He first looked at the face of the person in the coffin. Seeing the person lying motionless in the coffin, the thin cotton cloth wrapped around his head last night had been removed, his hair neatly combed. Although his complexion was grayish-blue and his eyes slightly sunken, it was undoubtedly Luo Zhan himself.
Then Luo Ye stared carefully at Luo Zhan’s chest, thinking that if he were faking death, his chest would certainly show movement. Holding one’s breath could temporarily stop chest movement, but not for long.
Because Yu Yi had anticipated that Luo Ye would request opening the coffin, after Meng Qing lay in the coffin, she had sewn a thin iron wire into the funeral cloth covering him. The wire created a space in front of his chest, so even if he breathed underneath the cloth, it would be invisible from the outside.
Luo Ye stared into the coffin for a while and could not detect any flaws, then looked up. “
Seeing no issues, she relaxed and ordered people to close the coffin. When Luo Ye saw her relieved expression, he called out, “Wait!”
Shu Lan became panicked, wanting to ask why he stopped the coffin from being closed, but afraid that speaking might arouse his suspicion. She suppressed her nervousness and looked at Luo Ye, but his gaze made her even more anxious. She wanted to seek advice from Yi Yao, only to discover she had unknowingly left the funeral hall.
Seeing Shu Lan’s state, Luo Ye’s doubts grew. He looked at Pan Xian, who was also frowning deeply in thought. He put on an expression of grief and pain, saying, “This jade pendant on Ye’s body, my third brother always said he liked it, but I was never willing to part with it. Now that my third brother has passed away, I truly regret why I was so stubborn and refused to give him the jade pendant. Now that we are separated by life and death, my regret comes too late. Alas… I’ll put this jade pendant in the coffin for my third brother.”
As he spoke, he began to remove the jade pendant from his waist to place it in the coffin.
Shu Lan was anxious but unable to stop him. As Luo Ye’s hands were about to reach into the coffin, if he touched Luo Zhan’s body, his body temperature would reveal the deception!
At that moment, someone pointed behind him and shouted, “Beware of the assassin!”
Luo Ye was startled, his movement pausing.
He turned to look in the direction indicated, seeing a veiled servant girl rushing towards him. Frightened, he hastily withdrew his hand, but it was too late to escape. The assassin struck him directly in the chest.
Luo Ye cried out in shock. In that instant, he became completely rigid with fear. Then he remembered he was wearing protective armor and didn’t feel pain, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
The assassin was naturally Yu Yi. She had retreated outside the funeral hall when Luo Ye suggested opening the coffin, using an earpiece to inform Meng Qing of her plan, and then quietly explaining the situation to Xia Yun and Xia Zhe. After returning to the hall, she stood in an inconspicuous corner. When she saw Luo Ye was about to reach into the coffin and everyone’s attention was focused on him, she quickly covered her face, pretending to be an assassin attempting to kill Luo Ye.
Yu Yi knew Luo Ye had a bulletproof system, and the knife strike would not harm him. The strike to his chest was already slowed down, with the purpose of cutting open his clothing.
Simultaneously, Yu Yi swiftly reached out and removed the battery from his chest armor.
Her movement was so quick that Luo Ye couldn’t see her action or understand its significance. Now, the bulletproof system could only defend the areas covered by the clothing, leaving other parts vulnerable.
Then Yu Yi stabbed forcefully at Luo Ye’s left arm.
At the moment the knife’s edge first entered his flesh, Luo Ye hadn’t yet felt pain. But as Yu Yi pulled the knife out, he suddenly experienced intense pain in his left arm and couldn’t help but scream, falling to the ground.
She stepped lightly on Meng Qing’s arm. As Yu Yi was about to chase after Luo Ye, his guards blocked her path, so she began fighting with them.
Luo Ye took the opportunity to crawl towards the corner of the room. Protected by several guards, he looked back and saw that the assassin had been stopped, so he stopped running. Standing still, he protected his still-bleeding left arm and loudly ordered, “Capture the assassin alive!”
From the crowd, he saw Luo Zhan’s body lying on the ground, motionless, only then believing that Luo Zhan was truly dead.
Although Yu Yi had a bulletproof system protecting her, she was struggling to deal with several guards.
Seeing that Luo Ye had witnessed the scene, she shifted her step to solid ground to better handle the situation.
After a few moves, she had already wounded several of Luo Ye’s guards. However, these guards, following Luo Ye’s order to capture the assassin alive, were unwilling to let her go easily. Even with light injuries, they continued to attack without retreating. Yu Yi saw their persistent entanglement and realized that if she delayed further, Xia Yuan would have to command Luo Zhan’s guards to attack her, making escape difficult.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Luo Ye standing by a pillar inside the room, with a guard treating the wound on his left arm. Feeling disgust and a need to escape, she relied on her bulletproof system and stopped defending against the guards’ attacks. Instead, she forcefully threw her dagger towards Luo Ye’s position.
A flash of cold light, the dagger flew through the crowd and pierced Luo Ye’s thigh, pinning him to the pillar.
Luo Ye let out a long, miserable howl. His legs went weak, and the movement intensified the pain at the wound. The guards nearby rushed to support him. The guards surrounding Yu Yi were momentarily distracted, allowing her to knock down a guard near the door and escape the hall.
The assassin fled, leaving the hall in chaos.
Luo Ye was firmly pinned to the pillar by the dagger, barely standing on one leg with the support of his guards.
They dared not easily remove the dagger, fearing it would enlarge the wound. But having the Second Prince pinned to the pillar was not a solution. Pan Xian called out, “Imperial physician, quickly bring the imperial physician!”
Being pinned to the pillar made Luo Ye feel humiliated. He gripped the dagger handle with his uninjured right hand and pulled it out forcefully. A sharp pain in his thigh made him cry out loudly, and blood flowed profusely. However, he had removed the dagger. Luo Ye threw the blood-stained dagger on the ground, no longer having the strength to stand, and slumped against the pillar. The guards immediately began to bandage and stop the bleeding.
Pan Xian reprimanded the guards for not protecting the Second Prince while anxiously muttering, “Why isn’t the imperial physician here yet?”
Luo Ye saw Luo Zhan’s body half in the coffin, half on the ground, covered haphazardly with a funeral cloth, with one arm protruding.
Suddenly reminded of the saying “people leave, tea turns cold,” he decided not to pursue the matter further.
Shu Lan rose and ordered a sedan chair to transport Luo Ye to an adjacent room to await the imperial physician.
Meanwhile, Yu Yi escaped the hall and ran to a less populated area of the mansion. Turning a corner where no one was around, she quickly changed out of her blood-stained clothes using her terminal.
When the pursuing guards rounded the corner, they saw a maidservant pressed against the wall, looking fearfully at them. A guard demanded, “Where did the assassin go?”
Yu Yi pointed in a direction, appearing timid. The guards rushed off to pursue. When she returned to the hall, Luo Ye was being carried out in a sedan chair.
She lowered her head, bowing and greeting Luo Ye, altering her voice to be softer and faster.
