The Shadow Guard who had come in to report on the battle nodded gravely.
Yes.
There really were.
At first, much like the Upright Officials inside the cabin, they had thought this was merely a prank by the Little Highness. They had only kicked a piece of silver onto the window frame as though by accident to play along with her.
Who could have known that when he climbed down from the cabin roof to retrieve that silver, the moment he lowered his head, his gaze would meet a pair of sinister eyes beneath the water?
He still remembered how it had felt.
A chill had raced through his entire body. His scalp prickling, he had instinctively drawn the Flexible Sword at his waist and thrust it straight into the water!
Fortunately, although these men were excellent swimmers, their martial skills were nothing remarkable.
They had presumably planned to punch holes in the Painted Pleasure Boat and drag everyone into their own battlefield. They had remained submerged the whole time, and once discovered, they had lost every advantage.
The Shadow Guard dropped to his knees with a thud. "Your subordinate failed in his watch. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"
"No matter." Jiang Yanchuan tapped his index finger twice against the table before him. "Interrogate them at once. Within a day, I want every detail."
He had only recently assigned Xu Jiu a task that had taken away more than half the Shadow Guards. They were short-handed, and with the Spring Reliance River's waters such a deep green, their failure to notice what lay beneath was understandable.
"Yes!" Relieved, the Shadow Guard hurriedly rose and withdrew.
Emperor Mingze had given them all nominal posts. "Investigating" the background of such insignificant killers...
Would that not be a piece of cake?!
The Shadow