Huo Qixiao had invested significant human and financial resources to ensure the successful assassination attempts on Prince Ning and Prince Qin that day. The most crucial aspect was that if these two men were rescued and survived, it would deviate significantly from his predictions.
Wang Bingchang took out a pre-prepared medicinal bottle containing hallucinogenic agents from the Western Regions. He carefully removed the wooden stopper from the porcelain bottle and dripped all the liquid onto Prince Qin.
After the medicinal liquid was finished, Wang Bingchang took out another small porcelain bottle, held his breath, and placed it near the nostrils of the unconscious person lying on the ground. After everyone had inhaled, he placed a dagger into Prince Qin’s hand.
Smelling the pungent aroma from the porcelain bottles, the people on the ground frowned one after another. Judging by the situation, they should be waking up soon.
To ensure the plan proceeded smoothly, Wang Bingchang did not leave the room immediately. Instead, he leaped to the top of the roof beam and hid, observing everything about to unfold below.
Prince Ning and Prince Qin woke up almost at the same time. The moment Prince Ning awoke, he noticed something was amiss with his body. He tried to push himself up, but his chest throbbed with pain. His limbs were still numb from the effects of the previous sleeping drug.
Meanwhile, Prince Qin, despite having a bleeding wound on his abdomen, seemed to feel no pain. He sat up, his head bowed low.
“Imperial Brother, why am I in so much pain? Can you please examine me and see what is wrong?” Prince Ning, seeing Prince Qin sitting up, naturally assumed he was fine and quickly pointed to his ribcage, seeking help.
Prince Qin slowly turned his head to look at the people on the ground. His eyes appeared bloodshot, crimson red, and filled with confusion. He seemed unable to focus when looking at people.
“Imperial Brother, what is wrong with you?” Prince Qin’s appearance startled Prince Ning, who quickly reached out to grab Prince Qin’s clothes.
Prince Qin was being progressively controlled by the hallucinogenic agent. He already felt dizzy and his temples were throbbing intensely. At this moment, a monster suddenly appeared beside him, its mouth wide open and its expression ferocious.
Before Prince Qin could get a clear look, the monster reached out its hand as if to grab him. Prince Qin swiftly swung his right hand and struck out…
Prince Ning’s outstretched palm was sliced in half by the sharp dagger, completely unprepared. He froze for a full five seconds before letting out a thunderous scream, the effects of the sleeping drug completely overridden by the intense pain.
“Ah!!!”
Prince Ning clutched his wrist where half his palm had been severed and wailed in agony. In Prince Qin’s eyes, this meant the monster was enraged by his attack and was preparing to retaliate with its gaping maw.
Prince Qin’s mind was now completely clouded by the hallucinogenic agent. His eyes were blood-red, and his pale face was dotted with spatters of blood.
Prince Ning did not understand what was happening to Prince Qin. He quickly recoiled in fear, trying to grab a chair behind him to stand up. However, the excruciating pain in his body rendered him powerless. He could only crawl backward with all his might.
After moving a certain distance away from Prince Qin, he looked down at his chest. He touched his ribcage with his intact hand. The sensation was sticky. When he looked at his palm, it was covered in blood.
They had been drinking together, and suddenly he had passed out, only to wake up with wounds. Now, seeing the dagger in Prince Qin’s hand, Prince Ning’s mind immediately grasped the truth: this was all Prince Qin’s scheme.
Prince Qin intended for them to fight like clams and fishermen to benefit. He had first instigated Prince Ning to send people to assassinate Prince Rui, claiming it would help with subsequent major affairs. But now that the task was accomplished, he wanted to do the same and kill Prince Ning?
Prince Ning stared at the person in front of him with vigilance. However, the current situation did not allow for further analysis. Prince Qin had raised the dagger again, fiercely stabbing towards him.
Prince Ning dragged his weakened body forward, attempting to crawl towards the door. Prince Qin stood up and walked towards the person on the ground, his own wounds also bleeding continuously.
However, Prince Qin, controlled by the drug, felt no pain. Like an emotionless machine, he slowly but steadily advanced towards Prince Ning.
“No, no, Imperial Brother… I am Jing Ning… Ah!!!” Prince Ning pleaded in agony as Prince Qin drew closer.
But the person before him seemed oblivious to his suffering. He raised the dagger and ruthlessly plunged it into Prince Ning’s lower back again.
“Ah…!” Prince Ning cried out in pain once more.
Fortunately, he had managed to crawl some distance. His shrill screams not only alerted the servants guarding the door but also attracted the attention of others in the brothel.
At that moment, the previously unconscious courtesans also slowly began to wake up. When they opened their eyes, they were met with the bloody scene that had just unfolded!
“Ah…!”
“Ah…!”
“Ah…!”
The courtesans were terrified by the sight, and they too let out screams of horror.
The servants outside the door exchanged bewildered glances, unsure of what was happening inside. They had heard Prince Ning’s scream earlier.
However, they reasoned that with two princes inside, nothing untoward would happen. If they barged in while the princes were engaged in their activities, wouldn't that spoil their fun? They would likely lose their heads. Thus, Prince Ning’s initial scream was ignored, sealing his inevitable fate.
Prince Ning’s and the courtesans’ screams, one after another, echoed loudly. Everyone outside could hear them clearly. Some other patrons paused curiously at the doorway, pointing and whispering amongst themselves.
“Who is inside? Why do I hear two male voices?”
“Indeed. Judging by the commotion, there’s more than one woman inside.”
“Wow, such a commotion! Listening to the girls’ voices, it sounds like they’re calling for help?”
The servants of Prince Ning and Prince Qin, seeing the growing crowd at the door, and hearing the male voice inside weakening amidst the women’s screams, became worried that their masters might truly be in trouble. They rushed to the door and knocked, calling out, “Your Highness? Your Highness? What’s wrong? Your Highness…”
“Murder! Murder…”
“Help! Someone’s been murdered…”
The servants’ knocking startled the screaming courtesans. They scrambled towards the door, shrieking and yelling that there had been a murder.
Murder?
Before the courtesans could reach the door to open it, several servants jointly rammed open the thick wooden door. As the door fell, it pushed aside a nearby screen.
The scene behind the screen made the entering servants and the onlookers gasp in shock.
They saw a man in a dark blue silk long gown holding a dagger, straddling another person on the ground. The dagger in his hand was still being brandished, stabbing at the person below.
The person lying on the ground was face down, his hair splayed out. His light-colored clothing was stained a deep crimson by the blood.
One of his outstretched hands had been neatly severed in half, and his body was riddled with stab wounds. The worst injury was to his waist, which, after repeated stabbing, was so damaged it appeared almost severed, as if he had been cut in half.
“Your Highness~”
“Your Highness~”
The servants of Prince Qin’s estate, regaining their senses, rushed forward. It took them great effort to drag the blood-soaked man, who was still wielding the dagger, aside.
The servants of Prince Ning’s estate, terrified and trembling, crawled towards the pile of flesh… that person on the ground.
One servant tentatively stepped forward and pushed aside the man’s hair. Upon seeing his face, he and those beside him turned deathly pale and collapsed to the ground.
It was over! This person was indeed Prince Ning…
The same servant, with trembling hands, brought his fingers to Prince Ning’s nose. After a few breaths, his face ashen, he told those beside him,
“Quick! Hurry back to the manor and inform everyone that our Prince has been murdered by Prince Qin at Furong Pavilion… Go now!”
On the other side, Prince Qin, once restrained by the servants, continued to struggle and roar. He suddenly exhibited immense strength, like a bloodthirsty demon. He continuously waved the dagger in his hand, wounding several servants.
Seeing that he was about to break free, one person quickly grabbed a bedsheet and tightly bound Prince Qin. Another person then tore off other large pieces of cloth and wrapped him entirely.
This finally subdued Prince Qin.
Wang Bingchang, observing everything from the roof beam, was very satisfied. He had personally seen Prince Qin stab Prince Ning more than thirty times, from his back to his waist, leaving almost no area untouched.
He marveled at how potent the hallucinogenic agent was, which explained why a small bottle containing just three to five drops cost thousands of taels of silver.
Indeed, good things were not cheap. Prince Ning was surely dead, with no possibility of survival. And everyone present had witnessed Prince Qin killing Prince Ning.
Thus, Huo Qixiao’s prediction to Prince Rui had been fulfilled once more.
While everyone was craning their necks to watch the spectacle, Wang Bingchang leaped from the roof beam to behind the door. He quickly slipped into the crowd, blending in with the onlookers. Once Prince Ning’s servants arrived in a hurry, he left with everyone else.
The next morning, the streets and alleyways were abuzz with news of Prince Qin and Prince Ning. Prince Rui had slept late the previous night and did not wake until past nine o’clock.
After he had washed up, the steward rushed forward and whispered a few words into his ear. Before the steward could finish, Prince Rui’s pupils contracted in shock.
“Is it true? Prince Ning… he… he is dead?” Prince Rui swallowed repeatedly, forcing the question out with great difficulty, his face extremely pale.
“Yes! I have already inquired. Prince Ning’s manor hung white banners last night. It is said he was stabbed dozens of times by Prince Qin, his entire waist nearly chopped into minced meat…”
The steward bowed as he replied, recounting the information he had gathered, completely oblivious to Prince Rui’s distressed expression.
“Enough, stop talking…” Prince Rui’s voice was low and stern, but as soon as he spoke, he quickly covered his mouth. He felt a churning sensation in his throat, and his stomach began to feel unwell.
How could this have happened? He had only stabbed the two men once last night. Even Prince Ning, who had intended to kill him, was spared by him in the end. Such a wound should not have been fatal for either of them.
However, this incident completely dispelled Prince Rui’s previous suspicions of Huo Qixiao. First, his own assassination attempt, both the timing and the location, had been accurate.
Then, when he had asked Huo Qixiao to calculate the matter of the assassins, he had discovered their connection to Prince Ning and Prince Qin, and it had been confirmed that the masterminds were indeed these two.
Even Prince Ning’s death at Furong Pavilion and Prince Qin’s capture on the spot. Even with his own intervention, a mere casual reprimand to the two, it could not alter the course of events.
Could it be that all of this was destined, and no matter how they intervened, the outcome could not be changed?
The assassination attempt on Prince Rui, followed by Prince Ning’s death, the successive events involving the princes infuriated the Emperor, leaving him exhausted. His previously robust health was severely weakened by these incidents, planting the seeds for his eventual sudden death.
Having already lost one son, the Emperor could not bear to outlive another child who had committed such a grave mistake. Thus, Prince Qin was imprisoned in the imperial prison, sentenced to life imprisonment, and never to see the light of day again.
Some time after this incident, a new rumor began to circulate in the marketplace. It claimed that the true murderer of Prince Ning was actually Prince Rui, and Prince Qin was merely a scapegoat.
However, this theory was not accepted by others. Not only the courtesans but also many people present had witnessed the scene firsthand. Therefore, Prince Rui did not need to personally refute the claims; the witnesses spontaneously defended him.
Later, Prince Rui and Huo Qixiao naturally began to collaborate. However, their interactions were very secretive, and given Huo Qixiao’s subtle presence in the eyes of others, no one noticed their changing relationship.
Meanwhile, in the imperial court, after a period of observation and investigation, the Emperor had repeatedly praised Prince Rui, calling him humble and benevolent. During several conversations with Huo Sizhun, he even hinted at his intention to establish Prince Rui as the Crown Prince.
Although Huo Sizhun did not directly express his opinion, he had always been a staunch royalist. He invariably showed great respect for the Emperor’s decisions, especially on matters as crucial as establishing a Crown Prince, where he wholeheartedly followed the Emperor’s lead.