244: Chapter 244 The Struggle for Imperial Power

Chen Hu and Princess Anping stepped forward side by side.

They gazed coldly at the black-robed masked person lying on the ground.

With a single strike, the opponent had been severely injured by Chen Hu.

"Speak, who are you?"

Princess Anping asked coldly, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Kill me, I won't say anything!" the black-robed masked person said with a miserable tone.

Chen Hu waved his hand.

He removed the opponent's mask, revealing their true face.

"It's you!"

Upon seeing the opponent's true face, a flash of surprise crossed Princess Anping's eyes.

"Does Your Highness know this person?"

Chen Hu asked curiously.

"He is one of the Fifth Prince's men!" Princess Anping said coldly.

"Why would the Fifth Prince send someone to assassinate you?"

Chen Hu was somewhat surprised.

In the struggle for the throne, assassinations and plots between princes were common occurrences.

But Princess Anping was just a princess; why would the Fifth Prince send someone to assassinate her?

"The Eighth Prince and I share the same father and mother!"

Princess Anping hesitated slightly before saying, "Father is quite fond of me. The Second Prince and the Fifth Prince have long wanted to recall the Eighth Prince from Central Prefecture back to the capital.

If not for me repeatedly pleading for the Eighth Prince before Father, he should have been recalled to the capital long ago.

I suppose it is because of this that the Fifth Prince holds a grudge against me and took advantage of my departure from the capital to send someone to assassinate me!"

"I understand!"

Hearing Princess Anping say this, Chen Hu realized it instantly.

A provincial governor was an absolute frontier official with significant power.

And Central Prefecture was close to the capital.

If there were any changes in the capital, that Eighth Prince could fully lead a large army to arrive at the capital in a very short time.

For the Second Prince and the Fifth Prince, who wanted to fight for the throne, this was absolutely an intolerable existence.

After all, even if they ascended the throne in the future, if that Eighth Prince refused to accept it and led his army to attack, it could very likely threaten their throne.

Therefore, the best way was to remove the Eighth Prince's military power and recall him to the capital.

To recall the Eighth Prince to the capital, they had to kick away the stumbling block that was Princess Anping.

"Where are Guard Huang and the others?" Princess Anping asked, staring at the opponent again.

"There is no need to ask him!"

Chen Hu suddenly interjected, "Although Guard Huang and the other two were severely injured, they did not die!"

Through his Spiritual Sense, Chen Hu had already discovered Guard Huang and the other two who were being held captive.

"Really?" Princess Anping was overjoyed.

"Of course it is true!"

Chen Hu flicked his finger, and a strand of Protective Aura shot into the center of the black-robed masked person's brow, killing him instantly.

He removed the Storage Ring from his hand and stored the opponent's corpse.

Chen Hu then took Princess Anping to find Guard Huang and the other two.

The three of them were severely injured and their cultivation was sealed.

Therefore, they were only guarded by a mere four Marrow Refining Martial Artists.

"Puff, puff, puff, puff!"

Four strands of Protective Aura shot out, instantly killing the four Marrow Refining Realm Martial Artists.

As for their corpses, Chen Hu was not polite and stored them all in his Storage Ring, leaving them as rations for the Heaven-Swallowing Vine.

Afterward, he stepped forward to undo the Seal on Guard Huang and the other two.

Before long, they woke up one after another.

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

Guard Huang endured the pain from his injuries and stood up, asking with concern.

"I am fine, Guard Huang, hurry and heal your injuries!"

Princess Anping said indifferently.

However, Guard Huang was full of questions; he had no heart to recover from his injuries and continued to ask, "May I ask Your Highness, what about the group that ambushed your subordinates?"

"They have already been dealt with by Young Master Chen's Revered Master!" Princess Anping said calmly.

She subconsciously concealed the fact that Chen Hu possessed Liangang Realm cultivation.

After being saved by Chen Hu, Princess Anping's favorability had increased to 88 points.

It must be said that a hero saving a beauty is the best way to increase favorability.

"So that's how it is!"

Hearing that it was Young Master Chen's Revered Master who acted, Guard Huang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He first thanked Chen Hu before taking out a Medicinal Pill to heal his injuries.

Half an hour later, Guard Huang and the other two had stabilized their injuries.

Chen Hu's group then rode back to Linjiang Prefecture.

After entering the city, Princess Anping and the others headed towards the government office.

Chen Hu turned around and left the city again.

He arrived at the wasteland he had purchased and summoned a soldier who was registering people, asking, "How many people have been recruited today?"

"Reporting to Revered Master, so far we have recruited over 19,000 people. By nightfall, we should be able to recruit another two or three thousand!"

"Well done, keep it up!"

Chen Hu patted the other person's shoulder and left.

On the other side, after returning to the government office, Guard Huang came before Princess Anping: "Your Highness, do you know who the person who acted was?"

Princess Anping said, "It was the Fifth Prince's subordinate!"

"What?"

Guard Huang's expression changed drastically, "If it is the Fifth Prince, then if we continue to stay in Linjiang Prefecture, wouldn't it be very dangerous? Your Highness, we should hurry back to the capital. As long as we return before the Fifth Prince gets the news, we should be fine.

If he learns that the assassination failed, he might continue to send people.

And my injuries will take at least ten days or half a month to recover. By then, I fear I won't be able to guarantee Your Highness's safety."

"Guard Huang, you should go down and heal your injuries. I will deliberate on this matter!" Princess Anping said thoughtfully.

"Yes!"

Guard Huang's eyes flashed with helplessness, and he had to withdraw.

On the other side, after Chen Hu re-entered the city, he went straight back home.

Ruyi and Zhizhi wanted to come and serve him, but Chen Hu refused.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

Six corpses were thrown out by Chen Hu.

Two at the Late Stage of Blood Refining, four at the Late Stage Marrow Refining.

Then, with a thought, the Heaven-Swallowing Vine flew out from his body and shot out several roots, piercing into the corpses.

Not long after, the six corpses were sucked dry by the Heaven-Swallowing Vine.

After obtaining a large amount of nutrients, the Heaven-Swallowing Vine also began to level up.

Once its leveling was complete, it should reach the Liangang Realm.

Next, Chen Hu began to check his harvest.

The two Blood Refining Realm Storage Rings were not large, only a few cubic meters each.

But there were many good things inside.

The former had over 30 million taels of silver notes, and the latter had over 28 million taels of silver notes.

Besides that, there were Medicinal Pills for cultivation, Medicinal Pills for healing, and various Spirit Medicines, etc.

As for the money on the other six Marrow Refining Martial Artists, it was not much, totaling only over a million taels.

However, he also took out some Medicinal Pills for Marrow Refining Realm cultivation from them.

"Knock knock!"

A knock on the door sounded.

"Please come in!"

Chen Hu said.

The next moment, Qin Hongxue pushed the door and entered.

"Greetings, Young Master!"

Qin Hongxue bowed and offered a greeting.

"No need for formalities." Chen Hu waved his hand and then pointed to the chair in the study, signaling her to sit.

"Young Master, I have come to report to you about the martial arts school."

Subsequently, Qin Hongxue reported everything about the martial arts school to Chen Hu in detail.

After listening, Chen Hu felt that Qin Hongxue was a person with great management talent, so he said, "From now on, you will be in charge of the martial arts school's affairs; you don't need to report everything to me!"

"Yes, Young Master!" Qin Hongxue said.

"By the way, do you have any doubts about your cultivation? If you do, you can say them, and I can give you some pointers!" Chen Hu added.

After spending this time together, Qin Hongxue had long known that Chen Hu was unfathomable and by no means as simple as he appeared on the surface.

Therefore, she quickly spoke about the problems she encountered in her cultivation.

Chen Hu thought for a moment and answered her questions one by one. After hearing Chen Hu's answers, she felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.

She immediately said goodbye and went back to Cultivate.