Aoyama

Chapter 501 Remnants of the Second Wife
Outside Changping Post Station, scholars and literati sat quietly on the street.

Inside Changping Post Station, Chen Ji sat in the main hall, keeping the candlelight from flickering. He placed the whale-shaped knife across his knees, closed his eyes to rest, and breathed evenly.

All the post station officials and the crown prince were kept under guard and made to sit on the floor in the main hall to prevent anyone from tipping them off.

The only female guest, Princess Liyang, went up to the second floor. Everyone else, even the Crown Prince, had to use the restroom in the main hall and find a wooden bucket to relieve themselves.

Just as the rooster crowed in the backyard, Princess Liyang, wearing a white veiled hat, came down the stairs and asked Chen Ji, "Is it time?"

Everyone turned to look at her, wondering what she meant by the time.

Only Chen Ji opened his eyes and looked at the sky: "If nothing unexpected happens, they should have been sent away already."

The Crown Prince silently watched Princess Liyang, whose face was hidden behind a white veil, making her identity unclear. Chen Ji's statement about "sending her away" likely referred to the real Princess Liyang and Yuan Cheng.

At this moment, Princess Liyang asked, "What are your plans next? Return to the capital or continue on your way?"

Chen Ji pondered for a moment: "The nine gates of the capital have just opened. Even if someone wants to come to Changping to deliver a message, they won't arrive until evening. Let's continue forward and see if anyone can't resist the urge to lure a few people out."

Princess Liyang nodded: "Okay, we'll do as you say."

The Crown Prince said softly, "The mission of the magistrate of Wuxiang County was to cover the departure of the Jing Dynasty's envoys. Now that the objective has been achieved, why not return directly to the capital?"

Chen Ji held the whale-shaped sword in his hand and turned to look at the crown prince behind him: "Your Highness is afraid of death?"

The crown prince stood up and dusted off his ceremonial robes: "It's not that I'm afraid of death, but I don't want to die needlessly."

Chen Ji walked out, completely ignoring the Crown Prince's thoughts: "Your Highness, just follow me and don't say anything more. Duo Bao, go and call Qi Zhenzhuo to bring the horse, and continue north."

Duobao turned and went to the stables in the backyard.

A moment later, the Imperial Guards led their horses to the gate. Qi Zhenzhuo had been on guard duty in the stables the night before, and his clothes were still covered with straw from the stables.

He handed the reins to Chen Ji: "Master, someone spied on the stables last night, but we didn't catch them."

Chen Ji nodded: "I know."

He hung the horn bow beside the saddle and instructed Qi Zhenzhuo, "Li Xuan will lead the way, and you'll bring up the rear..."

Before she could finish speaking, Princess Liyang was helping Yuancheng onto the carriage when the Crown Prince suddenly stepped forward and, in full view of everyone, lifted the veil from her hat and tossed it into the air.

Everyone turned to look, and the Crown Prince was about to expose the disguise of 'Princess Liyang' in front of everyone, telling them that this Princess Liyang was an imposter.

However, the Crown Prince was stunned. He looked at the woman in front of him and thought, "Who else could it be but Princess Liyang?"

The Crown Prince had met Princess Liyang before, and the woman before him had the same features as Princess Liyang!
He suddenly looked at Chen Ji, only to find that Chen Ji was calmly looking at him.

The Crown Prince murmured, "How could this be? How could Princess Liyang be in the group? Didn't she already leave?"

He reached out to remove the black cloth from Yuan Cheng's head again, but this time, Princess Li Yang grabbed his wrist: "Your Highness, that's enough."

The crown prince looked at Princess Liyang in front of him, and hesitated for a moment.

Among the crowd at Changping Station, several people were clearly seen quietly leaving.

Chen Ji led the horse to the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, please mount your horse."

The Crown Prince took a deep breath: "The man from Wuxiang County is quite cunning. He seems to be afraid that the assassin won't get involved, so he wants to use me to confirm Princess Liyang's identity."

Chen Ji calmly replied, "Your Highness, did I force you?"

The Crown Prince said softly, "A skilled strategist attacks the mind. The magistrate of Wuxiang County did nothing but exploit my fear, thus ensnaring me. That's why I said, 'Excellent tactic.' Now everyone believes that Princess Liyang and Yuancheng are indeed in this carriage. But I can't understand why this Princess Liyang looks so much like her."

Chen Ji smiled but did not answer the question: "Someone taught me not to let people know your intentions, otherwise your intentions will become your weakness. Let's go, Your Highness. It will be safer to leave Changping sooner."

Having said that, he mounted his horse and led his entourage toward the north of the city.

……

……

Changping, as the first garrison north of the capital, was originally a place for merchants to rest and travel. The capital was expensive, so many merchants who did not want to pay taxes again in the capital would concentrate their goods from the north to sell here. Fur, cordyceps, ginseng, deer antlers, anything that the north had, could be found here.

This is also why the Lu family stayed in Changping and did not want to go to Beijing. From there, one could go north to Chongliguan and Jingchao, west to Guyuan and Datong, and east to Tanggu, making it easily accessible in all directions.

As the procession passed through Anfu Lane, the roadside was lined with taverns and bustling with crowds.

Along the rammed earth road, merchants set up stalls with wooden planks, on which thick layers of furs were stacked, and the merchants shouted their wares.

Chen Ji rode at the head of the ceremonial procession, slowly turning his head to survey his surroundings. The Crown Prince followed closely behind him, keeping a safe distance from the carriage.

Just then, an oxcart blocked the road, and the driver yelled at someone, "Don't you have eyes? I was driving my oxcart through here, and you didn't have eyes and crashed into me, and you blame me for that?"

Li Xuan whispered behind Chen Ji, "What should we do..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Ji deftly removed the horn bow from the saddle, drew the bow, and nocked an arrow. The arrow shot out like lightning, heading straight for the driver's face.

Li Xuan was shocked, not expecting Chen Ji to kill him without asking any questions: "You..."

The next moment, the driver of the oxcart paled and lunged out. He dodged the first arrow, but was struck in mid-air by Chen Ji's second. The arrow pierced through his chest, spraying a cloud of blood in the air.

In that instant, street vendors and merchants scattered in panic, some even reaching under the wooden planks.

Chen Ji kept firing arrows without asking any questions, shooting one after another. In the blink of an eye, he had shot through six more people in the street. There was no fighting; the assassins hadn't even made a move. Chen Ji's encounter with them was a massacre.

The Crown Prince cautioned, "Lord Chen, if you kill the wrong person, you may be impeached by the censor."

“These past few days, there have been at least eighty or a hundred people impeaching me. Having so many debts is no burden,” Chen Ji said calmly, “It’s like an quiver.”

Duo Bao understood immediately and took out his quiver and threw it from a distance.

However, at that moment, a row of windows on the second floor of a roadside tavern opened wide, and a dark mass of figures stood inside, drawing bows and shooting arrows. Li Xuan's expression changed: "Take cover!"

No one expected that someone in the capital region would actually bring out dozens of strong bows to carry out an assassination attempt. Nor did anyone expect that someone in the capital region would be able to produce dozens of strong bows.

It wasn't the Military Intelligence Bureau; they wouldn't act so recklessly!
The next moment, 30% of the archers upstairs fired volleys at the carriage, 30% at Chen Ji, and the rest fired randomly to suppress the Imperial Guards.

The Imperial Guards dismounted in unison, using their horses to conceal themselves.

A hail of arrows came flying.

More than twenty arrows riddled the carriage containing Princess Liyang and Yuancheng with arrows, and a muffled cry of pain came from inside before silence was uttered.

The warhorses in the Imperial Guard formation neighed, and everyone hid under their horses' bellies, unable to raise their heads due to the barrage of arrows.

Just as more than twenty arrows were aimed at Chen Ji, Chen Ji, carrying the whale-shaped sword, leaped off his horse and jumped through the window using the eaves of the first floor of the tavern.

The warhorse crashed to the ground, and the prince, who was closest to Chen Ji, was shot in the thigh by an arrow, groaned, and fell off the horse.

……

……

A gleaming whale-shaped blade flashed past the window, momentarily halting the rain of arrows falling through.

Li Xuan looked up and saw Chen Ji's figure passing through the windows on the east side, heading from south to north.

He shouted, "Take me up!"

Duo Bao used his hands to form a bridge, allowing Li Xuan to leap onto the second floor by stepping on his hands. The remaining Imperial Guards ignored the carriage and drew their swords to attack the tavern.

The prince was left alone on the street, hugging his knees and sweating profusely. No one paid him any attention, and he could only struggle to move towards the shadows by the roadside.

But at that moment, the wine banners hanging by the roadside spontaneously combusted without fire. In the flames, golden talismans appeared on the banners, and billows of black smoke billowed out.

Black smoke swirled above the long street, forming a Bagua (eight trigrams) shape in the sky.

A black smoke curtain descended, shrouding the long street in darkness. At the edge of the smoke curtain, countless black hands reached out from the smoke wall, as if to pull people into the wall and tear them apart.

Qi Zhenzhuo was startled when he saw this scene.

This wasn't the first time they'd seen this smokescreen; the last time was back in the Eight Great Hutongs, when they were fighting with Heji and Furuixiang using sticks.

Qi Zhenzhuo looked at Duo Bao beside him: "They are remnants of the second branch of the Chen family!"

During the internal strife between Chen Ji and the second branch of the family, the officials of the Seeking Dao Realm never showed up. The official who had set up the talisman array in the Eight Great Hutongs was nowhere to be seen, nor was Chen Guang, who had invited Chen Ji to the Altar of Mountains and Rivers to watch Chen Lizhi execute the second manager of the salt shop.

After the Five Witches' assassination attempt, the matter was finally settled with Wang Daosheng capturing Chen Wenren and Chen Lizhi hanging himself. However, Chen Lizhi knew that the defeat was inevitable, so he sent his officers to escort Chen Wende away.

Aunt Ping once said that many officials and nobles in the capital had escaped through the secret passages of Changping. It is likely that Chen Wende has not been arrested and brought to justice because he has relied on the complex mining tunnels under Changping County.

However, Chen Wende did not choose to leave, but instead went into hiding in Changping.

At this moment, a gray-clad figure wearing a straw hat emerged from the corner. He ignored the smoke screen and the fighting between the Imperial Guards and the Chen family's second branch of assassins, and went straight to the carriage.

Si Cao Gui.

He went to the carriage and lifted the curtain, wanting to confirm whether Princess Liyang and Yuancheng were alive or dead.

But as soon as he lifted the carriage curtain, he saw a woman's hand emerge from behind the curtain and press directly onto his chest.

Si Cao Gui tried to dodge, but the other party was a step ahead of him.

The palm struck Si Cao Gui's chest, and his clothes on the back ripped apart with a bang. From the shattered pieces of cloth, a soul was blasted out of his body by the palm strike.

The soul was not wearing a bamboo hat; it was in Si Cao Gui's original form.

The person inside the car looked at the spirit and sighed softly, "So it was you."

Si Cao Gui flew backward for ten feet before tumbling to the ground.

He stood up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, a strange look flashing in his eyes: "So you really didn't die..."

(End of this chapter)