Chapter 168 - 169: A Good Show
Hua Manman hadn’t realized so many things had been happening quietly behind her back.
She usually joked and bantered with Prince Zhao, almost forgetting that this man was once the War God who dominated the battlefield and struck fear into the hearts of his enemies.
A battle with thousands of soldiers relied not just on brute force, but also on intellect and strategy.
Prince Zhao’s strategies were undoubtedly admirable.
Li Ji met Hua Manman’s worshipful gaze with a faint smile.
"I’ll show you quite a show in a moment."
Hua Manman’s eyes lit up even more. "What show?"
Li Ji kept her in suspense. "You’ll know soon enough."
He looked at Chen Wangbei and asked.
"Those men should be arriving soon, right?"
Chen Wangbei answered truthfully, "Yes. By my calculations, they should have arrived already."
Just as he finished speaking, Hua Manman heard shouting in the distance.
Li Ji led her toward the source of the sound.
The two walked along the cliff’s edge to its end.
Looking down from here, they could see the Crown Prince’s carriage and the Tiger Roar Camp led by Bian Ziming.
Just moments ago, a group of ragged, ferocious-looking bandits had suddenly appeared.
They charged recklessly toward the Crown Prince’s carriage.
Bian Ziming quickly led his men to intercept them.
Upon seeing the soldiers, the bandits seemed to become even more agitated, as if provoked.
They charged forward as if their lives meant nothing. Even though the soldiers of the Tiger Roar Camp did their utmost to stop them, a few slipped through and reached the Crown Prince’s carriage.
Inside the carriage, both Li Cheng and Lin Qingzhi were terrified.
Li Cheng urged the driver to hurry up and get away.
The driver was also in a panic.
He didn’t know which way to go and, in his confusion, drove the carriage right into the valley.
Seeing this, the bandits immediately gave chase in the direction the carriage had fled.
The carriage hadn’t gone far before its path was blocked by a pile of massive rocks.
Seeing the carriage stop, Li Cheng demanded furiously.
"Why have you stopped? Go, quickly!"
The driver explained with a trembling voice, "The-The road ahead is blocked."
Only then did Li Cheng remember that he had ordered his men to set an ambush in the valley. These rocks had been intentionally thrown down by those rogues to cut off Prince Zhao’s escape route.
He never imagined that these rocks would not only cut off Prince Zhao’s retreat but also seal his own fate.
Lin Qingzhi shouted for them to turn around and leave.
However, the valley was too narrow for the carriage to turn around.
Some bandits caught up.
They smashed the rear window of the carriage and thrust a spear viciously at Li Cheng!
Li Cheng’s face turned pale with fright. At the critical moment, he grabbed Lin Qingzhi’s arm and forcefully threw her forward.
Caught completely off guard, Lin Qingzhi’s shoulder was pierced by the spear, and she screamed in pain.
Seeing that his first strike had missed its target, the bandit pulled out the spear and stabbed at Li Cheng again.
Li Cheng hastily overturned a low table to block the incoming spear.
He didn’t even have a moment to rejoice in his narrow escape.
The next moment, the carriage door was kicked open. After killing the driver, two bloodshot-eyed bandits charged in menacingly.
They raised their axes high, poised to strike the Crown Prince!
This time, there was no table to hide behind, nor could he push Lin Qingzhi out as a human shield.
He yelled frantically, "I am the Crown Prince! If you kill me, your entire families will be put to death!"
Who would have thought that upon hearing this, the bandits’ expressions would grow even more crazed, their bloodshot eyes filled with hatred.
"Didn’t you already send men to slaughter our families?!"
The mere thought of the charred corpses of their parents, wives, and children made hatred surge uncontrollably in their chests.
Coupled with their desperate flight, they were already filled with hatred for the mastermind before them.
Even if it cost them their lives, they had to kill this bastard Crown Prince!
Li Cheng felt he was greatly wronged.
’When did I ever kill their families?
’This is all a fabrication!’
Just as he was about to speak and defend himself, one of the men’s axes came swinging down at him.
The axe struck Li Cheng’s left leg. Blood gushed out instantly, the pain so intense he nearly fainted.
He endured the pain and shouted.
"I didn’t kill your families, I didn’t! You have the wrong person!"
However, no matter how he denied it or tried to explain, the bandits refused to believe him.
The bandits would only believe what they had seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears.
Several more blows followed, each one landing on Li Cheng’s body.
Blood splattered inside the carriage.
Li Cheng’s sharp, blood-curdling screams grew fainter and fainter.
By the time Bian Ziming rushed over with his men to rescue the Crown Prince, he was already lying in a pool of blood, his body covered in more than a dozen gashes.
The bandits were killed on the spot.
Bian Ziming quickly summoned the Imperial Physician.
The Imperial Physician did everything he could, but he couldn’t stop the Crown Prince’s bleeding.
Soon, Li Cheng succumbed to excessive blood loss.
When the Imperial Physician announced the Crown Prince’s death, everyone present fell silent.
They had accompanied the Crown Prince south for disaster relief not only to protect the money and provisions but also to ensure his safety.
But now, the Crown Prince had been murdered by bandits right under their noses.
When they returned to Shangjing, all of them would surely be punished.
Bian Ziming, in particular, felt his future was completely ruined.
Just then, a faint cry for help came from inside the carriage.
"Help me, help me..."
Bian Ziming thought it was the Crown Prince’s voice and his heart leaped with joy. But when he looked up, he saw the Crown Prince still lying there, motionless, with no sign of life.
He followed the voice and found Lin Qingzhi, covered in blood, in a corner of the carriage.
Her shoulder was injured and bleeding profusely. Combined with the extreme shock, she was on the verge of a complete breakdown.
Bian Ziming quickly had the Imperial Physician attend to her.
After the Imperial Physician’s emergency treatment, Lin Qingzhi’s life was finally saved.
She was moved to another carriage.
「Above the valley.」
Hua Manman and Li Ji had watched the entire process of the Crown Prince being attacked and killed by the bandits from a distance.
’It really was quite a show.’
Hua Manman asked, "Did you arrange for those bandits?"
Li Ji said leisurely, "No. I never arranged for anyone to attack the Crown Prince."
Hua Manman was a little confused.
’If no one arranged it, why were those bandits so relentlessly chasing the Crown Prince?’
At that moment, Chen Wangbei came over and took the initiative to explain what had happened.
It turned out that when they were tracking Prince Zhao’s whereabouts earlier, they had also looked into the movements of that group of bandits.
Following the trail, they found the bandits’ hideout.
While the bandits were away, Chen Wangbei led his men to set a fire that burned the entire bandit encampment to the ground.
At the time, there were still many people in the encampment—all family members of the bandits.
They couldn’t escape the sea of fire and were all burned alive.
When the bandits returned to their camp and found all their families gone, they were naturally filled with grief and indignation, crazed with the need to find the culprit and exact their revenge.