Reborn, the daughter of the Marquisate went crazy

That night, the night was as dark as ink, and the stars were like pearls scattered on black silk.

In the dense forest outside Jiazhou Prefecture, the cold gleam of swords and the swift energy of sabers startled birds into flight. A group of men in black engaged in a fierce battle, and in the darkness, it was difficult to distinguish friend from foe.

On a nearby hillside, Crown Prince Chu Yuncang, his face covered with a black scarf, revealed a pair of dark eyes as dark as water, his brow furrowed. Some time ago, he had a strange dream. In it, he traveled to Jiazhou as planned, but was pursued by various forces. After going through many hardships to reach Jiazhou City, he encountered assassins again at the Yunlai Inn.

His childhood friend Wang Yan turned out to be Xiao Yan, the Second Prince of Nanjing, who died trying to save him. His close friend Xie Tingyu's tendons were severed, and he fought tooth and nail to lead him out of the encirclement, but his fate remains uncertain. He was then bound to an altar by a group of strangely dressed men in black robes, where he perished in a bizarre ritual.

The pain in the dream was so piercing, intense, and real that he believed it was real. So, he arranged for a shadow guard to disguise himself as him and set off with the Prince's Palace guards as planned, while he and Xie Tingyu followed in secret with a team of shadow guards.

As expected, they were constantly pursued and killed along the way, and the action plan, which should have been secret, seemed to have been announced to the world. The team led by the fake prince was like an alluring cicada, attracting the attention of various assassins, while their team was like a yellow bird lurking in the shadows, appearing and disappearing at will, and always delivering a fatal blow.

But what worried him was that every time he went to great lengths to keep someone alive, he was never able to interrogate any useful information.

Fortunately, before setting off, he left a secret letter for Emperor Yingtian, who had already begun investigating the Shadow Guards. The Shadow Guards' training was even more rigorous than that of ordinary secret guards. They were orphans without any relatives, and training began at a young age. Ultimately, only those with absolute obedience, a strong character, and exceptional martial arts skills could become Shadow Guards. These Shadow Guards had no weaknesses, no selfish desires, only obedience.

A few days ago, Emperor Yingtian sent a pigeon to inform him that no traitors had been found among the Shadow Guards. Due to the gravity of this matter, Emperor Yingtian temporarily gave him control of all Shadow Guards. He divided the available Shadow Guards into three groups: one to investigate the collusion between Huang Dai, the prefect of Jiazhou, and Cai Zhen, the garrison commander in the southwest; one to investigate Xiao Yan, the second prince of Nanjing; and the remaining group to accompany and kill the assassin.

According to the dream, tonight is the last assassination before entering Jiazhou City.

The killers' attack tonight was extremely fierce. They concentrated all their strength to attack the shadow guard who pretended to be the prince. The guards of the prince's mansion protected the fake prince behind them and fought desperately against the killers.

A guard beside the fake prince pretended to stab the killer opposite, but suddenly turned around and came behind the fake prince, swung his sword and stabbed the fake prince in the back. He used all his strength in this sword and pierced the fake prince through. The fake prince was seriously injured and fell to the ground in an instant.

The incident happened suddenly, and the guards at the Prince's residence were stunned for a moment before they all turned their weapons and attacked the guard. The assassins on the other side were overjoyed. With the Prince seriously injured, their mission tonight was already largely accomplished.

The guard knew that he had no hope of escape, so he flew over and grabbed the fallen prince to block him. The other guards were afraid of hurting the prince, so they fought timidly. With assassins constantly attacking from behind, the guards were at a disadvantage for a while and gradually could not hold on. They secretly prayed in their hearts that the divine soldiers who had saved them from danger countless times would arrive soon.

The rebellious guard was overjoyed to see the Prince's guards retreating step by step, but he was also silently praying that the mysterious reinforcements, whose origins were unknown, would not come out to cause trouble tonight. Suddenly, he noticed something strange on the Prince's face. Without paying attention to anything else, he quickly freed one hand to grab the Prince's face. A human skin mask was pulled off, revealing an ordinary face underneath.

The guard was utterly shocked. The prince they had protected for over a month was actually a fake. So where was the real prince? Seeing countless dark shadows rushing towards them from a distance, the mysterious reinforcements appeared. He shouted to the black-clad assassins still fighting across from him, "Hurry up! The prince is fake!"

The black-clad killer on the opposite side retreated immediately after hearing this, but it was too late. The shadow guards surrounded him from behind.

The black-clad killer, trapped between two opposing forces, stood no chance of success. The remaining assassins gathered around one of their companions, tacitly protecting him. The man pulled a flare from his sleeve and fired it into the air with a deft movement. The red fireworks exploded in the dark night, a dazzling display.

Just as the man pulled out his second flare and prepared to fire, a feathered arrow flew through the air and struck him squarely between the eyebrows, sending the flare tumbling to the ground. The remaining assassins, seeing their situation hopeless, bit through the poison in their mouths and fell to the ground in a flash, leaving not a single one alive.

Chu Yuncang came striding over with a bow and arrow in his hand. He pulled down his veil, and the guards realized that this group of mysterious reinforcements was actually led by the prince.

Seeing that the fake prince was in critical condition, Chu Yuncang ordered two shadow guards to quickly escort him to the provincial capital for treatment.

The rebellious guard's body was riddled with thorns and he lay dying on the ground.

Chu Yuncang walked up to the guard. He had an impression of this guard. He looked honest and simple, and his martial arts were outstanding. If nothing unexpected happened, he would definitely become his personal guard in the future. He asked in a deep voice, "Why did you betray me?"

The guard panted and said, "This is the mission I am responsible for!"

"Aren't you afraid that your family members will be buried with you?" The lives of all the royal guards and their families are in the hands of the royal family.

The guard's eyes fell for a moment, and he said calmly, "Those people are not my family. Your Highness will handle it!"

Feeling that his life was almost gone, the guard stared at Chu Yuncang and roared with his last bit of strength: "I betrayed because this Dongling should have belonged to the Jiang family, not your Chu family! I hope that General Jiang will flatten Dongling, overthrow the Chu family's tyranny, and create a prosperous era for the Jiang family!" The guard completed his final mission, and his head tilted as he died.

Chu Yuncang looked at the guard quietly for a moment, then glanced coldly at the crowd around him and warned, "If you dare to spread what happened today, I will not let you off easily!"

Everyone responded in unison.

Xie Tingyu stood beside Chu Yuncang, breaking out in a cold sweat. Who could be so vicious as to slander the Jiang family in front of the current crown prince?

……

East of Jiazhou City, late at night.

In a secluded courtyard east of the city, the study was brightly lit, its door tightly shut. Xie Tingyu sat alone in the study, his heart pounding with nervousness, sweat forming on his palms. He was deeply disturbed by the slander leveled against the Jiang family tonight by the traitorous guard.

Hundreds of years ago, civil unrest erupted in Dafeng, splitting it into the present-day nations of Dongling, Nanjing, and Fengqian. Dongling was conquered by the Chu and Jiang families, whose power was equally matched, and a showdown between the two clans was the only way to determine who would rule Dongling.

Yet, the two ancestors of the Jiang and Chu clans shared a deep bond, cherishing each other's heroic spirit and even becoming sworn brothers. To spare the people from further suffering from war, the Jiang ancestor willingly offered himself as a vassal. Deeply moved, the Chu ancestor pledged to preserve the Jiang clan's prosperity.

But times have changed. The Chu family has long forgotten their original promise. They act high and mighty, as if they are the natural masters of Dongling. The Jiang family, relying on their bravery and fighting skills, has been stationed at the border of Dongling all year round, diligently guarding the Chu family's territory and acting as an honest subject. The Jiang family's glory that has lasted for a hundred years was earned by countless Jiang descendants who died on the battlefield.

But the Jiang family has held significant military power for generations, and the Chu royal family is likely already wary. Today, someone resurrected a century-old incident. While the Jiang family never harbored rebellious intentions, Dongling remains the Chu family's Dongling. However, subverting imperial power, even if it's just a rumor, is a grave taboo within the royal family...