Revenge of the First Daughter - Chapter 45

Chapter 045 Assassination Of Prince
On the 15th of October, two minutes later, an exquisite carriage set off from the Eldest Princess’ Mansion. After half an hour, it stopped in front of the Third Prince’s Mansion.

A maidservant wearing a navy green dress walked out of the carriage. Ban Xia Shi Ran walked forward and was stopped by two guards in front of the manor. He took out his invitation card and said, “Please tell my two eldest brothers that my county princess wants to see you.”

The guard looked at the invitation and asked doubtfully, “County Lord Hui Ning? Didn’t the Third Prince go to the Eldest Princess’ Mansion?”

When Ban Xia heard this, his doubts grew deeper and deeper. “How could this be? We have never seen the Third Prince all the way from the manor.”

“The Third Prince has indeed gone to the Eldest Princess’ Mansion. Today, someone came to deliver a message, saying that the county prince has something to discuss with the Third Prince. The Third Prince left early in the morning.” Another guard said confidently.

Ban Xia thanked him and hurriedly walked to the carriage. “County princess, the guards in front of the Third Prince’s Mansion said that the Third Prince went to the Eldest Princess Mansion early in the morning.”

The curtain was lifted by a weak, boneless pancreas, revealing an exquisite face. “What’s going on? Speak.”

Ban Xia didn’t dare to conceal anything and told him everything he had just heard.

Princess Hui Ning’s expression darkened. The curtain in her hand fell down fiercely and she immediately instructed, “Quick, get out of the city!”

What happened today is not right, I only hope that everything will be in time!

…

At the same time, in front of the Eldest Princess’ mansion, the Third Prince, Zhou Jingyan, had just dismounted from his horse when a fast horse stopped beside him. He turned around and dismounted from his horse, cupping his hands in salute. “Greetings, Third Prince. This servant has been ordered by the Crown Prince to invite the Third Prince to the Xiangguo Temple.”

Zhou Jingyan’s gaze landed on the guard with a smile that was neither a smile nor a smile. “Why didn’t His Highness the Crown Prince say that he wanted to go to the Xiangguo Temple together early in the morning?”

The guard immediately took out the waist token of the Crown Prince’s Mansion. “His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly thought that since he was praying for the Empress, he naturally wanted the princes to go with him.”

“Is that so? According to what you said, the other princes have also gone?”

“The Fifth Prince has also gone. He will accompany His Highness the Crown Prince and wait for him at the city gate.”

“How did you know I was in the Eldest Princess’ Mansion?” Zhou Jingyan’s eyes lit up as he looked at the guard.

“This servant went to the Third Prince’s Mansion first. The guards in the mansion said that the Third Prince had come to the Eldest Princess’ Mansion.”

Zhou Jingyan knew from these few words that he had to go. Otherwise, he would leave a message for others, “Let’s go.” Zhou Jingyan swiftly rolled over and mounted his horse. He looked at the door of the Eldest Princess’ mansion as if his gaze was indistinct. His phoenix eyes narrowed dangerously.

Just as he reached the city gate, he saw the carriage of the Crown Prince’s Mansion. There was also the Fifth Prince riding a horse beside him. He wore a jade robe and looked like a jade tree facing the wind.

When the Fifth Prince saw the Third Prince, he said, “Third Brother is here.”

The carriage curtain was opened, revealing the face of Crown Prince Zhou Jingchen. “Since Third Brother is here, let’s go first. Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother are unable to come.”

Seeing that the person sitting in the carriage was Zhou Jingchen, Zhou Jingyan was secretly relieved. However, for some reason, he felt a little uneasy in his heart. He wanted to say a few more words, but he saw that the carriage curtain had been lowered and the carriage had begun to move forward.

He and the Fifth Prince were riding on horseback, and around the carriage were ten guards from the Crown Prince’s Mansion.

Zhou Jingyan originally wanted to find a reason to leave, but he didn’t expect Zhou Chongyu to talk to him all the way because he was bored.

Half an hour after the group left the city, a guard rode over and stopped in front of the carriage. He quickly got off the horse and said respectfully, “Report to the Fifth Prince, something happened to Imperial Consort Liu. Please enter the palace as soon as possible.”

Fifth Prince Zhou Chongyu’s expression turned cold. He saw that the carriage curtain had been lifted. Crown Prince Zhou Jingyan frowned and said, “Since something happened to Imperial Concubine Liu, Fifth Brother should go take a look first.”

Zhou Chongyu thanked him and quickly left with the guards in the manor.

Zhou Jingchen smiled faintly and said to Zhou Jingyan who was not far away, “Third Brother, please accompany me this time.”

“Of course,” Zhou Jingyan smiled and said calmly. However, his heart wasn’t as calm as it seemed. He felt that something had gone wrong.

The carriage continued forward. Zhou Jingyan was just about to find a way to inform the ambusher not to make a move. However, when he saw the scene in front of him, his expression turned cold and he thought to himself, “It’s too late.”

There was a place halfway down the road, surrounded by mountains on the left and lush woods on the right. It was the best place to lay in ambush.

A gust of wind blew over, and the rustling of leaves resounded. Many black-clothed men had already appeared on the left side of the mountain. Those black-clothed men held bows and arrows and stood on the mountain with awe and majesty.

A guard noticed this and immediately exclaimed, “Someone, move closer to the center to protect His Highness the Crown Prince.” As he spoke, he released the signal flare in his hand. Black smoke bloomed in the air, forming a mushroom cloud.

All the guards quickly surrounded the carriage. Seeing this, Zhou Jingyan could only approach the carriage and secretly be wary.

The arrow flew towards the carriage like rain. The guard immediately raised the sword in his hand to block the dense rain of arrows. The guard captain immediately shouted, “Third Prince, please go to the carriage and hide with the Crown Prince for a moment.”

Zhou Jingyan’s eyebrows twisted as he said with a panicked expression, “Alright, let the carriage run and rush out.” As he spoke, his mind raced. Why didn’t the people in the carriage say anything when they saw this scene?

Zhou Jingyan had just boarded the carriage when the carriage flew forward. The arrow rain became denser and denser. Occasionally, people would fall down.

Zhou Jingyan grabbed the carriage with one hand and looked at Zhou Jingchen behind him. Suddenly, his gaze narrowed. “Are you not the Crown Prince?”

“Zhou Jingchen,” he said with a grim expression, his eyes shining brightly as he watched everything happening outside. “Greetings, Third Prince. His Highness the Crown Prince has received a tip that someone is going to assassinate him. Therefore, he has already disguised himself and went to the Xiangguo Temple alone.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he stared at Zhou Jingyan in front of him in shock. He lowered his head in disbelief and looked at the longsword piercing through his abdomen, “Third Emperor … son …”

Zhou Jingyan caught his body and laid it on the carriage. He opened the curtain and made a gesture to the mountain outside.

The guard on the carriage said anxiously, “Third Highness, hurry up and return to the carriage. Your subordinate’s door will ensure His Highness’ safety.”

Zhou Jingyan smiled indifferently. His eyes were bloodthirsty red, “No need.” After he finished speaking, he had already pierced through the man’s body with a knife, and the guard died in grief.

When the guards outside saw this scene, they were all stunned. Obviously, they did not expect things to turn out like this. At this moment, another wave of arrows rained down, directly stabbing several guards. Following the arrows was a Bosnia and Herzegovina clothed man, who had already killed him.

Speaking of which, Zhou Jingyan had already picked up his sword and killed a few guards. The eyes of the surviving guards were red, and they had to kill Zhou Jingyan from time to time if they wanted to fight the black-clothed man.

Not long after, all the guards collapsed. The black-clothed man knelt down in front of Zhou Jingyan and said respectfully, “Your Highness.”

At the corner of Zhou Jingyan’s eyes, he saw a guard biting his finger and writing something under his face.

With a single glance, a black-clothed man had already slashed down the guard’s saber.

Zhou Jingyan looked around and found that none of them were alive. Only then was he satisfied. He instructed a group of black-clothed men, “You guys go to Xiangguo Temple to help. The Crown Prince has already entered Xiangguo Temple in disguise. We must not let the Crown Prince escape.”

“Yes,” the black-clothed man bowed respectfully and rode his horse to chase after Xiangguo Temple.

Zhou Jingyan pulled up the guard’s head and looked at the word under his face. It was actually three words. The corner of his mouth curled into a sinister sneer. Then, he picked up the guard’s hand and drew two strokes on the word, returning him to his original state.

Zhou Jingyan got on his horse and followed the black-clothed man behind him, “Follow me.”

From time to time, the sound of horse hooves escaped into the woods.

Not long after, the forest became quiet again, as if the assassination just now did not exist at all.

Fifteen minutes later, the sound of horse hooves came from afar. An exquisite carriage had already chased after them. As they approached, the carriage immediately grabbed the reins of the horse. “County princess, someone is dead in front of us.”

County Lord Hui Ning opened the carriage and saw a group of people lying on the ground. With a cold expression, he immediately jumped off the carriage.

The coachman looked at the people lying on the ground and his face suddenly turned pale. “County princess, those people are the guards of the Crown Prince’s Mansion. There is the symbol of the Crown Prince’s Mansion on the carriage.”

For example, some nobles and royal families would carve their own logos on their carriages. As long as they saw the logos, they would know who the people in the carriages were.

County princess Huining walked forward in a daze. She stepped on dead people one by one, and her skirt was stained with blood. The maidservant behind her, Ban Xia, was so scared that her face turned pale that she immediately chased after them. “County princess, don’t go. Let’s hurry and inform the governor of the capital to come.”

County princess Huining turned around and slapped Pinellia’s face. Dan Kou’s fingernails scratched Pinellia’s cheeks, bringing with them a layer of blood. “Bastard, hurry up and see if there is a Third Prince inside.”

Now that she had placed all her treasures on the Third Prince, she must not let anything happen to the Third Prince.

Ban Xia trembled as she walked towards the pile of dead guards. Her face was pale and she didn’t dare to look.

“Trash!” County princess Huining lifted her skirt and walked forward. After examining it for a while, she didn’t see Zhou Jingyan’s corpse before she heaved a sigh of relief. She opened the curtain and saw Crown Prince Zhou Jingchen dying in the carriage. She immediately screamed in fright, “Ah!”

Even though he had expected the Crown Prince to die, seeing it with his own eyes, he was still shocked.

The sound of horse hooves rang out. Very quickly, the guards of the Crown Prince’s Mansion and the capital governor surrounded this place layer upon layer.

The governor raised his eyebrows slightly. His face was bitter. He didn’t expect such a thing to happen in the capital. He definitely couldn’t escape the blame. He bowed respectfully and said, “Greetings to the county princess.”

County Lord Hui Ning’s face was pale and he forced himself to remain calm. “Get up, Cousin Prince was assassinated. Quickly bring someone to examine him.”

When the governor saw this, he immediately waved his hand. The people he brought immediately began to investigate. He looked at County Lord Huining and asked, “I wonder why the County Lord is here?”

County princess Huining’s eyebrows twitched as she harshly scolded, “What do you mean? Could it be that I sent someone to kill the Crown Prince’s cousin?”