"Your Majesty, it's getting late. Shall I go find Chen Xiaobei tomorrow morning?" Zhou Quan asked tentatively.
Xiao An shook his head. "No, no. Tonight is the most dangerous. Take the Crown Prince's mansion guards and go protect Chen Xiaobei immediately."
The sound of the second watch drum echoed outside.
Zhou Quan gathered his men to prepare to depart. Meanwhile, at Chen Xiaobei's mansion, Duobang had indeed arrived.
As soon as Duobang appeared, a few birds chirped in the woods. This seemed to be a disturbance to the birds, but it was actually a signal from the sentries. Chen Xiaobei soon heard the signal.
Chen Xiaobei gestured to Liu Kai and Liu Tie.
The two immediately hid behind the door. Chen Xiaobei then gestured to a maidservant standing nearby. The maidservant spoke.
"Master, you must be tired after a day's work. You should rest early."
Chen Xiaobei shook his head, deliberately raising his voice. "Brother Liu's fate is unknown, and the Crown Prince is poisoned. How can I sleep? Tomorrow, I still need to visit famous physicians to find a cure for them as soon as possible."
Duobang, on the rooftop, heard their conversation and inwardly rejoiced.
Xiaobei was below. He just needed to wait patiently for the maidservant to leave.
In his excitement, he made a slight noise. Liu Tie, hiding behind the door, immediately noticed and gestured to Chen Xiaobei.
Chen Xiaobei understood and said to the maidservant, "You may go now. I'll be fine on my own later."
The maidservant bowed and retreated.
Duobang on the rooftop, seeing this, was overjoyed.
When the maidservant left, Duobang became impatient to act. He had already inquired that Chen Xiaobei was a scholar with no martial arts skills and that there were no guards around.
Duobang was too happy to notice anything unusual.
Logically speaking, Chen Xiaobei was a newly betrothed consort. Moreover, with the successive assassination attempts on the Crown Prince and Liu Yuanwen, how could his mansion's security be so lax? There were only a few scattered guards at the entrance.
But at this moment, Duobang was blinded by his successive victories. In his eyes, even the heavily guarded Xiao Jingyun had been killed by him, so others were no match.
Duobang floated down from the rooftop.
He moistened his finger with saliva and gently reached out, intending to poke through the window paper to see where Chen Xiaobei was.
However, to his surprise, the window paper was indeed poked through, but there was another layer underneath. When he reached further, his fingers were not long enough.
He couldn't see where Chen Xiaobei was.
Duobang did not realize that within the room, separated by a wall, Liu Tie and Liu Ce were looking at each other and smiling. The window had been meticulously designed by the two of them, with not only two layers of window paper but also two layers of gauze.
It was impossible to see Chen Xiaobei's location through the window.
This forced Duobang to enter the room to commit murder.
Duobang clearly did not expect to have fallen into a trap. He was eager to kill Chen Xiaobei and paid no attention to the fact that something seemed amiss. With two swift movements, he reached the door and kicked it open with a loud bang.
As the door flew open, he leaped into the room and raised his repeating crossbow, ready to fire. But the scene before him stunned him.
The room was empty. After dismissing the maidservant, Chen Xiaobei had immediately curled up and hidden behind the table. Sudancdn.com
This way, whether one looked through the window or rushed in, they would not be able to immediately locate him.
While Duobang was dazed, he heard a whistling sound behind his ear. He knew he had been tricked.
He turned to pull the repeating crossbow, but they were faster. Liu Tie and Liu Ce simultaneously swung their long swords at Duobang's arm.
Seeing this, Duobang could only throw the repeating crossbow forward, hitting Liu Tie and forcing him to take a step back. Then, in the opening Liu Tie left, he twisted his body and slipped out like a catfish towards the door.
Seeing his agility, Liu Ce could not help but praise him. "He is indeed the captain of Jopsen's guards. His skills are exceptional."
Duobang ran out of the room in a few strides. As he emerged, he heard a dense sound of sharp blades slicing through the air.
Duobang inwardly groaned. The sound came from all directions, and he didn't know where to dodge.
In a flash, Duobang kicked off the ground and leaped upwards, intending to reach the rooftop.
As he flew up, he felt something was wrong. The place he touched above was soft.
He looked up and saw several soldiers below vigorously pulling on something. He suddenly realized that as soon as he entered the house, they had set up a large net outside.
It was a trap, like catching a turtle in a jar. He couldn't escape.
Before he could even fully comprehend, Duobang felt himself being flipped sideways and then thrown heavily to the ground. Several soldiers swarmed him and bound him tightly with a fine net.
Liu Tie and Liu Ce stepped forward and wrapped him with more rope.
At the same time, they used a rope to gag Duobang's mouth, so although his speech would be muffled, at least he wouldn't spit out any hidden weapons, just in case.
After everything was done, Liu Tie entered the room and said to Chen Xiaobei, "Brother Xiaobei, you captured him! Your plan, indeed, worked."
Chen Xiaobei nodded and waved his hand.
Liu Tie retreated, dragged Duobang, and re-entered Chen Xiaobei's study.
Chen Xiaobei remained cautious. Without knowing if the other party had accomplices, he would never risk appearing in the courtyard.
Chen Xiaobei looked at Duobang with a half-smile. "You are the captain of Jopsen's guards, Duobang, aren't you? To tell you the truth, I received word a few days ago that you were coming. Unfortunately, I was still a step too late, and you succeeded."
His identity was instantly exposed by Chen Xiaobei, which surprised Duobang.
Hearing that Chen Xiaobei had received the news in advance made Duobang extremely astonished. It was clear that if Chen Xiaobei was telling the truth, there was a spy from Da Cang within Jopsen's ranks. What a pity that this information could no longer be sent out.
With this thought, he straightened his neck. "A man of honor does not change his name or hide his surname. I am Duobang. Now that I have fallen into your hands, I know I cannot escape death. However, having killed Xiao Jingyun and Liu Yuanwen, my death is worth it."
Hearing Duobang's words, Chen Xiaobei understood that the man was prepared to die and had no intention of returning to Da Tuo country.
"Duobang, your intentions are noble, but have you considered this? If you die, what will happen to your wife and children? Your wife will have to remarry, and if she remarries with your child, will the stepfather beat him? If she doesn't remarry, how will the widowed mother and child survive?"
Duobang, who had been resolved to die, suddenly hesitated after hearing Chen Xiaobei's two sentences. He widened his eyes in surprise, looking at Chen Xiaobei.
His son was indeed his weakness. He was the sole male heir of three generations.