This was a carefully planned assassination targeting Gu Qing.

When the defense around Gu Qing was at its weakest, and when he was in the most relaxed mood, he suddenly took action. It must be said that the timing and location were chosen very cleverly. It was obvious that the assassin was not only very skilled, but also had a mastermind behind it.

The only flaw was that Gu Qing noticed something was wrong just from the opponent's fingers, and was on guard before the assassin took action.

The old man's dagger had already been taken out, and the cold light instantly pointed directly at Gu Qing's chest.

The two of them were only a few feet apart at this time, and the distance between them was the distance between life and death.

Gu Qing's expression did not change and he quickly took a few steps back. When the dagger was getting closer and closer to his chest, Han Jie's knife also came behind him and knocked the dagger away with a clang.

At the same time, dozens of guards behind Gu Qing also surrounded him. They dragged Gu Qing back and retreated outside the circle of guards, and then pointed dozens of knives at the old man.

The old man held a dagger in his hand and turned a blind eye to the encirclement of his guards. He stared at the position where Gu Qing was standing with a pair of gloomy eyes, and took action again in the blink of an eye.

Gu Qing's bodyguards were all veterans for many years, and they often practiced drills on weekdays. Han Jie had taught them how to respond when the prince was attacked. As early as the moment the old man pulled out the dagger, the guards had quickly formed a small group according to the previous drills.

Formation, surrounding the old man in the formation.

No matter how the old man broke through, he always focused on the head rather than the tail. Once activated, knives would strike at him from every direction in the formation. The old man tried several times but could not break through the formation of the personal guards. Instead, he put himself in danger.

He was almost hit by the guard's knife.

Gu Qing stood outside the formation, looking at the old man thoughtfully.

If this was a well-planned assassination, then the assassin's strength was obviously too weak. It would be impossible for him to complete the assassination mission by just one person. If something went wrong, the enemy would definitely have a back-up plan.

Gu Qing looked stern and suddenly said loudly: "Han Jie, send someone to mobilize the troops!"

Han Jie, who was concentrating on dealing with the old man, was stunned. Without any hesitation, he immediately pointed at a personal guard and ordered him to leave the formation and go to the nearest tower to mobilize the soldiers of the Anxi Army.

As soon as the personal guards left, Han Jie immediately noticed something was wrong in the air around him.

With the old man and Gu Qing as the center of the circle, Chang'an Avenue, which was originally bustling with people, was now deserted. It had been cleared out, and there were no people watching the excitement from a distance.

At such a moment of intense fighting, being too quiet is usually not a good sign.

Han Jie's heart sank, and he shouted subconsciously: "Send half of the people to protect the prince!"

The guards immediately retreated, and the formation surrounding the old man also changed rapidly. There was a violent storm-like attack. After the old man tried his best to resist, the formation in front of him had changed. The formation shrunk by half, but still surrounded him tightly. The other half

Gu Qing has been protected by the group. Everyone pointed their swords pointedly and stared at the empty street with cold eyes.

Gu Qing stood expressionless in the protective circle of his personal guards. Gu Qing was not good at martial arts. In critical moments, he would not do stupid things like a layman commanding an expert at random. He had complete trust in his personal guards. He believed

The personal guards will protect him with their lives, unless they all die in battle.

Gu Qing's thoughts at this moment have drifted to the court.

The empty street in front of him made him feel that the danger today was extraordinary.

In such a fierce scene, there was no one on the street to watch the excitement. This shows that when the old man started to assassinate him, there were already people at both ends of the street who cooperated with him and cleared the street.

Who in the capital of Chang'an has such huge energy that he can clear an entire street of passers-by in an instant?

Gu Qing let out a breath, looked up at the sky, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and already had the answer in his heart.

When the emperor of a dynasty can only use this shameful method to kill his courtiers, it means that the dynasty is really exhausted. He has lost his upright strength and courage. A trapped beast in a desperate situation, no matter how ferocious he appears,

He looked like he was finally at the end of his strength, and his ferocity was just his last act of madness.

Therefore, the old man in front of him is not the only assassin, but the more deadly ones are still behind him.

Han Jie's order was given in time. As soon as the guards protected Gu Qing, a cold arrow suddenly shot out from the window of a restaurant diagonally opposite the Gua stall. The cold arrow was aimed directly at Gu Qing's back.

One of the guards' eyes twitched, and almost at the same time, he raised his sword and knocked down the cold arrow.

Immediately afterwards, all the windows on the second floors of the shops opposite opened, revealing figures one after another, each wearing black clothes, covering their faces with black scarves, and holding strong bows.

There was a trembling of the bowstring, and countless sharp arrows were shot. All the arrows had the same target, and they all went straight towards Gu Qing.

Han Jie and his guards were shocked. They danced the swords in their hands tightly, and with a few painful groans, several of his guards were hit by arrows and fell to the ground.

Gu Qing's expression also changed. He didn't expect that in order to kill him, the other party would actually mobilize so many people. He obviously planned to finish the battle and made full preparations to kill him. If he could be killed, all the internal and external troubles of the dynasty would be eliminated.

Can be eliminated.

Of course, Gu Qing could not accept his fate. From the perspective of the ruler, they and his son were not worthy to govern this country.

"Give up the assassin and occupy a store immediately. Everyone can go in and defend the place to fight, waiting for reinforcements!" Gu Qing ordered decisively.

When the situation is unfavorable, you must learn to take advantage of the situation. It is also a defensive position, but it is better to occupy a building and defend it than to be targeted on the street. Buildings are your first line of defense.

The old man was immediately abandoned by the guards. Han Jie and the guards knew that the first priority at this moment was not to kill the assassin, but to ensure Gu Qing's safety. The assassin's life or death was not important, but Gu Qing's survival was the most important.

Some figures gradually appeared at both ends of the street. They were wearing uniform black clothes, and everyone wore black scarves and covered their faces. There were hundreds of people in the dense crowd, but there were only more than thirty personal guards around Gu Qing.

Flying up and kicking open the door of a restaurant on the street, Han Jie shouted: "Come in, hold on to the door, guard the windows, and wait for help!"

Gu Qing was hurriedly dragged in by the guards, and then the door and windows of the restaurant were closed. The inside of the door was blocked with a table. The guards pointed their swords at every window of the restaurant, silently concentrating on guard.

Gu Qing said in a deep voice: "Brothers, thank you for your hard work. The camp outside the city is more than ten miles away. Reinforcements will arrive within half an hour. Thank you for your hard work, brothers, and we will hold on for half an hour."

Han Jie gasped and said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will protect your Majesty even if I risk my life, and I will never let the thieves hurt your Majesty even a hair."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sharp sword penetrated the window paper and shot in, hitting one of the guards in the chest. The guard fell to the ground with a groan.

Han Jie's expression changed drastically, he looked out through the window pane, and then gritted his teeth and said: "My lord, be careful, they are surrounding you."

Gu Qing said in a deep voice: "Find a wooden tabletop and seal the windows."

The guards hurriedly moved tables and wooden boards into the restaurant, and worked together to block the windows, and the room suddenly became dark.

Han Jie's heart was heavy and filled with self-blame.

Sure enough, he was used to living a peaceful life, and his vigilance had also dropped. As Gu Qing became more and more powerful, and all the kings and ministers in the court looked up to him, as a personal guard general, Han Jie did not know when to relax, thinking that there was no one in the world.

No one dared to hurt Gu Qing, so Han Jie only arranged for dozens of personal guards to accompany Gu Qing when he traveled.

These dozens of personal guards looked more like Gu Qing's guard of honor and rarely had the opportunity to go into battle to kill the enemy. Until today, the cruel reality slapped Han Jie hard in the face.

The greater the power, the greater the crisis. Han Jie should have thought of this.

There is no regret medicine in the world. The situation is already very critical at this time. Han Jie has no choice but to risk his life to keep Gu Qing safe. He hopes that reinforcements from the camp outside the city can arrive in time before all the guards are killed. Otherwise, Han Jie

A hundred deaths cannot atone for his sins.

Gu Qing is so important. His life and death affects the fate of countless people. If Gu Qing died here today, the fate of at least hundreds of thousands of people would have to be rewritten.

Gu Qing glanced at Gu Qing with guilty eyes, but was caught by Gu Qing. As if he guessed what Han Jie was thinking at this moment, Gu Qing patted his shoulder and said: "Calm down. When a general is in danger, he must not panic, otherwise

I am leading my brothers one step closer to the abyss. No matter what, I will live and die with you."

Han Jie pursed his lips, nodded vigorously, and immediately threw away the heaviness and guilt in his heart, and concentrated on observing the situation in front of him.

Outside the door of the restaurant, hundreds of warriors in black clothes had surrounded the restaurant. Han Jie looked through the gap in the window pane, his expression was startled, and then he gritted his teeth.

"Your Majesty, the assassins outside are not ordinary rangers, they are soldiers of the Tang Dynasty!" Han Jie said angrily.

Gu Qing, however, seemed not surprised. He was still in the mood to laugh at this moment and said: "The eyes are quite pointed. How can you tell?"

Han Jie said coldly: "They surrounded the restaurant in a fan shape outside the door. Judging from the position where they stood, it was a typical military joint attack formation. Ordinary rangers cannot do it... Who is so bold that he can mobilize

The army came to assassinate the prince."

Gu Qing blinked and smiled: "Guess?"

Han Jie was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized, his expression became colder and colder: "If you practice this sneaky way, your virtue is not worthy of it, and you are in vain to be the emperor!"

Gu Qing sighed and said: "These people outside are either Yulin guards or dead soldiers. No matter who they are, today's test will be difficult. Han Jie, let's prepare to fight hard."

…………

Jingzhao Government Office.

Song Gensheng, who was wearing an official robe, raised his head from the heavy official documents, stared at a patrolling Wuhou in front of him in astonishment, and said: "What did you say? Anshanfang Street is closed?"

Wuhou lowered his head anxiously and said calmly: "Half an hour ago, an official from the Jinzou Academy led more than a thousand Yulin guards through Anshanfang, and found the official and all Wuhou, with the Yulin guards

In the name of the government, we ordered the street to be closed and no one was allowed to enter Anshanfang Street..."

Song Gensheng said coldly: "Who gave the order? Even if the emperor goes on patrol, there is no need to close the entire street, right?"

Marquis Wu said cautiously: "I don't know, I just heard that the Imperial Guards of Yulin are going to run errands in Anshanfang..."

Song Gensheng said angrily: "You have to close the streets when you are doing errands. It's so majestic! Have they asked me, the governor of Jingzhao, when they closed the streets?"

Getting angry couldn't solve the problem. Song Gensheng frowned and thought for a moment. He was about to say something when he suddenly looked up and saw a familiar subordinate officer wandering back and forth under the pillars outside the house, with a hesitant look on his face, wanting to advance but then stopping.

Song Gensheng became more and more dissatisfied. He pointed at the official outside the house and said, "Are you very free? Why are you lingering here?"

The subordinate officer was startled and hurriedly walked into the house. He first saluted and then said hesitantly: "Yin of the Song Dynasty, I just heard about something. I don't know whether I should say it..."

Song Gensheng said coldly: "There is so much nonsense, what should be said and what should not be said, you are already standing in front of me, don't you know it?"

The subordinate officer hurriedly said: "Yin of the Song Dynasty, at noon I heard from the colleague who was running the refugee camp outside the city that Prince Gu personally said goodbye to the refugees outside the city this morning and then returned to the city. As we all know, Prince Gu's

The royal palace is in Chininbo, and you enter the city from Myeongde Gate. If you want to return to the prince's mansion in Chinninbo, Anshanbang happens to be the place you must pass through. The official also heard that the Habayashi Imperial Guard had blocked the street of Anshanbang inexplicably. This

…”

The subordinate official Luo Liba talked a lot, but Song Gensheng's face became paler and paler. Before he could finish speaking, Song Gensheng stood up suddenly and said in a voiceless voice: "No! Something is going to happen!"

Without any time to explain, Song Gensheng picked up the hem of his official robe and ran out, shouting orders as he ran.
To be continued...