I heard you have nine tails

It was very quiet in the woods to the north.Tan Chang's ears were already very sensitive, and at this time he was paying attention to the movement of the prey, so he shot without fail. After a while, he hunted down a deer and three rabbits, which were hung behind the horse.

He was eager to show off, so he ignored some small prey, but searched along the forest, walking farther and farther unknowingly.

When the clattering of horseshoes approached, Tan Chang subconsciously realized the danger was approaching. He stretched his body and did not turn his head, but he heard a chastising voice from behind, "Why did you run so far? I have been looking for you for a long time."

Tan Chang turned his horse's head, and finally saw His Highness the Crown Prince with a complaining face.The Li Lin in front of him was completely different from the smirk above the court. His eyebrows were curled up, his lips were tightly pursed, and there was a lot of blame written on his face, expressing his dissatisfaction as straightforwardly as a child.

"His Royal Highness finally got rid of the courtesies of his lovers?" Tan Chang asked mischievously.

Li Lin shook his head helplessly, and drove his horse forward to drive alongside him. "I just sent them to a hunting competition. It's not like you don't know me. I'm the most annoyed by these people's nonsense." He paused for a moment before saying, "Today, Yao Zhiyuan will win."

Tan Chang nodded, but his heart was like a mirror.

He knew that Yao Zhiyuan would win, because Yao Zhiyuan needed to build up his prestige, and because Li Lin needed an upright reason to praise him.Li Lin needed to cultivate his own loyalty among the courtiers, and also to appease the forces of all parties, Yao Zhiyuan was an excellent choice.Li Lin was afraid that he would be unhappy, but Tan Chang didn't care.Li Lin and Yao Zhiyuan were able to connect again because he was silently working.

"There is a gap between you and Migui, you have to be more careful when you get along with him, don't hurt others' self-esteem." Tan Chang instructed.

"Of course I know, but you, stay away from him."

Before Li Lin finished speaking, Tan Chang suddenly changed color, and rushed over, knocking Li Lin aside.

The arrow that flew through the air pierced deeply in the tree, and the tail feathers were still shaking.

"There are assassins!"

Li Lin's expression also changed.

"Go!" Before it was too late, he turned his horse's head and urged Tan Chang to run back.Tan Chang glared at his stubborn face, gritted his teeth and ran ahead, whipping his whip, hoping that the horse would run faster, and faster.The sound of hoofbeats followed closely behind him.

Because he was in a hurry to meet Tan Chang, Li Lin threw away the guards, and the most trusted Caesar happened to be sent by him and was not by his side.

The forest was searched by the guards, how could there be an assassin?

Questions flashed through his mind, but Li Lin didn't have time to think deeply, so he could only urge his horse forward, keeping Tan Chang in front.

There was the sound of messy hooves, and more sharp arrows flew.Li Lin had to immediately draw out his sword to block one by one.What shocked him was the sound of the arrow hitting his saber, it was very clear, it was pure steel!

Pure steel has always been monopolized by the imperial court.In an instant, Li Lin's mind was already turning a thousand times.

"The prince is assassinated, escort! Escort!" Tan Chang drove the horse and threw off the messy booty, and ran forward vigorously, while shouting loudly, hoping that someone would arrive in time, or run out of range earlier.

"what!"

The figure in front suddenly tilted.I don't know which arrow hit Tan Chang's mount, Li Lin exclaimed.

Tan Chang pulled the rein closer to stabilize his body, but the white horse groaned and fell to its knees, unable to move forward any more.

"Grab me!" Before he had time to think, Li Lin immediately stepped forward, sheathed his sword, changed his left hand to hold the rein, and extended his right hand towards Tan Chang.Tan Chang also reacted quickly, threw off the stirrup, jumped over with his hand, was caught by him into his arms, and sat on the horse.

After a set of movements, Li Lin's two songs were not free, and his back was inevitably exposed.All this only took a short moment, but this moment is enough.

An arrow pierced his shoulder.Li Lin couldn't help but rejoice that he was lucky, the arrow was probably aimed at his back.

He tried his best not to make a sound or tremble, drew his sword neatly, turned around and continued to dodge, put the reins back to Tan Chang, and stared at the group of black-clothed masked men.However, the two of them rode together, and the burden on the mount was greatly increased. Li Lin's horse was a famous horse, and it didn't slow down for a while, but in the long run, it would definitely not last long.

Li Lin was worried in his heart. He knew too well what he would do to the people around him if he resisted.When he turned sideways to block, he said to Tan Chang: "If you can't do it, you will become a fox..."

"Don't even think about it!" Tan Chang interrupted him without thinking, his voice was resolute, and the hand holding the rein did not tremble at all. "I will never leave you."

After he finished speaking, he began to shout again: "Escort! Escort!"

"Your Highness!" Finally came the response.

Finally someone was there, Li Lin heaved a sigh of relief.

However, when he saw the person coming, he raised his heart again.

It's Li Yun.

Li Yun traveled with the prince, and did not bring too many people with him, just two guards.However, the situation was urgent, Li Lin didn't care about anything, and shouted loudly: "The assassin is here, take it down quickly!"

The guard drew his bow and shot.

The rain of arrows behind him didn't stop, but became denser instead. Li Yun shouted: "Brother Huang, put Mrs. Tan down!" He followed while shouting. "Don't worry about me, go and catch the assassin!"

Li Lin picked up a shield, finally breathed a sigh of relief, protected Tan Chang and himself, and then shouted for help.The two guards couldn't resist for long, but fortunately, the guard who was left behind by Li Lin finally arrived.

"Take down the assassin!"

The guards rushed up with their shields upright.

The men in black finally realized that the situation was over, but the guards did not give them a chance to escape.

"Keep alive!" Li Lin shouted loudly.

His coat was drenched with sweat, and the palm of his hand holding the sword was numb. Li Lin lowered his hand, threw away the shield, and supported Tan Chang's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Tan Chang stopped his horse, his face dripping with sweat. "I'm fine."

"Your Highness, all the assassins have been captured!" The head guard knelt on one knee and clasped his fists in reply.

"Ask!"

Li Lin jumped off the horse, his legs were still not stable when he landed.He strode through the crowd, toward the assassin, whose guard's sword was pinned to his neck.

There are four assassins in total, all dressed in black, equipped with hard bows and long swords.Just as Li Lin was about to ask a question, he suddenly saw one of them raising his hand.

"Your Highness!"

A silver light flashed, and before Li Lin could react, a figure suddenly threw him down.

"Second brother!?"

The one who threw him down was the crippled Li Yun!

How did he drag his disabled body, jump off the horse and rush over?

Li Lin sat on the ground and slowly helped Li Yun up.He looked at Li Yun with only a small sleeve arrow protruding from his chest, and almost lost his ability to react.

"My lord is injured, send it to the imperial doctor!" It was Tan Chang's voice.Tan Chang reacted first.There is an imperial doctor in Biezhuang, but is there still time?

However, even after this happened, Li Yun continued to speak intermittently, and his fingers clung to Li Lin's robe.Li Lin involuntarily lowered his head and moved closer, listening to his voice.

"Concubine Wang and Zhen'er... I'm leaving it to Brother Huang..."

Li Lin's heart fluttered, and he squeezed Li Yun's hand tightly. "Get well soon and take care of your wife and children by yourself!"

"Also, and... Mrs. Zhang, Mrs. Zhang..."

Li Yun was almost speechless, but his eyes were still looking at Li Lin imploringly. Li Lin hugged Li Yun's hand and said, "Okay, okay, I understand. I will take care of her child and raise him personally." , teach him to grow up to be a vassal king as competent as his father."

Li Yun seemed to want to laugh, but he had no strength left.

He finally closed his eyes.

The guard had already knelt on the ground.The crown prince was assassinated, the county king died suddenly, none of them could keep their heads.

The man in black who threw the sleeve arrow had already slammed into the guard's sword neatly, killing him.The other three followed suit and committed suicide one after another.

Li Lin put down his second brother slowly, stood up, and looked at the fallen man indifferently. "So, no one was left alive?"

The leading guard gathered his mind and kneeled in front of Li Lin.

"Your Highness," he said, "you don't need to live, I know them."

Holding a longbow in both hands, he presented it to Li Lin. "This is the palace guard."

His voice was so soft that only Li Lin heard it.

Li Lin's body swayed, and Tan Chang rushed forward to help him stabilize his body. "Your Highness should now lead people back to Beijing to find out the truth and uphold justice for the prince!"

"Go back to the palace." Li Lin finally breathed out, "You'll take the crime and make meritorious service first." He glanced at the guards without stopping, turned his head and asked, "Where is Princess Yanping now?"

Fortunately, to avoid suspicion, the princess stayed in the villa and did not come out, so she missed this tragic scene.

Li Lin let out a foul breath, nodded towards Tan Chang, ordered people to clean up the scene, and asked the maids to carry Li Yun's body back to wipe it clean, while he himself was busy calling the officials in the forest to inform him of the details.

Tan Chang had already ordered someone to send a message, and when he saw Yao Zhiyuan, he called Yao Zhiyuan aside and gave some instructions quietly. "The crown prince was assassinated, and the Second Highness died because of blocking the knife."

Yao Zhiyuan's eyes widened suddenly, and he nodded vigorously. "Siming, I understand what you mean." Then Yao Zhiyuan joined the ranks of notifying the courtiers and summoning the guards.

After hearing the news, Princess Yanping insisted on seeing Li Yun for the last time, but Li Lin couldn't refuse, so she had to let her meet.Unexpectedly, after seeing it, the originally virtuous and elegant princess turned into a wooden sculpture, neither crying nor making noise.Li Lin had no choice but to ask the maid to make clothes.

Without even eating lunch, the group set foot on the way back to the palace.

Li Lin had a sullen face and a stiff body along the way.Tan Chang saw that he was blaming himself.After all, he suggested coming to Biezhuang, and something happened the next day.He is not only responsible for the death of King Yanping, but also for Princess Yanping, concubine Zhang, and two children, and even all the people in Yanping.

Tan Chang approached quietly, he knew that what Li Lin needs now is not comfort, but a distraction.

"The guards didn't find out the result last night?"

Li Lin finally raised his head. Fortunately, his tone of voice was quite steady. "The guards checked and said they didn't find anything. Since the assassin is also a guard, it's not difficult to cover up."

Tan Chang nodded.Regardless of whether there are traitors or not, these guards will definitely be dealt with properly after returning to the palace.He is more concerned with the mastermind behind the scenes.Being able to reach out to Li Lin's side, and even instruct the guards... Tan Chang felt deeply disturbed, but he still had to speak out to persuade him.

"Now Your Majesty's prince is apart from you, and the only prince of Weinan." The third prince, Li Ji, has been abolished as a commoner.If Li Lin wanted to keep his reputation, he had to treat his only little brother kindly.

Li Lin didn't show any resistance, and even nodded, "I know, I specially asked the National People's Congress to do it for my fourth brother's birthday a few days ago."

"Is Empress Chen's death day coming soon?" Tan Chang was taken aback, and an unknown thought flashed through his mind.He once paid homage to Empress Chen together with Li Lin, and he vaguely remembered that it was around this time.

"...Yes." Li Lin replied.

Tan Chang's face was unpredictable, "Wait a minute, I have to go home first."

"What's the matter?" Li Lin frowned, but unfortunately Tan Chang didn't notice. "I have some guesses, I want to confirm it."