007 Protecting with One’s Life
Following the assassination of Eldest Princess Mingyang’s husband, Wen Zhaonian, the Juyun Water Pavilion was quickly placed under martial law. Su Wantang was hauled into the carriage by Su Huajin, her face full of panic, while even the Fifth Princess, Zhao Xiyao, appeared somewhat subdued and nervous.
Soon, the guests’ carriages formed two lines to exit through the heavily guarded main gate. Every vehicle, regardless of the occupant’s status, had to undergo inspection, with the Eldest Princess personally presiding.
Zhao Xiyao’s carriage traveled in parallel with Su Huajin’s.
Su Wantang’s long hair was still damp, and she huddled beside Su Huajin, looking crestfallen and dejected.
Thinking of how she had lost such face in front of everyone, Su Huajin was in an uncharacteristically good mood. She feigned a few words of comfort, only to see Su Wantang looking back with an expression of intense gratitude.
At that moment, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead, accompanied by someone crying out.
Su Huajin frowned and lifted the carriage curtain. Su Wantang calmly looked outside to see a young nobleman in soaked, gorgeous robes being dragged off his carriage by guards, begging for mercy: “Eldest Princess, I implore you to clarify, what crime have I committed?”
Eldest Princess Mingyang stared at him coldly: “Why are your hair and clothes wet?”
The assassin had escaped by water; even if clothes could be changed in such a short time, it was impossible to dry one’s hair instantly. Inspecting everyone was a way to find suspects, regardless of gender.
The gorgeously dressed young man was on the verge of tears: “I was in a hurry to meet my brother when it was announced the garden was to be cleared, and I accidentally slipped into the water…”
“Is there any witness?”
“There was only me at the time…”
Eldest Princess Mingyang looked expressionless: “Drag him away for interrogation under torture.”
Behind them, a noblewoman was dragged away after claiming she had sneaked off alone to pick a lotus flower and accidentally fell in. The woman shrieked in terror, unable to understand why she was suffering this year when the Eldest Princess had always turned a blind eye to secret lotus-picking in previous years.
Eldest Princess Mingyang, however, was unconcerned. As the younger sister most cherished by the current Emperor, and with her own husband now assassinated, such a massive event meant she would rather wrongly execute than let a single suspect slip through. Besides, there were few people in the capital who could override her.
Soon, the inspection reached Su Huajin’s carriage.
Zhao Xuanzhen was riding his horse alongside the carriage. Even as the heir to the Ding Prince Residence and the nephew of Eldest Princess Mingyang, Zhao Xuanzhen would not defy this imperious aunt at such a time.
The guard saluted Zhao Xuanzhen, apologized for the intrusion, and lifted the carriage curtain. In the next instant, everyone saw Su Wantang sitting beside Su Huajin with her hair still damp.
Eldest Princess Mingyang narrowed her eyes: “Who is that?”
Su Wantang trembled violently, looking to Zhao Xuanzhen for help: “Heir…”
Although Su Huajin was happy to see this “cheap hussy” suffer, it could not happen when it might link them to the Prince Consort’s murder. She quickly explained respectfully: “Reporting to the Eldest Princess, this is my younger sister by my father’s concubine. She accidentally fell into the lotus pond while pouring wine for the Fifth Princess earlier… The Fifth Princess and many noble ladies were all present.”
Eldest Princess Mingyang looked at Zhao Xiyao in the adjacent carriage. Zhao Xiyao curled her lips: “It was that concubine-born daughter who was clumsy and slipped herself; it has nothing to do with me.”
Eldest Princess Mingyang glanced again at the timid, frail, and trembling woman whose eyes were filled with terror, then coldly withdrew her gaze. The guard lowered the curtain and bowed to let them pass.
Not far away, in a carriage that appeared low-key on the outside but was luxurious on the inside, Xie Yan withdrew his gaze without a trace.
That Second Miss Su?
The assassin escaped by water, and she happened to fall into the water earlier… Is it such a coincidence?
The image of Su Wantang from that night appeared before his eyes—crouched on the ground wearing a cloak, looking up at him, with that naturally seductive, boneless charm. Then he thought of the assassin’s slender but fierce and brutal martial arts skills…
After a pause, Xie Yan lowered his carriage curtain.
Perhaps he was being too suspicious.
Not long after leaving the Juyun Water Pavilion, Su Huajin called Zhao Xuanzhen into the carriage, impatient to ask what had happened inside.
“The Prince Consort was assassinated. Why did the Princess insist on capturing those who had fallen into the water?”
Zhao Xuanzhen looked at Su Wantang, whose hair was still damp. He saw her shrinking behind Su Huajin, her large, clear eyes wide as she pricked up her ears to listen with a mixture of nervousness and curiosity.
Since it wasn’t a matter that required strict secrecy, Zhao Xuanzhen gave a brief account. Su Huajin was left with lingering fear.
“You mean the assassin fought four people alone and escaped unscathed, and even used a diversion to kill the Princess Consort’s husband?”
Su Huajin patted her chest: “Those cultists are actually this brutal…”
Zhao Xuanzhen hummed: “The Red Lotus Sect is full of madmen. I am afraid the capital will be turbulent from now on.”
Just as they were speaking, a loud clatter erupted, and the carriage jolted violently.
Zhao Xuanzhen frowned. At that moment, a delicate laugh echoed.
“I heard the Heir of the Ding Prince Residence wants to lead troops to wipe out our Red Lotus righteous army… The Red Lotus Sect has come to pay our respects.”
Accompanied by that ethereal laughter, a rain of arrows pinned themselves into the carriage. Outside, the guards shouted “Assassins!” and clashed in battle.
Su Huajin was instantly pale with terror. She heard her personal maid, Cuihuan, scream, and the next moment, a sword blade pierced directly through the carriage wall.
Su Huajin and Su Wantang screamed in unison, clutching their heads.
Zhao Xuanzhen narrowed his eyes and sneered, striking out with a palm, forcing the assassin back with a bang.
He was no match for the “Red Lotus” herself, but that didn’t mean any stray dog could come and assassinate him. The Red Lotus had killed Wen Zhaonian at the Juyun Water Pavilion today; he didn’t believe there could be many “Red Lotus” assassins in the sect.
His palm force was fierce, driving back the sword that had pierced the carriage. The assassin was immediately surrounded by guards outside. Zhao Xuanzhen wanted to pursue, but Su Huajin grabbed him: “Heir, don’t go, it’s dangerous.”
However, the moment she held onto him, the luxurious, heavy carriage was shattered with a loud blast, and another figure wielding a sword flashed in, thrusting directly toward his back.
Su Huajin, facing the assassin directly, had her mind go blank with fear. She released Zhao Xuanzhen, clutched her head, and ducked into the corner of the carriage…
Zhao Xuanzhen’s movement had been hindered by her embrace. As he forcibly turned, he saw Su Wantang, who had been trembling while clutching her head, suddenly pick up the small table in front of her in terror. With her eyes closed, she smashed it directly at the assassin’s sword.
With a snap, the sword was deflected and pierced into the carriage wall. Zhao Xuanzhen punched the assassin, sending them flying backward. He reached out to catch Su Wantang and frowned: “You’re injured.”
He then saw Su Wantang looking down blankly at the blood quickly seeping from her shoulder. Her eyes widened, and she trembled: “Ah… I’m dying!”
Before the words had finished, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
Zhao Xuanzhen caught her in his arms, reached over, grabbed Su Huajin’s handkerchief, and pressed it onto the continuously bleeding wound. Su Huajin only then recovered her senses.
Seeing Zhao Xuanzhen with his brows locked tight, holding Su Wantang in his arms, she realized that her act of pushing Zhao Xuanzhen away to protect herself had caused her to lose ground. Fear and intense regret surged within her.
In that moment of life and death, she had been too terrified to think of anything else.
She hated that this “cheap hussy” Su Wantang even had the heart to seize the opportunity to curry favor…
But no matter how much she hated her, she understood that she must not show it now. Trembling, she grabbed Zhao Xuanzhen’s sleeve, feigning terror: “How is my sister? How is Wantang?”
“She is wounded, but not fatally.”
Zhao Xuanzhen’s tone remained calm, yet an unexplainable feeling rose within him.
Su Wantang had been deathly pale with fear, but when the assassin lunged for him, she had just blindly closed her eyes and smashed the table at the attacker… To be scared enough to faint from just a flesh wound, where did she find the courage to want to protect him?
The guards outside soon forced the assassins back, and the secret guards gave chase. The carriage continued forward.
When the carriage stopped at the main entrance, Su Huajin was about to call for the manor physician when she saw Zhao Xuanzhen, disregarding the need for propriety, pick up Su Wantang and exit the carriage. He spoke in a deep voice to the servants who had rushed out: “Call the physician… and take my waist token to the palace to summon a royal doctor…”
Su Huajin gripped her handkerchief tightly, trying to comfort herself.
It’s just because that cheap hussy sacrificed herself to protect him. Zhao Xuanzhen has seen everything; how many have died to protect him? That hussy probably miscalculated her plan…