Chapter 18 — The Prophet Awakens: Shedding the Worthless Shell

The night after the battle, at a secret manor of Nam Xuyên hidden in the deep forest near the border, Ước Liêm Phong summoned the most elite commando team that he had secretly trained for many months, led by a skilled assassin named Tang Vũ Tiêu.

"You have been thoroughly trained for this mission," Liêm Phong said, his cold eyes swept over each person in the twelve-person commando team. "The target is Xa Tuyết Doanh's daughter. This time, there cannot be any mistakes like last time."

"Your Excellency," Tang Yu Tieu bowed his head, "after the fiasco at the festival, Nguyệt Trạch must have strengthened his defenses much more strictly. We need a more sophisticated plan."

"I took that into account." Liêm Phong spread a detailed map of Nguyệt Trạch on the table, meticulously drawn based on information gathered from many months of monitoring. "Three more days until the debate before the council. All key personnel of Bắcương, including Xa Tuyết Doanh and her strange husband, will have to be present at that meeting. This is the ideal time, when the attention and the most elite security forces are focused elsewhere."

"The Count wants us to take action while the debate is taking place?" Tang Vũ Tiêu frowned.

"Exactly." Liêm Phong nodded, his eyes flashing with cold calculation. "I had someone plant false information to ensure that Đoàn Thư Nhạc would lead the child out of the safest area of Nguyệt Trạch at that exact moment, under the pretext of a routine outdoor teaching session that she often attended. You will take action as soon as the group leaves the protection of the main guard."

The plan is meticulously outlined down to every minute, every escape route, and every backup plan if something goes wrong. Tang Vũ Tiêu, with the extensive experience of an assassin who served many powers before returning to the Uoc family, did not miss any detail.

***

Three days later, as expected, Tuyết Doanh and Vọng Thần had to be present at the official debate session before the council of elders, where both sides presented arguments about the legitimacy related to the Millennium Covenant. This is an important session, requiring maximum concentration, lasting from morning until noon.

At Nguyệt Trạch, according to the regular schedule that had been maintained for a long time, Đoàn Thư Nhạc led Tiểu Nguyệt and several other children in the palace to the peripheral garden to learn landscape painting - an outdoor educational activity that had become a familiar habit over the past many months, under the protection of a small team of guards.

But what Thư Nhạc didn't know was that Chu Bình had cleverly planted fake news through a bribed servant in the palace, causing the painting lesson schedule that day to be pushed earlier than usual, right when the main guard had not yet rotated into position, leaving a short but fatal security gap.

In the middle of the peripheral garden, while Tiểu Nguyệt was passionately drawing a picture of the mountain in the distance, twelve waiting silhouettes suddenly appeared from the surrounding bushes, moving with the speed and coordination of professional assassins.

"Protect the lady!" The guard captain shouted loudly, but it was too late. Tang Vũ Tiêu's commando team, with skills far superior to the previous team, quickly neutralized each guard, while Tang Vũ Tiêu personally rushed to Tiểu Nguyệt.

Thư Nhạc tried to block her, but a strong blow caused her to faint on the spot. Tiểu Nguyệt screamed in horror when Tang Vũ Tiêu lifted her onto her shoulders, and the other children scattered in panic.

"Dad! Mom!" Tiểu Nguyệt's screams echoed throughout the garden before a cloth was stuffed into her mouth, and the entire commando team quickly retreated according to the predetermined path, disappearing into the deep forest in just a few short minutes.

***

The bad news reached Tuyết Doanh and Vọng Thần right in the middle of the debate, when a soldier hurriedly ran into the hall, knelt down, his voice shaking so much that he could barely make a sound.

"My lord... miss... miss has been kidnapped!"

The whole hall shook. Tuyết Doanh stood up, her face pale, her hands shaking uncontrollably. "Tell me again! What happened?"

"The guards were suddenly attacked while the lady was studying painting in the garden, nanny Thư Nhạc was seriously injured, and the lady was taken away!" The soldier reported in tears.

Vọng Thần stood dumbfounded for a moment, feeling like the whole world collapsed under his feet. The biggest fear he had been trying to prevent all these days had now come true.

"No..." he whispered, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white, a primal anger welling up in his heart that he had never felt so intensely in over twenty years of suppression. "Don't let this happen..."

His whole body began to tremble, not from fear, but from a huge source of energy waiting to explode, just waiting for a single command from his will to release it completely.

Ước Liêm Phong, sitting at his position in the hall, smiled slightly and calculatedly, even though he tried to hide it with a fake surprised expression. "What worrying news. I hope the queen will find her daughter soon."

But his eyes, when passing over Vọng Thần who was trembling with anger, could not hide a vague bit of worry - he had witnessed what that "beggar" could do at the Đại Thí Trường, and now, when his daughter was taken hostage, he was not sure whether he could really control the situation as he had originally planned.

***

"Shut up." Tuyết Doanh turned around to look at Liêm Phong. Her eyes now no longer had the calmness of an experienced queen, but the primal rage of a mother. "Do you think I don't know that this is your game, Ước Liêm Phong?"

"What are you talking about, Queen? I don't know anything about this at all." Liêm Phong pretended to be bewildered, but that fake tone made Tuyết Doanh's anger explode even more.

"Enough!" Elder Bách Niên slammed his stick on the ground, interrupting the confrontation. "This is not the time to argue responsibility! My Lord, you need to immediately return to handle the situation. The argument will be postponed until everything is resolved satisfactorily."

Tuyết Doanh was no longer in the mood to respond. He immediately rode with Vọng Thần and his entourage back to Nguyệt Trạch. On the way, she continuously urged her horse to go faster, tears streaming down her always cold and resilient face.

"If anything happens to her..." She choked, not daring to finish her sentence.

"Nothing will happen," Vọng Thần replied, his voice had now regained some calm, although his eyes still shone with an unprecedented fierceness. "I will find her, even if I have to turn Nam Xuyên upside down."

When they arrived at Nguyệt Trạch, a chaotic scene appeared before their eyes — wounded guards scattered about, other children still shaking from fear, and Đoàn Thư Nhạc being treated by doctors, the wound on his head still bleeding.

"Thư Nhạc! Are you okay?" Tuyết Doanh knelt down next to her nanny, her voice filled with worry even though her mind was still reeling from Tiểu Nguyệt.

Thư Nhạc, although still weak, still tried to open her eyes, her voice whispering with self-blame. "Your Majesty... I'm sorry... for not being able to protect you..."

"This is not your fault." Tuyết Doanh held her hand tightly, trying to hold back her tears. "You can rest assured that you are recovering, I will find her at all costs."