Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 63: A Night of Panic and Terror
"Tomorrow you will take Xuan'er and Lady Zhai to Yuhuangling to find Xu Huai. Xuan'er has been hiding her identity in Yuhuangling until now. I want to get to know her. Xu Huai should be able to help me get rid of this last worry."
Wang Bing sat in front of the lamp, reading the letter he had written to Xu Huai while giving instructions to Lu Xiong.
Wang Xuan sat on the couch in a daze, her eyes red and swollen from crying; Madam Zhai had served Wang Xuan's mother before, and her hair was now gray. She had no knowledge or opinions of her own, so she could only hug Wang Xuan's weak body and give her some comfort.
"Husband, it's not like I don't have other plans..." Lu Xiong couldn't help crying.
"Too many innocent people have been implicated . This is my fate. There is no need to struggle any more. I don't want to die unclearly under their arrangement. After you send Xuan'er to Xu Huai, hand this suicide note of mine to Wang Yongqi. This suicide note can prove that I died of poison by myself and has nothing to do with others. It can calm the storm as soon as possible. He should help hand it to His Majesty. After that, Brother Lu should go to Mobei when he has time. In addition to the scenery of the Mobei grassland, the Chihu people have been rising for thirty or forty years. Their ambitions need someone to see them with their own eyes. As for whether the officials in the court will be alerted by this, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate!"
"Grandpa!" Wang Xuan cried.
"You feel bitter now, but one day, you will understand that life and death are common things..." Wang Bing reached out and stroked his granddaughter's head, comforting her.
"But it's too early for Miss Xuan." Lu Xiong sighed.
"Give me the poison and we can prepare for tomorrow." Wang Bing stretched out his hand and asked Lu Xiong for it.
"..." Lu Xiong felt an indescribable pain in his chest. He held the porcelain bottle of poison in his hand, but couldn't hand it over.
"Catch the assassin!"
Guo Caoling screamed at first, and this was vaguely heard by the other side, but they were immersed in the emotions of life and death and did not pay attention to it for a while, until there was a loud commotion outside the yard and many people shouted "Catch the assassin", Lu Xiong and Wang Bing woke up from the emotions of life and death, and their eyes were filled with confusion.
Guo Caoling is about to officially replace Deng Gui as the head of the Huaiyuan Inspection Office, so how could there be any assassins?
Hearing the footsteps of more than a dozen people coming towards them, Lu Xiong and Wang Bing just pushed the door open and walked out of the house, but saw Deng Gui kicking the gate down with a bang, and rushing in with a sharp knife in his hand, looking fierce.
"Mr. Deng, what do you mean?" Lu Xiong took off his sword and held it across his body, staring at Deng Gui.
Seeing Guo Caoling and his bodyguard dead, Deng Gui's first thought was that it was Lu Xiong who did it, so he rushed here in a hurry, but he didn't expect that Lu Xiong and Wang Bing were both fine. He was also stunned:
Is there someone else who assassinated him?
Deng Gui quickly came to his senses and said in a deep voice, "The new inspector, Guo Caoling, was just assassinated at the posthouse. I am worried that the assassin may harm Lord Wang, so I came to take a look!"
"Ah!" Lu Xiong was stunned. He didn't expect the assassin to come to the new patrol inspector Guo Caoling. He said, "Guo Caoling is so skilled, and the two people who came with him are definitely not weak either. Who can assassinate him? Is Guo Caoling in danger?"
Cai Ying was extremely powerful, but if he wanted to appoint someone to take charge of the Huaiyuan Inspectorate, he could only select people from the existing military officials. It was impossible for him to just insert the secretly trained assassins in public.
Guo Caoling was a military envoy under the jurisdiction of the Jingzhou Border Inspection Office. Although his rank seemed not high, due to the strong emphasis on culture and suppression of military power in the era, many border commanders of the imperial army were only seventh-rank border inspection envoys. Military officials at the level of military envoys and inspection envoys were already considered important figures in the army.
"General Guo has been murdered." Deng Gui still suspected that the assassin had connections with Lu Xiong and Wang Bing, and walked straight to the corridor while speaking.
"Mr. Deng, what do you mean by this?" Lu Xiong asked in a deep and impolite voice.
"Prime Minister Wang's safety is no small matter. I have to be careful of assassins hiding in some corner and making another move!"
When Deng Gui saw Guo Caoling's death, he felt like the sky had fallen. He didn't know what kind of huge waves would be stirred up. If he couldn't catch the assassin, he didn't know how to explain to the people behind Guo Caoling?
Would the people behind Guo Caoling think that he deliberately condoned the assassin's actions? Would they mistakenly believe that he was just being perfunctory from beginning to end, or even cooperated with the assassin to frame them?
Deng Gui's heart and lungs were about to explode. He never thought that just as he was about to step down and escape from the vortex of right and wrong, such a thing would happen.
Who had so much free time that he killed the inspector that Cai Ying had tried every possible means to install just two days before the official handover?
Damn it!
Seeing Deng Gui rudely looking into the room, Lu Xiong also became angry. He stretched out his hand and grabbed his shoulder like a pair of pliers. With his other hand, he held a knife to his armpit and said in a deep voice, "Mr. Deng, don't go too far!"
There was nothing decorated in the study room that Wang Bing and his companions had just walked out of. There was only a couch, a table, and several chairs. There was nothing blocking the view, and one could see everything clearly at a glance. Apart from Wang Xuan and her wet nurse, Madam Zhai, there was no one else hiding.
Deng Gui also knew that Lu Xiong was Wang Bing's loyal warrior, and Wang Bing was ready to die. If he really angered Lu Xiong at this moment, he might really draw his sword and fight him regardless of the consequences, and he might not be able to command the soldiers under him to come to his aid.
Deng Gui stepped back, bowed, and said, "I am also concerned about the safety of Prime Minister Wang. I hope Master Lu will understand."
"Get out!" Lu Xiong pointed his knife at the gate without any hesitation and asked Deng Gui to leave.
Deng Gui originally did not dare to meet Wang Bing. After confirming that the assassin was not in Wang Bing's courtyard, he did not dare to retaliate against Lu Xiong. He ran away in shame to search for the assassin elsewhere. When Guo Caoling was assassinated, he made a sound, which alarmed the postman in the posthouse. The postman did not dare to step forward, but he also gave a timely warning. The assassin was most likely still in the military camp at this time.
There were not many soldiers in the military camp except for the local soldiers who helped to guard the camp. Deng Gui was eager to seal off the military camp and search for the assassin, and he did not even think of leaving one or two people to straighten the collapsed gate.
Lu Xiong walked over and propped up the gate, but the hinges were broken, so he could only wait until tomorrow to find someone to repair it.
"Who do you think it is?" Wang Bing waited for Lu Xiong to come back before asking.
"To kill these three skilled people in such a short time, either several of them sneaked in at the same time, or their skills are far superior to mine." Lu Xiong didn't see Guo Caoling's followers rushing in, and guessed that they should be dead or injured. He knew that Wang Bing suspected that it might be Xu Huai who took action, but he didn't think it was likely, and said, "Xu Huai can't do this for the time being."
"Master Lu, you underestimate me!"
The door of the side room suddenly opened, and Xu Huai sat on the ground behind the door, facing this side and said with a smile.
Wang Xuan was so frightened that her soul almost flew out of her body. She covered her chest for a long time. In the dim light, she could see Xu Huai, who was picked up from the ground by Lu Xiong. His left arm hung limply and his body was covered in blood. She hurried over with her grandfather Wang Bing to help lift up Xu Huai, who seemed to be seriously injured.
"Madam Zhai, keep an eye on the door. If anyone breaks in, scream!" Lu Xiong ordered the nurse to guard the gate. He carried Xu Huai to Wang Xuan's bed and asked, "Where are you injured?"
"The injury is not serious. I took two real hits on my left arm and left shoulder, and my armpit was cut twice. It was because I used the left elbow hammer and the right knife to slash horizontally in order to kill Guo Caoling quickly, which injured the tendons and bones of the posterior vertebrae. Then I killed two people in succession. I may have to hide here for a day before I can recover!" Xu Huai said weakly.
"Why don't you ask me to join you?" Lu Xiong complained.
He knew how powerful Guo Caoling was, and his two bodyguards were definitely not weak either. If Xu Huai's assassination attempt on Guo Caoling today went wrong at all, he would surely end up being surrounded and killed.
"Deng Gui is willing to be manipulated just to get out of Huaiyuan. How can I not be on guard against him sending people to keep an eye on you, Master Lu?" Xu Huai said with a smile, "Besides, will the Prime Minister allow you to accompany me to assassinate the imperial officials? Now I just hope that the Prime Minister will not go to Deng Gui to report me."
"Brother Xu's words really make Wang Bing ashamed." Wang Bing said ashamedly.
"Don't mind, Prime Minister Wang. I was just joking," Xu Huai said with a smile. "I didn't assassinate Guo Caoling just for Prime Minister Wang. I was more angry that Zheng Hui bullied me because there were no heroes in Tongbai Mountain. Zheng Hui thought that everyone in Tongbai Mountain could be controlled by him. I want to teach him a lesson today. Another thing is, I guess Prime Minister Wang might want to entrust Miss Xuan to me, but Miss Xuan really looks down on rough warriors like me. I'm afraid it's difficult for me to take good care of her. Prime Minister Wang, please take good care of Miss Xuan yourself."
"How could I look down on you..." Wang Xuan defended in a low voice.
"You were injured and climbed over the wall to get in. Did you leave any traces for anyone to see?" Lu Xiong thought that Xu Huai was injured and climbed into the yard, and it might be impossible to cover up all the traces.
"Deng Gui didn't rush in with anger to conduct a massive search just now. Now his anger has been extinguished. Even if he sees traces, he dares not come in again," Xu Huai said with a smile. "Guo Caoling is dead. He is panicked and doesn't know how to deal with the anger of the person behind the scenes. But he dares to take the blame for forcing Wang Xiang to death? Deng Gui is a coward and a poor guy in the final analysis. We don't need to be afraid of him!"
Wang Xuan stared at Xu Huai with her beautiful eyes wide open. Who could have imagined that he had just assassinated three people? Who could have imagined that he was only sixteen or seventeen years old, yet he was chatting and laughing so casually, and even ignored the ferocious Deng Gui?
Lu Xiong thought about it and realized that if Deng Gui broke in again at this time, he would rather be killed than watch Xu Huai being captured. If Deng Gui could consider the consequences, even if he changed his mind and was sure that the assassin was hiding in this yard, what would he dare to do?
He handed over the assassin, and he had explained to Cai Ying and Zheng Hui, but who in the government and the public would let him off for the crime of forcing Wang Bing to death? Cai Ying might even be more willing to grind him to dust, and it would be best to convict him of the crime of exterminating his entire clan to clear himself of suspicion.
Of course, I thought so, but it would be better if I could erase all traces so that Deng Gui wouldn't notice.
Lu Xiong confirmed that Xu Huai was not seriously injured, so he took the knife and walked out.
There were three soldiers watching in the yard, but they had seen Lu Xiong almost draw his sword against Deng Gui just now, so they didn't dare to step forward to stop him, or even follow him. They just arranged for one person to rush and report to Deng Gui...
