Chapter 151: Assassination

Her maid fought desperately with the men in black and shouted at Su Liluo, "Young miss, run!"

Covering her mouth with tears streaming down her face, Su Liluo looked back and saw Qingyi and Qingyao fighting a losing battle against superior numbers. One of the men, apparently the leader, was temporarily suppressing them both.

Stumbling and steadying herself against a tree, Su Liluo saw two masked men blocking her path. She retreated dazedly, bracing herself as she asked, "Who sent you? Why do you want to take my life? I have never made enemies with anyone."

The men in black uttered not a single word, likely having received strict orders beforehand. The cold glare of their blades made her vision blur. Seeing a sword thrusting straight toward her chest, Su Liluo felt utterly helpless, a solitary lament rising in her heart that she was destined to perish here today.

With a sharp clang, Qingyi deflected a sword strike. Seeing Su Liluo standing there in a daze, she immediately roared at the top of her lungs, "Young miss, run!" Seeing Qingyi's pale face and the numerous wounds covering her body, and realizing the situation was heavily disadvantageous, Su Liluo dared not hesitate any longer. She ran for her life, the sound of clashing blades ringing incessantly behind her as her throat burned like fire.

She ran straight ahead while Qingyi and Qingyao covered her rear. Though they were women, they managed to hold off the onslaught of the black-clad assassins, escorting her toward the streets of the capital.

Hurrying with them toward a pharmacy, Su Liluo knew their only option now was to temporarily avoid the enemy's锋芒 and investigate later who was behind the attempt on her life before seeking vengeance. Noticing that Qingyi's clothes were torn in multiple places, she asked anxiously, "Qingyi, Qingyao, are you both alright?"

"This servant is fine. As long as young miss is unharmed, it is enough. Where are we going now? They will likely catch up to us soon." Having merely used a diversionary tactic just now, Qingyi knew that group would soon see through it, and by then, they would still face certain death.

After Su Liluo and the others escaped, a few of the masked subordinates looked at their leader and asked coldly, "Boss, what should we do? The Crown Prince gave strict orders that she must not be left alive."

"Pursue her. We must not let her survive." At the command, the men in black strode forward swiftly. Seeing Su Liluo enter the pharmacy, the leader initially intended to follow her inside, but a glance made him feel inexplicably familiar with the establishment.

"Whose property is this?" The leader hesitated somewhat, finding the pharmacy strangely familiar, and quickly signaled his men to halt. After scrutinizing it for a few moments, he finally recognized it.

"It seems to be Prince Yi's pharmacy. Boss, should we go in?" With a nervous glance at the man ahead, the subordinate thought that while the Crown Prince wanted the target dead, entering Prince Yi's establishment meant going directly against Prince Yi himself.

"Retreat. We'll go back and report to the Crown Prince before making further plans." The men hastily withdrew and vanished from sight shortly afterward.

Inside the pharmacy, the people were completely unaware of the events outside. After they entered, the manager saw that the three of them were injured and immediately had them escorted into a back room.

"How did Miss Su end up in this state? I will have a physician come examine your injuries right away." Seeing Su Liluo in such a disheveled state and her two maids looking even worse, the manager furrowed his brows, wondering how a young maiden could suffer such severe injuries.

"Thank you, manager. My injuries are of no consequence; please examine these two maids of mine first. If not for them, I might not have made it back alive." Su Liluo cupped her fists, her eyes welling with tears. Qingyi and Qingyao were still gripping their swords, their fierce gazes showing they were still trapped in the terror of the recent battle.

"Young miss, do not worry. I will have someone come in to bandage your wounds immediately." With that, the manager stepped outside, leaving the three of them in the small back room. Though compact, the room was fully equipped. Su Liluo had the two maids sit on the couch while she took a seat by the table.

Her own injuries were minor, but Qingyi and Qingyao were in a perilous state with over a dozen wounds of varying sizes. Seeing this, Su Liluo could not hold back her tears, her voice choking as she said, "I am so sorry. If not for me, you would never have suffered such heavy injuries..."

The two immediately dropped to their knees, repeatedly protesting their unworthiness. "What is young miss saying? We were dispatched by the Prince precisely to protect young miss, and it is our natural duty to keep you safe. Has young miss offended someone? Those men made every move to kill; could someone be targeting your life?"

Suspicion brewed in Su Liluo's heart as well. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a commotion outside and quickly opened the door to the back room, inviting the arriving physician inside. "Please, physician, take a look at their injuries first."

"Physician, has any stranger entered the pharmacy?" Su Liluo watched as he took their pulses. Fearing that their whereabouts might be leaked, the manager had not deployed extra staff, so Su Liluo helped with the bandaging herself. Remembering this concern, she asked urgently.

"Aside from you, young miss, no one else has entered the pharmacy." The physician shook his head, focusing entirely on treating the two maids. Half an hour later, the wounds on their arms were finally bandaged. However, because there were more injuries on their backs and he was a man, it was inappropriate for him to undress them, leaving Su Liluo to take over.

"Young miss, I will leave the rest to you. I shall step outside. Do not let the wounds get wet over the next few days, and apply the ointment regularly." The physician left behind a bottle of wound-healing powder, and Su Liluo nodded immediately. "Thank you, physician, I understand."

Once the physician walked out, Su Liluo tightly shut the door and told Qingyi and Qingyao to remove their outer garments. "Come, let me apply the medicine for you. Bear with it."

As Su Liluo looked at the bloody trails across their backs, she caught her breath while applying the ointment. Neither of them uttered a single sound, but she herself was drenched in sweat. By the time the application was finished, her own back felt entirely soaked.

With the medicine applied, the atmosphere in the back room grew quiet for a moment. Su Liluo lowered her head to ponder her thoughts, while the two maids refrained from disturbing her.

Who on earth wanted her dead? Su Liluo remained entirely baffled by this mystery. Suddenly, a possibility crossed her mind, and she muttered softly, "Could it be Yao Ruoshui? Or Su Baizhi?" Aside from these two, she could think of no one else, but she immediately shook her head.

"It cannot be. Though they hate me, they would not go so far as to send assassins. The hatred between us has not reached that point." Unable to figure it out, Su Liluo felt a slight ache in her head. Seeing Qingyi and Qingyao standing aside, she quickly urged them to lie down. "You are both injured; you should rest properly. Lie down at once."

"Young miss is also injured; you should rest more," Qingyi protested. Su Liluo put on a stern face. "Lie down quickly. Are you both refusing to obey your young miss's words?"

With wry expressions, the two finally stretched out on the couch and bed, one occupying the bed and the other the couch. Pouring herself a cup of water, Su Liluo sat by the table and sipped it slowly.

The leader of the men in black knelt before Yun Fengxiao and reported respectfully, "Your Highness, that woman entered Prince Yi's pharmacy. What are your instructions?"

"My uncle? ... Then let her go for now. You are dismissed." Yun Fengxiao narrowed his eyes, surprised by Su Liluo's extraordinary luck. If Yun Yanyi discovered that agents under his own roof were acting lawlessly on his territory, even he, the Crown Prince, would find it difficult to escape unscathed.

Twirling the jade thumb ring on his hand, Yun Fengxiao recalled Su Baizhi's complaints about the Prime Minister preventing her mother from interfering in Su Liluo's marriage arrangements. Sensing something suspicious, he had immediately dispatched men to investigate, only to discover that this Su Liluo was somewhat peculiar.

Staring at the confidential intelligence report on his desk and pondering the anomalies surrounding Su Liluo, he decided that since she could not be made use of, it was better to strike first to prevent her from ruining his grand plans. That was what had led to today's assassination attempt. Unfortunately, she had escaped with her life.

Hearing a maid rush in to report, Su Baizhi asked with a trembling voice, "Not a single one returned?" She had deliberately dispatched extra men for the sole purpose of keeping Su Liluo pinned down; as long as she seized leverage over her, Su Liluo would have no choice but to bend to her will.

The maid shook her head, causing Su Baizhi's heart to sink heavily. "Could she have discovered it?" As the words left her mouth, she shivered involuntarily. If Su Liluo found out, how would she ever be able to keep track of her movements in the future?