Lu Cheng was sent flying sideways, crashing into the tea table and sending shattered teacups scattering across the floor.
Before he could even understand what had happened, Lu Yuan had already sprung out of bed. He crossed the distance in a few quick strides, grabbed Lu Cheng by the collar, and hauled him up from the broken porcelain. Immediately afterward, his right fist slammed into the other side of Lu Cheng’s face.
This punch was even harder than the first.
Lu Cheng’s head snapped backward. Blood sprayed from the corner of his mouth, and a dull crack came from the bridge of his nose as it collapsed.
Lu Yuan didn’t stop. He straddled Lu Cheng and struck him from both sides.
“You set me up?”
Smack!
“You set her up too?”
Smack!
“And you still dared to bring people here to catch us in the act?”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Lu Cheng’s head whipped from side to side like a rattle drum. Blood from his nose smeared across his entire face, both cheeks swelled visibly, and even one of his front teeth went flying.
“Help… someone, help me!” Lu Cheng howled incoherently, his voice distorted. “Are you all dead?! Get him off me!”
Only then did the four black-armored guards snap back to their senses. They drew their blades and rushed forward.
Lu Yuan caught sight of them from the corner of his eye, and his heart skipped a beat.
Although he had lived two lives, this body had spent the past ten years being pampered. He had only managed to fight this fiercely because of the rage burning inside him. If four armed guards surrounded him, this would no longer be a simple brawl.
However, in the next instant, a figure flashed past his side.
At some point, Su Yuling had already dressed herself and tied up her hair. She grabbed a broken chair leg from the floor and charged straight at the guards.
Her movements were unbelievably fast.
The first guard had barely raised his saber when the chair leg smashed into his wrist. A crisp crack rang out. His saber fell to the floor, and he dropped to his knees with a scream.
The second guard swung his saber horizontally at her. Su Yuling twisted aside, dodged the blade, and kicked the back of his knee.
The man pitched forward and crashed to the floor.
Su Yuling casually brought the chair leg down against the back of his neck. He immediately stopped moving.
The third and fourth guards charged almost simultaneously.
Su Yuling planted the chair leg against the floor and used it for leverage to launch herself into the air. Her feet struck the two men squarely in the chest.
Both guards flew backward and slammed into the wall. After sliding to the floor, neither could get back up. They could only clutch their chests and howl in pain.
The entire exchange had lasted no more than several dozen seconds.
All four guards were down.
Lu Yuan stopped moving. Still sitting astride Lu Cheng, he turned toward Su Yuling, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
‘Good grief.’
‘No wonder Lu Cheng was so desperate to deal with her. What kind of fiancée was this? She was practically a goddess of war who could take on five men by herself. If I were in his position, I’d panic too.’
Su Yuling tossed aside the chair leg and walked over to Lu Cheng, looking down at him coldly.
Lu Cheng’s face was covered in blood and swollen like a pig’s head. He struggled to open his eyes, only to find Su Yuling staring down at him without the slightest trace of warmth in her gaze.
His heart clenched violently.
“Yuling… you… why…” Lu Cheng could barely speak clearly. “I’m your fiancé! Why are you helping him beat me?”
Su Yuling said nothing.
“Yuling!” A sob entered Lu Cheng’s voice. “Quickly tell him to let me go. I’ll explain everything to you afterward. This is all a huge misunderstanding… We’re engaged. You can’t seriously stand there and watch him beat me to death, can you?”
Su Yuling crouched down and looked directly into his eyes.
Lu Cheng thought she had softened. Just as he was about to say something else, Su Yuling raised her right foot and stepped on his left arm.
Then she slowly applied pressure.
“What are you…”
Before Lu Cheng could finish, a sharp crack of breaking bone rang out.
“Ah…!”
Lu Cheng’s eyes bulged wide. His scream had barely escaped his throat when Lu Yuan slapped it right back down.
“Shut up. You’re too damn noisy.”
Lu Cheng’s eyes rolled upward. His body convulsed violently several times before his head tilted to one side and he completely lost consciousness.
Lu Yuan patted his face.
No response.
He slapped him twice more, harder this time.
Still no response.
“Useless,” Lu Yuan muttered.
He stood up and glanced toward the guards near the doorway, who were still clutching their wrists, knees, and chests while groaning in pain.
“Enough. Stop howling and drag your master away.”
The guards exchanged glances, but none dared move.
Finally, one of them summoned his courage and said, “Your Highness the Ninth Prince, you injured His Highness the Second Prince. His Majesty… will never let this matter go.”
Lu Yuan tilted his head and smiled at him.
“I heard the Royal Household Department is short on eunuchs lately. What, are the four of you interested in applying?”
The guard’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
Without another word, the men picked up their fallen companions and dragged the unconscious Lu Cheng away, practically scrambling over one another as they fled.
On the way out, Lu Cheng’s head struck the steps with a loud thud.
Only Lu Yuan and Su Yuling remained in the room.
Su Yuling stood where she was with her back toward him.
After a brief silence, she said, “You beat the Second Prince. His Majesty won’t let you off.”
“Just because the tiger hasn’t shown its claws, they really think I’m Hello Kitty?” Lu Yuan said while pulling his collar back into place. “Don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility for this. I’ll enter the palace later, explain everything to Father Emperor, and marry you.”
Su Yuling turned around.
A faint smile hung on her lips, but there was nothing warm about it.
“Marry me? You think you’re worthy?”
Those three words struck Lu Yuan so hard that his face nearly turned green. He was just about to argue when Su Yuling spoke again, her voice filled with mockery.
“The man I marry must be an indomitable man with ambitions to conquer the realm. Not a useless slacker like you who does nothing but eat, wait for death, and has no ambition whatsoever.”
Lu Yuan’s mouth remained open for a long moment.
He stared at Su Yuling’s retreating figure, drew a deep breath, and swallowed the words that had risen to his lips.
“Fine.”
He clenched his teeth.
“Just you wait.”
Lu Yuan dressed properly and strode outside.
After leaving the courtyard, he ordered his personal attendant to prepare his horse.
The moment he mounted, an unprecedented fury surged through his chest.
‘For ten years, I’ve hidden my strength like a dormant dragon. I’ve spent ten years pretending to be an idle prince, and after all that, I end up getting pointed at and called an unambitious loser by a woman.’
‘Fine.’
‘You all want to see this hidden dragon soar into the heavens, don’t you?’
‘Then I’ll give you exactly what you want.’
Su Yuling paid him no attention. Instead, she lowered her head, unable to stop herself from sobbing.
‘Could it be… that this is simply my fate, Su Yuling?’
…
Royal Palace, Qianyuan Hall.
Emperor Lu Cangqiong sat behind the royal desk, his face so dark it looked as though ink could be squeezed from it.
Moments earlier, the Royal Guards had reported that sounds of fighting had erupted from the Ninth Prince Residence. Ninth Prince Lu Yuan had injured Second Prince Lu Cheng as well as four guards.
After hearing the report, Lu Cangqiong snapped the vermilion brush in his hand cleanly in half.
“Absurd! Absolutely absurd!”
Lu Cangqiong slammed his palm against the royal desk, his royal fury erupting. “That rebellious Ninth Son! His Second Brother kindly asked his fiancée to help arrange a marriage meeting for him, yet not only was that rebellious son ungrateful, he even attacked his brother and violated his future sister-in-law! He’s completely out of control!”
“If word of this spreads, what will the entire realm think of our royal family?”
Chief Eunuch Zhou Fu hurried forward, poured him a cup of tea, and tried to calm him.
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger. There may be more to this matter than meets the eye. Why not summon His Highness the Ninth Prince and question him personally? That way, Your Majesty can learn exactly what happened.”
“More to it?”
Lu Cangqiong angrily drained the entire cup of tea before breathing heavily.
He then ordered Zhou Fu, “Go! Bring him here! I’d like to hear what excuse he can possibly come up with to defend himself!”
A young eunuch had just received the order and was about to hurry outside when an announcement suddenly came from beyond the hall doors.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, His Highness the Ninth Prince requests an audience outside the hall.”
Lu Cangqiong’s eyelid twitched.
He hadn’t expected that brat to arrive so quickly.
“Make that rebellious son get in here!”