Chapter 241: Assassins on Sky Road
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
They continued to walk along the crowded streets until they reached Sky Road. Sky Road was the passage which linked the city to the palace and thus access was restricted to most people on normal days. Today however, it was opened and filled with people. Lanterns lined both sides of the street.
The sound of firecrackers as they exploded rang out continuously. Every household was out with masks on their faces while they carried lanterns and walked. There were way too many people and Pei Zi Yun didn’t want to be separated from the Canton Princess. Hence, he pulled her close. He then saw another pinwheel which was filled with lanterns. Likewise, this pinwheel could rotate and were filled with riddles and couplets. Pei Zi Yun inched nearer.
"Li An Jun and Ji Sheng, both of these generals have come with their troops as well." The person in charge of the pinwheel spoke softly.
"As of now, there are three generals. We can proceed. You can continue." Pei Zi Yun whispered back, as if he pretended to guess the riddles.
Once they had finished their discussion, the person raised his voice and asked, "A single bow which can fire two arrows?"
"That’s easy, it’s the word ‘fu’ (弗)!"
(T/N: This is a play on the word, since the ‘fu’ character was first written with 弓, which meant a bow. The additional two strokes are taken to mean a pair of arrows)
The person by the stall pretended to be shocked, "You’ve guessed it right. I wish to stay till the end of the festival, don’t put me out of business so soon!"
"Haha, deference is no substitute for obedience. I shall have your lantern." Pei Zi Yun then picked a lantern and took it down.
"Guests, if you guess it correctly, the lantern shall be yours to keep. I shan’t be mad if you guess it right." He then continued to shout out, "Quick, come and guess the riddles. If you guess it right, you get to keep the lantern!"
Several people rushed forward as the stall became crowded and lively.
As long as the stalls had lantern pinwheels which provided riddles, they were men belonging to the Crown Prince or the Grand Princess. Pei Zi Yun snickered. He knew that the mission had been completed on their end, and thus they wanted to give the lanterns away as soon as possible so they can return home.
The disguise was done extremely well. Since he didn’t want the Canton Princess to suspect anything, he hurriedly gave the lantern to her. When she received it, she was rather glad. Pei Zi Yun scanned the crowd and noticed that a strong and fit looking man was in a daze by the stall. When he noticed Pei Zi Yun looking at him, he hurriedly turned around.
The Canton Princess carried her lantern and proceed forward when she saw a stall that sold sweet potatoes. A man and a woman were standing right in front of the stall, in line to purchase some sweet potatoes. When the young man finally bought it, he broke it in half and gave one half to the young woman, who leaned against his shoulder. They both looked at each other and smiled sweetly.
When the Canton Princess saw this scene, she felt rather envious. Could this be how it feels to be in love?
Thinking this way, the Canton Princess pulled Pei Zi Yun towards the stall and pointed at the baked sweet potatoes, "I wish to eat this."
"Stall keeper, I want one of those." Pei Zi Yun ordered.
The stall keeper retrieved a burning hot piece of sweet potato from the oven before wiping away the burnt skin on it. He then wrapped it in a paper bag before he handed it to the Canton Princess.
"Hot!" The Canton Princess dropped the sweet potato immediately after receiving it. Pei Zi Yun managed to catch the potato with his quick reflexes. Realizing that the Canton Princess had been scalded, he took her hand and started to blow gently on her burned palms.
Seeing that Pei Zi Yun blew on her hands, her face turned red.
"Wait for the sweet potato to cool down before you eat it!" Pei Zi Yun laughed before he swept some dust and ash away from the sweet potato. He then broke it into half and gave one half to her.
"It’s hot, slowly." Pei Zi Yun then threw over a string of coins towards the stall keeper.
The sweet potato was burning hot and as steam rose from the paper bag. The Canton Princess received her half from him, and blushed as she ate it slowly. At this point, a man passed by and held a lantern up so that his features were visible. He was dressed in old and soiled linen, yet his face and body looked extremely clean. His features were rather mellow and he gave a warm look towards them. Pei Zi Yun was rather wary of him as he walked by.
"What’s the matter?" Pei Zi Yun asked softly.
"I’m too happy today. If only everyday was like this." The Canton Princess hesitated as she mumbled.
"You can call me Qi Qianye, that’s my real name. Let others call me Canton Princess, you should address me by name." The Canton Princess whispered softly, as if she had just done something which required a great deal of courage. Her head was tilted so low her chin touched her chest.
When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he was taken aback. Before a thought could form in his head, he heard a cry from afar, "The Crown Prince is walking down the streets to give gifts!"
"Move away, make way!"
The voices came from the imperial guards, dressed in thick armor, with long spears as they cleared the roads.
Everyone knew that the Crown Prince was going to roam the streets himself, for there had been reports of this. The people were thus asked to clear the streets whenever the Crown Prince arrived. Everyone tiptoed and craned their necks to get a better view of the Crown Prince. The situation was very lively and the atmosphere was very energetic on Sky Road. It started to get very crowded.
"Boom" A loud sound rang out as fireworks were shot into the sky. A myriad of colors formed as the fireworks exploded. It was a beautiful scene.
"It’s so pretty!" The Canton Princess leaned towards Pei Z iyun and gazed at the sky as she spoke. Her small face was illuminated by the lights from the fireworks. It was still slightly red as her eyes gleamed in the light. Tonight, was spent just by the both of them. She had the person she liked together with her, while the fireworks lit up the skies. The Canton Princess felt bliss.
Further down Sky Road, several men did a dragon dance, a pair of tigers danced in front of the dragon. This dragon was so long it had twelve segments, and thus required eleven men to control it by moving elongated sticks which controlled the dragon, as they danced in sync. The armed guards continued to march through, as they cleared the crowd. Since they were within the crowd, Pei Zi Yun and the Canton Princess were pushed to the side as well.
The men who danced while they controlled the tigers and dragon were requested to move aside. Only then did the tiger and dragon leave the air. However, since head and tail of the dragon still remained high up in the air, it obscured the faces of the men who controlled it.
Soon after, the fireworks had been completely expended, the night sky was quiet once more.
"Arrival of the Crown Prince!"
All of a sudden, everyone straightened up and looked in one direction. There twelve men carried the imperial lanterns and led the way. Following behind were another twelve men who carried banners of a dragon. A eunuch stood beside the Crown Prince to wait on him. There were thirty-six guards surrounding the entire entourage.
The Crown Prince was seated on a palanquin, which was decorated with mythical birds and silk cloths dyed gold. A pair of serving maids stood on both sides, they each waved a large fan.
As the Crown Prince passed, everyone shouted, "Long live the Emperor. Long live the Crown Prince!"
The Canton Princess stood by the side, her sweet potato still in her hands. Just as she took a bite she said, "Brother Pei, looks like Brother Crown Prince is out now. He looks so majestic."
As soon as her words were spoken, the sound of fireworks as they were shot off rang out again. However, the direction of the fireworks seemed not to be the sky. In fact, it was fired right at the imperial guards. At that moment, havoc ensued.
As soon as the fireworks exploded, people panicked and broke through the formation of the imperial guards.
"Protect the Crown Prince!" Several guards rushed towards the Crown Prince to protect him. Their scanned the scene around them. All of them aware of their only purpose, to foil any attempts on the Crown Prince's life.
Fireworks shot out repeatedly, which caused pandemonium. People pushed against one another, as everything became a mess. The imperial guards and common civilians were all crammed up against one another in the chaos.
Many guards shouted out loudly, "Stop pushing, stop pushing."
"Hold the line." Someone shouted desperately. However, the fireworks were still being shot into the crowd, causing the commoners to flee in all directions in fear. At such a chaotic moment, the commoners were in complete disarray.
Pei Zi Yun frowned. This was getting out of hand. Something major might happen if the situation wasn’t handled carefully, and might entail consequences which were hard to bear.
Who was it who suggested that fireworks should be used on this date? With the crowd in a panic, even the Crown Prince wouldn’t be able to control them.
Pei Zi Yun pulled the Canton Princess into his embrace and protected her. The crowd was so afraid that they ran into the poles which secured the head of the dragon and caused it to fall.
The head of the dragon was huge, and was blocked the small path which the guards were supposed to walk through. The tigers were kicked to the side to clear a path. The dragon’s head however was so heavy it required several imperial guards to lift it.
"Bandits, outrageous." A guard whipped out his blade and slashed down hard on the dragon’s head in frustration and caused it to break.
At this point, the men who controlled the tigers and dragon overturned their poles and revealed sharpened long spears as they charged towards the guards. "Dog of a Crown Prince, give me your life."
"Assassins!" Someone shouted in panic as several guards stepped in front of the Crown Prince. Although there were guards around, they didn’t expect to come under attack, and thus lacked the archers which usually accompanied them.
Against the long spears, the guards had to take defensive stances.
Seeing such a situation, a middle-aged man within the group of civilians then ordered, "Charge!"
Following his orders, a dozen more men whipped out cold steel blades which reflected light as they charged. However, it didn’t seem like they charged towards the Crown Prince. A general then took off his outer clothes to reveal his rank as he shouted, "Kill the rebels, foil their assault!"
"Protect the Crown Prince." This man shouted as he led a group of soldiers towards the Crown Prince. They appeared to be coming to the defense of the Crown Prince. However, there were ten armed guards standing in front of the Crown Prince, trying to fend off any assailants who came close. The guards were thus mixed together with the black robed assassins.
At this point, the general charged and seemed to pose a threat to the Crown Prince. Several soldiers from a distance away started to converge towards the Crown Prince.
"Whose command do you come under? What are you trying to do? Back down and stay away from us." The leader of the imperial guards sensed that something wasn’t right and thus stepped forward to shout at the oncoming general. Fury could be seen in his eyes.
"Take down the assassin." By the light of the fire, this middle-aged man looked to be around forty of fifty years of age. His expression was sullen, as his eyes revealed a certain fearsomeness. He looked rather intimidating. This was a powerful general, Chen Hu. At this point, he had revealed his true colors.
A soldier that stood beside General Chen Hu looked at the leader of the guards with apparent disregard. He then swiftly plunged his sword deep into the guard’s chest. The guard’s pupils constricted as he took a step back. A second slash was delivered across his torso as he fell to the ground, as blood oozed out.
"Kill! Kill the traitorous general." The imperial guards shouted. General Chen Hu was a military man, and had been so powerful that he could turn the tides of a battle. Although he wasn’t young anymore, his military prowess was still not lost. In that second, he turned around and attacked the imperial guards with such speed that it was hard to watch. His blade moved like lightning and hit as hard as thunder.
"Oof…" A guard had just charged towards the general when he saw that he had been slashed across the chest. A line of blood emerged before he fell to the ground.
"Kill!" The group of soldiers charged the guards.
Seeing such a scene before her, the Canton Princess shouted out in a shrill voice, "Ahhhh!"
"It’s okay, don’t worry. You’re going to be alright."
Pei Zi Yun hugged the Canton Princess to console her as he pulled her to the side.
At this point, an imperial guard took hold of a firework and shot it high into the sky. Right at the same time, a group soldiers who had been disguised as stall keepers and commoners shouted, "Kill the assassins!"
They then raised their blades and charged into the thick of the battle.
"It’s a trap!" General Chen Hu’s face turned pale, a chill ran down his spine as he shouted, "Quick, kill your way through."
"Pitiful. You’ve only managed to achieve Elementary Scholar status after all this while. Now all your assets and belongings will be stripped away from you and three generations shall be killed because of your actions." Pei Zi Yun looked at him and didn’t even need to enter his Yin Master state to be able to see the black aura shrouding around him. He was completely corrupted and was beyond redemption.
"Hmph, there were three generals. The other two had brought their own soldiers, but remained behind and didn’t act. Only this Chen Hu seemed extremely eager, for he had the guts to charge alone?"
"Didn’t he know that even if he used borrowed soldiers, but commanded them to lead the assault, as he was present, he would be considered an assassin. Even if he had killed the Crown Prince for King Lu, King Lu would have to put him to death as well."
"What a stupid fool!"
"However, just thinking of this, there have been many obstinate and unyielding people ever since the dynasty has stabilized. Not everyone is smart and calculative with their moves."
"It’s not surprising that Chen Hu showed up as well." Thinking about this, Pei Zi Yun stopped hesitating and pulled the Canton Princess away. This had become a battleground. It wouldn’t be good to get involved or be around.
He pushed open the door to a shop and saw that it had two stories. Without even speaking, he pulled the Canton Princess up to the second level and opened the windows halfway.
Looking down from above allowed him to see clearly and everything that happened.
"Quick, quick!" Following the fireworks, which was the signal, thousands of armed soldiers spilled into the area. Their mission was to seal the entire area, and prevent any of these soldiers from escaping. Soon after, they killed everyone they had surrounded.