Chapter 23: .Aftermath

The early morning of late autumn has brought a rapid chill, and the Xiao Su ice wind from the north has transparently penetrated the inner and outer parts of the capital, with little leaves floating in the streets and alleys, accompanied by cold dew and red maple, decorating a deserted atmosphere.
Today is Sunday, and there are few people in the Royal Academy. The pond outside the dormitory is full of withered lotus leaves, only the sound of running water reverberates gently. There was a rush of footsteps on the banyan tree avenue, which was still thick with green leaves, and a fat figure appeared in the mottled light under the big tree. Lu Ang, a student from Class 4 of the second year of the high school, ran to the dormitory in a hurry. He clutched a newspaper tightly in his right hand and ran soaked with sweat on his face. He didn't know what had happened to make him so panicked.
Lu Ang quickly turned the waterside pavilion and headed straight to the third floor of the dormitory. He ran to the northernmost room of Jiehai, his whole person rushed forward and slammed the door, shouting: "Jiehai! Jiehai! Open the door!"
A vague complaint came from the room: "Who..."
The wooden door opened from the inside, Jie Hai in a light blue starlight pajamas yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily. The wonderful performance last night excited him all night, and he fell asleep in a daze when it was almost dawn, and now it is time to sleep. He raised his eyelids exhaustively, looked at the little fat guy who kept wiping sweat in front of him, and asked in surprise: "It's you...this morning, what's the matter?"
Before he could say anything, Lu Ang hurriedly opened the newspaper in his hand and shouted to him: "Something has happened! Jiehai, look at it!"
Jie Hai squinted his eyes and looked at the crumpled newspaper. The headline read: "A shocking case! The sudden assassination of the Bingquan Hotel, with heavy casualties!" There is a black and white photo below, and a row of covers is vaguely visible. At the front of the corpse with white cloth was an officer in a dark green uniform. He closed his eyes and looked grim. He was crowded with reporters from all over the world.
"Assassination!?" Seeing these two words, Jie Hai's deep sleepiness was suddenly thrown out of the clouds. He took the newspaper and walked to the window a few steps to read it carefully.
"...The raid that occurred at midnight... the gangsters were masked and committed crimes... Some gang members cut off the power after arson... According to people familiar with the matter, the assassination target was a member of the royal family?" He was surprised when he read this. Royal member? The one who stayed at the hotel last night... Is it A Shun?
He frowned and stared at the newspaper, recalling the scene after the performance last night. At that time, the surroundings were horribly noisy. He was still helping to clean up the guest seats around the stage, only to see A Shun and Brother Jinyuan leaving with the lady, and he didn't know if they were staying in the hotel.
Jie Hai muffled for a moment, and he looked up and saw Xiao Pangdun wiping sweat at the door. He quickly put down the newspaper and said, "Come in and sit down for a while. I'll get you a towel."
Lu Ang responded, sitting on the wooden chair next to the desk and panting. Jie Hai went to the bathroom and took a towel for him to wipe his face. He sat on the bedside and asked, "You walked later than me yesterday. Where did His Highness Shun go?"
"Yesterday, there were people everywhere in the hotel. I couldn't squeeze in no matter how much I squeezed... However, the people in the newsstand just said that it must be His Royal Highness that was attacked.
"It's true... it's rumored, it's not written in the newspaper." Jie Hai felt a little bit unwilling to believe it.
"Who knows... I just listened to them. Yesterday, His Royal Highness Shun did stay in the hotel and did not return to the palace. Someone saw them go in." Xiao Pangdun put the towel on the chair and frowned and suggested, "Yes No, let's go to the hotel to see?"
"Yes, go to the hotel and have a look!" Hearing is fictitious, and seeing is believing. Jie Hai nodded and walked into the bathroom quickly, "Wait for me, I'll change my clothes first."
"Okay, then I'll go downstairs and buy something to eat. I didn't have time for breakfast just now." Xiaopangdun patted his stomach and ran out.
"Bring me two steamed buns!" Jie Hai yelled loudly in the room.
Lu Ang's vague response came from the corridor outside the door. After washing up, Jie Hai put on his uniform and ran downstairs. Lu Ang waited at the door of the dormitory. When he saw him running, he handed over two big meat buns. The two of them ate as they walked, passed through the gate of the college, and took the train all the way west. They arrived at Bingquan Square Station in a short time.
Before they left the platform, they felt the vigorously guarded atmosphere of the crime scene. At the exit, there are several heavily armed police officers with guns, all with serious expressions, closely monitoring the surrounding movement, and every passenger must be checked before they can leave the station.
It seems that the situation is really serious..., the two of them secretly looked at each other, went forward to receive inspection, and moved out of the platform through the crowded passage.
Not far from the station, the beautiful flower and vine stage on the square still stands, but the center of attention has long since moved to this appalling assassination storm. The wide road from the platform to the hotel is not long, crowded with people from all walks of life who came to hear the news, and the square avenue was blocked by the crowds.
Jiehaila Luang squeezed left and right in the crowd, and finally got to the hotel. He looked up and saw that the gate was surrounded by layers of isolation barriers, and a group of anti-riot team members holding large shields blocked the passage. The two of them stayed in front of the door for a long time, only listening to the chaotic noise around them, but the hotel was always quiet, and no one came out to respond to everyone.
"What to do?" Lu Ang turned to look at the crowd, and asked in a low voice in Jie Hai's ear.
"...What else can we do, wait..." Jie Hai sighed helplessly. He completely underestimated the attractiveness of this explosive event to everyone, and now he can only get stuck in the crowd, unable to move.
The two teenagers outside the door were secretly worried, and the atmosphere in the hotel lobby was also depressed.
After a night of sleepless searches and vigilance, Lord Saron and Mrs. Lovina both looked a little tired at the moment. They sat diagonally across the long sofa chair on the side of the hall, with solemn expressions and frowned brows. A circle of guards armed with guns guarded the hall around the entrance, facing the entrance of the door, standing expressionless Colonel Ye Chi and the two masters and apprentices Jinyuan.
The lord was silent for a long while and let out a long sigh, and said in a deep voice: "I didn't expect to come here this time and cause you such a big trouble..." He knew that if the prince hadn't stayed in the hotel unexpectedly, he would serve as the host. Zhi Dao gave up the room, I am afraid it will be a different situation at this moment, thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel very angry.
"...No one expected this to happen..." The lady closed her eyes and leaned on the sofa cushion, and slowly shook her head. "Fortunately, you are safe, or else..." She sighed and stopped her mouth, as if Don't want to think about it anymore.
There was footsteps in the distance, and the old housekeeper Louis quickly walked out from the inside of the hall and stood beside the lady and whispered: "Miss, the family has already arranged it, it's Captain Fenia..."
"Let's notify the bunkhouse to send someone over to deal with it...I will apologize to him when I go back..." The lady still closed her eyes, her voice a little dry. The power person nicknamed the wolf girl is not her own subordinate, so naturally she has no right to intervene more and can only wait for the family lord to deal with it personally.
"Yes..." The old butler responded and walked quickly back to the inner side hall.
The lord looked at his back and sighed secretly in his heart. Two powerful men, one captain of the guard, and six ordinary guards, it sounds like a small number, but for a hotel, this is already a huge loss that is unbearable. He has been on the battlefield for a long time, he has healed countless people, and has long been used to parting life and death. But he also understood Madam's deep feelings at this time, and he didn't want to disturb her too much, so he turned around and asked about the whereabouts of the prince: "Your Excellency Ye Chi, is there still no news from His Highness Shun?"
Without a word, the officer glanced at his apprentice coldly, and walked forward knowingly as far as he could, bowed back and said: "His Royal Highness Saron doesn't need to worry too much. My Royal Highness has already made a plan. I believe that news will be sent back soon."
"His Royal Highness Shun is really a little impulsive... Don't you guys in the country often say: the son of a thousand gold is not sitting down, in case something goes wrong..." The lord could not see the prince, and he was extremely uneasy. What is the problem, it is a fatal blow to the relations between the two countries.
"My house always moves after planning, and we are fully prepared for it. Please don't worry." As far as possible, he took cover for Shun unhurriedly, his face was calm and he didn't hesitate in his words.
Saron saw that he was always calm and composed, but he believed him a little bit. After all, he is a prince of a country, and his actions are naturally classified as secrets. It is inconvenient for him to ask more questions. He gently patted the armrest of the sofa and fell into thought. I came to the capital this time without prior notice or fanfare. How did the assassin know his whereabouts? Or is it that the assassin actually lurked in the capital early in the morning waiting for an opportunity, just happened to use this concert to launch an attack?
The lord was concentrating on that, when the glass door of the hall was suddenly pushed open, and a green sergeant hurried in and whispered as far as he could.
After listening to the secret report as far away as possible, he nodded to the sergeant, turned and bowed slightly to the lord: "His Royal Highness, there are still important things to do, so let's leave first."
"If you have any investigation progress, please let me know." Lord Saron waved his hand Su Rong and exclaimed.
Nodding as far as he could say yes, he glanced at the colonel again, received a warning eye knife, bowed respectfully, and walked out of the hall quickly. He got on a light gray locomotive that had been prepared outside the hotel, and slowly drove to the door to wait.
The crowd outside the gate saw the locomotive approaching, and they became agitated. Some began to shout and ask questions, while others retorted, making noisy arguments. The guard in front of the door quickly separated the crowd and raised the shield to open a narrow passage for the locomotive.
The locomotive slowly opened the gate under the crowd watching, and then suddenly paused. A guard leaned forward, affixed to the window of the car as if listening to some instructions. After a while, he nodded to express his understanding, and the locomotive continued to move forward and soon disappeared on the road in the distance.
Jie Hai and Lu Ang squeezed in the front row of the crowd, looking toward the direction where the locomotive disappeared, and a question came from beside them: "Are the two classmates Jiehai and Lu Ang?"
The two turned their heads in surprise and saw a guard standing in front of them, staring at them with serious expressions.
"Yes, may I ask you what's the matter?" Jie Hai first came back to his senses, he pulled Xiao Pangdun's sleeve, half expectant and half worried.
"The adult in the car just now wants me to tell them that everything is safe, please go back to school as soon as possible and don't stay here." The guard saluted, turned around and strode back into the door.
Everything is safe... Jie Hai secretly guessed that the identity of the confidant would be A Shun and Brother Jinyuan... He turned his head and looked at Lu Ang again, but he was finally relieved.
The two young men were about to turn around and go back. The onlookers who also heard the message were not happy. When they pulled down their interrogative questions, a series of question marks made them dizzy. .
When Jiehai was questioned, he screamed, and he had a clever idea, pointing to the front and shouting: "Look, everyone! Mrs. Lovina is out!"
Taking advantage of the gap where everyone turned to look, he quickly grabbed Lu Ang's arm and slammed into the crowd. He disappeared into the crowd in a gap, leaving only a bunch of spectators yelling at a loss.
Sitting quietly in the car as far as possible, the locomotive drove eastward along the road, and finally stopped at the pedestrian street beside the Royal Academy: Fengming Road.
He got out of the car and stroked the folds on his robes, and came to the luxury restaurant that he often visited: Bailu Pavilion. He asked a few words to the little servant who was welcoming the guests outside the door, then went straight into the door, followed the gorgeous carved porch, and walked outside the innermost box.
He knocked on the door as far as possible, and a cold and arrogant woman's voice came from the room: "Come in." Hearing this answer, he seemed to be stunned for a while, pressing his mouth tightly, pushing the door and walking into the room.
The boxes of the top guild hall in Beijing are decorated in a simple and elegant style. The wood floor with golden silk can be seen lightly, and there are a few old-fashioned low square tables on it, with a cushion behind each. There are two octagonal lanterns with colorful patterns hanging above the head, and several landscape calligraphy and paintings are hung on the surrounding walls. The pen and ink are full of charm. Outside the semi-circular wooden flower window facing the door, a red maple with Dettol was trembling in the wind, which filled the taste of elegance.
By the window sill inside, a tall woman was looking out the window with her back turned away. She was wearing a black short dress with red embroidered tight-fitting samurai, which outlined her exquisite figure. Her long light purple hair was combed into a ponytail and hung down to her waist. A blood-red horizontal knife was pinned to the palm-wide armed belt.
The woman quickly turned around when she heard the door closing, her delicate eyebrows were filled with indifference, and her tight lips seemed unconscious. She habitually raised her snow-white neck, proudly scolded Jin Yuan: "Why is it so slow."