Chapter 83: Kill For Me!
Success or failure hinges on this one move, so Du Yu naturally had to make full preparations.
Since Chu Xin knew he had found Yue Tang’s whereabouts, how could he possibly be completely at ease at this moment?
There was no need to even guess; from the moment he left the Chu Family, the Chu Family must have arranged for people to secretly tail him!
But how could Du Yu possibly let him succeed?
Once Chu Xin tracked him down, not only Yue Tang but also he himself would die.
So he left this group of people here; they could intercept the Chu Family’s troops before the matter was accomplished, and after he fully controlled the situation, they could also go to the Chu Family to deliver a message, letting Chu Xin come to inspect the results!
He had come to the Xu Family many times already and easily scaled the outer wall, then headed straight toward Qingyun Pavilion without stopping.
The people staking out in the afternoon had already scouted clearly: Yue Tang lived in this courtyard. She did not live with Xu He but instead lived separately with her attendants, which further proved his guess was correct!
Du Yu crouched on the wall top, involuntarily gripping the sword in his hand tighter, and lightening his breathing even more.
Yue Tang hugged her long sword at the wall corner, coldly watching the more than ten figures on the opposite wall top, and did not move.
Jiang Shao brought two people to surround her sides, and they also did not move.
Until Xiao Huo lightly and quietly jumped down from the rear window, crawled to her ear, and said, “Master, Master sent a message back. After Du Yu and the others set off just now, another horse carriage hidden in the dark followed behind! He said it looks like the Chu Family’s horse carriage!”
Yue Tang turned her head to glance at him.
Jiang Shao said, “Nine times out of ten, it’s Chu Xin.”
Yue Tang withdrew her gaze: “Did the Prince go to the Du Family?”
“Master’s message said the Prince is already waiting at the alley entrance outside the Marquis’s Mansion!”
Yue Tang nodded slightly, gazing at the two figures who had already landed ahead, and slowly said, “Go scout if it’s really Chu Xin. Come back and tell me!”
Huo Yun retreated along the original path.
Meanwhile, on Du Yu’s side, the two scouts ahead had reached under the eaves, peeked into the room with only a dim oil lamp lit by the window, made a hand signal back to the wall top, then split to both sides, heading toward the east and west side rooms where Huo Yun and Wei Zhang usually stayed.
Yue Tang raised her hand: “Go!”
The door was unbolted, which fit the daily habits of a noblewoman, making it convenient for servants to enter at any time to serve.
So Du Yu easily entered the door and even smoothly reached the room.
One lamp like a bean in the room, placed in the far room corner from the bed to avoid disturbing the sleeper.
The hazy glow filtered through the gauze canopy, outlining the figure of the person lying on their side on the bed.
His wildly pounding heart nearly jumped out of Du Yu’s throat!
Three years ago they had known Wei Zhang had likely escaped, and about half a year ago, he obtained some clues about Wei Zhang, almost confirming he was still alive.
It was also from then that the loose ends left by He Jianzhong and Zhang Shaode became a thorn stuck in his throat for a full three years.
This thorn had finally festered in the past two months, making him unable to eat or sleep well, his situation growing harder day by day, almost reaching a life-or-death moment!
And now was the time for him to completely remove this poisonous thorn!
Du Yu’s sword-holding hand trembled with excitement.
He stared tightly at the half-head of dark hair facing away from him, looked left and right, signaled his men behind to form a semicircle with him surrounding the bed, then slashed the gauze canopy with one sword, thrusting straight at the person under the bedding with another!
But his sword was still midway when he suddenly felt a chill from above his head!
Instinct from years in the military made him instantly tense his body, swiftly draw back, and retreat two steps!
A long sword stabbed straight down from above his head, aiming precisely at his crown! The sword-holder was not even wearing night clothes; a light-colored dress skirt swirled in the air with the falling motion!
Du Yu was greatly shocked inside; the heart that had been leaping wildly from excitement nearly burst into pieces.
He prided himself on decent martial arts, having trained for years with his father in the Imperial City Department and gained rich combat experience, but this ferocious momentum still caught him off guard for an instant!
In this shocked gap, the opponent had landed, stopping three steps away, back to the bed, facing him, her face full of dark clouds.
He had seen this face before at the birthday banquet tea ceremony and could absolutely never forget it!
“As expected, it’s really you!”
The answer was already crystal clear, yet a wave of guilt welled up from the bottom of his heart!
He had never seen this Princess in person before, but after Du Minghuan joined the Imperial City Department, he had mentioned Prince Duan countless times at home, saying he was imperial nobility, an existence the Du Family at that time could not reach!
So much so that whenever Du Yu encountered people serving at the Prince’s Mansion with his father before, he would involuntarily bow three points lower.
But now he faced Prince Duan’s own daughter!
She was the Current Dynasty’s sole Princess deeply favored by His Majesty!
And also the survivor who had escaped from the dire straits of being surrounded by a hundred people three years ago!
Such a tight assassination had failed; the person lying on the bed was not her, and the plan he had even kept from Chu Xin had been discovered by her!
His five viscera and six bowels shook in his abdomen; he could not believe he had failed again, after Fei Yun Temple, he had really failed again!
“Madam!”
The person in the bedding on the bed also sat up at this time, nimbly jumping to the ground and standing at his left rear.
Du Yu looked toward the voice, his pupils dilating again; this was a guard from Prince Jingyang’s Mansion, and moreover one of his close guards who had accompanied Yan Bei on multiple outings! As a relative, Du Yu could not have not seen him!
“Master!”
Another person flipped in through the window: “Counted them; including Du Yu, there are eighteen who entered the mansion. Fifteen here before our eyes, three still outside keeping watch, but they’ve already been subdued!”
“Very good.”
Yue Tang stepped forward two steps; the lamplight flashed in her eyes, turning into sharp cold blades. “Capture this beast! I want to execute him on the spot, dismember him with a thousand cuts, flay his skin, and draw his tendons!”
With those few words, Du Yu felt his flesh and skin spasm all over.
That day at the tea ceremony, she had not said a word, leaving after seeing Yan Bei; this was the only sentence she had spoken since appearing now.
Her figure looked no different from that day, but her current momentum and the killing intent emanating from her whole body were truly chilling!
But Du Yu had come prepared; how could he be so cowardly as to surrender without fighting?
The arrow was nocked and drawn; so what if they knew in advance?
And his father was bringing Imperial City Department troops from behind!
Seeing clearly only two people by her side, he instantly steadied his heart and roared, “Attack together! Kill for me!”
Afterward, the more than ten guards who entered with him instantly coordinated with him to form an encirclement.
In the small room, the onslaught of more than ten people was indeed fierce.
But Yue Tang sneered, held her sword and retreated, while the Prince’s Mansion guard stepped forward to block the guards’ attacks.
Du Yu assumed the two were protecting their master, so he leaped over the front guard, long sword straight at Yue Tang.
But unexpectedly, just as he rose, Yue Tang had already leaped up first; the snow-bright cold blade broke through the air, and then the sword tip plunged into his left chest with a puff!
Even as Du Yu dodged in urgency, this sword was about to pierce his shoulder blade.
Du Yu felt the pain, dodged behind a guard, and immediately thrust out another sword.
He pressed fiercely with every move; he did not believe that even using his full strength, he could not take down a mere woman!
No matter how legendary her prowess or famous her childhood master, how could she compare to him in the end?
Even if she let him escape three years ago, it only proved He Jianzhong and the others were truly incompetent.
But just as he attacked desperately, he felt a chill under his right flank, followed by heart-piercing pain, and his sword-holding right hand lost strength.
Until the long sword clanged to the ground, he saw Yue Tang’s sword blade still pierced below his collarbone; as he was still dazed, she suddenly drew the sword out and thrust heavily into his thigh!
The thigh was thick with flesh, and the thrust swift enough, making the sound of piercing flesh and blood even more piercing!
Du Yu could no longer hold on; his legs went soft, and as he rolled to the ground, blood flowed all the way.
The guards fighting the Prince’s Mansion guard, seeing him down, all panicked.
The guard first took down two, then Jiang Shao brought Huo Yun and several others in from outside the door; with inside and outside joining forces, they controlled the situation in an instant.
And Yue Tang’s sword blade had already pierced the flesh on Du Yu’s chest!
“Princess! Chu Xin is in the horse carriage at the alley entrance! And he seems to have locked onto the Xu Family as the target too!”
Huo Yun withdrew to Yue Tang’s side and quickly reported.
Du Yu, who was in pain, heard this and instantly lifted his head.
He knew Chu Xin would try to tail him, but he hadn’t expected it at this crucial moment… Good!
In any case, first join hands to kill the person before them!
He sneered: “You can’t escape!”
Yue Tang glanced sideways at him.
He continued: “Since I dared to come this time, I naturally made full preparations.”
He then looked at Jiang Shao and the others: “I know the Prince is secretly helping you, but tonight he’s probably too busy with his own affairs. He only has eyes for the child; A Li will entangle him so he can’t get away!
“As long as he can’t come personally, no one can keep you safe.”
Jiang Shao and the guards who came with him exchanged a glance but said nothing.
Du Yu took a deep breath and looked back at Yue Tang: “Besides the Chu Family people, there’s also my father leading Imperial City Department troops. You might say mobilizing large troops requires procedures, but right now you’re just a fake Top Scholar’s Wife; to kill you, a batch mobilized within our authority is enough.”
At this point, he tugged the corner of his mouth; even lying on the ground with a sword against him, he had regained some confidence!
Huo Yun gnashed her teeth: “Princess, let this subordinate slaughter him!”
But Yue Tang said: “Take people to secretly guard in the alley; don’t let the Chu surnamed one run! Then go tell your Master to bring Chu Yan over.”
Huo Yun was stunned: “Bring her here?”
“Do as I say.”
Yue Tang’s expression unchanged, her gaze still on Du Yu’s face, but the cold light in her eyes even sharper than before:
“I’ve changed my mind now. Since people have to die anyway, why not let them die one more?”
Huo Yun paused, then quickly withdrew.
Jiang Shao brought the crowd of guards to surround them: “Madam, shall we handle it?”
“No need,” Yue Tang even sheathed her sword, “The Du Family members repay kindness with enmity and are shameless; I want to personally peel off this thick skin of his to beat as a mourning drum for Du Minghuan!”
Du Yu nearly bit through his teeth and spat: “You think it’ll be that easy to succeed! If I’m not out in half a shichen, my father will lead Imperial City Department troops to arrest the impostor Top Scholar’s Wife for swindling and deceiving the public with lies!
“Princess Your Highness’s household registration file is destroyed; who in the world can vouch for you?
“You’re already on a dead end!”
Jiang Shao was furious and about to slap him, but Yue Tang stopped him: “Go out for me and check; seal off all news from here, don’t let a bit of wind leak. Then go see the situation on the Prince’s side now?”
Jiang Shao took a deep breath, nodded, took only one person with him, and left three to suppress the Du Family guards.
The outside quickly returned to silence.
Inside the room, Du Yu looked at Yue Tang and instead frowned.
By rights, with Chu Xin guarding the alley and his own father gathering Imperial City Department troops about to arrive, this situation could not be reversed by Yue Tang and her few people.
But she had just said she changed her mind; she could have held him hostage, yet she sheathed her sword, and even sent someone to fetch Prince Duan’s Heir Apparent Consort!
What exactly did she want to do?
He had already secretly prepared; as long as she dared to kill or take him hostage, he would immediately release a smoke signal to draw Chu Xin!
But he had even sent Jiang Shao and the others away; could there be a change on Yan Bei’s side?
Thinking of this, he propped his sword tip on the ground, stood up, and said with an uneasy heart: “Now you have no registry, not even as good as a commoner; if you dare kill me, when my father arrives, your crime will be doubled!”
Yue Tang walked to the bedside, opened the drawer, took out a household registration file, and spread the page stamped with the Imperial Clan Court seal before him: “The registry you say was destroyed—is this it?”
Du Yu first saw that seal and was stunned. Then seeing the name and birth details above clearly, he was utterly stunned!
“Where did this come from?!” He lunged forward without thinking.
Yue Tang withdrew her hand, kicking her right foot into his chest: “Kneel!”
Du Yu was kicked to the ground!
“This is impossible!” He crawled up and roared, “I clearly saw it soaked in water with my own eyes!
“This can’t be real!”
Yue Tang just snorted coldly, then closed it and placed it by her hand.
Du Yu began to shiver; he lunged forward again, staring wide-eyed at the vermilion endorsement and seal on the file’s cover!
But the Former Emperor’s vermilion endorsement on the cover was real!
The Imperial Clan Court seal was also real!
This household registration file bearing her real name as Princess Yongjia was genuine!
He did not know what was up with the one he had soaked that day; he only knew with this one before him, Yue Tang was still Prince Duan’s Mansion’s Princess!
She was the current Emperor’s elder cousin!
As long as she stood in the Imperial Court and pointed at his Du Family with one sentence: These are the murderers who tried to kill me!
Then the Du Family’s forty-three members would absolutely require more than forty-two coffins!……
Du Yu, who had been fully confident just now, suddenly felt darkness before his eyes, the world spinning!
