Injured

But now, besides the coachman, there were three people on horseback following behind. However, all three were wearing sun hats, so it was impossible to tell whether they were men or women.

The other person in the tree said, "Perhaps the maid also rode a horse."

In the past, when Zhao Ruxi rode a horse to and from the capital, her maidservants would also ride along. Moreover, there were horses in the prefectural government office. Now that Zhao Ruxi felt it was too stuffy to have an extra person in the carriage, it was understandable that she would have her maidservants ride along.

"So what do we do now?"

Their original plan was that the two men in the tree would attack the two accompanying guards; the man disguised as a tourist would attack the coachman; and the couple would attack Zhao Ruxi.

The coachman had no martial arts skills and would surely be killed with a single blow; even if the two guards behind him were troublesome, it wouldn't matter, as long as two of them held them back and prevented them from going forward to treat the patient. Their target was Zhao Ruxi.

Zhao Ruxi and her maid were not skilled in martial arts, and they were in a cramped carriage with nowhere to hide. The two attacked from the carriage door and window respectively, killing them directly inside the carriage.

Now there are three people following behind, so this plan probably needs to be changed.

The person in the tree made two hand gestures to the person dressed as a tourist.

The tree's leaves were extremely dense, and the sun was blazing at that moment. Even if there were pedestrians on the street, they all lowered their heads to avoid the sunlight and did not look directly at the sky, so they were not afraid of being discovered while hiding in the tree.

Zhao Ruxi was probably eager to get home and share the good news, so the carriage was driven very fast, and in the blink of an eye, it arrived in front of them.

The man disguised as a tourist waved his hand, and he and the two people in the tree rushed towards Zhang Tao, Yang Jie, and the other two behind them; the couple disguised as a husband and wife, the man attacked Yang Song, and the woman let go of the child's hand and swung the knife in her hand towards the carriage.

Unexpectedly, a teapot suddenly flew out of the car and hit the man squarely on the forehead. The man fell to the ground, blood oozing from his forehead as he lay there.

The woman swung the knife through the car window and stabbed someone, causing a scream inside. Then a teacup was thrown out and hit the woman, who, after her "husband," fell to the ground, startling the child who cried out in terror.

However, the child was clever. Although he was terrified, he scrambled to the side while crying, and was pulled away by an old man passing by to a shop by the roadside, away from the scene of the fight.

The three men behind them heard screams and cries of "Miss, miss, what's wrong?" from inside the carriage and felt a sense of relief: it seemed they had succeeded. However, the woman had only stabbed once, so they estimated that Zhao Ruxi was only injured and wouldn't die so easily. After killing the three men in front of them, they would have to finish them off, so their attacks became even more ferocious.

However, their attack was not going well. After exchanging blows, they discovered that these three were not ordinary guards at all; their martial arts skills were actually superior to theirs.

One of them, in particular, seemed to have anticipated their actions. Before their attacks even reached him, he swiftly turned the tables and took down the attacker before the attacker could react.

Instead of killing the person outright after knocking them down, they would suddenly knock them unconscious and then dislocate their jaw, as if they were afraid the person would commit suicide.

The other two panicked. They couldn't afford to be captured alive; they had to fight to the death, escape, or commit suicide if all else failed. Now that their comrade had been captured, they knew they wouldn't survive even if they escaped, so they fought desperately.

Zhang Tao and Guo Cheng were imperial bodyguards who served Xiao Ge, and their martial arts skills were extremely high. Upon seeing Yang Jie's actions, they immediately realized what was happening and wanted to imitate him. However, their opponents were no weaklings, and in this fierce battle, the four of them were evenly matched for a time.

Yang Jie ignored them and rushed to the carriage, asking anxiously, "Miss, are you alright?"

Lu Yun lifted the curtain and cried, "Miss is injured."

When the assassination attempt occurred, Yang Song had reined in his horse. Now, he jumped off to see what was happening, his face covered in sweat, and he blamed himself, saying, "It's all my fault."

Yang Jie was also anxious, but dared not leave Zhao Ruxi. He said to Yang Song, "Quickly go to the clinic in front and fetch a doctor."

Yang Song flew off quickly.

The time and place of the assassination were carefully chosen by the assassins. They thought that Eunuch Deng's horse speed was not fast enough, and that he would arrive in Nanyang in the afternoon. Therefore, they wanted to assassinate Zhao Ruxi before the imperial edict was announced, firstly to suppress the arrogance of the Second and Fifth Prince' faction, and secondly to frame someone else.

It was noon, and the streets were nearly deserted. It was also the time when Zhao Ruxi was leaving his office. The view from this bend was not wide, so the chances of being seen were much smaller, and there was a large tree there that provided good cover. That's why he deliberately chose this time and place.

Eunuch Deng was a man who paid great attention to etiquette and did not want to follow Zhao Ruxi too closely, so he wanted to slow down and walk slowly. However, the distance from the yamen to Zhao Residence was short, and with only a slight distance between them, plus the corner blocking the view, he did not immediately see the assassination attempt ahead.

Zhao Ruxi and her group were delayed for a while, and then Eunuch Deng and his entourage appeared at the corner.

Xiang Ming, who was originally following behind Eunuch Deng, saw the situation ahead and exclaimed, "Not good!" He suddenly sped up and charged forward.

The Imperial Guards who came out with Eunuch Deng were all highly skilled in martial arts and were especially sensitive to the sounds of fighting. They had sensed something earlier, and when they saw Xiang Ming rush out, they followed him forward.

Eunuch Deng and Liu Hongyu's group were stunned for a moment before they noticed the people fighting.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

"Go check it out right away."

Everyone was talking at once, but they held back the reins and dared not move forward, for fear of being accidentally injured.

Eunuch Deng dared not linger and spurred his horse forward, wanting to see how Zhao Ruxi was doing.

If Zhao Ruxi is killed, not only will the people in front of him be implicated, but he and Liu Hongyu's group will also be involved. Every single one of them will be punished by the Emperor in his anger.

Seeing that Eunuch Deng didn't stop, Liu Hongyu opened his mouth as if to call out to him, but swallowed the words back and gritted his teeth to follow. Cai Yaozong and Li Li exchanged a glance and quickly followed as well.

Besides Zhang Tao and his companion, Eunuch Deng also brought four Imperial Guards. With their help, there shouldn't be any danger ahead.

The two men had long intended to escape, but they were entangled by Zhang Tao and his companion and could not break free. At this moment, they heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats approaching. The men dismounted and brandished their weapons, clearly skilled in martial arts and part of the opposing group. In despair, and seeing that their escape was futile and they were about to be caught, they bit into the poison in their mouths and committed suicide.

When Eunuch Deng and the others arrived, they saw two people slowly collapsing to the ground with black blood flowing from their mouths.