Chapter 102: Capture
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“Someone attempted to assassinate Her Highness, and we are in pursuit,” the golden-armored guard shouted.
Lu Fei exclaimed in shock, “Who would dare to assassinate Her Highness? Men, follow me to capture the assassin!”
With that, Lu Fei led a group of cavalry to follow the golden-armored guards in the direction Wang Xuan had fled. At the same time, he sent someone to inform Xiao Ming.
The golden-armored guards had no reason to doubt Lu Fei and galloped ahead, with Lu Fei following closely behind. Their encounter with the golden-armored guards was part of the plan.
The key to this plan was for Lu Fei’s men to capture Wang Xuan and take him to the Qingzhou prison. If the golden-armored guards caught Wang Xuan, he would likely be tortured to death.
Before long, they reached a fork in the road. The golden-armored guard said, “Captain Lu, let’s split up. If you catch the assassin, please inform us.”
“Of course,” Lu Fei replied. He then led the Qingzhou troops down one path while the golden-armored guards took the other.
After galloping for a while, Lu Fei suddenly stopped in front of a small grove. He called out, “Wang Xuan, come out.”
As soon as he spoke, Wang Xuan emerged from the grove with twelve men.
Wang Xuan said, “Captain Lu, my life is in your hands now.”
Lu Fei dismounted and walked up to Wang Xuan. “To avoid arousing Her Highness’s suspicion, I’ll have to rough you up a bit. My apologies.”
With that, Lu Fei punched Wang Xuan in the face and then slashed his arm with a knife.
“Cough, you’re ruthless,” Wang Xuan grimaced in pain.
Lu Fei smiled helplessly. “It’s His Highness’s orders.”
Wang Xuan thought to himself that as long as he could get revenge, a little suffering was worth it. He then asked, “What about them?”
Lu Fei glanced at the secret guards accompanying Wang Xuan and said, “There are enough death row prisoners in the Qingzhou prison to replace them.”
Wang Xuan nodded. The Prince of Qi’s plans were always meticulous.
Time was of the essence, so the two didn’t waste any more words. Lu Fei escorted Wang Xuan toward Qingzhou City. As they approached the city gates, he sent someone to inform the golden-armored guards that the assassin had been captured.
After the assassination attempt on Xiao Ming and now Princess Pingyang, Qingzhou City was once again on edge.
Upon hearing that the assassin had been caught, Princess Pingyang and Ouyang Mu rushed into Qingzhou City that very night.
“Auntie, I told you that Qingzhou City isn’t safe. If you had listened to my advice, this wouldn’t have happened. I myself was almost assassinated last year,” Xiao Ming said with a concerned expression in the main hall of the Prince of Qi’s residence.
Princess Pingyang was still shaken. The assassination attempt had come out of nowhere, and she couldn’t think of any enemies she had in Qingzhou.
Her first thought was that Xiao Ming might have orchestrated the attack, fearing that she had ulterior motives for her visit. After all, Xiao Ming’s reputation as a troublemaker was well-known, and no one could predict what he might do next.
But now, looking at Xiao Ming’s demeanor, it didn’t seem like he was behind it.
“Your Highness, please hand the assassin over to me. I’ll tear him to pieces,” Ouyang Mu said furiously.
Xiao Ming replied sternly, “General Ouyang, we must not act rashly. Until we find out who is behind this, Her Highness is still in danger.”
“Then does the Prince of Qi have any leads?” Princess Pingyang asked, trying to calm herself.
After a moment of hesitation, Xiao Ming said with a guilty expression, “This is my oversight. The assassin who attempted to kill you is a member of the Wang family, one of Qingzhou’s powerful clans. His name is Wang Xuan, and he is Wang Chengchou’s nephew.”
“What!” Princess Pingyang exclaimed in shock.
Ouyang Mu roared, “I knew that Wang father and son were no good! The Wang family must be furious about losing face at the banquet and decided to intimidate Her Highness. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have retreated after a single attack.”
Princess Pingyang’s expression was complex, her eyes darting around as she tried to gauge the truthfulness of Xiao Ming’s words.
In her view, a local powerful family in Qingzhou wouldn’t dare to assassinate a princess. She said, “Prince of Qi, in that case, can we have this person confront the Wang father and son face-to-face?”
“Of course. I’ll have the Wang father and son arrested immediately,” Xiao Ming said.
Princess Pingyang wasn’t someone who could be easily fooled, and Xiao Ming knew she wouldn’t believe him without solid evidence.
“Ouyang Mu, you go with them. Make sure the Wang father and son are captured,” Princess Pingyang said casually.
Wang Family Residence.
Wang Shijie and Wang Chengchou had just received the news that Princess Pingyang wanted to see them.
“Father, it seems your guess was right. With Princess Pingyang as our backer, what does the Prince of Qi matter?” Wang Shijie said excitedly. “Heh, I won’t have to pretend to be submissive anymore.”
Wang Chengchou stroked his beard smugly. “Hmph, compared to Princess Pingyang’s influence with the Emperor, the Prince of Qi is nothing. From now on, if Xiao Ming wants to move against our Wang family, he’ll have to answer to Princess Pingyang and the Emperor.”
The two of them laughed heartily.
“Master… Master…”
Just as they were basking in their triumph, the Wang family’s steward rushed in, looking panicked.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Get a hold of yourself,” Wang Chengchou scolded.
“It’s… it’s not that, Master. There are… there are a large number of golden-armored soldiers outside, and…”
“Golden-armored soldiers? It seems Princess Pingyang has sent someone to fetch us,” Wang Shijie interrupted the steward and strode out.
Wang Chengchou, despite his cunning, was also somewhat flustered.
When Xiao Ming had replaced the local officials in the six states, Wang Chengchou had realized that many of Xiao Ming’s actions were aimed at weakening the influence of the powerful families.
Combined with past events, he became even more certain of this. However, at the time, he had been blinded by immediate gains and hadn’t thought deeply about it. Now, it was too late to regret.
Unfortunately, the Qin and Wang families had become enemies, making any alliance impossible. In this regard, Wang Chengchou had to admire Xiao Ming’s foresight.
After realizing this, Wang Chengchou had continued to do business with Xiao Ming while secretly looking for a powerful backer. He hadn’t expected an opportunity to come so soon.
Following Wang Shijie, he walked out, but before he could take more than a few steps, his expression changed drastically.
Behind the golden-armored guards were silver-armored Qingzhou soldiers, and Lu Fei was among them.
“Father, what’s going on?” Wang Shijie was stunned.
Ouyang Mu, seeing Wang Shijie, flew into a rage and kicked him hard in the stomach. “Arrest these two traitors!”
Lu Fei waved his hand, and the Qingzhou soldiers rushed forward.
Wang Chengchou’s face turned ashen. He couldn’t understand how things had come to this. He asked, “Captain Lu, what is the meaning of this?”
“Master Wang, don’t worry. You’ll find out soon enough,” Lu Fei said calmly.
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