That night, Ping’an Lane lay in silence.
Su Niao lay on her bed, quietly wiping at her eyes. She knew crying was useless, just as she knew she herself was useless. But sometimes she couldn’t help it, especially at night.
For a moment, she nearly gave up entirely. Maybe she should just forget about revenge. She had been lucky enough to live a second life. Perhaps she should simply return to the capital and find her brother.
Then she thought again of her previous life.
Shu Xuanqing had given up everything for her. He had traded away all the military achievements of his lifetime to secure that absurd marriage between her and the Third Prince. In exchange, he had gone to a battlefield he never needed to enter. He never returned.
If she surrendered now, while Su Xuan continued refusing to let her go, who knew what new disasters her cannon-fodder fate might bring?
So… Until every option was exhausted, she could not resign herself to defeat. She could not slink back to the capital and wait helplessly for another scheme from Su Xuan.
Just then, Su Niao frowned. She thought she smelled something sharp and unpleasant. As she sat up, intending to call for Lichun, a shout suddenly rang out from the courtyard outside.
“Who’s there?”
The next instant, steel clashed.
Almost immediately, Su Niao realized: Someone was trying to kill her. Aside from Su Xuan in the distant capital, she could think of no one else.
Remembering the commander of the Imperial Guards who had helped Su Xuan frame her in her previous life, Su Niao’s heart tightened. If those sinister Imperial Guards had really come for her, then she was in serious danger. Instinctively, she wanted to call out for Lichun. But she immediately realized that the assassins probably hadn’t yet identified her exact location. Making a sound now would be equivalent to announcing herself.
Outside, Lichun seemed to have realized the same thing. Su Niao vaguely heard her call out, “Miss!” from another section of the corridor.
Then there was silence. At once, anxiety flooded Su Niao’s heart. She couldn’t stop wondering whether something had happened to Lichun.
A red glow suddenly appeared beyond the door and window.
Su Niao’s heart sank. They had set the place on fire.
Since the guards were still fighting in the courtyard, the assassins clearly had no intention of dragging out the battle. They were using the flames to force her out.
Burn to death inside? Or run outside to be killed?
Staring at the flames beyond the doors and windows and listening to the clash of steel and the cries of the wounded outside, Su Niao’s mind went blank for a moment.
But she quickly recovered. Leaping from the bed, she ran for the door. If she got outside, there were still guards. There might yet be a chance of survival. If she stayed in the room and the fire got out of control, even immortals couldn’t save her.
But just as she reached the doorway, a tremendous crash sounded. A burning beam fell and blocked the exit.
The assassins had drenched the buildings with lamp oil before setting the fire. Once the flames ignited, they spread everywhere at once. The blaze was already beyond control.
Startled, Su Niao stumbled backward. The thick smoke made her cough violently. Feeling her way to a nearby table, she frantically soaked a sleeve with water from a teapot and pressed it over her mouth and nose. Yet in only moments, the room was already filled with smoke. Coughing and gasping, she groped her way toward the window.
Just as panic threatened to overwhelm her, a deafening crash rang out. A figure burst through the window.
Su Niao’s first instinct was to turn and hide. Then she heard a familiar voice calling her name.
“Su Niao!”
It was Xie Chenyan.
She had no time to wonder why he had risked his life to save her. Acting purely on instinct, she threw herself toward him. The smoke was so thick that the room’s interior was impossible to see clearly.
Chen Yan’s expression was taut. He had been preparing to force his way deeper toward the bed despite the danger when a slender figure suddenly rushed into his arms. At once, everything else became secondary. Catching her securely, he turned and charged toward the window. But at that very instant, a burning timber above the window gave way. It crashed down, knocking part of the wall askew.
The opening was about to be completely sealed.
In that split second, Chen Yan made his choice. Using all his strength, he lifted Su Niao and threw her through the remaining gap.
Crash! Su Niao hit the ground outside. Scrambling to her feet, she looked back. Part of the wall had already collapsed beneath the burning debris—nothing beyond it except roaring flames. And Xie Chenyan was still inside. Lifting the hem of her skirt, Su Niao took two steps backward, her lips pressed into a tight line. He’s going to burn to death in there…
Which meant she would never have to worry about avenging herself anymore. Thinking of the poisoned wine from her previous life and his cutting words from earlier that day, Su Niao turned and ran. She managed only two steps before stopping. Then she remembered how, moments ago, he had charged into a room engulfed in flames to save her. After a brief hesitation, she gritted her teeth and turned back.
Several black-clad assassins suddenly appeared nearby and rushed toward her, but her guards intercepted them.
After another moment of internal struggle, Su Niao lowered her head and darted around the side of the building along the wall.
There was another window at the back of her room. The moment she reached it, she heard a loud bang. The window shook violently, as if someone had thrown himself against it from inside. But a heavy burning beam had fallen across the outside of the window. Its far end was wedged against a pillar beneath the corridor roof, pinning the window shut.
The assassins would catch up at any moment.
Su Niao glanced at the thick beam, drew a sharp breath, and kicked it with all her strength. It shifted only slightly. Pain shot through her ankle. Grinding her teeth, she switched feet and kicked again even harder. With a heavy thud, the beam finally slid aside at an angle.
Throwing herself toward the window, Su Niao shouted: “Chen Yan, here—”
Before she could finish, a figure burst through the opening. The impact knocked her to the ground, and he rolled with her off to one side.
The next instant, flames exploded outward from the room.
Startled, Su Niao cried out and instinctively covered her head. Only then did she realize that at the same moment, Xie Chenyan had pulled her into his arms and shielded her head with his own body.
Covered from head to toe in soot and ash, Chen Yan helped her up and quickly retreated into the courtyard. Then he lowered his head to look at her foot. Moments earlier, he had reached the window, only to discover that he couldn’t force his way through. For the first time in years, he had thought escape might be impossible. Then, through the smoke, he had seen Su Niao running toward him.
The pampered young lady looked utterly miserable. Her entire face was filled with fear and panic. Yet instead of fleeing for her own life, she had risked herself to help him escape. Her pink embroidered shoe was no longer recognizable. The sole was blackened and charred.
“Ow… my foot.” Only now did Su Niao belatedly realize it hurt. Looking down, she saw that nearly half of her shoe had been burned away.
By then, neighbors carrying buckets had begun flooding into the Su Residence to help fight the fire.
As for the assassins, the arrival of so many people forced them to abandon the attempt and flee amidst the chaos.
When Chen Xu rushed into the Su Residence carrying a bucket of water, the sight that greeted him left him completely stunned. His elder brother, who had always kept others at arm’s length and treated everyone with cold detachment, knelt on one knee in the corridor.
Miss Su’s foot rested upon his knee.
Even though Chen Xu could see only his brother’s profile, and despite the smoke, flames, and confusion all around them, he could still clearly see the tension in Chen Yan’s expression. And in his usually indifferent brother’s tightly furrowed brows was an emotion impossible to conceal: worry.