Gong Yu instantly felt suffocated in his heart; it was as if a big stone had smashed hard on it and he couldn"t even breathe.
"What? Tonight? How could it be so fast?"
Xi Fangchi responded in a deep voice. "It is said that the Crown Prince has noticed your trace and intends to force you to show up. Execution in such a short time will take you by surpirse. You are not well prepared, so the odds may be in their favor."
"Duanmu Gongcheng! He shows no mercy and has determined to destroy us all!"
"What are we going to do now, master?"
"What shall we do? We are certainly going to save them, I can"t watch Nanny Wu and dozens of others lose their lives just for me!"
"But, master, once you come out, there will be a huge trap waiting for you."
"Anyway, we"ll take action tonight. You guys go out and get ready. I"ll discuss it with my master."
Xi Fangchi looked at Gong Yu, then he turned around and left. They had been following Gong Yu for so long, and they always obeyed his order. That day, he had said enough, and all he could do was to do everything he could to protect Gong Yu.
Gong Yu and Kuang Youzhi had discussed in the study room for half an hour before they came out.
As they went out, they saw Dong Fangying and other people were around the door. At the sight of Gong Yu coming out, they all went forward, waiting for Gong Yu to give instructions.
Gong Yu"s face was calm. He said coldly, "Dong Fangying."
Dong Fangying went forward and stared at Gong Yu. "I am at your service."
"Now you are going to mobilize all the resources we need. Two hours later, you will lie in ambush in the woods outside the west gate of the palace."
"Yes." Dong Fangying turned around and left quickly, disappearing into the darkness in an instant.
"Xi Fangchi."
Xi Fangchi took a step forward, looked down and stood ready to listen to the instructions. "I am here."
"You are going to inform Ouyang Fangzheng, Sikong Shu, Huangfu Jianan and Murong Che that they need to dispatch an elite troop of one thousand men to stand by at the east gate."
"Yes." Xi Fangchi also left quickly.
The rest of the people, Nan Fangjing, Bei Fangye, Xing Ye and Lan Yun all stared at Gong Yu quietly, waiting for his orders.
None of them thought that Gong Yu would wave softly and say, "Go to rest, gather in an hour."
Xing Ye looked at Gong Yu in surprise. "Master, what should we do?"
"Like I said, you guys meet here in an hour."
"But Dong Fangying and Xi Fangchi have all gone to deploy forces. What are we going to do now?"
"You have to rest now. You guys will be the main forces for tonight."
"What?"
They looked astonished at this answer. Just four of them could be main forces in Gong Yu"s eyes. But obviously, the elite troop of one thousand men were going to be at the west gate and the east gate...
"Well, I"ll tell you what to do in an hour. Now go to rest."
Gong Yu sounded impatient. He had been too nice to them. At the moment they had become more and more talkative. Gong Yu felt that he had a better temper recently.
They left in confusion, and then Gong Yu went inside.
Kuang Youzhi was preparing for Murong Yunxi"s operation. He might do it that night.
"Master, do you think you can do it by yourself tonight? Would you like me to find some a.s.sistants for you?"
"No, I can handle it." Kuang Youzhi didn"t stop his actions, and he didn"t even look back.
"Or I"ll let your wife stay. At least she can help you."
"No, without her, your actions won"t be successful tonight."
"But..."
"Alright! Are you worried about me or are you reluctant to leave your wife?"
"Master, I don"t mean that!"
"Then say no more. Go find my wife. I"ve already told her to be ready. You should take good care of her for me. You needn"t worry about Xiao Xi. When you come back, I will give a healthy Xiao Xi back to you."
"OK! I will take good care of your wife!"
Then Gong Yu looked affectionately at Murong Yunxi and said with reluctance, "Xiao Xi, wait for me to come back."
"Don"t worry about me, Master will cure my eyes, you take care! I"ll wait for you to come back."
Gong Yu instantly turned around and left. He could only bear the short pain of saying gooodbye; otherwise, he wouldn"t have the strength to leave at all.
Shortly after Gong Yu and the others had left, the parturient woman was dead. Kuang Youzhi quickly began to prepare for the operation. There was no such thing as anesthesia in that world. Kuang Youzhi used herbal medicine that could paralyze nerves and had Mu Rongxi take it.
A long time pa.s.sed before Mu Rong Yunxi had gradually fallen asleep. Kuang Youzhi began to dissect the nerves of the dead body. That was a very tricky job, because the nerves were so tiny that they would break if the surgeon was not careful. It was said that even the best surgeon had difficulty to complete it.
However, dissecting the nerves was not the most difficult part, the most difficult thing was sewing, which directly affected the nerve connection. If the nerves couldn"t be well connected, Murong Yunxi would still be blind, or even worse. So the operation was extremely hard. Even in Murong Yunxi"s world, top experts could fail in such operations.
Kuang Youzhi held his breath and began to concentrate on the movements of his hands...
At the same time, Gong Yu, Nan Fangjing and Baili Ziyi, with four others, had already sneaked into the northwest corner of the palace in the night. In the entrance, there was a private garden of the palace, and it was also the best place to hide.
Gong Yu jumped up the palace walls, followed by two figures.
It seemed too easy for Gong Yu and the others, but it was hard for Baili Ziyi.
Hei Ye and Lan Yun, holding Baili Ziyi in their arms, also jumped up. Baili Ziyi was frightened by this sudden move and almost screamed. Fortunately, Lan Yun covered her mouth in time.
Gong Yu and the others knew the Palace inside out. He easily found the dungeon and led them there.
The dungeon was so closely surrounded by the guards that it was impossible to break in. Duanmu Gongcheng had already known that Gong Yu would show up.
"Xiao Yu, how can we break in such a maximum security jail?"
Gong Yu smiled. "We will wait here for them to bring people out!"
"But even if the people are out, we are just a few, how can we take dozens of people out?"
"Wait and see, these people will certainly send people out for us."
"Oh? How can you be so sure?"
"I just know."
"What should we do now?"
"All we have to do is observe in the dark! The key is to act at the right moment!"
Right then, sounds of people talking were heard from a short distance; they imediately went silent and held their breaths, looking ahead.
Duanmu Gongcheng and Duanmu Gongqi came over slowly, followed by several guards.
"Big brother, do you really think Gong Yu will come today?"
"Well, don"t you know his personality yet? How could he watch these people die like that?"
"But what if that person wasn"t Gong Yu? If it"s really him, why didn"t he show up in such a long time? He hasn"t returned to Emperor Yu"s Mansion even once!"
"He left for so many years. When he came back, everything was different. He has nothing to compete with us. He has to secretly rea.s.semble his team and expand his sphere of influence before he turns up!"
"Big brother, if our father the Emperor finds out, what woud he..."
"Well, he"s too old to control us, you should look at his face when it comes to death. He is so ill, all he cares about is his heath. He can spare no time for us."
Somebody ran there; he stopped beside Duanmu Gongcheng and reported to him. "Your Royal Highness, a large number of men and horses were found in the east gate. They seemed to be there waiting to save someone."
Duanmu Gongcheng smirked. "I knew he would come."
Duanmu Gongqi asked curiously. "What are we going to do now, big brother? The east gate leads to the execution grounds."
"Well, of course I know that the east gate leads to the execution grounds! I did not plan to go out from the east gate. I said it"s would be secret execution, how stupid would I be if I were to go that way. n.o.body would know the secret execution will be held at the forest in the west; it"s much more private."
"Big brother, you"re too wise. You foresaw that Gong Yu would try to intercept at the east gate."
"Oh, Gong Qi, I"m not looking down on you. Your are too simple and naive. The position of Crown Prince really does not suit you. Otherwise, I would certainly pa.s.s it to you, but you just don"t fit! However, You can rest a.s.sured that when I succeed to the throne in the future I would never hurt you."
"You don"t have to promise anything to me. I gave up the throne a long time ago. Since Gong Yu left, I have thought it out clearly. I"d been a fool fighting the crown with you."
"Gongqi, it"s not too late for you to understand. Let"s go! Let"s deal with those people first, and then go to handle Gong Yu at the east gate."
Then Duanmu Gongcheng gave an order to the gatekeeper. "Bring all the people out."
The soldier at the door responded and went into the dungeon.
After a while, rows of people were brought out; Nanny Wu was the first.
They were taken directly to the west gate; Duanmu Gongcheng and Duanmu Gongqi were following straight after them.
Gong Yu whispered to Hei Ye. "Ye, you take a short cut to the west gate. Tell Dong Fangying to stay put in the woods and wait for my order. Don"t let them act rashly."
Hei Ye got the order and soon disappeared.
Gong Yu and Nan Fangjing, along with others, quietly followed Duanmu Gongcheng to the west gate.
Duanmu Gongcheng did send a lot of soldiers to guard Nanny Wu and others; they were surrounded by an impenetrable wall of people. While walking to the west gate, there were soldiers constantly joining in the convoy troop. Duanmu Gongcheng was perfectly prepared for every situation.
About half an hour later, the crowd had gone deep into the woods. In a relatively empty place, Duanmu Gongcheng finally ordered the following to stop.
Duanmu Gongcheng looked around and gave the order to his men, "Get ready to execute!"