Chapter 192: Assassination Attempt

After settling matters in Fengyang Prefecture, Zhu Cilang decided to tour Luzhou Prefecture and Taiping Prefecture to see how Zhu Dadian's land survey was progressing.

In early May, Zhu Cilang ordered five thousand men of the Tianwu Army's Second Royal Brigade to accompany him south on inspection, assisting Zhu Dadian in forcibly reclaiming the guard station lands of Luzhou and Taiping Prefectures, implementing military farmland, and making room for the newly recruited hundred thousand reserve military farmland soldiers.

After several days of inspection and intimidation, and executing over twenty guard station officers, the various guard stations in Luzhou Prefecture gradually submitted, expressing willingness to return the lands they had seized from hereditary military households.

To express his gratitude for their cooperation, Zhu Cilang awarded each officer an additional five hundred mu of farmland and a banner of honor.

In mid-May, after finishing his inspection of Luzhou Prefecture, Zhu Cilang continued leading the army south toward Taiping Prefecture. However, this time he changed his approach, deciding to travel incognito ahead to Taiping Prefecture, with the main army following close behind at a distance of one day's march.

Zhu Cilang was partly worried that Zhu Dadian might be deceiving him, and partly wanted to see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears how the various guards in Taiping Prefecture were reacting and what the common people were saying about the matter.

Zhu Cilang, accompanied by Li Tingbiao, Xu Sheng, and twenty personal guards, spurred their horses and galloped swiftly toward Taiping Prefecture.

Zhu Cilang took shortcuts all the way straight to Taiping Prefecture. When they crossed the Yangtze River and reached the outskirts of Taiping Prefecture, it was already getting dark.

Li Tingbiao said, "Your Highness, there are still over twenty li to the prefectural city. It seems that by the time we arrive, the city gates will already be closed. There's a village not far ahead—why don't we rest here for the night and continue our journey tomorrow?"

Zhu Cilang saw that it was growing dark and that at this pace, indeed that was the case, so he agreed to stay overnight in the village ahead, and also take the opportunity to inquire about the situation in Taiping Prefecture from the local farmers.

After entering the village, they found a wealthy household, spent a little silver, and everyone had something to eat. They also learned about the situation in Taiping Prefecture from the locals, then retired early, preparing to resume their journey at dawn.

Having traveled all day, Zhu Cilang was indeed somewhat tired, and not long after lying down, he fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, while sleeping fitfully, Zhu Cilang felt someone pushing him. He opened his eyes and saw Li Tingbiao, who had somehow come to his side. Just as he was about to ask, Li Tingbiao whispered, "Your Highness, something seems wrong outside. It looks like a large group of assassins has entered the village."

Hearing this, Zhu Cilang was briefly startled, but quickly calmed down. So someone had finally made a move to kill him.

He took out his revolver, loaded it with ammunition, and said to Li Tingbiao, "Go make the arrangements. Try to leave some alive—I want to know who is so eager to court death!"

The moment he finished speaking, sounds of fighting erupted outside, accompanied by several screams. Li Tingbiao gave a slight bow and hurried out.

Xu Sheng drew his sword and stood close beside Zhu Cilang, while Wu Zhong also grabbed a revolver and kept it at his side.

From outside came the shout of a personal guard: "Who are you people? How dare you commit violence here?"

A black-clad, masked man outside sneered coldly: "Naturally, we are the ones who will take your lives!"

These men wasted no more words and engaged the personal guards in battle, with the clashing of blades and screams coming from time to time.

On this trip, Zhu Cilang had brought ten Embroidered Uniform Guard and ten Yongwei Camp personal guards. Seeing that his men had not yet subdued the enemy, he could not help but step outside to take a look.

As soon as he exited the courtyard gate, he saw no fewer than a hundred black-clad men surrounding and attacking the Embroidered Uniform Guard and personal guards, the scene thrown into complete chaos.

At a whistle, the ten Yongwei Camp personal guards fell back and drew their revolvers, firing wildly into the crowd of black-clad men.

The improved revolvers from the research institute, though smaller in size, still required manually rotating the cylinder by hand between each shot—one turn per shot. Most importantly, after firing several rounds, reloading took several minutes, which was very troublesome.

Therefore, the Yongwei Camp personal guards would not use their revolvers except in critical situations, and certainly would not waste ammunition firing at long range.

Now that the two sides were so close, and the black-clad assassins were pressing their attack in a dense mass, this was the perfect opportunity to use the revolvers.

Under the firepower of the ten personal guards, over thirty of the black-clad assassins fell in an instant, startling the rest. However, after a brief moment of fear, the black-clad men did not retreat and continued charging forward—clearly a group of death-sworn fanatics.

A cold voice came from among the black-clad men: "Kill them all! Leave no survivors! Especially the little crown prince—kill him at all costs!"

"Yes!" The remaining several dozen black-clad men charged forward again, fighting with complete disregard for their own lives.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard and Yongwei Camp personal guards were all highly skilled. Though outnumbered, fighting one against several, they showed no sign of being at a disadvantage.

One young Embroidered Uniform Guard Squad Leader performed most brilliantly. Wielding his embroidered spring saber, he killed almost one with every stroke—at most two strokes per kill. His blade work was extremely fast, and facing the encirclement of three men without any panic, he unleashed seven or eight slashes in an instant and cut down all three black-clad men.

Zhu Cilang watched and nodded inwardly, while pondering who could want him dead. The guard station people? The Nanjing nobles? The wealthy gentry landlords? All of these had suffered losses to their interests and had motive to act.

It seemed these people were watching him closely, striking the moment an opportunity appeared. But Zhu Cilang was not afraid in the least—the path he was to walk was destined to be one of blood and storm.

If the birth of a great man requires treading upon countless corpses, then I would rather have more of these common mortals who harm the nation and plague the people!

While he was pondering, the situation on the field was increasingly turning in his favor. Though several Embroidered Uniform Guards were gradually slowing down and losing their ability to hold on, the battle-hardened Yongwei Camp personal guards were fighting ever more fiercely. Amidst scream after scream, the black-clad men fell one after another.

That young Embroidered Uniform Guard Squad Leader was extremely valiant—a pile of black-clad corpses already lay at his feet. Wielding his swift blade, he wove between several black-clad assassins, handling them with ease, occasionally delivering a stroke that took one down. Several black-clad assassins who had just tried to break through the defensive line and attack Zhu Cilang all ended up dying miserably under his embroidered spring saber.

Before long, the battle was nearing its end. At the cost of four Embroidered Uniform Guards and two Yongwei Camp personal guards, the assassins had suffered over half dead or wounded.

Seeing the situation had turned bad, the black-clad leader let out a whistle, signaling a retreat. The black-clad assassins broke away from their opponents and prepared to flee, with several slow-footed ones being captured on the spot.

Zhu Cilang said, "Question them—find out who sent them!"

Just as Li Tingbiao was about to begin the interrogation, the captured assassins bit down on the poison hidden behind their teeth and died from the venom.

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