C29 (1/2)
It was deep into the night, and the moon hung in the sky. The night was as cool as water, and the Shangjing was surging.
The Shangjing's foreign inn was the residence of the Lu Kingdom's crown prince, Tian Zheng. Although it was already late into the night, Tian Zheng still had not fallen asleep.
Outside of the room were three layers of guards, three layers, and three layers. There were also the guards and the Imperial Guards sent by the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, but after experiencing today's assassination on the way of the Shangjing, Tian Zheng still had a lingering fear after circling around once in the face of death. He tossed and turned in his bed without the slightest sign of sleepiness.
Today, he bravely blocked two masked assassins to assassinate Crown Prince Tian Zheng, then killed three of his assassin guards, Guo Cheng, and another guard that was extremely outstanding. He was standing outside Crown Prince Tian Zheng's door, protecting Crown Prince Tian Zheng in high spirits.
They understood that through their outstanding performance today, they had already obtained the appreciation of the Crown Prince. After returning to their country, they would also receive the rewards of the Emperor.
Tonight was an extremely important night. During the day, the Crown Prince had been able to escape calamity with the help of a masked assassin. If that was the case, would the assassin come again at night to assassinate him?
Although the Tang Dynasty Emperor had sent a large number of guards and Imperial Guards to protect the envoys of the various countries, Guo Cheng did not trust them.
Because he heard from the guards of other nations that it was possible that the assassins were sent by Tang Dynasty, tonight, Guo Cheng brought the guards of Lu Kingdom with him to raise their spirits and protect Crown Prince Tian Zheng.
”Pa Pa!” A messy pile of wooden sticks was inserted into the ground at the entrance of Guo Cheng's room. The guards immediately tensed up as if they had met a great enemy.
The guard beside Guo Cheng was about to shout out, ”There's an assassin, protect the crown prince!” However, Guo Cheng stopped him. Guo Cheng said, ”Old Wang, don't worry. Do you think these wooden sticks are related to the masked man who saved the crown prince today?”
The guard known as Old Wang cautiously walked towards the wooden stick. After looking at it carefully, she said, ”At that time, I heard from the crown prince that it was a formation formed by a messy pile of wooden sticks. I don't know the specifics, but it seems to be this kind of wooden stick.”
Hearing Old Wang's words, Guo Cheng also walked up to take a look and said, ”It does look like it. I wonder if that masked customer is here?” Should I report this to the crown prince? ”
Without waiting for Old Wang to speak, he heard him say, ”What's the matter?” Guo Cheng turned around to look and it was Crown Prince Tian Zheng who had come out wearing his clothes. All the guards hurriedly saluted and surrounded Crown Prince Tian Zheng.
Guo Cheng walked up and said, ”Reporting to Crown Prince, it's dangerous outside. It's better if you go back inside, Your Highness.” ”Just now, there was a messy pile of wooden sticks stuck in front of the room's door. This subordinate thinks that they are similar to today's masked men's wooden sticks …”
Without waiting for Guo Cheng to finish, Tian Zheng said, ”Take me to see where it is.”
Guo Cheng promptly obeyed and turned around to lead Tian Zheng towards the pile of wooden sticks. The guards on the other hand still surrounded Tian Zheng to prevent any accidents.
When she saw the messy wooden sticks, Tian Zheng carefully looked at the way the wooden sticks were inserted into the ground. She suddenly raised her head and said, ”Benefactor, I was unable to welcome you from afar. Please forgive me.”
With a slight breeze, a masked customer wearing a blue warrior robe appeared in front of them in the middle of the pile of sticks. With a 'swoosh', the guards took out their weapons and cautiously faced the masked customer.
Tian Zheng said to the guards, ”You still haven't put down your weapon?” Then he said to the masked man, ”Since benefactor has arrived, please have a chat indoors.”
The masked man said, ”I'll be troubling you with the Crown Prince, after you.”
When Tian Zheng saw that the masked man had agreed to his request, he immediately walked into the room. Although Guo Cheng wanted to remind the crown prince, when he saw that the crown prince was ignoring everyone, he could only allow the guards to enter the room.
Old Wang and himself escorted the crown prince into the room. The masked men did not stand on ceremony. Under the covetous gazes of the guards, he followed the three of them into the room.
Outside the room, there was still a circle of guards. Inside the room, only Crown Prince Tian Zheng and the masked guest sat facing each other. Behind Tian Zheng stood Guo Cheng and Old Wang. The masked man slowly pulled down his mask.
A young face appeared in front of everyone. Tian Zheng discovered that it was the face of the young man who had saved his life on the Shangjing Dao. Earlier, I wanted to invite benefactor Tian over.
”Firstly, I thank benefactor for saving my life, and secondly, I express my gratitude and hope to be able to get to know benefactor.
The young man was none other than Fang Yunlong. After conversing with his father, Fang Yunlong went to the inn. Considering how tightly guarded the inn was, if he were to sneak in secretly, he might think of himself as an assassin.
It would not be good for him to meet with Crown Prince Tian. After pondering for a moment, he placed the twelve heavenly Men Array outside of Tian Zheng's door, hoping that Tian Zheng would know that he had come. As expected, Crown Prince Tian Zheng had invited him.
Fang Yunlong replied: ”This humble one is Fang Yunlong. My father is the right side of Tang Dynasty, Tian Shui. I have something important to ask of you, your highness, for you to pay me a visit tonight. ”
Tian Zheng said, ”So he's the son of the Great Tang Dynasty's Right Premier. No wonder he's such a hero. I, Tian, have long heard that Fang Dai Xiang is full of talent, his talent is as high as the sky and his father is one of the three great martial arts experts in Tang Dynasty.
It was truly a blessing to be able to see Benefactor Fang today. If benefactor does not mind, you can just call me by my name. ”As for benefactor, please speak your mind. I will do my best.”