AWB Chapter 324 I Want to Make a Deal with His Highness
Chapter 324 I Want to Make a Deal with His Highness
This happened too suddenly.
"Your Highness!"
"Your Highness!"
Several voices rang out, but it was impossible to tell who was shouting. Before the voices had even faded, Zong Que's head slumped down heavily.
He remained in the same kneeling position, his body riddled with countless arrows and covered in blood. The fatal blow to his neck seemed to have extinguished his last vestige of life.
Cao Cheng reached out his bloodied hand toward Zong Que, but ultimately failed to reach the hem of his clothes. He fell down unwillingly and closed his eyes.
Feng Su, who was being held hostage, was so shocked that his knees went weak and he was so overwhelmed with emotion that he lost his voice for a moment.
Even Commander He stared in disbelief at the lifeless Zong Que, momentarily dazed.
A long sword was placed against Commander He's neck, and Commander He froze in shock.
The man in black had just learned about the deposed crown prince!
"Who are you? What do you want?" Commander He asked sternly.
The man in black did not answer him, but instead pushed him a few steps forward, walked up to Zong Que, grabbed his wrist, and put it between Zong Que's nose and nose.
Commander He's hands were shaking violently.
Zong Que had stopped breathing.
"Has Commander He completed his mission?" the man in black asked.
Commander He roared angrily, "Who are you? What is your purpose? Why did you kill the deposed crown prince!"
The man in black didn't reply, but slashed his neck with his hand.
Blood splattered out, and Commander He bent over, instinctively clutching his bleeding neck. He stared in shock at the man in black, his eyes almost bulging out. He moved his lips, wanting to say something, but no words came out. He fell heavily onto the deck, dying with his eyes wide open.
After killing Commander He, the man in black turned and glanced at the shocked Feng Su from afar. Suddenly, he stepped forward, picked up Zong Que's body, and jumped off the high deck with him on his back.
The imperial guards and assassins who were originally following Commander He all stopped. In the blink of an eye, the deposed crown prince and Commander He were both dead, and at the hands of an unknown person!
Feng Su suddenly realized what was happening. Before his hostage could react, he snatched the knife from his hand and shouted, "The deposed Crown Prince Zong Que and Commander He have died at the hands of assassins! You will all return to the capital with me at once to report back!"
Those present included not only the Imperial Guards brought by Commander He, but also assassins secretly arranged by Commander He, as well as people from the Ministry of Justice who had come with Feng Su. In the chaos just now, most of the Ministry of Justice's yamen runners were killed or injured, but there were still a few survivors. When they heard Feng Su's voice, they desperately surrounded Feng Su and protected him.
Upon seeing this, Deputy General Song, one of Commander He's lieutenants, shouted to the assassins, "You go and retrieve the body of the deposed crown prince. The rest of you, return to the capital with Vice Minister Feng to report back!"
In an instant, the assassins turned and jumped off the ship, disappearing without a trace.
Of the hundred or so imperial guards they brought, less than half remained. Although Deputy General Song was Commander He's confidant, he only knew that the mission was to kill the deposed crown prince and knew nothing else. Given the current situation, with Commander He's sudden death, if he were to return to report, he would likely be unable to explain himself and would certainly die. Therefore, it was still necessary to keep Vice Minister Feng alive.
He made a decision instantly, walked up to Feng Su, cupped his hands and asked, "I wonder how Vice Minister Feng intends to report to His Majesty?"
Feng Suyi said righteously, "Of course I am reporting the truth. Assassins boarded the ship. Commander He and the Imperial Guards were no match for them and died at the hands of the assassins along with the deposed Crown Prince Zong Que. Does Vice General Song have any questions?"
When Vice General Song realized that Feng Su's words indicated his intention to remove the Imperial Guards from the list, he felt somewhat relieved, thankfully he was a smart man.
Regardless of the truth, when it gets back to the capital, it will be told in a different way, and it's not up to them to decide now.
Deputy General Song replied, "Commander He personally confirmed that the deposed crown prince is dead, so I have no doubts. I will leave everything to Vice Minister Feng's arrangements."
Feng Su breathed a slight sigh of relief. What happened today was really hard to investigate in depth. Whether it was him or Deputy General Song, they had to stick to the same story if they wanted to survive.
Fortunately, that was the case. Commander He and the deposed crown prince both died at the hands of assassins. As for the identity of the assassins, that was not something he should investigate.
Feng Su still had questions in his mind. He didn't understand why the assassin would kill Zong Que in front of Commander He, and then kill Commander He himself, making it impossible to tell which side the assassin was on or who was ordering him.
But that's fine too; the less you know, the safer you are.
……
The area between the two banks of the Mi River is a continuous range of mountains. As darkness fell, in a cave in the mountains, the arrows on Zong Que's body were removed one by one. After a simple treatment, the man in black put a pill into Zong Que's mouth.
Then he turned around and lit the slightly damp grass and branches he had managed to find in the cave. After a while, a small fire finally started to burn.
Zong Que coughed twice, forcing his eyelids open to look at the back of the man in black. His voice was dry and cold.
“Sheng Junyi”.
The man in black stiffened slightly, turned around, stared at Zong Que for a moment, then suddenly smiled and removed his mask: "How did Your Highness recognize me?"
“When Ayao and I were young, our master told us that he had a junior brother whom he had never met, who had an extremely high talent for martial arts, especially in lightness skills. At such a young age, no one in the world could surpass him. In terms of seniority, Ayao and I should call you Junior Uncle.” Zong Que said slowly.
Sheng Junyi asked curiously, "Then how did Your Highness determine that it was me?"
“I have seen your footwork before, and I knew then that the person Master was talking about was you. And to be able to conceal your tracks all the way and easily climb up the deck several meters high, probably no one but you could do it.”
Sheng Junyi chuckled, "Your Highness flatters me, I am unworthy of such praise."
Zong Que's gaze sharpened slightly: "But I don't know why you saved me?"
“Even if I don’t save His Highness, His Highness has already made arrangements, hasn’t he?” Sheng Junyi tilted his head and looked into the shadows: “Commander Pei, come out.”
Pei Ji emerged from the shadows and stood beside Zong Que.
Sheng Junyi crossed his arms and looked lazily at Zong Que, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Your Highness knew from the beginning that His Majesty would definitely kill you. Along the way, he has set up countless traps. If Your Highness wants to live, the only chance is to die. Therefore, Your Highness will definitely die once in front of everyone. Otherwise, Your Highness cannot guarantee that he will not make a mistake and die in vain on the road to exile."
“There is no such thing as a perfect plan in this world. If you hadn’t saved me, my plan would not have been foolproof. Tell me, what is your purpose?” Zong Que had indeed made arrangements in advance, but the number of people he could deploy was limited. To rescue him from that situation, he would have to pay a huge price.
Of the dozens of men Cao Cheng brought, not a single one survived.
Cao Cheng had taken care of him since childhood and treated him like family. Now, he couldn't even find the other man's body.
Without Sheng Junyi's divine intervention, he couldn't guarantee he could have survived.
"Dealing with someone like His Highness is indeed easy," Sheng Junyi chuckled.
"I want to make a deal with Your Highness."