Chapter 516: Chaos
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Chi Hou didn't understand it. However, his eyes widened in shock. He realized that there were eight figures sprinting towards Fang Zhengzhi from the other direction.
"Southern Region messengers?!" Chi Hou recognized them instantly and prepared to strike. Then, he saw another figure behind the eight messengers.
This figure's speed...
Was almost as fast as Xing Yuanguo and him.
However, his red official robes were easily recognizable. He knew that this was Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping.
"What's wrong?" Chi Hou saw how anxious Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping was and felt a wave of suspicion.
Even though he was not an official in the capital, he knew Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping quite well. Yu Yiping was rarely flustered.
Furthermore, soon after Yu Yiping appeared in the distance, two other figures entered his field of vision.
The Center and Left Assistant Ministers of the Ministry of Law.
They were surrounded by wardens and guards in black. King Duan and the city guards followed closely behind.
This was quite the ridiculous sight.
This was the capital.
Chi Hou was extremely shocked. He knew that the capital would not be peaceful tonight, but even this was beyond his wildest imagination.
Chi Hou turned to look at Xing Yuanguo.
Xing Yuanguo was as calm as ever. He looked like an independent observer as he looked at the sprinting figures.
"Brother Yuanguo, should we..." Chi Hou asked as he tried to figure out what was unfolding before his very eyes.
"No need. We will just observe from here." Xing Yuanguo shook his head and settled down about 200m away from Fang Zhengzhi's position.
"Here?" Chi Hou wanted to say something when he saw the tree in front of him. However, he still nodded, "Sure, we will do as you say."
At that moment, the eight Southern Region messengers went around Fang Zhengzhi and disappeared into a dark alley.
Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping and the two assistant ministers began to panic when they saw this. As they prepared to rush in after the messengers, they spotted Fang Zhengzhi, Yan Xiu, and Ping Yang.
Fang Zhengzhi looked at Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping, his eyes glittering as he smirked.
"Prime Minister, you seem to be in a hurry... where are you headed?" Fang Zhengzhi waved and greeted Yu Yiping.
"Move aside, I have official matters to attend to!" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping had no mood to entertain Fang Zhengzhi.
"Official business? Are you talking about the escaped criminals?" Fang Zhengzhi pointed to the alley.
"So what if it is?" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping had no intention of stopping.
When the two assistant ministers and the guards saw Fang Zhengzhi, they raised their swords.
They were ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"Move aside!"
"Do you know the penalty for obstruction of justice?"
Two of the guards bellowed when they saw Fang Zhengzhi.
"Scram! How dare you raise your voice in front of me?" Ping Yang bellowed and stepped forward.
"..." The two guards retreated almost instantly. They didn't dare to speak again and chose to hide behind the two assistant ministers.
It was clear...
They were scared of Ping Yang.
"Fang Zhengzhi, I am pursuing criminals right now! If you continue to stand in my way, I will not show you any mercy!" He knew how domineering Ping Yang was, but he had no other choice now.
"Prime Minister, I think you're mistaken. I am Fang Zhengzheng." Fang Zhengzhi replied.
"I don't care if you're Fang Zhengzhi or Fang Zhengzheng! Step aside! Now!" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping's glare was icy.
He knew why Fang Zhengzhi was waiting for him here.
"Left Prime Minister, there is no need to hurry! You are just trying to catch some escaped criminals. I can swear on my life that I will make sure that they are brought to justice. If I obstruct justice tonight, I will take all responsibility!" Fang Zhengzhi chuckled lightly.
"What do you mean?" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping was stunned.
The guards and the assistant ministers standing behind Yu Yiping were equally confused. Even King Duan couldn't figure out what was happening.
King Duan wasn't surprised that Fang Zhengzhi was here.
This was a way to delay Yu Yiping.
However, why would Fang Zhengzhi take responsibility for this delay? That was not wise!
"What I mean is... since I happen to be in the area, I can't watch idly by as the criminals escape." Fang Zhengzhi replied calmly.
"You can't watch idly by as they escape?" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping glared at Fang Zhengzhi solemnly.
He knew that these men were Fang Zhengzhi's.
So why would he stop them from escaping?
Did he think that Yu Yiping was an idiot?!
Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping was not falling for that! There was no free lunch in this world!
The two assistant ministers didn't believe Fang Zhengzhi either.
King Duan was shocked when he heard what Fang Zhengzhi said.
However, Fang Zhengzhi had no intention of explaining himself. He turned into the alley and whistled.
"Ah!"
"We will never go to jail!"
"Brothers, we will do better in our next lives!"
After Fang Zhengzhi whistled, shouts echoed through the alley and a few figures walked out.
These were members of the royal guard.
The leader was the deputy commander, Bai Qi.
The royal guards held eight bodies in their arms. There was blood flowing from those bodies and it stained the ground red.
"You... you killed them?" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping stopped in his tracks as his eyes widened.
"How is that possible? Prime Minister, you heard it yourself! They committed suicide! We only surrounded them!" Bai Qi waved Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping off.
"Mm, I can verify that!" Fang Zhengzhi nodded.
"I, Princess Ping Yang, can too!" Ping Yang nodded.
"Mm, these people clearly committed suicide." Yan Xiu replied.
"Committed suicide?" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping believed that his mercenaries would commit suicide. However, these were Fang Zhengzhi's men.
Why would they commit suicide?
Just as he was thinking about that, Bai Qi leaned over and felt the faces of one of the Southern Region messengers. Then, his eyes brightened.
"Your Highness, I think that these men are wearing masks. If I am correct, they are imposters." Bai Qi asserted.
"Imposters? Then why don't you remove the masks and let me take a look?" Ping Yang exclaimed in shock.
"Take off the masks? I would like to... no!" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping was about to nod. Then, he realized what was happening and he felt a shiver down his spine.
He finally understood what was happening.
But...
It was too late.
Bai Qi was quick, and so were the other members of the royal guard. They removed the masks quickly and efficiently.
Time seemed to freeze as the masks were ripped off.
Everyone leaned in to take a look at the true identities of the eight assassins. When they saw these men, they felt a chill rise up from the base of their feet.
King Duan also looked at the eight "Southern Region messengers". He too was shocked by what he saw.
Then...
He chuckled.
However, his joy did not last long. He too felt a chill down his spine.
Now that things were this way...
He finally figured out Fang Zhengzhi's plan.
It was a vicious plan!
It was even more vicious than he had ever expected!
Initially, he had already thought that Fang Zhengzhi's plan was perfect and vicious. However, only now did he realize how vicious and thorough Fang Zhengzhi was.
Prior to this, Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping may have been in some trouble, but he still had a chance to recover.
But now...
His entire future was ruined.
There was absolutely no way he would be able to recover from this. Fang Zhengzhi had used facts to pin the crime on Yu Yiping.
There was no way to overturn this.
The eight assassins were not Southern Region messengers. Three of them were mercenaries in Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping's residence.
The other five were leaders in the army.
With the 'testimony' of these men in front of the crowd and King Duan and the city guards as witness, coupled with their bodies as evidence...
Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping would be buried!
"Hahaha... what a great plan!" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping's body shuddered as he laughed. Tears formed in his eyes, "Good, very good, I am in awe!"
At that moment, he knew exactly what had happened. In fact, he had understood this plan from the moment Bai Qi wanted to remove the mask.
Fang Zhengzhi had used eight men to impersonate the eight assassins Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping sent.
Then, his men were to reveal the plot against Fang Zhengzhi that night, and even make up a story that the real target was Yan Xiu.
Then, when Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping tried to chase them...
They would disappear into an alley and they would present the prepared bodies.
This was a solid case.
The eight assassins were dead. The dead could not testify. The Emperor would have no choice but to believe the evidence in front of him.
The two assistant ministers stared at the eight bodies. As ministers in the Ministry of Law, they knew that there was no chance to overturn a case like that.
"That's it, that's it..." The two assistant ministers looked at each other. They knew what was about to happen.
After Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping was destroyed, they would have no chance to recover either.
They were the ones who had helped Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping smuggle these men out of the jail. They were already implicated from the start.
The countless guards and wardens were extremely bitter as well. They would be implicated too.
The streets were silent.
In the near distance, Chi Hou stared at the eight bodies from under a huge tree. He was in shock and awe.
"Brother Hong, what do you think?" Xing Yuanguo asked.
"I... I don't know." Chi Hou shook his head and looked away from Xing Yuanguo.
"You do know. And based on your abilities, I am sure you can deduce what happened without knowing what happened at the Ministry of Law." Xing Yuanguo replied calmly.
"Brother Yuanguo... yes I have to admit that Fang Zhengzhi's plan was perfect and vicious!" Chi Hou replied after some hesitation.
"The Double Dragon Roll Champion would shock the world, and bring peace to the world... I don't get it sometimes either. Could it be that there may still be changes?" Xing Yuanguo murmured as he looked at the stars.
"Changes? What changes could there be? No matter how smart he is, he is still a crippled man! Brother Yuanguo, don't you have faith in your niece?" Chi Hou frowned.
"Mm..." Xing Yuanguo nodded, then looked to the gates, "Brother Hong, why don't you guess how Yan Qianli would react when he hears that Yan Xiu was the target of an assassination?"
"Yan Xiu? The target of an assassination? What do you mean?"
"Fang Zhengzhi had his imposters say that the Left Prime Minister sent them to kill Yan Xiu under the guise of killing Fang Zhengzhi."
"Ah?! Is... is Fang Zhengzhi crazy? Is he trying to cause chaos?!"