Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne Chapter 1115 - 139: Prince Han Didn’t Expect... (2)

"Zhao Yao has to perish at sea!" Prince Han declared with savage intensity, "Deploy our suicide squad."

Yang Qi acknowledged the command and replied, "I'll set it up without delay."

"Unleash every one of our suicide squads, ensuring nobody near Zhao Yao survives." Prince Han intended to wipe out the whole fleet without any survivors to tell the tale. "Stage it as a pirate raid."

"Understood, Your Highness."

Deep in the ocean, Zhao Yao let out a sudden sneeze.

"Your Highness, Prince Han is most likely cursing you right now," Tong Xi mused, figuring that if he were in Prince Han's shoes, he'd be boiling with rage by this point.

"Fetch Liang Chun here."

"Right away, Your Highness."

In short order, Liang Chun stood before Zhao Yao.

Zhao Yao warned him that the impending assassination would surpass all previous ones in ferocity, permitting the use of firearms this time.

The Liang family's merchant vessels carried not just firearms but cannons and various hot weapons including fire and gunpowder. Yet they refrained from using them inside Great Zhou territory, reserving them for overseas voyages against pirate encounters.

Hearing they could deploy firearms, Liang Chun brimmed with joy and promptly gave the orders.

The Liang family maintained a dedicated firearms squad; though not every member was a crack shot, they sufficed against assassins.

"Lu Guang, over the coming days, fire freely as needed."

Lu Guang's eyes sparkled with excitement at last having a chance to shine, and he responded eagerly, "Yes, Your Highness."

"Whenever you can, aim to take one or two alive."

Tong Xi remarked, "Assassins carry poison in their mouths; capturing them alive proves difficult."

Lu Guang vowed, "I'll give it my best."

Zhao Yao lifted his hand to clap Lu Guang's shoulder softly, saying warmly, "You're our hope now."

Shouldered with such a vital duty, Lu Guang stood tall with resolve burning in his gaze: "I won't disappoint you, Your Highness."

Missions held no novelty for Lu Guang; he'd sailed before alongside Divine Machine Camp comrades, picking off pirates. Battling pirates at sea formed part of their standard drills.

A sudden idea struck Zhao Yao, prompting a sly grin as he remarked, "You might not need to exert yourself much against these assassins."

Lu Guang and Tong Xi exchanged confused glances, failing to grasp his intent.

"Your Highness, didn't you mention Prince Han could dispatch Xiongnu Assassins after you?" Tong Xi pressed, "And weren't the Xiongnu Assassins described as fiercer than Xiongnu cavalry? Then why claim it'll be effortless?"

"Xiongnu cavalry and Xiongnu Assassins possess great might, yet under one condition."

Lu Guang and Tong Xi chorused, "What condition?"

"Namely, on solid ground. But where do we find ourselves?"

Lu Guang shot back swiftly, "Out on the sea."

Zhao Yao gestured toward the swelling waves crashing across the waters, smirking wickedly, "Winds have strengthened these past couple of days, churning the sea into turmoil—might the Xiongnu Assassins fall prey to seasickness?"

Tong Xi caught on at last to Zhao Yao's clever insight, "Those Xiongnu folk probably never set foot on a vessel or ventured offshore. Hitting the waves, seasickness will strike them hard, perhaps even triggering a constitution shift."

"Wolves on land, those Xiongnu turn to meek sheep upon the sea." Zhao Yao chuckled to himself: Fifth Brother, in your boldest fantasies, you never foresaw your dispatched Xiongnu Assassins doomed by the ocean itself.

True to Zhao Yao's foresight, these Xiongnu Assassins faced their inaugural ship ride and ocean journey. Mere moments after embarking, seasickness gripped them fiercely.

Fierce killers though they were, the Assassins reeled helplessly across the deck, tasting true terror for the first time.

Not even mortal wounds with life hanging by a thread brought them despair; endless retching, however, plunged them into utter hopelessness as never before.

Most of the initial Xiongnu Assassins wave succumbed to seasickness, some suffering full constitution changes. The few spared nausea still endured misery.

Amid the fierce gales and surging waves of recent days, their vessel pitched wildly with the ocean's fury, leaving ship-newcomers barely able to keep footing.

Seasick Assassins lost all aim on Prince Han. Those resisting nausea willed themselves near the Liang merchant ships, only for a massive wave to slam them overboard before they could recover balance.

Lacking swimming skills, falling into the depths sealed their fates.

Lu Guang and Liang Chun, poised aboard for the Xiongnu Assassins' assault, watched as foes dove into the sea on their own, vanishing without a trace before any shots rang out.

Another half a day dragged on in anticipation, but no fresh wave of Assassins emerged. As dawn broke, not a single one had appeared.

Zhao Yao stirred from sleep and, upon hearing about the event, showed no astonishment.

Tong Xi and Lu Guang were still in disbelief that the Assassins had perished without any effort from them. Such an occurrence was utterly unprecedented for them.

"Your Highness, your prediction was spot on."

Lu Guang sneered, "These Assassins are worthless." It marked the first occasion he had witnessed Assassins tumbling into the ocean by themselves.

"Such mishaps are typical for Xiongnu on their debut sea journey," Zhao Yao suddenly recalled a detail and questioned, "How many Assassins showed up last night?"

Lu Guang responded, "Ten."

"Merely ten?" Zhao Yao drummed his fingers lightly on the table, "My Fifth Brother wouldn't dispatch only ten Assassins after me; another squad must be out there. They skipped last night, likely struck by seasickness. Hunt them down—they could be lurking nearby."

"I'll head out to search immediately."

"I'll join you."

Soon after, Liang Chun announced that his men had spotted two corpses floating in the waters close to where the previous night's Assassins had dropped.

With the first light of day, Liang Chun sent small boats to comb the nearby seas for the bodies of last night's Assassins and, to everyone's surprise, discovered them.

The masks had been stripped from the Assassins, uncovering one Xiongnu face alongside one from the Central Plains.

Liang Chun stared in shock, "Your Highness, weren't these supposed to be Xiongnu Assassins? Why is there a Central Plains person here?"

"Central Plains individuals mixing with Assassins isn't unexpected." Zhao Yao mulled it over briefly before directing, "Remove their clothing; check for any identifying marks."

Liang Chun nodded to a nearby subordinate, who grasped the order at once and proceeded to undress the corpses.

A wolf's head mark was discovered on the thighs of both bodies.

Wolves commanded deep reverence among the Xiongnu. Legends told that every Xiongnu received a wolf head tattoo right after birth.

"Preserve the bodies in the cold to stop them rotting," Zhao Yao instructed, "They remain valuable—I'll transport them back to the capital."

Liang Chun gave the signal, and the bodies were carried off.

"Your Highness, these corpses only confirm Xiongnu origins, not that they belong to Prince Han's Assassins."

"Confirming their Xiongnu identity is sufficient." It would hand the emperor a solid pretext to launch an assault on the Xiongnu.

"But... it doesn't connect to the Third Princess at all."

"With luck, Lu Guang and the rest will track down the seasick ones; we might extract useful details from them." Fifth Brother, unleashing Xiongnu Assassins on me is like hoisting a boulder just to smash your own foot.

Lu Guang and Tong Xi divided into separate teams to scour for the seasick Assassins, and after an exhaustive hunt, they finally located them. When they arrived, the Assassins appeared deathly pale, hanging onto life by a thread.