I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 322 - 244: A City in White Mourning

These archers were bribed Southern Border border army soldiers, although only a dozen or so, but at such close range, they struck unexpectedly.

They waited deliberately until Rong Shuo announced that the military affairs would be handed over to Gu Lan before they planned to kill him.

At this moment, Rong Shuo gave a bitter smile, not dodging at all, facing everything head-on.

He already knew who wanted to kill him.

It turned out, Wu was right.

The one who wanted to kill him was the person he had always protected. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

In an instant, countless sharp arrows rushed towards him, Gu Lan stood in front of Rong Shuo, drawing a sword to block the arrows.

However, one or two stray arrows from another direction still hit Rong Shuo.

Rong Shuo spewed a mouthful of blood, staining his clothes red, he clutched his chest, and with a "thump", fell to the ground!

"Prince!"

Tang Zhan shouted hoarsely.

"Protect! Quickly, protect!"

"Protect the Prince—"

Rong Heng shot an arrow to kill an archer, leapt forward, his dark eyes tinged with blood, hoarsely called out:

"Brother!"

Rong Shuo laboriously lifted his head, looking at the sun and the sky blue as if washed, his thoughts drifted back to his youth.

Lu’er, Rong Jue, Xiao Lie... they all lingered in the past.

If the years of war and horses were a dream,

If they were still alive,

How great it would be.

On the city wall, the reacting soldiers leaped up, capturing these assassins. However, after a rain of arrows, only to hear the successive "thud" sounds, these assassins, with no hesitation, plunged their blades into their own chests, all committing suicide.

Before dying, a few deliberately shouted loudly: "Long live Great Wei! Long live the Great General!"

Today, originally was the day Rong Shuo recovered from poisoning to meet the entire army and stabilize the army’s morale, yet due to sudden changes, Yinzhou fell into chaos once again.

*

In Yinzhou City, a light drizzle began to fall.

The Wei Army hasn’t attacked the city these days, the provisions inside the city are temporarily sufficient, it’s heard that the disaster relief grains from Vice Minister Xie will be delivered soon.

The citizens volunteering to defend the city wall have all become idle, although there are still no pedestrians on the streets, some shops have opened as usual, but these stores open silently, and the citizens are as silent as cicadas in winter.

This should have been a succession of good news.

But this city turned white.

Rows of armored soldiers with white cloth tied to their left arms, with red eyes, occasionally gazing at the Wei Army camp outside the city a few miles away.

It seems they are not the ones besieged, they are ready to rush out of the city and fight the Wei Army at any time.

A person has died,

The whole city is in mourning.

Today, Vice Minister Xie Yun, brought provisions and entered the city with the army.

At the same time, ten thousand reinforcements and twenty thousand auxiliary soldiers from states like Lu State, Tongzhou, and Cang City, also arrived in Yinzhou.

Xie Yun and the army entered the city without encountering any obstruction from the Wei Army.

In recent days, Wei Junzhuo has not appeared in the Wei camp, his return to Bian is a secret that cannot be kept for long.

Moreover, the Yan people have gone mad because of Prince Rui of Dayan being assassinated by the Wei people.

Before Lu Jian’s reinforcements arrive, the Wei Army has been very restrained, fearing that the people inside the city would risk everything against them.

The atmosphere in Yinzhou City is very oppressive.

Xie Yun felt it as soon as he entered the city, and without delay, he handed over the grains and reinforcements to Tang Zhan, changed into plain clothes, and rushed to the City Lord Mansion.

The City Lord Mansion in Yinzhou was a residence bought by Prince Rui when he was stationed in Yinzhou.

Not large, with only a few old servants inside, usually, the Prince eats and lives in the military camp, this residence had not been lived in for a long time.

At the entrance of the residence, was a line of Black Armor Personal Guards, Wei Chengyuan led these guards at the door, dressed in black, profoundly somber.

Xie Yun dismounted, saying: "Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Xie Yun, requests to meet... the Prince."

He arrived in haste, and he should leave in haste. While on the road, the Su Family and the Emperor in the court had already instructed him to return to the capital immediately after delivering the grains to Yinzhou.

Xie Yun knew that this was Su Wenzhong worrying about his safety, and also that the Emperor needed him to balance power with the Su Family in the court.

Years ago, when he passed the imperial examinations, he knew the then Crown Prince appreciated his abilities, and now that the Crown Prince is the Emperor, he still treats him as a "Su Family member" on the surface.

And now, half of the sky at the Southern Border has collapsed.

The other half is supported by Young Master Gu and Fifth Prince Rong.

In the court, there will probably be a great upheaval.

He must return to the capital immediately, otherwise, Lan would not know how he would be slandered by those people.

Wei Chengyuan nodded, the gate guards opened the door, Xie Yun took a deep breath and went inside.

In the courtyard, there were no guards or servants on duty, only white cloths visible everywhere.

Vaguely, cries could be heard coming from somewhere unknown.

Xie Yun’s steps faltered; he knew that ahead lay Prince Rui’s spirit hall.

Before Prince Rui died, he hadn’t instructed for his body to be sent back to the Capital City, so after seven days, he was to be buried for peace.

The courtyard was eerily quiet, leaving Xie Yun puzzled as to why there weren’t any soldiers guarding after crossing the main gate.

Walking along a corridor, Gu Lan, clad in mourning dress, emerged from the spirit hall in the main hall.

Her face was cold and white as jade, her expression indifferent. She raised her hand and handed three sticks of incense to Xie Yun.

"Vice Minister Xie, you’ve arrived."

"I’m late."

Xie Yun observed Gu Lan’s demeanor and, seeing that she didn’t display much grief, he let out a sigh of relief.

Gu Lan calmly said, "What does this have to do with you... go light a stick of incense for the Prince, let him leave freely."

"Freely?"

Would whether he lights incense affect the Prince’s peaceful departure?

Xie Yun’s heart skipped a beat, and he furrowed his brow.

He realized,

things seemed to have gotten a bit out of control.

Holding the incense, Xie Yun slowly walked up the steps towards the main hall set up as the spirit hall.

Before even stepping in, Xie Yun had already seen the camphorwood coffin placed in the center.

Xie Yun’s eyes stung, filling with tears.

He wasn’t familiar with Prince Rui, hadn’t exchanged many words, but he was Dayan’s Prince Rui, the Prince who defended against foreign enemies, safeguarding the peace and security of the home and country. He had been through countless battles, and yet, he died at the hands of those Wei army assassins.

Xie Yun’s steps grew heavier until he saw three chairs placed beside Prince Rui’s coffin.

The outermost one was empty.

Young Master Gu, who had been following leisurely behind him, overtook him, walked in, sat down, and crossed his legs.

In the middle, Rong Heng sat, also clad in mourning dress, his expression calm and indifferent.

Seeing Xie Yun, he lifted his eyelids slightly, "Here? When are you leaving?"

Xie Yun was stunned.

He stared fixedly at the man sitting on the last chair, a surge of panic and shock uncontrollably rising in his heart, unsure of what expression he should make.

That man was dressed in black, his hair tied with a dark jade crown, his back facing Xie Yun, only showing his broad shoulders.

Xie Yun’s throat choked momentarily, and after a long while, he lifted his hem and solemnly kneeled:

"This official pays respect to Your Highness."

Xie Yun’s voice faintly suppressed a choked sob.

The man turned around inch by inch, revealing a cold and resolute face.

His complexion was pale and silent, his expression somewhat weary, and he spoke:

"Vice Minister Xie, please rise. Dayan’s Prince Rui is already dead; now, I am just a nobody."

Xie Yun stood up, still unable to conceal the shock in his eyes until Young Master Gu retrieved a steaming copper pot from behind the coffin and placed it on Prince Rui’s coffin lid.

The copper pot had two layers, the bottom layer of which held burning red charcoal.

Xie Yun: "This..."

"Prince Rui is dead, but Rong Shuo remains. Brother, you are free now." Gu Lan then took out three wine cups, filled them, placed them on the coffin lid, and spoke leisurely.

Xie Yun looked at the steaming copper pot, this was a small hot pot uniquely created by Young Master Gu, now blooming on this land at the Southern Border.

No wonder there was no guard in the courtyard.

No wonder the spirit hall had three chairs.

No wonder as soon as he entered, he smelled a familiar aroma, he thought it was Gu Lan having eaten too much hot pot, marinating it into her essence.

The three of them had deceived the entire garrison and the whole city’s citizens—

The whole world believed that Prince Rui had died,

yet,

here was Prince Rui, eating hot pot on his coffin lid.

Xie Yun wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, tears not of sadness, but from the impact of joy and sorrow, unable to hold back.

A subtle smile appeared on Rong Shuo’s pale face, saying, "Young Brother Gu is right, today’s matter calls for a great celebration. From now on, I am free, I shall drink with you until drunk."

With that said, he attempted to raise a cup to drink in one go.

However, before the wine reached his lips, Rong Heng took it away with an indifferent look.

"The injured cannot drink unless you wish to truly die, die now and be buried directly."

Rong Shuo: "...."

Xie Yun, who specially changed into mourning attire to enter the city, overwhelmingly sorrowful, never felt like such a fool.

But he was very happy because Prince Rui was alive. Even though he had been deceived, he was willingly fooled.

"What is this all about exactly?"