Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

61. Trap

Translator: Antonia

Then, the on-looking soldiers began to understand. The generals who had showed support for Shan Zhongli now felt disappointed and their eyes directed to Yuxing Tianrui were tinted with disconcertion.

At first, they had been confused why His Highness were so indifferent towards Shan Zhongli. Now, with this man caught, no more reason was needed and undoubtedly, Shan Zhongli could be sentenced to death.

When the previous emperor was in the throne, he had made a dead edict that no imperial members shall build connections with Wulin people. Those who did shall be sentenced immediately. The crime that the son of Duke Ningyuan committed was no other than bearding the lion in his den.

The man caught reacted quick and immediately retorted at Du Chuxuan’s words, “You young girl talking wild. How can you determine on whose order I’m here?” Startled by Du Chuxuan’s words, the man almost jumped into the trap. Luckily, he thought fast and figured it. At most, he merely had said something wrong.

Seeing he was still denying at this time, Du Chuxuan lazily waved his hand, and Ada at once brought over the people grounded in the nearby tent. It was where Shan Zhongli was locked up. How could it be possible that he didn’t hear the loud noise outside?

As early as when he heard the man’s voice, Shan Zhongli’s lips turned chalk white. In shock, he turned to look at the Mister, eyes as sharp as biting teeth, “I didn’t give the order. It’s you who did it behind me?!”

The mister gave a bitter smile. To this point, things had completely gone out of his control. Not to mention whether they could return to the capital safe and sound, he had been afraid that even if they did go back, Shan Zhongli wouldn’t help him out anymore.

Before he said anything, Ada came in and took them out. They each stuck to their own argument, so the wisest course of action was to let them confront each other.

Seeing Shan Zhongli was taken out, the man, with his somber face, turned to yell at Yuxing Tianrui, “Lord has a dukedom to inherit. How cruel you are, Your Highness! Can’t you even tolerate a son of a duke?”

Yuxing Tianrui blinked and spread his hands in an innocent manner, “Should I reward him with good dine and wine after he committed an unforgivable crime?”

“Hem! But before I came, did Your Highness have a reason to convict him?” The assassin’s eyes were bloodshot, and he only wished to rush over to tear Yuxing Tianrui into pieces. The look surprised Du Chuxuan who then regarded to compare the face of the assassin against Shan Zhongli’s. Du Chuxuan was astonished at the similarity.

Before he spoke, Shan Zhongli also yelled, “What do you want, Your Highness, by taking me out in the middle of the night? Am I to blame for any assassins appearing in the barracks?”

On the moment he had heard the noises outside, a decision occurred to him. Since these two men both fell into the hand of Yuxing Tianrui, neither of them, as his advisor or hidden chess piece, shouldn’t be kept alive. If this was the case, just abandon them to protect himself so that he could get rid of the current situation.

His words were self-evident. Du Chuxuan took an amused glance at the self-sarcasm flashing in the eyes of the assassin. This man must be the last life-saving resort of Shan Zhongli and also a person he trusted most. Shan Zhongli, without the smallest hesitation, pushed the man right into the bottomless hell. How heartless!

However, what the assassin said in the next moment stunned everyone.

“Your Highness is so clever. You first hired me to assassinate you, and then dragged me into such a play in order to frame the son of Duke Ningyuan. Luckily, I have brains to figure out your scheme, or I’ll be dead here as a scapegoat.”

When he finished, everyone began to look at Yuxing Tianrui and tried to get something out of his calm face. Du Chuxuan’s lips twitched in the corners. The assassin truly thought fast and leveraged a few words to quickly help Shan Zhongli out and drag Yuxing Tianrui in.

Shan Zhongli cut in again, “Haha. I see what’s the fuss about. It turns out to be such a funny drama. I guess Your Highness, with your noble status, have learned classics and strategies since childhood. You must know the dead edict issued by the previous emperor, don’t you?”

Then, he was poised to enjoy a show, believing he was no longer in the center of the hurricane. Du Chuxuan glanced waywardly at Yuxing Tianrui, curious about what a solution Yuxing Tianrui would work out to deal with such a situation.

Yuxing Tianrui looked up and immediately saw Du Chuxuan’s foxlike smile. He suppressed the smile on his lips and collected himself to gaze at the assassin.

“You’re not totally stupid by shifting the baby.” He sneered, in a sheer contemptuous tone towards this person.

“So tell us, if you’re really hired by me, what are the purposes of I summoning you here twice.”

The assassin stilled for a moment, obviously not expecting that Yuxing Tianrui actually followed his lie. But now, he had no way back and had to carry on, his jaw set in a sneer, “Your Highness should ask yourself. The purpose for the first time? I’ve no idea. But for the second time, it’s clear that you want me to help you take down the son of Duke Ningyuan.”

His firmness statement for a time succeeded. Yuxing Tianrui didn’t mind it at all and took over the token from Du Chuxuan.

“That sounds reasonable, but you forget one point.” He paused to direct his gaze at Shan Zhongli, who found it horrible to look at, “I was born to be the Crown Prince of Great Shenglan. Why should I bother to set up against a mere son of a duke?”

The confidence he showed while saying it caught Du Chuxuan at the heart. He was surprised to see this boy, who often flushed at something he said, looking so handsome and imposing at this moment.

Probably having felt Du Chuxuan’s gaze, Yuxing Tianrui didn’t dare to look into his eyes. He coldly threw the token on the ground, “Don’t you plan to explain where did you get it? Or do you wish to let the judges ask Shan Zhongli?”

As he questioned the assassin, his eyes swept over every general, radiating an overbearing pressure.