Chapter 1460: 713 His grandson (first watch of the night)

Han Ye was absolutely dumbfounded by the scene before him.

First, the mysterious appearance of the men in black, then the sudden arrival of a carriage, followed by how one of the men unhesitatingly tossed Xiao Liulang into the carriage, anyone would think that another one of Xiao Liulang’s accomplices was inside the carriage, right?

But why… would it be His Majesty the Emperor?

Could it be that His Majesty had already learned of Xiao Liulang’s true identity?

No, that can’t be right, the Crown Prince said that the Emperor didn’t know!

Besides, if His Majesty really came for Xiao Liulang, he certainly wouldn’t have done so in secret!

The Emperor just happened to be passing by!

There were three people in His Majesty’s party: the Emperor himself, Zhang Dequan, and a master from within the palace doubling as the coachman.

The coachman’s martial arts skills were excellent, but sadly still no match for Han Ye, the number one master. He managed to block an attack but was still sent flying by the sword energy.

That led to the aftermath of the carriage being split open.

As for Xiao Liulang, who was thrown into the carriage by the men in black–

Well, that was the coachman’s dereliction of duty.

Being the first time seeing a man who seemed like a heavenly being, he got distracted for a moment.

Xiao Hen was currently lying on the floor of the carriage; the man in black had been rough yet cleverly softened the throw, so the fall wasn’t painful, just inevitably embarrassing.

He had been plucked straight from his bed, with no time to dress up in women’s clothing, wearing only his thin, plain white night clothes, with raven-black hair like ink cascading over his shoulders and body, covering most of his face.

He was very confused.

He had no idea whose carriage he had fallen into.

What caught his eye were two pairs of elaborately made shoes, one pair particularly luxurious, and he instinctively looked up at the owners of the shoes.

…He only recognized Zhang Dequan.

He did not recognize the Bald Emperor.

–The importance of a hairstyle.

Whether he recognized them or not was no longer important because the Emperor saw him.

The moment he lifted his head, his long hair slid from his face, revealing his features fully before the Emperor.

The Emperor even forgot to pursue the matter of his near assassination, just staring fixedly at the face so close at hand.

But Xiao Hen remembered that he was fleeing for his life.

He glanced back at the masked man in black who had frozen in place, realizing that the man was very wary of these two individuals, it was an opportunity to escape!

Xiao Hen scrambled to his feet, pushed past the Emperor and Zhang Dequan, squeezed between them, jumped out from the other side of the carriage, and walked away without looking back!

Zhang Dequan, in a moment of urgency, turned around and shouted at the figure disappearing into the night.

With Xiao Hen gone, the Emperor’s attention successfully returned to Han Ye.

Two experts, one was a dead soldier recently purchased by the Princess, the other was unknown.

But the dead soldier was protecting Xiao Liulang, and the other came to assassinate Xiao Liulang; otherwise, Xiao Liulang wouldn’t be fleeing.

The Emperor looked at the stiff Han Ye, a streak of piercing cold lighting his eyes, “Seize him!”

The palace master, doubling as the coachman, leapt up, pulled out a flexible sword hidden at his waist, and launched an aerial slash at Han Ye.

The dead soldier bought by the Princess joined the fray, and together they launched a fierce attack on Han Ye.

Honestly, the skills of both the palace master and the auction house’s dead soldier were not weak.

But Han Ye was too strong. After tens of rounds of combat, they had only managed to deplete a lot of Han Ye’s energy and hadn’t inflicted any substantial injury.

Han Ye actually had the chance to kill them, but the presence of the Emperor applied a tremendous pressure on him.

He couldn’t continue the fight…

After repelling the two of them with another strike, Han Ye used a feint and took the chance to turn and flee into the night.

The coachman abruptly grabbed his wrist.

He didn’t pull the man down, only tore off the sleeve and the cloth around the wound, revealing a gash that looked as if it had been gouged.

Han Ye was gone.

The dead soldier also exhibited his light-footed skills and departed.

The coachman knelt on one knee, cupped his hands towards the Emperor and confessed his failure, “This servant is incompetent! I failed to capture the assassin! Please punish me, Your Majesty!”

The Emperor didn’t speak of punishment, but instead asked Zhang Dequan beside him, “Did you see everything just now?”

Zhang Dequan was taken aback momentarily, then realizing the Emperor was referring to the person who had fallen into their carriage, he reminisced, “This servant saw, it seems to be… His Highness Changsun.”

Shangguan Qing, as the Princess, had been taken to the Imperial Mausoleum as a child, but due to an ailment, he had to return to the National Master Hall for treatment every two years, and every time he did, the Emperor would observe him from afar atop the National Master Hall’s attic.

Zhang Dequan had similarly seen the Princess several times due to his close service by the Emperor’s side.