With that thunderous shout, Suotu lunged toward Chu Jinghui.
The guests nearby heard his cry and fell into a panic.
What had been a perfectly orderly ceremonial hall dissolved into utter chaos.
The moment Chu Jinghui heard Suotu shout, he had already risen from his seat, and Suotu rushed forward to catch him.
Suotu seized Chu Jinghui by the arm and pulled him aside. Amid the confusion, he heard the sharp sound of a weapon biting into wood.
He looked back and saw a throwing dart, its entire surface gleaming with an eerie light, embedded firmly in the back of the chair where Chu Jinghui had been sitting.
Its tail was still quivering.
"Your Majesty, are you unharmed?"
Suotu asked anxiously, his gaze immediately turning toward the direction from which the dart had come. There was no one there now.
"Quickly! Track him down! We must not let the assassin escape!"
At Suotu's command, several dark figures nearby immediately dashed out.
The guests attending the wedding feast had surely never expected an assassin to strike on such a joyous day.
Terrified, they exchanged frightened glances before dropping to their knees together before Chu Jinghui.
Today was the wedding of Northern Liang's Princess Nazhen and the Heir of Dingguo Marquis. With the emperor attending in person, every guest had undergone strict scrutiny.
Where, then, had this assassin come from?
There were only two possibilities.
First, the assassin had been hiding inside the Dingguo Marquis Residence all along and struck to kill upon seeing Chu Jinghui appear.
Second, the assassin had entered among the guests.
Now, no one could explain where the assassin had come from, so everyone knelt in the courtyard, awaiting the emperor's judgment.
Chu Jinghui sat above them, his gaze sweeping over the kneeling figures one by one.
"My