The Prodigal Son

Mo Wu and Lou Renchong slipped out of the city silently through a hidden passage.

Besides the secret passage leading out of the city, there are several other secret passages leading out of the city from within.

These secret passages were built by historians many years ago.

Their purpose was simple: to escape and save others.

Qin Yu also benefited from the Shi family's celebration of the baby's full moon.

Otherwise, Qin Yu would never have been able to wipe out the entire Shi family.

That night, Mo Wu and several assassins secretly met at a temple outside the city.

This temple, neither too big nor too small, was donated by the Shi family and served as one of their secret hideouts.

The monks in the temple were not monks at all; they were all assassins carefully trained by the historians!

Being a monk is merely a cover for their true identity.

In the monks' quarters, Mo Wu sat with several leaders.

"The master's entire family has been captured by that scoundrel Qin Yu, and the three young masters are being tortured on the city wall..."

Mo Wu briefly explained the Shi family's current situation to them, his face resolute. "We have received immense kindness from our master; without him, none of us would be alive today! Now, it is time for us to repay him with our lives!"

"Our master has treated us with boundless kindness; we would gladly die for him if it meant our lives!"

Several leaders spoke in unison.

They didn't care who the historian was or what crimes the historian had committed.

All they knew was that the historians had given them a chance to live, and that the historians had allowed them to enjoy a life of luxury.

Historians have given them the utmost respect.

Some people carried deep-seated hatred and were helped by historians to avenge their families!

From the moment they accepted the historian's gift, their lives belonged to the historian.

They never acknowledge any imperial court, only the historians!

They would brave any danger, even mountains of knives and seas of fire, to rescue the Shi family!

"very good!"

Mo Wu glanced at the group with satisfaction, then slowly stood up. "You have not failed your master's kindness. On behalf of my master, I thank you all!"

As he spoke, Mo Wu bowed to thank the group.

"Fifth Master, you mustn't!"

The group quickly helped Mo Wu straighten up.

Mo Wu straightened up again and said in a deep voice, "We need to be strategic in rescuing our masters! Since Qin Yu is torturing the young masters to force us to show ourselves, then we'll turn the tables on him and show him the consequences of provoking us!"

The group nodded emphatically but remained silent, all waiting for Mo Wu's instructions.

Mo Wu didn't waste any time and quickly gave the order: "Shepherd, after midnight, you will personally lead fifty men into the city through the secret passage in the east to set fires or create chaos, drawing the attention of Qin Yu's forces! Remember, the only goal is to create chaos and escape quickly; do not get entangled!"

"yes!"

The shepherd accepted the order.

"Butcher, tonight you will personally lead fifty men into the city through the secret passage in the south!"

Mo Wu issued another order: "There's a shelter for people affected by the fire over there. Find an opportunity to kill anyone you see, then escape quickly! Remember, do not reveal the location of the secret passage!"

"yes!"

The butcher, with a face full of scars, accepted the order.

"Water Ghost, you take your men to Taozhou. You don't need to worry about what happens to us here! Sink every large ship traveling on the Grand Canal! Even if we are all wiped out, you must continue this mission!"

"yes!"

"Changya, send dozens of men into various prefectures of Ningzhou to spread the news that the imperial court is eyeing the Shi family's enormous wealth and is falsely accusing the Shi family of plotting to murder the crown prince..."

"All personnel carrying out this mission must have poison in their mouths. If they become entangled with the imperial court's agents and cannot escape, they must immediately take their own lives!"

A series of commands came from Mo Wu's mouth.

Mo Wu's eyes flashed with a cold light, and his whole body was filled with a violent aura.

Since Qin Yu wants to provoke them, then let Qin Yu taste the consequences of provoking them!

In any case, from the moment they became the Shi family's loyal followers, they already considered themselves as dead!

They had long since disregarded life and death!

……

That night, multiple locations in Yunhuai City were again deliberately set on fire.

A disaster relief site in the south of the city was also subjected to a brutal massacre.

The Shi family's assassins stormed into the refugee settlement, killing anyone they saw, sparing neither men nor women, young nor old.

Whether they were arsonists or those involved in the massacre, they all had poison in their mouths.

If there was no hope of escape, these people would immediately bite off the poison in their mouths and commit suicide.

Looking at the more than twenty corpses delivered to the prefectural governor's mansion, Qin Yu couldn't help but frown.

provocative!

This is a provocation from the historian's assassins!

It was as if the Shi family's assassins were telling him in this way that they could destroy the Shi family, but he and the imperial court would have to face the Shi family's assassins' revenge!

These bastards are a bunch of complete lunatics!

That night, another large number of houses in the city were burned down, and several thousand more people were displaced.

As news of the Shi family's assassins massacring the disaster victims spread, the people in the city were filled with fear and unease. If Qin Yu had not used ruthless methods to suppress them, those people would have already begun to storm the city gates.

"Where did these historians' assassins come from?"

Qin Yu was filled with mixed emotions and asked Zeng Guan in a deep voice.

The historian's assassins may seem to be seeking revenge, but their true purpose is probably to save people!

As long as they want to save people, everything else is easy!

However, if the Shi family's assassins are not wiped out in one fell swoop, who knows how many more innocent people in the city will be implicated.

This is something neither he nor the imperial court wanted to see!

"have no idea."

Zeng Guan was somewhat worried. "These people seem to have appeared out of nowhere, making them impossible to guard against! Judging from their previous attempt to sabotage the Grand Canal's locks, these assassins' stronghold is likely outside the city, and there's probably a secret passage connecting the city to the outside!"

Their men have suspended their raids and are now searching the entire city for the Shi family's assassins.

But they didn't even see a shadow of those assassins.

If they are not careful, the historian's assassins will emerge from some unknown corner.

He personally staked out the east gate but did not find any suspicious individuals secretly following him.

He didn't know if the assassins from the Shi family were too well disguised, or if he himself was simply incompetent.

Or perhaps, the historians' assassins never went to the east gate at all?

Qin Yu lowered his gaze and pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Deploy more people around the areas where they appeared to conduct another thorough search! At the same time, send men to conduct covert investigations outside the city!"

"Report!"

Just as Qin Yu was enraged, a messenger from the Imperial Guard in golden armor rushed over, "Reporting to Lord Qin, someone has shot a letter onto the city wall!"

As he spoke, the soldier respectfully presented the letter in his hand to Qin Yu.

Qin Yu took the letter and opened it.

The letter contained only a few simple words.

We'll see this through to the end!

Signed: Mo Wu!

Looking at the large characters on the letter, Qin Yu was not angered at all; in fact, he almost laughed.

Upon seeing this, Zeng Guan immediately came over.

Upon seeing the contents of the letter, Zeng Guan immediately smiled.

provocative!

Mo Wu's provocation was simply an attempt to provoke Qin Yu.

Once Qin Yu is enraged, he will send out all the people he can to hunt down those assassins, and their chance to rescue the Shi family will come!

To put it another way, someone is secretly watching the prefectural governor's mansion!

"You were the one who arranged for those two to search and secretly keep watch around the prefectural governor's residence, weren't you?"

At this moment, Zeng Guan also realized what was happening.

No wonder Qin Yu said earlier that he had other plans for those two!

So that's where they were waiting!

"Um!"

Qin Yu nodded slightly. "However, they hadn't detected any surveillance personnel in the vicinity before! But now, our opportunity has arrived!"

As he spoke, he immediately shouted into the empty courtyard, "You two, stop hiding and come out now! We have work to do!"