The Child Emperor-Chapter 330: The Assassin’s Confession

Zhang Qinyan walked out of the Emperor’s bedchamber and hurried back to her own room, empty-handed, clearly not an assassin.

Guard Captain Wang He guessed what Zhang Qinyan had done, and his confusion deepened. Could it be that the person lying in bed in place of the Emperor was not a eunuch? He glanced sideways at the Emperor, feeling both admiration and uncertainty.

Time passed bit by bit, and Wang He began to suspect that the so-called assassins would not come, even doubting whether the female guard Meng E would return.

Just then, a soft sound came from the courtyard.

Wang He tensed up immediately, recognizing this as a pugilist world technique of throwing stones to test the path, and quickly placed the whistle at his lips.

Influenced by him, Han Ruzi also watched more intently, though he saw nothing.

After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, someone lightly jumped down from the roof, landing almost soundlessly, like a cat prowling in the night.

Then came a second and third figure, who immediately scattered after landing. After observing for a moment, they headed toward the Emperor’s bedchamber.

The assassins had indeed come. Wang He was even more surprised than the Emperor himself.

Han Ruzi was more concerned about another matter – Meng E was not among the three figures, and those three assassins were clearly all men.

One assassin stood at the door, another at the window. This time even Han Ruzi could see that they were releasing sleeping gas into the room. Zhang Youcai, sleeping in the outer chamber, had inhaled it twice tonight, and the Emperor’s body double in the inner chamber was now also enjoying the treatment – both would sleep soundly.

Wang He looked toward the Emperor.

Han Ruzi could almost feel the heartbeats of the three assassins. They were waiting – waiting for the drug to spread, waiting for the surroundings to truly become safe, waiting for their emotions to settle, then they would enter the room for a quick kill…

“Mm.” Han Ruzi made a soft sound, giving the command.

Wang He blew the whistle, producing a bird-like call. There should have been three sounds of different lengths, but the three assassins outside were extremely alert and experienced. As soon as the first “bird call” sounded, they sensed something was wrong and simultaneously turned to look at the east wing building.

They had to make an instant decision – continue with the assassination or flee immediately…

Ten guards rushed out from the rooftops, behind walls, and from inside buildings. They too were very experienced. Upon discovering that the assassins seemed to have noticed something, they emerged from their hiding places early without waiting for the other two whistle blasts.

They had been hiding for half the night. Liu Jie, who made his routine nightly inspections, had not discovered them, nor had the cautious assassins, and Han Ruzi, despite watching through the window for so long, had also failed to notice that people were actually hidden in the corners of the walls.

Wang He stopped blowing the whistle and gripped his sword hilt without moving. Whatever happened outside, his duty was to protect the Emperor beside him.

There was no shouting or questioning. Guards and assassins began fighting the moment they met. The battle was brief – the guards outnumbered them, the assassins had no desire for prolonged combat, making the disparity in strength even greater. Within a few moves, the three assassins were brought down and pinned by two guards each.

However brief, there was still the sound of clashing blades. Others might not have heard it, but Zhang Qinyan, who had returned to her room not long ago, certainly could, yet she made no reaction.

There was one other person who was also disturbed.

Chief Overseer Liu Jie was always alert, and light appeared in his room.

The guards quickly dispersed, taking the assassins with them. Some were responsible for covering mouths, others for threatening the assassins not to move.

Liu Jie, wearing an outer robe, stood at his doorway looking out for a while, then turned and went back inside. The light went out again.

Han Ruzi felt somewhat apologetic, but he could not tell Liu Jie the truth. Liu Jie would absolutely never agree to the Emperor being so close to assassins.

After a while, once they were certain Liu Jie had fallen asleep, the guards filed out with their prisoners to take them elsewhere for interrogation.

Han Ruzi wanted to follow, but Wang He did not move aside from the doorway. “Please wait, Your Majesty, give the guards some time.”

The three assassins had been captured, but they might still have accomplices. Wang He could not risk letting the Emperor go outside. He had already made arrangements – more guards and soldiers would soon spring into action to conduct a thorough search of the entire residence. At the same time, they would quickly interrogate the prisoners, and after obtaining confessions, they might need to conduct a city-wide search, which would require deploying even more manpower.

Han Ruzi did not want to wait any longer and said to Wang He, “Lead the way.”

Wang He had no choice but to push open the door. He first looked left and right outside the door, then invited the Emperor out. The two walked to the courtyard gate and quietly slipped out.

Immediately, a guard was ordered to enter and focus on watching the two rooms of the zither master and his daughter.

Most of the guards and soldiers had not yet been mobilized, so it was very quiet outside. Wang He and two guards led the Emperor to a nearby side courtyard where the three assassins were being held.

Almost everything in the room had been moved out, leaving only three chairs. The assassins were tied to them and had already been beaten, but it appeared they had not yet confessed.

Seeing the Emperor arrive in person, the guards were startled and quickly stepped aside.

By the lamplight, Han Ruzi examined the three assassins and recognized one of them. “Gui Yuehua? Ghost Hand Gui Yuehua.”

Gui Yuehua had formerly been a martial arts instructor at the Junyang Marquis’s residence. In the pugilist world, he was known as “Ghost Hand.” He had participated in the palace coup and escaped at the last moment. He had long been listed as a major fugitive but had never been captured.

Gui Yuehua sat in the middle. Upon seeing the Emperor, a smile actually appeared on his bloodied face. This was the first time he had spoken since being captured. “Your Majesty actually still remembers me. Ah, Your Majesty has become increasingly clever. We were no match for you before, and now even less so.”

“Where are the others?” Han Ruzi believed there were more than just these three pugilists in the city. He also didn’t know where Meng E had gone, but he didn’t immediately inquire about her.

Gui Yuehua sneered coldly. “Does Your Majesty think you can be more formidable than these hawks and hounds?”

In the brief time that had just passed, all three assassins had been tortured by the guards, but they had not confessed a single word.

Han Ruzi nodded. “We have no confidence regarding others, but as for you…”

Han Ruzi remembered clearly that Gui Yuehua had abandoned his companions and fled alone at that time. The current him would certainly not be more loyal to pugilist codes than he was then.

Gui Yuehua continued to sneer coldly, though his smile was somewhat stiff.

Han Ruzi stepped back two paces and said to Wang He, “They all know the same things. One prisoner is enough.”

Wang He nodded and waved to a guard. The guard also nodded. Not daring to use a long blade in front of the Emperor, he took out a dagger, walked to one of the assassins, and without saying a word, pressed the dagger against the man’s heart and pushed hard, then withdrew it.

The dagger bore almost no bloodstains, and no blood gushed from the assassin’s body. His head tilted to one side, and he made no more sound.

The guard passed over Gui Yuehua and walked to the third assassin, about to repeat the process, when the Emperor said, “Leave that one.”

The guard naturally would not ask questions. He moved his steps and returned to face Gui Yuehua, pressing the dagger against his heart and turning to look at Wang He, waiting only for a signal.

Gui Yuehua had thought he would be kept alive as a witness, but unexpectedly he too was to be killed. His expression changed instantly.

Han Ruzi stared into his eyes – they were the eyes of a pugilist, seemingly profound and inscrutable, yet also appearing shallow and ignorant.

Han Ruzi grunted, and the guard needed no further signal from his superior and was about to act immediately.

Gui Yuehua broke down. It turned out the Emperor was not just frightening him but truly intended to act. “Wait, I’ll confess everything.”

The third assassin turned his head and spat at Gui Yuehua’s face. “Shameless rat, betraying your fellows – do you have no face left at all?”

Gui Yuehua’s face flushed red as he defended himself. “The Emperor already knows everything. What’s the point of continuing to hide it? If I don’t confess, you’ll certainly confess too.”

“I’ll never confess!” that assassin shouted, glaring furiously at the Emperor. “Dog Emperor…”

The guard thrust the dagger in, and the assassin fell silent.

With both companions dead, Gui Yuehua’s face grew even paler.

“Attempting to assassinate the Emperor is a capital crime. Colluding with the Xiongnu makes even death insufficient.” Han Ruzi said coldly. After pausing for a moment, he continued, “What do you offer to atone for your crimes?”

“There are seventeen pugilists in the city, all from Cloud Dream Marsh. Three of us entered the palace to carry out the assassination, three kept watch outside the eastern wall of the prince’s residence…”

Wang He immediately signaled to a guard, who left the room to have people go arrest the lookouts.

Gui Yuehua, desperate to save his life, spoke extremely rapidly. “Three are in the Honor Guard Battalion protecting Lord Hua, six are in a courtyard at the end of Flower God Alley in the southern city. There’s a tunnel there that leads directly outside the city. Three miles from the city, someone waits to receive them…”

For each location Gui Yuehua revealed, Wang He dispatched a guard.

“There are also two people who went to assassinate Prince Donghai.”

“What?” Han Ruzi was startled.

“Hua Huwang brought one person with him. He said Prince Donghai was Your Majesty’s brother, so killing him would be a bonus…” Gui Yuehua grew increasingly frightened and told everything, concealing nothing.

Hua Bin had instructed his son that if the assassination of the Emperor failed, he should then go kill Prince Donghai. Hua Huwang was even more ruthless—no matter what, he had to kill his former “friend.”

“What about Meng E?” Han Ruzi asked.

“She’s with Hua Hushan and another person,” Gui Yuehua said with a sob in his voice.

Meng E might not wholeheartedly protect Prince Donghai. Wang He immediately sent a guard out to help with the arrests.

Gui Yuehua had nothing more to say. His upper and lower lips trembled slightly as he looked at the Emperor, waiting for his fate.

Han Ruzi said to Wang He and the other guards, “Withdraw for now.”

Wang He was startled. “Your Majesty…”

“It’s fine. You’ve tied them tightly enough.”

Wang He personally stepped forward to check, confirming that the two assassins were dead and Gui Yuehua was securely bound, then led the guards out of the room to stand guard at the door.

Others would handle the matters outside, so Han Ruzi need not worry. He only wanted to clarify one thing: “How exactly has the emperor of Chu offended you people to provoke repeated assassination attempts and even making you willing to collude with foreign tribes?”

Gui Yuehua had never imagined his courage was so small, but from the moment he began confessing, he couldn’t control his trembling. “We… no, no, it’s Cloud Dream Marsh that wants to first destroy Great Chu, then drive out the Xiongnu. The collusion is just an expedient measure.”

“Is it again because the Martial Emperor slaughtered pugilists?”

“It should… should be. I only know that the chief of Cloud Dream Marsh hates the Emperor most, and no matter who becomes Emperor, he wants to assassinate them.”

“Chief?”

“That’s the leader of the Cloud Dream Marsh bandits…”

“Luan Banxiong?”

“Yes, yes, that’s him.”

“Does he have a personal grudge against the emperor of Chu?”

“I’m not clear about it. I heard that Luan Banxiong’s adoptive father was once a famous bandit known throughout the realm, and he might have been killed by the Martial Emperor.”

“Ha! When officials kill bandits, isn’t that as it should be?”

“It should be, it should be. But Luan Banxiong’s adoptive father seems to have been killed personally by the Martial Emperor. I don’t know the details—I only heard about it…”

Han Ruzi was stunned and was about to ask more when there came a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Han Ruzi said.

Wang He pushed open the door and said softly, “Prince Donghai has escaped.”

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