[Hiring an assassin to kill one’s own father]
‘Hiring an assassin to kill my father!?’ Shen Yunfei’s body went rigid as he stared at Ying Fusheng in utter horror. The latter remained indifferent, simply continuing: “In selecting the assassins, you will need two men who meet two specific criteria. First, a regular at the taverns where the capital’s dandy’s linger—someone fond of gambling and wine, with a volatile temper. Second, a frequenter of tea houses—a scholar type, frustrated by his lack of success, preferably with some history of conflict with the garrisons stationed near the capital.”
Shen Yunfei found it utterly incomprehensible; Ying Fusheng’s words sounded like pure fantasy to him.
Yet in the very next moment, Ying Fusheng’s statement was enough to root him to the spot.
“Your academic performance is poor, yet you know plenty of ‘fair-weather friends,'” Ying Fusheng’s voice was as clear as a spring, yet it struck Shen Yunfei like a heavy blow. “You associate with dandy wastrels and frequent the city outskirts; you are especially familiar with the backroads leading from the outskirts into the capital.”
Shen Yunfei’s heart was in a state of chaotic upheaval. “How do you know that?”
“Young General Qi wasn’t wrong—your horsemanship is unique. In the capital, the only place you can practice riding is the mountain woods behind the garrison camp in the outskirts.” Ying Fusheng exposed his secrets in a few short sentences. “During today’s riding practice, you have more than enough time. I can serve as your alibi. It is up to you whether to do it or not.”
“If you wish to proceed, I will teach you how to ‘buy’ the violence.”
…
At 3:45 PM, the streets of the capital were bustling with people. The Shen Manor was located in the southern part of the city, a solemn area where few people loitered. A few scattered soldiers from the outskirts garrison patrolled the perimeter. Vice Minister Shen was under house arrest, and over the last few days, family members of soldiers implicated in the military funds case had frequently come to protest, leaving the entrance littered with ritual paper money.
An attendant was chatting with the owner of a tea stall. Qi Hanzhou, dressed in civilian clothes, watched as the group of mourning relatives moved away. His attendant approached and said, “They’re from General Chen’s household. This is the third day they’ve come to cause a scene. The stall owner says that aside from the troublemakers, the Vice Minister’s manor has been very quiet.”
Qi Hanzhou frowned, his gaze shifting to the patrolling garrison soldiers. “Those aren’t people from the Supreme Court of Justice?”
“That’s the thing. Vice Minister Shen has ties with the outskirts garrison. Since there were so many protesters, the garrison specifically sent men over, claiming they are there to ‘protect’ him,” the attendant replied. “Young General, do you sense something amiss?”
Qi Hanzhou took the tea offered by the stall owner, lost in thought. At that exact moment, a loud cry suddenly erupted from within the Shen Manor—”Vice Minister Shen has been assassinated!!”
The two men froze and instantly set down their tea bowls. With a sharp nod from Qi Hanzhou, the attendant vaulted over the manor wall. Spotting the culprit attempting to flee, he immediately pinned the man to the ground. By then, the other servants of the Shen household had arrived. Qi Hanzhou entered the Vice Minister’s study and found Shen Changcun on the floor, bleeding from his abdomen. He frowned. “Seal the manor. No one enters or leaves.”
Vice Minister Shen had been confined to his home, and almost the entire Shen family was inside. Yet, the assassin managed to infiltrate the manor, knowing exactly that the Vice Minister would be in his study for a long time. The killer had bypassed every servant and used knock-out incense to enter the room and strike. Had the servants not arrived when they did, the Vice Minister would have died on the spot.
“Young General,” the attendant whispered as he approached. “He’s a trained fighter, but his skills aren’t top-tier.”
Vice Minister Shen had taken a blade to the waist, and the assassin had been caught red-handed.
When the Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice arrived, he nearly fainted at the sight. He hurriedly ordered his men to take over. “Many thanks, Young General Qi.”
“Father—!”
Qi Hanzhou gave a slight acknowledgment, turning his head just as the youngest Shen son came rushing in. His face was a mask of terror, his forehead drenched in sweat. He knelt frantically to check his father’s wound, turning deathly pale at the sight. “My father’s injury…”
“The cut isn’t deep. Master Shen is blessed by the heavens,” the physician said hurriedly.
Qi Hanzhou’s gaze narrowed, lingering on Shen Yunfei for a moment. Suddenly, he caught a whiff of a crisp, cool medicinal fragrance. He turned to see Ying Fusheng standing at the doorway. Ying Fusheng happened to look up; his eyes were excessively calm against his pale face.
But it was only for a split second. As soon as others looked his way, his eyes filled with a layer of deep worry.
“Your Highness, you cannot go in,” the palace attendants blocked him.
Ying Fusheng stopped just short of the threshold. “How is Master Shen’s condition?”
The situation at the Shen Manor was dire. Qi Hanzhou had sealed the premises, and every servant was being interrogated. Aside from the youngest son, the rest of the Shen family was under house arrest and constant surveillance. This crime had been committed right under everyone’s noses without alerting the manor’s guards. After a thorough search, the only possibility was that someone inside the Shen Manor had opened a door to let the assassin in.
“Every person in this manor must be investigated!” the Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice barked.
Qi Hanzhou looked at Shen Yunfei. The boy was sweating profusely. ‘Is it from panic or something else?’
The Minister noticed Qi Hanzhou’s focus. “Young General?”
Shen Yunfei looked terrible, with dark circles under his eyes, but he had the Sixth Prince as his alibi; they had supposedly been together all day.
Qi Hanzhou withdrew his gaze. Thinking back to Shen Yunfei’s horsemanship, he looked at Ying Fusheng once more.
Ying Fusheng’s expression was absolutely flawless.
With the Shen Manor under attack, the palace servants following Ying Fusheng were worried for the prince’s safety and quickly escorted him back to his carriage.
Watching Ying Fusheng walk away, Qi Hanzhou’s brow furrowed even deeper. “Why did he come here?”
His attendant lowered his voice and replied, “Today the Wenhua Hall went to the capital’s outskirts; the study companions and attendants followed. When the news arrived, the Sixth Highness was by Young Master Shen’s side. What is it, Young General? Is there a problem? With this turn of events at the Shen Manor, we finally have a chance to investigate the military pay embezzlement case.”
“Indeed,” Qi Hanzhou turned back to look at the Shen residence behind him. “It’s just… too coincidental.”
So coincidental that it felt as if someone had personally delivered this opportunity to them.
People from the Supreme Court of Justice were streaming in and out. Even the capital’s garrison guarding the gates were now listed as suspects. The entire Shen household was in a state of panicked unrest.
When news of the attack on Vice Minister Shen reached the palace, the Emperor was furious, ordering the Supreme Court of Justice to thoroughly investigate the assassination attempt.
The assassin was subjected to severe torture before he finally confessed that the one who hired him was a scholar. That scholar had neither wealth nor power and had previously been in conflict with Vice Minister Shen. No one knew where he had obtained the funds to hire the assassin to infiltrate the manor. When the scholar was arrested at a teahouse, he was scared out of his wits; under interrogation, he immediately claimed someone had approached him to hire the killer, intending to frame the scene as Vice Minister Shen committing suicide out of guilt.
The mysterious party had even shown an official seal, promising him a government post if the deed was done.
The scholar had been frustrated and overlooked for a long time, and he truly did have a history of conflict with the capital’s garrison. The story was almost seamless.
When this news broke, the entire Imperial Court was shocked.
Originally, it was just a case of missing military pay, and Vice Minister Shen was on the verge of being convicted. Now that a hired assassination had come to light, it proved there was undoubtedly a mastermind behind the scenes… Once this lead surfaced, Young General Qi actually discovered two malicious spies within the inner courtyards of the Shen residence during the lockdown. The moment they were discovered, the two took poison and committed suicide. Though they couldn’t be questioned, it was enough to make everyone’s blood run cold.
Someone had planted moles in the Shen residence and desperately wanted to kill Vice Minister Shen and stage it as a suicide to force the military pay case to a closed conclusion!
The Emperor’s wrath shook the court. Since the case involved General Chen and the framing of a loyal official, he immediately deployed the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate every detail of the Shen family’s affairs. The assassin and the scholar detained at the Supreme Court of Justice became the only breakthroughs. Suddenly, the two major political factions in court were scrambling to distance themselves from the responsibility.
Shen Yunfei hadn’t expected the Shen family’s situation to be turned upside down in just a few days following the assassination. That day, he had been terrified when he entered the study and saw the bloody wound on his father’s waist. However, the Sixth Highness had instructed him beforehand not to tell his father and to let things happen naturally for maximum authenticity. The Sixth Highness had told him in detail how to hire the killers, from the teahouse to the restaurant, including the choice of person… Following those strict criteria, he had actually found the perfect candidate and successfully staged the assassination.
But how did the Sixth Highness know in advance that there was a suitable candidate? How did he know the exact schedule of the capital garrison’s shifts to allow the assassin a path into the manor? There was no way to know. He had simply followed a plan that seemed full of loopholes, yet it had succeeded perfectly—it had even led Young General Qi to find the spies in the house.
Hearing that his father had regained consciousness, he rushed over. As soon as he entered the room, he heard a roar of anger.
“Father!” Shen Yunfei knelt.
Vice Minister Shen told him to stand up. What others couldn’t figure out, he understood clearly.
He also knew that with his son’s abilities, such a sophisticated plan was impossible. “This wasn’t your idea. Who taught you to do this? Hiring assassins, deceiving the Emperor… how dare you!”
“It was the Sixth Highness… he said this was the only way to save you.” Shen Yunfei knew this move was incredibly bold. Seeing his father agitate his wound out of excitement, he hurriedly explained: “It was I who begged the Sixth Highness for help. He said only a hired assassination could find a turning point for the Shen family.”
‘The Sixth Highness… the Ning family?’
Vice Minister Shen rested his hand on the edge of the bed. As he listened to Ying Fusheng’s plan from Shen Yunfei’s mouth, his face—which had aged significantly over the past few days—seemed to regain a bit of color. He thought back to the Sixth Prince he had only caught a glimpse of at the palace banquet—he remembered his words of apparent sincerity and the subsequent rise of Vice Minister Ning in the court. The Shen and Ning families had no prior dealings, and Vice Minister Ning usually avoided him like the plague; it was impossible for the Ning family to help him.
“Tell me everything in detail…”
Upon hearing this, Shen Yunfei hurriedly disclosed everything the Sixth Highness had taught him.
“How did the Sixth Highness know about these people?” Vice Minister Shen was in disbelief. These were things even he hadn’t noticed. ‘Isn’t the Sixth Highness just a child?’
Shen Yunfei didn’t know; hiring someone to “kill” his own father was already a transgressive act. Yet the specific conditions the Sixth Highness mentioned had truly led to the right person. Over the last few days of intense investigation by the Supreme Court of Justice, Shen Yunfei felt like he was on the verge of being exposed, but he wasn’t. Instead, the investigators only found a trail of prior offenses linked to the scholar and the assassin.
He added, “The Sixth Highness said that if you woke up, you should read this letter.”
Vice Minister Shen was dazed. With trembling hands, he opened the letter given by Ying Fusheng and read it with extreme care.
Once he finished, his hands would not stop shaking. He immediately ordered Shen Yunfei to burn it.
“So that’s how it is… so that’s how it is…” He seemed to age several years in an instant. Once the secret letter was reduced to ash, he spoke: “Yunfei, the Sixth Highness has done our Shen family a great kindness. Help me up; I must enter the palace to see the Emperor.”
Despite having been awake for only half a day and ignoring his injuries, Vice Minister Shen entered the palace that night, claiming he had urgent matters to report.
When the news reached the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince was so startled he knocked over his teacup. “Is this true?!” he demanded.
“It is true!” the servant knelt. “His Majesty has ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate everything related to the Shen family from start to finish. Your Highness, will our tampering at the martial arts field be discovered?”
The Crown Prince looked tense. The incident with the startled horse at the martial arts field was indeed his design; he could not allow Shen Yunfei to become his study companion. To that end, he had used some of the Xu family’s influence, waiting for the military pay case to close so everything would be seamless… But Vice Minister Shen’s assassination meant that Shen Yunfei’s “accident” might be reopened for investigation. “No, this cannot be discovered!”
If his Imperial Father found out, it would be the end.
The Crown Prince paced back and forth, his heart racing with fear. “The Embroidered Uniform Guard… how far have they checked?”
“They are still interrogating the scholar. He has no more to give, but his mention of an official seal has implicated several officials. The high officials in charge of the Imperial Examinations are afraid of being caught in the crossfire,” the servant said. “This assassination was too convenient. It is highly likely someone wants to use the military pay case to drag those high officials down.”
The Crown Prince no longer cared about any of that. He didn’t care what happened to those officials—his grandfather would handle it. He was worried about the martial arts field!
“No, I must find a way.”