Chapter 2072 - 2070: Who Was It? (Curling Up Under the Covers Is the Best!)

"Your Majesty, please listen to the voices of the people. The situation has become very serious now!"

Officials kneeling beneath the throne looked up at the young boy seated above, crying out in anguish.

"You have been deceived by the ministers! If this continues, the Empire will completely collapse!"

However, faced with the cries of the officials, the young boy on the throne remained unmoved.

"Minister of Internal Affairs, Shao’er, for your reckless criticism of my policies and delaying of affairs of state, I sentence you to the extreme penalty."

"What?!"

Hearing this, the Minister of Internal Affairs raised his head in terror, looking towards the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, you..."

"Guards, take him away!"

With a single command from the young emperor, soldiers quickly approached and pinned the Minister of Internal Affairs to the ground.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You are being deceived by the ministers, Your Majesty! Please wake up! Your Majesty! Your Majesty—!"

Amidst the shouting, the Minister of Internal Affairs was dragged away by the guards, and the great doors closed once again.

Meanwhile, the other officials in the hall were as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to speak a word.

"This is our target for this mission."

Fang Zheng closed the "Ratziel", looking at the assassins before him. Now nearly ten assassins had joined the Brotherhood, just like Iyeas and Sayu, the others were also victims of persecution by the nobility and officials, rising in rebellion. Most of them were women...

Though only two were blond young girls.

"Our target this time is to rescue the family of Minister of Internal Affairs, Shao’er. He has been sentenced to the extreme penalty for advising the Emperor, and his family will also be captured and enslaved. Shao’er and his family will be publicly executed in the square. What we need to do is save them, get them out of the Imperial City, and kill those executioners."

"Master, why are we rescuing those people?"

At this moment, another assassin whispered the question.

"Those officials are just the Emperor’s lackeys; they are not worth saving!"

"There are officials genuinely concerned about the people, and even in the current situation, they dare to advise that foolish and incompetent Emperor, which shows their courage and determination."

Fang Zheng gestured with his hand.

"We must not only eliminate evil but also uphold justice. Those who wholeheartedly serve the people should not die here. At least we can let them live, so in the future, they can still contribute to this country."

"Then when will that be?"

"When we kill the Emperor."

As Fang Zheng finished his words, everyone gasped aloud.

In the Northern Empire, the concept of imperial power being supreme is deeply ingrained, even now, people mostly complain about the confusing ministers, rather than the Emperor himself. So when Fang Zheng straightforwardly stated they had to kill the Emperor, everyone froze.

"Are we...really going to do this, Master? The Emperor is just being deceived..."

Sayu seemed somewhat uneasy, but Fang Zheng merely glanced at her.

"So what you mean is that as long as we kill the ministers, the Emperor will miraculously wake up overnight as a diligent and benevolent ruler instead of going insane and seeking revenge on us?"

"........."

Sayu opened her mouth but didn’t utter a word; just as Fang Zheng said, it was basically impossible.

"But the Emperor is still a child, isn’t he?"

"He is the Emperor. By sitting on that position, he must take responsibility for all of this, and so his fate is sealed, unless he suddenly awakes and becomes another person, but we all know that is impossible."

Having said this, Fang Zheng stood up.

"Let’s begin the operation; Sayu, you take a team with me to the execution ground. Iyeas, you lead another group to the Minister of Internal Affairs’ house. Remember, act quickly; everything follows the plan!"

"..."

No one spoke. All the assassins merely nodded slightly, and in no time, the room was empty.

The noon sun shone down on the square, but the crowd gathered there was silent, their eyes filled with fear and dread as they watched the prisoners clad in prison garb, shackled in chains, on the vast square, which at this moment, seemed lifeless like a graveyard.

"Minister of Internal Affairs, Shao’er, defied the Emperor’s orders and is sentenced along with his family to the extreme penalty!"

The chief Judge raised the document in his hand and shouted in anger. Upon hearing his roar, the crowd below fell into an even deeper silence, uneasily looking at each other. Amidst them, two figures glared intently at the scene, clenching their fists tightly.

"Damn it..."

The pink twin-tailed girl, Main, clenched her fists, glaring at those being ushered onto the execution platform. If she had her Teigu now, Main would have wanted to leap in and save these people immediately!

"Don’t get worked up, Main."

Beside Main, the blond woman Leone placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"There are too many guards here, it’s impossible for us to succeed. Just wait, one day we will overthrow the Empire’s rule, and then everything will be fine."

"Hmm... Uhhh..."

Upon hearing Leone’s response, Main fell silent for a moment, helplessly lowering her head.

At this moment on the execution platform, the leading Judge continued to loudly recite the content of the execution decree.

"No one shall defy the Emperor!"

No one noticed the hooded figure draped in a white cloak quietly stepping out from the crowd. He extended his hand, slowly pushing the people nearby aside. And those civilians seemed completely oblivious to these people’s traces; they merely raised their heads to look at the judge and the prisoners about to face severe punishment, even those pushed aside showed no reaction.

"Those who criticize the Emperor’s policy shall be executed!"

Walking on the rooftop, the guard’s body trembled and softly fell backward. At the same time, a black robe assassin emerged from behind him, grabbing the guard’s corpse and hiding it in the rooftop’s shadow. Then, she leaned against the wall and raised the crossbow in her hand, aiming at the execution grounds.

"This is the consequence of defying the Emperor’s command!"

The Judge pointed at the prisoners next to him once more, and simultaneously, the soldiers maintaining order in the front row failed to notice that figures had appeared behind them.

"Prepare for execution!"

As the Judge’s voice fell, several spinning silver-white spheres were suddenly flung from the crowd, and in the next moment, they burst open.

"Bang, bang, bang!!"

The dense gray mist exploded instantly, enveloping the entire execution ground. Faced with the sudden scene, the onlooking citizens screamed and scattered in all directions.

"Enemy spotted—!"

Perceiving the abnormality, the soldiers immediately drew their weapons, but before they could act, sharp blades pierced their hearts, slashed their throats, and piercing arrows rained down from the sky, penetrating their heads. Soon, only dull groans were left on the execution ground.

What on earth is happening?

Shocked, Shao’er looked at the foggy surroundings. He couldn’t see anything now, not even knowing what was happening. His son frightenedly stayed close to him without speaking a word. But at that moment, Shao’er suddenly heard a low groan in his ear. As the mist swirled, a corpse suddenly emerged from it, falling onto the ground in front of Shao’er.

It was the Judge.

His eyes were wide, one hand clutching the Emperor’s decree, the other covering his throat, blood flowing incessantly through the gaps between his fingers, and his eyes had already lost their luster.

What on earth is happening?

Shao’er was dumbfounded, but suddenly he felt someone grabbing his chains, pulling him and his son forward. Their figures flickered in the gray mist, almost indistinct.

"Who are you?"

Staring at the silhouette, Shao’er asked, but the figure didn’t respond. In the next moment, Shao’er felt his body losing balance suddenly, tumbling down. However, he didn’t hit the cold ground; instead, he felt himself landing on a soft pile of straw. Before he could react, the straw appeared, covering him.

Shao’er didn’t know what happened next; he only heard the sound of a wagon running and wheels turning. At this moment, Shao’er, apart from clutching his child tightly, had no idea what to do. He could sense someone sitting not far beside him, but he didn’t dare say anything, nor make a sound.

After some time had passed, the carriage finally stopped. Shao’er heard a knock on the wagon’s board, and then the straw was moved away. Only then did he open his eyes and look around.

"This is..."

Shao’er turned his head, seeing that they had arrived at a wilderness forest outside the Imperial City. The wagon was empty, and beside the woods, familiar silhouettes were standing there. It was Shao’er’s wife and other family members!

"Dear!"

At this moment, Shao’er couldn’t hold back any longer, rushing forward to embrace his wife.

"How is this possible...?"

Meanwhile, in the alley by the execution ground, Main and Leone were also staring in disbelief at the execution ground before them. When the smoke grenades exploded earlier, they immediately noticed something was wrong. As Night Raid’s assassins, Main and Leone naturally knew how to protect themselves, quickly leaving the crowd and hiding in the adjacent alley. But even so, neither of them left. They fixed their gazes on the execution ground, wanting to see what exactly had happened inside.

However, when the smoke eventually dispersed, what they saw amazed them.

On the execution ground, apart from the soldiers’ corpses, there was no one else.

"What... how could this happen? How was this done?"

Seeing the scene, Main was astounded, unable to comprehend. The smoke had been so thick earlier that even they couldn’t see the situation inside clearly. But now it seemed someone had, after releasing the smoke, easily killed those soldiers and successfully rescued the Minister of Internal Affairs?

More importantly, how did they kill those soldiers?

Main and Leone hadn’t heard any sounds of battle earlier, nor detected any hint of killing intent!

"We should leave here first!"

Leone had the same doubts, but she didn’t plan to investigate now because she already heard the sound of hooves and shouts. Clearly, the events at the execution ground had alerted the Imperial City’s garrison troops.

"We’ll discuss the remaining matters later!"

"Okay!"

Hearing Leone’s answer, Main nodded, turning her head once more to glance at the execution ground, then swiftly departing.

However, at this moment, a question arose deep in Main’s heart.

And that was... who exactly did this?!