Chapter 99: The Final Strike

During this period, Jin Wenwen visited Xu Feiyan at the bookstore every day, bringing along small snacks to chat with her.

As they flipped through books, she would casually mention how busy Tian Mi must be, commenting that she hadn’t seen her in a while.

Xu Feiyan, enjoying the snacks Jin Wenwen had brought, replied, “Tian Mi is busy every day. Several of the shops have already opened, but tomorrow, when the copying house is finished, she’ll come to take a look. My sister Tian Mi is the kindest; she’ll bring many people to copy books.”

Jin Wenwen’s eyes darkened slightly, a small smile curling on her lips.

Not long after, she left the bookstore and quickly passed the news to Jia Yuntang.

Now, the entire capital was abuzz with the ongoing divorce drama, and the Jia family was in the midst of the storm, losing face in the process. However, Jia Laotai had sent someone to handle the matter, but the attempt to deal with the cousin had failed.

They all came from the same den of foxes. Once the matriarch entered the Ruan family, she immediately guessed their intentions. Naturally, she wouldn’t let them succeed.

In this era, even if she was only a concubine, her dowry was still her personal property. No matter what, she could still live well.

Even if the Jia family wanted her dead, why should she still care about their reputation?

Now, the Jia family could only shift their focus. If they killed that woman and created a bigger scandal, it would unsettle the Duke of Ding and quickly close the case of Ruan Donglai.

But it couldn’t be their own hands that did it.

The Chen family was the perfect target.

Jia Yuntang sneered, “Got it.”

She immediately returned to her residence and boarded a carriage, heading to the Chen family to chat with Chen Mengting.

“That Duke of Ding’s consort is nothing but a petty merchant woman. She has no dignity as a princess, so you needn’t worry,” Jia Yuntang said, sipping her tea.

She continued, “She opened a small bookstore on Qipan Street and bought a house behind it to set up the copying house. It’ll be ready tomorrow, and she wants to come see it in person! Haha! A petty woman is a petty woman. The royal family gave her so many gifts, yet she still opens a bookstore. Isn’t it ridiculous?”

The two chatted for a while, and then Chen Mengting excused herself, asking Jia Yuntang to continue enjoying her tea while she stepped out for a moment.

Jia Yuntang nodded in agreement.

She knew Chen Mengting was stepping out to make arrangements.

Only Jia Yuntang and Xu Yunzhao were left when Xu Yunzhao quietly emerged. He couldn’t leave the Chen family but sensed that something might go wrong there, and he had no choice but to take another risk.

Having survived life-and-death situations before, he was now adept at seeking advantage while avoiding harm.

“Miss Jia, I know the Duke of Ding’s consort. We grew up together,” Xu Yunzhao said.

When Jia Yuntang left the Chen family, she took Xu Yunzhao’s contract with her, and Xu Yunzhao followed her to the Jia residence.

On the 10th day, Tian Mi, dressed in men’s attire, looked elegant and graceful, though her face was bare, still retaining her natural beauty. Huang Shengying, Xu Yunfei, and Xu Feiyan also wore simple yet stylish white male attire.

Thanks to Xu Feiyan’s promotion, even the Lin sisters had joined in, also dressed in men’s clothing—one in deep blue, the other in purple—looking sharp and poised.

The group split into two carriages, with Tian Mi traveling alone in one. There were three carriages in total, with hers in the lead. Her bodyguard, Commander Chen Yu, insisted she take the carriage prepared by Bai Mucheng for her.

Ah, going out was never easy for her!

With two guards at the front and rear, it was already the minimal escort. Typically, there were at least sixteen guards accompanying her on her outings, but Tian Mi preferred not to be surrounded by too much bloodlust to avoid frightening the scholars.

As usual, the streets were bustling with people. After passing through the lively Qipan Street, they entered a quieter alley. The copying house was located in the middle of two streets. It was a rather narrow area, and as the carriage turned onto the fifth street, a sudden hail of arrows filled the air. Immediately, the horses screamed, and chaos erupted.

“Assassins, assassins…”

Two of the guards were immediately struck by arrows and fell dead.

Tian Mi’s carriage was soon pierced with arrows, resembling a porcupine, but none of the arrows managed to penetrate the carriage. Tian Mi sighed in relief, thankful that she had listened to Chen Yu’s advice to sit in this particular carriage. Otherwise, she would have certainly been in danger. As soon as she heard the sound, she immediately entered the space.

Seeing that the carriage was still safe, she grabbed her axe and stepped out of the space.

The hidden guards had already fired a red smoke signal.

When she heard countless arrows striking her carriage, Tian Mi deduced that the attack was aimed at her. They would try to enter the carriage and kill her if they couldn’t shoot through it.

The two guards behind her immediately dismounted and rushed to the vulnerable side of her carriage to protect her. Huang Shengying and Xu Feiyan’s carriages had not yet turned the corner and were out of the archery range.

Xu Feiyan, frightened to tears, asked, “Sister Tian Mi, are you alright?”

Tian Mi shouted, “Stay away! They can’t harm me. I have weapons in the carriage.”

There were many assassins, and time was of the essence. As soon as the red smoke went up, they knew they had little time left.

The assassins immediately charged forward, swords in hand, and the two guards and hidden guards rushed to intercept. Tian Mi wasn’t waiting to be protected; she leaped from the carriage and swung her axe, chopping through the attackers. Having drunk the spiritual spring water for so long, her strength had greatly increased, and her reactions were quicker. Every swing of the axe was accurate, and each hit was fatal.

Xu Feiyan and the Lin sisters, Huang Shengying and Xu Yunfei also jumped out of their carriages, grabbed swords from the ground, and rushed to help. Huang Shengying, shaking as she held the sword, was clearly terrified. He was a scholar and didn’t even dare kill a chicken.

The assassins numbered over thirty, all skilled in combat, making Tian Mi cautious. One guard was injured but fought fiercely without retreating. The battle grew more intense as both sides clashed.

Xu Feiyan and the others pressed on, and Tian Mi grew anxious. In truth, as long as they could stall for time, they would be fine. However, with everyone charging ahead, Tian Mi took a quick antidote and tossed a sleeping powder at the assassins. Unfortunately, the effects were slow, and the open space diminished the potency.

She didn’t want to resort to medicine unless necessary, as she had always believed that medicine was a third poison. She preferred wearing a protective mask, but the circumstances didn’t allow it.

Tian Mi shouted, “Don’t come over! They can’t harm me!”

The assassins, seeing they couldn’t make progress, grew desperate. This woman was too powerful. They were being steadily pushed back by her, and none of them had told their leader that the mission was going poorly. The narrow streets didn’t allow them to take advantage of their numbers.

Time was running out.

With a clenched jaw, the leader shouted, “Kill her, reward of five hundred taels of silver!”

This immediately fired up the assassins, and they charged toward Tian Mi.

Another guard stepped forward to block them but was injured as well. Tian Mi swung her axe, chopping down three of the attackers, but couldn’t stop the others from advancing. Just as she was about to be overwhelmed, an arrow shot through the nearest assassin.

Bai Mucheng dropped down from the high wall, drawing his sword and striking, relieving some of the pressure on Tian Mi.

Finally, she had a moment to take out a vial and pass it to the two injured guards, urging them to take the medicine.

She also handed out antidotes to everyone else before lifting her axe and charging back into the fight.

The sleeping powder began to take effect, and the assassins started to stagger. Tian Mi seized the opportunity, diving into the crowd and cutting a path through them. Bai Mucheng, seeing Tian Mi surrounded, was alarmed and rushed to her side. However, he hadn’t taken the antidote yet and began to stagger as well. Tian Mi was startled by his condition and quickly tried to push him away. But just as she did, a hidden assassin took the chance to strike at Tian Mi from behind.

Bai Mucheng, horrified, pushed through his dizziness and lunged toward her, pulling her behind him. The assassin’s sword stabbed straight into his chest.

Tian Mi quickly yanked him backward, throwing him a few steps away, just narrowly avoiding the fatal blow.

A cold sweat broke out on her as she felt the terror of the close call. She immediately swung her axe again, each blow cutting deep into her enemies. The shock from earlier had nearly suffocated her. If Bai Mucheng had been harmed here, the emperor and empress would surely blame her.

That terrifying moment almost took her breath away!

At that moment, Bai Mucheng’s guard team arrived, and the assassins, realizing they could no longer escape, were quickly overwhelmed.