Xiao Weixin had not originally planned to succeed in the assassination last night. He mainly wanted to spy on the true situation of the palace's defense. However, that idiot actually alarmed the imperial guards. Although no evidence was left, Xiao Weishen would definitely investigate the matter given his character.
After having breakfast in the dining room, Xiao Weixin looked up and saw another maid, Luo Yao, bringing a bowl of medicine.
"Your Majesty." Luo Yao was not as afraid as the others and said bluntly, "Do you still want to drink this medicine?"
Xiao Weixin sneered, "Of course I have to drink it, otherwise how can I be worthy of the prescription that my royal brother specially found for me?"
After saying that, he picked up the bowl and drank it all without hesitation.
You Shu, who was doing his job conscientiously on the beam, sighed softly in his heart. It was too difficult to be the protagonist.
Although the medicine was not poisonous, it was poisonous to some extent. The dog emperor was so diligent in sending medicine to him every day. In addition to wanting to gain a reputation as a good brother, he also wanted to test whether he was really sick. After all, drinking too much medicine would definitely be bad for the body.
Xiao Weixin knew about this, of course, but he couldn't refuse. Because the eunuch Xiao Weishen sent to deliver the medicine every day was waiting outside the dining room, and would secretly look over from time to time, and would not go back to report until he saw him drink it with his own eyes.
After finishing the medicine today, the eunuch did not rush to leave. Instead, he smiled flatteringly and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, now that you have finished the medicine, will you follow me into the palace?"
"The Emperor said early in the morning that he hadn't seen the princes for a long time, and he specifically asked the servants to invite them. Prince Qin and Prince Yong have already set off. What do you think...?"
Xiao Weixin turned around and faced the old eunuch. His expression was no longer the same as before. He looked fragile and innocent. He coughed twice and said softly, "My emperor summons you? Then I will go with you now." After he finished speaking, he coughed a few more times. His feet were weak and he looked like a person who had been ill for a long time.
It would be a shame if the protagonist didn't win an Oscar for his acting skills. His flamboyant steps were so realistic that even someone with such profound inner skills as him couldn't spot any mistakes.
In fact, Xiao Weixin was not really powerless. On the contrary, his martial arts skills were probably not inferior to You Shu's. He just restrained himself in order to play the role of a sickly man well. No one knew about this for so many years except You Shu and a few personal guards and maids. Xiao Weixin's martial arts skills can be seen from the fact that he could control his internal energy to such an extent.
Seeing Xiao Wei getting on the carriage, You Shu and Ying Wushen sneaked into the gap at the bottom of the carriage and hid. The carriage entering the palace would definitely be searched when passing through the city gate, but Xiao Weixin had already modified the carriage. The mechanism at the bottom could accommodate two adult men when opened. He made this specially just in case. After all, saving lives is important.
Yingwu and Youshu lay under the car, holding their breath and not daring to make any noise. Yingwu was taller than most people, and he was squeezing Youshu, which made him feel very uncomfortable. Yingwu knew that something was wrong, so he gave him an apologetic smile.
You Shu had a very good temper and generally never got angry with anyone. Ying Wu was one of the brothers he got along with the most, so he had no choice but to move aside a little and start recalling the plot in his mind, which was something he had done every day for more than a decade to prevent himself from forgetting.
This should be where the plot begins, if his memory is correct. The opening plot of the book is that Xiao Wei was assassinated at night and was furious. The next morning, he dragged several brothers and suspicious persons into the palace to test them one by one, because he felt that everyone had a motive for the crime, but he couldn't figure out who it might be. So this trip was also a Hongmen Banquet, but the protagonist was alert and low-key, and he avoided the trap perfectly without any mistakes and escaped safely.
When reading the book, You Shu was sweating, because the dog emperor set traps for his brothers again and again. Even if the people were not sent by them, they could be killed if they said the wrong thing. He was a tyrant exactly as his character was.
The carriage went smoothly all the way to the palace. The palace was not as free as the outside. There were guards and patrolling imperial guards everywhere inside. There were also countless secret guards watching in the dark places. They could be executed on the spot if there was any disturbance. It was not the first time that You Shu came in, but he still did not dare to cause any accidents.
It was a long way from the main gate to the Imperial Garden where the Dog Emperor entertained his brothers. It took more than an hour to get there, and the sun was already high in the sky. Because he was a prince, Xiao Weixin had the privilege of driving directly in, which was the traditional rule of the Imperial City.
After arriving at the place, Xiao Weixin got off the carriage with the help of the palace servants. He stumbled and almost fell. Fortunately, Qi Han was quick to catch him. The carriage was taken over by other palace servants and driven into a special parking room.
After confirming that there was no one in the stable, You Shu and Ying Wu carefully crawled out from under the carriage. They had already memorized the route along the way. Although they did not see anything outside the entire time, they could quickly determine the wind direction by feeling, which was the basic professional quality of a top shadow guard.
There was no one in the stable at the moment, so You Shu and Ying Wu went out one after another. They knocked out two guards outside the stable, then quickly changed their clothes and hid the people under the carriage, making sure they would not wake up within two hours. They changed their appearance before going out again.
The clothes of the guards serving in front of the palace were easy to identify, so they specifically looked for those two people. Although they might not be able to get close to them, as long as they could see their own prince, it would be enough.
"The gold thread on this dress must be worth a lot of money, right?" Ying Wu muttered softly, gently stroking the flying bird pattern on the hem of the dress.
You Shu observed the surrounding terrain with high alertness and said seriously, "Don't touch around blindly."
Ying Wu always felt a little more relaxed when he was on a mission with You Shu, because You Shu was really reliable and almost never made mistakes. With him around, it seemed like there was nothing to worry about. "I went out on a day off a while ago and lost everything again."
"Then don't gamble." You Shu replied coldly, "With your little money, aren't you going to save money to marry a wife?"
Ying Wu curled his lips and said, "How can people like us get wives? We have no future and we don't even have a proper identity. Which girl would be willing to be with you? You are so naive that you always think you can survive until then."
"What if?" You Shu made sure everything was safe before leading Ying Wu to the garden, pretending to be on patrol. "You should always have dreams."
Although Yingwu disagreed, he couldn't bear to burst his beautiful vision: "Yingsan, sometimes I'm really curious about why you can be so... How did Yingshou and Yinger train you?"
You Shu did not answer, he looked straight ahead. In fact, Shadow Chief had said these words countless times, always telling him not to have unrealistic ideas, because people like them would never be able to wait for the day of freedom.
They are people who have signed a death contract, their bodies, minds and souls have all been branded, and they can only be slaves for the rest of their lives. If they want to escape, they will be wiped out from within at the first step. It is simply wishful thinking to think of escaping.
Even if they have a chance to escape citizenship, they may not live to that age, because shadow guards are one of the professions with the highest mortality rate in all novels and TV dramas. You see those shadow guards who were sent out to perform missions on TV, almost all of them died in waves, they died if they met the protagonist, and they also died if they met the villain.
Otherwise, how can they be called death warriors? Just like the colleague who committed suicide last night, he failed in his mission and didn’t care about his own life in order not to betray his master.
You Shu pursed his lips, but even if this was the reality, he didn't want to accept his fate.
They soon arrived at the Imperial Garden. The guards outside took one look at them and let them in. They recognized the clothes more than the people. Since there were so many guards, they couldn't remember what they looked like. They all had ordinary faces and no one could stand out.
After entering the Imperial Garden, they stood in a relatively remote corner, with their left hands on the hilt of the knife, the same posture as the palace guards. It was completely impossible to tell that they were outsiders. From this angle, they could clearly see their own prince.
You Shu glanced at the elegant Xiao Weixin.
Um.
My prince is still as handsome as ever. In comparison, the dog emperor’s appearance is so poor that he looks like he was picked up on the street.
Worthy of being the protagonist.
Xiao Weishen had experienced an assassination attempt last night and was in a very bad mood. Anyone who opened his eyes and saw the masked black face above the bed would be scared to death. If he hadn't stayed behind the screen as a guard, he would have lost his life.
The poisoned dagger was just a few centimeters away from him.
After the assassin committed suicide, he was unable to get any clues. In anger, he whipped the corpse and hung the head above the Imperial Garden, as if to demonstrate to someone.
You Shu looked up at the hanging head, with dark waves in his eyes, but they disappeared in an instant. He just exerted a little force with the hand holding the knife, but that was all he could do.
Ying Wu also saw it. His former training partner died tragically in front of him. It was impossible for him to not feel any emotion, but he was not as emotional as You Shu. After all, he knew that one day in the future, it might be him or one of his brothers who would be hanged. He just had to get used to it.
Xiao Weishen had a false smile on his face. He looked at his three brothers, the emperor's uncle, and his nephew, and asked in a pretentious manner, "How is the emperor's uncle these days? How are the emperor's brothers?"
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. We are all fine." Prince Liu Xiao Chenggu is the oldest among them. As the younger brother of the late emperor, he naturally answered first. Although he is already thirty-six years old, time has not made him any weathered. He still looks as young as he did, with a handsome face and a handsome spirit. You can't tell that he is an uncle whose son is only fifteen years older than him.
After Prince Liu's uncle had spoken, the three princes below also said that they were fine.
Xiao Weishen glanced meaningfully at his three younger brothers, his sixteenth brother Xiao Weiming, his fourth brother Xiao Weijing, and his seventh brother Xiao Weixin.
You Shu couldn't help but start complaining in his heart again. This dog emperor was not good at fighting, nor did he have any literary talent, and his political talent was even shit. The only thing he was good at was killing his brothers and fathers in internal strife. The old emperor was such a powerful dragon-bringer, he slept with all the harems and left him with more than a dozen brothers, but he killed them all and only had three left.
With only three brothers left, the dog emperor still wanted to send them all away. If the old emperor knew that the fruits he planted were destroyed by his eldest son who was born out of the excessive birth control policy, he would probably be so angry that he would come out of the soil and take him away.
You Shu spit on him again.