[Not a damned possum, an assassin. An assassin is coming!]
The system was so angry, its motherboard emitted smoke but the other party who was yelled at still took a second to react.
"What assassin?"
The system also didn't know. It could only report the current situation outside to Chi Zhao.
[The assassin is fighting against Hong Lei and the others. Hong Lei is very powerful and is fighting one against four but there are too many of them. Ah! An assassin just broke through!]
[He's coming!]
[He just cut down the veil! He's rushing towards you! Ahhhhh His sword is stabbing over!]
Chi Zhao: "...…"
It was clearly a very dangerous scene but because the system's real-time broadcast was so excited, Chi Zhao couldn't get nervous at all. The long sword glinting coldly against the light quickly pierced through the curtain, hitting the side of the bed. Using this opportunity, Chi Zhao flexibly rolled off the bed and ran out. When the assassin saw this, his expression darkened, and he immediately chased after him.
If it was the usual, Chi Zhao wouldn't run away like this and would definitely choose to turn around and confront them straight on but firstly, the opponent had a weapon and secondly, the people in this world knew martial arts unlike himself who only learnt some basic skills.
As such, Chi Zhao made the decision to run. Dying in Shen Wumian's hands would only be a short moment of suffering since he had already made the plot collapse several times before this after all but dying in the hands of an assassin was another story.
The Emperor's quarter was very large and there were all kinds of weapons. The assassin chased after Chi Zhao like an eagle trying to catch a chicken. One desperately fled while the other desperately chased. Chi Zhao's entire mind was filled with thoughts of how to escape from the assassin and he wasn't paying attention to anything else at all but the system noticed something. It looked at the assassin in confusion and seemed to feel that something didn't seem quite right.
The assassin looked furious and frustrated. He also didn't seem to have expected the young Emperor to be so good at escaping. Out of anxiousness, he quickly called out, "Your Majesty, come back! I'm not here to kill you, I'm here to take you out of the palace!"
Chi Zhao who heard this line immediately stepped onto his brakes. He turned his head back suspiciously but before he had the time to speak, the assassin's eyes suddenly widened, and his expression quickly turned vigilant. He thrusted his sword forward, stabbing past Chi Zhao's face, at someone behind him but unfortunately missed.
Chi Zhao seemed to also sense something but before he could turn his head back, his vision blurred and the next moment he saw another tall and familiar figure start fighting against the assassin.
This assassin could be considered as the best in the country or his master would not have given him the task of taking the young Emperor out of the palace. Unfortunately, before he could make more than five moves, he was captured by Shen Wuxian.
With a few painful croaks, the assassin's face was flushed red and the veins on his forehead looked like they were about to burst. His moved his eyes with difficulty to look at Chi Zhao and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but before he could do that, Shen Wumian tightened his grip around his neck and broke it.
The assassin softly fell to the ground with his neck at a very strange angle. Shen Wumian stared darkly at the damned assassin on the ground in silence for a moment before turning to look at the young Emperor who had his back against the door, too afraid to take another step.
Just now, Shen Wumian had appeared too quickly, and Chi Zhao hadn't had the chance to notice his appearance. Chi Zhao only now realised that he wasn't dressed properly. He was wearing an inner shirt and only had a robe on over that and he didn't even tie his belt. It was as if he had just got up from his sleep.
Chi Zhao had never seen him like this before. There was no expression on his face and no temperature in his eyes. The eyes he used to look at Chi Zhao was very strange, as if he was looking at an object or something dead.
Please read this from kk translates
Shen Wumian had rushed all the way over to the palace from the prince regent mansion. This attack had happened too suddenly. The other party had sent a total of twenty people all of whom are top masters and are very familiar with the palace. He had clearly replaced the people inside and outside the palace with his people, but these people were able to enter effortlessly. Unless there was someone inside helping them, that would be impossible.
Shen Wumian instantly recalled that in his previous life, Chen Yi had also secretly replaced his people and plotted together with people outside such that before he could even react, his power and everything he possessed was stripped away.
He didn't have the time to think about these things when he heard about the assassins and he also didn't even have the time to put on his clothes properly before he anxiously hurried over. All that was on his mind as he hurried over was the young Emperor.
Not knowing who those assassins were, what he feared the most was that those people were really assassins who had come to take Chen Yi's life.
But just now, he clearly saw that when the assassin was dying, he didn't forget to remind Chen Yi to run away.
As it turned out, this was Chen Yi's person.
It also explained why the assassin and Chen Yi were standing by the door when he arrived. It was because they were about to leave this place.
Shen Wumian's current appearance almost resembled a hellish Shura. His eyes were completely bloodshot and even the ends of his eyes were slightly blood red because of excessive anger and coldness. It rendered the system too afraid to speak.
[W-w-w-what's he planning to do? Is he going to kill you?! Wuwuwu Host, please don't die!——]
At first, Chi Zhao was also scared but with the system crying out like that, he was no longer scared. He didn't know where that courage of his came from, but he was able stand calmly in front of Shen Wumian and look back directly into his eyes.
Shen Wumian laughed soundlessly. His face was still stained by blood from who knows where. No matter how handsome Shen Wumian was, such a laugh could scare another person's soul away, let alone his. His voice was terrifying, like a murmur from the death god.
"Can Your Majesty tell this official where you plan on going?"
Chi Zhao looked at him and then looked at the assassin on the ground who had been killed very miserably. He opened his mouth, "I...."
He wanted to say that he was looking for him, but Shen Wumian didn't give him a chance to continue. He suddenly exploded and grabbed the young Emperor's neck the same way he had choked the assassin. With a bang, the back of Chi Zhao's head knocked against the thick door panel causing him to immediately see gold stars in his vision. Shen Wumian's hand gripping his throat had blue veins bulging out. It looked like he was using a lot of strength and even had the desire to directly break Chi Zhao's neck right then and there.
But in fact, Chi Zhao could still talk, and he didn't feel particularly painful. Shen Wumian wanted to apply more strength to prevent Chi Zhao from speaking anymore but he couldn't tighten his hands anymore because he knew that the neck in his hand wasvery fragile and not even one tenth to that of the assassin from earlier. As long as he exerted a little more force, the other party wouldn't be able to live and would turn into an empty corpse with blank eyes, ever able to move again.
Chi Zhao closed his eyes to recover from the impact and then opened his eyes again to look back at Shen Wumian. His expression appeared to be a little painful and his speech also became slower, "I wasn't planning on escaping. I was going to find you….You're bleeding. Let me go first….."
After saying that, Chi Zhao stretched out a hand to touch his left shoulder. Shen Wumian was taken aback. He lowered his head and only then realised that he was injured. It was even a rather deep wound. He didn't know when it had happened. He only now felt sharp pain there. The plier like grip finally loosened. Chi Zhao who was caught unprepared collapsed directly onto the ground.
…..
The assassins were very quickly dealt with. Hong Lei who was unable to perform her duties was sent to be punished according to the regulations. The so-called punishment was ten lashes. One lash was enough to kill Chi Zhao. Although Hong Lei's body as tougher, she was also a woman so after receiving ten lashes, it was estimated that she would not be able to return to her duties for at least two or three months.
After leaving people behind to guard the palace, Shen Wumian arranged for another four people to protect Chi Zhao. Those four people were all shadow guards. Chi Zhao originally had one by his side but now he had four. It was evident that Shen Wumian's attitude towards him had changed.
As for Shen Wumian himself, he hurriedly left after everything was settled. Chi Zhao sat in the brightly lit room, watching Shen Wumian's leaving figure and felt that he looked like he was running away.
After busying for half the night, Chi Zhao thought Shen Wumian wouldn't return but just when he was about to doze off, a figure approached him. Chi Zhao dazedly opened his eye and saw that it was Shen Wumian so he immediately stood up, "How is your shoulder injury?"
It wasn't a question about the assassins or whether he managed to catch the real culprit responsible for this. Even despite revealing his intent to kill the young Emperor earlier, the young Emperor's first reaction when he saw him was to ask about his shoulder injury.
Shen Wumian stared at Chi Zhao for too long. Chi Zhao stood there cautiously and changed his tone from easy-going and intimate to the usual restraint and politeness, "Imperial Uncle, are you okay?"
Shen Wumian's voice was very hoarse. He shook his head, "This official is fine. Apologies for worrying Your Majesty."
Please read this from kk translates
Chi Zhao frowned. The four guards next to him were like pillars. They didn't raise their heads or speak in attempt to minimise their presence. Although their master didn't say anything that revealed weakness, but with that tone and that expression of his, anyone could tell that he was showing his weak side to the young Emperor. The four guards didn't dare breathe. Chi Zhao who heard this immediately moved closer.
The young Emperor was still growing and right now he only reached Shen Wumian's shoulders. He raised his hand and pulled way Shen Wumian's clothes. When he saw the wound that wasn't bandaged or treated at all, he showed a rare trace of anger, "Imperial Uncle! Do you have a death wish?! Someone get the imperial doctor here!"
The shadow guards hesitated for a moment. Shen Wumian had his back facing them and they couldn't see their master's expression or understand what he was thinking. After some thought, the guards responded and quickly left.
The imperial doctor came very quickly. When he saw that he was going to treat the prince regent, his legs trembled and he almost fell onto his knees.
The imperial doctor was specifically for the Emperor while other doctors were used for the rest of the royal family. Before coming, the imperial doctor had heard about the prince regent leading his troops to the residences of seven officials in the middle of the night, directly killing one in their sleep and dragging the rest out to behead three of them and imprison the rest.
If people used to express dissatisfaction with the prince regent's actions thinking that he was too obsessed with power, then the people now don't even dare express dissatisfaction. It was basically the act of a tyrant! Convicting people without a proper investigation, what if those people were innocent?
The imperial doctor didn't know about the assassination attempt and had just thought that it was something else. As he applied medicine for the prince regent, he didn't show it on his face but he was already crying inside. He just wanted to quickly finish applying and leave this place. The young Emperor however watched from the side and would express dissatisfaction from time to time, "Why are you applying so much powder? Do you even know how to do it properly?!"
The prince regent was a tyrant but this Emperor here was not much better.
For a moment, the imperial doctor felt like he could foresee the country's tragic future.
...…
After finally finishing applying the medicine, the imperial doctor hurriedly withdrew. Because of the medicine just now, Shen Wumian had taken off his clothes and the shadow guards were also ordered to leave so at this moment, it was only the two of them in the room. Shen Wumian dressed himself and pursed his lips for a moment before speaking, "This official has wrongly accused Your Majesty. Asking for Your Majesty's punishment."
Hearing this, Chi Zhao's heart trembled. Stop joking around. You're asking me to punish you? Do you think I'm going to fall for that?
Chi Zhao chuckled and planned to brush it off, "Stop joking Imperial Uncle. Zhen has never blamed Imperial Uncle. Having busied about all night, Imperial Uncle must be tired. Why don't you take a rest here?"
With Shen Wumian's rigid temperament, he would most definitely not agree to staying overnight at the Emperor's palace. Chi Zhao had said those words with the intent to make him leave but contrary to his expectations, Shen Wumian looked up at him and then obediently nodded, "Thank you Your Majesty."
Chi Zhao: "...….." You're too good at going with the flow.
Shen Wumian rested there for an entire day. Even though it was already chaotic outside, because there were four guards guarding outside, not a fly could enter this place so all the officials clamouring for the prince regent's attention weren't heard at all.
Chi Zhao looked bitterly at Shen Wumian's sleeping appearance. He didn't know when his bed would be returned back to him.
What rule-abiding? Bah, that was all a lie.
The sky was already dark when Shen Wumian finally opened his eyes. He was really tired from everything happening last night and, with the anaesthetic effect in the medicine, he slept longer than usual.
When he woke up, Chi Zhao had just finished his dinner. Chi Zhao who heard movements behind him placed down the dark brown bowl in his hands and turned to look back, "Imperial Uncle is awake. Wait a little, Zhen will pour you a cup of tea."
Shen Wumian didn't like having people serving him closely so today, no palace maids or eunuchs dared to come in. Only the ones who usually brought the young Emperor food dared to come in a few times. At this moment, there were two bowls of medicine on the table. Shen Wumian slowly sat up and paused when he saw it.
His gaze lingered on those two bowls of medicine. After looking at it for a while, he got out of bed and approached the table. Chi Zhao who was done pouring tea turned around and just happened to see Shen Wumian pick up a bowl and raise it with the intent to drink it.
Chi Zhao's eyes widened. He placed the teacup down, rushed over and snatched it back. Because he had used too much force, half the medicine spilt out onto the carpet.
"Wrong! This one is mine, that;s yours!"
Seeing the young Emperor's startled and frightened appearance, Shen Wumian froze. As he placed down the bowl of medicine, Chi Zhao continued, "Imperial Uncle, are you hungry? Do you need Zhen to call for some food to be sent over?"
As for what the young Emperor was saying, Shen Wumian could no longer hear it. Just like the medicine on the ground quickly losing its temperature, his heart cooled down bit by bit. Right now, he only had one thought in his mind
——- It turned out, he already knew.