Empress, please lay down your armor, for I will save the world with a single sword!

Wu Liang turned over, and the bed creaked.

Jiang Qingluan must be taken away.

Pei Xiao wanted her to marry Pei Chang'an simply because he valued her status as the Ninth Princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

With this daughter-in-law, the Northern Yong army's southward march would have a righteous cause. Whether it was to purge the court of corrupt officials or to execute Prince Qing, once the 300,000 Xuanjia Iron Cavalry stepped out of the northern border, Pei Xiao could rise from a powerful prince to someone who could influence the throne of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

To make Pei Xiao give up the marriage, we need to make him unable to go south.

Beiyong is his base. As long as trouble breaks out in the north and the Great Yuan of Mobei launches a large-scale invasion, even if Pei Xiao wants to take over Luo'an, he will have to protect his own home first.

The question is, how do we get the Yuan Dynasty moving?

Wu Liang stared at the roof beam above his head, his mind racing for a few moments before finally stopping.

There is too little information.

He didn't even know when Pei Xiao was planning to head south, or what arrangements the Northern Border had made. Lying in bed racking his brains was no use.

"Damn it, we still have to go out and take a look."

Wu Liang got out of bed, changed into a set of night clothes, and then quietly climbed out the window.

The Prince of Beiyong's mansion is very large.

Yonghe Hall is located slightly north of the central axis of the Prince's Mansion. It was where Pei Xiao handled military and political affairs and summoned his confidants.

Wu Liang could only catch a glimpse of the area from afar when he passed by during the day. The guards there were much stricter than those in other courtyards, with guards every three steps and sentries every five steps, and experts were hidden in the shadows.

He used his graceful, swift movements to walk along the shadows of the courtyard wall through two corridors, stopping when there was a side courtyard still to go before Yonghe Hall.

The Yonghe Hall was brightly lit.

Two rows of armored guards stood outside the hall, and military generals and staff members from the royal palace came and went from time to time.

It was already late at night, but those people were still walking hurriedly, clearly discussing something important.

After a short while, an armored general emerged from the hall.

Pei Xiao personally escorted him to the door.

The two stood under the eaves and talked in hushed tones. They were too far apart for Wu Liang to hear clearly at first, but after he quietly activated the Longevity Technique, the scattered words were carried by the night breeze.

"...After the grand wedding, the vanguard immediately marched south."

Wu Liang's heart stirred.

The general seemed to ask something else.

Pei Xiao's voice was deep.

"The Duanmo Tianyuan remains unchanged; there is no need to reinforce it."

"Tell Emperor Chen Qing to guard the three passes that lock the throat. Prince Shuoning will not dare to cross the Cangjiang River anytime soon."

The general clasped his hands in acceptance of the order and quickly departed.

Wu Liang squinted.

It seems the news from outside was correct.

Once the wedding is over, the Northern Yong army will immediately head south.

Pei Xiao's confidence in mobilizing a large army seems to stem from the so-called Broken Desert Heavenly Wall and the Three Throat-Locking Passes.

Just as he was about to listen to a few more words, a glint of cold light suddenly shone from the darkness.

too fast.

The arrow shot from the west roof ridge of Yonghe Hall, aiming straight for Pei Xiao's throat. It wasn't until it entered the area illuminated by the lights that the ear-piercing sound of it cutting through the air suddenly rang out.

"Be careful!"

Before the guard could even speak, Pei Xiao had already turned his head to the side.

A black crossbow bolt grazed his cheek, leaving a bloody mark, before piercing the doorpost behind him with a soft thud, its fletching still trembling violently.

Chaos erupted in the courtyard.

"There's an assassin!"

"Protect the Prince!"

The dark shadow on the rooftop had already pounced down.

The man was dressed in black, his face covered with a black cloth. His long sword flashed coldly under the lamplight. While he was still in mid-air, the sword was already locked onto Pei Xiao's chest.

Pei Xiao stood still, coldly watching the assassin.

The sword was still several feet away from him when an old man in a gray robe suddenly appeared under the eaves.

Wu Liang didn't even see where the person came from.

The old man extended two fingers forward and firmly clamped the sword's edge.

clang!

The longsword curved into an astonishing arc.

The old man flicked his finger, and the sword broke on the spot.

The assassin reacted swiftly, discarding his sword and flipping over, two short daggers from his sleeve slashing at the old man's throat. The gray-robed old man swept his wide sleeve, deflecting the daggers, and then struck out with a palm.

boom!

The assassin was struck in the chest with a palm strike, the sound of bones cracking echoed through his body, and he was sent flying, crashing into a stone lantern in the courtyard. He landed and spat out two mouthfuls of blood.

Wu Liang hid in the tree canopy, his eyelids twitching.

First-class Vajra!

The assassin's cultivation was definitely not weak, at least at the peak of the second rank, but he couldn't even last a few rounds against this old man.

Fortunately, we didn't get any closer.

If we really alarm that old man, even the most amazing feats of martial arts might not be enough to save my life.

The old man in the gray robe walked step by step toward the assassin.

"Who sent you?"

The assassin knelt on the ground, his body trembling slightly, but a low laugh came from beneath the black veil covering his face.

The next moment, he shattered the black sphere at his waist with a single palm strike.

Bang!

A burst of grayish-white smoke suddenly erupted, and a pungent odor quickly filled the air.

"The smoke is poisonous, get out of the way!"

The old man in the gray robe swept his sleeves, forcefully dispersing the poisonous smoke that was rushing towards Pei Xiao.

Outside the west courtyard wall of Yonghe Hall, several muffled thuds rang out in succession. Flames shot into the sky from two side courtyards, and shouts of battle came from the other side.

"The west wing is on fire!"

"There are still assassins over there!"

"Protect the Prince!"

The guards were thrown into chaos for a moment.

Amidst the poisonous smoke, the masked assassin spat out a mouthful of blood, his body suddenly transforming into a blurry afterimage. He shoved aside two guards and desperately charged towards the west courtyard wall.

The gray-robed old man's face darkened, and he struck out with a palm strike from a distance.

The palm strike traveled several meters and slammed into the assassin's back.

The assassin shuddered, blood splattering, but his speed increased even more with the force of his palm strike. Just as he leaped onto the courtyard wall, a rope flew from outside, wrapped around his waist, and swiftly dragged him into the darkness.

The old man in the gray robe chased after them to the wall, but then stopped.

He glanced back at Pei Xiao.

The assassin has backup, and there might be an ambush outside.

His duty is to protect the Prince of Beiyong, and he cannot leave easily.

"Seal off the Prince's residence and search every courtyard!"

"The assassin has been struck by my palm; he can't get far!"

The sound of the gong soon echoed throughout the palace.

Large numbers of personal guards poured out from all directions, the courtyard gates were closed one after another, and torches illuminated the surroundings.

The old man in the gray robe walked to the doorpost and pulled out the crossbow bolt.

The arrow shaft was jet black, with three slender black feathers inserted at the end.

He glanced at it a few times, and his expression gradually turned ugly.

"Black-feathered Armor-Piercing Crossbow"

Pei Xiao wiped the blood from his cheek.

"Black Feather Platform?"

The old man in the gray robe nodded.

"And that Blood Burning Escape Technique from earlier was also a technique used by the Black Feather Platform assassins. This person was struck by my palm and then forcibly burned his blood and qi. Even if he doesn't die for a while, he'll only have half a life left."

Pei Xiao looked in the direction the assassin had fled, his face showing no anger.

"Block the news."

"Anyone who dares to divulge even a single word of tonight's events will be executed."

"As for the wedding and the trip south, everything will proceed as usual."

The old man in the gray robe frowned.

"Your Highness, the Black Feather Terrace has infiltrated the Prince's residence. As for Prince Shuoning..."

Pei Xiao interrupted him.

"With the Broken Desert Sky Wall and the Throat Locking Three Passes in place, he can't turn the world upside down."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable confidence.

Wu Liang heard it clearly.

Black Feather Terrace.

Prince Shuoning.

Broken desert and sky.

Several previously scattered clues gradually came together.

The fact that the Black Feather Terrace's men were able to infiltrate the Northern Yong Prince's residence to assassinate Pei Xiao demonstrates that the Yuan Dynasty's power in Northern Yong is far deeper than it appears. Yet, even so, Pei Xiao still dared to immediately mobilize troops to march south after his wedding.

What he truly relied on was this desolate, boundless sky.

The guards at the front have begun to search in all directions.

A group of people headed straight for the secluded courtyard where Wu Liang was hiding.

"Search the rooftops, the trees, behind the artificial hills—search everywhere!"

"No one is allowed to move around freely!"

Wu Liang landed quietly and retreated into the shadow of the courtyard wall.

The assassin fled in the direction that happened to be nearby, and a large number of guards rushed over with torches, quickly blocking the roads in front and behind.

He turned and leaped over a low wall, landing in the flowerbed next to him, then circled around the artificial hill into another corridor.

The footsteps behind me grew closer.

Wu Liang slipped into a storage room, waited for the two squads of guards to pass by outside the door, then climbed out through the back window and, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the fire in the west courtyard, quickly left the vicinity of Yonghe Hall.

Back at his lodgings, he immediately changed his clothes, hid his dark outer robe, pulled back the covers and lay down, Pei Xiao's words from earlier flashing through his mind once again.

After the grand wedding, the vanguard immediately marched south.

The desolate desert remains unchanged; there is no need to reinforce it.

With the Duanmo Tianyuan and the Suohou Sanguan in place, the King of Shuoning cannot overturn the heavens.

Pei Xiao has found his source of confidence.

Simply ordering the Yuan Dynasty to send troops is not enough.

If that defensive line is as solid as Pei Xiao said, even if the Prince of Shuoning leads his troops south, he may not be able to force him to change his plans.

"The Broken Desert Sky Wall..."

Wu Liang read it aloud softly.

We need to figure out what kind of place that is first.

……