Chapter 132: Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two

An Luo froze for a second.

What?!

Danger?

She hurriedly warned Cheng Chengxuan.

"Be careful!"

On the other side, that sudden shout in his mind made Cheng Chengxuan's heart jolt.

The next moment, he and Chu Yuan heard a chaotic clatter of footsteps from outside, the flickering light of torches, and the guards' shouts, all tangled together in a mess.

"Assassins!"

"Guards!"

"Quick, someone come! Assassins have broken in!"

Both men's expressions hardened, and they sprang up to look toward the door.

Before they could make any other move, they heard a 'bang' and the window shattered.

Two people in Night Clothes, their faces covered, burst through the window.

Apparently not expecting two people in the room, the two black-clad killers exchanged a glance, then raised their swords—one lunging at Cheng Chengxuan, the other charging toward Chu Yuan.

Beyond the screen, An Luo watched the flashing blades inside, listened to the clash of weapons, and nervously clenched her hands tight.

Although the assassins' martial skills were high, they had kicked an iron plate.

After a dozen or so moves, the two black-clad men simultaneously spat out a mouthful of blood, were severely wounded, and collapsed to the ground.

Chu Yuan rolled his wrist, then walked over and propped his elbow on Cheng Chengxuan's shoulder.

"I say, you should thank me. If I weren't here, you'd be facing two against one."

"But speaking of which, I just came here to mooch a late-night snack off you, how did I end up being mistaken and taking on half your assassination?"

He pouted and muttered softly.

"I even suspect I owed you in my past life."

Cheng Chengxuan stepped aside two paces to dodge his arm.

"Stop the chatter, let's deal with these two killers first."

So he was the real target!

The two black-clad men exchanged a look, then simultaneously raised their hands and gave a fierce swing, shooting flying darts from their sleeves.

An Luo's eyes went wide, and she cried out in shock.

"Careful, dodge!"

Cheng Chengxuan and Chu Yuan's expressions hardened, they hurriedly dodged aside, but were still grazed.

Looking at the blackened bloodstains on their wounds, both men's faces turned very ugly.

"It's poisoned!"

Looking back at the two assassins, they had already silently collapsed to the ground, dark red blood still hanging at the corners of their mouths.

Chu Yuan gritted his teeth in fury.

"Wasting one of my pills, what rotten luck!"

As he spoke, he gloomily pulled out a medicine bottle, painfully tipped out one pill, and popped it into his mouth.

An Luo lightly touched the wound on Cheng Chengxuan's neck with her fingertip and asked softly.

"How are you? Does it hurt a lot?"

This spot is so dangerous, just a little more and it would have cut the carotid artery.

A faint warmth at his neck, that gentle touch, like a feather brushing past, made Cheng Chengxuan's body instantly stiffen.

His whole body felt as if it were on fire, his face turning bright red.

She—she touched me!

Meanwhile, Chu Yuan, who had just finished taking the Hundred Detoxification Pill, glanced over at him and nearly jumped in fright.

"Why is your face so red?!"

That voice startled An Luo, her hand trembled, and she quickly pulled it back.

"The poison we took isn't the same? Could yours be…"

As he spoke, he tightly hugged himself and ducked farther away.

"An aphrodisiac poison?!"

The moment her fingertip touched and left, Cheng Chengxuan felt a sense of wistful loss.

"What are you thinking!"

He glared at Chu Yuan, then took out a pill from his robes and swallowed it, chewing hard, as if what was in his mouth wasn't an Elixir, but someone!

After neutralizing the poison, Cheng Chengxuan thought again of that touch from moments ago.

He raised his hand to touch that wound, the corner of his mouth curving up slightly.

Seeing this, Chu Yuan's sturdy frame shuddered and he broke out in goosebumps all over.

Ugh—

Look at that lovesick little expression on you.

A few slashes from the darts, and they actually felt good to you, did they?

"Bang bang bang!"

"Young Master Cheng Chengxuan, are you all right!"

Hearing this voice, Chu Yuan quickly dodged and leapt out through the window.

After calming his emotions, Cheng Chengxuan opened the door.

The guard asked anxiously at the door.

"Prince's Son Cheng Chengxuan, assassins were just discovered in the residence. Are you all right?"

At that moment, Shang Xiaomin strode over, secretly sizing him up.

"Brother Cheng Chengxuan, how are you?"

Cheng Chengxuan turned slightly to the side, pointing at the two men in black inside the room.

"Two assassins broke in. After I wounded them, they used some hidden weapons, and while I was dodging, they took poison and killed themselves."

Shang Xiaomin led his men inside and gave Qingzhu a look.

Qingzhu crouched down to examine them, then rose and walked to Shang Xiaomin's side.

"Their bones are broken. They probably knew they couldn't escape, so they took the poison."

Looking at the two men's faces on the ground, and the material of their clothes, Shang Xiaomin's brow furrowed slightly.

These weren't the men he had arranged!

Qingzhu crouched down again, took out two cloths, dabbed them with the blood from the corners of each man's mouth, then wrapped them up and put them away.

Seeing this, Shang Xiaomin nodded in satisfaction.

Then he turned, walked to the room's door with a cold face, and barked angrily at the guards outside.

"You let so many assassins sneak in—what good are you?!"

The guards hurriedly fell to their knees to beg forgiveness.

"Your Subordinates are incompetent. Please calm your anger, Imperial Prince."

"Every guard who patrolled the Guest Courtyard tonight will receive twenty strokes of the staff!"

Then he looked at Cheng Chengxuan.

"Brother Cheng Chengxuan, I've given you a fright tonight. Don't worry—tomorrow I'll replace this batch of incompetent guards with new ones, and I'll send more men to protect this place."

He promised.

"What happened tonight will absolutely never happen again!"

Hearing this, An Luo pursed her lips and said indignantly.

"Easier said than sung—it's just so you can keep a better eye on him!"

Hearing her voice, seeing her angry look standing up for him, Cheng Chengxuan curved his lips.

This feeling—it's really nice.

Along with it, when he faced Shang Xiaomin's disgusting little tricks, he felt a few shades less impatient.

"Then thank you very much, Imperial Prince."

Shang Xiaomin patted his shoulder.

"Well, the windows and furniture in this room are all broken. I'll arrange for a new room for you first, then have the Imperial Physician come look at your wounds."

Cheng Chengxuan smiled and nodded.

"I'll follow all of the Imperial Prince's arrangements."

……

Once everything was dealt with, Shang Xiaomin returned to the Study.

"Imperial Prince, this poison is Absolute Death Powder."

Shang Xiaomin raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Absolute Death Powder?"

The Imperial Physician set the two cloths down.

"What the Imperial Prince may not know is that this Absolute Death Powder is compounded from nine rare, deadly toxins. A single grain, the size of a rice kernel, is enough to kill a person instantly."

Hearing this, Xiaomin waved his hand.

"That's enough. You may go."

It seems those two assassins were definitely sent by Father Emperor.

And Qingzhu, standing to the side, kept his head lowered the whole time.

Earlier, after he left the Guest Courtyard, he had sensed something was wrong on the road. Just as he was about to turn back, a masked person suddenly appeared.

That person said the assassins had been arranged by the Fifth Prince, meant to probe whether there were any martial-arts people helping Prince's Son Cheng. Not only could he not show himself now, he also had to pretend to know nothing and return to the Fifth Prince's side as quickly as possible.

After a long while, Shang Xiaomin spoke.

"Throw those corpses outside the city to the mass grave, then pick a few capable guards to watch over the Guest Courtyard."

Qingzhu nodded in assent.

This is telling me to find people to keep watch on Prince's Son Cheng?

Entrusting me with such an important task—the Fifth Prince must have completely dropped his suspicions of me, right?

Qingzhu thought this to himself as he strode quickly out.

And after he left, Shang Xiaomin narrowed his eyes slightly at his retreating back.

Let's see what he does this time…