I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

Unlike the border, the two countries are scheming against each other and wary of each other over the exchange of hostages, each with their own hidden agendas.

These days in the capital, the weather has been fine and the world is calm. After all, the Crown Prince won a great victory in the imperial examination, and everyone is wary of his sharp edge.

At this very moment, at the south gate of the capital city.

"I said, what day is it today? Why are so many people coming into the city? I've been checking since this morning, and I haven't even had a sip of water. I'm dying of thirst."

"You don't know this, do you? I heard that two eminent monks have come from the Buddhist Kingdom and are going to stay at the Golden Light Temple. When the people heard this, they all wanted to come into the city to pay their respects to these two eminent monks from the Buddhist Kingdom. That's why there are so many people coming into the city today."

"What a bunch of fools! Believing in Buddhism, what good can come of it? My second uncle's aunt, she was a devout Buddhist her whole life, never ate meat, and guess what happened to her?"

"What's wrong? Tell me quickly!"

Taking advantage of the fact that there weren't many people entering the city yet, several soldiers gathered together and asked curiously.

This was also their daily routine as soldiers guarding the city; whenever they had free time, they would get together to chat and pass the time during their monotonous lives.

"She died before she was thirty, and it was such a tragic death. What good did her Buddhist faith do?"

"That's not how it works. Freedom of belief means you can believe if you want to, and not believe if you don't. The most important thing is to be down-to-earth and capable."

"That's right. Faith, to put it bluntly, is just a kind of spiritual sustenance. You can't take it too seriously. After all, it can't earn you the necessities of life. If you want to live a good life, you still have to rely on your own hands."

Several soldiers were chatting happily when their petty officer saw them from a distance. Enraged, he raised his hand and shouted angrily:

"What are you little brats doing! Can't you see another big group of people has arrived? Hurry up and check them, or you won't get lunch!"

At this shout, the soldiers scattered instantly, heading towards the long line of people waiting to enter the city to conduct inspections.

"Where did it come from?"

"Northern Barbarians!"

Upon hearing this, nearby soldiers quickly surrounded the two men, watching them warily.

The two men were wearing animal skin boots, but over them were luxurious, brightly colored long robes. Their attire was so incongruous that it was hard not to suspect that the robes they were wearing had been stolen.

"There's no need to be so tense. Our two countries are currently at peace, and my brother and I have no ill intentions."

The short Northern Barbarian stretched out his hands and said with a smile.

"What are you doing in the capital of my Great Zhou Dynasty?"

After listening to the short Northern Barbarian's words, the soldiers didn't give them a friendly look.

After all, the two countries are sworn enemies. Even though it is a time of peace now, they will definitely fight again in the future.

"Come to the wedding banquet!"

As they were talking, the short Northern Mang man took out two wedding invitations from his bag.

The person who invited the two of them over was also from the Northern Barbarians.

He lived in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty for many years and also owned considerable property.

He invited his wife and son to his wedding banquet.

The soldier took the invitation, glanced at it casually, and couldn't help but sneer:

"I really don't know which family's daughter was blind to choose to marry one of your Northern Mang people."

These words immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the tall Northern Barbarian, but just as the tall Northern Barbarian was about to step forward, he was blocked by the short one with his body.

The short Northern Barbarian quietly pulled a bag of silver from his sleeve, discreetly stuffed it into the soldier's hand, and said with a smile, "Please do me a favor, sir."

The soldier weighed the money bag in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

It wasn't that he was greedy; it was just that the Northern Barbarians' money was too good to pass up.

If he doesn't want it, this bag of silver could very well become a knife or a few arrows used to cut down their soldiers in the future.

This can be seen as a way of indirectly weakening the strength of the Northern Barbarians.

After checking their identities and confirming they were correct, the soldiers allowed the two mismatched Northern Barbarians to enter the city.

Walking on the streets of the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the short Northern Mang man was overjoyed. He was so dazzled by the sights that he even took out his money to buy a few trinkets from a street stall.

The tall Northern Mang man was furious at his lack of ambition and kept a dark expression on his face throughout.

"Wu Da, you have utterly disgraced the people of Northern Mang!"

Don't be fooled by their different heights and builds; they are actually brothers. The short, fat one is the elder brother, named Wu Da, and the tall, skinny one is the younger brother, named Wu Er.

Upon hearing this, Wu Da turned around and said, "Second brother, what do you mean I've disgraced all of us Northern Barbarians and failed to complete the task assigned to us by the Prince? That's what I mean by disgracing us!"

The two were invited to the wedding banquet under false pretenses; their true intention was to sneak into the capital and assassinate Qin Li, the Crown Prince of the Great Zhou!

Outside Xuanque Pass, the hostage exchange must proceed without error, or Murong Qingcang's life will be in danger.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Murong Qingcang had no intention of doing anything underhanded at the border.

Instead, they sent two grandmaster-level experts to the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty to assassinate Qin Li!

At this time, all eyes were drawn to the border, leaving the capital of the Great Zhou vulnerable, making it the perfect opportunity for an assassination.

"Alright, since we're here, let's make the best of it. Don't act so stiff, because that will only arouse suspicion."

After saying that, Wu Da tossed a few pieces of silver to Wu Er, telling him to buy some things he liked on the street, which would be appropriate for their status as first-time visitors to the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Clutching the loose silver in his hand, Wu Er first looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before whispering, "What's the plan? Where and when will we make our move?"

Wu Da played with the exquisitely crafted little gourd in his hand; such things were not common in Northern Mang.

Wu Da didn't look at Wu Er and said, "No rush, we still need to meet with our helpers to discuss the plan in detail and increase our chances of success."

"Help? We have help?"

Wu Er had no idea.

Even with their master-level skills, the two still need help.

In his opinion, if they acted tonight, even though the Crown Prince's mansion had many experts, as long as the two brothers, one of them would be responsible for restraining the enemy while the other would carry out the assassination, they would definitely be able to complete the assassination mission!

"Second brother, we have to get out of here alive!"

Wu Da sighed irritably and said, "It's not just Northern Mang that wants to kill Qin Li, but also the Buddhist Kingdom!"

"Didn't you hear it when you were queuing to enter the city? Two eminent monks came from the Buddhist kingdom!"

Wu Er realized, "Four grandmasters assassinating Qin Li together, this is truly unprecedented in history."

Wu laughed loudly, "Who says otherwise? It's easy to imagine what heinous things Qin Li did that made him deserving of death!"

"Alright, I'm hungry, let's find a place to eat first."

……

at the same time.

The Crown Prince's residence welcomed two uninvited guests.

When Qin Li heard the report, he was incredulous, but he still quickly sent someone to invite him in.

"Greetings, Your Highness, may Your Highness live a thousand years..."

Before the visitor could finish paying his respects, Qin Li stepped forward, helped him up, and looked him up and down.

Qin Li was so excited that he said, "Why are you back, kid?"

The person who arrived was none other than Su Chen!

Su Chen felt uncomfortable being treated so warmly by Qin Li.

Su Chen was now dressed as a wandering swordsman, wearing a bamboo hat and a neat black robe. He had lost his youthful air and gained a more mature look.

"Your Highness, Fang Yuan has also returned. I came back with him."

After parting ways at Longhu Mountain, Su Chen took charge of tracking Fang Yuan, and has been doing so ever since.

"Fang Yuan is back too."

Qin Li frowned.

"Your Highness may not know this, but after Fang Yuan escaped from Longhu Mountain, he traveled south and entered the Buddhist Kingdom, where he became the disciple of a high-ranking monk."

Qin Li couldn't help but ask, amused, "Fang Yuan also shaved his head and became a monk?"

Su Chen didn't hide anything and told the truth: "Yes, but I didn't shave my head. This time, when that high monk came to our Great Zhou capital, Fang Yuan, as the high monk's favorite disciple, also came along."

Qin Li nodded, finally understanding why Su Chen had returned.

"Hey, right, weren't there supposed to be two people?" Qin Li suddenly asked, looking towards the door.

Needless to say, that person must be Su Chen's little wife.

Her name seemed to be Zhang Jianjia; Qin Li had a pretty deep impression of her.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness." Su Chen clasped his hands in a fist salute to Qin Li.

Although so much time has passed, Zhang Jianjia still hasn't forgotten that the massacre of the Longhu Mountain family was because of Qin Li. The reason Zhang Jianjia didn't rush in and kill Qin Li directly was because of him.