Who understands? He traveled through time with a high-spec spatial ability.

In the nick of time, Tantai Zhou didn't hesitate and stepped in front of Qiao Jingjing to block the arrow. The hidden arrow pierced straight into his shoulder. He groaned, but still gripped his sword tightly, enduring the excruciating pain in his shoulder, and swung his sword to defend himself, while warily looking around.

Qiao Jingjing quickly calmed down, pulled a dagger from her sleeve, and stood back-to-back with Tantai Zhou.

Immediately afterwards, several hidden arrows flew through the air towards Qiao Jingjing with a "whoosh".

Ignoring the risk of exposing herself, Qiao Jingjing twisted her body strangely, and the hidden arrow flew past her neck and embedded itself deeply in the pillar behind her.

A cold glint flashed in her eyes, but she quickly reverted to her panicked state.

At this moment, the Empress, held hostage by Tantai Ming, had eyes full of fear and anxiety.

She shouted, "Zhou'er, Jingjing, protect yourselves!" The Imperial Guards were also fighting hard against the men in black, trying to control the situation.

Suddenly, the sound of orderly hoofbeats came from one side of the square.

Lieutenant General Zhang, holding the military banner of the outskirts of Beijing, charged into the crowd like a tiger, quickly turning the tide of the battle.

The men in black were gradually suppressed. Seeing that the situation was not good, Prince Cheng, Tantai Rui, along with Tantai Ming, began to retreat while holding the Empress hostage.

"Disarm and I will spare your lives." Deputy General Zhang's deep voice resonated throughout the square.

These are all warriors who would never stop halfway. Even if they are outnumbered, they will still fight to the death.

The Imperial Guards and the troops stationed in the outskirts of the capital quickly brought the situation under control. Most of the assassins were killed, and the few who were captured alive immediately bit open their mouths and committed suicide with poison sacs.

Someone exclaimed, "It's Prince Chen! It's His Highness Prince Chen! We're saved!"

More than twenty corpses lay scattered across the square, including those of assassins, innocent court officials, palace maids, and eunuchs.

Emperor Xuanjing was seriously injured and fell into a coma. He was rushed back to his palace.

After examining the emperor, the imperial physician announced that the dagger was poisoned and that the emperor's life was in danger. Overwhelmed with shock and worry for the emperor's condition, Zhao Yunyao fainted.

Tantai Zhou disregarded his shoulder injury and wanted to go and check on his father's condition, but there were more important things to do right now. His father had collapsed, and he couldn't afford to be hurt too.

Qiao Jingjing stood beside him, her face pale but her eyes unusually clear. The two stood in the square where the blood had not yet dissipated, watching the palace servants busy cleaning up the corpses and bloodstains, as if the tragedy just now was only a nightmare.

“It wasn’t an accident. I should have expected it; these people wouldn’t give in so easily,” Tantai Zhou said in a low voice, his fingers tracing the still-damp bloodstains on the hilt of his sword.

Qiao Jingjing nodded gently: "The simultaneous appearance of poisoned wine and assassins is too much of a coincidence."

How did you tell there was something wrong with the wine?

“Sunlight.” Qiao Jingjing squinted. “When I raised my glass, the sunlight shone through the wine, and I saw an abnormal color.”

Tantai Zhou nodded thoughtfully, then his brows furrowed again. "It seems there's an even bigger conspiracy behind this. It seems to be targeting the Empress Dowager, but the real purpose is to kill the Emperor."

Qiao Jingjing looked around and lowered her voice, saying, "Now that the Emperor is seriously injured, someone needs to take charge of the situation. If you weren't here today, who do you think would be in charge? There might be something going on here."

Tantai Zhou's eyes narrowed. "You mean Prince Duan and Prince Cheng are suspects?"

Qiao Jingjing didn't answer directly, but said, "In terms of suspicion, all these princes are suspects. After all, once the Imperial Noble Consort is made Empress, you will be the legitimate heir. If they were to eliminate the corrupt officials and cleanse the court of corrupt ministers, what could you do from Tongguan?"

She paused, glanced at the busy figures below the stage, and continued, "They really didn't expect you and I to appear so suddenly. Right now, all sorts of forces are definitely making moves, and who knows who's behind everyone else. We need to find out who's behind this as soon as possible. Don't forget, there's still no news about Prince Jing."

"Jingjing, it's all thanks to you again. Let's go see the bodies of those assassins." He pulled Qiao Jingjing toward the side hall guarded by the Imperial Guards.

Qiao Jingjing grabbed his hand and said, "Wait, let me stop the bleeding and treat your wounds first."

“There are too many people here,” Tantai Zhou shook his head. “Don’t take the risk, it’s too dangerous.”

Qiao Jingjing wanted to use her own blood to heal his wounds, but how could he bear to put Jingjing in danger?

The two quickly arrived at the side hall, where dozens of corpses of black-clad assassins were neatly arranged.

Tantai Zhou lifted the mask from one of the corpses, revealing an unfamiliar face. Qiao Jingjing crouched down and carefully examined the assassin's hands and fingernails.

“Tantai Zhou, look.” She pointed to a small tattoo on the web of the assassin’s right hand. “This is a flame pattern. I saw it in the camp outside the capital. At that time, the camp was under control. I saw it on one of the black-robed envoys. It is the mark of a death squad.”

Tantai Zhou frowned: "Southern Yan? It's related to Southern Yan? But they just paid such a high price to make peace, assassinating them at this time would not benefit them."

For some reason, he felt that the mark looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

“That’s not all.” Qiao Jingjing took out a silver needle from her sleeve and inserted it into the assassin’s mouth. “The poison they took was ‘arsenic,’ but it was mixed with a special spice. This formula…”