Shi Minglang was shocked and stared at the crown prince in disbelief.
The once gentle and refined gentleman was now shrouded in a murderous aura. His eyes were bloodshot, as if a bloodthirsty beast was about to leap out of his body and start a killing spree.
As soon as the crown prince gave the order, Xu Mufeng, the leader of the crossbowmen, immediately picked up his crossbow and aimed at the wheels.
The crossbow in his hand was his most proud invention, capable of firing dozens of arrows in an instant.
Whoosh! Whoosh! The arrows accurately hit the rolling wheels.
The wheels were blocked by the resistance and got stuck in place.
The crown prince's cavalry surrounded the carriage tightly.
Shi Minglang rushed in front of the crown prince. When he saw Liang Yuzhou, he shouted, "Liang Yuzhou, don't act rashly. Let Miss Song out. The crown prince won't hurt her!"
He knew that Liang Yuzhou was the real beast. Once a powerful fighting beast was cornered, it would be a fatal danger to everyone present!
It was the same for Liang Yuzhou himself. He was very afraid that Liang Yuzhou would act impulsively and fight the crown prince to the death!
But before his voice faded, he saw Liang Yuzhou suddenly soar into the air, faster than a diving eagle.
His sword was heading straight for the crown prince!
Several cavalrymen guarding the crown prince didn't even see the direction of the danger before they were beheaded by the sharp sword and fell off their horses.
The crown prince rolled off his horse and confronted Liang Yuzhou with his weapon.
Although he was not weak in martial arts, compared with Liang Yuzhou, the former martial champion, he was still far inferior. After only ten moves, his sword was knocked out of his hand by Liang Yuzhou.
Liang Yuzhou circled behind him and grabbed his throat.
The crown prince felt as if his throat was about to be crushed.
There was tremendous force in Liang Yuzhou's hand. It would be easy for him to kill the crown prince.
The incident happened so fast that the crown prince's cavalry didn't even have time to react.
The faint morning light seemed to be tinged with a touch of blood. Shi Minglang saw the fierce killing intent on Liang Yuzhou's face and was so scared that his heart almost stopped.
"Don't be impulsive. Please, don't be impulsive!" He quickly dismounted and tried to approach Liang Yuzhou.
"Kill me? Lu Sihong, you should see if you have the ability!"
Liang Yuzhou grabbed the crown prince's throat and mercilessly mocked, "You have status, power, and troops, but you are just a coward!"
Such humiliation was no less than a crime punishable by the execution of the nine clans!
"Capture the ringleader first? Liang Yuzhou, I don't deny that you are smart, but you should also recognize the situation. I'm no match for you, but you don't have three heads and six arms to break out of the encirclement of 300 cavalrymen!"
The crown prince's cavalry didn't dare to act rashly, but they all stared fiercely with their bows and arrows aimed at various parts of Liang Yuzhou's body.
Liang Yuzhou was indeed outnumbered.
Zhou Sheng and Zhou Yan had led away Xie Zheng and the others. Now he had no one to help him.
Shi Minglang tried to ease the situation. "Liang Yuzhou, let go of the crown prince first. The crown prince appreciates your talent and doesn't really want you dead. Let's all calm down. Don't scare Miss Song. Any injury to either of you is not what she wants to see!"
Liang Yuzhou and the crown prince both looked at the carriage involuntarily.
It was extremely quiet inside the carriage.
If it were another woman, she would have been crying and screaming in such a tense and bloody situation.
But Song Wanchu just sat quietly in the carriage.
She bit her pale lips, and her trembling hands tightly grasped her knees.
She couldn't go out. Liang Yuzhou was confronting 300 cavalrymen alone. Any small movement or sound from her would distract him.
Anger and bloodlust filled the crown prince's eyes.
"Liang Yuzhou, leave Wanchu behind, and I can let you go."
The mocking smile on Liang Yuzhou's face grew stronger. "Lu Sihong, do you still remember when your sword pierced my shoulder? I said at that time that I would never let anyone take Wanchu away from me, unless you have the guts to kill me right now!"
Xu Mufeng roared angrily, "Liang Yuzhou, who do you think you are? How dare you talk to His Highness the Crown Prince like this!"
He had a lot of resentment towards Liang Yuzhou.
On the riding and archery field of the martial examination a year ago, he lost to Liang Yuzhou by a single arrow. And because of his poor performance in the essay and martial arts competition, he only ranked 19th in the end.
It was the crown prince who recognized his talent as a genius in riding and archery and promoted him out of the ordinary.
He was absolutely loyal to the crown prince, so he hated Liang Yuzhou even more.
His crossbow was steadily aimed at Liang Yuzhou's right shoulder.
The crown prince even wanted to tear Liang Yuzhou into pieces.
But he also clearly knew that if he killed Liang Yuzhou in front of Wanchu, Wanchu would never forgive him in this lifetime.
The impulse and anger in his mind gradually cooled down, and his tone became a bit calmer. "Liang Yuzhou, I know you are brave and not reckless. You can see the situation clearly. You can't take Wanchu away today no matter what."
"I can't take her away, but I will never let you take her either."
There was a sharp glint in Liang Yuzhou's cold eyes. He didn't relax his vigilance because of the crown prince's slight concession. His hand still tightly grasped the crown prince's throat.
"Lu Sihong, it's you who doesn't understand the situation. Wanchu is willing to give up everything and run away with me. She doesn't even want to stay by your side. Even if you promise her the whole world, she won't even give it a second look.
What you give, she doesn't want. What she wants, you can never give."
The crown prince felt as if his artery had been punctured. All the blood in his body was flowing backwards. He clenched his fists tightly, but his heart was getting colder and colder.
He could give Wanchu everything, but he just couldn't give her a peaceful and serene life.
But he was not willing to just let go of the woman he loved all his life.
He had already lost Wanchu once. If he let go this time, he would lose her forever.
His heart hardened a bit, and he said coldly, "You can give Wanchu what she wants. Is your love nobler than mine? It was because of your coldness, distrust, and repeated injuries that Wanchu decided to leave you. If you had always spared no effort to love and protect her, I wouldn't have had the chance to take her away!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he clearly felt the hand on his neck tighten a bit more.
He had hit Liang Yuzhou's sore spot.
Liang Yuzhou's expression became even more ferocious. The arrows in the hands of the cavalry were aimed at Liang Yuzhou even more densely.
Shi Minglang was almost driven crazy. Fortunately, he still had his wits about him. He roared at the two men opposite him:
"Who would be the happiest to see you two titans fighting to the death?"
The eyes of Liang Yuzhou and the crown prince both trembled.
"It's the princess! Don't forget that it was the two of you who joined hands to put her under house arrest a year ago! She hates you to the bone and wishes that you would kill each other!
For Miss Song, you both think it's worth it, but the princess is good at exaggerating and fanning the flames. What will your actions be smeared into by her?
The most promising crown prince of the Great Zhou and the most outstanding heir of the Zhou family will both be seriously injured for a woman who is regarded as a curse! If this gets out, all three of you will become the targets of public criticism!"
Shi Minglang was an outsider in this battle for the beauty. He stood higher and saw more clearly.
He specifically pointed out the key points and the most important things.
"You don't care about your own reputations, but don't you care about Miss Song's reputation either? Since ancient times, which woman who has been labeled as a 'beauty who brings disaster to the country' hasn't been scolded for hundreds or thousands of years?"
Liang Yuzhou sneered. "Lu Sihong, if you don't want to be a foolish king, you should let go!"
The crown prince pressed on step by step. "I don't want to see Wanchu being hurt by you again. You let go, and I will give her the most noble honor and make sure that no one in the world dares to talk about her!"
Shi Minglang's head was buzzing and was about to explode.
"If the princess is not eliminated, neither of you will be able to stay out of this!"