Lu Chen was very satisfied with Mu Changtian's arrangements. Although Li Feng was only a seventh-rank martial artist, in this world, a seventh-rank warrior was already capable of taking on a hundred men alone.
Moreover, the soldiers Li Feng brought were all at least second or third rank—there were no ordinary soldiers among them.
In other words, they were all elites—no cannon fodder.
Lu Chen then said, "General Li, you may rise. I trust that your strength will be enough to protect me and my family."
"Thank you, Your Highness!" As soon as Li Feng finished speaking, he straightened up.
Then, he leaned in and whispered to Lu Chen, "Your Highness, Duke Mu asked me to remind you that the Eighth Prince has already sent people to Beijun."
Hearing this, Lu Chen furrowed his brows slightly, pondering for a moment.
The Eighth Prince?
Lu Shuyun?
Why was he sending people to Beijun?
To kill him?
Lu Chen quickly understood. Lu Shuyun's mother was also from a prominent Jiangnan family, so if he wanted to compete for the throne, he needed the Chu family's support the most.
If Lu Chen died, the Chu family would naturally choose another heir from the Jiangnan noble families.
He hadn't expected Mu Changtian to be able to gather even this kind of information.
It seemed that despite being stripped of his position, Mu Changtian still had considerable influence over the military.
No wonder his father, the Emperor, was so wary of him.
Lu Chen nodded and said, "Alright, I understand."
Then, he mounted his horse and said, "Since everyone is here, let's set off. We need to reach Beijun as soon as possible."
Right now, Lu Chen's only goal was to reach Beijun and begin his path of cultivation.
Both the Qi Refining Technique and the Rejuvenation Hand required him to develop deep emotional bonds with his wives and concubines in order to cultivate them—essentially, intimacy between men and women.
But doing that on the road was obviously inconvenient. He needed a stable place.
As for any threats along the way, Lu Chen wasn't concerned at all.
Anyone below the Grandmaster level was merely a mortal!
And mortals couldn't withstand bullets. His Desert Eagle and Barrett sniper rifle were not just for show.
With that, the Northern Prince's procession formed a grand line and set off from the city.
Unlike his wedding day, today, not a single court official came to see him off—not even his father-in-law.
The only people lining the streets were commoners eager to watch the spectacle.
Lu Chen didn't care about this. Whether anyone saw him off or not was irrelevant.
As the convoy passed by a tavern, on the second floor, a man dressed in elegant blue brocade robes gazed into the distance, watching Lu Chen's figure gradually fade away.
At that moment, the man spoke. "Is everything ready?"
"Rest assured, Your Highness. Everything has been arranged. Blood Moon Tower has dispatched an eighth-rank and two ninth-rank assassins."
"The moment they leave the jurisdiction of the capital, Blood Moon Tower's men will strike immediately."
Hearing this, Lu Shuyun looked at Lu Chen, who was on horseback, and muttered to himself, "If Chu Yuqin hadn't gone with you to Beijun, I wouldn't have chosen this method. My dear brother, safe travels."
Initially, Lu Shuyun had assumed that once Lu Chen left the capital, the Chu family would abandon him. After all, even the Emperor had exiled him to the bitterly cold northern lands.
What Lu Shuyun hadn't expected was that Chu Yuqin, a ninth-rank expert, would actually accompany Lu Chen to Beijun.
What did this mean?
It meant that the Chu family had no intention of giving up on Lu Chen!
Otherwise, they wouldn't have let Chu Yuqin go with him.
Since the Chu family was still hesitating, he would simply make the decision for them.
Before long, Lu Chen and his party had left the city.
Once outside, Chu Yuqin, who was riding alongside Lu Chen, furrowed her brows slightly.
Inside the city, no one dared to make a move, but once they were outside, it was a different story.
Lu Chen riding on horseback made him too much of a target—if someone tried to shoot him with arrows, he'd be defenseless.
Chu Yuqin immediately urged her horse forward to ride beside him. "Chen'er, you should go back into the carriage."
Lu Chen turned to look at her and said, "Aunt Chu, don't worry. If anyone wanted to attack me, they wouldn't do it so close to the capital."
Chu Yuqin frowned. "It's always better to be safe than sorry. Just listen to me and get in the carriage."
Her tone was firm. This was about Lu Chen's safety—there was no room for negligence.
At that moment, Li Feng also approached from a distance. "Your Highness, we're about to leave the capital's jurisdiction. You should return to the carriage."
"The carriages Duke Mu provided have reinforced compartments. They can withstand most arrows."
Since both of them insisted, Lu Chen decided not to argue.
Right now, he was only a first-rank martial artist—his physical abilities were just slightly better than an ordinary person's. If he were ambushed, he wouldn't be able to react in time.
Lu Chen nodded. "Alright, I'll leave the security to you. If anything happens, inform me immediately."
With that, he entered the reinforced carriage that Mu Changtian had prepared for him.
At the moment, he was separated from his consort, Mu Zixuan. If an attack did occur, even if something happened to him, she and the others might still survive.
The convoy slowly made its way along the official road. Not long after they left the capital's jurisdiction, a dense forest appeared ahead.
Li Feng immediately called out to the guards, "Stay alert! Watch your surroundings!"
Chu Yuqin also instructed the royal guards, "From this moment on, do not leave the carriage's side."
As the convoy entered the forest, the light dimmed significantly. Looking out through the window, Lu Chen noticed the sudden darkness and realized that danger might be imminent.
Without hesitation, he reached into his system space and retrieved his Desert Eagle, loading it with bullets.
He had five hundred rounds—more than enough. He didn't need to deal with ordinary enemies; Li Feng and the guards could handle those. He only had to take care of any powerful assassins targeting him directly.
As the convoy moved deeper into the forest, a sudden sound echoed from a distance—swish, swish, swish!
In the next moment, countless arrows rained down from above.
Li Feng immediately shouted, "Ambush! Protect His Highness!"
Chu Yuqin swiftly drew the sword at her waist.
Hearing the commotion outside, Lu Chen tensed up. He hadn't expected an attack to come so soon.
He then heard thunk, thunk, thunk—the sound of arrows striking the carriage walls.
He had to admit, Duke Mu's carriages were impressive. They blocked every single arrow.
As long as he stayed inside, the arrows wouldn't be able to harm him.
Once the first wave of arrows ceased, a group of masked men in black, wielding broadswords, charged toward the convoy.
Most of them were around third-rank warriors, while their leader was an eighth-rank expert.
Li Feng immediately led the guards into battle.
Meanwhile, Lu Chen's personal guards remained stationed around the carriage, their priority being his safety—to prevent any diversionary tactics from succeeding.
Chu Yuqin didn't join the fight either. She stood near Lu Chen's carriage, staying vigilant.
She didn't believe that the enemy would only send an eighth-rank warrior.
To be able to summon so many third and fourth-rank fighters, the group behind this attack was no small force. There had to be a ninth-rank expert among them.
As Chu Yuqin kept watch, a faint breeze rustled through the forest.
Falling leaves split in half midair, drifting gently to the ground.
A sharp glint flashed in Chu Yuqin's eyes.
"The real enemy… has arrived!"