This person was originally a double he had raised. The Prince of Qi knew that spying on the throne with intent to rebel was a capital offense if discovered.
Therefore, he had long prepared an escape route for himself. At the critical moment, the double would die in his place, allowing him to slip away.
These assassins also did not receive their orders from the Prince of Qi, but from Xie Qi's other identity, Qi Xie.
Cai Xian, Wei Ping, and the others accelerated their movements, their faces flushing red then paling white.
A humiliating sense of being fooled made them so agitated that they directly treated the assassins before them as Xie Qi, aiming fatal blows at them!
Right, he isn't called Xie Qi now; he's changed his name to Qi Xie!
"What a cunning man! Having already faked his death to escape, why come back to assassinate me? What immense hatred drives him to risk exposing his existence!"
On the surface, she had only filed one accusation. It was the four great families who implicated him; she hadn't participated at all.
[Perhaps he thought his plan was flawless, believing that even if the assassination failed, no one would guess it was him.
After all, he is now a dead man buried in the ground. In this world, aside from Xie Zhiyao who went for a political marriage, even his most beloved son and that favored concubine don't know about this.]
"So, that final glance Xie Zhiyao cast back before leaving for the marriage was exchanging a secret signal with her father?"
[Most likely. From the moment the Prince of Qi was placed under house arrest and the Emperor began investigating his assets, he had already prepared to fake his death.
Over the years, he spent a great deal of money to cultivate his forces, so the accounts of the Prince of Qi's estate couldn't withstand scrutiny.
He knew early on that his rebellious intentions would eventually be discovered. He only told Xie Zhiyao about the plan to fake his death the night before she left for the political marriage.
Xie Qi probably saw Western Qiang as his escape route; otherwise, he wouldn't have told Xie Zhiyao.]
He didn't even tell his most beloved son, so why tell a daughter married off to another state? It was only because he valued her future status.
"Little Zhu, why didn't you say so earlier? Otherwise, this assassination attempt might have been avoided."
[Master, I only just pieced this together by linking these assassins to their master. You know me, my divine power is less than one ten-thousandth of its potential...]
"Alright, I understand. I don't blame you. It's just an assassination attempt, a minor scene!
Little Zhu, what do you think about next time we encounter an assassination, maybe lowering the defenses? I want to see if facing death might bring some sudden enlightenment."
Yue Fuguang's eyes darted around as she tested the waters. Although she had the system's protection, it still consumed energy.
So, to save energy, it's best to start from the source.
Hearing her words, Cai Xian, Huo Ying, Wei Ping, and the others visibly panicked. They fought while gradually closing in around Yue Fuguang, eventually forming a line with the Yu father and son.
These men feared the loyal divine artifact might actually listen to the young immortal lord's suggestion.
[Not a good idea! Master, you are mortal now. Blades and swords have no eyes; you could really die!]
Everyone nodded in agreement. The divine artifact was right!
"So what if I die? With three thousand minor worlds and three thousand medium worlds, we can just pick one and start over!"
[Growing up from infancy all over again, Master, would you be willing?]
"Uh... Little Zhu, how about we pretend I never said that?"
Hearing Yue Fuguang's words, Wei Ping and the others did not let their guard down. They couldn't trust the young preceptor's unpredictable temperament.
What if she gave the divine artifact a direct order, just like when the Emperor gives an order to Eunuch Qian? Even if the artifact felt it was improper or disagreed, it would absolutely carry it out!
Only about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea had passed before two squads of Imperial Forest Guards arrived, closing in from both ends of the street.
The lead assassin, who had been commanding from a high vantage point, saw that reinforcements had arrived faster than anticipated. Not lingering in the fight, he decisively commanded, "Retreat!"
He used his inner energy to project his voice, so even Shen Kang, who had rushed with the Imperial City Department's men to support the outermost perimeter, heard the assassins were about to flee.
He quickly led his men to block the nearby exits.
According to what the system later told her, the chase of "he flees, they pursue, he finds no escape" dragged on all night, but some still managed to get away.
[Master, these people are very familiar with the capital. They even used the abandoned hideouts of 'Brother Lack-of-Virtue' and his gang after their capture as temporary shelters.]
"If they are the Prince of Qi's men, it's normal for them to know the capital well. I just wonder where the Prince of Qi is now. He wouldn't have gone to join Xie Zhiyao, like Bai Yu did, would he?"
[Don't worry, Master, he wouldn't! The Prince of Qi will not leave the capital until he obtains the treasure vault left by the late Emperor for the Prince of Rong.]
"The Prince of Qi wants to take the late Emperor's treasure vault? How does he know about it?"
Yue Fuguang sat in the court hall, found a comfortable position, and began her work of gathering gossip to earn points.
The court officials also pricked up their ears. In the hall, two ministers who had been arguing fiercely over differing political views suddenly fell silent as one of them stopped speaking, causing his opponent to pause in confusion.
Why did he suddenly stop arguing in the middle of the debate? Just when he was about to win the argument, what did this silence mean?
Looking at his opponent's face, could he be having one of his 'episodes' right now?
Clearly, this minister had become an expert at diagnosing his colleague's 'chronic condition' through long exposure. Just by the look on his face, he knew the other man was having an episode!
[While the late Emperor was still alive, the Prince of Qi had planted many of his own people in his brothers' estates. When it came to inserting agents, the Prince of Qi was indeed a master.
One spy he planted early in the Prince of Rong's estate actually managed to rise to the position of a trusted confidant of the Prince of Rong in the year before the old emperor passed away.
At that time, the Prince of Qi had only been married to Feng Suiyu for a couple of years, and Xie Zhiyao was still in her mother's womb.
Later, the old emperor, knowing his time was short, explained the matter of the treasure vault to the Prince of Rong. He originally intended to oversee his son retrieving the treasures while he was still alive.
Unfortunately, he didn't anticipate dying too early.
It also caught the Prince of Rong off guard. Before he could open the vault, his father died, his old rival ascended the throne, and he had even less chance to retrieve the treasure.
Emperor Mingxi, having just ascended, suppressed all factions with swift and ruthless measures, and moved against the Prince of Rong too quickly.
As a result, the Prince of Rong only had time to instruct his eldest son to take trusted followers to dig for the treasure before he, along with his other sons and confidants, was captured.
Xie Qi's confidant only had time to have his young daughter relay the message to the Prince of Qi before he himself, as a trusted follower of the Prince of Rong, was captured by the new Emperor's men.
That little girl was Xie Wei, the first-rank maid named Xie Wei who was most trusted in Xie Qi's courtyard.]
A flash of light passed through Emperor Mingxi's eyes. Back then, with thousands of family members and subordinates of his brothers, his men had focused on ensuring none of his brothers or their close confidants escaped. They didn't let a single one of their sons slip through either.
However, if the one who got away was a little girl, it wasn't impossible.
They tended to subconsciously overlook female dependents to some extent.
"If Xie Qi knew about the treasure vault, why hasn't he tried to retrieve it all these years?"
[Because the confidant didn't know the exact location either. He only knew it required a vault key to open, and the map was hidden within the key.
The confidant only glimpsed the key once. His daughter was only six at the time, and perhaps due to a child's unclear description, Xie Qi has been searching all these years for the vault key based on her account.
Just two years ago, he finally uncovered a clue about the key.]
