Qi Yuan silently tugged the corners of her mouth in amusement.
How fascinating, Qi Wang’s own people were fighting each other. Wasn’t that quite the show?
Just now, Gao Qing had seen everything clearly: that black-clad figure had almost brought his blade down on Qi Yuan, and yet, Qi Yuan hadn’t responded at all.
His doubts were now completely dispelled.
No matter how good someone’s endurance was, no one could remain calm and unresponsive in such a dangerous moment. Qi Yuan truly must have fallen ill with some strange affliction.
But there was no time to dwell on that now. Gao Qing was absolutely furious.
He had gone through countless hardships to bring Qi Yuan safely into Jiangxi, and now he was just one step away from fulfilling the task entrusted to him by Qi Wang, an opportunity to gain great merit and rise even higher.
And yet, Eunuch Xu had deliberately dug a trap for him, luring them into a plague-infected village.
And worse, that wasn’t even enough, they had even made an assassination attempt in the dead of night, aiming to kill Qi Yuan outright.
This was clearly an effort to push him to complete ruin!
Thinking of this, Gao Qing held nothing back and led his men to surround the black-clad attackers.
The assassins had no choice but to stop trying to kill Qi Yuan and instead focus on defending themselves. But Gao Qing pressed forward relentlessly with superior numbers. The black-clad man could only pull a whistle from his neck and blow a sharp, piercing note.
As soon as Gao Qing heard the whistle, he cursed aloud, knowing there must be reinforcements, and immediately shouted: “Protect Miss Qi at all costs! Even if it costs your lives, you must get her out! Understood?!”
More than twenty guards responded in unison.
Sure enough, as soon as the whistle sounded, official soldiers came charging in from outside.
But they weren’t there to help Gao Qing, they were there to make things worse.
By now, Gao Qing saw through it all clearly, these people were in league with Eunuch Xu.
So without hesitation, he ordered his men to fight with everything they had and strike to kill.
This dramatic scene left Liujin, Old Zhao, and Beize completely stunned.
“What the h*ll is going on?” Liujin frowned, deeply puzzled. “Didn’t Miss Qi say Gao Qing was ordered to escort her to Qi Wang in Hongdu?”
So how had they ended up in a plague-stricken village?
And why were they being targeted like this?
Attacked in the middle of the night?
And not just Qi Yuan, even Gao Qing was under attack.
But wasn’t Gao Qing a trusted confidant of Qi Wang? Why were Qi Wang’s own people killing each other?
Chunsheng chuckled coldly.
As a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he knew these kinds of internal purges all too well.
Clearly, some high-ranking figure in Qi Wang’s faction couldn’t stand Gao Qing’s arrogance, or wanted to eliminate Qi Yuan, and so they’d set up this massive trap.
He stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“I don’t know what their exact game is, but one thing I do know, Miss Qi will be fine.”
And truth be told, it was all rather amusing.
Here was Gao Qing, risking his life to protect Qi Yuan, whose martial arts were far superior to his own…
And yet, it had turned into a bloodbath between Qi Wang’s own men.
What a spectacular drama.
Meanwhile, Xiong Liangyong was in no mood to laugh.
He was terrified, terrified that once Xiao Yunting arrived, his own neck would be on the line.
Worse still, Qi Wang’s camp had gone eerily silent lately, with not a word from them.
Fortunately, he wasn’t without options.
If he couldn’t rely on Qi Wang, he could still rely on his own people.
He summoned Huang Hongzhong, and fixed him with a cold stare: “The Imperial Grandson is arriving like a storm, and yet you stand there like it’s none of your concern. What, do you think you’ve got more heads to spare than the rest of us?”
Huang Hongzhong felt utterly wronged.
Heads? Who wouldn’t want more heads? If he could, he’d gladly grow ten on his shoulders!
But in front of his superior, especially one in a state of panic, he dared not act indifferent.
He lowered his voice, saying: “My lord, how could I be so careless? Don’t worry, I’ve already made arrangements.”
“You have?” Xiong Liangyong squinted at him, skeptical. “What kind of arrangements?”
Huang Hongzhong grinned and leaned in.
“Does my lord remember last year, when I offered that item and was commended for it?”
Xiong Liangyong didn’t recall such minor details.
He was about to snap at him, when suddenly, realization dawned.
“The saltpeter and sulfur!”
Indeed, Wanzai County and Pingxiang in Jiangxi were renowned for gunpowder production.
Nearly every household there knew how to make fireworks.
And though there were occasional accidents, no one could deny the power of their gunpowder.
The gunpowder formulas Jiangxi had submitted, carefully measured ratios of saltpeter and sulfur, were sometimes even more effective than standard firearms.
That’s why the imperial court had outsourced most gun manufacturing to Jiangxi.
In fact, the firelances Jiangxi had offered last year had proved stronger and more efficient than in previous years.
Now, with Huang Hongzhong bringing it up, Xiong Liangyong’s eyes widened: “Don’t tell me… you’re planning to…”
Planning to blow up Xiao Yunting?
Seeing Huang Hongzhong smiling, he couldn’t help but roar: “Are you out of your mind?! If the Imperial Grandson dies here in Jiangxi, do you have any idea what that means?! They’ll skin every single official in this province alive!”
Huang Hongzhong quickly tried to calm him: “Don’t worry, my lord! That’s not what I meant at all. We’ll just do exactly what you suggested, let the Imperial Grandson kill first!”
“Think about it, how many people has he killed already on his way here? Especially in Xunyang. They say the air there smells of blood…”
He sneered: “Sure, executing corrupt officials has always been popular. The people cheer for it. But what if the Imperial Grandson starts killing ordinary civilians?”
Xiong Liangyong’s expression changed.
“You mean…”
“Exactly,” Huang Hongzhong said coldly. “Your idea is perfect. When he reaches Gaojia Town, a place fully infected by plague, what are his options?”
“If he kills them all, we’ll spread word that he massacred civilians.”
“If he doesn’t kill them, we’ll say he ignored public safety and let plague victims roam free, trying to drag all of Hongdu to the grave with them.”
He raised a hand in a dramatic gesture: “My lord, no matter which choice he makes, he’ll be wrong. And once he makes such a massive mistake, who wouldn’t resent him?”
Xiong Liangyong was stunned by Huang Hongzhong’s depth of planning, pleasantly surprised, and also relieved.
