In the middle of the night, a sudden torrential rain began to fall on the mountain.
The carriage struggled to move forward in the bumps, in stark contrast to the cold rain outside the carriage. The heat flow inside Jiang Yun’s body rushed even more fiercely, and there was a faint trend that could not be suppressed.
Jiang Yun was once again unable to control himself, flexing his fingers and clenching his sleeves, sweating more and more from his temples.
The young Crown Prince’s black hair, which was tied up in a jade hair crown and hanging down from his neck, had been soaked with sweat. His skin, which was as fair as jade, faintly presented a white color.
This is an extremely breathtaking beauty.
Unfortunately, it was hidden in the darkness, so no one could see it.
The long, bumpy ride was a bit hard, even for strong and skilled martial artists like Gongsun Yang. He felt like his bones were about to fall apart, let alone the weak and sickly Jiang Yun.
Thus, seeing Jiang Yun clenching up his sleeves again and slightly bending his body, Fan Zhou could not think of anything else and only hoped to quickly pass through this mountain road and return to the smooth road.
Fortunately, after changing lanes, the journey had been smooth and uneventful. They had not encountered any other dangers or obstacles.
“Has the carrier pigeon not returned yet?”
Jiang Yun suddenly spoke up and asked lightly.
Gongsun Yang doesn’t have the answer.
Having said that, he was stunned because it had been a whole hour since the carrier pigeon had flown out, and when the letter was sent, they had just left the Chen Kingdom and were not too far away. According to the normal speed of Feiying Pavilion’s carrier pigeon, this round trip would only take at most half an hour.
Jiang Yun frowned.
It seems that, just as he guessed, something difficult to control may have happened in the capital of Chen.
If the other party has already succeeded and just simply rerouted, can he really reach Muyun Pass with no problems tonight?
Fan Zhou clearly saw through what he was thinking and said, “The carrier pigeons in Feiying Pavilion are all under the supervision of a dedicated person. If the carrier pigeons really encounter an accident, Feiying Pavilion will issue a warning signal as soon as possible. General Yun Huai will also receive timely information, so Your Highness doesn’t have to worry too much.”
Jiang Yun nodded.
For some reason, there is always a hint of unease floating in his heart.
It was an emotion that hadn’t been in him for a long time.
Until, accompanied by the heat flow in his body, he recalled the remote muscle memories again.
Jiang Yun leaned against the carriage window, trying to alleviate the rushing heat flow inside his body through the cold surge outside the window. At this moment, a faint sound suddenly passed through the heavy raindrops, pressing against the edge of the carriage windows and sliding past his ear.
The vigilance and sensitivity that Jiang Yun had developed since childhood made his shoulders and back straighten all of a sudden.
“Not good!”
“We have a problem!”
Gongsun Yang almost simultaneously drew his sword and turned over.
With a whoosh, countless cold arrows shot from the night, the horses roared, the carriage shook, and the guards shouted in unison to protect the Crown Prince, but in a very short time, their throats were strangled and they turned into cold corpses.
This is clearly a carefully arranged trap and assassination.
The other party even thought of this step.
Jiang Yun’s heart sank.
The carriage shook violently for a moment, and as the driving horse lost its breath and fell to the ground, it finally plummeted and stopped moving forward. The only remaining guards tightly guarded the carriage where Jiang Yun was located.
Gongsun Yang threw a sword at Fan Zhou and said, “I’ll go out, you stay inside to protect His Highness.”
Fan Zhou, a scholar, seriously lifted the heavy long sword, and stood in front of Jiang Yun, solemnly agreeing.
Without hesitation, Gongsun Yang wielded his sword and flipped out through the carriage window. Even with psychological preparation, Gongsun Yang was still shocked and had some ominous feelings as he watched the assassins with iron bows and long swords tightly packed in all directions.
Such an assassination scale is far beyond the reach of ordinary nobles and ministers and is likely to come from a professional assassin organization.
Gongsun Yang was born a knight errand with excellent martial arts skills. With a loud shout, he leapt into the rain against the dense rain of arrows and fought with the assassins dressed in black and masked with black scarves.
He fought one against ten, but he didn’t lose the slightest bit of ground, and in a short time, he chopped more than a dozen assassins under his sword.
Seeing that he was a powerful character, the assassins did not dare to be careless. On one side, they continued to shoot hidden arrows to delay his speed. And on the other side, they adopted the strategy of a closed formation with a dozen assassins attacking together from the front, back, left, and right, sealing off his path of retreat.
Jiang Yun’s forehead once again shed a wisp of hot sweat, his eyes as clear as crystal, silently gazing at the enclosed and dark space inside the carriage, unprecedentedly calm.
Gongsun Yang attracted most of the firepower, reducing the pressure on the guards.
Fan Zhou raised his sword and pushed open the carriage door, ordering the guards to replace the remaining horses to the carriage. He picked up the whip that had fallen on the mountain road and was stained with mud and water, and gave the horse a hard whip on its buttocks. He then drove along the narrow road opened by Gongsun Yang and ran wildly forward.
However, there were too many assassins, and this method did not last long.
Fan Zhou was shot by an arrow in his arm and rolled off the carriage.
The carriage, which had lost its coachman, continued to run rapidly. After an unknown amount of time, the cries of killing gradually faded away, and the sound of dense rain came crashing in. Accompanied by a brutal roar from the horses, the carriage came to a standstill once again.
The sound of rain became increasingly clear.
Accompanied by the sound of wind, swaying leaves of wood, and a profound and intangible killing intent.
“Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, please get off the carriage.”
Someone shouted loudly.
Jiang Yun let go of his grips on his sleeves, smoothed the hem of his clothes, got up, pushed open the carriage door, and slowly got off the carriage in a very elegant posture.
Rain immediately rushed to fall on his green robe and green hair crown.
He stood silently in the rain with his dark pupils gazing at the open area halfway up the mountain, as well as the dozens of assassins standing with swords around him.
The assassins probably didn’t expect that the person walking out of the carriage would be such a jade-like, fragile-looking, and breathtaking person like this, so they were momentarily stunned.
Jiang Yun even raised his eyes and calmly asked, “Are you here to kill me?”
“No.”
“We received the order to capture you alive.”
Shocked by this extreme beauty, one of the assassins responded in a rough voice for the first time.
Jiang Yun nodded.
“Thank you very much.” He said.
Since they want to capture him alive, there will be some scruples.
As far as he was concerned, it was enough.
The rain has already soaked through his green hair crown, and that jade-like face, being soaked by the rain, is as beautiful and holy as Guanyin.
He blinked and slowly pulled out a slender, silver flexible sword from his waist, saying, “Excuse me.”
**
Upon learning that Jiang Yun was not heading towards the capital city of Jiang, but had left the capital of Chen and headed northeast, Sui Heng immediately realized that the place Jiang Yun truly wanted to go was Muyun Pass.
“I didn’t expect him to be quite clever.”
Chen Qi took the initiative to take on the task of intercepting and killing as the first submission to the Sui Empire.
As promised by Chen Qi, he not only provided important military information about the first spy organization of the Jiang Empire, Feiying Pavilion, but he also provided core information related to the other five states in Jiangnan as well.
Sui Heng looked up to this person and couldn’t help but smile and ask, “The Second Prince is so talented, surely you will be doing well in Jiangnan. Why are you willing to work under Gu?”
Chen Qi’s eyes were full of sharpness as he said, “Good birds choose trees to inhabit, and good ministers choose masters to serve. For Ji Cai, Your Highness is the wise master that Ji Cai has long hoped for.”
“Is that so? Gu has heard that the nobles and scholars of the Jiangnan countries all worship Jiang Rongyu, who was ‘famous for his virtue all over the world’. Why don’t you go and be loyal to him?”
Chen Qi said, “That’s just a false reputation he deliberately created. In fact, this person has a narrow mind, poor character, and no talent or virtue. The so-called good names and virtues are all disguised and do not deserve to be the lord of Jiangnan. And Your Highness, who has made outstanding military achievements and is wise, is the Lord of the World that Ji Cai wants to be loyal to.”
Chen Qi also expressed his willingness to step forward and persuade the other five countries to pledge allegiance to the Sui and completely leave the Jiang in a state of isolation and helplessness.
Sui Heng immediately conferred upon him the title of Military Advisor.
This is already the highest position in the military of nations, except for the commander.
Due to the key information provided by Chen Qi, several important strongholds of Feiying Pavilion were severely damaged one after another, and the transmission of information from the front lines of Muyun Pass and the capital of Jiang was also cut off. Sui Heng immediately summoned the Sui army’s general to send 100,000 Sui troops to display on the northern bank of the Yellow River to take advantage of the fact that the Jiang’s army had not reacted, cross the river in the night, and take the Muyun Pass directly.
Muyun Pass is equivalent to the gateway to the northern border of the Jiang Empire. As long as they can capture Muyun Pass, the capital of Jiang is just around the corner.
Sui Heng’s most trusted confidant advisor by his side now was called Xu Qiao.
Xu Qiao said, “The Jiang Rongyu in this Chen Qi’s mouth seemed to be very different from the rumors. Could it be that this Jiang Yun is really just a hypocrite with a false reputation?”
“But this person can use the Golden Orchid Alliance to tightly unite the six kingdoms in Jiangnan and repeatedly sabotage Your Highness’s grand plan for the Southern Expedition, so he can never be a good-for-nothing idiot.”
Sui Heng disdained and said, “Even if he’s not an idiot, he’s just a scheming and treacherous villain.”
Fan Qi seldom saw his master evaluate someone with such gnashing of teeth and quietly asked Xu Qiao, “His Highness seems to hate that Crown Prince of the Jiang so much.”
Xu Qiao nodded and said, “His lord has fought invincible in all directions, but he has suffered several losses at the hands of the Crown Prince of Jiang. Two years ago, during the battle of the Yellow River crossing, he was almost shot in the right eye by his advisor. Although the arrow ultimately fell on his lord’s arm, it still made him unable to pull his bow for a whole month. How could his lord have suffered such great shame? Last year, his lord attempted to capture the Jiang Empire, which occupied the northwest fortress of the Yellow River. However, this person used a trick and obstructed him, almost defeating the lord’s elite vanguard. The lord’s ambition for the world, and this land in Jiangnan, will eventually be included in the territory of Sui. If it weren’t for the Crown Prince of Jiangnan’s so-called virtue and reputation to recruit countless famous scholars, establish the Golden Orchid Alliance, hold the Liushang Banquet, gather the Jiangnan countries together, and form the so-called Golden Orchid Alliance, the iron cavalry of the Great Sui would have crossed the Yellow River long ago and driven straight down already.”
Fan Qi didn’t believe it and snorted, “Isn’t that guy the best at using so-called moral names to win people’s hearts? Perhaps these strategies were all thought up by his group of advisors.”
What Xu Qiao was thinking makes sense.
If Jiang Yun really had the reputation as rumored, a talent like Chen Qi would not disdain and despise him so much, even with a strong sense of disgust and hatred.
“What does Your Highness plan to do next?”
Sui Heng slowly put away his sword and said, “Go to Muyun Pass.”
With the help of Chen Qi, he could lead this team of iron cavalry to cooperate with the Sui army outside the pass and win the Muyun Pass with the fastest speed and minimal casualties.
Xu Qiao and Fan Qi were both energized.
When the two of them wanted to leave, Sui Heng suddenly frowned, and he showed something unusual on his face.
“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”
Sui Heng looked at Fan Qi with compassion and asked, “When Gu first came in, what incense did you burn in the hall?”
Fan Qi was taken aback and said, “They said it’s a stimulant that allows one to act in a way… this subordinate is just trying to get Your Highness a chance to relax, just-just…”
“Stupid.”
In just a short moment, Sui Heng’s body burned like fire.
Xu Qiao already knew that Fan Qi had taken the authorization to lead the Kunjun to the palace before dawn and frowned. “This subordinate afraid that those Kunjun doesn’t have the guts to do that, most likely it has something to do with that Guozhu of Chen. His move, ahem, should also be to carry favor with Your Highness.”
“This old thing, if it weren’t for his little bit of usefulness, Gu would have cut him into five pieces already.”
Sui Heng clenched his fist and sat down with a gloomy expression, pointing at Fan Qi. “Go and chop off all those Kunjun’s heads, seal them in a box, and give them to that old man. Let him eat with them on the table, sleep with them by his pillow, and never throw them away, even for a moment.”
“Yes…”
This method even made Fan Qi shudder uncontrollably.
Before leaving, he saw Sui Heng sitting with his head down, and the veins on the back of his hands popped up, so he had the courage to ask in a low voice. “But-but shall I go and pick a few Kunjun to come over?”
Sui Heng looked up and fiercely gouged him out.
Fan Qi shuddered and thought to himself: What time is it already? His Highness should still choose a few of them.
Fan Qi suddenly thought of another person, his eyes sparkling, and he quickly said again, “How about this subordinate go and call the Crown Prince of Wei?”
This should not tarnish His Highness’s identity.
Sui Heng took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice, “Get lost.”
Fan Qi had to leave the main hall with Xu Qiao and couldn’t help but say, “How long will it take to get by by enduring like this? There’s an ‘antidote’ readily available, but His Highness doesn’t want to use it. I don’t know why His Highness is so stubborn. This is clearly a normal desire for a man. No matter how good Young Master Yan Qi is, His Highness also shouldn’t have to protect his body for him like this ba…”
Xu Qiao gave him a glare, gesturing for him not to speak recklessly.
Fan Qi also realized that he had made a mistake and was so scared that he stopped speaking and dared not speak again.
And the poor Guozhu of Chen, who had just woken up, was humming and groaning as the palace attendants fed him medicine. Seeing the boxes containing bloody heads, he rolled his eyes and fainted again.
**
The heavy rain in the mountains is still continuing.
Jiang Yun was dressed in a green robe, holding a flexible sword, and standing on the empty ground halfway up the mountain. His black hair was already wet and tightly pressed against his thin shoulders. Around him lay dead bodies that had been pierced by a sword.
Raindrops fell on his calm eyes, refreshing those warm and beautiful crystal-like eyes. His overly gentle and calm temperament is out of place with the crimson stain on his flexible sword.
The remaining assassins looked at each other, still in a fan-shaped position, and scattered around. They clearly did not expect that the rumored weak and sickly Crown Prince of Jiang could still conceal such formidable martial arts skills.
“Pardon, I can’t let you guys leave.”
Jiang Yun’s figure flickered like fallen leaves in the rain. The flexible sword, which swam like a snake, had already entangled the throat of a person half a zhang away. The assassin who was entangled opened his eyes wide and felt a chill in his neck. He didn’t even have time to scream, and he collapsed.
After a moment, only corpses were left on the vast mountainside.
Jiang Yun stumbled and bit his lip forcefully, then stabilizing his figure.
Due to the use of internal energy, the turbulent heat flow inside his body has reached an uncontrollable point, almost dispersing his mind. It was obviously a cold, icy rain in the mountains, but his skin was hot as rock, and he was constantly sweating hot sweat.
Jiang Yun barely discerned the direction, it was a half-mountainside, immediately connected to a mountain path, and on one side of the mountain path was a deep, bottomless cliff.
Since the other party has carefully set up such an ambush, they wouldn’t let him escape easily.
Jiang Yun took a deep breath, walked to the side of the mountain road, took off the jade pendant that symbolized his identity of the Crown Prince of Jiang at his waist, hung it on a dead tree beside the road, cut another corner of his clothes, stained with blood, and threw it at the side of the road. He looked up to recognize the direction. In the face of the rainstorm, he put away his flexible sword, stepped on the muddy mountain road, and headed for the top of the mountain.
Chen Qi personally brought people to chase after him.
All of the Jiang Empire’s guards have been killed in action, and the carriage that the Crown Prince of Jiang was riding has been broken off in the mountain path. Two accompanying advisors, Gongsun Yang and Fan Zhou, were seriously injured and fled, except for the Crown Prince of Jiang, Jiang Yun, who disappeared without a trace.
Soon, his underling presented the jade pendant and piece of cloth he found on the cliffside.
“The Crown Prince of Jiang is likely to have fallen off a cliff and died.”
His underling came to a conclusion.
This conclusion is very convincing. The Crown Prince of Jiang does not have martial arts skills and has lost his fleeing carriage and loyal guards. Faced with extremely vicious assassins, he has no defense at all. It is very likely that during the escape, he panicked and fell off the cliff.
Chen Qi did not believe it, he did not believe that Jiang Yun would die so easily.
But because all the assassins involved in the operation have died, he is unable to personally verify this matter.
Chen Qi led his men to flip the entire mountain peak but still found nothing.
“Second Prince, are we still searching?”
Standing on the peak of the stormy mountain, his trusted subordinate carefully asked.
Chen Qi’s gaze was cold, and he said, “Take people to continue searching under the cliff.”
He wants to see the person if he’s alive, and he wants to see the corpse if he’s dead. The first petition he offered to the Sui army had to have a tangible result for it to work. This way, his career path in the Sui will be smooth and unobstructed in the future.
Besides—
He hasn’t let this person taste the feeling of being stepped on in the mud yet. How could the person die just like this?
Xu Qiao and Fan Qi led a group of heavy cavalry and subsequently arrived.
Chen Qi dismounted and saluted them. Xu Qiao smiled and said, “Military Advisor Chen, there’s no need to be too polite. We’ll be colleagues in the future, and it’s necessary to take care of each other.”
Chen Qi hesitated and glanced around, asking, “What about His Highness?”
Xu Qiao said vaguely, “His Highness just discovered a spotted deer on the mountain and suddenly became very interested. He went to hunt the deer.”
Sui Heng naturally wasn’t having a brain fart to go hunting some deer on a stormy day. Rather, it was because he does not know what’s going on. Even after taking the antidote, the dry heat still accumulated in his body, unable to dissipate.
So he left everyone behind and rode his horse up the mountain alone, galloping in the cold rain.
This place is located on the border of the Chen Kingdom.
And the entire Chen Kingdom was almost under the Sui army’s control.
Sui Heng ran half of the mountain with great enthusiasm and was drenched in heavy rain. The heat and dryness in his body finally calmed down a bit. He identified the direction and rode his horse from the top to the bottom of the mountain.
After going for not much farther, he suddenly keenly smelled a special scent floating in the air.
It was refreshing and clean, with an indescribable flavor, like a lotus flower in its first bloom after rain, but like a spark falling into a frying pan, it made his blood boil all over his body.
This is—
Sui Heng frowned and immediately sneered in his heart.
Good, those people are getting bolder and bolder. How dare they plot against him at such a time?
He endured the discomfort, raised his sharp, long eyebrows lightly, followed the scent, and rode his horse closer, wanting to see what other rubbish these people had prepared for him. They even went to such great lengths as to throw them in the mountains to “lure” him.
Not far away, he saw a thin green shadow under a rocky mountain wall.
Like a green lotus, blooming in the dark mountains.
Probably took a lot of effort.
Sui Heng sneered even more.
He sat high on the horse, looking at him from afar through the rain curtain, and saw the figure hanging his head, leaning against the stone wall. The silk green robe was soaked by the rain and pressed tightly against his skin. The exposed arms and neck were as fair as jade, emitting a jade-like luster in the dark night.
That does seem a little pitiful.
Are they going to lure him to be a hero to save the beauty?
Sui Heng narrowed his eyes and suddenly showed some interest. He drew the wolf head sword from his waist, rolled over, and dismounted, then slowly walked to the stone wall. The tip of the sword, almost lightly, lifted Jiang Yun’s chin up.
The delicate and stunning face caught his eye without any warning.
Sui Heng was stunned for a moment.
Lowering his eyebrows, he coldly asked, “Who sent you over?”
Jiang Yun was forced to look up, his chin pressed against the cold sword, and he blinked in confusion. The mist on his eyelashes dissipated slightly, revealing a pair of eyes that were as clear as crystal, washed away by the rain, and they were as beautiful as celestial being.
Due to the torment of internal heat flow, the fair skin of the young man has already been dyed a faint rosy color. Bean-sized sweat droplets mixed with rainwater flow all the way from the temples into the collar, exuding a silent temptation in the dark rain curtain and muddy mountains.
Sui Heng’s adam’s apple rolled uncontrollably.
Immediately, he fiercely asked, “Do you know what will happen if you seduce Gu?”
Jiang Yun’s mind had already disintegrated. Upon hearing this, he simply followed his instincts and raised his hands, firmly gripping Sui Heng’s wrist. His watery eyes trembled gently, as if pleading.
Sui Heng frowned.
He still wants to say something else. But the next moment, Jiang Yun had already wrapped himself around him, his arms unconsciously wrapped around his waist, his hot body tightly pressed against his cold armor, as if a fish in the desert was about to die of thirst searching for a source of water, tightly entwined with him.
Sui Heng: “……”
This intimate physical contact made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
However, he didn’t know if it was the refreshing lotus fragrance that caused it or not. He surprisingly didn’t resist, and even the accumulated heat in his body dissipated a bit.
Just the lower body is getting more and more stuffy and swollen.
This is a sign that goes without saying.
“Hey.”
The proud Crown Prince of the Sui Empire clearly couldn’t accept that he might have been really bewitched by a wild goods that had emerged along the way. Thus, he hoarsely shouted in displeasure.
Yet the hand holding his waist tightened even more.
The burning youth who was clinging to him even lifted his watery eyes, the tails of his eyes turning red and giving him a slightly aggrieved look.
Sui Heng’s heart felt as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer, and he couldn’t help but let go of his hand. His wolf head sword fell to the ground with a clang.
Not far away, with a loud bang, the long-accumulated mountain flood finally roared in. Sui Heng’s ears are so sensitive, and he wanted to fly away from this place, but his body was still being tightly entangled by someone. In the moment of stagnation, he had missed the best opportunity to escape. Sui Heng turned around, and without hesitation, brought Jiang Yun with him to jump down. Together, they fell into the bottomless cliff below.
