Steel Dynasty - Chapter 12

[Chapter 12 Assassination]

It was already evening when I came out of the Equipment Department. A wisp of red clouds wrapped a man and a horse and pulled out Xiao Ming’s long figure on the loess road of Qingzhou City.

Teaching technology is also very tiring. Xiao Ming is now thirsty, but today is a historic step for him. The pure steel lathe is already in practice.

When he came to this world, he was still a little confused, but now this confusion was replaced by the passion for climbing the technology tree.

Xiao Ming never believed that an ordinary person could change an era. He was glad that he was a prince and not a passerby.

In Dayu, the deep-rooted mentality of imperial rule and the ancient small-scale peasant economy make things like instruments lack the power to be promoted.

The affluence of the population has made labor cheap, and the value of machinery has been lost.

In modern times, if Western guns and cannons had not knocked on the door of feudal imperial power, this kind of self-sufficient farming economy would have continued.

Therefore, in his view, industrial change needs to be driven by force, and he does not want this force to come from outside.

This is why he is glad that he is a prince, because he is the supreme ruler of the fiefdom, and he can fully act as this force to promote industrial change, and the existence of the technology library provides this support.

Thinking about it along the way, when passing by a folk village, the sound of some silk and bamboo suddenly came to his ears, and Xiao Ming raised his eyes and looked up.

Opposite him is Cuizhufang, where the Wang family’s residence is located. With this formation, it is estimated that the Wang family’s family banquet has already begun.

As for the guests at this banquet, he knew without thinking that they must be the Qin family, the Wei family, and the Sun family.

In Qingzhou, these four big families have been in-laws to each other for a long time and have very close contacts.

There was another woman’s charming smile, and Xiao Ming hurriedly drove back, rejecting Wang Shijie’s invitation. It was really difficult for him to be Liu Xiahui.

At the same time, he comforted himself that this family dinner was so absurd that it would be bad if he got sick.

Just as he was thinking wildly, the sound of a bowstring vibrating sounded not far from him.

Xiao Ming felt like his hair was about to explode. The country of Chongqing was founded by force, and this royal child had been trained in archery and horse training since he was a child.

He is especially familiar with bows and arrows, and the laws of the Chongqing Kingdom strictly prohibit people from hiding weapons.

Now, the sound of bows and arrows could be heard from a private village not far from him. There was only one possibility – assassins.

He instinctively rolled over to the other side of the horse.

At this time, a bow and arrow came in response and was nailed straight to the dirt wall of the folk square.

“Assassin!”

Xiao Ming’s instinctive stress response in his memory saved his life, and he immediately shouted for help.

At this moment, a group of cavalry patrolling the city heard calls for help and rushed over immediately.

“Your Highness!” A cavalry leader rushed over, but it was Lu Fei.

Faced with life and death, Xiao Ming was still a little panicked. When he saw Lu Fei, he said, “Someone has assassinated my king. Get him quickly!”

At this time, Lu Fei saw the arrow on the wall and looked at the direction in which the arrow was shot. He shouted: “Seal the city gates immediately. No one is allowed to leave the city without my order. You two will escort His Highness back, and the others will follow me.”

Two cavalrymen responded, protecting Xiao Ming on the left and right.

“I want to live.” After the initial panic, Xiao Ming said coldly. Someone wanted to kill him. This was no joke.

“Yes, Your Highness!” Lu Fei and others immediately surrounded the Minfang opposite, while a cavalryman went to each city gate to deliver orders.

Returning to the palace, Qian Dafu panicked when he saw Xiao Ming covered in dirt, “Your Highness, you, you are…”

“Someone wants to harm me.” Xiao Ming frowned. This Xiao Ming has done many bad things in the past. , he can’t even identify the most important suspect now.

Qian Dafu was frightened by Xiao Ming’s words. He touched Xiao Ming’s body up and down to check if Xiao Ming was injured.

“It’s okay. Captain Lu happened to pass by. I wasn’t hurt.” Xiao Ming calmed down and said.

“That’s good, that’s good. I scared this old slave to death. Your Highness, these two bastards should stay in the palace and don’t go out until the killer is caught.” Qian Dafu’s worry showed on his face.

It’s just that Xiao Ming underestimated Lu Fei’s efficiency. Before he entered the palace, there was a rumble of horse hooves, and Lu Fei arrived with a group of cavalry.

Now the mounts of Lu Fei and others were all replaced by barbarian horses. They were all tall and strong, and their armors were shining. Lu Fei threw a man off his horse at this time.

“Your Highness, the assassin has been caught.”

“Dead?” The corpse that fell to the ground was that of a lean man, but there was a big hole in his neck and blood was flowing out.

“When we found him, he cut his neck when he saw that he could not escape. Your Highness, this is not an ordinary killer. He must have been trained, otherwise he would not commit suicide so decisively.” Lu Fei said with a frown.

After being silent for a long time, Xiao Ming said: “Then who is going to kill me?”

Generally, looking for the motive of murder is basically to infer who can get the greatest benefit. The local wealthy family will not want him to die for the time being, because Xiao Ming was enough in the past. Being stupid can still be used.

It would be very simple for Xiao Wenxuan to kill him, and there would be no need to go to such great lengths. This kind of assassination usually occurs due to the struggle for the throne and the internal seizure of power.

“Your Highness, I have only seen this kind of arrow when I was in Shu. It is a cloud-piercing arrow produced in Shu.” Lu Fei handed an arrow engraved with clouds to Xiao Ming.

“Sichuan, King of Shu?” Xiao Ming’s face was as dark as water.

Among the princes, the King of Shu had the worst relationship with him. Because they were similar in age, the two fought openly and secretly when they were in Chang’an, and they even had a fight.

But Shu is thousands of miles away from here. Will the King of Shu send an assassin all the way to kill him?

“King of Shu?” Qian Dafu rolled his eyes.

“Not necessarily.” Lu Fei’s thoughts were similar to Xiao Ming’s. “Although the cloud-piercing arrow is a specialty of Shu, it is not unavailable in other places.”

“If I die, who will get the greatest benefit.” Xiao Ming said solemnly. road.

Qian Dafu’s body shook slightly at this time, and his eyes showed a trace of worry.

Seeing Qian Dafu’s strange expression, Lu Fei couldn’t help but ask, “Does Butler Qian know anything?”

After hesitating for a while, Qian Dafu sighed, “I’m just guessing. Your Highness still remembers that he has always been very close to the fifth prince. The third prince? “

“I remember that the prince is incompetent. Now the third prince and the fourth prince are the most favored. It is rumored that the father intends to abolish the crown prince. Now the fourth prince and the third prince are fighting fiercely. But what does this have to do with me? ” Xiao Ming said.

“Your Highness has forgotten who spoke in front of the Emperor before the Emperor when he fled back to Chang’an three years ago, so that the Emperor spared His Highness.” Qian Dafu asked.

“Fourth Prince!” Xiao Ming was suddenly so angry that he wanted to vomit blood. At that time, Xiao Ming was rescued by the Fourth Prince, and he had to surrender.

This is tantamount to telling the other princes that he is messing with the fourth prince.

“That’s right, once the prince is deposed and the princes compete for the heir, the country of Chongqing will probably be in a bloody storm again. Behind all the princes, you can see the figures of the five surnames and Qiwang.” Qian Dafu said, “There was a rumor a few days ago. According to the news, it seems that the fifth prince was also assassinated in the fiefdom. At that time, some people suspected that the fourth prince did it to cut out the wings of the third prince.”

Xiao Ming said slowly: “You mean this time is the third prince’s revenge on the fourth prince. , also want to cut out the wings of the fourth prince—me?”

(End of this chapter)