I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

He Shen looked in the direction of the sound, but didn't see the arrow behind him at all.

The next moment, the arrow pierced his left chest.

He Shen fell from his horse, half of the arrow shaft remaining in his chest, and blood quickly stained his armor.

"Commander!"

The surrounding imperial guards were in complete disarray.

The masked man in the corner saw Lu Yuan and immediately turned his longbow around, nocking a second arrow.

"The Ninth Prince is still alive!"

"Kill him!"

Lu Yuan grabbed the chopping board with both hands and threw it at the masked man.

The chopping board deflected the longbow, and the arrow grazed Lu Yuan's shoulder before embedding itself in the doorpost of the restaurant behind him.

The masked man threw down his longbow, drew his short knife, and lunged straight at Lu Yuan.

"I let you escape last night, today I'll send you on your way!"

Lu Yuan dodged the blade to the side and kicked his opponent in the side.

The masked man blocked with his elbow and grabbed Lu Yuan's ankle. Just as he was about to throw him down, Lu Yuan used the wooden frame of a nearby stall to steady himself and kicked him in the face with his other foot.

The masked man took a few steps back and then climbed over the low wall.

"Still trying to run?"

Lu Yuan dropped the wooden frame, took two steps to the wall, stepped on a stone block, grabbed the masked man's ankle, and pulled him down from the wall.

The masked man fell into a roadside vegetable stall, scattering fruits and vegetables all over the ground.

Before he could even get up, Lu Yuan had already pinned his arm down and pressed his knee against his lower back.

"Were you the ones who chased me down last night?"

The masked man was still struggling.

Lu Yuan pulled off his mask, revealing an ordinary face in his thirties.

The imperial guards who arrived at the scene held a knife to his neck and then pinned his arms behind his back.

"Your Highness, we've captured him!"

"Keep alive!"

Lu Yuan squatted down in front of the masked man. "Who sent you?"

Black blood suddenly seeped from the corner of the man's mouth.

Lu Yuan's expression changed, and he reached out to grab his chin, trying to force him to open his mouth.

But the man's body had already gone limp, and his pupils had lost focus.

A guard pried open his mouth and removed half of a broken wax pellet from beside his back molars.

"Your Highness, he has poison hidden in his teeth."

"Another suicide bomber."

Lu Yuan stood up and looked at He Shen, who was lying in the middle of the street.

Several imperial guards surrounded He Shen, but none of them dared to touch the arrow shaft in front of his chest.

"Get out of the way!"

Lu Yuan pushed through the crowd and knelt down beside He Shen.

He Shen's face was pale, and his lips had lost most of their color.

The arrow shaft on his chest rose and fell gently with his breath, and with each movement, blood gushed from the wound.

Lu Yuan raised his hand and pressed down on the area around the wound.

"Uncle, can you hear me?"

He Shen struggled to open his eyes.

"Your Highness..."

"Don't speak."

Lu Yuan turned to the surrounding imperial guards, "Bring clean strips of cloth to secure the arrow shafts. No one is allowed to pull arrows out here!"

A captain quickly tore off the inner lining and handed it to Lu Yuan.

"Your Highness, the commander is wounded in the chest, I'm afraid..."

"Shut up!"

Lu Yuan secured the arrow shaft with a strip of cloth and then checked He Shen's pulse.

"Prepare the carriage!"

"Send him to the Imperial Hospital immediately!"

Two imperial guards carried over a door panel and placed He Shenping on it.

After the carriage entered the palace gates, it headed straight for the Imperial Hospital.

Several imperial physicians had already received the news and were waiting outside the door with a soft couch.

Before the carriage had come to a complete stop, Lu Yuan lifted the curtain.

"The arrow is still lodged in his chest, the wound is bleeding heavily, and he has begun to lose consciousness."

The chief physician, Liang Zhongwen, surrounded them with two imperial physicians.

"Carry him inside first!"

"Prepare hemostatic powder, ginseng soup, a silver knife, and torches!"

"All unauthorized personnel, leave!"

He Shen was led into the inner room, and the door was closed.

Lu Yuan stood outside the door, half of his robe stained with blood.

He looked down and realized that the wound on his left arm had also reopened.

A young imperial physician walked over carrying a medicine box.

"Your Highness, your wound also needs to be re-bandaged."

"Save He Shen first."

"But your wound is already bleeding."

"I order you to save him first!"

The young imperial physician tried to dissuade him, but was pulled aside by the other imperial physician.

A squad of imperial guards soon appeared from the direction of the palace gate.

Lu Cangqiong didn't even have time to change out of his court robes before he led Zhou Fu into the Imperial Hospital.

"Ninth Brother!"

He saw the blood on Lu Yuan's body at a glance, and his expression changed instantly.

"Where are you hurt?"

"Most of this blood is from my uncle."

Lu Cangqiong grabbed his shoulders and checked him from head to toe to make sure he could stand steadily before turning to look into the inner room.

"What could be the reason?"

Lu Yuan didn't hide anything and told everyone about being surrounded by more than a dozen people after leaving the palace last night, the death of his coachman, his escape to Fuyuan Escort Agency, and the discovery of the assassination attempt on He Shen today.

As for the matter of hiding in Zhao Mingzhu's bathtub and being hit with a stick, he simply glossed over it.

After hearing this, Lu Cangqiong's anger grew even stronger.

"Outside the palace gates? Right under the emperor's nose? A dozen assassins attacked a prince, and today they even shot and killed the Imperial Guard commander in the street?"

Zhou Fu immediately ran over to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, this matter must be investigated immediately. News of the Ninth Prince's disappearance last night has already spread, and the fact that the assassins still dared to come to kill him today shows that they still have people helping them in the capital."

Lu Cangqiong turned around and looked at the imperial guards who had followed him.

"Issue an imperial decree that the Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate shall jointly try this case."

"The personnel on duty at the palace gates last night, the patrolling imperial guards, the guards of the Five City Garrison, and the guards of the surrounding ward gates were all questioned."

"Inns, brokerage firms, gambling dens, and security escort agencies throughout the capital must conduct rigorous checks on suspicious individuals."

"Anyone associated with the assassin, regardless of their official rank or social status, should be arrested and interrogated first."

The guards left after delivering the order.

Lu Yuan raised his hand and pressed it against his left arm, then said, "Father, this is no ordinary assassination attempt."

"I know."

"They're not just after my life."

Lu Cangqiong turned to look at him and asked, "What do you mean?"

Lu Yuan walked to the edge of the steps and took off his blood-stained clothes.

"I brought out horseshoes, cement, snow salt and other things, and Father Emperor is paying more and more attention to his son."

"Some people in the court are getting restless. What they're worried about is the throne falling into my hands."

Zhou Fu's expression tightened, and he subconsciously glanced outside the courtyard.

If this statement gets out, it will cause a huge uproar in the capital today.

Lu Cangqiong did not reprimand him.

Lu Yuan's route out of the palace last night was arranged by the palace, but the assassins were able to set up an ambush in advance.

Today, He Shen personally led the Imperial Guards to search the area, yet the assassins were still hiding in the courtyards along the street, waiting for an opportunity to silence them.

This is something that ordinary nobles or gangs could not accomplish.

Lu Cangqiong walked to the door of the inner room and peeked at the busy imperial physician through the crack in the door.

As long as the position of crown prince remains undecided, the princes will continue to vie for it.

If they dare to touch Lu Yuan now, they will dare to send a knife into the palace in the future.

Lu Cangqiong turned around and gave instructions to Zhou Fu.

"After returning to the Qian Yuan Hall, retrieve the blank imperial edict."

Zhou Fu raised his head and understood the emperor's meaning.

"Your Majesty wishes to..."

"Go and prepare."

Lu Cangqiong did not expose it on the spot.

Zhou Fu bowed and accepted the order.

Lu Yuan glanced at his father.

A blank imperial edict was something Lu Cangqiong personally instructed Zhou Fu to prepare at this time, indicating that he was to be established as the crown prince.

Before he could ask any questions, the door to the inner room was pushed open.

Liang Zhongwen came out, his hands covered in blood.

Lu Yuan immediately went to meet him.

"Has the arrow been removed?"

"It has been removed."

"How is He Shen?"

Liang Zhongwen lowered his head and sighed, "Your Majesty, Ninth Prince, Commander He's injuries are too severe."

"The arrow entered through his chest and injured his lung. Although we have stopped the bleeding, he has lost too much blood, and it is still unknown whether he will wake up."

"It's the height of summer now, and the arrowhead, laden with filth, has entered flesh and blood."

"Even if Commander He wakes up today, his wounds will quickly become red, swollen, and festering."

"Once the wound becomes infected and causes a high fever, even a god cannot save it."

After listening, Lu Yuan turned around and pointed to a member of the Imperial Guard.

"Go and bring all the ice that can be mobilized from the palace. Seal the doors and windows and lower the indoor temperature first."

Liang Zhongwen quickly stopped him, "Your Highness, a seriously injured person is most vulnerable to cold entering the body!"

"I did not ask you to press ice on him."

Lu Yuan then looked at Zhou Fu, "Send someone to the Ministry of Works and have Xie Guangkun bring the best craftsmen over."

"Then fetch the strongest liquor from the imperial kitchen, the stronger the better."

Zhou Fu did not leave immediately. "What does Your Highness need the craftsmen and strong liquor for?"

"Make things that can save lives."

Liang Zhongwen glanced at Lu Yuan's blood-stained sleeve, assuming it was just his concern that clouded his judgment.

"Your Highness, in my more than forty years of medical practice, I have never seen anyone whose wounds have become ulcerated and yet still managed to survive."

"There is no solution to this problem."

"Furthermore, if the alcohol comes into contact with the wound, it will only cause Commander He more suffering!"

"That's absolutely unacceptable!"