jiang everything he knew, swearing every word was true... The Tai Puzhe Jiang has already taken people to search for that dark river."

"The Tai Puzhe actually went personally?"

"Or perhaps she again received ghostly guidance, rectifying the disaster..."

"If she truly finds a dark river with abundant water, that would be another great merit."

The officials discussed this matter.

Outside Chang'an City, the mountain peaks rise in layered ridges. The world's exploration of them is not even one in a hundred. The possibility of discovering an unknown underground dark river is not small. Water is the root of living people, especially in drought. The Sixth Prince naturally understands this principle well. When he first took charge of disaster relief, he had people searching for traces of dark rivers, but has had no noteworthy results so far.

Relying on the Sixth Prince's awe-inspiring power in this place, this news naturally reached his ears very quickly.

After confirming the news was accurate, Liu Qi immediately ordered horses prepared. Ignoring Tang Changshi's dissuasion, he took ten Imperial Guards and ten Imperial Guards, and galloped toward Nanshan.

Soon, someone reported this matter back to the city, informing Rui Ze.

Rui Ze, still in mourning, wore hemp bound around his hair and a plain white robe. Leaning on the bed, he listened to the news his confidant brought back, and couldn't help a silent laugh, saying: "He really went to fight for it."

Since this son returned to the capital, his every move has been vying for the Emperor's heart.

This disaster relief, he has practically covered the sky with one hand. How could he now tolerate the witch priest he has always opposed and resisted "contending" for the great merit of discovering a dark river?

Unlike other man-made disaster relief matters, the discovery of a dark river water source would be seen as a kind of heavenly favor. Therefore, such matters must be attended to personally to claim the auspicious name, demonstrating the sincerity of petitioning Heaven on behalf of the common people.

After this son shot and killed Zhu Zhi, he styled himself the embodiment of auspicious omens. If he truly finds a dark river with abundant water, then if he uses this to claim the Mandate of Heaven, I fear the common people will believe it wholeheartedly. It might even compensate for the deficiency of his leg illness.

The people's hearts are ignorant, but once a trend forms, in this turbulent time it will bring endless trouble.

However, there is fundamentally no such abyss-like dark river — only an abyss-like trap.

Finding a dark river is Heaven's will; dying in the mountains while searching for a dark river can also be Heaven's will.

Deep in Nanshan, the terrain is complex, convenient for concealing men's tracks, and also convenient for erasing corpse traces. After all, accidentally falling off a cliff and being eaten by wild beasts is a common occurrence.

At that time, there will be no more auspicious omen embodiment — only the short-lived Sixth Prince.

Rui Ze looked through the half-open window lattice at the maidservant in the courtyard watering flowers with a dipper. Thinking of the flower fox, who was of comparable age to this maidservant, his eyes couldn't help revealing a trace of satisfaction.

This leopard cat has great use. Naive yet also clever. It's just that she hasn't been deeply involved in the world. Fortunately she hasn't been deeply involved, her foundation unsteady, so he could control her early.

This epidemic treatment has added to her prestige. That nunnery she cleverly named the Life-Sustaining Platform has already been regarded by the common people as a place blessed by the Great Witch God. The commoners who recovered and left that nunnery will in the future all remember her kindness.

He wins by controlling this leopard cat before she continues to grow stronger.

This pawn, already intimately tied to politics and people's hearts, must be raised well. In the future she will surely have great use.

If she is obedient enough, he will naturally consider bestowing the antidote on her. At that time, he could agree to Cheng Er taking her as his own person, also a way to bind her firmly to the same boat.

Wind passed through the courtyard. The freshly watered flowers and plants rustled and moved, branches and leaves fresh and bright.

In the deep mountains, sturdy vegetation has gnarled, intertwined roots, temporarily not too affected by the drought. The big trees are still lush, branches and leaves swaying in the wind, making a denser rustling sound than the courtyard plants.

The flower fox whom Rui Ze saw as having great use encountered killing intent a step earlier than the Sixth Prince whom Rui Ze saw as short-lived.

Killing intent burst from the rustling grass and trees on the mountain wall, turning into a sharp crossbow bolt that whistled toward the fox moving slowly through the valley.

In the instant before the crossbow bolt flew, Shaowei had already sensed it.

Besides her keen five senses, she was very skilled at distinguishing whether sounds in the grass and trees came from the wind or from unwelcome outsiders.

On a summer evening when Shaowei was nine years old in Tianlang Mountain, while carrying two buckets of water back to her lodgings on the road, she was pounced on and knocked to the ground by a mountain bandit who had leapt out from the grass beside the path.

The bandit let out a strange laugh from his mouth; the nine-year-old Shaowei did not understand his intention, but confirmed this was malicious bullying, so she did not call for help, quickly counterattacked, grabbed a sharp mountain stone, and smashed the other's head hard, cutting one of his eyes.

Her strength at nine years old was already astonishing, but she rarely displayed it before others; the bandit was injured and fled in terror.

Seeing the water in the buckets spilled—water meant for Mother's bathing—Shaowei gritted her teeth, ran after him again, pounced on the bandit from behind, and rained punches on his head and face.

Just as she felt she had vented her anger, upon rising she saw her coarse cloth skirt had been torn during the counterattack; it was one Mother had just mended for her, Mother's fingers were not good, and mending it was so arduous that Shaowei was now furious to the extreme, so she kicked and beat that person soundly again, out of revenge, also tore his clothes, and threatened him not to speak of it.

After running back to draw water for Mother again, Shaowei dared not mention this to Mother, and feared the bandit would ignore her threat and report to Qin Fu; fortunately, after secretly observing for a long time, the matter was not exposed, the bandit had lost one eye, and from then on, seeing her was like seeing a monster, always avoiding her.

This experience was not enough to make Shaowei afraid; she did not know what fear was, but was skilled at survival, and for every danger she had experienced, she would leave an experience in her heart, thereafter guarding against and dealing with it.

From then on, whenever there was any movement in the grass and forests, she would pay attention and distinguish it.

This entry into the mountain to find the dark river was well-prepared, and she would certainly not let any sound pass.

The eyes that had secretly watched her on the road between Shen Ci and Jiang Zhai, the unknown black hand that had shot arrows at her amid the chaos at the Five-Five Night Banquet, the unknown enemy most likely connected to Chiyang... how could they let the chance to capture and hunt her when she left the city pass?

This calamity could not be avoided, but rather than becoming completely passive prey, she might as well set the location and method of this hunt herself.

Entering this mountain was to make it more convenient for Rui Ze's people to strike at Liu Qi, and also to make it more convenient for those watching in the dark to strike at her.

Such a good opportunity was hard to come by; the unknown hunters indeed appeared at the right moment, they closely followed those entering the mountain, and just as they found the fox's tracks, taking advantage of the moment when four of the seven Imperial Guards were scouting ahead and three were behind her, leaving her sides unguarded, they unhesitatingly fired crossbow bolts with the power to kill in one strike.

The hunters hid in the forest on the left side; in the instant the crossbow bolts burst from the forest, the fox stepped on stones in the shallow stream among the mountains, her foot suddenly slipped, her body fell to the right, and half her body fell into the stream water.

The crossbow bolts swept through the splashing water droplets; the originally tiny droplets shattered into water mist, accompanying the spreading killing intent.

The sharp arrow narrowly grazed above the fox's body; the arrowhead suddenly embedded itself into the crevice of the mountain stone on the right side; the three Imperial Guards behind instantly changed color, shouting "Assassin!" at the same time, while some drew blades and others took down the long bows carried on their backs.

More arrows flew from the forest; the enemy was hidden and we were exposed; soon two Imperial Guards were struck by arrows and fell.

Because the fox hid behind a mountain stone, the arrows could no longer reach her; the figures hidden in the forest quickly appeared, one black shadow after another leaping out, like bats leaving the forest.

In a short moment, more than ten black shadows appeared to kill; seeing the remaining five Imperial Guards hard-pressed, Cangshan, who had led men to ambush not far ahead, was forced to appear.

Cangshan was the black shadow who had secretly met the fox the previous evening; he was in charge of secret matters and delivered messages; as Rui Ze's rightful confidant, he naturally knew the fox's use; now an unexpected incident had occurred, Liu Qi had not yet arrived, he could not let the fox die just like that!

Cangshan led the dark guards into view; the remaining five Imperial Guards showed no surprise, for their masters were the same person.

Shaowei had originally brought ten Imperial Guards into the mountain; Cangshan had instructed her beforehand that before entering the mountain, she should clear out the idle people to facilitate cleanup afterward.

Indeed they should be cleared out beforehand; thus before entering the mountain, Shaowei had those three guard the entrance.

When exploring unfamiliar deep mountains, to prevent accidents, people are usually left to guard the entrance in preparation.

Because those three were there, Liu Qi, upon dismounting, immediately confirmed the fox's path into the mountain.

To avoid getting lost, the fox had people carve marks on the mountain stones along the way; Liu Qi's group followed the marks forward, needing no separate scouting, truly moving with swift steps.

The following Imperial Guards saw the Sixth Prince ahead leaning on a bamboo staff, walking with large strides on the mountain path, his limping steps never stopping, and could not help but feel this Highness was indeed eager to seize credit.

Unexpectedly, the credit they needed to seize had not yet appeared, but they first ran into a calamity.

As they advanced, they first heard fighting sounds; when they looked up, they saw in the forest on the left side ahead, black shadows endlessly emerging with blades.

Those black shadows were numerous, and their hidden range was very broad; Liu Qi ahead, seeing this situation, shouted in shock and anger: "Assassins are ambushing here! Capture them!"

He was like a startled fierce bird, anger greater than shock; he immediately snatched a bow and arrow from an Imperial Guard, drew the bow and shot down a black shadow just leaping from the forest, without distinguishing right from wrong, regarding all these people as thieves and bandits ambushing to assassinate him.

?? (Good evening everyone, there is an update today, tomorrow is uncertain, but the day after tomorrow normal updates will resume~