Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Chapter 260 The news of the assassination spread like wildfire

Meanwhile, Shi Jian and Si Jian carefully cleaned Dugu Jingyao's body. They gently wiped her face, arms, and torso, each movement being extremely cautious. However, despite such meticulous cleaning, Dugu Jingyao remained with her eyes tightly closed, showing no signs of waking up.

Finally, Shi Jian and Si Jian had no choice but to gently help her up, slowly put her back on the comfortable bed, and carefully covered her with a quilt, hoping that she could gradually recover her strength in her sleep.

On the other side, Li Chu had also quickly packed up. He couldn't help but think of Jingyao who was in a deep sleep when he left just now, and she probably wouldn't wake up easily in the short term.

Thinking of this, he decided to put aside his concern for Dugu Jingyao for the time being and deal with some important matters first. He walked to the window and skillfully used the unique secret signal between him and the secret guards to summon them from the shadows. Not long after, a dark figure flashed into Li Chu's room like a ghost.

Li Chu looked at the secret guards in front of him with a serious expression and asked directly, "Have you discovered anything about this assassination?"

Upon hearing this, the secret guard's face suddenly showed a trace of guilt, and he quickly knelt down and kowtowed to apologize: "Your Highness, although I and others successfully stopped the group of black-clad archers who were ambushing in the dark, unfortunately, when we were about to capture them alive to obtain more intelligence, we found that these people had already hidden poison sacs in their mouths. Before I and others could react, they bit through the poison sacs without hesitation and died instantly. It is all because of my subordinates' incompetence and failure to prevent this from happening in time. Please punish us!" After that, the secret guard kowtowed heavily again, and his forehead made a dull sound when it hit the ground.

Li Chu said in a deep voice with a serious expression: "Go back and accept the punishment yourself." His voice was low and majestic, leaving no room for doubt.

The secret guard kowtowed in fear and trepidation and expressed his gratitude: "Thank you, Your Highness, for your mercy." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Your Highness, there is still an arrow here that the enemy has not yet shot." As he spoke, he carefully took out an arrow tightly wrapped in black cotton cloth from his arms.

Li Chu took the arrow and examined it carefully for a moment. He didn't know why, but he felt like he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where it came from.

Seeing this, the secret guard quickly explained, "The craftsmanship of this arrow looks quite similar to those used by the Imperial Guards, but the material is slightly different."

Hearing the words "Imperial Guards," Li Chu's heart trembled. He wondered, "Could this be related to the Imperial Guards?" Then, turning to the secret guards, he ordered, "Quickly investigate and find out where this material is used or sold. If there are any sales records, be sure to find out who the buyer is."

The secret guard responded respectfully, "Yes, sir!" Then he held the arrow in both hands and bowed as he left the room.

Li Chu frowned, feeling a sense of foreboding. He knew that this incident was not as simple as it seemed, and there might be a deeper conspiracy and a mastermind behind it.

At this time, news came from Chang'an City that Dugu Jingyao and Liu Jingyue had been assassinated after leaving the city. However, this was actually within their expectations, as it was part of their elaborate plan.

The atmosphere in the Guo residence was unusually solemn. Steward Xu hurried over, his face horrified. Upon seeing Guo Ziyi, he quickly bowed and saluted. Then, in a low voice, he said, "Master, something terrible has happened! The two princesses were assassinated after leaving the city!"

Guo Ziyi's heart trembled upon hearing this. Although he had already guessed that this was most likely a conspiracy orchestrated by Dugu Jingyao and the others, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of fear when he heard this. He gathered his composure, frowned, and asked, "What is the current situation of the two princesses?"

Manager Xu looked flustered, a thin layer of sweat even appearing on his forehead. He stammered, "Your Excellency, I have heard that His Royal Highness Prince Guangping and the disciple of Divine Doctor Gongsun have already gone to look for the two princesses. I heard that Princess Yi'an is seriously injured and her life or death is uncertain."

Upon hearing this, Guo Ziyi was immediately enraged. He slammed the table, stood up, and shouted, "What? He's injured so badly! So how is he now?"

Manager Xu was so frightened by Guo Ziyi's sudden action that he trembled all over. He shook his head tremblingly and said, "This...this little one really doesn't know. But fortunately, the genius doctor's disciple has come forward and I believe he should be able to save the princess' life!"

Guo Ziyi calmed down a bit, and after a moment's contemplation, he felt something was amiss. Given the Princess and the others' strategy, this incident might just be a bluff to confuse the enemy.

Thinking of this, his mood gradually calmed down, and he slowly said: "Well, what you said makes sense. By the way, the princess once gave me a letter and asked me to deliver the letter to Shen Yizhi's house if I received news that she was seriously injured. You should run there quickly and be sure to hand the letter to Lord Shen in person." As he said that, Guo Ziyi took out a sealed letter from his arms and handed it to Manager Xu.

Manager Xu responded and left the room, preparing to go to the Shen residence.

At the Shen Mansion, they also received the news that Dugu Jingyao and the other two had been assassinated.

Madam Shen was a little puzzled: "Isn't the princess leaving for Yunnan tomorrow? Why is she leaving the city today?"

Shen Yizhi shook his head and said, "I don't know either, but it does seem a little strange."

Madam Shen was a little alarmed and said, "I heard that even His Royal Highness Prince Guangping and Lin Zhi went there. They both went there. I wonder how they are doing now."

At this time, Shen Zhenzhu also came, and even choked up a little and said: "Father, Mother, I heard that Sister Jingyao and the others were in trouble!"

Madam Shen quickly called Shen Zhenzhu to her side, and then comforted her: "Zhenzhu, don't be afraid, Lin Zhi has gone, I believe the princess can be saved. Do you still not trust Lin Zhi's medical skills?"

Shen Zhenzhu didn't feel comforted after hearing this. After all, if the injury wasn't serious, why would Lin Zhi need to take action?

Just as Shen Zhenzhu was lost in thought, Steward Xu appeared at the door of the Shen residence. The servant at the door went to the main hall and announced, "Master, there's a man at the door claiming to be Steward Xu from the Guo residence. He's here to see you and says the princess has a letter for you."

Shen Yizhi asked doubtfully, "Which Guo Mansion?"

The servant replied, "They say it's from Lord Guo Ziyi's residence."

When Shen Yizhi heard this, he said to the servant, "Hurry and invite the person in!"

The servant went out to fetch the attendant, and soon the steward was brought in. He bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Mr. Shen, Mrs. Shen, and Miss Shen."

Shen Yizhi said, "Manager Xu, please get up quickly. I wonder what brings you to the mansion?"

Manager Xu took out a letter and said, "This letter was given to my master by the princess, saying that when the news of her injury reached Chang'an, the letter should be sent to the Shen Mansion."

The servant beside Shen Yizhi took the letter and returned to his seat to hand it to Shen Yizhi. Manager Xu saw that the matter had been completed and said, "Since the letter has been delivered, I will take my leave now."

Shen Yizhi also said politely: "Thank you for the trip, Manager Xu. Xiaoqi will see Manager Xu off."

After that, the servant named Xiaoqi responded, made a "please" gesture and led Manager Xu out of the house, and gave Manager Xu some small change. Manager Xu declined for a while, but finally accepted the money and returned to the Guo Mansion.

In the main hall, Shen Yizhi waited for Manager Xu to leave before quickly opening the letter. Madam Shen and Shen Zhenzhu also leaned in to read it. The general gist of the letter was: Because she anticipated a difficult return journey, she was scouting the route ahead. However, if they received news of her serious injury, they shouldn't panic. This was a ruse, a deception designed to lure the enemy out of their lair and avoid implicating the Shen family. Therefore, they hadn't told them the actual departure time, but rather a day later. If Shen Zhenzhu still wanted to go, she had Guo Ziyi send someone to meet her at the Yunnan Palace the next day and escort her to reunite with her.

After reading the letter, the Shen family breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be fake, that’s good!

Although Shen Yizhi felt relieved after reading the letter, he didn't want his daughter to go to Yunnan. What if the other party knew that the princess was fine and became murderous again, wouldn't his daughter be implicated?

Shen Yizhi asked, "Zhenzhu, are you still planning to go to Yunnan?"

Shen Zhenzhu nodded firmly, "Dad, Mom, I still want to go. Don't worry, with this assassination attempt, even if it doesn't succeed, the people behind it won't dare to act rashly again. This means we're safe."

Shen Yizhi felt helpless. His daughter was independent, but that was neither good nor bad. Now that she had made new friends, she wanted to go out and see the world. Hey, my daughter has grown up!

Madam Shen, however, felt that Shen Zhenzhu's words actually made some sense. She had also figured it out over the past few days. They couldn't keep their daughter in Chang'an forever, so it would be good for her to go out and see the world while she was still young. Finally, they agreed to set off as usual tomorrow to meet the two princesses.

The women workers were busy running the shop, but they also had many customers. Some of them were gossiping, and they naturally heard about it. However, they were ordinary people and could do nothing about it, so they suspended business one afternoon and went to a temple outside the city to burn incense and pray for the two princesses to be safe.