Clubbing you from behind

The hunting grounds buzzed with voices.

The scions of noble families rode their blood-sweating steeds, surrounding beasts fleeing in every direction and vying to claim their prey first.

As soon as Xie Huizhou entered, he saw the Eighth Prince and his death sworn retainers furtively plotting in a corner.

Xie Huizhou listened closely. Well, well, it was their entire plan to assassinate him.

He absolutely had to give this a good listen.

Xie Huizhou hid nearby with his Shadow Guards, listening with relish as others discussed how to assassinate him.

He even thought their assassination plan was not quite perfect enough.

Previously, he had barely had any presence. No one had paid him any attention in the struggle for the throne, and no one had wanted to waste so much effort dealing with him. This was an unprecedented first.

Experiencing this for the first time in his life, Xie Huizhou was a little excited.

"It'll be hard to kill anyone with his plan. It's still a bit amateur compared to the assassination plan I came up with."

The Shadow Guards nodded in agreement.

The Eighth Prince, Xie Tingchun, could not keep his composure. The hunt had barely begun before he wanted to kill someone in secret. His viciousness showed plainly on his face as he gritted his teeth in hatred and issued his orders.

"Everyone has gone to the hunting grounds now. Xie Huizhou is resting alone in his tent. There aren't many people over there, so sneak over and finish him off. Be sure not to leave any evidence."

Once he was dead, the prince could simply pin the blame on someone who had a personal grudge against Xie Huizhou, then disappear from the matter with a clear conscience.

The only unfortunate one would be whoever took the blame for him. In the future, he would build a lavish tomb for that person's entire extended family.

A group of death sworn retainers knelt before the Eighth Prince, listening intently to his orders. Their readiness to face death made them look decidedly dangerous.

The Eighth Prince thought for a moment, then added uneasily, "The Imperial Preceptor happens to be at the hunting grounds today. Try not to disturb him. I'm afraid it might cause complications."

Zhang Lanhe was a variable beyond his control. The Eighth Prince was even more afraid of accidentally offending him; nothing good would come of offending the Imperial Preceptor.

Better to be cautious.

"Yes, Your Highness."

After giving his orders, the Eighth Prince parted ways with the Shadow Guards. Their seemingly flawless plan proceeded in an orderly fashion.

As soon as they left, one of Xie Huizhou's Shadow Guards said bluntly, "Young master, why don't we just finish off the Eighth Prince? We can push him straight off a cliff and leave no remains."

Xie Huizhou's Shadow Guards generally preferred to simply kill anyone they disliked. No one could harm the master they served.

Unconcerned by someone plotting to assassinate him, Xie Huizhou lounged beneath a tree, sheltering from the increasingly harsh sunlight.

Fortunately, he had long since prepared a response. Not only would he let them attempt the assassination, but he would also turn it into a major incident and show the Eighth Prince what it meant to mess with the wrong person.

"He has a crowd around him right now, so he might be a little hard to kill. We haven't built up enough strength yet. We'll act later. Just follow the plan. The murkier you can make these waters, the better. The Imperial Preceptor happens to be here too. Anger him, and let my eighth brother see that his plan isn't nearly as nasty as mine."

After years of exposure, Xie Huizhou had learned to protect himself. He did not consider himself a good person, and striking back in self-defense was perfectly reasonable.

Naturally, he would make the biggest scene he could. Otherwise, how could he make the Eighth Prince suffer a crushing setback for plotting against him?

"Yes."

"Be careful. The rest of you, come with me. We're going to club some people from behind."

After giving his instructions, Xie Huizhou disguised his face and dressed as a Shadow Guard. Then he let himself loose, seeking out those who had offended him before to take revenge on them one by one.

Xie Huizhou took revenge at lightning speed. Armed with a single club, he swept through the hunting grounds, knocking down a whole bunch of people from behind and tying them up.

The noble scions out hunting suddenly discovered that their fellow hunters kept quietly vanishing. They would turn around to find only the horses left.

"That's strange. Weren't they here just now? How did they disappear in the blink of an eye?"

Remembering that these were the imperial hunting grounds, they figured nothing too serious could happen and let it go.

Before long, Xie Huizhou had caught several of those foul-mouthed fellows. A few Shadow Guards stuffed them into sacks, beat them within an inch of their lives, and brought them before him, bound.

As the young noblemen gradually woke, they saw someone whose face they could not make out leaning against a tree, tossing a dagger for fun. His bearing was rakish, and with his face masked, he did not look like a good person.

A bandit?

They had been abducted.

The young noblemen's expressions immediately darkened. "You dare abduct us in broad daylight, in a land governed by law! Release us at once, or I'll report you to the authorities and make you pay!"

"Do you know who I am? If you dare lay a hand on us, my father won't spare you!"

Who would have imagined that an abduction could take place in the imperial hunting grounds-and not just one or two people, either? The very account would be shocking.

Even as captives of people whose identities they did not know, they remained arrogant, trying to use their power to pressure the person before them into releasing them. But they were doomed to fail.

"Even if your fathers were the supreme ruler of heaven himself, they couldn't save you today."

Xie Huizhou patted their faces with his blade, smiling like an utter lunatic.

"Heh heh heh heh, bad luck for you, falling into my hands. Let me think about how to torment you."

He did not intend to take their lives, but neither would he let them off easily.

Seeing Xie Huizhou's hostile expression, one of them thought, This is bad. Have we run into a lunatic who enjoys torturing people?

"Men, give our young gentlemen their medicine."

At Xie Huizhou's command, they saw the Shadow Guards take out a pile of bottles and jars and advance toward them, step by step.

Those bottles and jars looked very much like poison!

There was no mistaking it. Masked men forcing medicine down their throats-what else could it be but poison?!

Their faces instantly went white. "No, don't kill me! I'll give you as much money as you want! My family is very rich. As long as you let me go, I'll give you anything..."

They were still young. They did not want to die yet.

Xie Huizhou deliberately frightened them. "That's not up to you."

They were forced to swallow the medicine, their faces turning sickly as their stomachs began to churn. The nausea left them in no doubt that they had been poisoned, and they raised quite a racket with their wailing.

"Are we going to die now?"

"Just look at how upright I am. Surely you can tell I'm not that sort of villain. This is merely a little entertaining medicine, so I can see how you make fools of yourselves." Xie Huizhou shook his head. "This is a laxative I've given an extra kick. You'd better hold on. People come and go here. You'll lose face otherwise."

The scene would be too exquisite to contemplate.

They were out in the wilderness, with people passing by from time to time. For these status-conscious noble scions, this was an absolute killing blow.

Their faces turned green. They felt poison would have been preferable. At least they would have kept their dignity instead of having it trampled into the dirt.

Soon, the laxative began to work. With their hands and feet bound and their bowels churning, they were on the verge of losing control.

"Untie me! You might as well kill me! Why humiliate me like this? Who exactly are you?"

Seeing the medicine take effect, Xie Huizhou frowned, retreated several steps, then turned and left.

He did not want to see anything he should not see.

A Shadow Guard thought Xie Huizhou was far too merciful. Anyone who dared speak disrespectfully to their young master deserved death. "Young master, are we really not eliminating them for good? If you cut down weeds without removing the roots, they'll grow again in the spring breeze. I have a complete procedure for disposing of bodies and erasing all traces."

They were highly practiced at disposing of bodies and erasing evidence. They could certainly do a spotless job that would leave no suspicion pointing toward them.

"I still have a use for them." Xie Huizhou shook his head. "They're part of my plan to deal with the Eighth Prince. Spare their lives for now."

They could count themselves lucky to have encountered Xie Huizhou when he was feeling merciful as a bodhisattva and refrained from killing.

After walking some distance, they spotted several familiar figures.

Xie Huizhou looked over and discovered the Imperial Preceptor, Zhang Lanhe, talking about something with the two protagonists.

Fang Yuanke was shielding someone behind him, and the three looked like they were caught in a romantic showdown.

Could the plot have begun?

In excellent spirits after taking revenge, Xie Huizhou slipped over and repeated his old trick, eavesdropping once again.

"Since we're already here, come on. Let's go watch the drama."