Start from the thief

The arrogance of Chang'an Ghost Market was beyond Zhao Yushu's imagination.

If a reward was openly offered for the assassination of the Liao envoy, even Li Huan would not be able to cover it up if such a thing were made public. Someone must be killed before the situation could be resolved.

Zhao Yushu walked around the ghost market for a while and found that at least three middlemen like Hei Ye had issued rewards. However, Zhao Yushu only saw two more people who received the rewards after secretly observing for a while.

Who is so brave to gather so many people?

According to Hei Ye, as long as you accept the job, even if you spend the whole day drinking and partying, and then Yelu Yan is killed by someone else, you will still get one thousand two taels of silver. In this case, even if the number of bounties is controlled, there must be at least twenty people who take the job.

Tens of thousands of taels of silver, what a huge sum of money.

What are the benefits of killing Yelu Yan?

A superficial view is that it is a warning to the Liao Kingdom; a more cunning view is that it is to instigate conflict between the two countries and destroy the plan of borrowing troops; a conspiracy theory view is that this is a bounty issued by the Liao people themselves, and they want to use your head to eliminate dissidents.

This bounty has definitely been issued for more than a day or two. No matter what the person who issued it had been thinking before, after Zhao Yushu disrupted the banquet tonight, this assassin who appeared out of nowhere and disappeared will definitely turn this assassination in an incredible direction.

Deep in the ghost market, only a few feet underground, there stands a palace that reaches the sky.

Li Huan is the emperor in the sunshine of the Tang Dynasty. In this palace, there is also an emperor sitting in the darkness.

On the tall black seat, a blurry figure with an unclear face sat on it, and below him were five people kneeling, among them was Hei Ye.

"There are a total of twenty-five bounties for five dead teeth. They have all been issued."

Next to the black shadow, a man bowed and reported.

"Reliable, huh?"

"They are all mortals with extraordinary skills."

"Well, it only took three days. You guys did a good job. After tomorrow, regardless of success or failure, all twenty-five of you must leave Chang'an and don't come back within a year."

The people below looked up and glanced at each other. Hei Ye saluted and said, "This is a serious matter. Do you want to..."

"The Ghost Market can survive until now because of some people. Many people need the Ghost Market. If you kill them, others will not dare to come again. Then the Ghost Market will really be a Ghost Market."

The black shadow stood up and said, "If anyone of them has captured Yelu Yan's head, bring it to me."

The ghost market is closed during the day but is open all night. Not only are there brokers of various black or gray businesses, but there are also various shops and even inns.

However, most people will not spend the night here, except for a few real wandering ghosts. Most people, especially the guests, are people with serious identities. After coming here to do their business, they will go back directly through various secret passages and will not stay in this gloomy place for a moment.

Zhao Yushu had to stay.

He did not go looking for Vanut again. He casually visited a few shops and then found a dirty inn to stay in. It was not that there were no clean and luxurious places, but he was a penniless newcomer and it would be too conspicuous to go there.

Before dawn, a gong sounded. All entrances to the ghost market will be sealed during the day. Now is a reminder for everyone to leave. If you don’t want to leave, you have to wait another day.

Zhao Yushu yawned, and under the guidance of the inn servant, he found an exit and climbed up. After pushing open the door, he found it was a dyeing workshop. When he walked out, he realized that he had passed through two workshops.

Zhao Yushu touched the bounty in his arms. So many people accepted the job, and to say that there was no betrayal would be overestimating the moral level of this group of people. Yelu Yan must have received the news by now. He could rely on his cultivation level of the sixth level to kill Yelu Yan, but there was no need.

It doesn't make much difference to me whether this person is dead or alive. I just want to go with the flow and make some preparations for Lao Yang and the melee in Jiannan Road.

But if I can do something logically, maybe I can play a surprise role in Jiannan Road.

After all, this world is still populated by mortals, who make up the vast majority.

The gate was opened, and Zhao Yushu followed the crowd to the street and went straight to the Honglu Temple. He had nothing to do anyway. If Yelu Yan was well prepared, then he would just watch the show. If the other party couldn't even defend against a few mortal warriors, then he wouldn't mind giving him a knife in exchange for the one thousand taels of gold.

"You are already the third one to come to see me."

Yelu Yan looked at a warrior kneeling on the ground in front of him and took the bounty order with a relaxed expression.

"But I am very curious. You are a Tang person. Why did you tell me this?"

"People die for money, and I believe the ambassador can give me more."

"Hahahaha, you Tang people are indeed very smart. Yes, I can give you more, but apart from this piece of news, which I don't know whether it's true or not, what else do you have that is worth one thousand taels?"

The warrior looked up. "What does the ambassador want?"

"Since you said there would be many assassins, then you should stay by my side. I will give you two hundred taels for every assassin you kill."

The warrior was stunned: "Those people must be good fighters like me. If each of them is only 200 taels..."

Yelu Yan sneered: "You can refuse, but since you have accepted this order, it means you also want to assassinate me. Come on, kill me."

"Wait! Wait! I'll do it!"

Yelu Yan snorted disdainfully: "Prepare the horses, don't keep Prime Minister Di waiting for too long."

The gate of Honglu Temple was wide open, and at least one hundred Liao cavalrymen in full armor rushed out in a mighty force. It was indeed a rush. The guard responsible for opening the door was hit by a warhorse and fell to the ground.

The Liao people laughed and swarmed towards the north city. In the 400 years of the Tang Dynasty, there had never been such a large number of Liao troops showing off their might on the streets of Chang'an.

Behind the cavalry was Yelu Yan in hunting clothes, with at least six monks guarding in front and behind him, all with auras radiating from them. Further behind him were three warriors with embarrassed yet slightly alert expressions.

Zhao Yushu stood in the crowd on the street and glanced at the three people. These three should be the traitors among the assassins. It was just unknown how many of them were real traitors and how many were ruthless people who used this strategy to get as close as possible to Yelu Yanxing to assassinate him.

Zhao Yushu was just about to leave when he heard bursts of shouting and cursing from the crowd around him. Faced with the Liao people's arrogance, the Tang people who had a bit of blood in their veins all gnashed their teeth in anger.

"Your Majesty has let a wolf into your house. You are unworthy of being a king!"

"Be careful with your words! You don't want to live anymore!"

"What the hell, if I didn't have a family, I would have joined the Red Lotus Sect long ago!"

"Hey, stop talking, you bastard, what are you listening to?"

Zhao Yushu looked at the two indignant scholars, smiled, and walked away, heading north along the street.

Yelu Yan, where would be the best place to die?