Chapter 104: Foe? Friend?
Yue Tang led Wei Zhang and his group out of the alley, first standing at the alley entrance and looking around, only to see pitch blackness on both sides, with only sporadic sparks flickering on the opposite riverbank; by the reflection in the river water, she could make out the general outlines of the surrounding scenery.
She turned her head to those behind her and said, “Keep an eye on both sides for any sounds of sentries or other movements. If there are, immediately send someone to watch the direction the movement comes from, then sneak over and see where they are going.”
At such a critical moment, Chu Ying would certainly be present to personally command. Since they wanted to capture him, they naturally had to know where he was!
Wei Zhang immediately arranged for two people to keep watch specifically.
Yue Tang quickly scanned the surroundings again and said, “Go inform the Prince: if I haven’t given the signal for him to come out, he should just stay hidden in the dark.”
Wei Zhang nodded again.
Yue Tang held Li Yue in front of her and drew her sword into hand.
The moment the sharp sword was unsheathed, the wind in her ears felt wrong, faint bell sounds came from the distance, followed closely by the sound of sharp objects rubbing in the wind.
“Spread out and form the formation!”
At her command, the guards behind her instantly formed a crescent shape in front of her, and at the same time, troops charged out from the dark on both left and right sides; just by their silhouettes, it was clear their numbers far exceeded theirs!
The moment both sides clashed, it turned into close combat.
Li Yue on horseback was frightened into shouting shrilly, and without a word, Yue Tang used him as a shield in front of her, then leaped off the horse and immediately merged into the formation.
Chu Ying upstairs saw this and couldn’t help but exclaim, “This woman is quite ruthless! She also has courage.”
Mu Chang’s eyes glowed faintly in the dark night: “She was never an ordinary person to begin with. You know I once described her as a ‘white tiger’.”
Chu Ying glanced at him, frowned as he looked ahead again: “Third Brother!”
Chu Xuan, waiting at the stairwell entrance for news, immediately entered the room: “Eldest Brother.”
“When will those thirty people from the mansion arrive?”
Chu Xuan pondered: “At most, they’ll need another quarter of an hour!”
“Urge them to hurry!”
Chu Ying lowered his voice.
The fierce fighting below was intense, with their side clearly outnumbering the opponents; logically, even without adding more people, victory was assured.
But for some reason, seeing Yue Tang fighting so desperately made a trace of unease rise in his heart.
If someone came to face danger with such a do-or-die momentum, how could they possibly be unprepared?
On this side of the riverbank, Yue Tang watched all directions with her eyes and listened in all directions with her ears, not giving the enemy the slightest opportunity, but after all, the opponents had overwhelming numbers, making the fight grueling.
Yan Bei in hiding was anxious beyond measure, wishing he could personally lead men to trample the foes, but Yue Tang had given the order, and if she didn’t allow them out, they couldn’t go, so he crouched on the wall top, seething with frustration.
Just then, swishing sounds came to her ears, and in the blink of an eye, many shadowy figures leaped onto the wall tops on both sides ahead.
These figures held drawn bows in hand—they were a group of crossbowmen lurking in the dark!
“Vile thieves! So vicious!”
The nearby guards saw it too and couldn’t help crying out softly. “Prince, should we make a move?”
Yan Bei’s fists were bulging with veins.
Three years ago, when he arrived at the scene afterward and saw corpses everywhere, he had already understood the great determination the enemy had to kill Yue Tang and her son.
Now, seeing with his own eyes these people still ruthlessly trying to kill Yue Tang, who had never troubled anyone nor harmed anyone, that long-suppressed indignation could no longer be held down!
He quickly glanced left and right and said, “Everyone split into two groups to flank them, count heads and assign tasks, silently take them out!”
“Yes!”
The guards selected to enter the capital from military strongholds were naturally no pushovers. All were battle-hardened veterans.
The guards signaled each other with hand gestures and immediately skillfully split into two sides, infiltrating the shadows under the wall.
Yue Tang’s earlier position reining her horse was at the alley entrance; Yan Bei bringing men followed behind them, naturally lagging some distance, so the Chu Family assassins arranged on the riverbank were even farther from them.
At this moment, all the opponents’ attention was focused on Yue Tang—who would think Yan Bei was still lurking in the dark with men?
The crossbowmen fully drew their bows, arrows aimed uniformly downward!
Yue Tang below saw it too; with her left hand she seized a sword from an enemy assassin and casually thrust it toward the wall top, taking down one first!
As that man fell, unrest stirred on both sides. Several hurriedly drew bows and shot off a few arrows!
It happened in a flash: just as the arrowheads left the strings, suddenly these bowmen on the wall tops toppled backward one after another like felled logs!
The assassins below in close combat couldn’t withstand Yue Tang’s side’s sweeping assault and had tacitly formed an encirclement, waiting to trap Yue Tang in the center for the hidden crossbowmen to strike precisely and succeed in one blow!
When the first few arrows flew out, they even felt exhilarated, but unexpectedly, no more followed after those few!
Someone looked toward the wall top, then began shouting in alarm: “Where are the crossbowmen? Why have they all withdrawn?”
Everyone turned their heads and indeed saw that the wall tops, previously crowded with people, now had only a few scattered figures, who weren’t even drawing bows but were busy drawing swords to fend off blades from below the wall!
“Bad news, they have an ambush!”
The leader alertly blew a whistle.
Chu Ying upstairs heard the whistle and promptly set down the teapot, quickly striding to the window.
“Strange, why aren’t the crossbowmen having any effect?” He frowned intently at the direction of the crossbowmen ambush, then abruptly turned: “Third Brother!”
Chu Xuan had already stood behind him upon hearing the whistle and was now gripping the windowsill, staring below: “Something must have gone wrong; it seems Yue Tang really set an ambush!”
Mu Chang said, “Such a formidable ambush that took down the crossbowmen so quickly and silently—only Yan Bei’s men could do that!”
Chu Ying’s expression changed: “You mean Yan Bei is already here?”
Mu Chang shot him a sharp glance: “If not, I don’t think this girl would have the guts to walk right into the tiger’s den!”
Chu Ying gritted his teeth: “Have the reinforcements arrived? Send them in!”
Chu Xuan took a deep breath: “Yes!”
The one left in the mansion to take charge was Chu Ying’s second son; the group he hired at great expense were assassins who lived by the blade, far more experienced than the ones the Du Family found three years ago.
Besides being adept at killing with blades, most importantly, they had some vicious tricks, like hidden weapons—or better yet, poisoned hidden weapons!
If the crossbowmen couldn’t kill her, he didn’t believe she could dodge thirty simultaneous hidden weapons!
After Chu Xuan sent the order down, these men scattered like shooting stars.
Mu Chang upstairs watching them intently had flickering eyes: “Are you sure they have a chance to succeed?”
“If they don’t, then it’s time for the Imperial Guards to step in, isn’t it?” Chu Ying turned his head. “If Yan Bei really came, then the opportunities left for you and me are few.
“They must have seen through our plan long ago; perhaps right now they’re waiting in the dark for us to show our faces. With Li Yue in their hands, if the Imperial Guards don’t act, my Chu Family men will fall into his hands too.
“Once they conclude this night’s ‘accident’ was my plot, you’ll have to explain to the outside why you mobilized the Imperial Guards here.”
Chu Ying spoke slowly as usual, but the weight of his words was like a massive boulder.
They were allies, yes, but also rivals.
With Yue Tang’s sword of vengeance aimed at the Chu Family, how could Chu Ying tolerate the Mu Family standing idly by?
Having Mu Chang mobilize the Imperial Guards was indeed to perfect the plan, but also to keep Mu Chang in check.
Mu Chang didn’t want to give others pretext, only having the Imperial Guards seal off the perimeter under the pretext of apprehending criminals—fine, Chu Ying didn’t insist he must act.
But once their side couldn’t hold, Mu Chang couldn’t escape either!
To eliminate their common enemy, both sides should step up together, right?
The Imperial Guards he brought had to get involved, willing or not!
Mu Chang gazed downward for a long time without speaking.
Chu Rui hurried upstairs and entered: “The crossbowmen were ambushed! The opponent’s skills are extremely formidable; they dragged them down from behind the wall and subdued them!
“The guards at the scene who saw them act judged them to be from Prince Jingyang’s Mansion!”
Chu Ying quickly looked at Mu Chang: “It seems the Grand Tutor guessed right; only Yan Bei could handle things so cleanly from the shadows!
“This is trouble; once Yue Tang is put on the defensive, she’s bound to reveal her identity as Princess Yongjia, and Yan Bei will certainly jump out to back her up.
“At that point, even if we don’t want to admit it, we can’t kill directly under Prince Jingyang’s blade.”
Mu Chang said, “What are you trying to say?”
“Order the Imperial Guard over now; have these thirty assassins draw Yan Bei’s attention, while you have the Imperial Guards surround and attack Yue Tang!”
Chu Ying set the cup in his hand on the table, his gaze cold as snow. “As long as Yan Bei isn’t there, even if she screams her throat out, no one will believe she’s Princess Yongjia.
“Without Yan Bei, no one can defy your and my orders—not even the Imperial Guards.”
One was the Grand Tutor who had faced the Emperor for years, the other the Chu Family Patriarch and Censor-in-Chief.
Without Yan Bei, who held no military power, present, how could the Imperial Guards disobey simultaneous orders from both?
But once he ordered the Imperial Guards to surround and attack, the Mu Family would be completely inseparable from this assassination conspiracy.
Mu Chang’s gaze shifted upward, toward the distance.
The rain had lessened.
The distant mist had faded somewhat.
The pre-dawn darkness pressed heavily over the earth, making the sound of breathing inside the room thunderous like war drums.
Dawn would break soon.
He turned his shadowed face: “Men.”
Chu Ying’s suppressed chest immediately straightened.
……
The direction from which the arrows came soon went quiet; Yue Tang naturally knew Yan Bei had handled it from the shadows.
The direction from which the command came earlier was northwest of her, meaning the one in charge was in that direction.
After the opponents discovered the crossbowmen mishap, they immediately sent a whistle toward the northwest, further confirming her guess.
Yue Tang turned to look; after sending out several waves, only a dozen or so remained, but dealing with these defeated remnants wasn’t difficult.
She called to Wei Zhang: “Send someone ahead to search! Check those buildings—they must need high ground to observe! Report back to me immediately once found!”
Wei Zhang nodded.
Yue Tang leaped out of the formation and ran toward where Yan Bei was hiding.
But just as she lifted her foot, swishing wind sounds came from behind her head again!
In the darkness, she abruptly turned and saw dozens of shadowy figures charging into the alley!
These were all black cloth-masked, wielding sabres, clearly far more formidable than the guards below!
“Careful!”
She called out lowly and gravely, immediately assuming stance and raising her sword to deflect several cold gleams coming at her face. Mid-air she spun, about to order the guards to change formation to meet the enemy, but at that moment half of these men rushed into the alley!
And the remaining half perfectly blocked their escape route!
“They even use hidden weapons? These are clearly not Imperial Guards! They’re charging into the alley—they must have spotted the Prince and are going for him!”
A guard behind immediately recognized.
Yue Tang said, “Can you break through the Imperial Guards’ blockade? Send two people to check on Jiang Shao and Dou Yun!”
“The brothers who came in with the Prince told me their entry path; I should know the way—I’ll go check!”
A round-eyed guard wiped blood from his face, stabbing an enemy with his sword as he spoke.
Yue Tang grabbed him: “What’s your name?”
“Jiang Heng; Jiang Shao is my cousin!”
Yue Tang was moved: “Good! Go quick and come back quick!”
Jiang Heng nodded firmly, sheathed his sword, and swiftly withdrew from the fray.
Yue Tang thrust a sword at the enemies blocking northwest, then at the moment one hurled an iron claw, she used the momentum to leap onto the wall top and dashed straight toward the street-facing buildings in the northwest!
……
When news of Chu Xin’s poisoning reached Dou Yun’s ears, he immediately headed to the Supreme Court; he had just arrived at the mansion when he received the message sent by Yue Tang.
He had just grabbed the horse reins, long sword, and Imperial City Department dispatch order to head out when Jiang Shao arrived!
Guo Yin arrived just in time too, so Dou Yun had him go to the Imperial City Department to muster men, then went ahead with Jiang Shao to pursue Yue Tang and the others!
At the alley entrance, they ran right into the Imperial Guards blockading the road.
The two stepped forward to request entry but were blocked, immediately sensing something wrong; they retreated to discuss countermeasures and happened to run into the man Yan Bei sent back, instantly grasping how urgent the situation was.
But they could only fret; forcing their way would be defying the Son of Heaven! Who would dare saddle their master with that charge?
Pacing in circles, Dou Yun gritted his teeth: “The Mu Family can mobilize the Imperial Guards but might not dare openly kill our Princess; Brother Jiang, why don’t you go to the Imperial Guard to scout the situation—see what pretext they’re using? Is there a chance to get their Commander to withdraw the men?”
Jiang Shao slapped his forehead and hurried off.
But when he returned, his words dashed Dou Yun’s hopes: “The Mu Family mobilized under the pretext of apprehending criminals, following proper procedures; the Imperial Guard will only follow procedure!”
Dou Yun nearly ground his teeth to bits, and in rage smashed his fist against the wall; staring at the brick, he suddenly thought:
“How did the Prince and them get in?”
Jiang Shao said, “Of course by sneaking in. Back in Mobei, we followed the Prince into enemy camps as scouts from a young age!”
“Then that’s settled!” Dou Yun sheathed his sword. “We’ll take the men and sneak in too! I believe in the Princess’s abilities; as long as she breaks the encirclement, she can turn defeat into victory! What we need to do is ensure she has no worries at her back!”
Jiang Shao was stunned: “But how can we get so many in at once?”
“Split up! Such a large area—one person per spot, slip in when there’s an opening! Get in as many as can; those who can’t, stay and tangle them up!”
