On the Difficulties of Escape in Ancient Times

Chapter 429 Taking Office 4
Not only Mrs. Gu and Third Grandma were worried, even Lord Gu was anxiously waiting for news in the study.

Even when the beautiful maids brought him a delicious dinner, he could not eat it. He only moved his chopsticks a few times and asked the maids to take the food away.

The spy who was following them came back under the cover of night to report: "Master, Grandma Li is safe and sound, and all the assassins have been killed."

"What did you say?" Lord Gu suddenly jumped up from the armchair. He suspected that he had heard it wrongly and asked in disbelief, "Xiao is not dead?"

The spy confirmed again: "Master, Xiao is not dead. I was far away and saw Xiao's carriage leave first. About a quarter of an hour later, the guards from the Shangshu Mansion caught up."

The spy was also glad that he did not rush to follow, otherwise he would have run into the guards of the Shangshu Mansion.

The spies did not dare to get too close and followed in a ox cart loaded with firewood.

The ox cart was moving slowly, and when he got there, he just happened to see from afar the guards carrying more than a dozen dead bodies on their horses' backs and leaving.

The spy was so frightened that he immediately returned through another path.

The spy was still worried that someone was following him, so he walked around the streets first, and only after making sure that no one was following him did he change his clothes and come to report.

"They're all dead?" Lord Gu couldn't help but shiver all over. He wanted to walk out, but stopped and sat back on the armchair. He told him, "Go down first and forget about this."

The spy responded and quietly retreated.

Lord Gu stood up from his chair again and began to walk around the study like a mule pulling a millstone.

However, he was not the only one who couldn't sleep well tonight.

The Crown Prince, no, now the eldest prince, received the news that the guards of the Shangshu Mansion sent all the dead assassins to Shuntian Mansion.

Now the eldest prince couldn't sleep either.

This shows that the Shangshu Mansion was well prepared.

Even though the assassins were dead, the eldest prince still felt uneasy.

Because ordinary dignitaries are unable to train such loyal soldiers.

At the same time, the Shuntian prefect, who had already returned to his house, drinking fine wine and appreciating the guqin, was urged to go back by his subordinates: "My lord, something bad has happened. Someone is dying..."

The prefect looked at his subordinates who were so frightened that they were talking incoherently, but he was very calm: "What are you afraid of? It's not like we haven't seen dead people before."

Anyone who can sit in the position of the prefect of the imperial city can never be a good-for-nothing.

Anyway, the prefect thinks that he is definitely the new emperor's confidant.

The provincial capital was transformed into the imperial city, and a large number of people poured in. Now it is estimated that there are nearly 500,000 people in and around the imperial city.

There may be more in the future.

No matter how good the public security is, there will always be fights due to conflicts, and people who think they are the best in the world after drinking too much.

There are also people in the brothel who are jealous of each other for the favor of the most beautiful woman.

Or maybe he was caught stealing and beaten to death.

It is also possible that they were seeking revenge in private. In any case, it is common for fights to result in deaths.

The governor of Shuntian Prefecture went from being very cautious in the beginning to being accustomed to his job now.

The main reason is that there are fights and brawls to death in the government office every day, which has made the prefect numb.

The subordinate said with a sad face: "Sir, this time it's not just one or two people who died, but twelve people died."

"The dead are all the masters of the Minister of War's mansion. They were sent here by the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards. He said those people were assassins who tried to kill his wife, but committed suicide after failing. Now..." Before he could finish, the prefect had already rushed out as if his butt was on fire: "Why don't you leave quickly!"

The prefect was groaning in his heart. Such a big matter would definitely be mentioned by the emperor at the morning court tomorrow. If he found out everything, he would be embarrassed in front of the emperor and all the civil and military officials.

By the next morning, no one would disturb the 'frightened' grandmother.

Madam Li was also mumbling to her daughter-in-law: "Fortunately you didn't go yesterday. I don't know who is so wicked as to want to kill Xiao."

Little Zhou was a little regretful that she didn't go: "Actually, I also practiced archery with my sister-in-law. If I were there, I could help a little."

She was just talking, but the thought of the blood splattering made her feel like vomiting.

Then he said angrily, "I didn't expect the people in the Gu Mansion to be so bold. I don't know if they are afraid that my sister-in-law will find out something, so they want to kill people to silence them."

Madam Li retorted bluntly: "If they really wanted to kill someone to silence them, they would kill the accountants who checked the accounts. Why would they kill your sister-in-law?"

"I think it's possible that the enemy took advantage of the situation to fish in troubled waters."

Then he warned his daughter-in-law: "Don't go out with your sister-in-law in the future. I don't know what's going on in the charity hall. I guess this kind of thing will happen again in the future."

Anyway, Mrs. Li didn't want to go out with Xiao Xiao because it was too dangerous.

She was particularly glad that she had already agreed with Xiao Xiao yesterday that she would not interfere in the affairs of the charity.

This was said in front of two maids from the palace, so there was evidence of witnessing. Even if she was the Queen, she couldn't say that she was afraid of death.

Little Zhou still had some sense of morality, and whispered, "How about I go to the palace and tell my elder sister to let someone else take over the charity hall?"

Xiao Xiao saved her elder sister many times, and she still remembers it in her heart.

Now that she knew the charity was a hot potato, she was afraid that Xiao Xiao's life might be involved.

After hearing this, Mrs. Li hesitated for a while.

It's not that she felt sorry for her eldest daughter-in-law, but she thought Xiao Xiao was relatively obedient, and she was afraid that another daughter-in-law would not be as good as this one.

She sighed and said, "That's fine. Go write a memorial later."

Once you enter the palace, it's like entering a deep sea. Even if little Zhou wants to see her elder sister, she has to follow the rules and write a letter of greeting and send it to the palace first. The Empress will agree and tell her when to enter the palace.

This was all thanks to the fact that Da Zhou was the Empress Dowager. If she were a concubine in the palace, the letter of greeting from her family would have to be sent to the Empress Dowager first, and only with the Empress Dowager's consent could they enter the palace.

The maid outside came in: "Madam, Second Madam, Madam Gu is here."

Mrs. Li raised her eyebrows after hearing this: "She came without a post, what could be so urgent?"

Nowadays, when you visit someone's house, you have to send an invitation first.

Unless it is a married girl returning to her parents' home, or it is a visit from close brothers and sisters.

But the Gu family and the Li family were just nodding acquaintances before, and coupled with the fact that Xiao Xiao was attacked yesterday, Madam Li suspected that it was someone from the Gu family who was behind it.

Now that she heard that Madam Gu was coming, she felt a little scared. She was afraid that Madam Gu would be desperate and send her own daughter-in-law to see Xiao Xiao first. She also specially ordered several maids and old women to welcome the guest.

Mrs. Gu looked haggard, but she forced a smile when she saw Mrs. Li: "I came here specifically to plead for my third daughter-in-law."

In fact, Mrs. Gu was not willing to go there rashly, as it would seem that she did not know the rules.

But her husband had told her to come to the Gu residence early in the morning, and also said, "Send the other two property deeds to Grandma Li."