The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 445 Fei Yi is assassinated

Everyone is an independent individual with their own unique hobbies. Some people like to be the center of attention and enjoy being fawned over and flattered.

Some people, however, prefer to be alone and free, feeling that being surrounded by a group of people is like being in prison, as if they are bound and uncomfortable.

Fei Yi belongs to the latter category. He is naturally unrestrained and loves freedom. He likes to be alone, go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants. He doesn't need to ask others for permission to do anything. Therefore, he rarely goes out with guards and acts alone most of the time.

This approach would be fine for ordinary people in a peaceful and prosperous era, but don't forget that Fei Yi was an envoy of a feudal lord.

Envoys from various countries in later civilized societies were frequently assassinated, let alone during the chaotic Three Kingdoms period. In addition, Jiangling City was currently at the center of the storm, and ordinary people dared not go out on the streets easily, let alone Fei Yi, the plenipotentiary representative of Liu Bei, the King of Hanzhong. As the envoy of the King of Hanzhong, you were walking on the road alone without any guards. If the assassins did not deal with you, they would be doing a disservice to the noble profession of assassin.

So the assassin appeared, to make Ambassador Fei pay the price for his dissolute behavior.

Fei Yi cursed under his breath as he looked at the assassins in front of and behind him, unaware that Wang Hong was cursing even more vehemently.

Wang Hong's lips twitched as he mentally cursed, "I've been in prison for so long and I'm finally about to see the King of Hanzhong take control of Jingzhou again, and you're here to take my life?"

When he led his troops to ambush Lü Meng after the city fell, he did not intend to live. But now it's different. He and Liu Bei have both survived, and with his experience of swearing to never surrender and the contrast with the rebels Mi Fang and Fu Shiren, his importance in Liu Bei's heart will definitely rise rapidly. Seeing Liu Bei get promoted three ranks is not a dream.

In this situation, Wang Hong naturally didn't want to die. He looked at the assassin and then at Fei Yi, and said speechlessly, "My ambassador Fei, it's one thing that you didn't bring any guards, but why didn't you even take a carriage? If we had a carriage, we would probably be back at the inn by now."

Fei Yi chuckled awkwardly, "Minister Wang, you may not know this, but when I traveled from the post station to the General's Mansion, I rode in Zhang Zhao's carriage. However, Zhang Zhao's carriage was already parked at the General's Mansion. I didn't take a carriage when I went with Marquis Wu to the Gu Mansion to quell the rebellion. After that, if I wanted to get a carriage, I would have to go back to the General's Mansion first. I thought that I could have walked back to the post station in that time, so..."

Wang Hong was utterly exasperated and asked helplessly, "So what do we do now?"

Fei Yi didn't know what to do either, and the two looked at each other in bewilderment.

Meanwhile, the assassins were also somewhat confused, because these assassins were not one group but two groups. The assassins in front were sent by Pan Jun, and the leader was Pan Jun's son, Pan Zhu. The assassins behind were from Cao Wei's Office of State Affairs, and the one who had just been ordered by Jia Kui to infiltrate Jiangling City was Zhang Jing, a clerk.

Neither of them knew the other's identity or purpose, so they looked at each other somewhat bewildered.

Fortunately, Zhang Jing was an experienced and decisive man. He knew that once he had taken action, there was no turning back. So he didn't hesitate to swing his knife and kill Fei Yi. He had other tasks to complete and didn't have time to waste with Fei Yi. He had to finish quickly and get out of there.

On that day, Zhang Jing followed Jia Kui to bid farewell to Cao Ren and head to Chaisang. After arriving in Chaisang, Jia Kui stayed behind to deal with Lü Fan and Zhou Tai, while Zhang Jing went ahead to Jiangling, intending to kill Fei Yi first to cut off Sun Quan's connection with Liu Bei, thereby delaying the time for Sun Quan to surrender to Liu Bei.

After all, Fei Yi is now Sun Quan's window to Liu Bei. Without this window, Sun Quan would have to send someone else as an envoy, which would take a lot of time. That would be enough time for Jia Kui to get to Jiangling and persuade Sun Quan.

Therefore, after entering the city, Zhang Jing immediately summoned the spies who had been lurking in the Imperial Academy to inquire about Fei Yi's movements. After learning that Fei Yi had gone to see Sun Quan, he intercepted Fei Yi on his way back to the post station.

Zhang Jing only had a dozen or so men, so he dared not lead them to attack Sun Quan's general's mansion. However, he guessed that Fei Yi would not stay overnight at the general's mansion and would definitely return to the post station to rest after finishing his business. He figured that there would definitely be some gains if they ambushed him there. Didn't he guess right?

Now that the target has been identified, what else is there to say but to do it?

Zhang Jing charged at Fei Yi with all his might. Fei Yi tensed up, gripped his sword hilt, and was about to rush forward to fight Zhang Jing to the death. But as he moved, he suddenly realized that although Zhang Jing had moved, the assassin in front of him had not. What does this mean?

This suggests that the two groups of assassins are very likely not working together.

Overjoyed at this thought, Fei Yi drew his sword and charged toward Pan Zhu, shouting with heroic spirit, "Brothers, follow me and kill these assassins!"

Wang Hong immediately understood, quickly followed, and shouted, "Brothers, keep up! Don't let these bastards get away!"

It's worth mentioning that the Han Dynasty's productivity was so low that cheap cloth could be used directly as currency. Therefore, both assassins wore ordinary clothes instead of the night-clothes seen in later TV dramas. Under these circumstances, Zhang Jing and the others who rushed towards them after being shouted at by Fei Yi and Wang Hong looked like they were with Fei Yi and Wang Hong.

At least that's what Pan Zhu thought. Seeing Fei Yi charging towards them, he immediately said urgently, "Brothers, charge over there and take care of them before the reinforcements arrive."

After saying that, he led his men to charge forward with all their might. Fei Yi and Wang Hong then charged at them. As they rushed towards each other, the two sides soon met. Fei Yi gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, ignoring the blades coming at him, and swept across the battlefield with a single blow, forcing the assassins to retreat.

Wang Hong, who was standing to his left rear, took advantage of the assassin's retreat to rush into the crowd, grab weapons, and engage in close combat. Although he had no weapons, he was a military general who had dared to ambush even Lü Meng's siege army. What were a few assassins compared to him?

Wang Hong quickly knocked down one person and seized a weapon, then charged forward recklessly, while Fei Yi took the initiative to step back and protect his left and right flanks to provide support.

Knowing that assassins would soon arrive behind them, the two dared not delay and charged forward relentlessly, risking being slashed as they did so. As a result, they were quickly surrounded by Pan Zhu and his men.

Although Pan Zhu successfully surrounded Fei Yi and Wang Hong, Zhang Jing also arrived smoothly. Without saying a word, he directly attacked Pan Zhu's subordinates. Pan Zhu's subordinates naturally wouldn't passively take the blows; they would definitely retaliate when attacked. Before long, the two sides naturally started fighting.

The two groups of assassins clashed, naturally reducing the number of assassins surrounding Fei Yi and Wang Hong. Knowing this was their only chance to survive, Fei and Wang fought desperately, eventually breaking through the enemy lines and running frantically towards the inn, their speed so great they wished their parents had two more legs.

Seeing that the two were about to escape, Pan Zhu became anxious and shouted, "Chase them quickly! Don't let Fei Yi get away!"

Hearing this, Zhang Jing was stunned and asked in astonishment, "You're here to kill Fei Yi too?"

Pan Zhu was stunned and asked incredulously, "Are you also like this?"

The two assassins stared at each other, stunned. After a moment, Pan Zhu said angrily, "Didn't you see them charging at me?"

Zhang Jing laughed awkwardly, "I saw them, but at first I thought they were coming to join you. After they started fighting with you, I realized something was wrong, but I didn't have time to waste, so I thought I'd take care of them and you together. Who would have thought you guys were so good at fighting?"

He was unsure of Pan Zhu and the others' identities and purposes. Stopping to communicate would be a waste of time. If they couldn't reach an agreement or were to unite against him, wouldn't he be at a loss? After all, their school affairs office didn't have a good reputation and had no roots in Jiangling, making them easy targets for a united front.

So Zhang Jing thought he could cut through the mess quickly and wipe them all out, but tragically, he discovered that he had overestimated his own fighting ability.

Pan Zhu said speechlessly, "Then what do we do now? If Fei Yi runs away, neither of us will be able to explain ourselves, will we?"