Chapter 397: Dragon Leading

A gust of wind swept through Plum Valley, dislodging yellow winter plums from their branches. They drifted down through the gaps between the people and horses.

The people were still, but the plums were in motion. Everyone stood rooted to the spot, seemingly unprepared for Chen Ji's refusal of the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince spoke gently, "Brother Chen Ji, I recall you preferred to act alone in Guyuan. Why the change now? Mr. Liao must remain by my side, and no one else can get close to Zaozao. Therefore, it would be safest if you went."

Chen Ji politely declined again, "Your Highness, please let Mr. Liao go. Just as I was able to ensure your safety in Guyuan, I can do the same here in Xiangshan."

Although his tone was subtle, his gaze was unwavering, showing no intention of compromise or retreat. The moment he realized the Crown Prince intended to kill him, he knew that at this time, in this place, the safest option was to remain by the Crown Prince and Prince Fu's side!

Unless, of course, the Crown Prince dared to kill everyone present!

The Crown Prince remained silent. Mr. Liao, standing beside him, slowly began to speak, "Is young Master Chen perhaps afraid of battle, a coward? Our Ning Dynasty generals never retreat from battle and face death unflinchingly. How can one harbor fear of combat?"

Zhang Xia suddenly interjected, "Mr. Liao, you are mistaken."

Perched high on Zaozao's saddle, she looked down at Mr. Liao, "During the Battle of Guyuan, Mr. Liao was not by His Highness's side, so you wouldn't know. Were it not for Chen Ji, neither I, nor Qi Zhenzhuo, nor His Highness, would have made it back to the capital alive!"

Without waiting for Mr. Liao to retort, Zhang Xia continued, "To His Highness, Chen Ji was loyal and dutiful. To Qi Zhenzhuo and me, Chen Ji saved our lives. And to you, Mr. Liao, Chen Ji preserved your reputation and your life!"

Mr. Liao retorted sharply, "Miss Zhang, why are you dragging me into this?"

Zhang Xia gazed at him intently, "Mr. Liao, as a strategist for the Crown Prince, if anything were to befall His Highness, I would be utterly ashamed, and would beg His Majesty to grant me a three-foot white silk or a cup of poisoned wine! Therefore, Chen Ji has also done you the favor of preserving your honor!"

Mr. Liao fell silent.

Prince Fu, finding the scene uninteresting, immediately waved to Zhou Kuang. Zhou Kuang, understanding his cue, took a deerskin pouch from his saddle, opened it, and moved behind Prince Fu.

Prince Fu plucked a thumb-sized salted plum from it, bit off half, and said with a smile, "Miss Zhang is right."

With that, he held the half-eaten plum, leaned to the side, and whispered to Zhou Kuang, "No wonder no one dares to propose marriage to the Zhang family. If Miss Zhang were to marry into a household, the mistress of the house wouldn't have many years left to live!"

Zhou Kuang, with a neutral expression, replied, "Your Highness, please say less. If Miss Zhang turns her anger on you, you won't be smiling anymore!"

Prince Fu cleared his throat lightly and sat up straight on his horse.

At this point, Mr. Liao ceased speaking with Zhang Xia and turned to Qi Zhenzhuo, "Commander Qi, young Master Chen is a captain under your command. What is your opinion?"

Everyone instinctively looked at Qi Zhenzhuo. Zhang Xia frowned.

Prince Fu muttered, "Boring. He only picks on the weak."

Qi Zhenzhuo looked troubled, glancing between Chen Ji and the Crown Prince.

Mr. Liao said with a smile, "Grand Secretary Qi once served as His Highness's mentor. When His Highness was young, I often listened to Grand Secretary Qi expound on loyalty, filial piety, propriety, and righteousness."

Qi Zhenzhuo interrupted him, avoiding the Crown Prince's gaze, "Mr. Liao, the Imperial Forest Army is His Majesty's personal guard. To deploy the Imperial Forest Army, one must present an official document from the Ministry of War! With such a document, the Imperial Forest Army will naturally protect the Crown Prince and Prince Fu."

Chen Ji looked at Qi Zhenzhuo with a hint of surprise, while Mr. Liao's eyes narrowed slightly.

No one expected the 'softest persimmon' to suddenly stand firm today, disregarding the Qi family's ties with the Crown Prince.

Prince Fu burst into laughter, "Mr. Liao, it seems you should stick to managing affairs within the East Palace. You can't handle matters outside!"

The Crown Prince spoke gently, "Very well, let the East Palace attendants go then. With Brother Chen Ji guarding me, I can feel more at ease!"

Mr. Liao said no more. He immediately ordered one East Palace attendant to dismount, while another rode one horse and led another, swiftly descending the mountain.

The Crown Prince looked at everyone, "Gentlemen, do you wish to descend the mountain now, or remain here and await the arrival of reinforcements to quell the rebellion?"

Mr. Liao pondered for a moment, "If we descend south from Plum Valley, we must pass through Zhaosong Forest, where the terrain is extremely narrow and the pine forest sparse, making it highly suitable for an ambush! If we go north, we must cross Furongping and Chongcuiyi, both dangerous areas!"

Prince Fu raised an eyebrow, "So, according to you, we can't go anywhere?"

Mr. Liao calmly replied, "Precisely, Your Highness. Rather than taking risks, it is better to remain still and await action. We have the Five Army Camp, the Myriad Years Army, Prince Fu's personal guards, and the East Palace attendants here. These assassins would surely not dare to act recklessly! The snow on Xiangshan has only just melted, so the villains cannot set the mountain on fire either."

Chen Ji and Zhang Xia exchanged glances. Regardless of Mr. Liao's true intentions, as he said, remaining in place was indeed the best option for now.

However, Prince Fu always liked to contradict whatever the Crown Prince did. "I think it's better to descend the mountain quickly. What if the assassins also have reinforcements?"

This time, the Crown Prince dismounted, "Then Imperial Brother may descend the mountain on your own. I shall remain here!"

Mr. Liao dismounted as well, wiping a stone with his sleeve for the Crown Prince to sit and rest, not sparing another glance for Prince Fu.

Prince Fu pondered for a moment, then brightened and smiled, "Alright, then I, this Prince, will also stay here with the Crown Prince!"

Zhou Kuang tensed.

Yang Fang and Yang Xian, along with five others, removed their armor and bit down on wooden sticks.

Yang Yang lit a campfire, heated a dagger until it was red hot, and gouged out the crossbow bolts from the flesh of the two injured men, throwing them into the fire as fuel.

Chen Ji and Qi Zhenzhuo silently watched Yang Fang. Sweat streamed down his face, and he bit through a two-finger-thick wooden stick without uttering a cry of pain.

Qi Zhenzhuo said gravely, "Master, I am not as good as them!"

"It's not too late if you have the heart for it!" Chen Ji drew the sword from Qi Zhenzhuo's waist and turned to examine the assassins' bodies. He beckoned to Zhang Xia, and the two came to stand side by side by the corpses.

Chen Ji glanced back at the crowd in front of him and distinctly saw Mr. Liao with his hands clasped in his sleeves, staring fixedly at him. Ignoring him, Chen Ji cautiously lifted the bamboo hats of over a dozen assassins, revealing their faces.

Chen Ji called out, "These assassins might usually be lurking in the capital. Has anyone seen them before?"

Zhang Xia scrutinized the assassins' faces, "Never seen them!"

Of course, Zhang Xia couldn't have known everyone in the capital, but if all these dozen-plus assassins had previously appeared in Plum Valley, then perhaps they had only recently arrived in the capital from elsewhere!

Chen Ji then used his sword tip to pry open the assassins' straw cloaks and clothing. Besides a dagger, a hand-held weapon, and a long saber, they had nothing else.

Chen Ji loudly asked, "Do any official craftsmen in the capital forge this kind of blade?"

Zhang Xia denied, "Most official craftsmen in the capital use the 'wrapped steel' method and 'spiral welding' technique for forging, creating blades for officers' wear and scholars' collections. Ordinary craftsmen are not permitted to forge pointed blades! These weapons use 'layered steel' which is more expensive, so they must have been brought into the capital from elsewhere!"

Chen Ji sighed, "How cautious they are!"

Zhang Xia asked curiously, "Do you want to follow the clues and pin the crime on the Crown Prince?"

Chen Ji shook his head, "No, I just want to know where these suicide warriors usually hide!"

He carefully examined the assassin. The assassin was about forty years old, with broad palms and extremely thick knuckles. His palms had thick calluses running horizontally, suggesting he might be skilled in using two swords.

Chen Ji looked at the assassin's shoulders. The assassin's left shoulder had a thick callus, while the right had less, along with some old scars.

Zhang Xia whispered, "Perhaps the assassin carried a carrying pole for years? A porter? A hawker?"

Chen Ji glanced at Zhang Xia, knowing she was learning, and explained in more detail, "Not porters or hawkers. Carrying poles are smooth and usually don't leave scars!"

He used his sword to cut open the assassin's trousers. From the waist down, the assassin had dense, dotted, dark brown scars!

Zhang Xia frowned, "What kind of scars are these?"

Chen Ji explained, "These are scars from forcibly tearing off leeches, where the leech's mouthparts remained in the body!"

Zhang Xia quickly asked, "Farmers in rice paddies? No, if they were rice paddy farmers, the scars shouldn't go up to the waist. Water chestnut gatherers? No, water chestnut gatherers shouldn't have shoulder injuries. River boat trackers? Yes, trackers! The shoulder injuries also match!"

Chen Ji smiled, "You learn fast!"

Zhang Xia and he exchanged smiles, "It's not that difficult! I'll send someone back to quietly investigate river boat trackers and see if we can find any clues!"

Chen Ji hummed in agreement, "Investigate." He knelt down and pried open the assassin's mouth, only to see chewed white wax inside. One of the molars was missing. The assassin had hidden poison in a wax pellet in his mouth, fearing he might not die after being shot, so he swallowed the poison to commit suicide!

Zhang Xia sighed lightly, "To cultivate so many suicide warriors would require vast sums of money and at least a decade of time. Only someone extremely ambitious and patient could achieve this!"

Chen Ji then looked at the suicide warrior's topknot. He used his sword to part the man's hair and saw that the iron hairpin behind the suicide warrior's head glowed with a faint blue light. "This is for killing, and also for committing suicide! These people were afraid they wouldn't die, yet, honorably, they didn't coat their crossbow bolts with poison!"

This was the most illogical detail!

To deploy so many suicide warriors, risking universal condemnation, yet not applying poison...

If Chen Ji were to assassinate the Crown Prince, he would certainly coat the crossbow bolts with the deadliest poison, ensuring that even a minor scratch would be fatal!

Chen Ji smiled at Zhang Xia, "Someone was afraid of accidentally harming you! A crossbow injury might not kill you, but a poisoned crossbow bolt certainly would. The person who wants to kill me wants you to live!"

In Plum Valley!

The Crown Prince and his East Palace attendants remained together, while Prince Fu, Zhang Xia, the Five Army Camp, and others gathered in another spot, each group keeping to themselves, separated by over sixty paces.

This distance would allow the personal guards enough time to shield their masters if someone suddenly started shooting arrows.

When Chen Ji returned, Prince Fu was sprawled casually on a rock, waving and calling out to Chen Ji, "Hey, kid from the Chen family, come over here! This Prince wants to talk to you!"

But Chen Ji ignored him, instead sitting down within five paces of the Crown Prince.

Mr. Liao glanced at him, "Young Master Chen, what is this?"

Chen Ji replied seriously, "To Mr. Liao, I am protecting the Crown Prince!"

Mr. Liao was speechless.

At this moment, Yang Yang came to Chen Ji's side, blocking Mr. Liao's view of Chen Ji, "Chen family kid, you should return my Yang family's ancestral horn bow!"

But then Zhang Xia also arrived, sitting beside Chen Ji, "Yang Yang, you previously said you'd compete with Chen Ji. If you lost this spring hunt, you would forfeit your ancestral horn bow to him."

Yang Yang's eyes widened, "A-Xia, are you conspiring with him to cheat me out of my Yang family's ancestral bow? When did we even hunt?"

Zhang Xia glared at him, "What do you mean, 'cheat'? Have you forgotten what you said? Don't hunters count as hunting? Just now, you killed nine people, and he killed seventeen, so naturally, he won!"

Yang Yang grew anxious, "This horn bow was made by my Yang family ancestors from the horn of a Kui Niu hunted in the East Sea! Even the bowstring is made from ox sinew; it won't dry out or crack."

Zhang Xia was expressionless, "In the East Sea lies Liubo Mountain, extending seven thousand li into the sea! Upon it lives a beast, shaped like an ox, with a grey body and no horns, having only one foot. Its emergence from and entry into water always bring wind and rain. Its light is like that of the sun and moon, and its sound is like thunder. Its name is Kui! Tell me, where did a Kui Niu get horns?"

Yang Yang uttered an 'oh', "I remembered wrongly, it's a five-colored divine ox horn!"

However, at this moment, urgent hoofbeats were heard again in the distance!

Chen Ji suddenly looked towards the Shibapan mountain road. Were those suicide warriors returning? No, there were also sounds from the north... and the south. Suicide warriors were coming from three directions. There was absolutely no peaceful resolution possible. But he was right beside the Crown Prince, how could the attackers bypass the Crown Prince to kill him?

Chen Ji shouted, "Protect the Crown Prince!"

He pulled Zhang Xia and Zhang Zheng to the Crown Prince's side. Zhang Xia, intentionally or unintentionally, positioned herself between him and Mr. Liao.

Prince Fu, no longer concerned with guarding against the Crown Prince, immediately led his men on horseback and converged with the East Palace attendants.

The sound of hooves grew louder and louder until suicide warriors, clad in straw cloaks and wearing bamboo hats, appeared from all three directions at the edge of Plum Valley, crouching low and charging down!

Yang Yang's eyes widened in astonishment. He silently counted the number of people, "Eighty-two."

He then looked back at those around him: the East Palace attendants and Prince Fu's retinue were fighting individually, in disarray, with no one issuing unified commands!

Yang Yang angrily shouted, "The Myriad Years Army captain is here! Everyone, listen to my orders! East Palace guards, defend the north! Zhou Kuang, your men defend the east! Five Army Camp, defend the south! Fire arrows!"

The three groups steadied their resolve. Each pulled their horses to form ranks and shot in volleys as Yang Yang instructed. Everyone present was an elite soldier; not a single arrow missed its mark!

After one volley, over twenty suicide warriors were immediately hit by arrows. Those struck in vital spots fell from their horses, while those not fatally wounded endured the pain, drew daggers, and stabbed their horses' forelegs, causing the warhorses to bolt and gallop wildly without stopping.

This time, the remaining suicide warriors concealed themselves beneath their wildly galloping horses, rapidly approaching. Yang Yang's side only managed to unleash a second volley of arrows before the remaining forty-plus suicide warriors closed in to within thirty paces!

In a flash, the suicide warriors flipped back onto their horses. Each had two crossbows, and they raised their hands, firing a dense shower of arrows!

Crossbow bolts rained down from the sky. The plum trees in Plum Valley were slender and utterly incapable of blocking the arrow rain. There was no escape!

In the nick of time, Chen Ji tried to pull a warhorse over to shield them from the arrow rain, shouting, "Hide behind me!"

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Kuang roared, "Rise!"

He saw Zhou Kuang cast a rope that dangled to the ground. When he lifted the rope again, the decayed leaves on the ground were pulled up by an invisible force from the rope!

Within ten zhang, accumulated leaves spontaneously rose without wind. Even the yellow winter plums on the plum trees detached from their branches, all converging towards the end of the rope!

Zhou Kuang lifted the rope and swung it towards the sky. The accumulated decayed leaves and plum blossoms from the trees in Plum Valley followed the rope's movement, gradually forming a dragon's head, body, and tail!

Zhou Kuang wielded the long rope, making it swirl above his head. The dragon formed of accumulated leaves and plum blossoms seemed to be tethered by him, circling as the rope moved. Its body coiled into a circle, firmly protecting everyone within it, and shredding each crossbow bolt fired by the suicide warriors!

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia, "This is...?"

Zhang Xia calmly replied, "It's the Zhou family's ancestral 'Official's Art'! The Zhou family once followed Emperor Taizu into battle. When they were defeated at Luocheng, it was the Zhou family who stayed behind with Emperor Taizu to cover their retreat. That 'Official's Art' was originally called 'Rope Walking', but Emperor Taizu found it unappealing and bestowed upon it a new name: 'Dragon Taming'!"