On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, early in the morning.

Zhang Hao, who had been guarding in front of the spirit of Emperor Xuande in the Jingshan Shouhuang Palace, sat in the carriage and closed his eyes to rest, and went home to rest under the escort of the accompanying guards.

Those who can guard the soul of Emperor Xuande are all civil and military ministers of the imperial court, and ordinary officials do not have this qualification at all, which is a symbol of identity and status.

Suddenly, Zhang Hao slowly opened his eyes, his brows furrowed slightly, and he didn't know why he suddenly had a feeling of unease, and vaguely felt that the air seemed to be filled with a faint murderous aura.

As a veteran of the Southern Expedition and the Northern War, Zhang Hao has a particularly keen perception of danger, which is an inexplicable phenomenon formed in many years of war, and has saved Zhang Hao many times in war.

I just opened the curtains of the car window, and since it was early morning and the Spring Festival, there were few pedestrians on the street.

Then, Zhang Hao smiled a little self-deprecatingly, and continued to close his eyes after lowering the curtains, he felt that he had been too tired and too nervous during this time, so that the spirit of the guide became very keen, and he was suspicious of the affairs of the outside world, this is the capital, how can there be any danger at the feet of the Son of Heaven?

Not long after Zhang Hao closed his eyes, a slight hissing sound from piercing the air came into his ears, Zhang Hao was very familiar with this sound, and he couldn't help but be taken aback, and suddenly opened his eyes.

At the same time, with a thud, a crossbow arrow shot through the window of the carriage, revealing a sharp arrow.

However, the bolt did not go through the window, but only stuck in the window, because the window of the carriage was covered with a layer of strong barbed wire to prevent the arrow from entering.

The four-wheeled carriage that Zhang Hao rode in was specially made by Jiangwutang, not only the windows were equipped with barbed wire, but also the mezzanine of the carriage was sandwiched with iron plates, so that although the weight of the carriage was heavier than that of ordinary four-wheeled carriages, it was extremely strong.

This kind of special carriage can only be owned by the important ministers of the imperial court at present, and it is very popular in the market once it is launched, after all, there is nothing more important than life, and this special four-wheeled carriage can provide sufficient protection for the owner, and few weapons on the market can pierce the wall of the carriage and hurt people.

"There are assassins!" Seeing this, the guards accompanying the guards immediately shouted, and they drew their swords one after another and vigilantly observed the surroundings.

"Let's go!" The captain of the guard, who was riding a horse and following the side of the carriage, realized that something was wrong, and hurriedly shouted at the driver who was driving, and the top priority was to get out of danger.

Unfortunately, the Assassins in ambush had expected this, and the coachman was shot in the throat with a crossbow arrow, snorted, and fell headlong from the carriage.

Immediately, several pallet trucks loaded with thick sacks rushed out of both sides of the street, blocking the road in front of and behind Zhang Hao.

Under the nervous gaze of Zhang Hao's guards, a group of masked men with weapons in their hands rushed out of several shops on the street, rushing over with a fierce momentum, and the two sides were quickly killed.

A dozen masked crossbowmen and archers also appeared on the rooftops on both sides of the street, condescendingly casting cold arrows.

However, the crossbowmen and archers soon realized that their arrows were not able to penetrate the armor of the guards.

Not only that, but it was also difficult for the assassins to cut through the armor of the guards after slashing Zhang Hao's guards with their knives, which made many assassins be cut to the ground by the guards as soon as they saw them.

Zhang Hao's guards all wore heavy armor, which was developed by Jiangwutang and forged with the latest technology, and had excellent performance, plus they were wearing a layer of chain mail inside their clothes, so it was difficult for knives, guns, bows and arrows to hurt them.

It's just that the only disadvantage of this kind of armor is that it is relatively heavy, and it cannot be operated by non-strong men, and the price is relatively expensive, so it is not suitable for use on the battlefield, but it can be used as equipment for noble guards.

"Brothers, let not one be spared." The captain of the guard pointed his knife at the attacking assassins and shouted in a loud voice with a blank face.

There were about fifty or sixty assassins who carried out the assassination, while Zhang Hao's guards numbered thirty-four, although they were inferior in numbers, they were well-equipped and well-trained, and they were all veterans who had experienced the tempering of the war, so they had the upper hand in the fight.

At this moment, Zhang Hao frowned and waited for the assassins outside to be eliminated, and he couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart, if it wasn't for Zhou Zheng reminding him to pay attention to safety, he wouldn't let his guards wear heavy armor in the capital anyway, after all, the security in the capital has always been very good.

Zhang Hao is very puzzled now, he doesn't know who wants his life, and he doesn't hesitate to do it in the capital, isn't he afraid of causing a shock in the court.

"Be careful, it's fire oil!" Just when Zhang Hao was deep in thought, there were several sounds of crockpots breaking outside the car, followed by the shouting of the captain of the guards.

"Kerose?" Zhang Hao's face showed a look of shock, he never imagined that the other party had prepared such a thing, although his carriage could be protected against knives, guns, bows and arrows, but it could not be set on fire, once it was stained with fire oil, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Quick, rush over, don't let them get close to the prince's car." At this time, the shouts of the captain of the guards came, and it was clear that he was also aware of the severity of the situation.

Outside the carriage, the Assassins began throwing canisters of fire oil at the guards from the streets and rooftops, and then set them on fire with rockets or fire crackers, causing the scene to quickly burst into flames, with some of the guards being able to dodge and being engulfed in flames.

Some of the canisters shattered very close to the carriage, filling the air with a pungent smell that Zhang Hao could even smell.

Zhang Hao's brows furrowed, he knew that he had to make a choice now, otherwise he might be trapped in the carriage, and then his eyes flashed and he made up his mind, and suddenly opened the door of the carriage.

"Lord Wang!" The captain of the guards was directing his subordinates to deal with the assassins, and was taken aback when he saw Zhang Hao come out, and hurriedly said, "Lord Wang, it's dangerous here, you better go back to the car." ”

"They will get stuck in the car." Zhang Hao glanced around, and saw that the archers and crossbowmen on the roofs on both sides of the street were moving in the direction of the carriage, holding a lot of crockpots in their hands, and wanted to throw those crockpots with fire oil nearby, so he muttered for a while and walked quickly to a shop on the side, "Let's go, let's hide in the house and wait for reinforcements." ”

"Quick, protect the prince!" When the captain of the guards heard this, he felt that his words were reasonable, and hurriedly beckoned the guards around him, Zhang Hao, to run to the house on the side, and kicked the door and rushed in.

Just as Zhang Hao was surrounded by guards and entered the door, several crockpots fell from the roofs on both sides, and splashes of fire oil spilled on the carriage.

Immediately, several rockets hit the carriage, igniting the oil on the carriage, and soon it burst into flames, and the two horses pulling the carriage were also ignited by the fire because they had already fallen to the ground with the oil, and the two horses let out a burst of mournful roars in the flames because the two horses were not dead.

"Come on, you must kill them."

Seeing Zhang Hao enter the house on the side of the street, and the guards on the street also retreated to the house, the leader of the assassins suddenly became very anxious when he saw this, stretched out his knife and pointed in the direction of the house, and shouted with an expressionless face.

Originally, this assassination plan was foolproof, first kill Zhang Hao's guards, and then kill Zhang Hao in the carriage, the oil is specially used to deal with Zhang Hao's carriage, if it is difficult to destroy it from the outside for a while, set fire to Zhang Hao.

It's just that the leader of the assassins never expected that Zhang Hao's guards would be wearing heavy armor, and as a result, they ruined the assassination that was inevitable.

"Burn them with oil." The Assassins rushed through the fire in the street and rushed to the house, where the leading Assassins approached with crockpots of kerosene in their hands, intending to smash them against the walls of the house.

Most of the ancient buildings were brick and wood structures, with a lot of wood, and once ignited by the fire oil, a fire would soon ignite, and Zhang Hao and the others in the room would be burned to death if they didn't come out.

In order to prevent Zhang Hao and the others from escaping, the Assassin leader had the Assassins on the roof sprinkle a lot of fire oil on the back door of the house, and set it on fire with rockets whenever anyone came out.

Just as the leading Assassins approached the house with clay pots, the closed door of the house suddenly creaked open, and several black iron bumps flew out of the door and rolled down into the crowd of Assassins in front of the door, and the iron bumps smoked outward, which made the Assassins at the scene very curious, and they didn't know what it was.

Boom, boom, boom......

Before the Assassins could react, the iron bumps exploded one after another, and the shockwaves and debris produced caused the Assassins standing in front of the door to fall to the ground in an instant, as if they had been harvested by a scythe, clutching their wounds and groaning in pain.

The leader of the assassins stood at the back of the line, and due to the distance and the obstruction of the assassins in front of him, he narrowly escaped, but he was hit by a splash of iron on his left arm, and the blood flowed, causing cold sweat to break out on his head, and his entire left arm had lost sensation, as if it no longer belonged to his body.

After glancing in horror at his men who were groaning in a pool of blood, the Assassin leader immediately turned around and hurried away with his injured left arm in his hands, it was the first time he had seen such a terrifying weapon, which suddenly made his men ineffective, and he could only wait for death to stay.

Seeing that the Assassin leader had fled, the Assassins on the roof looked at each other and then retreated, some of them had witnessed the previous scene, and if Zhang Hao's guards used that terrible weapon against them, they would be sent to their deaths in vain.

With the Assassins withdrawing, the street that had been shouting and killing all the time before fell silent, except for the crackling sound of the fire burning.