Chapter 2: The Fool Cannot Be Saved
The blade of the Gold Guard swept down. The imperial guards, all skilled warriors, formed a ring to block the Cleaving Sky Sword. Yet after the ethereal and frigid sword qi had passed, Wei Wanlan heard the sharp sound of broken blades, as the iron swords were all shattered, with blood spattering – revealing the Cleaving Sky Sword with its eyes reddened with killing intent: “—The foolish emperor has betrayed me! Wasn’t it you who made an agreement with Sir Cui, to have me assassinate the Regent?”
Su Jingzhi remained unperturbed. His right arm was injured in the battlefield, so he steadied his sword with his left hand, pushing the hilt slightly out from under his cloak. Sure enough, the young emperor had not disappointed him, brewing mischief, as he raised an eyebrow: “Oh? There’s also the matter of Sir Cui?”
“No, no, no, it has nothing to do with me at all… it was him who said that, he made the agreement with Sir Cui, it has nothing to do with me…”
Wei Wanlan’s small face paled, stammering in fright, already terrified out of his wits!
He did not bring the Cleaving Sky Sword, yet he was only half a step away from the Regent. At this moment, Wei Wanlan dared not admit it. After all, it was the original host who plotted with Sir Cui, and now that the emperor’s soul had been replaced, he was not exactly lying. Please, please don’t make him the mastermind as well…
So the Regent’s gaze turned coldly back to the Cleaving Sky Sword.
The great assassin hesitated, not knowing that the previous arrangement had been betrayed so thoroughly, infuriated to the point of wanting to explode on the spot. Thrusting his sword, he leapt to assassinate Wei Wanlan: “Little foolish emperor, you are incompetent in success but adept in failure. I was blind to believe your lies, so let this great Wei dynasty change hands, behold the sword—”
The sword qi was tangible. The Gold Guard could not block it. Tong Tuan’s blade was swept aside by the assassin, Wei Wanlan’s throat constricted, his eyes involuntarily closing, feeling that he was done for. But then he heard the clear clang of swords colliding.
Clang—
He’s not dead?
Realizing he was still conscious, a dark gold embroidered cloak blocked his vision, Wei Wanlan turned his head to look at the situation, seeing that Regent Su Jingzhi held the sword in his left hand, locked in a momentary stalemate with the Cleaving Sky Sword, neither able to make any headway.
In the silent hall, everyone’s thoughts were boiling: Who was going to kill whom?!
The Cleaving Sky Sword: So they’re both coming after me??
The Regent: The foolish emperor has exposed the assassin’s identity himself, there must be some hidden circumstances. I’ll save him first and interrogate later.
Wei Wanlan: System, your intel was wrong!!! This assassin is no good!!! He’s been stopped by the Regent, I think the Regent is the real expert!!!
The system, which had just rebooted after being enraged, came back online:
[Su, a renowned commander of six generations, his achievements span the great Wei realm. What’s so special about his martial arts? You have a good opportunity now.]
What opportunity?
[The Cleaving Sky Sword is already close, assist the assassin, eliminate the Regent.]
What kind of opportunity is that!
These high-level experts are dueling, with my meager abilities, how can I intervene, I can only… watch.
[Go hinder the Regent. Find a way, interfere with him.]
At this time, the assassin withdrew his sword and retreated, failing to land a hit. He stretched out his sleeve, thrusting his blue-green sword slantingly from the right, aiming straight at Wei Wanlan: “Foolish emperor, meet your death!”
Su Jingzhi swung his sword to block, but his left hand was not as dexterous as his right, so although he deflected it, the force of this blow was slightly weaker than the previous one. And Wei Wanlan at this moment hugged Su Jingzhi from behind. His small face was completely buried in the Regent’s back, causing him to hesitate for a moment.
It’s terrifying. Wei Wanlan: Mmm, hurry up and finish…
The system’s voice consoled nearby: [Good, as long as you cling to him and don’t let go, the assassin must first kill the Regent, don’t release your grip.]
Two consecutive strikes failed to land, the Cleaving Sky Sword’s brow furrowed, realizing that he had to kill the Regent first in order to possibly kill the foolish emperor. So he took the opportunity while the foolish emperor was clinging to the Regent, intending to execute both the ruler and his minister at the same time!
The Cleaving Sky Sword’s peripheral vision swept to the Regent’s left flank, the scabbard was on the left, the Regent was not left-handed: “Your right arm is injured.”
“Killing you with it will be enough.”
“Then come and try!”
The Cleaving Sky Sword thrust toward the Regent’s right arm, Su Jingzhi evaded to the side, the sharp blade stabbing a large hole in the golden screen behind the throne.
And Wei Wanlan’s half body suddenly faced the assassin, frightening him to hurriedly clutch Su Jingzhi’s right hand, once again shielding himself from the assassin. But it was as if he was desperately protecting the Regent’s arm…
The assassin jumped and cursed angrily: “Dog emperor! Dog traitor! Colluding scoundrels!”
Unexpectedly, this cursing thoroughly intertwined the interests of the two.
Su Jingzhi glanced sideways, the young emperor clung to him, shivering and pitiful, clearly being bullied and seeking protection. Could it be that Cui Minghai and the others, taking advantage of his absence, had intimidated the imperial court in Chang’an? Forcing the emperor to attempt to assassinate him? And the young emperor refused to comply, specifically exposing the assassin to remind him?
Recalling the young emperor’s words: Regent, I miss you so much in Chang’an, this realm cannot be without you, nor can I lose you.
It was like being gently scratched by a kitten’s paw pads.
Su Jingzhi’s expression turned grave, directly pressing the young emperor against the golden screen, the screen banging against the wall, his cloak completely enveloping Wei Wanlan.
“Shoot.”
In a continuous volley, bowstrings snapped like thunderclaps, countless feathered arrows pinning into the screen behind the two.
Wei Wanlan was pressed against Su Jingzhi, the hard armor scraping his cheeks painfully. He felt his whole body would soon turn bruised, tears slipping into his mouth, tasting bitterly salty, shrouded in the Regent’s cloak, seeing no light, only able to smell the Regent’s blood-permeated scent mingled with a faint, barely detectable woody fragrance.
“Foolish emperor… traitor… I hate…” The Cleaving Sky Sword collapsed, completely silent. The volley of arrows ceased.
Wei Wanlan was pressed so tightly he could barely breathe, until the light filtered through the eyelids, only then was he released from the cloak by the Regent. He looked up to meet Su Jingzhi’s towering gaze.
The Regent stated calmly, “The assassin is dead.”
Wei Wanlan nodded, seeing behind the powerful minister, all the ready bows of the Gold Guard. The Cleaving Sky Sword had become a hedgehog pierced by countless arrows. The body was dragged out of the hall, the two legs leaving long blood trails, vivid and glaring, extending to the outside.
“Now tell me the full story, what exactly happened?”
Wei Wanlan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his inner alarm bells ringing loudly. If he told the truth, the original host did intend to kill the Regent, and the Regent would surely be enraged, causing him to take the blame for the original host’s actions, becoming the next hedgehog pierced by arrows.
Not wanting to die, Wei Wanlan desperately called out to the system: The mission has failed, the Regent will definitely kill me. I’m afraid of pain, wuwu.
[Don’t worry, once you’re dead the pain will stop.]
As a customer service representative who had guided countless hosts to the pinnacle, 404 had never encountered anyone as difficult to handle as Wei Wanlan. For a moment, it was overcome with the urge to let Wei Wanlan fend for himself, allowing him to meet his demise.
Yet it did not expect Wei Wanlan to misunderstand its sarcastic tone as actual advice: “Before being killed I’ll still feel pain… You only give bad suggestions, the systems in other books give out external aids and props, but you’ve given me nothing! I did as you said, and you ended up getting me killed, wuwu…”
It seems Wei Wanlan’s words were not entirely wrong, he had followed its instructions, but failed to kill the Regent. The professional pride of 404, who had guided countless wise rulers, was devastated. Headquarters had indeed determined that Wei Wanlan had the potential to become a wise ruler, which was why it had been assigned to him. Could it be that its calculations were mistaken? Had it delayed the growth of a potential wise ruler? Did it truly bear some responsibility?
Reflecting on itself, 404 interrupted Wei Wanlan: [Don’t cry, what prop do you want?]
“I want to pause, let’s not do the mission for now, I need to take a break!!!”
[Okay.] The system prescribed the right medicine, summoning an invisible golden glow, feigning illness was also one of the standard tactics of wise rulers.
And so Wei Wanlan’s vision suddenly darkened, collapsing against Su Jingzhi, his breath scorching hot, like a little furnace.
The young emperor’s performance was impeccable. The Regent was forced to catch the little furnace and hold him steady, the questions on the tip of his tongue all getting stuck.
Tong Tuan had never seen these two so intimate before. Normally, the young emperor, though dissolute, was kept in line by the Regent’s fearsome reputation, the two like cat and mouse. Why were they so uncharacteristically close today?
So Tong Tuan spoke up to ask the Regent, “Old Chief, what’s wrong with this young emperor?”
“He’s running a fever.” Su Jingzhi said.
“Fever? Should we summon the imperial physicians?”
“Mm.” Perhaps he really had a hard time in Chang’an. Feeling the heat in his arms continuing to rise, Su Jingzhi frowned and ordered, “Prepare to deal with Cui Minghai. Also arrange a celebration banquet to inform the court that I have returned.”
“Yes, sir!” Tong Tuan saluted, stealing a glance at his chief, noticing the Regent’s gaze still lingering on the young emperor, the emotion in his eyes truly inscrutable. Tong Tuan tentatively leaned forward.
Su Jingzhi swept up the young emperor, lifting him by the knees. Wei Wanlan was hoisted up.
“Old Chief!”
“Don’t follow, I have something to ask.”
Su Jingzhi walked swiftly, the rhythmic sound of his boots echoing in the hall, the eunuchs, palace maids and Gold Guard all kept their eyes averted, daring not to obstruct as the emperor was carried away by the Regent.
The ornate door to the side hall of the Hanlin Academy opened and closed.
Wei Wanlan felt the impact as his back landed, opening his eyes to narrow slits, regaining some of his fading consciousness, realizing he was now lying on a wide but unfamiliar bed.
And the Regent expressionlessly flipped him over.
His nose was assaulted by the fragrant incense of the pillow, then a chill ran down Wei Wanlan’s back as the dragon robe was forcefully yanked open, exposing his bare back…
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