“What happened?”
Xie Wangze spoke up to ask, but no one answered. After waiting a moment, it remained utterly silent outside.
Something had gone wrong.
“I’ll go take a look. Forgive me, Your Highness… get down.”
Xie Wangze said in a low voice as he turned back, only to see that Chu Yunge had already gotten down on the floor.
His expression turned speechless in an instant. Chu Yunge hadn’t even looked at him; she was solely focused on figuring out how to defend herself.
He drew his dagger and slowly lifted the carriage curtain.
There was no one outside the curtain, but in the distance came the coachman’s shouts, which sounded rather strange. Yet Xie Wangze didn’t move—this could be a diversion tactic to lure away the tiger from the mountain.
Wherever Chu Yunge was, that was where he would be.
After observing the surroundings and finding no one or anything unusual, Xie Wangze’s face turned icy cold. “Playing ghostly tricks.”
Xie Wangze had just lifted the curtain to step out when his ears twitched. He tilted his head, and an arrow whistled past his ear, piercing through the carriage curtain.
“Your Highness!” Xie Wangze’s expression changed drastically. He retrieved the bow and arrows he had hidden beneath the carriage beforehand, counterattacking with shots while confirming, “Are you injured?”
“No.”
“Stay hidden, under the seat.”
“If I waited for you to say that, I’d have been shot dead already.” Chu Yunge had already rolled under it and pulled over the small table to block herself.
Xie Wangze held back another remark, but since he had diverted all her guards himself, he immediately shut his mouth.
A stifled breath lodged in his chest. He would definitely protect her well.
In poetry, chess, calligraphy, painting, riding, archery, and martial arts, Xie Wangze was proficient in all—otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the boldness to travel low-profile with Chu Yunge like this.
After a fierce battle, he dispatched over a dozen mysterious assassins before they could even get close, guarding the carriage behind him tightly.
Xie Wangze only had a graze on his arm.
Just as he let out a breath of relief, another group of horsemen suddenly appeared ahead.
There were more of them this time, and they made no attempt to hide. Their moves were superior, clearly battlefield tactics… and not from the Chu State or the Chen State…
Upon closer inspection of their appearances, Xie Wangze’s face changed. Why would people from the Zhao State appear here?
Things had taken a turn. Xie Wangze struck even more ruthlessly, but in the end, he was outnumbered. After this fierce fight, his vision suddenly blurred with waves of blackness.
“Not good.” Xie Wangze glanced at his arm—the arrow had been poisoned…
Before collapsing, Xie Wangze suddenly stabbed the horse viciously with his blade. “Go!”
He couldn’t escape, but Chu Yunge had to.
Xie Wangze watched the carriage depart before he could hold out no longer and fell.
That stab of his made the horse rear up with a neigh, breaking through the encirclement and successfully hitting the road—heading back toward the city.
He had done well. The injured horse couldn’t be easily approached, and its speed was astonishingly fast.
Unfortunately, the horse hadn’t run far before it was forcibly reined in.
Then a tall figure boarded the carriage. “Princess Yongning, long time no see.”
His towering stature made the carriage feel crowded. His accent differed from that of the Chu State. As he exchanged greetings, he bent down to look at the hiding Chu Yunge.
Chu Yunge recognized the man: Zhao Zeng, the Eldest Prince of the Zhao State, who had gone to war at age ten. He loved killing the most, was ruthless by nature, and had blood on his hands beyond count.
He had played no small part in the decision to hunt down the Yan People back then.
“That Chen State hostage is no good; he can’t protect the princess well. Why not have the princess form a marriage alliance with This Prince instead?”
Zhao Zeng was estimated to be nearly two meters tall, with a robust build and a coarse, savage face. The naked lust in his eyes as he looked at Chu Yunge was unmistakable.
Chu Yunge cursed up a storm inwardly. ‘Why in novels do all women have to go through this crap? Even a princess can’t escape.’
Rumor had it that the Zhao State prince favored petite women—the more stark the size contrast, the better. He especially liked forcing them and could kill several women in a single night.
On the battlefield, he hadn’t skimped on seizing Yan women for his amusement and venting.
Yan women knew they would be offered to the Zhao State’s Eldest Prince and preferred to bite their tongues in suicide.
This wasn’t just a rapist; this was a pure deviant.
A deviant like this, because he was the Eldest Prince, had the gall to propose marriage to the Chu State. It was only because the Chu Emperor needed her blood that he refused—even when the Zhao State offered many benefits, he still rejected it, saying only that he couldn’t bear to part with his sister and that she already had a betrothal.
Yet Zhao Zeng took a strong interest in Chu Yunge. Especially when Zhao State envoys had previously visited for trade talks between Zhao and Chu; he had blended in and encountered the princess.
At the time, the original owner was being her arrogant, domineering self, dealing with a woman who had mocked her behind her back, saying Pei Ji hadn’t returned to Heavenly Prosperity City for years because he refused to marry her.
Naturally, the original owner wouldn’t let her off. She slapped the woman over a dozen times and wanted to cut out her tongue.
In the end, the Chu Emperor arrived to stop the farce, and the original owner’s reputation grew even worse.
But Zhao Zeng found it amusing and developed a new special fetish. He suddenly liked this ruthless, jade-carved beauty of a princess. After the marriage proposal was rejected, right before her wedding, he nearly snatched her away outright for a fait accompli.
One could only say that while the princess had snatched Xie Wangze, she herself had nearly been snatched away to the Zhao State.
Because the guards around the princess were so tight, Zhao Zeng ultimately failed. They strengthened the guards even more after that, which was when Yan Feng came to her side to protect her.
He hadn’t expected Zhao Zeng to still not give up. He had stubbornly found this opportunity and still hadn’t abandoned her.
Or rather, he hadn’t abandoned the chance to break the alliance between the Chu State and Chen State—pulling the Chu State onto the Zhao State’s pirate ship, shattering the Chu-Chen alliance. Then the Zhao State could send troops to take the Chen State, earning him great merit and securing the crown prince position.
One shortcut on this path was Chu Yunge.
Watching Chu Yunge slowly crawl out, Zhao Zeng’s face filled with delight.
“The princess says nothing, so This Prince will take it as agreement. Today’s chance encounter is fate; This Prince won’t stand on ceremony.”
With that, he directly tore at Chu Yunge’s exquisite clothing.
Chu Yunge glanced down and cursed inwardly.
Zhao Zeng’s breathing grew hotter, but upon seeing Chu Yunge’s demeanor, he suddenly found it odd.
Normally, a woman at this point would be trembling in fear. Why was Chu Yunge so calm, not struggling, not even covering herself?
“The princess doesn’t seem afraid at all?” Chu Yunge was too composed; she didn’t look deranged either. Instead, it made him wary.
Chu Yunge finally spoke. “I’m thinking about how to castrate you. Leave now, and you might still make it.”
‘You stinking creep, always picking on me like I’m your sheep to shear. It’s a pure romance novel—go force yourself on the little shou instead. Isn’t this plot supposed to happen when the Chu Emperor disguises himself as me?’
‘Have the guts to go after the Chu Emperor.’
‘Harming a vicious female side character like me in a pure love story is downright unjust.’
“What?” He burst into laughter. “Trying to scare This Prince, huh? Spicy enough indeed. You’re the first to dare say to my face that you’ll castrate me, but your empty fort strategy is useless against me. No rush—half a shichen will do.”
As he spoke, he spotted Chu Yunge’s Palace Guarding Sand and laughed again.
“Didn’t expect you to still have Palace Guarding Sand. Looks like that Xie fellow is useless. This Prince gets the bargain—I love virgins the most.”
Suddenly seized by excitement, he added, “Don’t kill that hostage yet. Drag him over and find a way to wake him. Let him listen while This Prince takes the princess.”
The man’s agonized roar of pain and the woman’s terrified, trembling screams—those were his favorites.
With that, he turned back to Chu Yunge, waiting for her expression to change.
Chu Yunge’s expression did change. This was too extreme, too perverted.
Xie Wangze was dragged over and doused with a mouthful of water, finally waking up.
“The hostage’s stamina is poor, so This Prince will take the princess in your stead. Just pretend it was you.”
Xie Wangze heard this the moment he awoke. Then Zhao Zeng lifted the curtain and entered. Moments later came the sound of clothing tearing.
In that instant as Zhao Zeng lifted the curtain, Xie Wangze caught sight of Chu Yunge with her clothes torn and fragrant shoulder half-exposed. What was there left not to understand?
His face changed drastically.
“Your Highness!”