Chapter 44: Assassination!

Xue Yuan took the original document written by Qian Zhongxian and compared it with the one written by Qin Santai. He found that they were indeed identical; unless one were a great Neo-Confucian scholar like Chu Yanxiu, an ordinary person would never be able to tell the difference.

He could not help laughing and said, "You rascal certainly have quite a few tricks up your sleeve. It is truly wasting your talent for you to merely serve as an estate accountant."

Qin Santai grinned broadly with a flattering smile and said, "This student's petty tricks are nothing more than vulgar and underhanded methods. How could they possibly compare to Your Highness's grand strategies and brilliant ambitions!"

As he spoke, he pointed to a blank space in the memorial and asked, "Your Highness, have you finalized the candidate for the magistrate of Ning'an? If so, this student will write the name in."

Indeed, this memorial had been transformed from Qian Zhongxian's original accusations detailing various "crimes" committed by Xue Yuan into an accusation by Qian Zhongxian charging Li Yuanwang, the magistrate of Ning'an, with colluding with the Prince of Yu in an attempt to treason, alongside recommendations for the next magistrate.

The position of Ning'an magistrate concerned the overarching situation, and now that the Prince of Yu was meddling in Jiangnan, the crisis was critical. Therefore, for "Qian Zhongxian" to recommend a candidate at the very first opportunity was naturally not considered abrupt.

Hearing this, Xue Yuan smiled faintly, looked at Qin Santai, and said, "Need you ask? As for the seat of the Ning'an magistrate, apart from a scoundrel like you, His Highness would not feel at ease letting anyone else sit on it."

Qin Santai froze instantly, then slowly turned his head to look at Xue Yuan. He saw Xue Yuan's eyes wide open, his eye sockets gradually turning red, his chin trembling slightly, before he collapsed heavily to his knees with a thud.

Choking with emotion, he said, "Your Highness, this student... this student..."

Yet he could not manage to utter another word.

The entire performance was filled with layers of nuance, and even the lines were delivered with deliberate pauses. One had to admit that its artistic merit was exceptionally high.

This made Xue Yuan very much want to beat him up. After all, given this old fellow's shrewdness, he surely knew that Xue Yuan could hardly find a second candidate for the Ning'an magistrate position besides him, so where on earth did such an intense reaction come from?

"So, is this fellow actually reliable or not?"

Given that this scoundrel was far too slick, Xue Yuan had no choice but to gaze intently once more, checking the status tags hovering above his head.

He discovered that two new tags had been added: 【A wise bird chooses the tree to nest in|Must repay the immense grace of His Highness's recognition!】

Xue Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, the look he gave Qin Santai carried a touch of pity; the reason some people were hypocritical was because, after being battered by the hardships of life, they had turned hypocrisy into an instinct.

Since the other party was putting on a performance, he decided he could not simply turn a blind eye and fail to play along!

He took a deep breath, assumed an expression of mutual sympathy and understanding, slowly crouched down to support him, and said word for word, "Santai, you and I have known and trusted each other through adversity; how could His Highness possibly doubt you? With Heaven and Earth as our witness, and the sun and moon as our proof, you shall not fail me, and I... shall not fail you!"

Xue Yuan felt that the pause he made after the word "I" at the very end was simply marvelous, perfectly conveying his sincere appreciation and cherishing of talent. In other words, in terms of acting skills, he should, perhaps, possibly not have lost to this scoundrel... Damn it!

"Your Highness! This student's life, even if sacrificed ten thousand times, would not be enough to repay a fraction of Your Highness's grace!"

As Qin Santai spoke, teardrops the size of beans actually rolled down the corners of his eyes.

This instantly infuriated Xue Yuan. Even if you are a veteran actor, you shouldn't ham up your performance like this, completely disregarding whether your scene partner can keep up, right?

Yet, looking at his expression of tearful gratitude and even slightly trembling hands, Xue Yuan found himself momentarily unable to distinguish how much of it was genuine and how much was mere acting.

Nearby, Jian Qi cast a look of utter disgust at the two of them, then rose and walked right out the door!

Only to be called back by Xue Yuan.

"Jian Qi, hurry up and deliver this letter to the post station. Don't delay important matters!"

Jian Qi turned around and took the letter.

A flash of inspiration struck Xue Yuan, and he decided to test him. "Jian Qi, you shall not fail me, I..."

Jian Qi interrupted him coldly, "I like women."

"You damn..."

...

Jian Qi left with the letter and the tally token.

The reason he was sent was because the area outside the city was currently far from safe. If Qin Santai were sent, Xue Yuan feared he might never return.

To put it bluntly, the number of trustworthy people available to him right now was still far too few!

Without Jian Qi around, Xue Yuan dared not sleep.

Therefore, he pulled Qin Santai back and began discussing the finer details of how to force Chen Zaidai to recommend him as the successor magistrate.

After an unknown passage of time, Xue Yuan suddenly noticed a spark of fire outside the window, piercing the dark night like a shooting star!

"What is the situation?"

Just as he was dazed, the fiery streak shattered the window and landed right in front of him with a dull hum!

Only then did he see clearly that this was a fire arrow!

Qin Santai immediately leaped to his feet and shouted, "Your Highness, there are assassins!"

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The moment his words fell, a second and a third fire arrow shot in!

Xue Yuan's scalp instantly went numb. He immediately dived beneath the desk, took the opportunity to glance out the window, and saw that the exterior was already a sea of flames!

Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for a fierce fire to ignite this quickly; clearly, someone had poured accelerants like lamp oil beforehand!

The blazing fire rapidly engulfed the entire room!

Qin Santai trembled with terror, resembling a corrupt official caught by the Divine Arrest Bureau with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver hidden in a double wall!

He screamed, "Your Highness, Your Highness, we are surrounded by fire! There might still be assassins outside, we have no way in or out, no way in or out!"

Xue Yuan glared at him and snapped, "Shut up!"

Seeing this scoundrel display such cowardice, Xue Yuan's opinion of him dropped a notch again.

Yet, considering that no one is flawless, he still grabbed the man and dived underneath the large bed.

Then, following his memory, he felt for a specific floor brick and lifted it, revealing a pitch-black subterranean tunnel right beneath!

After jumping into the tunnel together with Qin Santai, Xue Yuan carefully shifted the floor brick back into place, ensuring it fit seamlessly.

This underground tunnel was something he and Jian Qi had dug in secret just in case, right after he learned that Manager Wei intended to burn him alive.

Because there were only two of them digging and the utmost secrecy was required, the resulting space was not very large—just barely enough to accommodate two people.

Fortunately, the tunnel featured a ventilation pipe made of connected hollow bamboo tubes that led straight into a patch of flower bushes outside the room, so even if the raging fire burned into the interior, there was no need to worry about a lack of oxygen.

At this moment, Qin Santai asked with lingering fear, "Your Highness, who on earth could want to assassinate you?"

In Xue Yuan's mind, the status tag hovering above Manager Wei's head instantly flashed into view.

【Burn the idiot prince to death!】

"Damn it, he actually made a move!"

Xue Yuan had originally calculated that after he killed Li Yuanwang and hijacked the Prince of Yu's cargo, Manager Wei would inevitably report to the Prince of Yu first in shock, and then ask for instructions on how to proceed.

That process would take at least ten days to half a month, which was why he had planned to wait until after his visit to the Egret Academy before negotiating a deal with the Prince of Yu!

Never had he expected that Manager Wei would resort to a direct attack so soon!

"Since Manager Wei is capable of managing the Prince of Yu's business in Jiangnan, he cannot possibly be a reckless brute!"

"Even if he concluded that there was 'no expert' backing me up, he should at least know that agents from the Divine Arrest Bureau are currently stationed in Ning'an City and maintain a good relationship with me. Why would he choose to strike at a time like this?"

Xue Yuan felt this defied all logic, yet he could not fathom why Manager Wei would be so audacious!

Just then, a series of cracking and snapping sounds suddenly echoed from above.

Xue Yuan knew the fire couldn't have burned through the roof beams this quickly; it was very likely that assassins had charged into the room and were ransacking it to find him.

Soon, he heard the sound of the bed being dragged across the floor!

Xue Yuan's heart leaped straight to his throat!

Right at that moment, within the pitch-black tunnel, he suddenly felt a trembling hand touch his body.

And then... begin to undress him?

Xue Yuan was furious. He grabbed Qin Santai's hand in a tight grip and delivered a kick to him.

Only to hear Qin Santai speak in a tearful, muffled voice, "Your Highness, give me your outer robe. If all else fails, I... I will charge right out... Please, please take good care of my mother. But it would be best if I don't die; if... if I could just be heavily wounded, even if I only have one breath left, Your Highness must ask Miracle Doctor Zhao to save me. This student will bravely and cooperatively undergo treatment!"

Only then did Xue Yuan realize that this fellow's plan was to put on Xue Yuan's clothes and rush out to draw the assassins away!

Listening to him talk in a cowardly, tongue-tied stutter out of sheer terror, yet stubbornly attempting a display of loyal self-sacrifice to protect his master, Xue Yuan honestly did not know whether to curse him or praise him.

What a consummate scoundrel!

At that very moment, Xue Yuan faintly heard an angry shout ring out from above!

"Audacious villains, how dare you attempt to assassinate His Highness!"

Xue Yuan recognized that voice instantly—it belonged to Wang Yu'er!

Soon after, the clashing sound of weapons ringing together echoed through the air!

In the blink of an eye, it seemed even more people had rushed in to join the fight.

"Protect His Highness!"

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"Capture the assassins!"

These were the voices of the estate guards.

Immediately following that came the voice of Su Ruowei!

"Stop chasing them, put out the fire first!"

For a time, shouts, angry barks, and shrieks blended together into a chaotic mess.

After a long while, the commotion began to subside.

Voices started calling out, "Your Highness! Your Highness, where are you?"

Yet Xue Yuan remained stubbornly hidden inside the tunnel, refusing to come out no matter what!

Nonsense, who knew if an assassin was lurking in some shadowy corner, waiting for him to emerge before launching a fatal hidden weapon attack?

At this moment, Xue Yuan deeply resented the fact that he possessed no martial cultivation whatsoever and lacked even the slightest capability for self-preservation!

Because of this, his determination to acquire the Mysterious Armor True Qi grew stronger than ever!

...

After an unknown duration, Xue Yuan finally heard Jian Qi's voice.

"Your Highness, I have returned!"

Hearing that voice, Xue Yuan finally relaxed completely, pushed open the floor brick, and climbed back up.

The room had been thoroughly ransacked and tossed upside down, stained pitch-black with dense smoke, and the roof had collapsed in several places, but fortunately, the fire had been mostly extinguished.

"Are you all right?" Jian Qi asked.

Xue Yuan nodded, then caught sight of Wang Yu'er standing at the charred doorway, blood streaming freely down her arm.

He immediately strode over and said, "Sister, you're injured!"

Wang Yu'er did not speak a word; she simply turned on her heel and walked back to her own room!

Xue Yuan knew that she was beginning to suspect he had been manipulating and utilizing her previously.

Yet, the fact that she had still rushed back to save him proved that she still retained deep feelings for him.

He thought to himself that it was indeed time to find a proper opportunity to have a heart-to-heart talk with her!

Right then, Su Ruowei rushed in through the doorway!

She grabbed Xue Yuan's hands, her bright eyes rimmed with red as she asked anxiously, "Your Highness, are you unhurt? Did you suffer any injuries?"

Seeing her like this, Xue Yuan felt a warmth spread through his chest, thinking to himself that his pampering of this little lass had not been in vain after all.

He chuckled and replied, "I'm fine. I never expected you to care about me so much; it really moves me deeply."

Su Ruowei was momentarily stunned, then replied, "As the head steward of the estate, it is naturally my duty to care for you and protect you. Yet, during this assassination, I failed to maintain proper defenses and neglected my responsibilities..."

Xue Yuan said, "This is not your fault. No one could have defended against this!"

Su Ruowei had only taken over the management of the estate a few days ago; naturally, she couldn't possibly have guarded against this wave of assassins.

"Where is Qin Santai?" Jian Qi asked.

"His legs turned to jelly; he can't climb up yet." Xue Yuan shook his head, then instructed Jian Qi, "Assemble all the guards—now, immediately!"

In no time at all, over a hundred guards on duty in the estate that night were gathered in the center of the courtyard!

Xue Yuan stood in silence, gazing intently at each of them one by one, carefully inspecting the status tags hovering above their heads.

He knew there had to be an inside man among the guards; otherwise, it would have been utterly impossible for someone to set the estate ablaze from within!

After about a quarter of an hour, he pointed at three of them and said, "You, you, and you—step out of the ranks!"

Expressions of shock crossed the faces of those three men, and a trace of panic flashed in their eyes, yet they still forced a calm facade and stepped forward!

One of them attempted to explain, "Your Highness, tonight we..."

"Jian Qi, execute them!" Xue Yuan commanded flatly!

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