Chapter 37: Speculation

Chen Kan had seen dead bodies before. However, most of those he encountered had died of old age, illness, or, in more extreme cases, drowning. This was the first time he had ever seen a corpse with black blood still oozing from its neck.

"Ugh, bleh..." Chen Kan retched, vomiting violently. He purged everything, including the rich meal he had consumed earlier at the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters.

Fang Xu frowned and asked, "My Lord, are you alright?"

The men of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were accustomed to dealing with the dead or the dying. Fang Xu had seen corpses a thousand times more mangled than this, many of which he had caused himself. In his eyes, this official’s reaction seemed rather pathetic.

Chen Kan waved a hand and gasped, "I'm... ugh!"

Finally, having nothing left in his stomach, Chen Kan collapsed onto the ground. His face was sallow, resembling a debauched young nobleman who had overindulged in worldly pleasures.

"My Lord, are you sure you're alright?" Fang Xu unhooked a goatskin canteen from his belt and handed it to Chen Kan, his expression tinged with curiosity.

Chen Kan shook his head and replied weakly, "No, I am not alright at all."

"Did you just arrive at the Embroidered Uniform Guard, My Lord?"

"Yes, I only reported for duty today."

"I see," Fang Xu nodded in sudden realization. That explained the reaction to the corpses. Being so young and already wearing a bull-patterned official robe, he was likely just another descendant of a meritorious official here to pad his resume. *Hmph, a pampered playboy,* he thought.

Chen Kan, unaware that he had been labeled a fop, regained a bit of his strength and wobbled over to the three bodies. This time he did not vomit, simply because there was nothing left to bring up.

Fang Xu squatted beside the bodies, pried open a mouth, and said, "My Lord, generally speaking, if these were trained assassins, their masters would have cut out their tongues to prevent them from leaking information if captured. But these three still have their tongues."

Chen Kan suppressed his nausea and looked where Fang Xu pointed; the tongues were indeed still there.

"Yet, when driven to a dead end, their resolve to commit suicide was exactly like that of trained assassins. That is why I cannot be certain," Fang Xu said as he stood up. In truth, the situation was already clear—these assassins had come specifically for Chen Kan.

"Did you find any useful clues on them?" Chen Kan asked.

Fang Xu shook his head. "None. The only things they carried were two blades and a bow, neither of which bears any markings."

"I see..." Chen Kan paused. "By the way, since you are the Princess's guards, why are you here instead of guarding Her Highness on the other side of the river?"

A flash of awkwardness crossed Fang Xu's face. He replied, "We heard that a lecherous scoundrel on the other side of the river had disturbed a noble personage, so I brought my men over to investigate. We happened to encounter these audacious assassins attempting to kill you, so I led my brothers to subdue them."

"Oh!" Chen Kan nodded. "I see."

*Wait,* he thought, *a lecherous scoundrel on the other side of the river? I didn't see one.*

*Could he be talking about me?*

Chen Kan mulled it over and decided it couldn't be. After all, he was a student of great Confucian scholars, well-versed in the teachings of the sages. How could he possibly be a lecher? It must be a coincidence.

"What are your plans now, My Lord? Shall I send two men to escort you back to the headquarters?"

"No need. I am an old acquaintance of the Princess. Since you are tasked with protecting her, I shall accompany you back later." Chen Kan rejected the offer. If he were sent back with only two guards and encountered more assassins, what then? It was safer to stick close to the wide-eyed, adorable princess.

Fang Xu hesitated. He had never seen Chen Kan at the Guard office before. What if he caused trouble for the Princess?

Seeing the hesitation, Chen Kan looked up and asked, "What, is that a problem?"

As the saying went, a higher rank could crush a subordinate. Fang Xu could not easily refuse. He gritted his teeth, thinking that even if this man were an impostor, with himself and so many brothers present, he couldn't cause much trouble. He ceased his hesitation and replied, "Understood. My Lord, shall we transport these three corpses back to the headquarters?"

Chen Kan shook his head. "No need. There are no clues anyway; just dispose of them."

There were no clues on the assassins, but sometimes the absence of clues was the greatest clue of all. Now that he had calmed down, Chen Kan had a few guesses about their origins. His predecessor had been a bookish nerd who was kind to everyone and had no enemies. As for himself, he had only been in the Ming Dynasty for four days and hadn't had the time to offend anyone.

If there were no personal grudges, then it was easy to guess who wanted him dead. It wasn't about personal enmity; it was about political stance. And there was only one person—or rather, one group—whose interests were diametrically opposed to his: the feudal princes.

Zhu Di intended to weaken the power of the princes, and everyone knew it, even if it hadn't been stated openly. Although Zhu Di hadn't explicitly told him to focus on this, who could say there weren't clever people among the princes? Furthermore, Chen Kan didn't believe the princes would sit idly by and wait for death. Planting spies near Zhu Di and bribing the Embroidered Uniform Guard were basic maneuvers that even Chen Kan could conceive; there was no reason the princes couldn't.

They wouldn't dare assassinate Zhu Di. And since everyone knew Li Jinglong was a fool, there was no need to waste effort on him. Thus, sending assassins to kill him—the main operative in the effort to curtail their power—made perfect sense.

As this realization dawned on him, Chen Kan's expression darkened. He had received the imperial decree to join the Guard only yesterday, reported for duty at noon today, and was assassinated by the afternoon. Were the Ming princes supermen?

Chen Kan didn't believe it. For a prince stationed in a distant fiefdom, just getting the news of his appointment to the Guard to them would take more than a day, let alone organizing assassins and sending them out. This era had no telephones.

Therefore, the identity of the mastermind was obvious. Among the princes currently in the capital, there was only the Prince of Ning, who had been tricked by Zhu Di into losing his Three Guard divisions, and the Prince of Jin, who had arrived in the capital three days ago without an imperial summons. Only they could have obtained precise information and deployed assassins in such a short time.

*Zhu Jixi, I’ll kill your entire family!* Chen Kan gritted his teeth and spat the name out, though his voice was so low that only he could hear it.

A moment later, his expression returned to normal. He turned to Fang Xu and said, "Let's go. You've been away for a while; let's not keep Her Highness waiting."