Chapter 206: Assassination
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This old man is a chef? Don’t be ridiculous. Yuwen Chu chuckled, “Are you saying that you’re the chef? You, a chef?”
The old man shouted loudly, “That’s right!”
Since the secret passage couldn’t be found and the person couldn’t be found either, it might as well be set on fire. Either they would suffocate in their hiding place or come out on their own. Yuwen Chu casually said, “That would be for the best. This courtyard is far enough from the neighboring houses. Even if a towering fire erupts, it won’t affect others. Let’s burn this place down.”
The old man was shocked and struggled desperately. Hoarsely, he shouted, “What grudge do I have with you? It’s just because she tripped and fell. Do you want to burn down my house for that? This is beneath the Emperor’s feet; such atrocities cannot be tolerated!”
Yuwen Chu gave a cold smile and reached out to pull Mingzhu. “Let’s go.”
Mingzhu reached back and grabbed his hand to touch the stove in the center. Yuwen Chu saw the steaming pot still on the stove and the smoke rising from the firewood in the stove, involuntarily withdrawing his hand and whispered, “Don’t mess around!”
Look, she knew she was extremely clever. This deception not only fooled Zhang Huan and the others successfully, but even Yuwen Chu didn’t suspect a thing. Mingzhu proudly placed her hand on the stove to demonstrate to Yuwen Chu, silently mouthing to him, “There’s something fishy going on here!”
Yuwen Chu froze for a moment, immediately placing his hand on the stove. The secret was indeed here.
Truly clever, knowing that when everyone entered, the first thing they would see would undoubtedly be this central stove. So, placing a steamer emitting hot steam on this stove and stuffing a few nearly extinguished firewood sticks into the stove eyes would create an illusion of “this stove was just lit, so there definitely wouldn’t be any problems inside,” causing people to overlook this stove.
If Mingzhu hadn’t noticed the details, then today’s fire, even if it were set, would only have destroyed this place. Originally, he just wanted to find a suitable excuse to deal with this place and let Mingzhu gain more experience and hone her skills, so he brought her here, but he didn’t expect her to give him such a surprise. It wasn’t a big surprise, but it made him very happy. He hadn’t misjudged her.
Yuwen Chu looked at Mingzhu and smiled brightly at her, the joy and excitement in his eyes undisguised. Mingzhu knew she had done a good job of filling in the gaps, so she smiled proudly along with him.
Yuwen Chu held her hand and stepped back, gesturing for Zhang Huan to bring people forward to surround the stove. As they watched Zhang Huan and the others draw their swords and cautiously approach the stove, Mingzhu became nervous too and asked Yuwen Chu in a low voice, “Is there someone hidden inside?”
Yuwen Chu said, “Whether it’s a secret passage or a hidden cabinet, there’s definitely something fishy here.” Then he gently praised her with a tender expression, “No one else realized there was something fishy here except you. You deserve credit for being the first to find out.”
Mingzhu felt a bit proud yet shy and modestly said, “It’s just a lucky guess. If Your Highness had personally checked, you would have found out long ago.” Then she suddenly remembered something, “Since Your Highness thinks they’re suspicious, why would you dare to eat their food?”
Truly slow on the uptake, Yuwen Chu sighed, “You can’t catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger’s den… They aren’t that bold. Sometimes, in a confrontation between two sides, it’s not just about strategy, but also about determination, courage, and guts…”
Just as he spoke, Zhang Huan and the others had already removed the steamer and other items and uncovered the lid on the stove, revealing a dark hole underneath just big enough for one person to enter. Zhang Huan looked back at Yuwen Chu, who nodded in approval. Zhang Huan then led a few people to roll up their sleeves, grabbed a sharp blade between their teeth, and took a rope, preparing to go down.
Yuwen Chu frowned, “Wait, smoke them out first.” In this way, no matter how formidable the person hiding below was, they wouldn’t be able to withstand the dense smoke.
Zhang Huan shook his head, “What if this secret passage leads to another place? If we wait for the smoke to disperse, the person might have fled far away.” With that, he swiftly went down, followed by everyone else. Soon, they disappeared without a trace. Suddenly, a loud noise came from below, shaking the ground, startling everyone. They rushed forward and called out to Zhang Huan and the others loudly.
At this moment, the old man who had been crawling on the ground suddenly pulled out a sharp knife from his shoe sole, pushed away the people holding him down, and pounced towards Yuwen Chu.
“Be careful!” Mingzhu saw everything clearly, her heart almost leaping out of her throat. She pushed Yuwen Chu hard and grabbed the nearby oil bottle, smashing it towards the old man. Yuwen Chu was already on guard, swiftly turning around and kicking the old man away. However, in an instant, Jing Song, who was guarding outside, had already rushed in with his men. The old man struggled to get up and, without hesitation, stabbed the dagger towards Yuwen Chu’s chest. At that critical moment, something flew diagonally, knocking the dagger out of the old man’s hand. The old man smiled eerily at her, his head tilted, and then he fell down.
Mingzhu was startled, unable to see clearly. Yuwen Chu had already covered her eyes, “Don’t look.”
His fingers were warm and dry, calming Mingzhu’s wildly beating heart. She heard Yuwen Chu whisper softly to Jing Song, “Wangfei and I will go back first. You handle things here. I don’t care how you do it, just try to minimize casualties and capture the people. After everything’s settled, send someone to inform the Five City Guards Office. Say that I was attacked here.” After giving his instructions, Yuwen Chu grabbed Mingzhu’s arm and led her out, saying, “Let’s go.”
Outside the door, while Yuwen Chu wasn’t paying attention, Mingzhu forcefully opened his hand and looked towards the old man. She saw the old man lying motionless on the ground, eyes wide open, face grayish-blue, lips stained with blood, obviously poisoned to death.
Did he really die like this? Mingzhu looked at Yuwen Chu. He had set up a trap using her as a cover, and he just let this man die like that? Even if there was poison hidden in his mouth, there was still a way to deal with it—just remove his lower jaw. Unless he didn’t want to spare the old man’s life at all. What was he doing?
“I told you not to look. What if you have nightmares tonight?” Yuwen Chu frowned, tightly holding Mingzhu’s hand as he walked out. Mingzhu protested, “Is my husband really afraid that I’ll have nightmares? Then why did he bring me here?”
Yuwen Chu just kept leading her out quickly, then directly sent her into the carriage and sat beside her, taking her hand and rubbing it in his palm with leisure, smiling gently, “It’s nothing remarkable. Some things you’ll have to face sooner or later, right?”
“I’d like to hear the details.” What did he mean by some things she’d have to face sooner or later? Mingzhu tried to pull her hand out of his palm, but found she couldn’t. After struggling a few times, she gave up.
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