Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 10 The Chu Family That Isn't Actually a Chu Family

Upon hearing his subordinate's words, Lu Shuyun's face instantly darkened.

Two ninth-rank warriors, one eighth-rank warrior, and over a hundred third-rank warriors—they couldn't even kill a useless prince.

Not only did the assassination attempt fail, but they were all left behind, and none of them returned.

Lu Shuyun grew angrier the more he thought about it, and in a fit of rage, he slammed his hand on the table, instantly shattering the bowls and pots on it.

"Useless, all of you are useless!"

He simply couldn't understand how it could have failed.

They had found out exactly how many people the Northern King had brought north this time, and the only ones with any real strength were Chu Yuqin and Li Feng.

Apart from the two of them, there were hardly any fifth-rank individuals in that group.

Blood Moon Tower actually failed!

How could this fail!

What do the assassins of Blood Moon Tower eat, and what are they used for?

Even if the two ninth-rank officials can't do anything to Chu Yuqin, one of them can hold her off while the other deals with that useless prince.

But they still failed!

Now Blood Moon Tower actually has the nerve to ask them for compensation?

You can't even kill a useless prince, and you still want compensation?

After venting his anger, Lu Shuyun calmed down a bit and asked expressionlessly, "Has Blood Moon Tower found out why their operation failed this time?"

The man kneeling on the ground immediately replied, "Your Highness, when the Blood Moon Tower sent people to investigate, they found that the bodies of some of the Blood Moon Tower members had been burned."

When Lu Chen and his group left, they buried all the bodies of their own men, while they piled up the bodies of some of the Blood Moon Tower assassins and burned them.

Although it wasted some time, Chu Yuqin thought it was necessary, especially for the two people Lu Chen killed.

Martial artists can determine how a person died by looking at the wounds on their body. In order to prevent the Blood Moon Tower from discovering their deaths, Chu Yuqin adopted this method of directly destroying the body to cover up the evidence.

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Lu Shuyun became even more furious. It was bad enough that the mission had failed, but they didn't even know how their men had died.

At this moment, Lu Shuyun's subordinate said, "Your Highness, I suspect that there are grandmaster-level experts hidden in the Northern King's caravan."

Upon hearing his subordinate's speculation, Lu Shuyun's mind went blank for a moment, then he fell silent, his expression constantly shifting.

After a while, a fierce look flashed in Lu Shuyun's eyes, "If that's the case, then this piece of trash should disappear from this world even more."

His subordinate said again, "Your Highness, rest assured, our people have already arrived in Beijun. Even if he has grandmaster-level experts protecting him, they will become complacent over time."

Lu Shuyun didn't say anything more; now she could only wait patiently.

Fortunately, he had a backup plan.

Lu Shuyun looked up at the window and said to himself, "My dear brother, I hope you can always be this lucky!"

……

Meanwhile, most people of status and position in the capital knew about the failed assassination attempt by the Blood Moon Tower, though it was unclear who had leaked the news.

The Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Garden.

Emperor Xia looked at the message sent back by the Shadow Guard and felt somewhat incredulous.

At this moment, sitting before Emperor Xia was an elderly man with white hair. Seeing the emperor's surprised expression as he looked at the note in his hand, the old man asked, "Your Majesty, what has happened?"

Emperor Xia snapped out of his daze, then tore the note in his hand to shreds. "I never imagined that there might be a Grandmaster by Xiao Jiu's side. The Chu family really has a grand scheme to make!"

Upon hearing this, the old man in front of Emperor Xia was taken aback.

Emperor Xia continued, "Grand Preceptor, do you believe the Chu family genuinely wants to support Xiao Jiu, or are they deliberately trying to divert attention?"

The old man standing before Emperor Xia was Situ Ce, a pillar of the Great Xia Dynasty and also its national advisor, who frequently offered advice to Emperor Xia.

When asked about this question by Emperor Xia, Situ Ce pondered for a moment before replying, "I believe this is Chu Xiong's personal action and does not represent the will of the entire Chu family."

The Xia Emperor smiled and said, "Oh? Why does the Imperial Advisor think so?"

Situ Ce replied, "Beijun is a harsh and cold place. Even if the King of the North were to come to Beijun, it would be difficult to develop Beijun, let alone recruit soldiers and build up strength."

"The Chu family is not the Chu family of the Chu family. They would never support a prince who has completely lost his right to the throne under these circumstances. But Chu Xiong is different. Chu Xiong is the maternal grandfather of the Northern King. There is still a blood relationship between them."

"Therefore, I believe that Chu Xiong sent people to protect the Northern King because he is his grandson, and not because of the interests of the Chu family."

Upon hearing Situ Ce's words, Emperor Xia rose from the stone bench, laughing loudly, "The Grand Preceptor's words are quite interesting. The Chu family is not the Chu family of the Chu family, hahaha, this reminds me of myself. This Great Xia is also not my Great Xia!"

The Chu family is already tied to the forces in Jiangnan, so it's impossible for them to blindly support a prince who has no hope of winning the throne. If they insist on doing so, it will cause conflict with those forces, and the Chu family may fall apart.

Therefore, the Chu family is not the Chu family of the Chu family.

Emperor Xia was reminded of himself by Situ Ce's words.

The Chu family cannot do what they want, and so can the emperor. Whatever he wants to do will be restrained by various forces, especially the major clans, including the Chu family!

……

The Duke of Mu's Mansion.

Seeing the message sent by carrier pigeon in his hand, Mu Changtian's hand trembled slightly.

This letter was sent back by Li Feng, and it described how they encountered an ambush by the Blood Moon Tower assassins.

When Mu Changtian saw the letter saying that Blood Moon Tower had sent two ninth-rank martial artists and one eighth-rank martial artist, he thought that something had really happened to the Northern King.

However, at the end of the letter, Li Feng told him that a mysterious expert had appeared and dealt with the two ninth-rank experts from the Blood Moon Tower.

This piqued Mu Changtian's curiosity.

A mysterious master?

Who sent them to protect the Northern King?

Could the mysterious master be from the imperial palace?

Thinking of this, Mu Changtian looked toward the palace, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

Emperor Xia never regarded the Northern King as his child, and even considered him a stain on his life. How could he possibly send someone to protect him?

……

at the same time.

Lu Chen and his group have continued their journey.

For the next month, Lu Chen was not targeted by any assassination attempts.

This was mainly due to a rumor circulating in the capital.

People now believe that Lu Chen has a grandmaster protecting him. With a grandmaster around, those forces wouldn't be foolish enough to send someone to assassinate him.

Of course, people don't believe that the grandmaster will always be by Lu Chen's side to protect him.

There are only a handful of grandmaster-level experts in the entire Xia Kingdom, so how could they possibly protect a useless prince forever?

In people's eyes, that grandmaster would at most protect the Northern King to the Northern Prefecture and then leave.

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(End of this chapter)