While these people fought the Imperial Guard, they could buy him time to come up with a better escape plan. Still, this assassination attempt had truly caught Shen Yangge off guard.
Hiding in the water vat had been entirely unnecessary. It was more a case of being too clever for his own good.
The attackers had come specifically for the water vat. Their orders from the City Lord were to find a water vat by any means necessary once they entered enemy territory. If anything was inside it, they were to kill it without mercy, whatever it was.
Soon, the attackers were fighting the Imperial Guard. A small handful happened to slip past the Imperial Guard's defenses and headed straight for the water vat.
Shen Yangge had accidentally lowered the swaddled baby a little too far, and the water in the vat covered the baby's bottom. The chilly sensation made the clever infant, who had always been "well-behaved, never crying or fussing," burst into loud wails.
When the cries rang out, Shen Yangge assumed that was what had drawn the attackers over. He immediately scrambled to think of a solution.
As he thought, the heavy footsteps picked up by his keen ears abruptly stopped, coming no closer. After a moment's hesitation, he cautiously poked his head out in the darkness and looked toward the person in the distance.
He could just make out the flash of panic in the man's eyes. The instant their gazes met, even the hand holding the sword trembled.
A thought surfaced in his mind.
Could it be?
Just as the man was about to take another step forward, Shen Yangge splashed water all over his face inside the vat, messed up his hair, and lifted the baby into Little Stutterer's arms.
Then he pulled off