The Captivating Crown Prince - Chapter 29
Chapter 29 — The Crown Prince’s Plan
At dinner, the soldiers ate till they were full. For the past few days, all they’d had were the flat cakes to appease their hunger. Now that there was cooked rice and hot dishes, everyone was overjoyed as they quickly finished up the food and went to rest up.
The rooms in the inn were used by Leng Yu Feng and the others. The soldiers positioned themselves around the carts with grains, and while they guarded, they fell asleep. Just a moment later, several people came out of the kitchen. Those people were precisely the innkeeper and the waiters.
“Hmph! To actually think this crown prince has any ability. He’s unexpectedly so easy to fool, still wet behind the ears!” The female innkeeper said with a sneer as she looked at the fallen soldiers. Their Master had even told them to be extra careful and that the crown prince couldn’t be underestimated. But to her, the crown prince seemed like a child who hadn’t seen the world yet.
“Tell everyone to carry off the grain first!” The innkeeper instructed. If so many grains entered her Master’s hands, who knew how much money they would obtain. More importantly, if the crown prince lost all the grains this time, perhaps his position as crown prince would be snatched away.
When the innkeeper was done speaking, she took a few men disguised as waiters along and walked toward the crown prince’s room. She kicked open the door, but it wasn’t the unconscious prince she saw. Rather, it was the two extremely handsome men she had met during the day. The two men stood at the entrance, looking at her indifferently.
The innkeeper knew at a glance that the situation was all wrong and that she had been revealed as an enemy. She promptly turned her head to look at the courtyard, and sure enough, those previously sleeping soldiers all stood up, each one of them with abundant vigor and brimming with killing intent. None of them appeared to be drugged and confused.
“Bad luck!” The innkeeper cursed beneath her breath, then looked toward the big bed obstructed by the separating screen. “Haha, it turns out the crown prince already knew everything. The crown prince really is a good strategist! However, even if you know, so what. You’re still sure to lose today!”
“Oh?” A voice came from behind the screen – chilly, but melodious and pleasant to the ear. Then, the sound of someone getting up could be heard and everyone’s eyes focused on the separating screen. The crown prince Shang Wuxin thus showed up within everyone’s sight. The crown prince’s graceful physique appeared in such a crude and simple room, yet he was like a deity overlooking the world, watching the innkeeper and her people as though looking down on mere mortals beneath him.
“Lose? Bengong1 unexpectedly wasn’t aware bengong will lose!” Shang Wuxin came to the table and sat down while Leng Yu Feng and Huan Mo Che stood at her sides to keep guard. The two of them didn’t know the crown prince practiced martial arts. They were afraid that someone would injure him.
A moment later, a couple of hundred black-clad men poured outside, surrounding the inn entirely. Seeing the several hundred people, the female innkeeper’s knitted brows somewhat loosened, but she still immediately commanded, “Kill! Kill the crown prince! Destroy the grains!” Unfortunately, the possibility of seizing the grains tonight seemed unlikely. In that case, the threat of them getting ruined would make it impossible for the crown prince to withdraw.
“Actually broadened bengong’s vision, such a tiny inn could hide so many people!” Watching the few hundred people emerging, Shang Wuxin didn’t look concerned at all. If those several thousand soldiers couldn’t even resolve such a matter, she would really get a headache.
“Kill!” Shang Wuxin slammed the small teacup in her hand on top of the table. Her entire being suddenly changed to sharp and fierce. The order she issued also contained an overwhelmingly intimidating power. Bai Shaolin bellowed in a great voice, leading a few hundred soldiers in a clash against the black-clad men, while the remaining soldiers protected the grains.
Leading some waiters with comparatively high martial arts, the innkeeper attacked the crown prince Shang Wuxin, but before they managed to approach, Leng Yu Feng and Huan Mo Che blocked their path. While Shang Wuxin, as if she didn’t see the various scenes of battle around her, and seemingly nauseated by the smell of blood, still elegantly tasted the crude tea.
Although Leng Yu Feng and Huan Mo Che were outnumbered, they were far more skilled in martial arts than those people who weren’t even worth a mention in their eyes in the first place. While fighting, they were paying attention to Shang Wuxin’s circumstances. When they saw that Shang Wuxin was regarding the bloody scenes around as some common occurrence, their chests felt suffocated. Who knew why, seeing the crown prince like that made their hearts ache for him.
Mere moments later, the black-clad men were thoroughly eliminated, leaving only the female innkeeper alive. If it weren’t for Shang Wuxin saying she wanted her alive, Leng Yu Feng would have already killed her. Currently, two soldiers were holding the innkeeper and pressing her acupoints in order to prevent her from suiciding.
The woman was looking toward the outside somewhat anxiously. Her originally victorious expression was gone without a trace. She realized that something was wrong. Could it be…? The innkeeper looked at the peacefully sitting crown prince. Her voice held alarm as she asked, “You… Did you know everything? Is it your doing?”
The soldiers inside the courtyard were looking at the innkeeper in confusion, wondering what she was talking about. But Leng Yu Feng and Huan Mo Che faintly came to realize something. Both of them turned to Shang Wuxin. She didn’t leave them hanging, but directly started speaking: “Yes, it is indeed bengong’s doing. What a pity, those helpers your Master has sent from the capital… I wonder whether they’re dead without an entire corpse, or gone without a trace, hm?”
From the time Shang Wuxin had set off from the capital, she had known that there would definitely be a prince who’d restlessly wish to get rid of her during the journey. But even the prince wouldn’t be able to organize a lot of manpower along the road so quickly. As a result, it was certain he would send more subordinates to catch up from the capital. She originally intended to make Wu Wei lead a part of their newly trained force to dispose of them, but had then bumped into Han Xuan Hao just right. Shang Wuxin was all too clear about just how powerful Han Xing Pavillion was, so she immediately passed the duty over to Han Xuan Hao. He truly didn’t disappoint her.
“You… You actually killed them all!” The innkeeper said in disbelief. Several hundred subordinates had been lying in ambush around the inn, but the Master had also sent several hundred highly trained people from the capital to assist them. But no one anticipated that the crown prince would eliminate them before they could even leave the capital. He really was formidable. That kind of youngster could unexpectedly conceal himself for so many years. The innkeeper suddenly felt the possibility that her Master would capture the crown prince’s position in the future was too slim.
“Haha, seems like it was me who lost today. Kill me or hack me as you like, but if you want me to betray my Master, that’s impossible!” The woman raised her head and stated in a loud voice. In her opinion, the crown prince had spared her life precisely in order to make her disclose the name of her Master, but it was only natural that she would never betray him!
“Bengong also knows you wouldn’t betray your Master.” Shang Wuxin stood up to arrive at the innkeeper’s side, her voice as sweet-sounding as a stream of water running through the mountain, yet saturated with bone-chilling cold. “Therefore, bengong only left you alive to look at your dismayed expression. Anyway, your dejected and frightened expression is really pleasing to bengong!”
Looking at the demon-like demeanor of the crown prince, everyone felt a slight chill rising in their hearts. They didn’t expect the crown prince had left that woman alive for such a wicked reason. However, Leng Yu Feng and Huan Mo Che were watching the crown prince with an indistinctly adoring expression. They felt this kind of crown prince was not only not scary, but rather much more real. The crown prince seemed to have let them see him like this on purpose.
Shang Wuxin extended a pale hand and gently caressed the innkeeper’s incredulous eyes, said a few words next to her ear, then walked back behind the separating screen. In the meantime, everyone witnessed the innkeeper suddenly die, and moreover, she still held a grievance in her open eyes.
Everyone was puzzled, but Leng Yu Feng and Huan Mo Che knew that the crown prince had mentioned a single person’s name in the woman’s ear just now. And when she heard that name, she opened her eyes wide in horror and died. Perhaps other people wouldn’t be able to notice, but they could tell that when the crown prince caressed the woman’s eyes, he pressed her lethal acupoint. That was why she died with her eyes still open.
“Clean up here!” Leng Yu Feng commanded, then stared at the separating screen motionlessly. Once the room was clean, he left and closed the door, but both him and Huan Mo Che didn’t go back to their rooms. Rather, they stood at the entrance outside like the most loyal knights guarding their own king.
