Thief Emperor

Chapter 1045 The undercurrent is surging
Lord Yang drew his sword from his waist and roared angrily. The people nearby gasped and quickly moved away to make way for him.

These days, those who carry swords are probably wealthy young men or scholars, but those who carry daggers are definitely government officials.

Because in the era of cold weapons, regardless of the dynasty, almost all dynasties prohibited swords, armor, and crossbows.

In short, it prohibits things that would allow ordinary people to immediately gain overwhelming combat power.

After parting the crowd, Yang Xi finally saw His Majesty the Emperor. In the crowd, a clearing had been cleared, and His Majesty the Emperor stood in the center of the clearing, protecting Prime Minister Du behind him, his clothes stained with blood.

Not far in front of him, two assassins dressed as ordinary people lay on the ground. Although they were not yet dead, blood was seeping from their mouths and noses, and it was clear that they were not going to survive.

One of the two was struck hard in the back by the emperor, while the other was knocked away by the emperor's sidestep and shoulder bump.

There was a third assassin near the emperor, who had also been subdued by Emperor Li. His Majesty looked down at the arm in front of him, which he had twisted off, and frowned slightly.

When Lord Yang saw this scene, he was almost scared out of his wits. He stumbled forward, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to the emperor, saying, "I failed in my duty to protect you, I deserve to die ten thousand times!"

The nearby imperial guards also knelt down in a circle, addressing him as "Your Majesty."

The imperial guards knelt on the ground, and the nearby people also hurriedly knelt down. In a short time, everyone around Li Yun knelt in a circle.

Emperor Li kicked the assassin at his feet aside, then turned to look at Du Qian behind him and asked, "Brother Shouyi, are you alright?"

Du Qian was also quite frightened. He quickly shook his head, "I'm fine, Your Majesty..."

He looked at Emperor Li's blood-stained right arm and asked, "Is Your Majesty alright?"

Li Yun shook his head: "It's not my blood."

In a battle between two armies, Li Yun's physique would make minor injuries as insignificant as a tickle. However, as the emperor, if someone wanted to assassinate him, the weapon would undoubtedly be poisoned.

At this point, it is essential to remain unharmed.

Otherwise, given Emperor Li's style on the battlefield, he wouldn't even need to protect Du Qian in an assassination attempt involving only two or three people; he could have resolved the battle in a few breaths.

In the battle just now, Li Yun was extremely cautious.

After confirming that Du Qian was alright, His Majesty the Emperor looked at the three assassins, then at Yang Xi, who was kneeling on the ground trembling with fear. After a moment of silence, he said indifferently, "Deduct one year's salary."

This was said to Yang Xi.

Lord Yang knelt on the ground, bowing his head deeply: "Your Majesty, I am ashamed."

The emperor, with his hands behind his back, shook his head, looked around, and saw the kneeling people. He remained silent for a moment, then lost interest and said indifferently, "Return to the palace."

Yang Xi quickly got up and went to prepare the carriage. His Majesty the Emperor turned to look at Du Qian, his expression calm: "What does Brother Shouyi think?"

Du Qian lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "I don't understand."

Tonight, Emperor Li is walking among the crowd in plain clothes. With so many people in Luoyang, if someone wanted to assassinate him, they would at least need to recognize either him or Du Qian, and also know their approximate locations.

To have both of these conditions, one either needs connections within the Imperial Guards or... connections within the Jingzhao Prefecture.

As for who exactly wanted to kill His Majesty the Emperor…

That would be far too many.

The so-called "loyal ministers" of the old Zhou dynasty wanted to kill him, but some people in the court with old ideas might not necessarily not want him to die.

There were also the various local lords who were wiped out by Emperor Li, and the local royal families of Wu Zhou who were almost completely wiped out by the Jiangdong army.

These are all blood feuds.

Especially the Wu family of the Wu Zhou dynasty.

It's true that Li Yun didn't touch the emperor, and it's also true that he didn't kill Wu Yuanyou, but apart from these two brothers, most of the imperial family members in Wu Zhou who fell into the hands of the Jiangdong army were executed along with their entire families.

On the one hand, these members of the Wu Zhou imperial family controlled a large amount of local land, as well as money and grain, and His Majesty the Emperor needed to redistribute these means of production.

On the other hand, wherever the Jiangdong army went, they would purge the local tyrants and hold public trials. Almost none of the Wu Zhou imperial family members in these areas did good deeds; every family committed evil at will, so killing them was not unjust.

It even benefited them.

In short, over the past twenty years, Li Yun has made far too many enemies, so much so that assassination attempts against him have never stopped since before he ascended the throne, with one or two such incidents occurring almost every year.

His Majesty the Emperor is no longer surprised by this.

But this was the only time these assassins managed to get close to the emperor.

Besides these reasons, the reason why Prime Minister Du did not speak was also because at this time, in addition to the old grudges of the new dynasty, there were many people who had the motive to assassinate the emperor.

For example... the crown prince.

Because the crown prince might assassinate the emperor, the two other young princes also had the motive to assassinate the emperor.

Because it could frame the Crown Prince, or at least make His Majesty the Emperor suspect the Eastern Palace.

Of course, both possibilities are extremely slim. Although the court is currently stable, the Li family is not necessarily so. The only truly powerful member of the Li family is His Majesty the Emperor. Even if the princes are driven by greed, they have no reason to assassinate their own father. Without Li Yun, they might not be able to control the arrogant and powerful generals, meritorious officials, and nobles of the court.

But even the slightest possibility exists, and the cautious Du Qian chose to remain silent.

Emperor Li looked at Du Qian, stroked his chin and pondered for a while, then looked around and shook his head, saying, "After being disturbed like this today, I've lost all interest. I'll go back to the palace to rest first. Brother Shouyi should also go home and rest early."

Du Qian bowed his head and replied, "Yes," then bowed to the emperor and said, "We will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and give Your Majesty an explanation."

The emperor was assassinated, and the assassin even got close to him. This was a momentous event, even though His Majesty the emperor appeared very calm and showed no signs of anger.

But that doesn't mean the matter is over.

This matter will definitely... will definitely cause a major case.

Otherwise, the imperial court's authority would be lost, and this kind of thing would soon happen a second and a third time.

Emperor Li did not respond to Du Qian's words, but simply smiled. At this moment, Yang Xi had already returned with the sedan chair. His Majesty greeted Du Qian and then boarded the sedan chair.

He had barely gotten into the sedan chair when Duke Liu Bo of England arrived in a hurry with Meng Hai.

When the two leaders of the Nine Divisions arrived at the scene and saw that Li Yun had already boarded the carriage, they knelt down with a thud and bowed their heads deeply.

Emperor Li glanced at the two men from his sedan chair, but said nothing. He simply waved his hand, and the sedan chair slowly left the scene.

After His Majesty the Emperor left, Liu Bo and Meng Hai were covered in sweat.

Although the Nine Departments had little to do with the Emperor's trip this time, and the responsibility lay more with the Imperial Guards and the Capital Prefecture, as the most important intelligence agency of the court and the Emperor's eyes and ears, they still bore some responsibility.

However, the emperor will most likely not pursue the matter.

After the emperor left, the Duke of Yingguo got up from the ground. Before he could even brush the dirt off his body, he walked up to Du Qian, the Duke of Qin, and bowed his head, asking, "Prime Minister, what exactly happened?"

Du Qian glanced at the three assassins on the ground and sighed silently, "Isn't it obvious?"

Liu Bo looked around, his eyes darting around.

After thinking for a moment, he pulled Du Qian aside and asked in a low voice, "Prime Minister, could you tell me the specifics?"

Du Xiangong looked up at Liu Bo, then said quietly, "At that time, I was traveling with His Majesty."

He pointed to the assassin further away and began, "This man charged straight at His Majesty, holding a deep blue dagger, and thrust it straight at His Majesty's back."

"Someone exclaimed..."

Du Qian was also somewhat frightened, muttering, "At that time, the dagger was probably only inches away from His Majesty."

"Fortunately, His Majesty is skilled."

Du Qian looked at Liu Bo and said in a low voice, "He dodged the attack, then punched the man in the back of the head, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, vomiting blood and becoming motionless."

"The two assassins behind him were also quickly subdued by His Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bo's face darkened.

To be honest, he had even suspected that his second brother had hired someone to do this, as an excuse to purge some people in the court who needed to be purged.

Now it seems…

I'm afraid not.

No emperor would put himself in such a dangerous situation.

He walked up to the assassin Du Qian was pointing at, squatted down and looked at him. The assassin was barely breathing and would soon die.

Liu Bo turned the man over and saw that he was indeed holding a dagger in his hand. It was a deep blue color and was obviously poisoned.

At least... it's not clean.

Upon seeing this, the British Duke was also thoroughly enraged. He stood up, looked around, and said in a low voice, "Meng Hai."

Meng Hai jogged over and bowed to him, saying, "Chief Si!"

"Find a doctor. We can't let these three people die."

Liu Bo took a deep breath and slowly said, "The entire Jingzhao Division, take immediate action."

“Everyone involved in this matter must be thoroughly investigated, inside and out.”

Meng Hai bowed his head deeply.

"I obey my orders!"

(End of this chapter)