Did the Seventh Prince attend court today?

The hooves clattered as the convoy carrying disaster relief silver moved steadily along the official road. Yellow flags bearing the words "Urgent Relief Silver" fluttered in the wind, raising clouds of dust wherever they went.

Cang Shuyue rode ahead on horseback, his sharp, eagle-like eyes slowly scanning the surroundings, not missing a single rustling sound.

Behind him was a spacious double-shafted command carriage, followed by carriages carrying the accompanying military doctors, silversmiths, and clerks from the Ministry of Revenue. Further back were rows of silver carriages, each adorned with a yellow flag. Two guards, their expressions grim, sat in each carriage, vigilantly observing their surroundings.

Behind the silver carriage followed a magnificent horse-drawn carriage, the one that Youlu used when leaving the palace.

Under the blazing sun, everyone was drenched in sweat, yet no one dared to relax for a moment.

As they reached a fork in the road, Gu Cheng rode up from the rear of the caravan, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Your Highness, the caravan has been traveling for half a day. The weather is hot, and we have run out of water. Should we stop to rest, replenish water, and feed the horses?"

The eldest prince lifted the carriage curtain, recalled the planned disaster relief route, and said, "Tell everyone to hold on a little longer. There's a post station not far ahead. We can rest there."

Gu Cheng nodded in agreement and turned back to the back of the line.

Back in the carriage, the eldest prince carefully moved his slightly numb right leg, gently opened the folding fan, and fanned the deer that was resting on his left leg.

Feeling a slight chill, Youlu mumbled something, turned over, and continued sleeping.

Suddenly, a horse's neighing rang out, and panicked shouts came from behind the caravan.

The carriage came to an abrupt stop, and the prince, leaning forward, instinctively protected the deer's head. He lifted the curtain to look out, frowning as he asked, "What happened?"

Cang Shuyue's eyes flashed sharply. "There's an assassin. Don't move."

He pulled on the reins, and Hongfu immediately galloped off towards the back of the convoy.

The guards on the silver carriage noticed something amiss and drew their weapons, becoming cautious and on guard.

Let's go back to a short time ago.

As the caravan entered a tree-lined road, a dozen assassins suddenly appeared from behind. With a clear objective, they headed straight for the magnificent carriage at the back of the caravan, hacking, slashing, and stabbing at it. After a flurry of activity, the leader, dressed in black, lifted the curtain and found the carriage completely empty, without a soul in sight.

"Damn it! We've been tricked! Retreat!" shouted the leader of the men in black.

However, it was too late.

A flash of cold light appeared, and blood gushed from the neck of the leading assassin as he fell to the ground, his eyes wide open.

A single sword strike to the throat.

Cang Shuyue shook the blood off the sword, his thin lips parted slightly: "Kill."

The guards in the following silver carriages swung their swords and swiftly killed the remaining dozen or so assassins, leaving none alive.

In the blink of an eye, the ground was littered with corpses.

Gu Cheng stared at the blood-stained ground, his face deathly pale. His throat bobbed violently a few times before he bowed his head and said, "It was my dereliction of duty that prevented me from noticing anything amiss."

Cang Shuyue sat upright on his horse, looking down at the corpses on the ground. After his gaze lingered on Gu Cheng for a moment, he uttered two words: "Useless."

It's unclear whether the insult was directed at the assassin or Gu Cheng.

Gu Cheng clenched his fists, but he didn't even have the courage to look the person in front of him in the eye, and he lowered his head lower and lower.

After Yinwu and his men finished cleaning up the battlefield, they stepped forward to report: "They have no identification marks. Judging from their style, they should be a rabble. They must have followed us all the way here and deliberately chose to make their move when they were about to reach the post station and the defenses were at their weakest."

The master led the way, while he brought up the rear in the middle of the group. There were no unusual occurrences along the way, so the only possibility is that they were following behind.

Gu Cheng's face grew increasingly pale.

He followed the group without noticing anyone tailing him, which was inexplicable unless he admitted to being stupid.

But the truth is that he didn't notice the assassin because he was distracted, not intentionally.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but his throat was so tight that he couldn't make a sound. Gu Cheng kept carefully considering and piecing together his words, but Cang Shuyue didn't even give him a glance again and directly turned his horse around and left.

The terrifying pressure disappeared, and the feeling of surviving a disaster made Gu Cheng let out a long breath. A gust of wind blew by, and he was surprised to find that his back was soaked with sweat.

The Pixiu, clinging to the silver carriage, witnessed the entire process of eliminating the assassins, and it trembled with fear, clutching its paws.

Cang Shuyue, what a terrifying man!

Although there were no casualties, the carriage that Youlu rode in when he left the palace was chopped up and could only be used as firewood. The horses pulling the carriage were also too frightened to continue their journey, so they had no choice but to abandon the carriage.

Once Cang Shuyue returned to the command vehicle, the First Prince, who had been closely monitoring the situation outside, immediately asked, "Have you found out who's behind this?"

"No need to ask, kill as many as come." Cang Shuyue said indifferently, glancing at the sleeping boy in the car out of the corner of his eye.

Yinwu carried the trunks over and bowed his head, saying, "The Seventh Prince's carriage is no longer usable, so I've brought over the Seventh Prince's luggage."

He didn't know that the people in the carriage were sleeping, so he didn't deliberately lower his voice. When he heard the voices, Youlu frowned, turned over, and sat up groggily.

Cang Shuyue gave Yin Wu a cold glance.

Yinwu suddenly realized what he had done wrong and why his master was looking at him like that.

A deer rubbed its eyes and asked vaguely, "Why did the carriage stop?"

"There was an assassin attack just now, but it has been dealt with," the eldest prince explained softly.

Youlu instantly perked up, lifting the carriage curtain to look outside, but there was no sign of a fight, let alone the assassin himself.

"You ate the assassin?" he asked, puzzled.

Yinwu couldn't help but laugh; the Seventh Prince was really funny.

The eldest prince laughed and said, "The assassin attacked your carriage, which was at the very back of the convoy, so nothing happened to the carriages ahead."

You Lu understood and said speechlessly, "How could those assassins be so stupid?"

He laughed out loud after imagining the assassin hacking away at an empty carriage.

Yinwu couldn't help but chime in, "It's normal that the assassin didn't know the Seventh Prince was in the command vehicle and mistook him for someone else. But Commander Gu was being followed without even noticing. I don't know if he's really incompetent or if he had ulterior motives."

He looked disdainful.

"He was probably distracted because his secret was exposed. He knew I was in the command vehicle, so even if he really wanted to harm me, he wouldn't send an assassin to kill the carriages behind me," You Lu rationally analyzed.

I just feel sorry for his car.

"Assassinate the carriage?" Yinwu paused for a moment, then burst out laughing and slapped his thigh.

Cang Shuyue's gaze darkened slightly. "It's time to set off."

Yinwu immediately straightened his back and stood at attention. "Your subordinate will return to his post immediately!"

A deer, perched on the carriage shaft, watched Yinwu's fleeing figure and muttered, "This guy's sense of humor is so weird."

Cang Shuyue reached out and pushed him back into the carriage, pressing his forehead against the ground. She then lowered the heavy curtain and said softly, "It's hot outside."

The area between her eyebrows felt cool to the touch. Youlu touched her forehead and said, "Brother Imperial Uncle, you seem a little weak. It's so hot, yet you feel cold."

Cang Shuyue: "..."

The eldest prince glanced at him, then glanced at him again. Why did he feel that his uncle was a little different?