Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 54: The First Wave of Assassinations

Today, Yu Jingyan encountered the first wave of assassinations since he went south. He had been walking for five days and would reach his destination in two more days.

Normally, if they wanted to assassinate him, they should have done it earlier. It should have been on the third or fourth day, as the mountain roads they traveled on those two days were very suitable for ambushes and killings. For some reason, he had already reached a flat plain, and the assassination began.

In fact, the eldest prince did not intend to take action against Yu Jingyan this time. If Yu Jingyan could cure the water, the Gan River Basin would be his granary when he ascended the throne. If he could not cure the water, he would submit a memorial to the emperor and ask him to be punished for dereliction of duty. In any case, he would not lose out.

Moreover, if Yu Jingyan was assassinated, his father would definitely think of him, and at most the second prince would be a suspect. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was the one who had a vested interest in eliminating dissidents. The emperor was still healthy, had sharp eyes and ears, and a flexible mind, so he would not make mistakes in judgment.

He does not have the strength to compete with his father now. In addition, there is Concubine Yun. That evil concubine is very powerful in using poison. He has not seen it with his own eyes, but it is said to be miraculous. Even his mother has suffered from it. If anything happens to Yu Jingyan, she will not forgive him, so he did not arrange the assassination before.

But Yu Jingyan's marriage was certain, and the eldest prince was panicked. The Duke of Dingguo's mansion had military power, and Concubine Yun was favored. What did he have? His mother embroidered handkerchiefs in the palace every day, unable to speak, and could not leave the palace. If Yu Jingyan succeeded in flood control this time and had merits, even if the emperor directly appointed him as the prince, the court officials would definitely not object, but he didn't even have a way to deal with it.

Therefore, even though Yu Jingyan had already walked out of the range suitable for assassination, he had to take action, not to take Yu Jingyan's life, but only to disrupt his schedule and increase the difficulty of his water control.

It would be even better if he could get slightly injured.

There were about fifty people in Yu Jingyan's group, including more than ten flood control officials and more than thirty attendants and guards. It was impossible for them to hide their tracks along the way. Moreover, they were carrying out their duties under the emperor's order, so there was really no need to hide.

So it is easy to know where they go.

At dusk, people and horses were tired. There was a post station about ten miles away according to the map, so Yu Jingyan ordered to stay there for the night.

When everyone heard this, they could take a break immediately and cheered up. At this moment, a group of men in black jumped out of the trenches on both sides of the official road.

"Ding Heng, protect the adults and go to the post station." After Yu Jingyan said this, he took the lead and rode back. The assassin must be coming for him. As long as he is not with the adults, they will be safe.

"As you command." Ding Heng led a dozen guards to form a protective fan, surrounding the dozen or so officials from the Ministry of Works, and continued to move forward along the official road. "Ding Zong, you protect the officials." After saying that, he followed behind the group to cover their retreat.

The men in black did not all chase after Yu Jingyan. They at least pretended to be chasing after the men on horseback. They were able to swing a few swords at first, but later they were left far behind.

The man in black blew a sharp whistle, and dozens of horses hidden not far away ran towards them. The man in black jumped on the horse and turned around to chase Yu Jingyan.

If Yu Jingyan's Wuying wanted to run, these horses together would not be able to catch up, but Yu Jingyan wanted to catch all these men in black in one fell swoop, so Wuying slowed down the speed so that the men in black would think that they could catch up if they just went a little faster, but they could never catch up, so he kept running forward to lag behind them.

Ding Zong, with a dozen guards, followed the man in black closely.

The sky gradually darkened. In front of us was the small town of Shulan. Outside the city was a mudflat surrounded by dense shrubs. This was where we were.

Yu Jingyan took off the jade whistle hanging on his chest and blew it gently, but there was clearly no sound. However, seven or eight figures suddenly appeared and quickly attacked the black-clothed men who were chasing them. Each of them won with one move.

All of them were knocked unconscious. In the blink of an eye, more than thirty people fell off their horses. Then seven or eight figures clasped their fists and disappeared without a sound.

Yu Jingyan's martial arts are his trump card. He will not use them easily unless it is absolutely necessary.

When Ding Zong and Kuai Lai Kuai Qu arrived with the guards, they saw men in black lying on the ground and dozens of horses circling in place. Their Sixth Prince pulled a handful of grass and fed it to Wuying. Wuying hid his head to the left in disgust, then to the right.

"Your Highness, what's going on?" We came here to take part in a fierce battle and were prepared to get hurt, but how did we suddenly end up cleaning up the battlefield?

A clever guard jumped off his horse and felt the breath of the men in black. He felt a few and found that they were not dead. They seemed to be all dead.

"Ding Zong, take a few people with you and escort these people to Shulan City. Tell the magistrate of Shulan City to detain them in secret without interrogating them. If any news leaks out, let them go and plead guilty to the emperor themselves."

"Yes, Your Highness." Ding Zong clasped his fists.

"Go quickly, take my token and go with Ding Zong. I don't need to teach you what to say." Yu Jingyan took off a black iron token from his waist and handed it to Kuai Go.

"I know." Kuai went to take the token. He had been with the master for more than ten years. If he didn't know what to say, he didn't deserve to be called Kuai.

Over the years, the two servants have been trained and are now responsible for all matters concerning him. They are usually sent out to carry out his orders and are very handy.

The guards moved very quickly. They tied up the hands and feet of the men in black, threw them onto horses, made them lie on the horses' backs, and then each of them pulled several horses and rushed to Shulan City silently.

"You rest in the city for one night and catch up with the team tomorrow morning." Asking for the city gate to be opened once or twice could easily attract spying from those who were interested.

"Yes, sir. Take care, master." Kuaiqu got on the horse and looked back at Kuailai. Kuailai turned his head away arrogantly and didn't look at Kuaiqu. What kind of look was that? Don't you trust me to take care of the master? Humph.

Yu Jingyan ignored the two men's quarrel, jumped on his horse, led the rest of the people, and galloped towards the post station.

Before he lured the enemy, he gave the pigeon that Ali gave him to Ding Heng. At this time, he didn't know whether it had eaten the millet. Ding Heng was a rough man, did he know how to feed the pigeon? Every day he held the millet and peas in his hands to feed it.

The pink little mouth pecked his palm again and again, making him feel itchy, as if the one pecking his palm was not a pigeon, but his little A-Li.

When little Ali was three or four years old, he was tired of playing with himself and would sit there watching his two mothers fighting. As he watched, he would fall asleep, with his head lowered from time to time like a little pigeon pecking at rice.

Sometimes, he would hold her head to make her feel less tired. Sometimes, he would just look at the hair that was curling up on her head. When she was about to fall, he would hold her in his arms and let her lean against him to sleep.

Little A-Li has grown up. They have been separated for six years, but they still love each other as much as before, as if they had never been apart. It is wonderful to be childhood sweethearts.