Chapter 168: These Bandits Aren’t Much Good

Chapter 168: These Bandits Aren’t Much Good

Xiaoyue quietly left a golden bead behind before walking out with Jing En.

The two of them walked quickly through the Imperial City, and seeing the desolate scene around them, Xiaoyue couldn't help but shake her head and sigh, "Despite being so close to the Imperial City, it's in such a sorry state. It’s a stark contrast between wealth and poverty right next door."

"That's why the Emperor of Great Wei is a benevolent ruler," Jing En couldn't help but praise the Emperor.

"Yes, my brother, the Emperor, is the best," Xiaoyue, always protective of her brother, also believed that he was the most amazing and greatest.

By the roadside, shivering townsfolk huddled in the cold, barely clothed. Seeing Xiaoyue and Jing En walk by, they considered attacking but shrank back, not daring to, after a glance from Xiaoyue.

"How much are the pancakes?" Xiaoyue asked a vendor who was just about to pack up and leave.

"They're cold now, one coin each. When they're hot, they're three coins," the stall owner said with a sigh. "I’m not coming back tomorrow. Hardly anyone has bought any all day."

"Bad business?" Jing En asked.

He wore a felt hat, covering his shaved head.

"Haitian City is sinking deeper into poverty. I thought that since the Imperial City is so prosperous, and no one is buying pancakes during the New Year, I'd come to this lower city to sell some. But I've been here for three days and haven't been able to sell more than a few each day." The burly vendor discreetly hid a machete inside his pushcart.

"Is that for self-defense?" Xiaoyue asked, spotting the machete.

"Yes, I was robbed once after leaving the Imperial City. I never thought there'd be people who'd rob for pancakes, quite strange indeed. But it's not the pancakes or the money that worries me—what really worries me is losing my life, so I prepared this," the vendor, though big and strong, wasn't a bad person.

"How many do you have here?" Xiaoyue asked.

"About thirty or so, didn’t dare to make more," the vendor said.

"Alright, here's fifty coins. Pack them up and give them away," Xiaoyue tossed some copper coins onto the stove and walked away.

After a short while, footsteps quickly approached.

"What is it?" Xiaoyue and Jing En immediately stopped, warily watching the desperate people chasing after them.

The people knelt down in front of Xiaoyue.

"Thank you, miss, thank you!"

They kowtowed and expressed their gratitude.

Xiaoyue looked at Jing En, who also appeared slightly startled.

"Amitabha, may all beings be spared suffering. Just wait, this broken-down Beiling needs to be properly rectified," Jing En stepped forward and said.

"Thank you, master, thank you, miss!" The refugees took a bite of the pancake, savoring every moment. The rest, they hid in their clothes.

Tears welled up in Xiaoyue’s eyes, and her heart ached.

She had never imagined that right under the shadow of the imperial capital, the townsfolk could be so miserable.

Turning around, Xiaoyue and Jing En headed back toward the City Lord’s mansion.

"Hmm?" Jing En raised his hand to block Xiao Yue, letting out a soft hum.

"Heh, as if I didn’t expect them to show up." During dinner, Zhao Yiwen had mentioned that he'd been living in this city for two or three years, and every so often, someone would come to kill him.

But even Zhao Yiwen, despite being sick, knew how to defend himself. Plus, Zhao's wife was an expert in setting up traps and mechanisms. The traps in the mansion were enough to drive those assassins back.

"However, these days, the number and skill of the killers have improved significantly." Zhao Yiwen said this in the evening.

"Crack, crack!"

Just as Xiao Yue and Jing En quietly entered the courtyard, they heard the sound of mechanisms activating.

Shadows dropped down from the roof.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

Arrows flew out in all directions.

The shadows seemed prepared and dodged the arrows one by one.

Then, someone entered the rooms through the windows.

They stormed into every room, intent on killing everyone.

But in the next moment, they were tossed out like ragdolls.

The servants in the mansion lit the lanterns and came over with swords in hand.

Zhao Yiwen and his wife also approached, robes hastily thrown on. They looked at the more than ten black-clad assassins on the ground and both sighed almost simultaneously.

"Why are they still so useless?" Zhao's wife furrowed her brow and said, "Even our Hong'er could beat them. What a disgrace to assassins."

Ruo Xi Baby had been woken up too. She was sleeping soundly with Nurse Jin, but the assassins came. She didn’t make a move because she felt these assassins were too weak to be worth her effort.

Indeed, Nurse Jin and Dong Ju each took care of one effortlessly.

Hearing Zhao's wife say that, Ruo Xi Baby found the lady quite amusing.

"Good skills, strong abilities, and still willing to endure hardships with her husband. Such a woman is quite admirable. Hmm, it would be wonderful if she could become friends with my mother."

In her previous life, Ruo Xi Baby had been very lonely, and in this life, she hoped her mother would have friends, confidants, and close companions.

Just as Xiao Yue entered from the door, wanting to help but unable to, she heard her daughter's thoughts and smiled.

This little girl was always worried, even about her mother’s social life.

Xiao Yue glanced at her brother, who nodded in agreement with Xiao Xi'er’s suggestion.

Zhao Yiwen didn’t need the police to interrogate them; he went forward himself. Just by stepping on the chests of those assassins, he could make them spill everything.

"Yes, it's Minister Qu. He said he must make you rebel against the court."

"What?" Zhao Yiwen twitched his mouth and frowned. "Minister Qu?"

"Yes, he said if you don’t act soon, Beiling will belong to Great Wei and be ruled by the Xiao family. So, he wants you to act fast before it's too late." The assassin on the ground said.

"So, he sent you, and you came? Aren’t you afraid of dying?" Zhao Yiwen removed his foot and asked.

"Minister Qu said that as long as we could make you act, by taking down the Beiling royal family, it wouldn’t matter if we few were sacrificed!" The assassins said.

"That’s absurd! Why doesn’t he come himself if he’s so eager? It’s okay to sacrifice you, but not himself, huh?" Zhao Yiwen was so angry he laughed.