Anyang Prefecture. Moonlight cast a pale, grayish-white glow upon the snow.
A few short, crisp taps sounded from the roof. A figure in black slowly crouched down and carefully pried up a roof tile.
Inside the room, a charcoal brazier burned with a bright red flame, sending a wave of heat outward.
Thick quilts swaddled Ye Liangyu tightly, leaving only a coarse, long strand of white hair trailing over the bedside—its poor quality evident at a glance.
The black-clad figure turned his head to signal to his companions behind him.
Dozens of black-clad figures dropped from the eaves like the wind, rolled twice on the ground, and sprang up.
They swiftly dispersed, rushing toward various rooms within the estate.
Their master had given the order: not a single servant of the Ye household was to be spared.
To avoid suspicion, after the killings, the Ye estate was to be set ablaze, disguising the deaths as an accidental fire.
Soporific smoke was fed through the small hole pierced into the rooms of Ye Liangyu and his attendant.
After waiting a moment, one of them slid a blade into the door crack and shifted the bolt. Five men, weapons in hand, barged into Ye Liangyu's chamber.
Just as a longsword was about to pierce Ye Liangyu's body, the quilts were abruptly thrown aside. A flash of silver light shot into the attacker's pupils as a sword thrust straight for his throat.
"Been waiting for you," said Qin Yunqian, tossing aside the white wig he had been wearing, his sharp gaze fierce as a vulture's.
Yesterday, soldiers disguised as street vendors had noticed people frequently loitering around the Ye estate. Upon learning of this, Qin Yunqian immediately decided to set a trap, waiting for the assassins to walk right in.
Sure enough, on the very night they finished casing the place, they couldn't restrain themselves from acting.
In the courtyard, the clang of blades suddenly erupted, mingled with the thuds of hand-to-hand combat. In the neighboring room, Ye Liangyu clenched his fists, the hatred in his heart surging like a furious tide.
Knowing his legs had been healed, they couldn't wait to try and kill him again.
Was the mastermind behind this Prince Qi, Prince Ying, or someone else entirely?
Today, he would finally have his answer.
The black-clad leader, seeing the courtyard filled with armed, robust men, furrowed his brow in dismay. "It's a trap."
Qin Yunqian, having dealt with two minor lackeys, charged toward him. "Too late to realize that now."
The leader swung his sword to parry, gritting his teeth as he demanded, "Who are you? Why are you helping Ye Liangyu?"
A former Vice Censor-in-Chief who had resigned and returned home due to illness couldn't possibly have trained so many guards in such a short time. Whose side were they on?
Seizing an opening, Qin Yunqian kicked him squarely in the chest. "That's my question for you. Who sent you?"
The scent of blood grew heavier in the courtyard. Warm blood splashed into the pond, blocked by the ice on the surface, forming a strange tripartite layer of black, white, and red.
Outnumbered five to one, and caught off guard by the number of guards at the Ye estate, the dozens of black-clad assassins were soon whittled down to just three.
"Take them alive," Qin Yunqian ordered his subordinates, pressing the lead assassin to his knees with his leg.
A command token fell from Qin Yunqian's chest. The black-clad man's pupils constricted. "You're from the Thunderclap Army!"
The token was clearly engraved with the words 'Thunderclap Army'—their identities were now obvious.
Qin Yunqian commanded, "Bind them with rope and take them to the woodshed. We must find out who's behind this."
"Yes, sir!" The resolute, unified response was unmistakably military; these men were clearly handpicked elites.
After the prisoners were taken to the woodshed, Qin Yunqian vaulted over the courtyard wall to fetch the person next door.
"Lord Ye, the assailants have all been subdued. Three remain alive."
Ye Liangyu slowly rose to his feet, a thin layer of sweat dampening his palms.
"My thanks to General Qin for today's intervention."
Qin Yunqian squared his shoulders, duty-bound. "It was nothing. Lord Ye is a friend of my father's, which makes you an elder to me. I would have stood guard not just for two months, but for a year or more if needed."
Ye Liangyu's eyebrow twitched slightly. This temperament was completely unlike Qin Guo's.
They had only been connected for three months, and he was already claiming the status of a junior? Should one call him thick-skinned or highly perceptive?
No sooner had he stepped into the courtyard, his back foot yet to land, than someone came rushing out from the woodshed, nearly colliding with them.
"Bad news, Young General! Those three have taken poison and died."
Qin Yunqian's expression turned grim. He strode quickly into the woodshed and looked at the three bound figures lying on the ground, black blood staining their mouths.
A subordinate frowned, deeply distressed. "The poison was hidden in their mouths. They died in an instant—there was no way to save them."
Their key witnesses were dead, and the mastermind remained unknown.
Qin Yunqian's face was dark with fury.
Two soldiers entered from outside. "Reporting, Young General. All the corpses outside also had poison packets hidden in their mouths."
Qin Yunqian's face turned as black as a pot's bottom. "They were all death warriors."
Ye Liangyu gazed at the bodies on the floor, his eyelashes trembling uncontrollably.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said with a tone of self-mockery, "They certainly think highly of me."
He had already resigned and returned home, yet they sent death warriors for an assassination.
How utterly determined they were to kill him—it was a fight to the death!
