Seeing that he had gone to such great lengths to knock everyone down, but the guards he called to catch them were in a daze, Prince Zhuang was furious and shouted, "Are you all pigs? Hurry up and help, tie them up!"
Scolded harshly, the guards had no choice but to surround the "quilt," while the guard leader nervously said, "Prince, there is no one in the quilt..."
What do you an there’s no one in the quilt? What does this have to do with the quilt?
Prince Zhuang was filled with rage, just about to curse them, when he looked up and was stunned.
What he was holding was not Old Fifth?
At this mont, he was clinging tightly to the quilt in a most unsightly manner, even wrapping his legs around it as if it were his most beloved concubine.
Wasn’t he holding Old Fifth’s leg? How did it beco a quilt? When did Old Fifth manage to swap the quilt into his hands and escape?
This couldn’t have happened in just an instant; the person shouldn’t have gotten far, right?
Where’s Old Fifth?
He looked around at each of them, but where was Old Fifth? They were all guards from his mansion.
He anxiously said, "Didn’t you see? Prince Cheng! Prince Cheng was just standing here!"
The guards looked at each other in confusion.
When they rushed in, they only saw their prince tightly hugging a quilt, shouting that there was an assassin.
The quilt was indeed strange, rolled into a thin, long cylinder, with a thickness that really resembled human legs.
The guard leader, still bewildered, responded, "Prince, there was no one!" When they barged in, there was only the prince hugging the quilt, desperately shouting about an assassin, but no one else.
Prince Zhuang jumped up from the ground abruptly.
In his youth, he was both literate and skilled in arms, but after being enfeoffed and sent to the Vassal Land, using his brain more than his hands, he gradually beca unfamiliar with combat.
However, compared to Old Fifth, who had fought on battlefields, his skills were like a child’s compared to an adult’s!
So from the start, he never intended to confront Old Fifth directly in a fight—he simply couldn’t win.
Moreover, in his heart, he looked down on Old Fifth, a re brute. He sought to ascend to supre power, while Old Fifth would only ever be a Vassal King; they weren’t even on the sa level, not worth comparing at all.
But how could a re Vassal King have a son capable of sharing my destiny?
Thinking of this made him even angrier, and he scolded the guards, "Are you all blind? Didn’t you see when you ca in? Prince Cheng was standing right in front of !"
Right, now that the person wasn’t there, he changed his tune: "He must have hidden when he saw you all rushing in. Seal the doors and windows, search quickly!"
The guards were flabbergasted; they hadn’t even seen a ghost when they ca in, what were they supposed to search for?
However, as the prince commanded, they seriously searched—behind doors, screens, under beds, on the beams—leaving no spot unchecked. No trace of any person was found, not even a mouse.
But, they found nothing.
Prince Zhuang sat in the room, so furious that he saw stars, especially when he saw the guards return empty-handed.
He rolled his eyes, thinking where Old Fifth could have hidden. Then he noticed the open door and window, his expression imdiately turning excited as he stood up abruptly, asking, "Did he escape through the window?"
The guards were speechless. They had heard sothing fall inside the room and the prince’s cry of pain, so they imdiately guarded the doors and windows. The prince shouted about an assassin, and they burst in through the doors and windows, all the while under watchful eyes.
For the prince to say he left through the window implied that they were all blind?
Especially since it wasn’t just guards there, but also Prince Zhuang’s Hidden Guards.
Though the Hidden Guards hadn’t heard anything initially, they reacted quickly to the prince’s cry when he was thrown to the ground, even arriving sooner. While they remained in the shadows, Prince Zhuang knew their positions. The Hidden Guards were shaking their heads, indicating there was no one else in the room and no one had left.
Prince Zhuang was about to go mad; what on earth was going on?
He glared at everyone: "You really didn’t see anyone?"
The guards shook their heads stubbornly.
They truly hadn’t seen anyone!
Prince Zhuang was fuming, pointing to his own neck: "Did you not see the wound on my neck either?"
On Prince Zhuang’s neck, there was indeed a wound, with skin broken and blood drawn, standing out starkly against his pampered skin.
Could it be the prince was telling the truth, that there really was an assassin? Otherwise, why would the prince be injured, especially with a sharp blade’s wound?
The realization sent chills down their spines; if there truly was such a person, how highly skilled must they be?
None of them had seen anything—could it really have been Prince Cheng?
Prince Cheng, although experienced in warfare, might not surpass Jianghu experts in martial arts. Among them, the guards might be less capable, but the Hidden Guards were first-rate. On the battlefield, a commander might not even match them.
The guard leader suspiciously said, "Prince, if there really was an intruder, they shouldn’t have gotten far. I’ll take people to search and definitely catch them!"
"It’s Prince Cheng!" Prince Zhuang angrily interjected, "You must catch him!"
The guard leader affird, "Yes!" Though he agreed swiftly, inwardly he despaired.
If there was indeed an assassin, one able to vanish under all their watchful eyes, their skills were intimidating. Most of Prince Zhuang Mansion’s experts were already deployed to search for the Ninth Young Master and Prince Cheng, leaving limited manpower. They were worried they couldn’t catch him.
If it were indeed Prince Cheng, so many masters couldn’t even find a trace. Even if he was in Prince Zhuang Mansion, would they be able to find him?
Even more bizarre thoughts arose in their minds.
Claiming it’s Prince Cheng was only the prince’s assertion; none of them saw him.
Did the prince actually see Prince Cheng, or did he... mistakenly identify soone else as Prince Cheng?
Perhaps Prince Cheng was still in Yunzhou.
To have them search for soone unlikely to be in Capital City—how were they to accomplish that?
Regardless, they still went out to search.
anwhile, to prevent the assassin from returning, four Hidden Guards stayed in place. Their eyes were wide open, focus more acute, yet they couldn’t suppress the eeriness in their hearts.
Was there really soone else in the room besides the prince earlier?
Two attendants ca to attend to Prince Cheng, carefully bandaging the wound on his neck. Prince Cheng, nursing his pain with anger and resentnt, recalled the murderous look in Huangfu Yi’s eyes, filling him with alarm and dread.
He couldn’t swallow this grievance quietly.
Thinking of this, he lost his sleepiness and had the Hidden Guards escort him to the study to start writing a morial.
Even if he was under house arrest, he could still manage to send a morial to Father Emperor.
He had to report these matters to Father Emperor; if soday Old Fifth did him harm, these would be evidence.
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