Chapter 13

The Assassination

A solo dance is more difficult than group performances with dozens or even hundreds of dancers because the performer must capture everyone’s attention alone. Only someone with exceptional dance skills would dare to perform alone.

As everyone was captivated by Mei Xue’s graceful movements, Yun Yi quietly stepped forward. Moving closer to Li Yuan, she suddenly made her move, swiftly drawing a dagger from her sleeve and lunging toward Li Yuan’s chest, shouting fiercely, “Li Yuan, take your life!”

No one could have expected an assassination attempt during a celebration of song and dance. For a moment, everyone stood frozen in shock, watching the gleaming cold dagger heading straight for Li Yuan. If it struck, even if Li Yuan didn’t die, he would certainly be severely injured.

In this critical moment, the seasoned Li Yuan reacted quickly, grabbing a gilded fruit plate from the table and flinging the green fruit at Yun Yi. He then raised the plate to shield his chest, just in time to block the dagger that was mere inches away!

Yun Yi didn’t try to avoid the flying fruit, her focus entirely on driving the dagger into Li Yuan. When the sharp tip of the dagger clashed with the gilded fruit plate, it produced a shrill, ear-piercing sound, like a knife scraping across an iron pot, but it successfully stopped the dagger’s momentum.

Just when everyone thought Li Yuan was safe, the dagger actually pierced through the fruit plate. With a dull thud, it lodged itself into Li Yuan’s chest, and blood began to pour out, staining his clothes a deep crimson.

The closest to him was Wan Shi, who gasped in horror upon seeing Li Yuan wounded, nearly fainting in shock. The others finally snapped out of their stupor. Amid the rising shouts, they rushed forward, trying to capture Yun Yi. At the same time, servants rushed outside, urgently ordering the guards to apprehend the assassin.

Chapter 13: The Assassination

Although Yun Yi managed to injure Li Yuan, there was no joy in her heart. The fruit plate’s obstruction had reduced the force of her strike, and though it looked terrifying, the stab was actually a light wound and not life-threatening. At this moment, she had already revealed her identity, and she knew she had to kill Li Yuan; otherwise, there might never be another opportunity.

Her thoughts shifted in an instant. She intended to retract her dagger and strike again, but Li Yuan had already seen through her intentions. With great pain, he turned the fruit plate, trapping the dagger in its gap, preventing her from pulling it back. This delay allowed Li Shimin and Li Xuanba to get closer, with Li Jiancheng trailing behind due to his foot injury.

“Bold servant, how dare you assassinate my father!” Li Xuanba, acting swiftly, clenched his fist and charged at Yun Yi. The sons of Li Yuan had been trained in martial arts since childhood, and although Li Xuanba was only in his teens, his skills were still formidable.

Seeing that Li Xuanba was already engaging the assassin, Li Shimin and the others quickly moved to shield Li Yuan, fearing there might be other assassins.

With Li Xuanba charging at her, Yun Yi made a quick decision, withdrawing her dagger and meeting his punch head-on. Although Yun Yi appeared frail, her martial arts were extremely strong, and her movements were unpredictable. The two fought fiercely, but this was not a favorable situation for Yun Yi. If the battle continued, not only would she fail to assassinate Li Yuan, but escaping would also become nearly impossible.

At this moment, guards armed with swords rushed in and immediately began separating them from Li Yuan to prevent Yun Yi from having another chance to harm him.

After the initial shock, Wan Shi regained her composure and hurriedly said, “Quick, send for the doctor, quickly!” She anxiously supported Li Yuan, whose wound was bleeding, and asked, “Governor, how are you? Is the injury serious?”

Li Yuan shook his head. “It’s just a flesh wound, nothing serious.” While speaking, his eyes remained fixed on Yun Yi, who was still locked in combat with Li Xuanba. He could hardly believe that an assassin had infiltrated the Governor’s residence, and worse, she was a woman.

Li Xuanba refused to let the guards intervene. After forcing Yun Yi back with a punch, he coldly said, “You can’t escape now. Surrender and perhaps I’ll leave you a complete corpse.”

“Enough talking!” Yun Yi suddenly pulled a hairpin from her hair and threw it at Li Xuanba. He dodged it, and with a powerful punch, struck her left shoulder with a loud crack.

Yun Yi staggered back, grimacing in pain. The force of Li Xuanba’s punch was immense, and even though her shoulder wasn’t shattered, it was definitely cracked.

Li Xuanba, feeling emboldened, shouted, “Will you surrender?”

Yun Yi ignored him and launched another attack. A look of disdain appeared in Li Xuanba’s eyes as he swung his fist again. However, this time, Yun Yi’s body twisted like a boneless snake, dodging his punch and leaving a bloody scratch across his hand. But this injury was insignificant to Li Xuanba; it didn’t hurt him at all, and he continued throwing punch after punch. But after a while, his expression changed, and his punches lost their strength. Looking down, he saw that the blood from his hand had turned black. “Poisoned!”

Almost simultaneously, Wan Shi’s voice rang out in horror, “Governor? Governor?!”

Everyone turned to see Li Yuan, who had seemed fine just moments ago, collapsed on the desk. The blood dripping from his wound had turned black, clearly indicating that he too had been poisoned.

Wan Shi, panic-stricken, supported Li Yuan and cried out in fear, “Where is the doctor? Why hasn’t the doctor come yet?”

At that moment, a middle-aged man, who had been sitting among the guests, quickly approached. After checking Li Yuan’s pulse, he solemnly took out silver needles from his chest and swiftly inserted them into several key acupuncture points on Li Yuan’s body. He then moved to Li Xuanba, repeating the process on his hand and saying, “Third young master, you must calm your breath immediately, or the poison will attack your heart.”

Li Xuanba paid no attention to him. Kneeling on the ground, he gritted his teeth and said, “I take back my words. Even if you surrender now, I will tear you to pieces to vent my rage!” He then turned to the waiting guards and ordered, “Capture this wretch immediately. And remember, I want her alive—don’t let her die!”

Yun Yi coldly glared at Li Xuanba, then faced the advancing guards. Though her incredible agility and cunning allowed her to injure several guards, the situation was becoming dire. If not for Li Xuanba’s orders to capture her alive, she would probably have already been killed. But even so, she knew she couldn’t keep fighting for long and needed to escape quickly.

Before the assassination attempt, she had coated both her dagger and hairpin with a rare poison from the Western Regions, but she couldn’t be sure it would kill Li Shimin. The safest option would have been to strike again, but it seemed there was no chance left for that.

As Yun Yi pondered her escape, she continued to fend off the guards. In one brief lapse of attention, her weakened left arm was cut, causing her face to pale with pain.

Despite feeling faint from the poison, Li Xuanba smirked coldly. Surrounded by so many guards, Yun Yi had no chance of escaping unless she could sprout wings. Otherwise, she would never leave the residence alive.