The First Lackey Under The Empress

How many contingency plans did Prince Jing lay out for this assassination attempt?

Before the real action began, no one knew except for this prince.

Inside the massive head of the earth deity statue, a marksman dressed in black was firmly rooted to the dusty stone floor, his feet like steel nails.

His body was like a dead object, holding a strangely shaped bow and arrow in his hand, which was clearly not an ordinary item, and he remained motionless.

Only with each breath could a slight tremor be detected at the tip of the arrow, which was fully loaded with power.

This marksman, who served Prince Jing's mansion, had no name and could not be found in the official household register.

Masked in black, he had climbed the mountain last night and waited in this cave until dawn, lying dormant, and finally, the time to strike had arrived.

The marksman wore a leather-strapped telescope over his exposed eye sockets, sweat beading on his forehead, as he fixed his gaze on Zhao, who was on the second floor of the distant ship.

Just now, there was a moment when he wanted to strike, but unfortunately, the Princess of Huai'an blocked his shot, so he had to restrain himself.

However, Zhao seemed to be arguing with the princess, and the two were pulling and tugging, frequently separating and overlapping.

The marksman constantly adjusted his aim.

Finally.

The two on the ship separated and faced each other, and Zhao even took a step back in the telescope's view.

A good opportunity!

Now is the time!

"Buzz!"

In the empty cave, the bowstring vibrated, and the dust on the ground rolled like waves, as the magical power accumulated in the bow was poured into the black arrow.

It was surrounded by mysterious brilliance.

The arrow shot out of the earth deity statue's mouth, transformed into a golden ray, and flew towards the ship on the lake at an extremely terrifying speed!

The speed was so fast that it created a sharp, explosive sound!

"Did I hurt you?"

On the ship, Xu Junling, who was struggling violently, was stunned and confused when she heard Zhao say this with a smile.

She had thought that Zhao was so ruthless that he really wanted to use her as a human shield, although she knew in her heart that this was the biggest use she had been forced here for.

However, she still couldn't help but feel flustered, fearful, and resentful.

But after a few tugs, the other party let go and even took two steps back, which made her unable to vent her anger.

"Stop pretending to be nice!"

Xu Junling's hair was disheveled and stuck to her wet face, and she was about to reprimand him in a cold voice when she suddenly heard a sonic boom in her ear.

Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a golden light passing over the lake from the direction of the earth deity statue.

"Be careful…" She almost subconsciously shouted these two words, but as soon as she uttered the word "Be," the armor-piercing arrow, wrapped in terrifying kinetic energy, was already in front of her.

The arrow, filled with magical power, was powerful enough to instantly tear apart a head lacking the protection of treasured armor, and even the protective罡气of a Divine Chapter Realm cultivator could be pierced.

Duan Shuiliu? Qi Yuchun?

They were just pawns to lure away the guards around him, and the real fatal blow had been lying in wait for a long time.

Xu Junling almost imagined the scene of Zhao's head exploding in front of her like a watermelon in the next second.

However…

Whether it was a coincidence of fate or a predetermined dodge.

At the same time as the arrow skimmed across the lake, Zhao, who was smiling and looking at her, seemed to tilt his head to listen to her words, lowering one ear, while taking a subtle half-step back.

Thus, the arrow, wrapped in golden lightning and with the power of a cannonball, grazed Zhao's head and passed through the air between the two of them.

The arrow instantly pierced into the ship's cabin, and the terrifying kinetic energy shattered the entire second floor into pieces!

Wood chips flew everywhere!

The maid, Lǜ Shuǐ, who wanted to hide in the cabin, witnessed this scene in horror, her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground, her hands and feet were cold, and she almost fainted.

Did he miss?!

The moment this thought arose in Xu Junling's mind, she saw Zhao raise his arm and point it towards the earth deity statue without any warning.

At this moment, his water-flicking technique learned from Hai Gongfeng, combined with the power-accumulating technique learned from Ma Yan, supplemented by the sword intent learned from Emperor Taizu in the Martial God Diagram.

They merged into one.

Zhao whispered: "Open the sky."

The golden crow flying knife, which had been circling around him, suddenly accelerated, creating a distorted flame in the air.

With a speed no less than that of an arrow, it followed the "trajectory" across the lake, crossed hundreds of meters, and accurately pierced into the open mouth of the earth deity temple!

"Puff!"

Inside the cave, the marksman, dressed in black and only showing his eyes, took off the telescope in confusion, lowered his head slightly, reached out and touched his neck, and his fingertips were covered in blood.

A thin line slowly appeared on his neck, and then his body fell down, and a head rolled out several steps.

The blood-stained flying knife frolicked, patrolling the cave for a circle, before returning the same way.

Among the Daoist immortal techniques, there is the flying sword that can take a person's head from a thousand miles away. Zhao is not as good as an immortal, but once a knife is released, he whispers the last sentence of the poem "Quatrains" by Lu Zu of the Tang Dynasty:

"Wielding my sword, I travel a thousand miles through the sky, I leave at the first watch and return at the second."

He smiled brightly, and the smile made Xu Junling feel dizzy for a while.

"Princess, how is this knife?"

… …

… …

On a winding path in the mountains.

The Scarlet Tide Sword in the hands of the Little Celestial Master, who was sitting in a black carriage, was also vibrating, as if it was about to fly into the air at any moment.

Standing opposite the carriage, ten feet away, the Zen staff beside the Dragon Tree Bodhisattva had already been pulled out on its own, and on the huge Buddhist beads in front of his chest, the expressions of each Buddhist head were either angry or happy.

The two faced each other from a distance, both adopting a defensive posture.

Generals who are good at battle formations often understand the principle of attacking by defending. Any formation, when it is not moving, is in its most perfect and impeccable state. Once it moves, it will be full of flaws.

And for masters of similar strength, exposing flaws first is very likely to determine the victory or defeat of a battle.

Suddenly, several continuous auras rose from the distant smoke-locked lake, breaking the atmosphere of confrontation between the two.

The Little Celestial Master frowned and brazenly turned his head to look into the distance, saying:

"One, two, three, four, five… five World Realm cultivators, what a grand scheme. Two of them are very familiar, Duan Shuiliu who came out of Martial Emperor City? Another one is the movement of the imperial family's Martial God inheritance, could it be Hai Chunlin? Who else?"

The Dragon Tree Bodhisattva, who was burly and had a white face without a beard, was not drawn in by this deliberately exposed flaw and said calmly:

"On the way here, this old monk saw Qi Yuchun."

"The Qi family's spear user?" The Little Celestial Master recalled for a moment and suddenly realized:

"The Kuangfu Society is also here. Tsk tsk, it's not enough that the Shenlong Temple and Martial Emperor City have come, even the remnants of that failed coup d'état are here to join in the fun. I didn't look at the almanac when I went out today.

So many people, is it not enough? Why do you have to go over there? Could this be the so-called using full strength to fight a rabbit with a lion or tiger?"

The Dragon Tree Bodhisattva smiled and said:

"This old monk is just here to vent his disciple's anger, but I don't know what's going on ahead."

"Hypocritical." The Little Celestial Master's fierce face showed undisguised contempt:

"People like us who cultivate transcend the mortal world. Since Xuan Yin took charge of the Shenlong Temple, you bald donkeys have become more and more worldly, stinking unbearably. It's fine if you greedily take some gold and silver from devout men and women in the past, but now you're stirring up the disputes in the imperial court. Did your Buddha, the World Honored One, just open your mind to this?"

The Dragon Tree Bodhisattva was not angry and said calmly:

"The Celestial Master's Mansion is pure and desires little, sweeping the snow in front of its own door, trying to jump out of the Three Realms. In this old monk's opinion, it is a big mistake. Living in the world, one cannot escape fighting with others. Is hiding in the deep mountains avoiding the world? Since you have the word 'avoid' in your heart, you will never be able to escape it for the rest of your life."

The Little Celestial Master cursed:

"Stop trying to confuse this poor Daoist with your Zen riddles. After all the talk, isn't it still for your so-called merger with the Western Regions Buddhism? Who will inherit the Dao? What's the difference between fighting with imperial power? This poor Daoist will leave my words here, I can't control what happens over there, but today, don't even think about going over."

The Dragon Tree Bodhisattva heard this and simply sat cross-legged in the forest covered with fallen leaves, smiling and saying:

"In that case, it's good for you and me to wait here for the result."

The Little Celestial Master was stunned, and suddenly his expression changed:

"That Prince Jing has arranged other trump cards?"

As he spoke, the magical white horse that was pulling the carriage suddenly became restless and kept stomping its hooves, making uneasy noises in a certain direction.

The Little Celestial Master's face sank, but he heard the Dragon Tree Bodhisattva, who was sitting in front of him, say leisurely:

"If you want to leave, you have to see if this old monk agrees."

… …

… …

"How is this knife?"

On the smoke-locked lake, the blood-stained flying knife skimmed across the water, tearing a thin line along the way.

Zhao raised his hand to catch the flying knife. Under his calm appearance, his tense muscles also relaxed.

Unless absolutely necessary, he would certainly not drag Xu Junling into this.

Once this princess had an accident, it would be even more difficult to win over Prince Huai'an.

Therefore, he was also certain that the assassin in the dark would not act rashly, and he cooperated with the Divine Chapter Middle Grade's perception to lock onto his position in reverse.

And he tricked the other party into attacking, while confirming the specific location, and beheading him.

And this thrilling scene on the ship also attracted the attention of the other two battlefields.

Qi Yuchun, dressed as a Jianghu person, felt shocked in his heart and couldn't believe that even such a sudden sneak attack was perfectly dodged by Zhao.

In a hurry, he had no time to think about how he did it. All he knew was that Prince Jing's ambush had failed, and the chances of success for this assassination had plummeted.

Thinking that he might return empty-handed, Qi Yuchun quietly made a decision. The qi in his dantian qi sea suddenly reversed, and the surging qi machine stepped up another level by squeezing.

The long spear in his hand, named "Shattered," was swung with great force, smashing Lang Shíbā into the lake, splashing a large cloud of water.

The water vapor condensed into a high wall, and Jì Yuè re-emerged on the water surface, making a hand seal with both hands, and whispered the word "Prison."

The rolling lake water rose up and instantly condensed into a prison cage, sealing Qi Yuchun tightly inside.

Qi Yuchun snorted coldly, broke open the prison cage with a single shot of his family's Overlord Spear Technique, but the water columns healed again in an instant.

On the other side, when Hai Gonggong sensed the arrow's sneak attack, he devoted two points of his spirit to it, and Duan Shuiliu seized the opportunity and delivered a heavy punch to the Frostfall Sword held horizontally in front of him.

The long sword, which could rank in the top 100 on the Jianghu Weapon Ranking, suddenly bent like a bow. Hai Gonggong was forced to retreat, and when he saw Zhao killing back with a knife, his eyes lit up slightly and he praised him inwardly.

But when he caught a glimpse of Qi Yuchun's rage like a lion, with the posture of exchanging injuries for injuries and breaking through to kill, his heart trembled, and when he looked at Duan Shuiliu again, his eyes also showed a trace of anxiety.

With a sweep of the long sword in his hand, thousands of piles of snow blew up on the lake surface.

Hai Gonggong stepped out step by step, the white hair on his head turned black, and his aura showed a hidden rising posture.

Da You similarly imitated Qi Yuchun, reversing his Qi flow to exchange for a surge in power and momentum.

Duan Shuiliu's eyelids twitched wildly, and he immediately retracted his fist, switching to defense.

Although he had agreed to Jing Wang's request to act for certain reasons, he had no intention of fighting to the death.

If he really pushed this old eunuch too far, Duan Shuiliu thought to himself, even if he didn't die, he would be severely injured. What was the point?

However, Eunuch Hai smiled nonchalantly, seeing through Duan Shuiliu's weakness of not daring to trade injuries for injuries. He pressed forward, preparing to quickly cut the Gordian knot and repel him, returning to support the ship.

However, at this moment, Eunuch Hai suddenly seemed to sense something, and his expression changed abruptly.

Not only him, but also Duan Shuiliu and Qi Yuchun, simultaneously revealed astonished expressions, looking towards the ship in the center of the lake.

Zhao Du'an had just exerted all his strength to unleash a saber strike, precisely at the moment when his nerves were relaxing, when he suddenly saw strange ripples spreading out from the bottom of the lake beneath the ship.

It was a huge, circular array, hidden here in an unknown way, now slowly emerging, enveloping the entire ship.

Mottled specks of light rose from the array, suddenly coalescing into the figure of a woman.

She wore a green robe and a veil, making it impossible to see her face.

As soon as she appeared, she noticed the gazes of the surrounding experts sweeping over her.

Jing Wangfei, Lu Yan'er, moved without hesitation, flashing and appearing on the shattered deck.

Her soft right hand grabbed Zhao Du'an's shoulder, her fingers piercing into it, forcibly dragging Zhao Du'an down, and together they fell into the array, disappearing!

Accompanying their departure, the strange circular array on the lake surface also dimmed and disappeared.

Only Xu Junling and the maidservants remained, standing blankly on the deck.

Teleportation!?

And assassins?

"Damn it!" Eunuch Hai, Ji Yue, Lang Shiba, and the others' expressions changed drastically.

...

...

Pain!

It hurt!

Zhao Du'an closed his eyes tightly, feeling his entire body restrained by some invisible force, unable to move.

Only a sharp pain spread from his shoulder, and he knew that the sudden appearance of the female mage had pierced his shoulder with her fingers.

Amidst the shock, he did not panic too much.

In his expectation, if Jing Wang really wanted to take action, it would not be surprising no matter how big the commotion.

Once the assassination at the lake pavilion failed, it would mean that Jing Wang had fallen into a disadvantage in this struggle, which could lead to the defection of Huai'an Wang.

He was just puzzled as to who this suddenly appearing female mage was, and where this strange array would take him.

After about ten heartbeats.

Zhao Du'an only felt the restraining force suddenly loosen, and he was finally able to open his eyelids, only to see himself appearing out of thin air above a mountain forest, and then falling into the forest!

"Peng!"

As his body slammed onto the ground, he used his martial artist's strength to roll down, and a flying knife from his sleeve suddenly shot upwards.

But Lu Yan'er easily caught it, and the Qing-robed Wangfei, holding her veil, glanced at the struggling flying knife in her palm, sneered, and chanted a spell. The flying knife immediately dissipated into golden light, and she casually threw it on the ground.

Looking at Zhao Du'an, who was kneeling on the ground, steadying his body and looking up at her, Lu Wangfei grabbed out with her hand, and a sword suddenly appeared.

She pressed down with the sword, and Zhao Du'an only felt his body sink, and the illusory shadow of the Six Talisman Armor around him collapsed. All the power in his body seemed to be "sealed," and he was suppressed to death.

He was even lifted up several feet by the sword energy, and then slammed heavily back onto the ground, letting out a muffled groan.

Fortunately, the ground was covered with years of fallen leaves, and the surrounding yellow leaves splashed like water when he fell.

Zhao Du'an lay on the ground, panting heavily, blood seeping from his shoulder. He could see that the surrounding area was a desolate mountain forest, obviously far away from human habitation.

Around him were only bare trees, densely packed like spears piercing the sky.

The woman in the green dress descended gracefully from the sky, holding a long sword, the veil on her face gently shaking, revealing a silver, ancient mask covering her face.

A mask?

Zhao Du'an's brain buzzed, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Seeing the woman stab towards his chest with her sword, Zhao Du'an suddenly blurted out the other party's name:

"Lu Yan'er!? You are Jing Wangfei!"

The long sword suddenly stopped, and Lu Wangfei's gentle and beautiful eyes narrowed into a thin line.

...

...

In Lake Pavilion City.

In a large mansion, the atmosphere was lonely and solemn.

Under the eaves, a chair was placed.

Jing Wang Xu Wen, with a noble and refined demeanor, sat in the chair, stroking a peace talisman in his hand, quietly looking in the direction of Yan Suo Lake.

It was just because the distance was too far that even the fight between experts in the World Realm could not be sensed by the people in the city.

"Father," suddenly, Xu Jinglong walked slowly, and asked softly:

"Has Aunt Lu gone out?"

Lu Yan'er, as his stepmother, was called Aunt by him, rather than Empress.

On the lounge chair, Jing Wang's expression was indifferent, as if he was watching a play under the stage, and gently "En"ed.

Xu Jinglong stood aside, and seeing that there was no one around, he carefully glanced at his father before tentatively asking:

"Where did Aunt Lu go?"

As the heir apparent, Xu Jinglong knew many things about the Wangfu, such as the secret agents of the Jing Wangfu, which he could already intervene in.

But there were still some secrets that he vaguely knew, but did not know the specifics.

For example, how much heritage the entire Wangfu had, and how his father had invited Duan Shuiliu to take action... To him, they were all mysteries.

Including this Wangfei.

Xu Jinglong did not know the specific relationship between his father and Lu Yan'er, but he knew that Lu Yan'er was by no means an ordinary person, and seemed to be one of the experts in the Wangfu.

Jing Wang opened his eyelids, turned his head and glanced gently at his son who was standing respectfully beside him. After a moment of silence, he smiled:

"Alright, it's okay to tell you. This time, you have done a good job in testing that Zhao Du'an on the river, and you should be taught to know. That's right, your Aunt Lu is a Jianghu mage, and also an expert in the World Realm. This time, she went to Yan Suo Lake to personally kill that thief surnamed Zhao."

Xu Jinglong feigned surprise:

"Aunt is such a master? I have never heard of such a strong person in the Jianghu."

Jing Wang said lightly:

"The Jianghu is deep, and what is listed on the so-called Martial Arts Golden List is not all of it? How many experts are hidden under the water, unknown to people.

Hehe, there is no need for you to investigate her specific origin, as long as you know that she is the descendant of Pei Niannu, the number one female mage in the Jianghu six hundred years ago, who was once as famous as our Da Yu Dynasty's Taizu Emperor."

"The descendant of Pei Niannu?"

Xu Jinglong was really surprised, "As far as I know, that legendary mage does not seem to have had any descendants in history."

Jing Wang glared at him unhappily:

"Who said it must be Pei Niannu who gave birth to them? Did that Pei Niannu have no brothers or sisters?"

Xu Jinglong suddenly realized:

"So, Aunt Lu is a descendant of the Pei family?"

He didn't delve into the different surnames. Either the woman changed her surname when she married, which could barely be considered a descendant, or, more likely, she changed her surname to avoid revealing her identity.

It doesn't matter.

Jing Wang nodded slightly and said calmly:

"Lu Yan'er, as her descendant, also cultivates the inheritance left by Pei Niannu. Her family has been searching hard for the legacy left by Pei Niannu after her death, but they have not been able to find it. They only know that the final clue after her death is related to our Xu family's royal family. Therefore, for the sake of helping her retrieve the inheritance, I let her marry into the Wangfu to protect my safety."

Xu Jinglong asked curiously:

"What is so special about Pei Niannu's inheritance? It has made her generations search hard for it?"

Jing Wang was in a good mood and made an exception to explain:

"This involves a legend passed down through her branch for generations. It is said that Pei Niannu was once amazingly talented, and was also in the Heavenly Human Realm, and even touched a little bit of the fur of the Human Immortal because of her special magic. She once broke into the Western Regions and killed back and forth, and her feud with Buddhism was not small...

Hehe, these are all too distant things. It is said that Pei Niannu once snatched a Buddhist artifact from the ancestral court of Buddhism in the Western Regions and fiddled with a method of immortality of the soul after the death of the body.

Therefore, her descendants have always believed that this female mage is not dead, but alive."

Xu Jinglong was shocked:

"How can there be such a method? Longevity is the rule of heaven. The successive celestial masters and Buddhist Dharma Kings have not been able to live long, how can a female mage, no matter how strong, do it?"

Jing Wang sneered:

"That's right. But Lu Yan'er happens to believe it, so let her be. However, after I sent people to investigate, I learned an interesting thing. This line of mages cultivates by refining a mask on their face. When a person dies, the mask does not die.

If you get a mask of a higher realm, you can drive the mage who cultivates a mask of a lower realm, and the latter must not disobey. It is a taste of evil."

Xu Jinglong's eyes lit up:

"If that's the case, if we get the mask left by Pei Niannu, wouldn't we be able to completely control Aunt Lu?"

Jing Wang sighed:

"Unfortunately, she is an ancient person from six hundred years ago, how easy is it to find?"

Waving his hand, he ended the topic, looked in the direction of Yan Suo Lake, and said softly:

"Go and find out, it should be over by now. Hmph, a mere running dog under royal power, today let him know that this king kills him like slaughtering a dog."

...

In the woods.

"Lu Yan'er!? You are Jing Wangfei!"

After Zhao Du'an uttered these words, he saw the Qing-robed Wangfei calmly take off her veil, revealing a silver mask covering half of her face, her eyes cold:

"How did you recognize me?"

Lu Yan'er was very surprised, very curious.

So she didn't mind wasting a little time to satisfy her curiosity.

Anyway, she had teleported very far away, without coordinates, even if Eunuch Hai and others came to look for her immediately, it would be impossible to find her here in a short time.

And with her cultivation, she had enough confidence to control Zhao Du'an's life and death.

Zhao Du'an was silent for a while, then suddenly said in a strange tone: "It really is you."

The reason why he could recognize the other party was entirely because when he saw this mysterious mage just now, that sense of familiarity surged into his heart again, making him immediately think of the Wangfei who came to Zhuozheng Garden at the beginning.

And what really surprised him was the silver mask on the other party's face.

Thinking of a certain possibility, Zhao Du'an's expression became even more strange, and he smiled: "Lu Wangfei, we meet again."