Chapter 591: Beat Him At His Own Game
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
After the corpse was carried away, the caretaker walked in again. He had already read the contents of the letter in advance when he came here.
“Is Your Highness going to the capital city?”
Xiao Shijie narrowed his eyes. “The Emperor is testing me. I definitely have to go, but whether I can successfully reach the capital city is not within my control. You go ahead and make the preparations now…”
The caretaker came nearer and nodded after listening. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ll make the preparations right away.”
After Xiao Shijie replied to Prince Jiangning’s letter, the first thing Prince Jiangning did was enter the palace to report to Xiao Jin.
“Your Majesty, Shijie said that he will set off for the capital city in a few days.” Prince Jiangning did not expect this outcome. Since his son was willing to come here, it should mean that he did not have any ulterior motives.
A faint smile appeared on Xiao Jin’s face. “It’s great that he can come. I must have a good chat with him when he arrives.”
“Yes, yes, it is this child’s blessing to be able to receive the Emperor’s concern.” “It’s almost noon, Prince Uncle. Why not stay and have lunch with me before going back?”
Prince Jiangning shook his head repeatedly. It was better to spare him! It would be a miracle if he could eat while facing Xiao Jin.
“Thank you for your kind intentions, Your Majesty. I still have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first.”
“Since you have something to do, then I won’t force you to stay, Prince Uncle. Send Prince Uncle out of the palace.”
“I will take my leave then.”
Once Prince Jiangning left, the smile on Xiao Jin’s face vanished. “Send a message to Zhu Lin. Tell him to gather 2,000 troops in the shortest time possible and wait outside Jinling City. Tell him to personally escort Xiao Shijie with those 2,000 troops to the capital city.”
“Your Majesty, you feel that Xiao Shijie will not come to the capital city obediently, is that so?”
Xiao Jin’s dark eyes turned chilly. “Who knows?”
Before Xiao Shijie set off for the capital city, he had sent a letter to the capital city stating the time he would reach the capital city, as if he was afraid that Xiao Jin would be worried.
On the day he left the city, Xiao Shijie made a great fanfare. It was as if he wanted the entire Jinling City’s population to know that he was going to the capital city.
Xiao Shijie brought 200 men on horses and left Jinling City with a flourish. There were many hills outside Jinling City. Xiao Shijie’s convoy arrived at the hilly terrain four hours after exiting the city.
The hills on both sides blocked out almost all of the afterglow of the setting sun. They lamented that they had set off too late. Right now, the sun was already setting. They were worried that they would not be able to reach the relay station to rest at night and end up having to set up camp in the wild. Xiao Shijie was sitting in the carriage and the afterglow that filtered through the carriage curtain illuminated his face intermittently.
It was only when the light became dimmer that he slowly opened his two eyes. “Your Highness, it’s getting late. The convoy can’t reach the relay station. We can only set up camp in the wild.”
Xiao Shijie acknowledged with a murmur.
After 30 minutes, the convoy stopped in an open space.
Xiao Shijie alighted from the horse carriage and surveyed his surroundings.
“Is he still in the convoy?”
“Yes, he followed us all the way,” the guard answered in a low voice. Xiao Shijie nodded. He knew that there was a spy from the capital city in his convoy. He would beat them at their own game so that the person in the capital city would believe that he was sincere in going to the capital city.
The sky gradually darkened, and the campfire lit up the surroundings.
Xiao Shijie went into the tent to rest after eating.
As the night deepened, the only sound left in his ears was the crackling of the branches in the fire.
A dark cloud floated across the sky and blocked the moon that was in the middle of the sky. The earth also sank into a deeper veil of darkness.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew up, sweeping up the sand and pebbles on the ground. In an instant, countless men in black quietly approached the campsite. Before Xiao Shijie’s men could react, the smell of blood had already spread in the air.
“Assassins! Assassins!” The guard shouted when the realization hit them, and the ruckus tore through the silence of the night.
The guards quickly started fighting with the men in black.
Xiao Shijie got up when he heard the commotion. However, there was not the slightest fear of being attacked on his face.
“Your Highness, assassins are attacking us. Shall we return to the city first?” Xiao Shijie walked out of the tent with an ominous expression. He looked at the furious battle in front of him and said in a low voice, “How can a few clowns stop me from going to the capital city? Kill them! Kill them all!” Xiao Shijie pulled out his long sword and joined the battle. However, even so, the guards were still defeated repeatedly.
The men in black were very aggressive and violent and they were unstoppable!
One guard shielded Xiao Shijie behind him. “Your Highness, there are too many men in black. It’s best for Your Highness to return to the city first. Otherwise, I’m worried that you will be in danger!”
Xiao Shijie’s body and face were already stained with blood, but no one knew whether the blood was his or someone else’s.
Xiao Shijie gripped the long sword in his hand tightly.
“The Emperor has summoned me back to the capital city. If I return to Jinling City now, how should I explain to the Emperor? If I miss my father’s birthday, won’t I be unfilial?”
Xiao Shijie and his men were still trying their best to fight back, but there were simply too many men in black.
Xiao Shijie had no choice but to order a retreat.
“Retreat! Let’s return to the city first.”
With his order, the guards sent him back to Jinling City under their protection. However, what Xiao Shijie did not expect was that while they were retreating, another team of men in black emerged from the shadows and pursued them with all their might.
Xiao Shijie turned around and saw an arrow from nowhere flying towards him. His eyes darkened slightly. He could have dodged it, but he had no intention of dodging at all, not even after the arrow pierced his shoulder blade.
Excruciating pain overwhelmed him, and everything turned black before Xiao Shijie’s eyes. Before he lost consciousness, he only heard his trusted aide’s anxious cries.
Xiao Shijie slowly closed his two eyes but a faint imperceptible smile appeared on his lips.
Xiao Shijie woke up in a burst of immense pain. He opened his eyes, but his surroundings were not familiar to him.
A hint of doubt flashed across his eyes before he saw Zhu Lin walking in from outside the door.
Xiao Shijie frowned. He was certain that Zhu Lin was not his people.
“You are awake, Your Highness.”
Only then did Xiao Shijie realize that apart from the sharp pain in his shoulder blade, his entire body was sore and weak, and he could not exert any strength at all.
“Who… who are you?”
Zhu Lin gave a smile that he thought was appropriate. “I am Zhu Lin. I was specially sent by His Majesty to pick you up, Your Highness.” Xiao Shijie’s expression stiffened for a moment. “Pick me up?” “That’s right. His Majesty was worried that the journey to the capital city was long and that something bad might happen to Your Highness, so he instructed me to bring some men to pick you up. To my surprise, I bumped into Your Highness getting assassinated along the way. However, the accompanying doctor has already given you a checkup, Your Highness. Although Your Highness’s injury won’t recover in a short time, it won’t affect your journey. Your Highness can still arrive at the capital city according to the original stipulated time.”
Xiao Shijie’s expression turned increasingly more unsightly.
In particular, when he met Zhu Lin’s two eyes that could seemingly see through everything, he wished he could jump up and end Zhu Lin’s life straight away!
“Your Highness, have a good rest. I will take my leave first.
After ascertaining that Zhu Lin had left, Xiao Shijie opened his mouth and was about to call out to his people. However, after he called out a few times, only an unfamiliar maid entered.
“May I ask what instructions does Your Highness have?
Xiao Shijie’s face clouded over.. “Where are my guards? Where have they gone?”
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