Chapter 63: The Allusion of Zhou Papi

  Shen Qing led all the guards to a study room at the end of the third floor. His expression was serious as he said, "The prince's decree." The fourteen men knelt down simultaneously.

  "You've done very well, I'm delighted."

  The team members showed a delighted expression after being praised by the captain, but they also knew that this was not the point.

  "Now there's only a moment left until the end. You've rested for two hours, while they've been working hard for two hours. My order to you is to rush out, scatter them, and then run away without getting caught. Stop when the rooster crows. Go!"

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  When the assassins were pushing the last bookshelf with all their might, preparing to complete this round of sealing. Fourteen figures silently rushed out of a room in the corner without making a sound. They didn't run many steps before being discovered by the patrolling assassin in the corridor. The patrolling assassin saw that there were more than ten enemies and immediately blew the bamboo whistle on his mouth, while drawing out his wooden knife to charge forward.

  Fourteen enemies rushed down the corridor like a whirlwind, rushing down the stairs. The assassins at the entrance of the stairs didn't even draw their wooden knives, opening their arms and charging forward. Suddenly, they discovered that the opponents who charged forward had shiny blades in their hands, which were real deal. The assassins cried out in unison: "Foul! Foul!" Their movements slowed down involuntarily. What a joke, who was so bored to use wooden knives against real blades, this wasn't even a real fight, what's the point?

  Fourteen people rushed downstairs together, and the first thing they did was throw away the sharp blades in their hands, and then scattered in all directions.

  Upon hearing the alarm whistle, the assassins surprisingly did not rush out immediately, but instead continued to quietly push the bookshelves. Even the leader of the assassins didn't react until he had pushed a cabinet into the corner, at which point he came back to his senses and angrily shouted: "Take them all away!"

  The assassins, who had been crouching with their hands on the cabinet, slowly stood up, straightened their waists, and were about to make a run for it when many of them fell over. The fatigue from the night's exertions was finally taking its toll. If they had just kept pushing the boxes, that would have been fine. But now that they changed postures, the assassins immediately felt their waists, backs, legs, and arms all sore and unbearable, unable to muster any strength.

  The leader of the assassins looked at his subordinates, who were staggering about, and roared in anger: "Stabbing holes." The assassins pulled out three long needles from their shoulders, gritted their teeth, and stabbed them into their shoulders, thighs, and arms. After stabbing, the originally staggering assassins surprisingly stood up spiritedly, rushed out of the room like madmen, and chased after the enemy.

  This is a brief potential stimulation technique taught by Prince Yan to suppress physical discomfort, but with extreme side effects, and cannot get out of bed for three days after use.

  The leader of the assassins was thoroughly enraged, he didn't think he would be forced to use such a method. The entire floor could hear his roar: "Get me in pursuit, if you don't surrender, shoot arrows. As long as the lord is not hurt, the rest are irrelevant." He had adhered to the principle of peace for one night and finally collapsed at the last moment.

  When he saw the assassins rushing down the stairs with crossbows, Shen Qing let out a long sigh and blew three long whistles, signaling his men not to make unnecessary sacrifices.

  All the floors were being watched, Shen Qing and others were taken out one after another by the assassins, of course, having been depressed for a night, it was reasonable to suffer some small punches and kicks during the capture.

  Within a minute or two, all fourteen were marched downstairs and joined with those previously apprehended.

  The leader of the assassins had put on his upper garment, and with a face as calm as water, he was pacing back and forth in the hall, waiting for the second search to pass.

  Time is running out, and there's only a little more time left. However, two people have yet to be caught: Qin Lei and Shen Qing.

  Every time the stairs creaked with footsteps, the leader would look up with a nervous heart. But every time he saw his subordinates gesture that there was no one. He glared at the black-clad prince's guard, stifling his anger for not being able to use torture to extract a confession.

  Suddenly an idea flashed through his mind. He shouted to his attendants on the side: "Blow the whistle and assemble quickly."

  The attendants saw the leader's extremely defeated appearance and quickly picked up the bamboo whistle hanging on their chest, and a sharp whistle pierced the night sky.

  A moment later, all the black-clad assassins rushed down. The leader ordered his attendants to guard the entrance. Then he let everyone take off their masks.

  One by one the masks were lifted, and faces that had been flushed with excitement appeared. Everyone looked at each other, trying to figure out who among them was the 'enemy hiding in their own ranks' that the leader had spoken of.

  At this moment, a shout came from the edge, an assassin shouted: "The Fifth Prince!" Then, a black-clad man wearing the same uniform as them covered his face and rushed wildly towards the door. The assassin who had just spoken chased after him in a hurry.

  "Stop him!" The leader bellowed. The assassins swarmed up like a hive, helping their companion capture the deceitful guy.

  All that was seen was the man in black rushing to the door, but instead of running out, he climbed up a rope that had somehow fallen down, and swung onto the eaves of the attic like an ape.

  More than a hundred assassins crowded under the eaves, just as someone was about to shoot with a crossbow. The assassin who rushed out first cursed loudly: "You're crazy, Your Highness, you dare to shoot?"

  The assassins' minds were calmer after being stunned by the piercing hole. They hastily threw out their lassos and chased after the prince, climbing up.

  At this time, the sky was already showing a white belly. The young master had climbed up to the second eave and let out a long whistle: "You little ones, see who can catch me." After finishing speaking, he stepped on the night dew and crawled away on the roof ridge.

  The assassins were also very agile and fell behind the temple master, pursuing him relentlessly. In the end, they surrounded the temple master on the top of the library pavilion.

  The leader of the assassins felt a weight lift off his shoulders and laughed loudly from downstairs, saying: "Your Highness has been offended, please come down quickly, if you're hurt, I won't be able to bear the guilt."

  The people upstairs were silent, and the assassins on both sides did not dare to move forward, staring at the hall below with tiger-like eyes.

  "Oh oh oh......" Finally, the rooster's crowing started. At first, it was just a few, but soon all the roosters in the neighborhood began to crow. Daybreak had arrived.

  The leader of the assassins sighed quietly: "It's a close call." Just a little bit more and it would have been too late.

  The standing noble finally moved, he slowly stretched out his hand to the side of his ear and slowly lifted off his face mask, revealing an ordinary face.

  Although Qin Lei's days in the capital were not many, his demeanor at the welcoming ceremony had already been widely circulated. The hottest topic in the harem of the Central Capital was no longer the emperor's eastern expedition, but rather the so-called Little Song Yu, Qin Lei.

  So this is not Qin Lei, but a guard with a similar build to Qin Lei, named Shen Bing. Shen Bing bowed his fist and said loudly to the leader below: "My lord's order: This gentleman has yielded."

  Upon hearing this sentence, the leader's face turned pale instantly. A wave of fatigue hit him. He steadied himself by gripping the hilt of his sword.

  His subordinates were also like mourning for their parents, and many people simply sat down, burying their heads between their knees, not letting others see their expressions.

  The leader adjusted his mood and saw that his subordinates were beating the eggplant with gusto, so he bellowed: "Everyone line up!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked into the house.

  As soon as he entered the house, he saw a handsome young man in black sitting in the main seat smiling at him.

  The leader let out a bitter laugh, knelt down on one knee and said loudly: "Your humble servant Zhong Lai Kan pays his respects to Your Highness."

  Qin Lei smiled and raised his hand: "General Zhongli, please get up. You've been pressing down on this humble temple for too long."

  Zhong Li still didn't know that the one who had just shouted "Your Highness" was indeed His Highness. With a bitter smile, he stood up and said: "Your Highness is ingenious and unpredictable, Zhong Li can only sigh in admiration." Between his eyebrows, there was a hint of discontent.

  Qin Lei, however, was not the kind of person who would take advantage of a situation and then pretend to be innocent. With an apologetic expression, he smiled at Zhong Likan and said: "If it weren't for General Zhong's subordinates being too strong, I wouldn't have dared to confront you head-on, nor would I have resorted to such tricks. It's really not beautiful."

  His Highness's victory was well-deserved, and he still considered his feelings. Zhong Likan couldn't muster the interest to provoke him again. He smiled awkwardly at Qin Lei: "Your Highness is magnanimous, I am ashamed."

  Qin Lei stood up and patted his shoulder, smiling warmly: "A family doesn't speak of two families' affairs, let's go. The Crown Prince is waiting for us." After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked towards the door.

  The Crown Prince is waiting for us. This was what Zhong Likan had just told his subordinates a few hours ago.

  At this time, Wu Gongzi inadvertently said that his heart was bitter. He secretly sighed and followed Qin Lei with a refreshed spirit.

  In the eastern sky, a touch of crimson is painted across the clouds.

  A smile hung on Qin Lei's face in front of Shuxiang Pavilion.

  ~~~~~~~~~

  In the distance, by the wall of the courtyard, a half-grown boy in linen clothes was hugging two large roosters and grinning foolishly: "We've made a contribution, we've made a contribution."

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  The debt of 1900 has been repaid. I'm going to write off 2000 now. Wuuuuuuu~~~~~~~

  Everyone sees how miserable I am, don't you vote more and see where my limit is?

  P.S. Recently, the collection growth has slowed down a bit, so I hope those brothers and sisters who haven't collected yet will be generous and collect some. After all, I've written 170,000 words already.