Chapter 517

After repeated probing attempts, the assassins had left behind twenty or thirty corpses and had no real method.

As for why they did not use it when the enemy first appeared, it was because Luo Yangxing of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was entangled with the enemy.

Even if they wanted to use it, there was no time.

After that, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the assassins fought wildly, while others escorted Zhu Youjian and Su Qiao and the rest to take refuge in Xiaohuang Village.

It was not that assassins did not pursue, but they were all killed or shot dead.

This was the reason they were able to remain unharmed and were now hiding in Xiaohuang Village.

But!

Just because the enemy cannot enter now does not mean there is truly no way to deal with them...

Just as Su Qiao guessed, the enemy was preparing to use fire.

Seeing that it was difficult to attack Xiaohuang Village directly, people were instead hidden on the roofs of houses in various places, or on the courtyard walls, and so on, releasing crossbow bolts.

The assassins simply could not get in.

The houses in Xiaohuang Village were all thatched cottages and wooden huts.

Since a direct hard assault would not work, then set fire!

The leader of the assassins immediately chose to set fire.

What Su Qiao could think of, the assassins, being no fools, also thought of.

If they delayed until night, they would definitely have no real method.

Instead, this period until dawn counted as their last chance.

The assassins acted quickly; they chopped down trees to make simple torches, which were ready very soon, and threw them directly into Xiaohuang Village.

In such a short time, shields were not easy to make, but wooden boards were relatively easy to make.

Guarding against the crossbow bolts being shot, they threw their torches into Xiaohuang Village.

The thatched cottages, or the wooden huts, were quickly ignited.

The enemy had powerful bows, so wanting to put out the fire was not easy.

The houses quickly caught fire.

Fortunately, Su Qiao had given them advance warning, and the people hiding in Xiaohuang Village were well prepared.

They would not be caught off guard and burned to death.

Seeing the houses in the village burning, the assassins' leader's eyes lit up.

"Yosh, charge in and kill!"

Thinking the Embroidered Uniform Guard escorts were already in chaos and finished, the assassins' leader led the assassins to charge into Xiaohuang Village again.

They intended to assassinate the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Youjian at the first opportunity.

However, what greeted them was still a rain of fifty or sixty arrows!

The sharp arrowheads immediately held back the assassins who were rushing in headlong with a single breath.

Dozens of corpses lay on the ground, causing the assassins' leader's heart to sink.

The fire attack did not work?!

They did not burn the enemy to death?

This was difficult to handle!

He gritted his teeth, looked at the sun which was slowly setting in the west, and without thinking, drew his sword, stood up, and once again ordered his subordinates to charge inside.

"There is no time! We must charge in and kill the Great Ming Emperor..."

"Kill the Great Ming Emperor!"

"Kill!"

The assassins' battle cries came, making Zhu Youjian, Luo Yangxing, and the others look somewhat displeased.

"What are they babbling about?"

"The assassins are fighting desperately!"

Almost no one present understood the Japanese language; they could only roughly guess.

371, a narrow escape without disaster!

Why say it was a guess?

Because the Embroidered Uniform Guard had already seen the assassins seemed to be disregarding their lives, charging into the village.

The people at their very front, holding wooden boards as shields, were rushing quickly towards this side!

If Su Qiao and the others had not been well prepared, it is estimated they might have truly collapsed.

As the assassins desperately charged in, the crossbow bolts in the hands of the escorts were all fired.

Again, the assassins left dozens of corpses behind.

The crossbow bolts were exhausted, and the assassins had all fought their way to the front.

In the end, close-quarters combat was still required!

Fortunately, they were resting while waiting for the exhausted enemy, and the numbers on both sides had already become equal.

Even the number of assassins had fallen below the number of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Both sides fought desperately together.

It was not until night fell that this encounter battle finally stopped.

Most importantly, it was finally dark!

That's right!

The last sliver of light in the evening had also faded into the horizon along with the sun falling into Xishan, and night once again controlled this expanse of heaven and earth.

Inside Jingcheng, discovering the Emperor had not yet returned, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the spies of the Eastern Depot, and the palace guards were all somewhat worried.

They went out holding torches to search.

Although Su Qiao and the others had already eliminated the assassins,

they had confirmed their identities: all were from the Eastern Sea.

Yet even though this batch of assassins was dead, no one dared to take reckless risks.

Who knew if other assassins were hiding outside?

What if something went wrong?

Moreover, the remaining Embroidered Uniform Guard escorts were few; from the original eighty or ninety, fewer than half were still standing!

Most of the others lay down forever.

If another batch of assassins came, they would likely be unable to hold them off.

Fortunately, night fell, and soon a large number of soldiers holding torches appeared on the official road, searching for Your Majesty.

With a scare but no danger, they finally returned safely.

……

Su Qiao also breathed a sigh of relief upon returning home.

As soon as he and Liu Rushi entered their room, Su Qiao could not help but start complaining.

"What a freak! If Your Majesty had stayed quietly in the palace, nothing would have happened. But now he insisted on coming out, and look what happened! In my opinion, whenever the Great Ming Emperor gets into trouble, it's all self-inflicted!"

"Master, you must not speak so recklessly; someone might hear you."

Liu Rushi was terrified by Su Qiao's words; just as she lifted the teapot to pour tea, her hand trembled, and she nearly dropped the teacup, shattering it.

She quickly set down the teapot, disregarding whether she poured tea or not, and stood up to check outside.

Seeing no servants in the courtyard, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Qiao waved his hand indifferently; even if Zhu Youjian were here, he would still dare to say such things.

Since he dared to say it, he feared no one hearing him!

"Your Majesty's journey this time should have been kept secret, yet the assassins mobilized so precisely, and in such large numbers. I believe there must have been a traitor passing on information!"

Liu Rushi was very intelligent; once she calmed down after today's life-and-death ordeal, she immediately analyzed the situation.

Su Qiao naturally had thought of this as well. "There certainly will be, but that is no longer our concern."

First, we did not know Your Majesty would come.

Your Majesty's appearance was extremely sudden.

Therefore, no one on our side had any connection with the assassins.

Instead, Lord Luo Yangxing will suffer greatly this time.

Indeed, Luo Yangxing is truly in a terrible state this time!