Chapter 586: The Assassin's Traces
Chapter 586: The Assassin's Traces
In late December, a heavy snow swept across the south of the Yangtze River. It was snowing heavily in both the south and north of the Yangtze River. The whole sky was gray, with only heavy snow falling in balls like cotton wool.
The county town of Jingkou was covered in heavy snow, and there were very few people on the streets. But it was still early, and the restaurants were bustling with people.
The city gate had not been closed yet, but no one was going in or out. Occasionally a carriage would drive in.
At this time, a tall and thin man walked in from outside the city. He wore a bamboo hat, a cloak, a long sword at his waist, and carried a wooden box in his hand. He walked into the county town with steady steps. As soon as he entered the city gate, he saw a lantern reflecting the word "inn".
He walked directly into the inn, and a waiter came up to greet him warmly, "Welcome to Gaoping Inn!"
"Is there any in the upper room?" the man said in a low voice.
"Yes! The upper room on the east side of the second floor is the inner and outer suit room, which costs 300 wen a day. The other single rooms only cost 200 wen a day."
"It costs three hundred coins!"
The man threw out a silver ingot and said, "Let's pay together when we leave!"
"Sir, please register!"
The shopkeeper opened the registration book, and the man hesitated and said, "I can't write, shopkeeper, please help me to ascend the throne! My name is He Kuan, I am from Luoyang, and I came to Jiangnan to do business!"
The shopkeeper took a look at the man and saw that he had dark skin, a high nose bridge, eyes as sharp as an eagle, and a pair of eyebrows that were particularly rough, like a brush. He quickly glanced at the long sword at the man's waist.
But the shopkeeper still wrote the word "business" in the item column.
The man followed the waiter up to the second floor and walked into the easternmost suite. He threw a piece of silver to the waiter and said, "Give me something to eat and boil a pot of hot water!"
The silver coins weighed a dozen or two ounces, and the clerk was overjoyed and said quickly, "I'll be right there!"
The man took off his cloak, revealing a black warrior suit. He locked the door to the inner room, then put down his sword and opened the wooden box. The wooden box contained a short crossbow and ten short arrows with sheaths. Each arrow with a sheath must be a poison arrow. There were also several throwing knives in the box.
There was also a roll of drawings. The man slowly unfolded the drawings, and it turned out that the drawing was of Prince Jin's Palace.
At this time, Xiao Xia stood in front of the hall with his hands behind his back, looking up at the heavy snow in the sky. At this time, Xiao Mei walked to his side, gently took her husband's arm, and whispered: "Husband, it's rare to see heavy snow in Jiangnan!"
Xiao Xia nodded, "It's rare in Jiangdu too."
He looked back at Xiaomei and said softly, "You are pregnant, don't catch a cold, go to the inner room."
"You accompany me back!"
"You go first. I need to think about something. I'll be in right away."
"Then don't stay too long, my husband!"
Xiao Xia nodded and smiled as he escorted Xiao Mei into the inner hall, which was brightly lit and filled with laughter.
Xiao Xia smiled and looked back at the sky. The heavy snow brought back a distant memory. His father in his previous life died of illness on such a snowy night, and there was also heavy snow all over the sky.
It was also on such a snowy night that his beloved first love turned away and never looked back, making him cry all night.
He originally thought that he had gradually forgotten everything from his past life, but when those scenes that had remained unchanged for thousands of years appeared, he suddenly discovered that everything from his past life was hidden deep in his memory and he had never forgotten it.
Tonight, Xiao Xia felt quite uneasy as a heavy snowfall brought him back to his memories of his past life.
At this moment, two gentle little hands were holding him, one on the left and one on the right. When he lowered his head, he saw two cute little faces tilting their heads to look at him. Xiao Xia's heart suddenly softened, and his thoughts instantly broke free from the memories of his previous life. He picked up his two beloved daughters and walked into the house.
"Daddy, when the snow stops, let's make a snowman together, okay!" said the eldest daughter Yang Junjun in a baby voice. Xiao Xia smiled and nodded, "You have to drink the medicine soup first, and then put on your little leather gloves."
Xiao Xia just found out that Liu Wenjing's youngest daughter caught a cold while making a snowman in winter and eventually died of pneumonia.
In the era without antibiotics, premature death of children was very common, and many of the causes were small careless things, such as letting children go out to play on a snowy day. Children with weak bodies would easily catch a cold and fall ill, eventually developing pneumonia.
The two daughters also want to play in the snow. Of course they can, but they must take thorough precautions and protection and drink a bowl of medicinal soup made with Xiao Chaihu.
Walking into the inner hall, it was warm as spring. Yang Lihua and several wives were playing mahjong, and the eldest son Yang Chu was playing checkers with Xiao Mei. The charcoal in the brazier was burning brightly, and the lights were bright.
On a snowy night, everyone gathered together and had a great time.
"Little rabbit!"
The two daughters suddenly found a little rabbit jumping in the room. They immediately struggled to get down and ran to chase the rabbit.
Xiao Xia walked to the brazier and sat down. Although he really wanted to go to his study, he didn't want to spoil everyone's fun at this time, so he picked up a book and started reading.
At this moment, Xiao Ai's angry voice suddenly came from the yard, "Who is it?"
Xiao Xia was startled, he stood up and drew the sword from the wall, he immediately entered the barrier breaking state, and tried his best to feel the murderous aura around him.
Yang Lihua, Cui Yu and others also stopped playing mahjong. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what had happened.
At this time, Xiao Ai came in with a large group of female guards. Xiao Ai bowed and said, "Your Highness, we have found a figure of unknown origin. We are searching for him. Please bring your family into the Vajra Pagoda."
Almost all wealthy families have temporary shelters in their homes, the same goes for the imperial palace, and Xiao Xia’s Prince Jin’s Mansion is no exception.
The refuge of Prince Jin's Mansion is called Vajra Tower, a five-story tower covering an area of five acres. It consists of ancillary buildings and a main tower. It looks like a wooden tower from the outside, but it is actually a brick and stone tower inside. There are no windows, only cleverly designed vents, and only one door for entry, which is hidden in an ancillary building, and ordinary people can't even find the door.
The Vajra Tower was right behind them. Xiao Xia nodded and said to his wife Cui Yu, "Let's all go into the tower!"
Everyone picked up the children and entered the tower through the back door. Yang Lihua asked Xiao Xia in a low voice, "Is it an assassin?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "That should be it, mother should go in too!"
Everyone followed the ten female guards and personal maids into the tower and closed the iron door from the inside. Lanterns were lit inside the tower, but there was no charcoal fire, so it was quite cold. Everyone wrapped themselves in thick blankets and went back to their rooms.
Everyone has his or her own room in the tower, which is equipped with all kinds of daily necessities, including beds and bedding. Although there are no windows, the room has a high and wide ceiling, so it does not feel depressing.
Xiao Xia carried a bow and arrow and went up to the top floor. The top floor was the dormitory for the female guards, but there was a small room with an iron window in it. It was locked from the inside, and one could go out through the iron window to the top of the tower. It was also an emergency passage. In case the door was blocked by iron juice, one could also go out through the emergency passage to ask for help.
Xiao Xia opened the iron window and climbed to the top of the tower. The sky outside was still gray, heavy snow was falling, and the cold wind was howling. He squatted on the eaves, looking around for the assassin's traces.
But the unknown figure only appeared briefly and then disappeared, and the guards only found some footprints in the end.
The next morning, it started to snow lightly, and the entire Jingkou became a world of snow. There was also thick snow in the Prince of Jin's Palace.
Xiao Xia picked up several large balls of snow from the top of the tower for the children to play with. The alert has not been lifted yet, so they can't go out yet. The two daughters are in a bad mood.
At this time, Xiao Ai entered the tower to report the situation to Xiao Xia, "Your Highness, we found three footprints of unknown origin, two men and one woman. They climbed in from the north wall and killed two mastiffs with flying knives. I only realized something was wrong when I heard the screams of the mastiffs."
Xiao Xia nodded. If the mastiff was killed, it must be the assassin.
(End of this chapter)