Outside the palace, at ChangSan City not far from the center of SanPo,
A group of cavalry led by Luo Xiang stopped in front of a large house gate. The gate should have been guarded and closed tightly, but no.
The house is located at the end of the road and rarely trespassing by pedestrians makes the mansion out of reach. No one will ever notice if something happened in there.
The Crown Prince has a feeling something is happening at the house and goes there to check. They received some clue leading to the house from the bandit they caught this morning, something telling him to go there, and, the choice might be right.
LuoXiang jumped off his horse. BeiYau and some trained guards stand by with swords drawn from their waists. Carefully, Beiyau pushed the big high red-painted door open, just like other houses of YueYang residents. The Hua's Mansion is a large complex with some pavilions inside. LuoXiang widened his eyes, he hoped it wasn't like what he thought, just hoping that the house just happened to be so quiet, but…
They never prepared for what they were going to find thereafter the door was open wide.
"Your Highness"
BeiYau stretched out his hand to prevent LuoXiang from going further, blood-splattered, even under LuoXiang's feet where he almost stepped on it if it wasn't because BeiYau prevents him.
LuoXiang's eyes wide open, BeiYau clenched his hand beside his head, ordering his men to keep alert.
"Check around, be careful!" exclaimed BeiYau, his men nodded,
"Ready!"
LuoXiang swallowed hard. He was quite familiar with that courtyard. The incident he'd experienced before now popped out of his head. The sight, where so many stiff bodies fell in the courtyard, at that time the heavy rain had even made the yard a pool full of blood, and now, it's happening again. Stiff body, and pool of blood caused by the rain last night.
LuoXiang rushed towards the house.
"Oh No, Merchant Hua"
The Crown Prince and his men rushed into the house. It didn't take long for them to find other piles of bodies in the living room. Looked like to be killed on the spot after being tortured. The bodies of Merchant Hua and his wife as well as some servants, who died covered in their blood.
LuoXiang's body's limp, seeing those lifeless people covered with blood.
Soon BeiYau's men rushed in after checking the other room in the big house. The young guard lowered his head in front of BeiYau.
"Report, Guard! There's a body in another room."
LuoXiang straightened up and rushed to the room that the man referred to.
"Take me there!"
Everyone entered the room at the back pavilion, which was none other than BaiYing's room. A young woman, with her knees on the floor, both hands tied behind her stiff body, full of blood. Her clothes are torn apart here and there almost showing her skin. Her face is almost unfigured with too many injuries she had, but LuoXiang still can recognize her.
"Oh No"
LuoXiang facing his men.
"BeiYau, report this to the in-charge authorities, how come incidents like this happen and no one reports it?"
LuoXiang grits his teeth and clenches his fist holding the hilt of his sword firmly while holding back his anger. All of his men reported and did not find any surviving victims.
"A total of twenty-two victims, including all the men and women, and their daughters were all killed. From the stiffness of their bodies, possibly the assassination happened not long ago" reported BeiYau.
LuoXiang's opens his eyes wide.
"That probably happened around last night when the attacker came and was about to kidnap concubine Hua. Oh no YingYing, we will back to the palace. BeiYau sent your best man to take care of all this"
LuoXiang rushed to the door, he had to return to the palace immediately. But, his eyes caught someone who he was not expected to be there, among all the people, who entered from the huge gate.
BaiYing.
The young man slowly stepped into the door with his maids. He was standing there, in front of his own house after a long time.
His eyes were wide open, looking at the sight of people he knew so close, lying on the ground covered in blood. In his house courtyard, his knee fell, his hand shaking, unable to move. What happened there? Yan and Bi covered their mouth out of surprise, they sure never saw something like this in their entire life.
"Hoh"
"Uncle Hu, Uncle Bao" Bai Ying lowered his body to check the body one by one. This might be just a dream, nothing is real here. BaiYing stepped into the garden where everyone he knew had fallen with a body covered in blood. He couldn't believe it, his chest tightened to imagine the worst, this was just a nightmare.
"YingYing!"
LuoXiang reached out to BaiYing, holding both his shoulders as his body was dazed. BaiYing's knees were weak, could not move and his body was stiff as stone. His big eyes looked straight at the whole house where everyone he knew was not moving on the ground. His lips numb, his heart too.
"No"
BaiYing almost fell, he pushed the Crown Prince's hand and rushed toward the house. Luo Xiang and his maids were too late to stop him.
"No, Father!"
BaiYing ran into the main house and saw the body sitting on the chairs covered in wounds and blood. His father, the fat old man sat down with a pale face, eyes shut tight, and bleeding mouth. BaiYing shook him.
"Father, Father this is Ying'er, Father! Mother! Please wake up and see Ying'er" his parents whom he long missed. He comes home now, and seeing them sitting stiffly in front of him, is this real?
"Father, Mother"
LuoXiang glanced at BaiYing's maids, how did they come here?
Yan and Bi hold BaiYing's limp body.
"Your Majesty" Both also can't hold their tears to flow.
Bai Ying's whole world is crumbling now, what happened? He brushed off his maid's hand on his shoulder and kept shaking his parents' bodies.
"No this is not happening, Father, Mother. Ying'er has done all that you want. Please open your eyes, Ying'er has complied, please don't leave me alone, Father! Huks, no, this is not happening"
His maids couldn't hold the tears and cried while holding BaiYing's limp body until he fell to the floor. His luxurious clothes were stained with blood splattered on the floor and on his parent's body. The boy hugged them so tight.
"Father, Mother"
LuoXiang held the kid's shoulders from behind, hugged him, and tried to lift him from the floor.
"YingYing, calm yourself." he stroked his back gently.
BaiYing's body trembled so hard, that his body was so heavily pinned to the floor as LuoXiang tried to lift him. LuoXiang raised his head to hold back his tears from falling too.
While he was still trying to calm BaiYing down, suddenly a scream came from outside.
"Akh!"
Not just one, but some other groaning sounds followed. BeiYau looked at the front, where suddenly an arrow attack flew towards the house. Bei Yau's eyes widened, and arrows with flames came in large groups which instantly burned the surroundings.
"Your Majesty, take cover!" exclaimed BeiYau, forming a human shield to protect the Crown Prince and Concubine from the attack.
LuoXiang hugged BaiYing who was still shocked so tight and took cover behind the wall with his maids.
"BeiYau, where did they come from?!"
The swords clashing could be heard outside the house. BeiYau's men took cover and dashed the arrows with their swords. But the fire immediately burned the yard. Some of the arrows even hit the doors and walls of the house and caused the fire to spread rapidly.
"This is a trap!"
LuoXiang thought, why didn't he think about this earlier when they entered the house, especially with BaiYing there? Looks like the killers had already thought of this plan before. While he was thinking about the way out, suddenly in front of them, some people in black clothes surged in. They charged LuoXiang and his men with full attacks.
"Hiaatt!"
###################