Chapter 471: Chapter 171 Injured
In the vast mountain forest, suddenly a low horn sounded.
When the horn reached the camp outside the hunting grounds below the mountain, the guards waiting outside all changed their complexions.
Lu Tong sat in the tent and asked Lin Danqing, "What’s happened?"
Lin Danqing abruptly stood up, looking toward the direction of Huangmao Hill, "...Not good."
"The horn..."
She muttered, "Represents there’s an emergency in the hunting grounds."
As Lin Danqing had said, in less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a group of Imperial Guards came down the mountain, looking tense as they headed straight for the Medical Officer Institute’s tent. Lu Tong and Lin Danqing stood up, hearing the leading guard speak with Chang Jin.
"The Crown Prince was suddenly attacked by a fierce tiger in the woods, the tiger has been shot dead, His Highness is unharmed, but many guards are injured. The Chief Physician requests that the Medical Officers come up the mountain to examine them."
Chang Jin, upon hearing this, was very anxious, as it involved the Crown Prince, he dared not delay and immediately selected half of the Medical Officers to follow the Imperial Guards up the mountain, and Ji Xun went as well.
Since Lin Danqing and Lu Tong were new Imperial Medical Officers, Chang Jin asked them to wait in the tent, as not all Medical Officers could be sent away at once.
After Chang Jin left, Lu Tong asked Lin Danqing, "How could there be a tiger in the mountains?"
Before the imperial hunt at Huangmao Hill, Ban Wei should have swept the mountain, driving away lions, tigers, bears, and other fierce beasts to ensure the safety of the mountains. After all, the imperial hunts are not as grand as they were during the former Emperor’s reign.
Shengjing had not seen lions or tigers for many years, even leopards were rare; how could one abruptly appear and almost injure the Crown Prince?
Lin Danqing shook her head, a worried expression on her face, "I don’t know."
The court is divided into two rival factions, like fire and water. With the Crown Prince encountering this accident during the hunt, and the Third Prince also present...
As they sat in silence, the tent flap was lifted from the outside, and two more Imperial Guards hurried in, saying, "The Imperial Censor Zhongcheng fell from his horse and can’t walk, please have two Medical Officers enter the mountain for emergency treatment."
The Imperial Censor Zhongcheng is now forty-five years old, an age when one’s legs and feet are prone to fractures – a fall could be serious. Among the remaining new Imperial Medical Officers, only Lu Tong and Lin Danqing had the best examination results; upon hearing the news, they did not say much, immediately beginning to pack their medical kits.
Lin Danqing added a roll of antiseptic medicine into the medical kit, frowning and muttering to herself, "Strange, it’s only midday, why are there so many incidents this year during the hunt?"
Lu Tong’s heart stirred, he glanced toward the direction of the forest, and quickly averted his gaze, saying to Lin Danqing, "Let’s go."
...
Dust billowed in the forest.
The Dragon Martial Guards rode past at a gallop; among the flickering silver lights of their blades, figures lurking in the shadows tumbled down. In the next instant, Xiao Zhufeng swiftly moved his hand, a streak of cold light skimmed by, and a dark-clad person’s throat twitched, the corner of his lips slowly oozing a trail of dirty blood, falling to the ground, lifeless.
"Marshal!" The guard called out, "They’re Death Warriors!"
Such a clean and resolute suicide indicated they were undoubtedly Death Warriors.
Pei Yunmeng yanked the reins, turning around his horse’s head, "Protect the Third Prince, I’ll pursue."
He charged into the forest.
Yuan Yao was retreating under the protection of the Imperial Guards. The group of Death Warriors wasn’t numerous; having been spotted by the Dragon Guard, they were no match in a skirmish. However, as soon as they were subdued, they immediately bit into poison capsules hidden in their teeth and killed themselves; in a moment, their breaths were all extinguished.
The ground was littered with corpses; some belonged to the Dragon Guard, but most were Death Warriors. Pei Yunmeng pursued the last one. Yuan Yao, protected by the guards, fled to the pine forest outside, below the Feiquan Waterfall, hearing a distant, faint horn from within the forest.
The horn?
News of his assassination attempt had not yet spread, so why had the horn sounded?
More urgent hoofbeats approached; the dark steed returned as quickly as it had gone, and the young man astride it reined in, looking back. Yuan Yao quickly looked at him.
"How did it go? Did you catch anyone alive?" he asked urgently.
Pei Yunmeng shook his head, "They killed themselves."
Yuan Yao thumped his fist onto a rock, cursing softly.
The last living witness was gone, meaning all human evidence was lost.
Duan Xiaoyan examined each corpse in turn and returned to Pei Yunmeng’s side, "Report to the Marshal, there are a total of ten Death Warriors, all have committed suicide."
Just ten Death Warriors, a number not considered many.
But how exactly these Death Warriors managed to bypass the encirclement and secretly infiltrate this area is a matter worthy of contemplation.
If it was the work of skilled hands, that’s one thing; but if there was a traitor...
"Even without a living witness, I know who it is," Yuan Yao scoffed coldly. "In Shengjing, those who most want me dead are obvious."
His words were blunt, and the surrounding guards bowed their heads, saying nothing, as if they hadn’t heard.
Yuan Yao and Yuan Zhen’s open and covert struggles had been confined to the court; with Yuan Zhen’s sinister nature and Yuan Yao’s arrogance, if Yuan Yao was convinced that this assassination attempt was orchestrated by Yuan Zhen, there could be a bloody storm in the Imperial City upon his return.
All was quiet around, Xiao Zhufeng’s gaze fell on the young man’s left shoulder, "Do you need to have your wound treated now?"
Pei Yunmeng glanced at it, saying, "It’s a minor injury; we’ll talk about it after we descend the mountain."