Chapter 186: Unexpected by Friend and Foe

Xiao Yang had a nightmare.

In her dream, her father and grandfather, who existed only in her memories, were chasing her and trying to beat her, each wielding an ancestral tablet.

Xiao Yang ran for her life, but they were part of the nightmare itself, impossible to escape.

Finally, after taking a sound beating, she woke up...

’What in the world.’

She lay in bed for a while, speechless and frustrated. Just then, Ling Ji came in.

"Your Majesty, there are assassins!"

Rather than wait to be killed, it was better to take the initiative. Xiao Yang immediately got dressed and went out with Ling Ji. As soon as she saw the assassins enter, she made a huge scene, causing the guards to rush over. The whole place instantly descended into chaos.

Xiao Yang and Ling Ji hid in the crowd. They joined forces to grab the rearmost assassin, dealt a fatal blow to his throat, and dragged him away.

Just as they were about to leave, Xiao Yang looked at the assassin on the ground, and a wicked idea instantly popped into her head.

Xiao Yang was the first to change into the assassin’s clothes. Ling Ji understood with a single glance. The two of them struck again, snatched another one, and soon Ling Ji was also dressed in black.

Ling Ji’s training was in the ways of the assassin, and Xiao Yang was a true master. Working together, they blended in with the other assassins seamlessly.

The assassins’ every move was lethal. Xiao Yang and Ling Ji, however, would just knock their targets unconscious and pretend they were dead. Then they would follow the group, picking off assassins from the rear.

The two worked in perfect concert, taking out more than a dozen assassins without ever being discovered.

They got so engrossed in their mischief that Xiao Yang was nearly killed by Ye Shao, who had thrown himself into a frenzy fighting the assassins.

"It’s me!"

Xiao Yang irritably rapped him on the head with the hilt of her blade. Although she was the one who’d changed into an assassin’s clothes and become unrecognizable, nearly losing her life was infuriating.

He deserved it.

"Your Majesty?"

Ye Shao’s face went pale with fright, and he barely managed to stifle a cry of alarm.

’How did the Emperor turn into an assassin? I almost killed the Emperor!!’

He was instantly drenched in a cold sweat.

The assassins up ahead were retreating. Xiao Yang couldn’t be bothered with him and leaped off in pursuit.

Ye Shao snapped back to his senses, saw an assassin’s corpse on the ground, gritted his teeth, and stripped it!

Xiao Yang followed Ling Ji, trying to keep her breathing steady. In truth, she was extremely nervous. ’My first time being an assassin... So exciting!’

Her nerves were stretched taut. Suddenly, someone tugged her sleeve from behind, putting her on high alert. She was ready to draw her blade, but when she turned, what she saw was even more frightening.

’How did that rascal Ye Shao follow us here?’

Xiao Yang brought a finger to her lips, her eyes warning him: Don’t talk!

This group of assassins was cautious. They rode hard without stopping, taking a side road toward Liangzhou. However, they didn’t enter the city. Instead, they stopped in a small town, and everyone entered a residence where someone was already waiting.

The assassin leader went inside to report while the others waited outside.

Xiao Yang and Ling Ji hung back at the rear, a position convenient for retreat. Xiao Yang wanted to circle around for a look, but the place was full of experts. Even disguised as an assassin, any action out of character would easily arouse suspicion.

Fortunately, the assassin leader came out a moment later. With a hand signal, everyone retreated to the back courtyard.

The three followed without a word. Only when they reached the back did they realize the assassins were just going to sleep.

There were two rooms, but no beds—only wooden planks and mats on the floor. The conditions were extremely crude.

Ten assassins, one plank each. Without washing up or changing clothes, they lay down, clutching their weapons.

Xiao Yang and Ling Ji took one look and backed out. There was no way they could sleep there.

Naturally, Ye Shao wasn’t going to sleep there either.

The three of them backed out and ran right into the assassin leader, who was a step behind.

"What are you doing standing here?"

The sky was dim, making it just barely possible to see.

Even if the assassin leader knew all his subordinates, the light was poor and they were masked. He couldn’t tell who they were at a glance.

Xiao Yang’s body went limp, and Ling Ji immediately supported her. Ye Shao spoke up. "She’s injured."

The assassin leader didn’t doubt him. So many had died on this mission; an injury was normal. He frowned and stepped forward to check on her, but just as he got close, Ling Ji struck.

Ling Ji’s sword plunged into his heart as Ye Shao immediately clapped a hand over the man’s mouth.

They finished him off without a sound.

The three exchanged a glance, hid the body, and walked silently toward the front of the residence without alerting the sleeping assassins.

They had wanted to see who their contact was, but unexpectedly, the person inside had already packed up and was preparing to leave.

The man came out and boarded a carriage. The three of them saw his face—an ordinary-looking middle-aged man whom none of them recognized.

They waited until the carriage was some distance away before mounting their horses and following. They ended up tailing it all the way to Liangzhou City.

By now, the sky was bright, and many people were coming and going through the city gates.

The three took off their dark clothes. Xiao Yang and Ling Ji tore strips from their skirts to use as veils, while Ling Ji altered Ye Shao’s appearance slightly. Just like that, the three of them rode their horses into the city as if nothing were amiss.

The carriage quickly disappeared around a corner, and the trio almost lost it.

They gave chase, but couldn’t follow too closely. In the end, unfamiliar with the streets, they lost it after all.

"I’m exhausted. Let’s find a place to sleep first."

Xiao Yang wasn’t in that much of a hurry to find out who wanted her dead. No matter how urgent it was, it could wait for now.

They got two rooms: one for Xiao Yang and Ling Ji, and one for Ye Shao.

The two women washed up and went to bed, sleeping straight through until the afternoon.

Ling Ji went out and returned with two sets of clothes. Xiao Yang’s was a white men’s outfit that made her look like a young scholar. Ling Ji changed out of her purple robes and into a cyan set, posing as Xiao Yang’s handmaiden.

Once changed, the two of them sauntered out for a stroll.

A step behind them, Ye Shao was speechless. "..."

’That’s the Emperor! The Emperor!’

’There was an assassination attempt just last night! How can she be strolling down the street so casually, as if she wasn’t the one they were after?’

’The mastermind might still be hiding here in Liangzhou City. Does she have no fear of death?’

As it turned out, if you were absurd enough, neither your allies nor your enemies could predict your next move.

Xiao Yang and Ling Ji went to eat first. They didn’t choose a private room but sat by a window, eating while enjoying the scenery of Liangzhou.

The restaurant was quite busy. Traveling merchants trickled in to eat, and everyone was talking about the war with Beimeng.

"You should have seen it! The walls of Wumu City were blasted to rubble. The Beimeng people couldn’t fight back at all. That world-destroying power... it was terrifying just to behold."

"I have no idea where Her Majesty got those weapons, but no wonder she dared to go to war with Beimeng."

"I mean, what were the Beimeng people thinking? Of all people, they had to provoke that little tyrant. And look at them now. They’ve really screwed up, haven’t they? I hear our forces are almost at Chiyang City. You guys think if this keeps up, we’ll end up wiping out all of Beimeng?"

"And what’s wrong with wiping them out? Then when we go beyond the pass, we won’t have to take any of their crap anymore. Last time, some Beimeng people stole my goods, and the Beimeng officials just awarded the goods to them and had me whipped! The nerve of them!"

Ye Shao sat in a corner, listening as everyone chattered on. The discussion was all about Beimeng. And while no one was explicitly praising the Little Emperor, the country was strong, and they were now delivering a crushing blow to the Beimeng. An unconscious sense of pride filled everyone’s words.