But Luo He's intelligence network was extraordinarily efficient. Jin Mulan learned of the Duke's plan three days before the assassination attempt.
And in those three days, she constructed a defense so elegant that it bordered on artistry. Actually, the plan was a trick taught to her by Luo He during training.
She hadn't created it herself. She had simply implemented a theoretical maneuver Luo He had taught her, one theory among countless others buried in the books he made them study.
This was another perk of being one of his wives. Unlike most men of the era, who viewed their women as little more than pleasure providers and elegant breeding machines.
Luo He insisted on educating his own. Advanced strategy, algebra, physics, charisma, phycology and even a little of the dark psychology he used to manipulate opponents and allies alike.
Nothing was considered off-limits.
He borderline forced them through what they privately called his genius curriculum. They hated it. Constantly.
Every wife had complained about it at some point. Yet despite all the grumbling, every one of them liked the rewards.
Most of the time, the rewards were simple things. A little more of his attention. A kiss. Or the rare and highly coveted words, "I'm proud of you."
The women who tried to curry favor quickly learned they had no defense against that. For something truly extraordinary, there would be physical gifts as well.
A fancy bracelet, a cute hairpin, some rare cosmetics. Ancient civilization artifact, and countless other luxuries that caught his eye.
It was one of the advantages of being married to a living treasure vault. More importantly, it meant that when the time came.
What looked like genius on the battlefield was often just another lesson Luo He had forced them to learn sometime earlier.
One of her most trusted men, a soldier whose loyalty was absolute and whose acting capabilities were considerable.
Was instructed to betray the Jin family.
He was to contact the Duke's commanders, provide them with detailed information about the mansion's layout, and most importantly, he was to ensure that the main gate was opened.
At precisely midnight, to allow the raiders entry. The soldier executed the deception flawlessly.
The Duke's six thousand warriors arrived at the appointed hour, dressed in the rags of bandits, carrying no imperial insignia.
They moved with professional silence through the Jin family's outer perimeter, encountering no resistance. Finding gates left deliberately unsealed.
The soldier met them personally at the main courtyard entrance. "All guards are sleeping," he whispered urgently. "The family chambers are undefended."
"Move quickly before the dawn watch changes." He said. The six thousand men poured into the courtyard in organized formation.
What greeted them was not guards or arrows but a row of large canisters positioned along the courtyard walls.
Luo He had obtained the formula for this particularly potent poison gas from his many exploits into alchemical weaponry.
The gas was colorless, odorless, and lethal within minutes of exposure. It attacked the lungs first, causing paralysis of the respiratory system, resulting in a death that was terrifyingly silent.
The canisters had been opened moments before the raiders entere.
Six thousand men died in the courtyard within minutes.
They fell like flies, literally. Sudden death with no warning, no time to mount a counterattack, no opportunity to call for assistance.
Bodies collapsed on bodies. Weapons fell from nerveless hands. The few men who managed to recognize what was happening and attempt to retreat found the main gate suddenly sealed behind them.
Trapping them in the expanding cloud of death. A few hundred, perhaps four hundred at most had managed to escape the immediate poisoned area and fled toward other exits.
They encountered Jin family guards, who showed them no mercy. Elite warriors, positioned at every secondary exit, systematically eliminated the survivors.
By dawn, all six thousand of the Duke's elite soldiers were dead. And the Jin family had not suffered a single casualty.
The Duke's fury was incandescent when he received news of the massacre. Six thousand of his most elite warriors, eliminated without trace.
Without ransom demand, without any survivors to explain what had occurred. His letter to the crown prince demanding permission to eliminate the Jin family was almost incoherent with rage.
And the crown prince, seeing an opportunity to eliminate a rival while maintaining plausible deniability, immediately agreed.
"Mobilize your elite soldiers." He instructed. The Duke was to be rewarded handsomely for his service. And there was a specific addendum regarding Jin Mulan.
She was to be returned alive. The instructions were detailed and precise. Her tendons were to be severed to cripple her.
Ensuring she could never again be a physical threat. But the crown prince emphasized with almost obsessive care that her beauty was to be preserved.
No visible scars, no disfigurement that would mar her appearance. He intended to keep her for himself. A concubine, a trophy, a reminder of his victory over this man named Luo He.
She would be beautiful enough to display, broken enough to be controllable, and utterly dependent on his will for her continued survival.
The crown prince did not know that in taking Jin Mulan, he would be directly inviting the attention of something far worse than any imperial response.
He did not know that Luo He was the King of Hell.
"Grant me the authority to march against the Jin family with my full military force. I will personally ensure they are eliminated down to the last member."
"And I will personally deliver Jin Mulan to you exactly as you requested. Broken, beautiful, and utterly yours." The Duke had responded in response.
The crown prince received the letter with grim satisfaction. He had the military authority. He had the excuse. He had the perfect justification.
Banditry and murder, perpetrated by the Jin family, requiring imperial military response for the sake of order and justice. He began mobilizing his armies.
And Jin Mulan, after finish recounting the entire sequence of events with perfect calm, simply smiled and kissed her husband's forehead.
"Well," she said softly. "I suppose we should prepare for war." She said sharply.
"Though I imagine my Husband will have his own opinions about imperial armies marching against his interests." She said deligantly.
Finally after all the past cayouse the long awaited wedding between the Feather clans young master and the Youngest Wu princess begins.
Luo He had prepared everything for travel with his two wife's. But Ning Jia was carried as Jin Mulan's sworn sister not as Luo He's fionse.
Luo He packed up extra clothing and some stuff that were senserd from the others. Then he got onboard the shuttle with Ning Jia and Jin Mulan then left.
Before departure. He gave final, precise instructions. His tone calm, but every word carrying weight.
Xu Mun who had arrived only two days earlier with Long, was summoned first.
"Keep the duke from causing unnecessary trouble." He said evenly.
"And more importantly, ensure my family remains untouched. If anyone moves against them, you respond accordingly."
He said coldly. Xu Mun did not hesitate, and bowed low.
"I will protect with my life." Long said simply, as if that was the most natural conclusion in the world.
Standing nearby, Fei was briefly taken aback by the giant's almost devotional loyalty toward Luo He. But said nothing. He only nodded once.
"I will do the same." Fei added. "No harm will reach them while I breathe." Luo He regarded them both for a moment, then gave a small, satisfied exhale.
"Good. That is more than enough." He said. Then he turned his attention to Bing.
From a black lacquered case, He produced a compact device. Sleek, unfamiliar, almost elegant in its minimalism. He called it the Dart 2.0.
A small crossbow-like mechanism, refined down to near perfection. It had an automatic reloading system driven by a recoil spring structure.
Requiring minimal draw strength while maintaining high firing consistency. The bolts were thin, almost needle like. But each tip was coated in a carefully engineered toxin.
"In the bloodstream," He explained calmly. "Even a microscopic dose is enough to collapse even a horse within moments." He said proudly.
Bing's eyes widened slightly as she accepted it, testing its balance with instinctive caution.
"It is not meant for war." He added. "It is for survival. For protection. For you and for the child." He said calmely.
At the mention of Little Lin, the mood in the room softened slightly. The child was no longer the fragile infant they had first known.
She had grown. Still small, still innocent, but visibly stronger, more aware of the world around her.
Even the maids Luo He had personally selected in the capital, chosen for their beauty among other thing were armed under his orders.
They now carried the Dart 2.0, trained not for aggression, but for defense. Antidotes were distributed as well.
No one in the household would die easily. Not by accident, and not without warning. Finally, he glanced once more over them all.
"The weapon is not to be used unless there is no other choice," he said quietly. "I would prefer it remain unused forever."
A pause. "But I prefer preparedness over regret." He said coldly.
Outside, Long waited like a silent monument. And the household once vulnerable, now quietly fortified stood under a protection that was subtle, but absolute.