The two women came to save Li Er, and now they have two choices. First, go straight to Shen Buci who can kill Li Er at any time, and let Li Er escape first. Second, capture the leader first. If they can capture Shen Buci's obedient master, why worry about not being able to save a little Li Er
No matter what they decided, Zhao Mian didn't need to do anything. He stood still, watching the two female assassins approaching him calmly, without even saying "protect me".
In a flash, the two assassins were in front of Zhao Mian. They seemed to want to take him down first and then take control of the situation. When they were still dozens of steps away from Zhao Mian, two sharp knives suddenly blocked their way.
The two were startled and tried their best to steady themselves. Fortunately, they were able to stop in time. Their reactions were fast, but at the critical moment, the tip of the knife still barely grazed their necks.
The shadow guard who had been protecting the Crown Prince in the dark finally had the opportunity to show up. Zhao Mian ordered: "Capture him alive."
Upon hearing this, the unhappiness between Li Er's brows subsided a little, but his expression was still much colder than when he pretended to kill the fish. This was probably the expression he would really have when facing someone who seemed like an enemy but was not an enemy.
Zhao Mian added: "Don't let yourself get hurt."
These shadow guards took it as their duty to protect his safety, and would not hesitate to kill one thousand enemies or lose twelve thousand of their own when necessary. If he did not remind them, the shadow guards would have to pay for their medical treatment if they were injured or disabled.
The shadow guards said in unison: "Yes!"
The women in blue looked at the extra enemies, who were like an indestructible wall, firmly standing around the nobleman wearing a veil. It was good to catch the leader first, but they could not see the "leader" at all, they could only see his long, luxurious sleeves blown by the wind.
The woman in blue gritted her teeth and made a prompt decision: "I'll hold him back, you go save the master first!"
The woman in red immediately turned the sword and stabbed Shen Buci at the side, but unexpectedly two young men in black appeared and stood in front of Shen Buci.
They didn't even have the qualifications to fight Shen Buci.
The woman in red was so anxious that she broke down and said, "How many people did they bring with them?"
Shen Buci is the Crown Prince's close bodyguard. If it comes to the point where he has to take action, it would be a serious dereliction of duty on the part of the many shadow guards of the Eastern Palace. Even if His Royal Highness is safe and sound in the end, they cannot escape blame and will be severely held accountable by the Prime Minister.
Compared to the woman in red, the one in blue seemed much calmer: "Delay him first."
The woman in red probably wanted to hold off until reinforcements arrived. Just like he had many shadow guards hidden, Li Er would not have only two people available.
The four shadow guards of the East Palace were facing two assassins, and they were sure to win. But because the Crown Prince wanted to capture them alive and did not allow them to get hurt, the shadow guards were inevitably constrained.
Furthermore, these two female assassins did have some skills. Their moves seemed soft, but in fact they were sharp, their steps were agile, and they were very good at dodging. With such skills, they would be outstanding in the East Palace. As they spared no effort and fought to the death, the two sides were able to fight back and forth for a while, and it was difficult to tell who was better.
"Not bad." Zhao Mian said nonchalantly, "Your people?"
"Why, you want to meet me? Then let me introduce you." Li Er nodded towards the female assassins, "The one in blue is called Yun Yong, and the one in red is called Hua Ju."
Zhao Mian glanced at Li Er.
She refused to reveal her real name, but revealed the names of her subordinates without hesitation. It was obvious that these two women were unknown people, and even if one knew their names, there would be no way to track them down.
Zhao Mian was watching the battle, but he was thinking about something else.
He and Li Er were both very skilled, and Wan Hua Meng was able to plant poison in him and Li Er without alerting anyone. It can be said that as long as Wan Hua Meng had this ability, he could easily get rid of a country's important officials, or even the crown prince.
Wanhua Meng... What kind of old monster is this
"Sir," Shen Buci's voice pulled Zhao Mian back to his senses, "If we continue to be in a stalemate like this, and the enemy's reinforcements arrive, it may be disadvantageous to us."
Although Zhao Mian didn't want anyone to die, he wouldn't let himself be at a disadvantage: "Then let them fight however they want."
After these words were spoken, the shadow guards attacked without hesitation, and every move was aimed at the assassin's vital points. Under their fierce attack, Yun Yong and Hua Ju soon couldn't resist, and they had difficulty holding their swords. If this continued, not only would they not be able to save their master, but they would also die.
Hua Ju was forced to retreat repeatedly, blocking with his sword horizontally, with a bloody smell in his mouth: "Master, what should we do now!"
"What can I do?" Li Er restrained his smile and said with excitement, "You are all here now."
Zhao Mian's heart sank, and he felt something was wrong. In his peripheral vision, a black afterimage was rapidly approaching him. Just as it was about to touch him, Shen Buci's voice suddenly rang in his ears: "Young Master, be careful!"
In a flash, Zhao Mian was protected by Shen Buci behind him, and he distanced himself from Li Er. Li Er looked down at his empty hands and said regretfully, "What a pity, it was just a little bit short."
Zhao Mian understood and looked at Shen Buci coldly: "You still say he doesn't know martial arts?"
Shen Buci said in a deep voice: "I failed to notice this."
Li Er kicked up the branch on the ground and took it in his hand. He didn't say much nonsense at this time. Facing the vigilant eyes of Zhao Mian and Shen Buci, the master and servant, he only said one simple word: "Come."
Shen Buci immediately stepped forward to fight.
Li Er's body movements and footwork were similar to Yun Yong Hua Ju, but he was much better than them. Shen Bu Ci's sword was sharp, and wherever it touched, there was a whirring sound. Li Er was not stupid enough to use a branch to block the blade. In order to avoid the sharp edge, he flipped in the air. Such a big man landed lightly and silently, and not a trace of dust was raised.
There were many suspicious points about Sha Yu, so Zhao Mian naturally suspected that he was not incompetent in martial arts, but was just hiding his skills. But he did not expect that Li Er could be as good as Shen Buci, even when he used a branch as a blade.
Shen Buci was only twenty-four years old, and was one of the best fighters among the younger generation in Nanjing. Li Er could fight him to a draw, so his real age must be thirty... no, over thirty-five.
Haha, old man.
The more Zhao Mian looked at him, the more unhappy he became. Fortunately, the battle on the other side was drawing to a close. Yun Yong and Hua Ju were both injured and held hostage by the shadow guards. They had lost their swords long ago.
A shadow guard asked, "Sir, how do we deal with these two people?"
"No hurry," Zhao Mian said, "You go and help first. We should attack together and never fight alone."
Li Er couldn't help but agree when he heard this: "That makes sense."
Just as the shadow guard was about to lend a helping hand to Shen Buci, something unexpected happened. The sound of horse hooves came from the jungle, approaching from afar. Judging from the sound, there were at least several horses.
In the blink of an eye, the figures of the newcomers entered everyone's field of vision. Hua Ju saw the man in the lead and was overjoyed: "Why did you come just now!"
Yun Yong covered his chest in pain, and smiled when he saw this: "Fortunately, it's not too late."
Li Er's reinforcements arrived. Once the reinforcements arrived, Li Er became the one with more people and more power, and the situation was reversed in an instant.
Under the veil, Zhao Mian had a tense face and was extremely unhappy about the fact that he suddenly fell into a disadvantage.
At first, he just wanted to lure out the snake and find out Li Er's true identity, not really wanting to kill Li Er and others. He and Li Er have a common powerful enemy, and their goal is the antidote to the male and female poison. Even if they are not friends, they are not necessarily enemies. He can conclude that Li Er will not completely tear his face off with him, nor will he hurt him.
But even if both sides tacitly agreed to stop and test each other, he couldn't lose.
"You've come just in time." Li Er rubbed his wrist, wiped the sweat off his face, and then pointed at Shen Buci and said, "This guy is a little difficult to deal with. I'll leave him to you. I'll go get my revenge first."
"Yes, Master."
After Li Er finished speaking, he suddenly turned sideways and disappeared from Shen Buci's sight in a strange way. Shen Buci realized something, and his usually calm face showed tension and uneasiness. He turned around suddenly and tried to catch up with Li Er, but was entangled by several enemies rushing towards him. He was completely unable to escape and could only watch Li Er approach the Crown Prince: "Young Master!"
Zhao Mian said calmly: "Don't panic."
There was no one else between him and Li Er, and he was ready to confront Li Er face to face.
Although Nan Jing values literature, he also knows the importance of martial arts and archery. As the crown prince of the Eastern Palace, Zhao Mian learned martial arts from a young age from the great general who was as famous as Wan Huameng and one of the four great masters in the world. Even if his skills are not as good as Shen Buci, he is more than enough to deal with some small soldiers and crab generals.
But he forgot that he had someone else.
Zhou Huai, who had been hiding in the carriage, asked Huo Di to get out of the carriage and stood in front of him without hesitation: "Sir, I'm here!"
Zhao Mian was stunned and said fiercely, "Who told you to come down? Go back."
Even if it was just a point, the sword had no eyes. How did Zhou Huairang, a scholar who didn't even dare to kill a chicken, dare to come out? !
Zhou Huairang was panting, and he did not flinch even when he was threatened. He held a sword tightly in his hand and said, "I, I will give you the sword!"
Zhao Mian loved bright and dazzling colors, but his sword was a snow-white long sword with no excessive decorations on the hilt and scabbard. It was as elegant as frost, slightly different from his usual style.
"Throw the sword over here..." Zhao Mian's face changed when he saw the figure that suddenly appeared behind Zhou Huairang, "Be careful behind you!"
Zhou Huairang turned around subconsciously, and was caught off guard to find a dagger with a cold glow across his neck. He blinked at first, and then -
"ah!"
The weak scholar let out an earth-shattering scream, then his eyes turned white and he fell straight down.
"... Xiao Rang?!" In a hurry, Zhao Mian didn't realize that he called Zhou Huairang by his nickname just like when they were children. He walked quickly to Zhou Huairang's side, only to see him lying straight, his eyes closed, breathing evenly, without a single scratch on his body.
In other words, Zhou Huairang was frightened to death.
Zhao Mian let out a long sigh of relief. He looked up at the culprit, his eyes like a knife: "You did a good thing."
Li Er spread his hands, feeling a little guilty, but not much: "I didn't know he was so vulnerable to being scared - do you have anyone else?"
Not for now. He has practiced martial arts since he was young, but this is the first time he has to beat someone with his own hands.
"I have to do this myself." Zhao Mian picked up the sword and slowly stood up, his tone revealing arrogance, "A bunch of rubbish."
Li Er looked at Zhao Mian in confusion: "You were so nervous about him just now, and now you are calling him a waste. Listen to your words and see if they are contradictory."
Zhao Mian was determined to take action without any more nonsense. He drew out his long sword, and threw the scabbard aside. The snow-white sword body swam like a golden snake in the sunset, and suddenly pounced on Li Er: "No contradiction!"
Li Er quickly blocked his attack with his dagger, and then turned around and swung his knife to counterattack. A cold light flashed before Zhao Mian's eyes, and with the sound of cloth tearing, a corner of his brocade clothes was cut off.
Zhao Mian looked at the remnants of clothes on the ground, and once again realized the gap between him and Li Er in martial arts. Not to mention him, looking at the entire Eastern Palace, perhaps only Shen Buci could fight Li Er.
Li Er casually turned the dagger in his hand and said, "You can't beat me."
"So what?" Zhao Mian said calmly, "You don't dare to hurt me."
Li Er smiled: "Are you so sure?"
Zhao Mian said: "You still want to borrow my power to deal with Wan Hua Meng, don't you?"
Li Er admitted generously: "Yes. So I won't hurt you, not that I 'dare' to hurt you."
Zhao Mian sneered and raised his sword again: "You still talk as much nonsense as before."
Just as Zhao Mian expected, no matter how hard he attacked Li Er, Li Er would just avoid fighting. As long as he seized this opportunity and waited until Shen Buci finished dealing with those shrimp soldiers and crab generals and came to help, Li Er would still be his prisoner.
Facing Zhao Mian's relentless attack, Li Er dodged and dodged again, gradually becoming impatient. After muttering "Is this never going to end?", he jumped into the reed forest not far away.
It was the golden autumn, and the reeds had grown quite tall. A vast expanse of them swayed in the air like feathers, and people were submerged in the air as soon as they entered.
Zhao Mian stood in front of the forest with a sword in his hand, looking at the vast expanse of golden color. He pondered for a moment, then turned and left.
He wouldn't chase after them, as he couldn't beat them. He would just let Shen Buci and others chase after them later.
Who would have thought that just as he took a step, he felt a force on the back of his neck and fell backwards uncontrollably, his vision filled with a brilliant golden color.
All around him were tall but soft reeds, with only something solid behind him to lean against. Zhao Mian could hear the sounds of fighting outside, but his sight was completely blocked by the reeds. It seemed that Shen Buci and the others could not see what was happening on his side.
At this time, Li Er's voice sounded above his head: "Want to run?"
Zhao Mian was held by Li Er by the back of his collar, and he could feel Li Er's hot fingertips touching a small area of his skin. In this humiliating position, his back was forced to lean against the man's chest, and he couldn't help but get angry and say, "Let go!"
Li Er said slowly: "To be honest, I was almost suffocated to death these past few days. I mean, you like to pretend too much, don't you, sir?"
Zhao Mian struggled, but Li Er pressed him even harder and he couldn't move at all.
"Li Er," Zhao Mian warned word by word, "Don't seek death."
Li Er sneered, then said in a frightened tone: "You are so fierce, I am so scared."
As Li Er said the last word "afraid", Zhao Mian felt a sudden pain in his knee. He was unable to react and his shoulder was pressed down hard.
Zhao Mian stared blankly at the dark, wet soil through the veil of his hat. His mind was blank, and only his aching knees told him what had happened.
He was forced to his knees in the dust.
He knelt down
He knelt to everyone except his father, the prime minister, and his grandmother
Or being forced to your knees by a dark-skinned man in a dirty reed forest in a foreign country
Li Er!!!
Zhao Mian's whole body was stiff, as if he was frozen in place, and he couldn't move. Li Er looked at him and said jokingly, "Hey, I suddenly understand why you like to watch people kneel down. It's really refreshing to see you kneeling like this. It's more interesting than watching the aunties quarreling in the stall next door - I like to watch it."
When had Zhao Mian ever suffered such humiliation? After a brief shock, he regained his sanity and voice bit by bit. He gnashed his teeth in anger, his chest seemed to explode, and the fingertips piercing into his palms made him want to peel off Li Er's black skin with his own hands: "... beast!"
"You're so stubborn, so keep kneeling." Li Er no longer had the humble attitude of a fishmonger. He looked like a villain who was watching a show. "Kneel for ten days or eight days, and let me have a good time."
Violence gradually rose in Zhao Mian's eyes. He turned around abruptly and glared at Li Er hatefully, as if he wanted to poke countless holes in his face.
Li Er must die. He said that even the Jade Emperor cannot save him.
He wanted to make Li Er kneel in every reed marsh, every mountain of knives, and every vegetable market in Nanping, Beiyuan, and Dongling.
He wanted to wake up every day and see Li Er kneeling in front of him.
He wants to make Li Er kneel down and die!
Li Er could feel the other party's rage through the veil, which only aroused the evil in his bones. Li Er increased his strength and was about to mock, but he heard the person under him groan: "It hurts..."
The Crown Prince, who grew up like a star, had hardly suffered any physical pain in the past 18 years. Although the Prime Minister was strict with him, he never punished him physically. Even when he was practicing martial arts with the general, the general loved him very much and would ask the imperial physician to treat him whenever he had a bump or a bruise.
Now, his hands were clamped behind his back by Li Er, and his shoulders were pressed so hard that it was so painful that he couldn't help but groan.
He regretted it as soon as he finished humming. Who was he to be? How could he cry out in pain in front of a fish killer
A warrior can be killed but not humiliated, and blood debt must be repaid with blood.
Zhao Mian gritted his teeth and forced himself not to make any sound.
Li Eryi raised his eyebrows: "Hurt?" He smiled, but his smile was full of mockery, "Squeamish." He raised his hand again and stretched it in front of Zhao Mian: "Come on, let me see if you look so delicate..."
Li Er's hand lifted Zhao Mian's veil.
The sun was setting, and the autumn wind was intoxicating. The young man knelt in the rippling reeds, his fair cheeks turning red like wine, and he didn't know whether it was because of the setting sun or because of his own anger.
Luxurious and extravagant, a stunning sight on earth.
Li Er was slightly startled, but still finished the last word: "...Angry."
Zhao Mian raised his eyes and looked back.
The two people's eyes met unexpectedly in the brilliant glimmer.
(End of this chapter)