Li Chengqian was ultimately exhausted. He lay in his chair and fell asleep. Yun Ye removed his cloak and covered him with it, then took Hong Cheng’s cloak to drape over himself. The mountain nights were cold with heavy dew—it wouldn’t do to fall ill. A fifteen-year-old youth carrying the worries of a fifty-year-old man—who knew whether this imperial wealth and nobility was ultimately good or bad for him? Father and son couldn’t call each other father and son but had to address each other as ruler and subject. To obtain power required advancing along a fixed route, just like an old donkey pushing a millstone with its eyes covered, thinking it was moving forward when in fact it was just going in circles.

Lingnan was an enormous piece of fatty meat. Li Anlan couldn’t swallow it, Yun Ye couldn’t swallow it, and even pulling in the Crown Prince, they still couldn’t swallow it. The benefits were too great. Fortunately, there were plenty of people among the noble families with good appetites. Dragging some of them in, with their substantial foundations, should be able to protect Li Anlan from trouble. The academy would naturally get involved too—this was the main source of future funding. They didn’t need Zhang Liang—this person brought more ruin than success. Having an overly aggressive shareholder join in was not a good thing. Li Xiaogong’s old veterans wouldn’t need to be returned. When Yun Ye borrowed things, when had he ever had the bad habit of returning them?

When Old Li initially lent them out, there was no reason to take them back. Lady Li from the Li family had come to visit Grandmother some time ago and they had muttered together in the room for a long time. Who knew how many benefits she had extorted from the Yun family? When she left, she was all smiles, and even pinched Xinyue’s face, saying something about how fresh and juicy a new bride was, that pinching her would squeeze out water. That damned old woman—even taking advantage of my wife.

In any case, the household registry had grown by over a hundred more people. As a marquis, having four or five hundred household troops in the family—wasn’t that somewhat excessive?

“If you want to come over, then come over. I won’t bite. What are you hesitating for?”

Hong Cheng wasn’t resting. Seeing Yun Ye deep in thought, he circled around him. Several times he wanted to approach but forcibly held himself back, looking pitiful.

“Marquis Yun is thinking up a plan for us to get rich. We dare not disturb him. If a good idea gets lost, everyone will suffer a great loss.” Hong Cheng gave a dry laugh as he edged closer. This fellow wasn’t stupid—he knew this business venture would have significant entanglements and absolutely couldn’t be done by one family alone. There were too many connections involved.

“Figured it out? Know that you’ll be in the spotlight this time—not only representing the imperial house, but with countless wealthy landowners backing you? Better than that useless position in the Bai Qi Si, right?” They were all shrewd people, so Yun Ye laid things out plainly.

“I, Old Hong, never imagined going to a barbarous wilderness could bring such incredible fortune. Thank you, Marquis Yun.” Hong Cheng was the type who generally didn’t thank people. He had always been the sort who dipped dry fingers in salt—would absolutely never owe favors, to avoid having psychological burdens when settling accounts later.

“Old Hong, you owe me a favor. I want you to repay this favor to Shouyang. I’ve wronged her greatly. No matter what, I need you to guarantee her safety and let her live out the rest of her life happily. Of course, if some blind fool wants to take advantage of her, kill him for me, and I’ll owe you one.”

Hong Cheng couldn’t possibly be unaware of the entanglement between Yun Ye and Princess Shouyang. As long as it didn’t relate to the imperial family’s security, he didn’t care about killing one or two people.

The horizon was faintly whitening, and distant rooster crows had already sounded. For Yun Ye, the most agonizing day had finally arrived. After breakfast, Li Er would set out to return to the palace. Yang Fei and Yin Fei, however, wouldn’t return—they needed to stay until the craftsmen had completely changed all the water in Taiye Pool before going back. On this point, Yun Ye gained new understanding of Li Er. He didn’t fear danger, nor would he transfer danger onto his wives and children. He would brave mountains of knives and seas of fire alone. A very responsible person.

Pushing Chengqian awake, then sprinkling some cold water on him, not brushing off the dust on his body—creating the image of a good son who had rushed thousands of miles to protect his father. Hong Cheng envied that Li Chengqian had someone to help him. His own whole body had been soaked by dew, with no one to pity him.

“No need to keep sprinkling water on the Crown Prince. I know of my son’s hardship. To refine deceptive tricks to such a degree—only you, Yun Ye, could do such a thing. Crown Prince, you must not learn these things from him. Being so shifty and indirect isn’t honest.”

Li Er had appeared on the balcony at some unknown time, craning his neck to look down, without a trace of an emperor’s bearing.

“Young man, have you arranged my itinerary properly? Better put some thought into it, otherwise if I suffer misfortune, you won’t have it easy either.” Li Er’s words were spoken lightly, not taking the assassination attempt seriously. He himself had climbed out from piles of corpses—he had seen such scenes many times. He had strong confidence in himself. Moreover, preparations had been made beforehand. If something still happened, dying would be deserved.

“Your subject has arranged three horse carts—one luxurious, two ordinary. The number of guards is the same. It just depends which one the assassins will attack.” Yun Ye said to Li Er.

“Which one do you plan to have me ride in?” Li Er stroked his beard and looked at Yun Ye with contempt. Whichever one he rode in would be dangerous. Young people handling affairs were just reckless. If they really did as he said, the assassins would laugh themselves to death.

“Your Majesty won’t ride in any of them. Your subject will first capture the assassins, then Your Majesty can depart. The decoy convoy will set out in another hour. If there’s no danger, it will proceed directly to the palace. If there is danger, this time the assassins won’t escape even if they grew wings.”

Li Er nodded. This approach made sense. Emperors weren’t meant to be used as bait.

A Yun family retainer suddenly ran over and spoke a few words in Yun Ye’s ear. Yun Ye gave several instructions, and the retainer left to carry out orders. Yun Ye looked up at Li Er and said: “Your Majesty, perhaps such trouble won’t be necessary. A tenant farmer has discovered the horse cart carrying the crossbow carts. Your subject has already had the household troops surround the market. Although we don’t know which shop the criminals are hiding in, under General Hong’s search, they will surely have nowhere to hide.”

Li Er wasn’t surprised. He merely waved his hand letting Yun Ye and Hong Cheng handle the matter, called the Crown Prince up, and prepared to thoroughly question him about this solo relief mission, which also contained an element of examination.

Dou Yanshan always placed himself in a safe location. Zhou Dafu managing the shop was sufficient. This was a nine-deaths-one-life mission. Not only did Zhou Dafu show no sign of fear, he was incomparably excited. Just thinking that an emperor was about to die by his own hand made his whole body tremble with agitation. Sitting in the small attic, he recalibrated the angle of the eight-ox crossbow once more. Six siege bolts launched at close range—even an immortal would lose his life.

He touched the head of the youth operating the other eight-ox crossbow beside him and said warmly: “Boy, your father was killed by that dog emperor, and your mother took her own life over this matter. The dog emperor owes us a blood debt deep as the sea. Today will bring resolution. Your parents’ spirits in heaven will be gratified. Don’t be afraid in a moment—Uncle is with you. Together we’ll kill the dog emperor and leave our names in history.”

The youth gripping the enormous wooden mallet seemed even calmer than Zhou Dafu. He said to Zhou Dafu: “Uncle Zhou, in a moment I just need to smash the trigger mechanism down with the hammer and the crossbow bolts will fly out, right?”

“That’s right. As soon as you smash down, the dog emperor will die. Your father and mother…”

Before Zhou Dafu could finish speaking, the youth interjected: “I barely saw my father a few times. My mother only knew how to cry all day and couldn’t do anything. When my father died, my mother strangled herself. Just two useless people. Killing the emperor is just something I should do as their son. After this matter is done, Uncle Zhou, don’t come looking for me again. Otherwise I’ll kill you. I just want my mother to stop bothering me in dreams. I still want to marry and have children, live a good life. Having such dreams all the time won’t do. Whether this succeeds or not, this is the only time.”

Zhou Dafu looked at the youth’s cold eyes and involuntarily shuddered. If the two of them escaped, Zhou Dafu had no doubt this wolf-like youth would eliminate him. Thinking this, he retreated two steps and stood behind his eight-ox crossbow without speaking.

The thin mountain mist slowly settled over the market. Shadowy figures had already begun bustling about. The market at the Yun Family estate always opened very early—diligent merchants had already started preparing to open for business.

The leopard-like youth suddenly said to Zhou Dafu: “We’ve been discovered. Many people are coming.” Zhou Dafu’s heart jumped. He lifted a corner of the hemp curtain to look outside. The market surface was calm and still—nothing seemed wrong. He couldn’t help but turn to look at the youth.

The youth smashed the trigger mechanism with one hammer blow. The siege bolts whistled toward several people in the middle of the market. Two people didn’t dodge and were pinned alive to the ground by siege bolts. Another siege bolt brushed past someone’s back and with a whooshing sound pinned into the bluestone road, its tail feathers torn and shattered by the violent recoil, flying everywhere.

Countless figures rushed out from various shops and surged toward Zhou’s fish shop. Taking advantage of Zhou Dafu’s dazed moment, the youth again used the wooden mallet to smash Zhou Dafu’s eight-ox crossbow trigger. Three more siege bolts flew out, instantly opening three bloody paths through the dense crowd. Looking at corpses strewn everywhere, the youth gave a cold laugh. His hand rose and the huge wooden mallet smashed into Zhou Dafu’s head. His skull shattered instantly, and his whole body collapsed to the ground like a heavy sack. One eye that had been knocked out fell to the ground, still bearing a confused expression.

The youth again lifted his hammer and smashed Zhou Dafu’s face until it was completely unrecognizable. He removed his blood-soaked garment and covered Zhou Dafu’s head with it. With a light leap, he grasped the attic’s top beam. His waist and abdomen exerted force, and feet over head, he slid onto the roof. The roof ridge gave him excellent protection. Snake-like, he slid across Zhou’s fish shop. While the archers patrolling the opposite rooftop launched attacks on the remaining black-clothed men in the fish shop, he nimbly crossed ridge after ridge to reach a small butcher shop at the market’s edge.

He leaped down from the skylight without the slightest hesitation, took a pig-butchering knife from the rack and thrust it into the heart of a bound fat pig. A few drops of blood splattered onto his blue hemp clothing. Only then, satisfied, did he loosen the rope binding the pig’s mouth, allowing it to emit its final wails.

The pig was wailing, but the youth was weeping, murmuring to himself: “Mother, your son has avenged you. Seven or eight lives should be enough to satisfy you. From now on, your son will definitely manage this butcher shop well, with no other thoughts.”

Outside the door, pounding sounds began. The youth strode forward and opened the door. Outside stood seven or eight burly men, each wielding a horizontal sword, shields held before them, bows already drawn. If he showed the slightest irregularity, they would immediately attack.