Chapter 35: Ambushed

The three men at the bow of the boat exchanged a glance. Jun Mohan made a barely noticeable hand gesture, and the Su Ming brothers understood instantly—after all, they had grown up in the military.

The three of them acted as if nothing had happened, laughing and chatting as they entered the cabin.

“Jun Mohan, what’s going on?” Mu Ling, being a descendant of a medical lineage, had an extraordinary sense of hearing. She had already sensed something was off earlier, and now, seeing the three men enter together, she was even more certain of her intuition.

“Shh—” Jun Mohan gestured for everyone to lower their voices. “Ling’er, no matter what happens later, you, Qing’er, and the two Commandery Princesses must stay inside the cabin. Do not go out, understand? Leave everything outside to me and the two young generals.”

“Royal Brother, what exactly is happening?” The little princess was starting to feel nervous.

Mu Ling pulled her into her arms, gently patting her back as she softly reassured her, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t let anything happen to you or the Commandery Princesses. Just stay close to me.”

Commandery Princess Anping furrowed her delicate brows slightly and looked at Jun Mohan in confusion. “Your Highness, is there danger?”

“Yes. But there’s no need to worry. Just stay with Ling’er, and she’ll protect you,” Jun Mohan said before turning to Su Ming. “General Su, can you estimate how many of them there are?”

“There should be more than twenty. Your Highness, these men are hiding in the reeds by the lake. If they use bows and arrows, simply staying in the cabin might not be enough…”

Mu Ling shook her head from the side. “No, it’s not just the shore. If I’m not mistaken, there are also people in the water! They’re swimming towards us from the three o’clock direction.”

“The three o’clock direction?” Not just Jun Mohan, but everyone present was momentarily stunned. Even Prince Jing, despite the imminent danger, widened his eyes in curiosity. “Royal Sister-in-law, what do you mean by three o’clock direction? Which way is that?”

Mu Ling sighed and pointed to her right. “My bad, I meant directly to the right. There are people in the water there. Seriously, are you guys not even a little scared about being ambushed?”

After hearing Mu Ling’s words, Jun Mohan focused and listened carefully. Sure enough, there were at least a dozen people swimming toward them from the right.

With archers lying in wait on the shore and assassins hidden in the water, and with their boat trapped in the middle of the lake, their situation was dire.

Jun Mohan regretted his decision immensely—if he hadn’t been so focused on helping his uncles win the hearts of the two Commandery Princesses, he wouldn’t have let the hidden guards stay behind. Now, with only the three of them, how could they possibly protect everyone?

“Watch out!” Su Ming suddenly shouted as he lunged forward, shielding Anping with his body.

“Ah! General Su, y-you’re hurt?” Anping trembled as she stared at the fresh blood on her hands.

Everyone turned their heads toward the source of the voice, and sure enough, an arrow was embedded in Su Ming’s back!

Mu Ling had no time to think. Right after that first arrow, she heard the sound of countless arrows striking the cabin. If Anping hadn’t been sitting by the window, Su Ming might not have been injured. But now, just hiding in the cabin was no longer an option. If her guess was correct, after the initial volley of arrows, the assassins in the water would soon board the boat. At that point, the few of them wouldn’t be able to hold out for long…

Mu Ling glanced at Jun Mohan and lowered her voice. “There’s no time…” Before she could finish speaking, she had already scattered a handful of powder into the air. In an instant, everyone on the boat collapsed.

She still wasn’t sure if she wanted to reveal her spatial ability to her uncles yet, and with the two Commandery Princesses present, she had no choice but to put them all to sleep first and move them into her space for protection.

After ensuring everyone was safe inside her space, Mu Ling took out a small porcelain bottle and waved it under Jun Mohan’s nose.

“Your Highness, do you have any idea who sent these people? For now, I can only bring you all into my space.”

Jun Mohan quickly adjusted his state of mind, regaining his clarity. A cold, ruthless glint flashed in his eyes as he said in a low voice, “No matter who they are, I need at least one of them alive today.”

Mu Ling nodded. “Alright. Once the arrows stop, the assassins in the water will board the ship. We’ll go out when they’re all here. I’ll handle putting them to sleep—you focus on sending a signal to Lang Yi and the others.”

Worried about Mu Ling’s safety, Jun Mohan grasped her hand tightly and reminded her, “Ling’er, remember—no matter what happens, your safety is the most important thing. Understood?”

Just those shrimp soldiers and crab generals? If they want to hurt me… they’ll need to train for at least a few more decades! Don’t worry, just do as I say, and nothing will go wrong.”

Jun Mohan naturally trusted the little girl’s words—after all, she had her own special means.

“Uh… will they be okay? They won’t wake up halfway, right?” Jun Mohan gestured toward the people lying on the ground.

Mu Ling shook her head. “Don’t worry, unless I give them the antidote, they’ll stay asleep for at least two hours. By the time they wake up, everything will be settled. But first, I need to pull out that arrow from Uncle Su.”

Jun Mohan watched as the girl skillfully treated the arrow wound and chuckled. “You should bandage it… to look more serious. We can’t let this heroic act of saving a beauty go to waste.”

Mu Ling instantly understood. When she finished bandaging Su Ming, Jun Mohan was left stunned.

“…Ling’er, are you sure this is just a single arrow wound? Looking at this… anyone who didn’t know better would think he’d been hit by dozens of arrows! Isn’t this a bit too exaggerated?”

Mu Ling clapped her hands and glanced at her uncle’s legs, sighing in regret. “If everyone hadn’t seen the arrow hit his upper body, I’d have wrapped his entire body up. Let’s see if Princess Anping wouldn’t feel distressed then! Besides…”

She trailed off, her expression turning serious as she listened intently.

“Jun Mohan, are you ready? The moment you see them collapse, send a signal to Lang Yi immediately. Leave the rest to me.”

“Alright, Ling’er. Be careful. If anything goes wrong, return to the space at once.”

They listened for a while longer. The sounds outside had increased—clearly, the assassins from the water had boarded the ship.

Mu Ling handed Jun Mohan a packet of powder. “Once we’re outside, we act at the same time.”

Inside the cabin, one packet of powder was enough, but out on the deck, she wasn’t confident she could take everyone down in one go.

As they stepped out of the space, they immediately spotted more than twenty men in black, moving stealthily and searching for something.

Without hesitation, Mu Ling scattered the powder.

“Not good! Cover your noses!” someone shouted.

But their warning was too slow—Jun Mohan had already leaped into action. Wherever he passed, men collapsed instantly.

“Jun Mohan, send the signal to Lang Yi!”

As soon as Mu Ling’s words fell, signal flares shot up into the sky.

Seeing the flares, the archers by the lake didn’t hesitate—they immediately chose to retreat. They knew the imperial guards from the Crown Prince’s residence would arrive in no time. Once those elite dark guards arrived, escaping would be nearly impossible.

Jun Mohan and Mu Ling could sense the enemies retreating. Whether Lang Yi could catch them was no longer important—after all, they still had these twenty captured men on board.

After confirming that no one had escaped, Mu Ling took out several ropes from her space. Spreading her hands, she said, “Alright, no one else is here. It’s just the two of us, so let’s get tying. Oh, and be sure to gag them—I don’t want them biting their tongues and committing suicide when they wake up.”

By the time Lang Yi arrived with the dark guards—and not just the dark guards, but also a hundred imperial guards—Jun Mohan’s boat was already docked by the shore.

“Your Highness, Your Highness Consort, are you alright?” Lang Yi had nearly lost his soul when he saw the distress signal.

Jun Mohan gestured toward Mu Ling and smiled. “With your Crown Princess here, how could anything happen to me? By the way, did you run into the assassins on your way?”

Lang Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. “We did, but a few of them managed to escape. I’ve already sent men after them. But, Your Highness, who are these people? They dared to make a move on you in the capital?”

“Who are they? Let’s just ask them ourselves.” Jun Mohan turned to Lang Yi, his expression darkening. “Take these captives back to the Eastern Palace—I’ll interrogate them personally!”