NOVEL NEXT Chapter 451 Eliminate
In a certain place waiting for news, the wealthy housekeeper, upon the spy's report, learned that there was an explosion on the river last night.
At that time, those who were onshore couldn't tell whether it was their own people's boat that had exploded or the opponent's boat had been blown up by their people.
After the dawn and the dense fog had passed, their people found some driftwood on the river,
The spy, unaware of the situation and fearing that the housekeeper had been waiting too anxiously for too long, reported back first after resting.
Upon hearing the news, the housekeeper was indeed anxious; two hours had passed and the people sent by the opponent hadn't returned yet.
The rewarded individuals they had hired hadn't shown up yet, and the leader hadn't come to see him yet; he had a bad premonition…!
"Let's go have a look!"
The housekeeper rode in a carriage, led by the driver, to a dock. In order to keep his identity from being recognized, he did not dismount as it was still daylight,
His appearance at this place, over a thousand miles from the Capital City, would definitely involve him in troubles once certain groups learned of it.
From within the rolled-up curtain of the carriage door, the housekeeper spotted something suspicious: aside from the people he had hired lurking in a carriage in a dark spot, watching the salvage operation on the river,
It seemed more suspicious individuals appeared; suddenly, there were several carriages like his at this dock.
Many more boats had gathered by the river, ready to explore the site of last night's explosion.
From here, it was impossible to see which side the boat that had exploded belonged to on the river.
Whose boat did the charred wood belong to?
They could only wait, wait for news from their people who had gone to investigate.
An hour passed, and some of the investigating boats returned. But to whom did these people belong?
The housekeeper didn't know, only that he knew his people hadn't yet returned.
Not far away, there was a carriage with a man whose face bore a gloomy expression; upon hearing his subordinate's report, he nearly killed him.
Having dispatched so many people last night, they failed to either stop the opponent or kidnap them.
The explosion had occurred on their boat, and it was unclear what explosive had been used, but the burnt wood, washed over by the seawater, faintly smelled of sulfur,
Their people, after the explosion, had fallen into the river and had not been salvaged in time. After two hours, perhaps injured by the explosion, they had passed out and then fallen into the river with no one to rescue them.
They had simply sunk into the river, but by now their bodies had already floated to the surface,
Dozens of subordinates, not a single one had returned alive.
The man's face was angry, his disposition dark and furious. Having been in the worldly society for so long and never failing in a mission,
This time, the mission had continuously failed; the first time was at an inn, and although they had clashed with others, they had not been at a disadvantage,
They just hadn't completed the mission and had lost track of the person,
The second mission failure happened when the arrows they shot ended up striking their own in their dreams,
Having learned from the previous experience, their team definitely hadn't fired any arrows this time; what kind of item had caused the explosion?
Firecrackers? Such items could only injure people at close range, possessing no such explosive force.
All those who went on the mission had died, finding someone to ask for the reasons was impossible.
They only knew that last night the fog had been too thick. People by the river couldn't see clearly at all; why had the boat in the river exploded?
The opponent's boat has now vanished without a trace,
Were they also turned into dead fish in this explosion, or had they escaped elsewhere?
The gloomily faced man was reluctant to accept this. Previously, it was the opponent who had hired them, and as assassins, they had to kill the opponent.
Only then did he realize that so many of their people had been killed or injured, while the other party might not have even suffered a single scratch.
He knew that those who enter the worldly society would have to pay their dues sooner or later.
Such a method of repayment was too heartless.
The dark-faced man sent his subordinates to continue the pursuit in the river, determined to find the other party.
He could not relax on land either, he wanted to eat their bones, strip their flesh.
The dark-faced man also sent a subordinate to take the housekeeper with him back, for this time their failure had resulted in deaths and destruction of goods, it was only natural to seek compensation from those who had acted.
The housekeeper's sent men had not yet returned; seeing that this leader of the group was asking him to return, there must already be results and answers about which boat exploded.
Two carriages left the crossroads, where some spies continued to track, while others who already knew the situation reported back to their team.
The site of the incident was over a thousand li from Jin Capital, these people were also from some of their teams, and they had been tracking continuously for the past few days, then reported back with clues.
Not a few couriers were used in this operation.
The housekeeper arrived at the place where he had stayed earlier, which was his secret contact point, and the assassin leader had come with him?
After they entered, they ordered the subordinates to guard the door, and they held a secret conversation inside.
"Tell me what happened."
"Hmph. Our opponents are formidable, the stake you provided was insufficient."
"Could it be that it was your men who blew up the ship?" the housekeeper asked, displaying a look of surprise.
"Yes, everyone died, this is what you called, ordinary followers? The stake provided was insufficient, we must increase the resettlement fee."
The man's dark expression was not joking.
The housekeeper was stupefied for a long time without speaking, he really had not expected, acting under the old housekeeper; usually, their stratagems would cripple them a bit, though the goods could safely reach outside the border without fatal harm.
This year he absolutely hadn't expected to hire an assassin, just intending to create a larger disturbance, especially since the Emperor's son was also involved, he did not want the old housekeeper to meet Housekeeper Ye and learn about his son's information.
He certainly did not want the old general's granddaughter to meet them.
Unexpectedly, trying to steal a chicken only to lose a handful of rice, they had lost so much from their side, and the other side had not gained a single hair; now they didn't even know where the opposition had gone.
There was a person tracking the old housekeeper's men, but they also lost them.
"Did you encounter ghosts or gods? Have you continued to send people to track?"
"Of course, we have, as long as you provide enough money. I will surely find them and kill all those people," said the man with the dark expression harshly, and the housekeeper did not object.
Their mission had failed, they needed to write a letter to report back to their master.
The Heir of Marquis Yongbo, Ye Haohuan, received a letter from his subordinates, and the content of the letter left him silent.
He took this letter to see Prince 13.
In the study of Prince 13's palace, Ye Haohuan showed him the letter, and after reading it, he silently mulled it over.
"Prince 13, shall we send a rescue team?"
"How can we rescue them? You can't even find the opposition's whereabouts; your men were only tracking a boat, and that boat led to someone's defeat."
"Prince 13, can you guess who the assassin might be?"
"Do you still need to think about it? No wonder some say you are a big fool, it's either our father or those brothers! Anyway, it's not this prince."
Ye Haohuan was teased by Prince 13's words, but was not annoyed. At that moment, he was most worried about the little girl.