Chapter 1614 - Catching a Turtle in a Jar! (II)
Chapter 1614: Catching a Turtle in a Jar! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
After some time, a voice suddenly said, “Move!”
Like arrows being loosed, several figures flew out of the darkness from various corners and converged on the Fifth Prince’s palace.
The moment they landed, they threw out hair-thin needles that knocked the maids unconscious before they could even react. They moved rapidly, passing through the various corridors and entering the Fifth Prince’s bedroom.
Only a few seconds had elapsed.
Swish!
The moment they spotted the Fifth Prince reading a book by the light of an oil lamp, they sent out bolts of Sword Qi and all kinds of assassination weapons, all of them blasting into the Fifth Prince’s body.
But they did not hear the sounds of their weapons cutting into flesh. Boom! The Fifth Prince’s body exploded, showering the room with wood shavings.
“Not good! It’s a trap!”
The flying wooden pieces caused them all to grimace, as they immediately understood that they had taken the bait.
“Run!”
All of them wanted to run, but it was too late.
“Catch the assassins!”
A strident call shattered the silence in the northeast corner of the Imperial Palace.
A moment later, there was a flurry of footsteps and a stampede of hooves. The eyes of the assassins went dark and their faces paled.
“Hmph, after hiding for so long, you finally couldn’t help but take the bait!”
Thunderous shouts resounded through the Imperial Palace, and there was no telling how many Imperial Army soldiers were converging on the Fifth Prince’s residence.
Zhao Fengchen stood under a bright lantern, a smile on his lips. In this operation, he was only responsible for surrounding the palace and preventing the assassins from fleeing. Wang Chong had already arranged for others to capture them.
Even if those assassins grew wings, they would find it difficult to escape.
Zhao Fengchen had seen the abilities of the men Wang Chong had sent and knew that they would not fail.
“Your Highness Fifth Prince, I said that they would move tonight. You believe me now, right?” Zhao Fengchen said without turning his head.
The Imperial Army soldier standing behind him, on careful inspection, was not any soldier at all, but the Fifth Prince who should have been in his quarters.
“These scoundrels are too bold! First Imperial Brother is trying to push me into a dead end!”
Li Heng looked in fear at his residence. Wang Chong had long ago said that he should fully cooperate with Zhao Fengchen, but he had still been somewhat doubtful. Fortunately, he had listened, or else he would have found it difficult to escape this disaster.
Striking now after waiting for more than a month, their foes had clearly come completely confident. Unfortunately, they had underestimated him and were unaware that Wang Chong had also been waiting for them this entire time.
“It’s enough. Time to close the net. Your Highness, come with me to take a look!”
Seeing that the time was about right, Zhao Fengchen strode forward.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Palace, First Prince Li Ying was trembling, his eyes wide open in disbelief.
“What?! Li Heng wasn’t in his palace? All the men we sent were captured?!”
“Yes! It seems like they were already prepared. All of our men were captured. Six men committed suicide, but three were taken alive!”
“Bastard!”
The veins on the First Prince’s forehead bulged as he smashed a fist on the table next to him in rage.
“Wang Chong! It must be Wang Chong!”
The First Prince’s eyes surged with killing intent.
“Pass on my order! Have all our men change positions!”
“Yes! Your Highness!”
……
In a secretive area of the Imperial Palace, a stalwart and fierce martial artist, his hands dripping with blood, emerged from a pitch-black room.
“How was it? Get anything?” Zhao Fengchen asked.
“Ha, did he really think he was a slab of steel? When I come in, no mouth can keep silent! The location is here. TIme is short. Tell them to move out!”
The man wiped his hands with a towel and passed over a paper.
When it came to interrogation, these men were far superior to government officials. ‘Assassin’ was merely a profession, a status, and once it was removed, what was inside was only an ordinary person.
Since they were human, information could be extracted.
“Many thanks!”
Zhao Fengchen was elated. A few moments later, an eagle took off with a sharp cry.
A few seconds later, the eagle came back down. A palm on the ground reached out to receive this eagle.
“Everyone, they’ve found it!”
“It’s time to repay our favor to the King of Foreign Lands!”
“Truly suicidal! They could have provoked anyone else, but they chose the King of Foreign Lands. Anyone who means harm to the King of Foreign Lands is the enemy of both the righteous and evil paths!”
“Let’s go! Kill them all! No survivors!”
Countless martial artists in the darkness began to move according to the order.
In the northwest expedition, if not for Wang Chong, they would have all died deep underground. When it came to martial arts or to individual character, the martial artists of both the righteous and evil paths felt nothing but utmost respect for this high noble of the court.
Even Righteous Alliance Lord Song Yuanyi who had once doggedly pursued him had become his friend and ally.
No one except the King of Foreign Lands could have obtained the full support of the entire martial arts world.
Swish! Swish! Swish! A few moments later, all of them had gone.
……
Time slowly passed.
“Your Highness! It’s bad! All of our men were killed! No survivors!”
An Eastern Palace guard tumbled into the palace, his entire body drenched in cold sweat.
“Bastard! What nonsense are you spouting!? Didn’t I tell them to immediately get out?!” the First Prince angrily replied.
“Your Highness, it’s been confirmed. After sending the order, we didn’t receive a reply, and when we went to look, we found that the place was covered in corpses. It seems like our men were suddenly attacked while leaving, and the enemy attack was so fierce that they were all killed in no time at all…”
The guard’s voice began to dwindle away, and his head lowered, unable to meet the gaze of the First Prince.
Boom!
The First Prince staggered backward in shock.
“How could this be!?”
The First Prince felt like he had been dealt a heavy blow.
The assassins he had gathered outside the city were a group that he had managed to organize through painstaking effort, and each one of them was devoted to his cause. As a prince, he had many things that he could not do, for which he could use this special force.
But after building up this force which had been wholly his own, they had been annihilated in a single night. One of the First Prince’s arms had been cut off.
“Wang Chong! It was you! It must have been you!”
After his initial shock, the First Prince began to tremble in rage.
His fifth brother, Li Heng, did not have this capability. No ordinary person could work with such speed and precision, first ruining the assassination attempt in the palace and then annihilating his assassins outside the city.
Only Li Heng’s backer, Wang Chong, could do all this.
“Why? Why do you insist on refusing me and allying with that mediocre Li Heng? Just how can I not compare to him? Why must you force me?!”
The lanterns in the Eastern Palace swayed, the First Prince’s face twisting in their light.
Wang Chong had set up the Public Order Squad without his approval, completely bypassing him, and then he had even brought up a law made by Gaozu, humiliating the First Prince.
In the border incident, the First Prince had felt Ishbara Khagan’s letter to be a stab to the heart. Wang Chong had sent four hundred men without his approval, completely ignoring his authority as regent.
And this time, Wang Chong had forced him into a corner.
“Why do you insist on being my enemy?!”
The First Prince gnashed his teeth, his face growing more savage by the second.
There was no denying Wang Chong’s talent for battle, and his grasp of strategy and tactics was also undisputed. He had imagined more than once how if he obtained Wang Chong’s help, then once he was enthroned, the two would complement each other’s flaws, reenacting the Sage Emperor’s friendship with Duke Jiu.
But Wang Chong had disappointed him again and again!
He seemed set on pushing him into a dead end. The First Prince’s face turned ashen as his killing intent surged.
The officials of the court would have never dared to believe that the wise, upright, gentle, and courteous First Prince could be like this. As for the guard, his face was ghastly pale and he scarcely dared to breathe.
If this scene ever got out, his head would probably be the first on the chopping block.
Silence reigned in the hall. At that moment, no one could have guessed that Wang Chong’s provocations had increased the First Prince’s desire for power to its maximum level.
“Wang Chong, you’ve forced me to do this!”
The First Prince’s eyes flashed with a sharp light and his face turned cold.
“Pass on my order! Move up the operation.”
“Yes!”
……
Whoosh!
Once everything was settled, a carrier pigeon took off from the palace and flew into the newly built quarters of the grandiose King of Foreign Lands Residence.
“Heh, it seems like we can finally close that chapter. It seems like the Fifth Prince won’t have to worry about assassins for a while!”
On his throne within the main hall, Wang Chong opened his eyes, glanced at the letter, and gave a knowing smile.