The exit of Xinghua Alley was Phoenix Avenue, and on the other side of the avenue stood the towering Baosheng Tower.
Baosheng Tower had triple flying eaves and was about ten zhang high. A wine flag, even taller than the tower, hung high in the air, fluttering in the wind.
On the third floor of Baosheng Tower, three women were gathered by the window, overlooking the scene in Xinghua Alley.
"As expected, someone is following!" Wen Qianqian's beautiful round face was full of surprise: "Senior Sister, someone actually dares to be unfavorable to the Prince?"
Xu Mengyu lightly frowned, her expression grave: "So audacious, there aren't many who would dare to do this. Is it one of the great evil sects?"
"Senior Sister Xu, which evil sect is it?" Wen Qianqian asked: "Tell me which evil sect is so bold?"
"The ones I can think of are those few," Xu Mengyu frowned: "Spirit Void Sect, Secret Shadow Sect, Jade Cauldron Sect, Fearless Sect, and so on. They also have Grand Masters, which is very troublesome."
"No matter how powerful they are, entering Yujing is just seeking death!"
"But they are not afraid of death." Xu Mengyu shook her head: "Like the Fearless Sect, they consider dying in battle as an honor, the fundamental path to eternal soul."
Her delicate face was covered with a layer of heaviness.
Hearing about the Fearless Sect, one would feel a chill in their heart.
Many experts from the Town Guard fell into the hands of the Fearless Sect, dragged to their deaths by the demonic members of the Fearless Sect.
The demonic members of the Fearless Sect could achieve eternal and immortal souls through battle deaths, but the experts of the Town Guard could not.
"Senior Sister Xu, have you met a demonic member of the Fearless Sect before?"
"...I encountered one once." Xu Mengyu's alabaster-like face was tense and gloomy.
The terrible memories of the past resurfaced, causing her breathing to become rapid, her blood to boil, and her pearly teeth to unconsciously bite into her red lips, causing them to bleed.
"It's starting," Huang Shirong suddenly said.
The two women, who had been staring at that side, were immediately invigorated, seeing Chu Zhiyuan stop and the Grand Masters of the Town Guard jump up.
Behind Chu Zhiyuan were the three Grand Masters, Feng Xi, Zou Fang, and Guo Chi.
The three Grand Masters in front and the two Grand Masters in the back blocked the three swarthy middle-aged Grand Masters in the center.
Chu Zhiyuan, surrounded by four guards, had already moved fifty meters away, looking towards this side from a turning in the alley.
The three swarthy middle-aged men exchanged glances, their eyes passing over Feng Xi, Guo Chi, and Zou Fang, and landing on Chu Zhiyuan.
Chu Zhiyuan said: "May I ask who you three are?"
He still didn't feel any intense killing intent.
As Grand Masters, even if these three tried their best to hide their killing intent, they couldn't escape his extrasensory perception.
They didn't originally want to kill him, so did they want to capture him?
"How did you discover us, Prince?" a swarthy middle-aged man asked in a deep voice.
Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "Five against three, you three don't have much chance of winning, do you?"
"They are no match for us," the swarthy middle-aged man said.
"The experts from the Town Guard are on their way, and even the experts from the Grand Masters' Mansion will come. If you leave now, there is still hope."
"Why must the Prince make a show of force? Are these all the people you have?" the swarthy middle-aged man laughed: "Originally, we wanted to see the Prince's skills, but alas, farewell."
They exchanged glances, their grey robes suddenly bulged, and then they somersaulted over the wall, leaping towards the distance.
"Prince?" Feng Xi looked at him.
Chu Zhiyuan nodded: "Better to be careful, it doesn't matter if we lose them."
"Yes." Feng Xi responded.
His figure suddenly became blurry, as if submerged in water, both real and illusory, disappearing down the alley in the blink of an eye, chasing after the three men from afar.
"That's it?" Wen Qianqian turned her head to look at Huang Shirong and Xu Mengyu, dissatisfied: "A anticlimactic! They didn't even fight!"
She originally thought it would be a fierce battle, a battle of Grand Masters.
Then she would see how Chu Zhiyuan would protect himself in the siege of Grand Masters, which would be quite exciting.
But it wasn't what she thought at all. They didn't even fight. They just said a few words to test each other and then ended hastily.
Now that the two sides had separated, there was no more good show to watch.
This made her extremely disappointed.
Xu Mengyu said: "The Fourth Prince acts very cautiously."
Wen Qianqian was very disapproving: "Not completely eliminating the danger, just scaring them away, is that what you call cautious?"
"If they really fought, who knows if it would affect him?" Xu Mengyu said: "What if these three are from the Fearless Sect? They would really drag the Prince down with them to die."
Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fist to thank the two Grand Masters from the Town Guard, then raised his head to glance at Baosheng Tower, smiling as he cupped his fist.
His gaze seemed to travel through a hundred meters, meeting Huang Shirong's eyes at the window.
Huang Shirong pursed her lips and smiled, cupping her fist in acknowledgement.
Chu Zhiyuan smiled and turned to leave.
"He saw us?" Wen Qianqian exclaimed in surprise: "How keen."
"This Fourth Prince is indeed very powerful," Xu Mengyu said softly.
Huang Shirong smiled.
So this is what they call keen?
If they knew how keen his perception really was, they would understand what true keenness really meant.
She made a gesture at the window.
Two tracking experts from the Town Guard, hidden in the bustling crowd, cupped their fists, disappeared into the crowd.
Her gaze turned to the distance, where the three swarthy middle-aged Grand Masters had already disappeared.
Her bright eyes flickered, looking even further.
She believed they couldn't escape the tracking experts from the Town Guard.
But who exactly were they? If they were from the Jade Cauldron Sect, it would be troublesome, but they didn't seem like it. Their eyes didn't have that cold, eerie feeling.
These are troubled times!
...
Chu Zhiyuan was also curious about this question.
Who exactly were these three guys?
He walked back while pondering this question.
He originally wanted to go to the house next to Hou Tu Hall to cultivate, but after this incident, he felt unsafe. Cultivating in the new house was indeed not as good as in the Prince's Mansion.
In the end, he decided to return to the Prince's Mansion and wait until the assassins were dealt with.
He returned to the Prince's Mansion not long after Feng Xi came back.
--
Inside the study, Chu Zhiyuan sat behind the desk, his body originally leaning against the back of the chair, now leaning forward, staring at Feng Xi and asking: "Really?"
Feng Xi nodded solemnly.
"Interesting..." Chu Zhiyuan stroked the fine stubble on his chin, revealing a smile: "Very interesting!"
He raised his head to look at Feng Xi: "Steward Feng, what do you think is going on?"
Feng Xi hesitated.
"Speak without restraint."
"...Then this servant will speak."
"Go ahead."
"They should be guards from the Forbidden Palace."
"Nonsense, if they weren't guards from the Forbidden Palace, they wouldn't be able to enter the palace!" Chu Zhiyuan said unhappily: "Get to the point!"
"Yes!" Feng Xi gritted his teeth: "They should have been dispatched by the Emperor!"
Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "Grandfather..."
He also thought of this answer.
It wasn't that heroes think alike, but there were no other answers.
The guards of the Forbidden Palace were only loyal to the Emperor alone, and no one else could command them, so they must have been acting on the Emperor's orders.
"So that means..." Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "Grandfather is testing me..."
"Exactly," Feng Xi said.
Chu Zhiyuan got up and paced back and forth, pondering the Emperor's intentions.
There was no need to probe his cultivation level. Since Chu Qingfeng knew, the Emperor naturally knew as well, so why would he send guards from the Forbidden Palace to tail him?
Was it to train Zou Fang and Guo Chi's ability to protect him?
Or was it to provide him with practical combat experience?
He then waved his hand: "Forget it, Grandfather has his own intentions, let's pretend we don't know."
"Yes, Prince, then this servant will take his leave."
"Thank you for your hard work."
"This servant dares not."
As Feng Xi retreated, only Chu Zhiyuan and Zou Fang remained in the study.
Zou Fang stood in the shadows, holding a white jade whisk.
Chu Zhiyuan paced back and forth, his handsome face under the lamplight was solemn.
Two Grand Masters are not enough!
If there were four Grand Master guards at his side, even more assassins would be enough to deal with.
Four Grand Masters could form a formation, and compared to two Grand Masters, the defense would not only double, but increase several times.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, could he ask the Emperor for two more Grand Master guards?
Thinking of this, he went to the back garden, to the waterside pavilion on the lake, and mentioned this request to Bai Ning霜, who was playing the zither.
Bai Ning霜 looked at him in astonishment.
The lights in the pavilion were bright but not without softness.
Illuminating Chu Zhiyuan's eyes, they were as bright as cold stars, exceptionally bright: "Mother, you might as well mention it to Grandmother, whether she agrees or not is another matter."
"Yuan'er, you..." Bai Ning霜 smiled: "You are really imaginative, dreaming such beautiful dreams!"
She was originally extremely clever, and now she finally figured it out.
Asking Concubine Rou for Grand Master experts was too bizarre.
Chu Zhiyuan wouldn't do such an unreliable thing, so why would he mention it to Concubine Rou?
Who had the power to bestow Grand Master experts to the Prince's Mansion?
The answer was obvious.
Thinking of this, her bright eyes were blazing, and she said excitedly: "You have kept this from me for so long!"
Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "Mother should just pretend she doesn't know."
"...Alright, I'll pretend to be confused and mention it to the Empress Dowager."
If the Emperor really agreed to give the Prince's Mansion two Grand Master guards, it would really be a great joy, not only strengthening the Prince's Mansion's power, but also raising the Prince's Mansion's status.
The Emperor personally bestowed two Prince's Mansion guards, this was a great honor.
At that time, everyone would know that the Prince Qing's Mansion was not what it used to be, no longer disliked by the Emperor, but had regained favor.
