freenovelworld Chapter 415: Yan Zong was assassinated and poisoned
Chapter 415: Yan Zong was assassinated and poisoned
"Your Highness, we have found the hiding place of those rebels. It is in Manze, seven miles outside the city. General Da Xi and Arnold are leading people to capture them."
Within three days, Yu Cheng rushed into Fuyuan with the good news. He happened to meet Yan Zong who was about to go out in the front yard. He hurriedly and happily stepped forward to greet and report.
"As expected, you are General Yu, the one I trust the most. You have found the traitor in such a short time." Upon hearing the news, Yan Zong patted Yu Cheng's arm with satisfaction and nodded in praise.
"Your Highness, thank you for the compliment. It is not just my subordinates who have been able to find the traitor so smoothly this time. General Da Xi and Arnold..." Yu Cheng was naturally delighted to receive the praise from His Highness, but he was humble in his words. However, before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Yan Zong with a sneer:
"If I believed that the two of them could find the traitor, why would I have to tell you?"
"That's true." Seeing His Highness say this, Yu Cheng was no longer polite and smiled happily.
"Now that you are back, follow me to the military camp." Yan Zong said no more and continued to walk out of the mansion.
"What happened in the military camp?" Yu Cheng, who followed closely behind, saw that the prince was in a hurry and asked curiously.
"Wei Zhun sent someone to deliver a message saying that a new defensive formation has been completed." Yan Zong said as he strode out of Fu Garden. The black carriage had already stopped outside the mansion gate, and two teams of soldiers in armor and holding spears were also guarding both sides of the carriage.
"Just follow me and let them retreat to Fuyuan to guard it." Yan Zong raised his eyebrows and looked at the scene in front of him, thinking it was too ostentatious. Although he knew that Mr. Fan made such arrangements for his safety, now that Yu Cheng was back, having him by his side was enough.
"Your Highness, Xuancheng is still unstable now, so why don't we let them follow?" Yu Cheng advised with concern.
"Retreat." Yan Zong gave the order without any room for argument and got on the carriage directly.
Yu Cheng naturally did not dare to disobey the order, so he ordered the soldiers to retreat into the garden and only the two guards accompanying the prince got on the carriage.
"How did you find out that the rebel was hiding in Manze?" As the carriage was driving on the mountain road outside the city, Yan Zong glanced at Yu Cheng beside him and suddenly asked.
"Yesterday, I found a young man with suspicious whereabouts in the city, so I asked someone to follow him. Unexpectedly, we found this group of rebels so easily." Yu Cheng smiled and reported to Prince Zong before the carriage suddenly stopped.
"Your Highness, there is an old woman being chased outside." Before the two people in the carriage could speak, the guard driving the carriage spoke up to report.
Upon hearing this, Yu Cheng hurriedly jumped out of the carriage. At this time, the old woman who was being chased was protected by another guard behind him. In front of him stood three masked strong men holding swords. Perhaps seeing that there were more people helping the old woman, they took two steps back with some hesitation.
"Who are you? How dare you commit murder in broad daylight..." Yu Cheng also gripped the sword at his waist and walked forward slowly. He glanced at the three masked strong men with cold eyes and shouted sternly. However, before he could finish his words, the three men opposite him suddenly turned around and ran away.
Watching the three people disappear into the depths of the bamboo forest, Yu Cheng gritted his teeth in anger. If he hadn't wanted to protect His Highness, how could he have watched them escape?
"Thank you so much, my benefactors!" When the guards turned around and wanted to help the old woman who had fallen to the ground, she knelt down with tears in her eyes and kowtowed to them.
"Madam, please get up quickly. We didn't do anything." Yu Cheng said to the old woman, and then asked the guards to help her up.
"But if it weren't for you, I, an old woman, would have died at the hands of those three men today!" The old woman wiped her tears and cried with gratitude. One of her feet seemed to be injured and she could not stand steadily and had to be supported by the guards.
"I wonder what grudge you have with those three people? Why are they chasing you?" Yu Cheng saw that the old woman was in a miserable state and looked very pitiful. He felt deep sympathy for her but continued to ask in confusion.
"Ah, this is all the trouble caused by my useless son!" When Yu Cheng asked the reason, the old woman slapped her thigh and started crying hysterically again.
Seeing that the old woman was too grief-stricken to speak, Yu Cheng did not ask any more questions. Instead, he came to the carriage and reported to Yan Zong:
"Your Highness, it seems that the lady is being hunted down because of a personal vendetta against her son. How should we resolve this situation?"
"Send someone to take her to the government office, and let the prefect of Xuancheng handle this matter." Yan Zong, who was sitting quietly in the carriage, also gave the order.
"But I see that old lady seems to have injured her foot again. This time there is a mountain road not too far or too near. I'm afraid she can't walk that long." Yu Cheng looked back at the old woman who was still supported by the guards, and continued to reply with some reluctance.
Upon hearing this, Yan Zong had no choice but to turn the carriage around and planned to send the old woman back to the city first. It would not be too late for him to go to the military camp later.
"Thank you, Prince Zong, for your great kindness!" The old woman who was helped onto the carriage by Yu Cheng hurriedly knelt in front of Yan Zong and cried with gratitude again.
"Prince of the Zong? How did you recognize me as the Prince of the Zong?" But this sentence immediately made Yan Zong alert. He narrowed his cold eyes and stared at the old woman under his feet. Yu Cheng did not reveal his identity as the Prince of the Zong just now.
"The prince is majestic and dignified. Who in Liunan Kingdom doesn't know him?" Suddenly, the old woman who was crying with her head bowed changed into a different person and sneered. Then she raised her face which had already been ferocious and hateful. At the same time, a sharp and shining dagger appeared in her hand and she quickly stabbed towards Yan Zong's chest.
At the critical moment, Yan Zong was prepared and quickly drew his sword to block the dagger. He then kicked the old woman, but she dodged it quickly. The swords clashed in the carriage, but Yan Zong could not use his sword in the carriage and could only passively defend himself.
"Your Highness!"
"Bold evil woman!"
Yu Cheng and others who were still outside the carriage were shocked and angry when they saw this, and they quickly drew their swords and jumped onto the carriage to help Prince Zong.
The old woman who was fighting with Yan Zong saw that she was outnumbered, so she broke out through the window and threw several darts at the same time. Yan Zong then broke the window on the other side to dodge, but his arm was still hit by a dart.
Yu Cheng and two other guards also jumped up immediately, and the three of them surrounded the old woman.
"Leave him alive!" Yan Zong gave the order coldly and then looked down at the hidden weapon on his arm. However, the black color spreading from the wound made his face change drastically.
"Yes, Your Highness!" The three of them said in unison, drawing their swords and attacking the old woman.
Those who could follow the prince closely were naturally the best masters. No matter how powerful the old woman was, she could not withstand four punches with her bare hands, so it didn't take long for her hands and feet to have several sword wounds.
“Hmph, hahahahahaha…” However, the old woman was not at all panicked or afraid. Instead, she snorted coldly and laughed like crazy.
Seeing this, Yu Cheng hurriedly turned around to look at the prince, but was shocked to see that the prince had fainted on the ground. He secretly thought that it was not good and kicked the old woman, then ordered: "Take her away!"
After saying that, Yu Chengze hurried to Yan Zong and helped him up. Seeing that the prince's face turned dark, his heart tightened immediately, and he found that his arm was hit by a poisoned dart.
"What a shame, what a shame, it's such a shame that I am such a useless old woman and cannot avenge my son!" The old woman who was pinned down by two guards glared at Yan Zong who was unconscious due to poisoning and said with gritted teeth.
Although Yu Cheng wanted to tear the old woman into pieces at this time, he knew that the most urgent task at hand was to bring the prince back to the city to find a doctor to detoxify him, so he carried Yan Zong into the already dilapidated carriage. Seeing this, the guard knocked the old woman unconscious with a palm and threw her into the carriage.
A carriage with a broken window rushed into the city, causing quite a commotion in the city. Two guards drove the carriage while shouting to pedestrians in front to make way. Yu Cheng stayed beside Yan Zong and had to be careful not to wake up the old woman in the carriage.
As the carriage returned, there was an uproar in Fuyuan. Mr. Fan was furious when he saw that His Highness was poisoned. While the doctor was detoxifying the prince, Yu Cheng and the two guards who were traveling with the prince knelt in front of Mr. Fan and apologized.
"You are all top experts around His Highness, but you can't even prevent a traitor! It's best that His Highness is safe, otherwise..." Mr. Fan pointed at the three people with a sullen face and scolded them, but he couldn't bear to say anything harsh at the end, so he shook his sleeves and turned to go into the house.
Yu Cheng was worried about His Highness and annoyed that he was so stupid that he was fooled by an old woman. He began to slap himself repeatedly and blamed himself, saying, "It's all my fault. It's all my fault for believing what an evil woman said!"
The two guards behind him, whose faces had turned pale with fear, wanted to persuade him but did not dare to. They could only lower their heads in silence, praying in their hearts that His Highness would be okay.
"Doctor Qi, what's going on?"
In the quiet room, Mr. Fan saw the doctor looking worried after checking Prince Zong's pulse, and asked nervously.
"Please forgive me, sir. My medical skills are limited and I have not been able to find out what kind of poison the prince was poisoned by. I can only temporarily use antidote pills to protect the prince's heart meridians and suppress the poison from entering the heart. I will then give the prince acupuncture and bloodletting to see if I can expel some of the poison. But these are only temporary solutions and not a cure for the disease." Doctor Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead, bowed to Mr. Fan tremblingly, and replied truthfully.
Mr. Fan sighed helplessly when he heard this, and without saying a word, he turned around and walked out of the room. He came to Yu Cheng, who was still kneeling on the ground and slapping himself, and scolded him:
"Alright, don't do this kind of meaningless thing here, go to Sanxiu Pharmacy and invite Mr. Sanxiu over!"
"Yes, yes!" Yu Cheng raised his face, which was already swollen and red, and responded to Mr. Fan. He ran out in a hurry without thinking too much.