What's going on here? Before they could investigate further, over a dozen masked men suddenly jumped out from the surrounding rooftops, each holding a sword in their hands. They surrounded the entire courtyard.
The leader of the group shouted loudly, "Kill him!" Dozens of blades pointed towards Jing Rong.
The disturbance was so great that Lang Po and Shi Ziran immediately alerted and rushed in with the guards. The two sides began fighting, with sword glints shining everywhere.
Those people in black seemed to be determined to succeed or die. Their bloodthirsty eyes were focused only on Jing Rong, as if they saw him as nothing but a moving target. Although they were excellent fighters, their martial arts skills and tactics were clearly different from Jing Yi’s secret guards.
Jing Rong snatched a sword from the hands of an assassin while moving to shield Ji Yunshu behind him. The courtyard was crowded with dozens of people, making for an impressive fight scene.
Jing Rong suddenly picked up Ji Yunshu, and leapt onto the top of the wall with a kick, escaping into the neighboring Wen Family Textiles. Those black-clothed men they were fighting immediately chased after them. In the darkness, over a dozen more men appeared, preventing Jing Rong’s guards from following them.
The first batch of men in black continued to try assassinating Jing Rong.
Jing Rong’s every stroke was fatal, taking the lives of several black-clad people. The blood of these men splattered onto Ji Yunshu's face. All she could feel was the warm and slimy human blood sticking to her cheeks.
In the courtyard, the bales of cloth that had been hung up high were either torn down off or ripped in two by swords. The bamboo poles holding them up were also broken in a series of sharp cracks. The courtyard was in absolute chaos!
Even though Jing Rong was extremely skillful in martial arts, it was difficult for him to fend off the dozen or so skilled assassins alone. He also had to take care of Ji Yunshu, and was unable to display his full prowess. The black-clothed men quickly surrounded the two of them.
"Go to hell." A man in black raised his sword and aimed for Jing Rong's heart. Jing Rong used the blood-soaked sword in his hand to deflect the blow and stabbed towards the man’s neck. It sliced open cleanly and the man died immediately.
Other black-clothed men continued to charge at him. Jing Rong had to push Ji Yunshu backwards. "Run."
How could she run away? It's a matter of life and death!
"Either we go together, or we die together!" She shouted at the top of her voice.
"Just go!" Jing Rong pushed her again and she fell to her knees on the ground.
Jing Rong started fighting with the assassins again. Strangely, those men in black did not try to kill Ji Yunshu, who had no martial arts skills at all.
Suddenly, she saw a sword going for Jing Rong's back. "Watch out!" While shouting, Ji Yunshu got up from the ground, immediately rushed up to attach herself firmly to Jing Rong's back and spread out her hands to take the blow for him.
She opened her eyes wide. Without the slightest fear in her eyes, she stared sharply at the eyes of the man in black. The eyes of the assassin were full of bloodthirsty killing intent, but when he saw her appear, the man visibly shrank and pulled his wrist back, as if intending to retract the sword.
However, the momentum was just too great and the sword was moving too fast. Even if he wanted to turn the sword's edge away, it was already too late.
At the very last moment, a dizi suddenly appeared in the air and deflected the sword. [1]The assassin only felt a sharp pain in his wrist before as his grip loosened and the sword fell to the ground.
In the next moment, Jing Rong turned around and pulled Ji Yunshu quickly to his side, then stabbed right into the heart of the black-clothed man. He died on the spot.
That mysterious figure caught his own dizi after using it to flick the sword away. He wore a long lavender robe with his hair tied in a high bun, a ribbon from his headpiece swaying gently in the wind, the picture of an elegant and handsome young man. His slender eyes glanced at Jing Rong and Ji Yunshu, before he turned aside and started fighting with the men in black.
At this time, the habitually drunk Mo Ruo also rushed over to the Wen family Textiles to participate in the bloody battle. Following at his heels was Tang Si. Her silver whip lashed in the air, leaving countless deadly streaks of silver. "This lady didn't kill you guys back then, so now, I’m going to kill all of you!"
Soon, those men in black were overwhelmed and defeated, leaving no one alive! In the Wen courtyard, several large dye vats were shattered and drained of the water. The red, purple, and blue dying liquid all mixed together in a mess. Where the water met with the dead and bloody assassins, the dye swirled and mixed with blood to paint a terrifying picture.
"Is everything all right, Your Highness?" Lang Po jumped over.
Jing Rong turned to the purple-clothed young man, "Thank you, Mister."
The purple-clothed man pinned his dizi to his waist, and bowed towards him. "It is an honor for me to risk my life on behalf of Your Highness."
"Who are you, Mister?"
"I am the young proprietor of this Wen family Textiles, Wen Xian."
Eh! He's Mr.Wen's son?
As he spoke, the Wen family hurried over. Looking at this scene in the yard, Master Wen and Madam Wen panicked. "This is……"
Jing Rong explained, "Master Wen, these people were targeting me. I did not intend to drag your courtyard into this mess, but yet they spared it no mercy. This Prince will have someone put it back in order."
"Targeting Your Highness?" Master Wen was very surprised, "Who on earth would dare to assassinate Your Highness?"
It was not easy to answer this question. Jing Rong just said, "This prince has traveled to many places, and has made many enemies. Master Wen need not be surprised."
"Did they hurt you, Your Highness?" Master Wen was concerned.
"I’m fine."
Lang Po had led the guards to rip off all the masks from the faces of the black-clothed men and searched their bodies for a while before reporting, "Your Highness, nothing was found."
"Clean up the place quickly."
"Yes, your highness."
They didn't stay much longer, nor did they explain much more. After returning to the Anchang Courtyard, everyone gathered in the hall. The atmosphere was intense!
Tang Si, who couldn't understand what was going on, wrapped the whip around her hand as she said angrily, "Who have you angered now? Why are people always trying to kill you on this journey? This girl can save you once or twice, but may not be able to save you a third time. If it were me, I would find the one who wants to kill me and then cut him into a thousand pieces and fry him in my frying pan." She looked at Jing Rong again in frustration, "Well, aren't you the prince? Who would dare to kill the Emperor of Great Lin’s son?" She was talking nonstop.
The crowd remained in a contemplative silence. Suddenly, Jing Rong said, "Those people were not sent by Jing Yi." This wasn’t a suspicion, but a certainty. "Neither their martial arts styles nor their tactics look like those from the capital."
Lang Po asked, "Who would it be then? Since they were not sent from Prince Yi and not from the capital, who could have sent them? Those people were all martial arts masters."
However, Ji Yunshu said, "Actually, they had only one target." She looked at Jing Rong, "And that is you. When I was blocking the sword for you, that man in black obviously intended to withdraw his sword. It seems that he didn't want to kill me. Their target was you and thus should have killed whoever dared to block them. So why did they try to spare me?"
[1] Again, a dizi is a bamboo transverse flute.