The Child Emperor

The three assassins sent by Hou Huabin of Junyang kept running, and finally arrived at Yingfeng Village after the third watch. They were wearing the armor of the soldiers of the Southern Army.

The southern army between Baiqiao Town and Yingfengzhai was in extreme chaos. The small amount of northern army led by Cai Xinghai was unable to push back, let alone Mr. Cui’s possible counterattack, so he simply pulled back to protect himself and gave up the guard against Baiqiao, so as not to cause any trouble. The unnecessary conflict created convenience for these three assassins.

The base of Yingfengzhai Mountain was full of temporary camps, and the guards were also lax, and many people stayed up all night to inquire about the situation. The assassin dismounted, entered a camp generously, rested for a while, observed the surrounding situation, and walked up the mountain into the stockade.

The military discipline on the mountain is slightly better, but there are still people coming and going between the barracks, not hiding, and even chatting outside the house.

The three assassins glanced at each other, and they were all full of confidence in this assassination.

Juan Hou was in the council hall all night, never came out, and there were not many guards around.

As the assassins converged, they became more confident, and even felt that assassination was unnecessary. Mrs. Cui only needed to send a general to come all the way, and he would be able to subdue the soldiers of the Southern Army, not to mention catching the tired marquis alive.

But they are not soldiers, they are not interested in subduing the southern army, and they have never thought of asking for help. They just hope to complete the task as soon as possible, and take the heads of Hou Juan to go back to see Lord Hua Hou and Mrs. Cui.

"There is a guard beside Juan Hou, so be careful." An assassin said that he had inquired and understood that the person who killed General Zhao was not Juan Hou himself, but an unremarkable guard who he judged to be extraordinary.

The three quickly divided their labor. One was watching the wind outside, and the two entered the hall to assassinate. One of them was dedicated to dealing with the guards, and the other only wanted to assassinate Juan Hou and cut off the head. Messenger from town.

After observing for a while, the three approached the council hall without deliberately hiding their deeds. They met a few soldiers. These people were wandering around at night in violation of military discipline, and naturally they would not stop them from asking about the origins of others.

There were no guards at the entrance of the council hall, even more so that Hou Juan was not well guarded, isolated and helpless.

An assassin gently pushed open the door, and it was bolted inside, which was not unexpected. He raised his hand and knocked on the door, loudly saying, "A letter from Baiqiao Town! A letter from Baiqiao Town!"

After a while, a question came from the door: "Southern Army or Northern Army?"

The three were dressed as the Southern Army, but the assassin replied, "The Northern Army, Cai... General sent us here." He didn't remember Cai Xinghai's name and official position, so he called him "General" in general.

Someone inside lifted the latch.

The three assassins stepped aside slightly, holding the hilt of the knife to prevent a surprise attack when someone opened the door.

The door opened, and what came out was not Juan Hou, nor a sudden attack, but someone the three assassins knew.

Cui Teng stood at the door. He didn't recognize the assassin and said in confusion, "Are you from the Northern Army?"

An assassin responded quickly, "We are delivering letters for General Cai of the Northern Army..."

A stern question suddenly sounded behind him: "Where are the soldiers from the Northern Army?"

The three assassins turned to see five Confederate soldiers standing under a torch on the side of the road, watching them warily. There were always people walking around the camp, and the Assassins paid no particular attention to these people.

Before waiting for the assassin to speak, Cui Teng sternly reprimanded: "What are you guys? Dare to be presumptuous in front of me? Where's your boss? Let him come to see me!"

Cui Teng thought he was superior, but he had been under house arrest in Baiqiao Town, and he did not have the clothing of a general. Most of the soldiers in Yingfeng Village didn't know this person.

"We don't dare to be presumptuous, we just want to ask one thing: they are soldiers of the Northern Army, why do they wear the armor of our Southern Army? What happened in Baiqiao Town? Did the Northern Army attack the Southern Army?" Several soldiers did not Back off, take a few steps forward.

When the nearby soldiers heard the quarrel, they ran over immediately, and there were fifteen or sixteen people talking.

Cui Teng was a little nervous, "You...you're confused, is this one thing you asked? It's several things." Then he whispered, "Come in."

The three assassins did not expect an accident at this juncture, and they were wrong, so they nodded and followed Cui Teng into the door.

The Confederate soldiers outside were angry.

Zhao Mengli ruled the army very strictly. Some of his officers hated him, were afraid of him, and naturally some liked him and even admired him. What happened yesterday was too sudden. The more wrong you think, the Marquis Juan is only one person, and his title is the Great Sima of the Northern Army. Even if there is an imperial edict on his body, why would he kill General Zuo of the Southern Army for no reason?

Throughout the night, the soldiers of the Southern Army in the village were discussing this issue. Although no one had come forward to formulate a plan, their dissatisfaction grew more and more. The arrival of the three "Soldiers of the Northern Army" finally resolved this dissatisfaction. inspire.

"Speak clearly!" "What did the Northern Army do?" "Where did you get the Southern Army armor?" A dozen soldiers rushed to the council hall while questioning, shouting loudly, and there were still many in the village who were still asleep. The soldiers of the Confederate Army who heard the screams ran from all directions and gathered more and more.

Cui Teng refused to be convinced, and ordered the people outside to not mind their own business, but kept beckoning to the three "Northern Army soldiers" and told them to come in quickly.

The assassin had no choice but to enter the house and talk.

"I'll clean up after dawn..." Cui Teng hurriedly closed the door, hurriedly preparing to latch.

The three assassins took the opportunity to observe the surrounding situation. The hall was very dark, and only two oil lamps were placed near the door. From a distance, a person could be seen standing in front of the main seat, but the master guard was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't close the door," Han Ruzi said.

Cui Teng was taken aback, holding the door latch and said, "Brother-in-law, this is no joke."

"Let them come in." Han Ruzi still didn't change his mind.

Cui Teng was stunned for a moment. The soldiers outside had already rushed to the door and banged hard on the door. Cui Teng hurriedly stepped aside, and the soldiers rushed into the council hall. Run further.

The three assassins did not dare to step forward, not because they were afraid of Hou Juan, but because they were afraid of the invisible guard.

More and more Confederate soldiers came in. By the time the three assassins reacted, they were already surrounded by circles. Cui Teng ran to Juan Hou and asked in a low voice, "Can you handle it?"

Han Ruzi ignored him, and after the soldiers who came in were generally stable, he said, "Come out and speak alone."

Fifty or sixty Confederate soldiers stood at the door, and there were more people outside, but no one came forward.

Han Ruzi waited for a while, then said, "Forgive your innocence."

Finally, a soldier from the Southern Army was pushed out. Although they were really dissatisfied with the killing of Zhao Mengli, they did not dare to bring it up in person. They still pointed at the three "Northern Army soldiers" and said, "We... What happened in Qiaozhen, these three people are clearly soldiers of the Northern Army, why are they wearing the armor of our Southern Army?"

"Yeah." Han Ruzi turned around and went back to the tiger leather chair to sit down, "Let's ask."

Cui Teng was taken aback, the soldiers of the Southern Army at the door were taken aback, and the three assassins were even more taken aback.

The hall was quiet for a while, and the leading Confederate soldier turned around slowly, facing the three "Northern Army soldiers", and asked bravely, "You came from the North Army Camp in Baiqiao Town?"

The three assassins were embarrassed and had to nod their heads, and one said, "Yes."

"What happened in Baiqiao Town?"

"No...what, everything is normal, we are instructed by General Cai to inform Hou Juan."

"Since everything is normal, why do you wear Confederate armor?"

The armor of the Northern Army is mainly black, while the clothing of the Southern Army is mostly red. The difference is very obvious. The three assassins made a mistake and got into a difficult situation. , even more suspicious.

"Speak, speak!"

With the addition of swords and guns, even a peerless master cannot escape the siege.

One of the assassins said, "We are soldiers of the Southern Army, and we were assigned to report news for the Northern Army, so we called ourselves the Northern Army. General Cai said that this would save us a lot of trouble."

The doubts of the soldiers of the Southern Army did not diminish. "Why didn't you make it clear before? Which battalion are you from? Who is the general?"

"The Seventeenth Battalion, the general is Du Kun." The three assassins stayed with Hua Bin in the Southern Army camp for a long time, and finally remembered the names of several battalion generals.

Han Ruzi beckoned to call Cui Teng and whispered a few words to him. Cui Teng strode to the door, looked up and down the three assassins, and suddenly said: "You lie, Du Kun led the seventeenth battalion back to Beijing with my father, why would they stay? The next three?"

The soldiers in Yingfengzhai were not aware of the transfer situation in Baiqiao Town. After all, the three assassins were from Jianghu. Even if they followed the army, they could not tell which battalion was which.

One of the assassins couldn't bear it any longer, and suddenly pulled out his sword and shouted, "We are Mr. Cui's subordinates, come to kill Marquis Juan, and the soldiers of the Southern Army listen to me..."

Cui Teng took a few steps back and shouted loudly, "I'm Taifu Cui's own son, I've never seen these people before, they are sneaky, they are neither the Southern Army nor the Northern Army, they must be assassins sent by the champion Hou to provoke the Southern Army. , the relationship between the Northern Army..."

Ordinary soldiers draw their swords to fight and rely on their companions around the front, back, left and right to protect themselves, but Jianghu people are used to fighting alone.

Before Cui Teng's words were finished, many soldiers of the Southern Army had already started. They distrusted the Jianghu people even more than the soldiers of the Northern Army.

"We are Taifu Cui..." The three assassins shouted angrily, but they couldn't stop the mad Confederate soldiers.

A master is a master, and he can still launch a counterattack after being hit by a number of wounds, stabbing several soldiers.

Three bloody corpses fell, and the red-eyed Confederate soldiers did not put away their guns, but looked at the tired marquis in the shadows.

Cui Teng's face became even paler, and he slowly stepped back, not daring to mention that he was the second son of the Cui family.

Han Ruzi stood up and walked towards the many soldiers, turning a blind eye to Cui Teng's silent dissuasion, and also turning a blind eye to the blood-stained swords and guns.

But he refused to look at any of the soldiers, and kept his eyes fixed on the three corpses, walked closer, only a few steps away from the nearest long spear, and said: "Look, this is the evidence of chaos in the capital, the champion Hou sent assassins, It means that he will also do something to the emperor and the queen mother."

When he said these words, Han Ruzi had no way of knowing that the champion Hou had died of poisoning.

"The safety of the imperial court and the survival of the Great Chu are now in your hands. Follow me to pacify the chaos, and you can build unparalleled achievements, and it is not a problem to reward the land."

Han Ruzi raised his head and met everyone's gaze, "Even if you spend your whole life on the frontier, how many times can you have this opportunity?"

The soldiers looked at each other, and the leader said, "We...we just..."

"You are here to save me. I understand that now that the assassin is dead, I will remember your credits, and the champion will remember your sins."

One by one, the soldiers put down their knives and guns, and then they all respectfully left the chamber.

Cui Teng looked at Hou Juan with a look of admiration, "Brother-in-law, you are too bold."

"Those who really want to kill me don't need to look for excuses." Han Ruzi had his own way of judging.

"What should we do now?"

"I must return to the capital as soon as possible." Han Ruzi looked at Cui Teng, "I need you to show me the way."