On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

Although the trip to Guangling had some ups and downs, it was generally successful.

The procession returning to the capital marched in a mighty procession on the official road with flags flying and ceremonial guards in full swing.

Murong Yan sat upright in the phoenix chariot, still wearing the bright yellow brocade phoenix robe, with the nine-dragon and four-phoenix crown's jade tassels hanging down, covering her slightly tired but still sharp eyes.

The two-meter-long tail was cleverly folded and placed inside the phoenix chariot, but one could still glimpse a corner of the embroidered picture of mountains, rivers, and the country, which was gorgeous and heavy.

Although the days of ceremonies and the final assassination incident did not hurt her at all, they took a lot of her energy.

She was resting with her eyes closed, her fingertips tapping unconsciously on the armrest.

Lin Zhen rode on horseback and guarded the side of the phoenix chariot. He looked calm, but his eyes were always scanning the mountains, forests and fields along the way like an eagle.

Although the assassin on the ship had been interrogated, the assassin was very stubborn and did not reveal much useful information. He only vaguely pointed to a secret underworld force called "Shadow Pavilion" that was dissatisfied with the court.

This made him feel uneasy all the time.

The team arrived at an area called "Falling Eagle Gorge".

The terrain here was quite dangerous, sandwiched between two mountains, with the official road passing through it. Although scouts had been sent to investigate in advance and found nothing unusual, Lin Zhen still ordered the entire army to be on high alert and speed through.

The Phoenix Chariot moved smoothly in the middle of the canyon.

suddenly!

A sudden change occurred!

It was not an ambush from the cliffs on both sides, but from the official road itself!

"Boom!!"

With a loud bang, without any warning, the road surface about ten feet in front of the Phoenix Chariot suddenly collapsed, and smoke and dust rose into the sky!

A huge pit appeared in an instant, blocking the way!

The horses pulling the chariot were startled, neighing and rising to their feet! The entire convoy suddenly came to a standstill, chaos reigning!

"Protect His Majesty!" The guards shouted and retreated the defense line.

Almost at the same moment!

"Whoosh whoosh-!"

On the mountain walls on both sides, there was suddenly a dense sound of mechanical ejection!

But what was shot out were not arrows, but countless black and round iron balls the size of eggs!

They flew over the guards' heads in extremely precise parabolas, avoiding the Phoenix Chariot itself, and rained down like raindrops towards the rear of the Phoenix Chariot - the two-meter-long tail held by the palace maids and spread out on the secondary carriage!

The goal is extremely clear: it is still the train of the imperial robe that has extremely symbolic significance!

"Not good!" Lin Zhen's pupils shrank, and he instantly understood the other party's vicious intentions!

These iron balls are definitely not ordinary, they are likely to be kerosene bombs or poison smoke bombs!

Once it explodes on the train, not only will the precious train embroidered with a picture of rivers and mountains be destroyed, but the explosion and flames will also instantly spread to the palace maids holding it and the surrounding ceremonial team, causing great chaos and casualties!

In such a narrow terrain, the consequences are disastrous!

The other party's purpose was not to assassinate directly, but to humiliate the royal dignity to the greatest extent, create panic, and undermine morale!

The guards reacted extremely quickly, drawing their swords to chop at the iron balls flying towards the Phoenix Chariot, but there were too many of them, and the targets were concentrated at the rear, so it was too late to intercept them!

In a flash!

Inside the phoenix chariot, Murong Yan moved!

At the moment the road collapsed and the horses screamed in surprise, she suddenly opened her eyes, and the gaze behind the jade tassels was icy cold!

As the mechanism sounded, she had already determined the opponent's true target!

She couldn't move much; the heavy phoenix crown and the tightly bound train of her phoenix robe restricted her.

But the extremely pure internal energy in her body instantly surged!

She clapped her hands on the armrests of the phoenix chariot, used the force to spin her body slightly, faced the direction of the trailing horse behind her, and suddenly swung her wide sleeves of her robe with dragon and phoenix patterns forward!

This flick, though seemingly gentle, contained Murong Yan's exquisite inner strength that had reached perfection—it was not a fierce and powerful palm wind, but a gentle but extremely wide-ranging and minutely controlled powerful energy!

It was like an invisible, huge barrier vortex was created in the air!

"Congeal!"

A word uttered between her lips.

The countless black iron balls that were whizzing towards it and about to fall on the tail seemed to instantly crash into an extremely sticky air wall. Their momentum suddenly slowed down, as if they were stuck in a quagmire, and they froze in the air for a moment!

It’s this moment!

It gave Lin Zhen and all the guards time to react!

"Shoot them down! Stay away from the tail!" Lin Zhen's roar was like thunder. At the same time, he jumped up from the horse's back, unsheathed his long sword, and the sword light swept towards the stagnant iron balls in the air like a silk thread!

The masters among the guards also understood immediately and jumped up one after another. The flashes of swords and shadows of knives intertwined into a net, covering the iron balls!

Bang, bang, bang! Snap!

Most of the iron balls were accurately chopped or shattered by the sharp swords at the moment when they were stagnated by the internal force, and they deviated to the uninhabited mountain walls on both sides or fell into the pit in front!

A few of the bombs that escaped the net exploded in the air, splashing out what was indeed pitch-black kerosene, but they had already moved away from the tail and the crowd, and only burned in the open space!

An attack that could have caused huge chaos and symbolic disaster was resolved into nothingness thanks to Murong Yan's miraculous control of her internal energy and the quick response of Lin Zhen and the guards!

The palace maids who were holding the carriage were terrified, but they still remembered their duties and guarded the heavy embroidered scroll tightly, not letting it fall into dust.

A few low cries of surprise and uncertainty could be heard faintly from the top of the mountain wall, as if the attackers had not expected that the target would have such means!

Murong Yan slowly withdrew her hand and let her sleeves drop, as if she had done nothing.

But only she herself knew that the precise control of her internal energy over a large area to condense so many hidden weapons in that instant was a huge burden on her, and her blood in her chest was slightly surging.

The face beneath the phoenix crown turned even paler.

Lin Zhen returned to the Phoenix Chariot and looked at her anxiously: "Yan'er?"

"It's okay." Murong Yan's voice came through the jade pendant, still steady, "Clear the roads, search the forest, and capture them alive."

She gave the order crisply and without any disturbance.

"Yes!" The frightened officials and guards immediately took action.

The pit was not deep, and was obviously dug in a hurry, just to block the road and create chaos. It was quickly filled.

However, the guards who searched the forest reported that they did not find any human figures, but only found some scattered parts and footprints at the place where the launch mechanism was launched. The enemy was obviously very familiar with the terrain, and they immediately fled away after failing to hit the target.

The team reorganized, but the atmosphere became extremely solemn.

The other party repeatedly attacked the tailgater, which was full of provocation, and each time the plan became more elaborate and vicious.

Lin Zhen rode closer to the Phoenix Chariot, lowering his voice with an unprecedented seriousness: "Yan'er, Shadow Pavilion is just a cover, or a pawn being used. They know so much about the rituals, your martial arts, and even the route and time of our return... This is definitely not something that ordinary martial arts forces can do."

Murong Yan was silent for a moment, the jade pendant swaying gently. A hint of murderous intent lingered in her cold voice: "I know. I'm afraid someone in this court can no longer hold back. They want to use this method to test my bottom line and shake my prestige."

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze seeming to penetrate the chariot and fall on the intact trailing edge of the landscape.

"Since they want to challenge this kingdom so much," Murong Yan's voice deepened with a chilling determination, "then I will give them a chance."

"Yan'er, what do you mean?" Lin Zhen frowned.

"Send an order to slow down. Tomorrow evening, we will stop at the Ziquan Palace, fifty miles away." Murong Yan's order came out clearly. "Hang the phoenix robe, including the train, on the highest balcony of the palace, the Observatory. Keep the lights on all night. I want to...air the imperial robe."

Lin Zhen instantly understood her intention: "You want to use yourself and this tail as bait?"

"That's right." Murong Yan's lips curled up in a cold arc. "Don't they want to destroy it? I'll show it to them. Let's see who has the courage to come and take it! Husband, are you willing to accompany me and play this trick of inviting someone into a trap?"

Lin Zhen looked at her. Even through the jade pendant, he could sense her courage and wisdom in putting herself in danger. He took a deep breath and gripped the hilt of his sword tightly: "Through mountains of swords and seas of fire, I will follow you."

The phoenix chariot started again, and the wheels rolled over the pothole that had just been filled.

Murong Yan sat upright in the middle of the room. The golden dragon and colorful phoenix on her bright yellow phoenix robe were still as brilliant as ever. The train embroidered with vast rivers and mountains was quietly folded aside, like an ordinary piece of clothing.

But everyone knows that it is no longer just a piece of fancy dress.

It is a bait, a challenge, and the center of a vortex.

A storm is brewing quietly around it.