Chapter 38 - 38 Rumors in the Capital City i
Early in the morning, the military forces of North City sealed off Yan County.
On the streets, soldiers were coming and going on nearly every road.
Seeing this scene, the common people were so scared that they hurriedly ran towards their homes.
At the same time, the entrance to the Prefectural Government was surrounded by a group of soldiers.
Li Rui had not yet risen from his bed when he heard his wife enter the room in a panic, shouting loudly, “My Lord, something terrible has happened! There’s been an incident!”
Hearing his wife’s voice, Li Rui got up from the bed, dazed, and asked, “My Lady, what has happened?”
Lady Li quickly said, “A group of soldiers has come to the door, saying they are here to search the Prefectural Government.”
At these words, Li Rui’s eyes suddenly widened, and he became fully alert.
He immediately stood up from the bed, “What’s going on? Why are there soldiers searching the Prefectural Government?”
Lady Li said, “This servant does not know what happened, my Lord, you should go and see! They’re about to break in!”
Li Rui hastily walked towards the main gate of the Prefectural Government, not even taking the time to get dressed.
At this moment, Li Rui’s heart was filled with immense trepidation; he was wondering whether the North Prince was going to take action against him, the Prefecture Governor.
But then he thought that he had already handed over the military power and had been diligently serving the North Prince. The North Prince wouldn’t possibly take action against him, would he?
He now considered himself a man of the North Prince, and what Seignior would act against their own people?
If he, the Prefecture Governor, were removed, it would be even more difficult for the North Prince to suppress the various power groups in North City.
Soon, Li Rui appeared at the entrance of the Prefectural Government.
Seeing that the officer leading the soldiers was someone he knew well, Li Rui breathed a sigh of relief and asked, “Captain Wu, what is this about?”
Wu Hong said with a smile, “Lord Li, please forgive the intrusion. Last night, the Prince was attacked by an assassin from Blood Moon Tower. It is said that several assassins got away. The Prince ordered a city-wide search; no one’s residence can be overlooked.”
Upon hearing this, Li Rui’s expression changed, and he quickly asked, “The Prince is alright, isn’t he?”
Wu Hong replied, “Lord Li, rest assured, thanks to the Mysterious Grandmaster from the Prince’s Mansion, the Prince was only frightened, he is unharmed.”
Relieved by this information, Li Rui breathed a sigh of relief. If the North Prince had been killed, he as the Prefecture Governor might well have been implicated.
Then Li Rui said, “All right, go ahead with your search.”
Wu Hong bowed and said, “Thank you for your understanding.”
After that, Wu Hong led the soldiers into the Prefectural Government for a quick search before moving on to the next residence.
Soon, the news of the attempt on the North Prince’s life spread throughout the entire Yan County.
Almost everyone in Yan County knew about the assassination attempt on the North Prince by individuals from Blood Moon Tower and how it was thwarted by the Mysterious Grandmaster of the North Prince Mansion.
Although the North Prince was regarded as an ineffectual Prince, he was still a Prince, and an attempted assassination on a Prince was certainly a major event.
This news quickly spread to the Capital city.
Prince Lu Shuyun’s residence.
Upon seeing the Pigeon Letter from Wang Qingci, Lu Shuyun flew into a rage. He lifted his arm and swept everything off the table to the floor, then overturned the table in front of him.
Sounds of clattering ensued in the study as Lu Shuyun smashed everything smashable in the room.
“Trash! Trash! A bunch of trash!”
“Six Ninth Grade martial artists and one Half-step Grandmaster, yet they can’t even kill a useless cripple!”
“What use are you!”
Upon hearing Lu Shuyun’s voice, all the maids in the room stood to one side, shivering and not daring to breathe too loudly.
Lu Shuyun truly couldn’t believe that this operation had actually failed.
Even if the Mysterious Grandmaster was still at the North Prince Mansion, with the Half-step Grandmaster of Blood Moon Tower there, he should have been able to hold him off for a while, thus creating an opportunity for the other Ninth Grade warriors to kill Lu Chen.
But Blood Moon Tower had actually failed!
Not only did the people of Blood Moon Tower fail, but also practically everyone sent by the Misty Pavilion died, leaving only Wang Qingci to escape, reportedly with severe injuries, hiding in Yan County, desperately clinging to life.
Lu Shuyun felt like his lungs were about to explode with anger.
He had always thought that getting rid of that useless Lu Chen would be an easy task, but now he had failed twice in a row.
With these two failures, attempting to strike at the North Prince Mansion again in the future would likely not be as easy.
Other powers are not fools; even a professional assassination organization like Blood Moon Tower had failed, so it’s highly likely that other assassin organizations would refuse his mission.
Just as Lu Shuyun was venting his dissatisfaction by smashing things, a servant hurriedly burst in.
“Your Highness, something terrible has happened! It’s a major disaster!”
Lu Shuyun was already furious, and hearing the servant panic, his anger increased. He kicked the servant, sending him flying against the wall.
Fortunately, his strength wasn’t very great, and he didn’t kick the servant to death. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, the servant hurriedly got up and said, “Your Highness, the whole Capital city is now abuzz with rumors saying that you sent Blood Moon Tower’s assassins to kill the North Prince, with the aim of forcing the Aristocratic Families from the South to support only you in the succession dispute.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Shuyun froze for a moment, then stood stock-still.
He quickly collected himself and his face darkened in an instant, “Those good brothers of mine are truly seizing every possible opportunity!”
In politics, what you can do, you must not declare, and what you declare, you cannot do.
Although fratricide among royal brothers is a fairly common occurrence, it is taboo for any dynasty.
Of course, people knew that Prince Lu Shuyun was the one most eager to eliminate Prince Lu Chen; their maternal clans both hailed from the Aristocratic Families of the South, which could only support one Prince in the struggle for succession.
But such matters should only be known without being publicly discussed, as it would be scandalous for royal brothers to engage in murder.
If such things were taboo for the royal family, then why were there rumors in the Capital city about him sending people to assassinate Prince Lu Chen?
Clearly, another Prince was behind this, aiming to disqualify him from the race for the Crown Prince’s title.
After hearing about the Capital city’s rumors, Lu Shuyun, who had just been thinking about how to get rid of Lu Chen, now found himself in a position where he could no longer take action against him.
This is the politics of doing what must not be spoken of; now that rumors have spread, if he were to send someone to kill Lu Chen and Lu Chen died, it would essentially confirm his culpability.
Even if Lu Chen’s death didn’t come by his hand, the court officials supporting other Princes would say it was his doing, and the common people would likewise believe he killed Prince Lu Chen.
At that point, he would completely lose his eligibility to contest for the position of Crown Prince.
Lu Shuyun clenched his fists, filled with unwillingness in his heart. Was he to simply let that worthless man go?
The first and second assassination attempts were mainly for his own political purposes, but at this moment, Lu Shuyun was so enraged he stopped thinking politically; he only wanted to get rid of Lu Chen.
Of course, this was just a momentary personal emotion, and Lu Shuyun soon calmed down.
Regardless, he could not take any action against Lu Chen for the time being.
At this moment, Lu Shuyun turned his head to look at the bookshelf in the study and directed toward it, “Immediately send a message to Wang Qingci, tell her to heal from her injuries while continuing to lie low in North City, not to take any action for the time being.”
As Lu Shuyun’s words fell, a shadow flipped out of the window and left the study..