Beside the dark shore of the lake, a lone lantern shone faintly on the nearby flowers and trees. The woman hid in the darkness, watching the scholar humming a song and rummaging in the grass. Soon after, he picked up a big stone and lightly tossed it a few times. It seemed that he was very satisfied and walked back.
On one side of the road, the soldiers of the Martyrs of Martial Army gradually approached. On the other side, the bailiffs were also patrolling the shore with lanterns. It seemed like they were one step ahead of the soldiers. Banging sounds rang out. The scholar squatted beside the carriage and used a rock to smash the wheels of the carriage. It seemed like something had gone wrong. When he tossed the rock away and stood up, the bailiffs were already near. The woman held her breath. Of course, the bailiffs first looked for the scholar. They looked at the insignia on the carriage and a conversation could be heard.
"Young Master … are you from the Prince Consort's Residence?"
"What's the matter?" The scholar's tone was indifferent as he turned his head and asked.
"Uh … something happened in the city just now. We are trying to capture the culprit. Since Young Master is not from the Prince Consort's Residence, why do you have this carriage … "
Seeing the scholar's attitude, he seemed to have some background. The bailiffs maintained their respect. The scholar thought for a moment and asked in confusion, "Culprit?"
At this time, the soldiers of the Martyrs of Martial Army had also arrived. When they saw what happened on the carriage, they also surrounded it. However, there were still a few people who were still looking at the darkness by the river, maintaining their vigilance. The scholar turned his head and asked, "Are you all the same?"
"The Martyrs of Martial Army is trying to capture the assassin. What is Young Master asking?" The leading soldier asked calmly.
"What the hell happened?"
"There was an assassination in the city just now. The assassin should be heading this way. Did Young Master see anyone suspicious … Also, if Young Master doesn't mind, this lowly one would like to do a routine search."
"Ah, understood. Please go ahead." The scholar gestured with his hands and asked, "Did anyone encounter an assassin?"
"Where did Young Master return from?"
"Egret Continent, Courtesan Competition. This one is Ning Liheng. I am not from the Prince Consort's Residence. I am merely acquainted with Duke Ming. Thus, I borrowed his carriage to return to the city first. Duke Ming should still be at the back right now, about to take the pleasure boat back to the city. You all have your duties, if there is a need … Oh, the one in charge of getting off the carriage is Steward Lu Agui of the Prince Consort Fu. You all can ask him. "
The soldiers naturally couldn't casually tell him what had happened, so they only asked about the scholar's background. After inspecting the carriage from top to bottom and listening to the young master's words, the soldier finally became respectful. The soldier bowed and said, "My apologies."
One of the bailiffs said, "Ning Liheng … could it be that Ning Liheng of When the Bright Moon Appears?"
This person seemed to have quite a background. As he spoke, the soldiers and bailiffs' attitudes towards him changed greatly. Then, the leading soldier lowered his voice and said, "Just now at the entrance of Xuanling Street, an assassin assassinated County Commandant Song Xian. Dozens of people were injured or killed. The assassin is highly skilled in martial arts, and his attacks are vicious. He most likely escaped to this area. Young Master, please be careful and return to the residence as soon as possible."
The two groups of people had their own duties. After saying a few words, they headed in the same direction. At that intersection, they met up with another group of people who were on patrol. They pointed at them and said something. The scholar waved his hand at the three groups of people in the distance. Then, in the darkness of the night, he snorted, "Hey, Song Xian …"
Then, the scholar sat on the carriage and began to wave his whip, causing the carriage to move forward.
*****
The carriage turned the corner of the street ahead and moved steadily. Ning Yi lifted the curtain and hung it up. Looking at the flickering lights around him, people who had returned from the Courtesan Competition also passed by. Several bailiffs hurried in the opposite direction, but when they saw the opened curtain and the sign on the carriage, they did not pay much attention to it.
After all, there were more people coming back from the Courtesan Competition at this time. Most of the people who had returned from the Courtesan Competition at this time had some background. It would be too troublesome if they had to be interrogated one by one after leaving the suspicious central area. Moreover, there were not enough people gathered at this time. The most they could do was to strictly interrogate people who left the city gate.
The bait should have been released, but whether it was effective or not depended on luck. According to his speculations, the assassin was most likely hiding near the shore of the lake. However, the area was large after all, and he found the most likely location. It was quiet all around, so the sound of his voice could easily be heard. If he had to cover a wider area, the possibility of the fish taking the bait was still only 30%.
He did not know if there was another person in his carriage, and he could not lower his head to confirm at this moment. Otherwise, he would probably be greeted by a sword. He could only pay attention to the road to the left and right of the carriage. There were still people in this area. If the other party took the bait, he should not get off here. But the road to the school was slightly more secluded. When there was no one on either side of the road, he slowed down the carriage and decided to speak.
"I want to say a few words. Please don't be too sensitive, warrior. Song Xian is vicious, arrogant, and domineering. He will do anything to get ahead. In the autumn of the sixth year of Jinghan's reign, in order to seize someone's property, he committed a crime in the Second Month Village outside the city and killed an entire family. Later on, everyone knew about this, but there was no evidence, so no one could touch him. I have long heard of his evil deeds, and have always admired his heroic and chivalrous style. If you can trust me, I am willing to lend you a helping hand … "
Wandering around just now was just wandering on the edge of danger. It was not a big deal. Saying this was the real risk. Of course, with the details of the two assassinations, and the current situation, he could be sure that the risk had been reduced to a minimum. But if there was any effect, it would naturally be based on the premise that there was only a 30% chance that the assassin had boarded the carriage.
There were no pedestrians on the road. After saying this, Ning Yi waited for a possible response. But after a long time, there was no response.
Could it be that he had miscalculated?
When the layout was not perfect, failure was common. After all, the chances were not high from the beginning. Of course, he would not lose anything because of this. Time passed, and Ning Yi felt a faint regret. He sighed and was about to stop the carriage to look under it when there was a dull thud behind him. Ning Yi's heart trembled. He jumped off the carriage and took a lantern to go over. He saw that the female assassin had a piece of black cloth on the road. She had already fainted.
From the very beginning, when she tried to kill Song Xian, she had been surrounded. She had used all her strength to kill Song Xian in that situation, and she had already suffered many injuries. When Ning Yi had peeked at her, she had still appeared strong, but after running around the city and being surrounded, her body had naturally been pushed to its limits. When Ning Yi suddenly exposed her hiding place, she might have wanted to suddenly rush out, but if she tried to gather her strength at this time, she would probably suddenly faint. The woman wrapped her body with this cloth to prevent blood from dripping on the road, and it was still tightly wrapped at this moment. Ning Yi stared at her for a few seconds and quickly picked her up.
There had been a few wrong guesses, accidents, and unforeseen events before, but this was really a perfect turn of events.
From the beginning, the possibility of letting this woman get on the carriage was not high. After getting on the carriage, how to gain the other party's trust, help step by step, lay the foundation, let her owe him a favor, and then consider the negotiation … The probability of these things being completed was decreasing with each step, but this was indeed the most ideal result. To gain the other party's trust by just saying a few words, the degree of control was too low. Now that she had fainted, it saved him a lot of trouble. As long as he treated her injuries and did the deed, when she woke up, she would naturally be more rational and less suspicious of the current situation.
This road was also close to the small courtyard he rented next to the school. After turning the corner, he reached the door. Ning Yi looked around, then opened the door and carried the woman in black in. The outer room was used for experiments, and the inner room was a small storage room, but there were not many things there at the moment. There was originally a bed and chairs in the room, which were left behind by the previous people. Ning Yi put the woman on the bed, turned around, and went out. He checked if there were any suspicious traces, then returned to look for medicine.
Some commonly used medicine, bandages, and so on were originally prepared because of the possibility of injury during experiments. He also took a needle and thread, and lit a simple alcohol lamp made from a porcelain bottle. Because he wanted to cooperate with Nie Yunzhu's food business, he made a small distillation device, and first produced a small amount of alcohol. When he pushed open the door of the inner room, with a swish, the blade of the sword was already coldly placed on his neck.
He had woken up a little too quickly …
Ning Yi held the alcohol lamp and did not move. He secretly muttered in his heart. The woman in front of him leaned against the wall, holding the sword, and looked at him coldly. Perhaps the words on the carriage had worked, but she did not have the intention to kill him. After a moment, she asked: "What do you want?"
"Medicine." Ning Yi raised the small package in his right hand, slowly placed it on the small table in front of him, and reached out to open it. "Lamp." He said, then put down the alcohol lamp, and raised his hands: "To help you treat your injury."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Judge for yourself."
The woman reached out to pick up a small package containing medicine, sniffed it, looked at Ning Yi, and threw it to the side. She opened a porcelain bottle, looked at it, and threw it to the side. In the process, she slowly put down the sword in her hand, and after a moment, she asked: "What is the use of this fish hook?"
"Needle, to help you stitch your wound."
"Stitch … wound?"
"Yes, it will heal quickly if you stitch the wound."
The woman looked at him strangely: "Get out."
Then she added: "Only outside. If you leave or play any tricks, I will immediately go out and kill you!"
"I will boil some hot water for you."
This woman should have her own medicine, so it was not good to let him treat the wound. Ning Yi nodded and left the room, then smiled and shook his head. In any case, the first step was done.
"My name is Ning Yi, Liheng. What about you, miss?"
So, he maintained his modesty, and began to talk about how to get close …
*****
PS: It's about Ning Yi's personality. Perhaps it's because the previous plot was too flat that people didn't quite understand him. They thought that he was a peaceful and indifferent gentleman. I want to explain the recent plot here. That's not the case.
He was a businessman who stood at the top of the pyramid, and he reached this step at an unimaginable speed.
Grasping opportunities, profiteering, speculating, and being ruthless, he had done everything, and it was impossible for him not to experience it. Dancing with risk every day was his daily routine. Many people with similar personalities, who dared to take risks, and dared to curry favor, fell on the road, but he, who had reached the peak, had an extreme grasp and understanding of risk. If one had to label him, it would not be a gentleman, but an ambitious and ruthless person.
Of course, some people thought that ambitious and ruthless people were the type who fought for hegemony or played politics. They all wanted to do big things and have big dreams, but these had already been done by the protagonist, so he was not interested.
There was a saying: Only crazy and paranoid people can achieve success. Actually, it was not directly understood in this way. They had a seemingly crazy and paranoid side to them, but real crazy and paranoid people would not avoid risks when doing something. Some people said that ordinary people would seek benefits and avoid risks. Some people said that ordinary people would seek benefits and avoid harm. That's right, but most people would not dare to do anything if they saw any harm. This could be called seeking benefits and avoiding harm. However, some people were different. Their methods of seeking benefits and avoiding harm were different. They calmly analyzed the pros and cons and then used every possible method to reduce the harm and raise the benefits to the highest. They controlled the process and also had the ability to do so. Therefore, some things seemed crazy, but they were not really crazy. Their crazy and bold nature was actually calm, so they were still very normal. This was what it meant to be ambitious.
It was like walking on a tightrope. If ordinary people walked on it, it would be risking their lives. After thousands of times of training, you could not say that there was no danger, but when these people walked on it, they were already familiar with it, and when they walked on it, the risk became negligible. From the beginning, Ning Yi was set up to be this kind of person.
As for martial arts, some people said that there were many peaceful ways to obtain martial arts, but in fact, the settings were already very detailed, and it was very difficult. If he wanted to train himself to be a special forces soldier, Ning Yi himself knew the method, but to him, it was meaningless. What he cared about was the magical internal energy. This concept was like seeing martial arts in the real world, or even seeing Xianxia. Of course, you would first think it was a scam, but what if it was really not? What if you had seen everything in the world, and really saw Xianxia? To Ning Yi, the Wu dynasty was a real world. People could jump ten feet high under extreme conditions, so he was interested in this. As for the rest, even the emperor was a normal concept to him.
Some people said that he could go join a big sect or something, and it would be safe, but to Ning Yi, it was just to the extent of trouble. Not to mention the fact that there was very little internal energy here, Ning Yi had investigated in all aspects, and even if there was such a big sect, would he be content to wait for a few decades for people to pity him? He did not have that kind of patience. When the time came, he would investigate other people's weaknesses and make deals with others, basically in a similar way. To him, a first-class master like Song Xian was just so-so. This woman's strength was already displayed in front of him, and he did not know when he would be able to find others. To him, this matter was not very dangerous. Perhaps it was very dangerous to the average person, but it was not dangerous to him, and he had been trying hard to control it.
He did not lose his mind, and he had been extremely calm. Although he really wanted it, if the balance tilted to a certain extent, he would turn around and prepare to go home. He only regretfully thought that he did not know when he would be able to meet such a powerful person again. If not, he would fight for this 30% chance. If he did not succeed, he would still go home, and if he succeeded, he would continue to fight for the next chance. He would never think that he could learn martial arts just because he was saved. Actually, he had been very careful with every step he took. How to control the situation, how to control people's hearts, how to give people a sense of trust and security under delicate circumstances, and even how to take a mile after being given an inch, this was already his instinct, his instinct to control risk.
This was Ning Liheng.
From the beginning until now, he had not done anything. If one were to say that he had done something, perhaps controlling the Green Jade Case could be counted as his doing. In the most extreme situation, he had obtained the greatest benefit. To him, being peaceful and indifferent was a kind of self-restraint, not a part of his nature. Of course, he was also a good person now, but once he decided to do something, he would never say from the beginning that it was risky, or that it could not be done. He would only consider if he wanted to do it, and how he should do it.
Everything was for the sake of solving problems.
His character, ability, and way of doing things would be constantly perfected through each and every incident. I was only responsible for his human nature. When I set him to be a person who once stood at the top of the pyramid, he would not be a modest gentleman, nor would he try his best to seek benefits and avoid harm. He would only play some small tricks in an absolutely safe place. Such a person would at best be a counselor.
In the future, he would start a game with the top opponents of this era. Risk was a risk to ordinary people, but to him, it was often just a shoal that he could control. He would use all available chips to push the tilted balance back bit by bit, and turn the tables on his opponents just when they were feeling complacent.
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