Just as Ban Zou said this, the sounds of a battle came from the yard.
Feng Yu Heng walked over to the window doubtfully then pushed open the window. She then propped her chin on her hands and lay on the windowsill to look outside.
It was the middle of the night, but it seemed like quite a few people had come. She looked around and counted a total of eight. All of them wore black clothes and held swords in their hands. A piece of black cloth covered their faces, leaving only hawk-like eyes exposed.
Ban Zou stood at her side and did not go out to join the battle. There were already a large number of people outside, and they did not miss him. His mission was to stay close to and protect Feng Yu Heng. Even if there were now a great number of hidden guards in the manor, only he alone could enter Feng Yu Heng’s room.
The eight people were extremely proficient in martial arts, as they were basically able to remain on an even level with the hidden guards. Feng Yu Heng watched on with interest and occasionally provided analysis: “In truth, if our people fought to kill, this would not be a draw. The other side is fighting to kill, while we are trying to capture them alive. This is the reason the fight has dragged out.”
Ban Zou folded his arms over his chest and looked at the girl in front of him. Rolling his eyes, he said: “Are you watching a play? Do you know how dangerous this is?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “I do, but they can’t hurt me.”
Ban Zou’s nose nearly became crooked from the anger: “How is it that you definitely won’t get hurt?”
“Because you’re here!” She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
Ban Zou, however, was immediately stunned. The argumentative words that he was accustomed to saying were swallowed back down. Feng Yu Heng’s trust in him caused him to feel a little embarrassed. As a hidden guard, he had lost track of his master twice. Once was in Feng Tong county and once was on the way to the Xiang Palace. If it were not for Feng Yu Heng protecting him, perhaps he would have been forced to commit suicide before Xuan Tian Ming. But even if this was the case, his master still trusted him and wanted to entrust her life to him. How could this not cause him to feel emotional?
“You still need to be a little more careful.” Ban Zou’s throat was a little choked up. He did not know what he should say, so he simply pulled Feng Yu Heng back from the window, “Don’t watch. Even if this sort of person is captured alive, there is no point.”
“Why?” Feng Yu Heng was unable to understand for a while.
At this time, victory and defeat were already in sight. The eight assassins were covered in injuries and caught alive, but before they could bring the prisoners in, blood could be seen coming from the corners of the eight people’s lips, as they all died.
Feng Yu Heng immediately understood what Ban Zou had said: “They had a drug in their mouths. Those were specialty soldiers?”
Ban Zou nodded then led Feng Yu Heng out to the yard, personally taking a look and explaining the differences between specialty soldiers and hidden guards to Feng Yu Heng: “A hidden guard’s main ability is stealth and surprise attacks to catch the enemy off guard. As for the specialty soldier, they are a bit stronger. Once they attack, they do not care about anything else. Every strike is made with the goal of taking their enemy’s life. Normally, they take a life with every strike. To be able to bring out specialty soldiers, even if it is not considered burning all bridges, it does make it clear that there is no hesitation in trying for your life. That is to say, these people are not here for your ability to produce steel. What they want is your life. The poison was hidden in their teeth.” Ban Zou opened up the mouths of all the deceased and took a look before making his conclusion.
“There are at least 15 types of poisons that were mixed together. There is no cure.” This was the conclusion that Feng Yu Heng had arrived at after examining them. Saying this, she asked Ban Zou: “Will all specialty soldiers use this type of drug to kill themselves?”
Ban Zou said: “Normally, that is the case because it is very easy to acquire a written or oral confession from those that are captured alive. This is the only way to die without suffering while protecting their secrets. The majority of these specialty soldiers will have been cultivated from a young age. From the moment that they are able to understand things, they are instilled with such thoughts. That’s why, for them, doing something like this could not be more normal.”
Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brow, as she recalled from her previous life that she had heard about some division raising a so-called special group. They were also raised from a young age, and it was a group comprised of only orphans. For those people, there was no right or wrong in the world. There were only the orders that they received from their superiors. Once the order was given, even if they were told to shoot themselves, they would do it without batting an eye.
This sort of person was already no different from a machine.
“Go investigate their corpses. See if any clues can be found.” She was a little weary, as she sat in the hall. As she watched the people examine the corpses in the yard, Wang Chuan and Huang Quan also went over to investigate. In the end, they all helplessly shook their heads.
Ban Zou said: “There’s no point. This sort of specialty soldier does not even have a name. Since they have come, they made all of their preparations. How could there be any trace of a clue.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded. This was already the expected outcome. Helplessly letting out a sigh, she ordered: “Take care of these corpses.” Just after she said this, she immediately changed her mind, “Wait a moment.” She pondered for a while then suddenly put on a wicked smile, as she ordered Wang Chuan and Huang Quan: “Go to the Feng manor’s side and tell them that I was ambushed. Say that I was targeted for assassination by eight specialty soldiers.”
Huang Quan still did not understand why they would be doing this; however, Wang Chuan already reacted: “Having run up against specialty soldiers this time, the third prince will be suspicious. Eldest princess Kang Yi will be even more suspicious. Regardless of who perpetrated this, we must allow everyone to see that, given the defenses of the county princess’ manor, even if specialty soldiers are used, this is the only possible result.”
Huang Quan nodded then followed Wang Chuan to the Feng manor.
Feng Yu Heng sat on a bench in the corridor, as she chatted with Ban Zou. When the members of the Feng family were woken up from their sleep and headed toward Tong Sheng pavilion, the hidden guards vanished and blended in with the night. Even Ban Zou was no exception.
Thus the Feng family only saw an elegant young girl seated on the bench in the corridor, swinging her legs. Sitting there, she appeared to be perfectly fine, as she looked to the sky. The moon on this night was very bright. When illuminating her small body, it gave off a lonely feeling.
The yard was filled with the smell of blood, as the corpses littered the group. Their blood had dyed the entire yard. The members of the Feng family felt that they had no place to stand.
When had the females ever seen so many dead people. All of their faces turned white with fear. Looking again at Feng Yu Heng’s appearance, they suddenly felt that this girl was like a messenger from the netherworld. No matter what sort of person, even if it was a tiger, none would feel that they could get any profit from her.
Xiang Rong was the first to run up to her. Running through the bloody ground, she stepped over the corpses and arrived in front of Feng Yu Heng. Grabbing her, she looked over her and said with worry: “Second sister, are you ok?”
An shi also followed over, her face filled with concern, as she asked: “Are you hurt?”
Feng Yu Heng’s expressionless face suddenly revealed a bright smile. Under this sort of moonlight, she seemed a little more quick-witted, as she said: “I am fine. I am perfectly fine, but I was a little scared. My heart is filled with horror.” She said this while holding her chest, but the smile on her face contradicted the fear that she had described.
“Husband!” An shi was truly unable to bear watching. Turning around, she loudly said: “You must support second young miss!”
Feng Yu Heng nodded and also looked at Feng Jin Yuan, saying: “Father, daughter is very scared.”
Feng Jin Yuan looked at Feng Yu Heng’s face and thought to himself, where was there any fear? But regardless of what was said, Tong Sheng pavilion being attacked was something that had happened. As Feng Yu Heng’s father, he could not ignore it. Moreover, Feng Yu Heng was the one that had to be protected the most in Da Shun. The Emperor had dispatched so many soldiers to protect her, yet there were still people that risked their lives to come. If he did not express himself on this matter, he would not be able to provide the Emperor with an explanation.
Thus he quietly sighed twice then said to Feng Yu Heng: “Don’t worry, father will definitely do my best to find the one responsible and give you an explanation.”
When he said this, he did not really have much of a starting point. If it was said that the former Chen family was dealing with Feng Yu Heng, they simply used their money to find some assassins from Jiang Hu. But these were specialty soldiers, and specialty soldiers could not be bought with money. They had to be trained from a young age, and the Chen family did not have any specialty soldiers. This was something that he knew. Then aside from the Chen family, who else wanted to take Feng Yu Heng’slife?
Feng Jin Yuan pondered, and the first one that he thought of was the third prince, Xuan Tian Ye. That person almost definitely had specialty soldiers. Immediately dispatching eight was possible, but the third prince had given him a letter, telling him to steal Feng Yu Heng’s methods for producing steel. Presently, the steel had not yet begun production, so he definitely could not take action directly.
Then…
He was suddenly given a shock, as he subconsciously turned his gaze to Kang Yi. His thoughts became a mess, as countless thoughts surged forth. All of them pointed to the possibility that Kang Yi was the perpetrator.
First, Kang Yi had the motivation to do it!
Feng Yu Heng had antagonized her, suppressing her time and time again. Not only did she suppress her, she even scammed Qian Zhou of that much gold. Not only had she scammed that much gold, she even whipped her daughter to that pitiful state.
Second, Kang Yi had the ability!
She was the eldest princess of a foreign country. Bringing along her daughter, she came to Da Shun. It was impossible that she only had her attendants with her. There were definitely hidden guards following her. Aside from that, if Qian Zhou also sent specialty soldiers, it was not impossible.
The more Feng Jin Yuan thought, the more it made sense. He could not help but begin to feel conflicted. If it really was perpetrated by Kang Yi, what side should he stand on?
Every time that he ran into a problem with his second daughter, he began to hesitate. The reason for his hesitation was over whether he would see more benefits from Feng Yu Heng living or dying.
At this time, he thought that if Feng Yu Heng lived, she would produce steel for Da Shun. As her father, his standing in the court would continue to rise. If Feng Yu Heng died, nobody would ever antagonize him. He could fully support Chen Yu. After supporting Chen Yu to the position of empress, from that day forward, his status would truly be one worthy of glory.
Thinking like this, Feng Jin Yuan felt that it would be better if this daughter died.
Thus he retracted his gaze from Kang Yi. He then spoke once more, saying to Feng Yu Heng: “Since you have already said that these are specialty soldiers, that means you also know that once a specialty soldier takes action, not a trace of a clue will be left behind. In fact, not a single living person will be left. That’s why it will be truly difficult to investigate this matter. Father will definitely put forth the effort, but do not be too expectant.”
Feng Yu Heng suddenly laughed. This laugh was even more elegant and beautiful. This clear laugh echoed in the night air, giving it a creepy feeling.
She said: “It’s fine. Father can investigate it slowly. A-Heng is in no rush. I just want to say that training just one specialty soldier is difficult. For the sake of assassinating A-Heng, eight were sent all at once. This can be considered as having expended some capital. Mother,” She suddenly turned her gaze to Kang Yi, “Take a guess. With eight specialty soldiers dying all at once, will the culprit be willing to send even more people to die?”