“Don’t worry, I won’t take a beating for nothing, and they wouldn’t dare do anything to me.”
Chu Yunge reassured him once: “Since you’re still okay, go pass on a message first. It’s urgent; I’ll help you apply the medicine later.”
Yan Feng said solemnly: “Your Highness, just give the order.”
“Tonight won’t be peaceful. Go to the rear garden and tell them to stay alert tonight. There might be someone launching a sneak attack.”
Yan Feng frowned: “A sneak attack on the Princess Mansion? Who?”
“Just pass on the message. It’s not certain yet.” She only knew the Chu Emperor wouldn’t let it go easily.
Empress Dowager Zheng had arrived too quickly. The Chu Emperor might still send people to probe.
And the purpose of the probe was naturally the two hundred and sixty-six new face-consorts she had just snatched.
“Tell them, no matter how big the commotion, don’t all rush over to protect me. Just have some of them come.”
If they all swarmed to protect her, the Chu Emperor would confirm his suspicions.
“But if none of them come, it’ll look fake too. Just have some come—mainly ensure your own safety.”
This was the Chu Emperor’s probe, also a way to eliminate variables. Unexpectedly, it would give both her and them a show of force, letting them see how dangerous it was to stay by her side.
Thinking differently, she could turn the Chu Emperor’s probe into a test for the Yan People.
It was indeed this dangerous by her side. If anyone was afraid, they should leave early to avoid problems later.
Yan Feng was full of questions but didn’t ask more.
Yan Feng had just left when Jimo arrived: “Your Highness, the Empress Dowager has been assassinated.”
It was the guards following the Empress Dowager who came begging for help. They took the Princess Mansion’s guards and hidden guards away for rescue on the grounds that the Princess Mansion was the closest, leaving only a portion behind.
The begging guards were full of panic, covered in wounds, kowtowing pitifully.
At this time, Chu Yunge couldn’t refuse either emotionally or rationally, and she didn’t refuse.
Upon hearing this news, she was basically certain that the Chu Emperor couldn’t wait even one night. Since the Empress Dowager hadn’t listened to her advice when she came, he was resorting to force.
Deliberately drawing away the guards and hidden guards meant he would act tonight.
What he did was nothing more than create an incident or directly assassinate, to probe why she sought the Yan People, then take the opportunity to eliminate the Yan People and warn her.
These methods were commonplace and ever-fresh. The Chu Emperor was too lazy to think much, just casually ordering. He wouldn’t meticulously plan.
With no planning needed—he was the emperor, the most noble person in the Chu State. Pinning down and probing his little sister was second nature to him. Why expend effort on schemes? His tricks were always the same.
“Heh…” Chu Yunge sneered coldly: “Come with your probe.”
If he didn’t send people, fine. If he did, he’d suffer the consequences.
“Jimo, go to the rear garden and help me…”
After giving the instructions, Chu Yunge sat quietly for a moment, and Yan Feng returned.
“The message has been passed on.”
“Fast enough.” Ordinary people might still be halfway there. After all, the Princess Mansion was really quite large.
Yan Feng’s eyes were full of worry. Upon hearing about the sneak attack, how could he relax? He naturally rushed back at top speed.
“Your Highness…” He had just opened his mouth when he heard the princess say.
“Yan Feng, I’ll go to your place tonight to detoxify.”
“Ah?” Yan Feng was stunned. Wasn’t there supposed to be a sneak attack?
Wait, precisely because someone would launch a sneak attack, that’s why the princess was going to his place?
“Do you want to go back early to tidy up?” Chu Yunge asked.
Then, after Chu Yunge said ‘go ahead,’ Yan Feng returned to his room in a daze.
The room actually had nothing much to tidy, and the princess shouldn’t come to his place anyway.
Thinking this way, Yan Feng huffed and puffed as he changed the bedding. He didn’t call anyone; he did it himself, wiping carefully, as if he wanted to scrub the floor spotless too.
When he ensured it was spotless, he still thought: “Impossible…”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Chu Yunge arrived.
She really came.
Yan Feng straightened up and went out to greet her somewhat at a loss.
As the personal bodyguard, Yan Feng didn’t live with the other guards. Instead, he had chosen two small rooms as his quarters.
The small rooms were in a remote spot, utterly unremarkable.
The courtyard was very small, mostly taken up by the path. Fortunately, few people passed by.
Yan Feng had chosen to live here for the quiet, but he hadn’t expected that one day Chu Yunge would come to this room that even he rarely stayed in.
“Your Highness.” Yan Feng was dazed as he welcomed Chu Yunge inside.
Outside the courtyard were only simple bamboos. Inside was even simpler. Entering led to the main hall, with an Eight Immortals table in the center, a teapot and cups on it, and knives, swords, bows, and other weapons hanging on the walls.
Further in was the bedroom, with the door open. Without a screen, one glance took it all in.
A wardrobe, a bamboo bed, a bamboo couch beside it, a bamboo table and chairs, plus a few books—basically nothing else.
It was like two different worlds from the luxurious sleeping palace.
But it was clean.
“It’s a bit too simple, and too far from the sleeping palace. I’ll get you a new courtyard.”
Chu Yunge thought for a moment: “Just stay in the Flying Luan Courtyard. It’s close to my sleeping palace.”
Yan Feng’s living conditions needed upgrading to a separate courtyard. The Prince’s Mansion had plenty prepared for concubines and madams anyway.
“This subordinate rarely sleeps in this room. Wouldn’t giving this subordinate a courtyard be a waste?”
Yan Feng felt a bit guilty, yet also elated, because Pei Ji, Li Guangi, and the other face-consorts all had their own courtyards.
Li Guangi had gotten his especially because of the princess’s favor.
It was just like promoting a personal maid to concubine and giving her a courtyard.
Now he had one too. Did that mean the princess favored him as well? Did he still have hope to become a face-consort?
“How could your living place be a waste? In the future, living closer, you can go back to rest more when not on duty.”
Chu Yunge took the medicine bottle handed over by Jimo and placed it on the Eight Immortals table, beckoning Yan Feng over.
“Come, let me apply the medicine for you.”
“Such a small injury never needed medicine before.” Yan Feng’s heart warmed, and he answered honestly.
“There are palm prints.” If not for him, those palm prints would have been on her face. It hurt just looking at them.
Jimo served Chu Yunge as she washed her hands. Yan Feng obediently washed his face too, but his mind was full of thoughts of madams and face-consorts. He scrubbed too hard by accident and grimaced.
He hurriedly covered it up, but Chu Yunge still caught him.
“And you say it doesn’t hurt.”
Chu Yunge pressed Yan Feng to sit and carefully applied the medicine for him.
“Today, you stood in front of me, Yan Feng. I was very happy. But in the future, if my imperial brother or mother consort strikes, you don’t need to protect me.”
The clear medicine was applied to his face. Yan Feng pursed his lips: “This subordinate is your guard.”
He clenched his fists tightly on his knees: “A guard should protect the master’s safety, no matter who the opponent is.”
After experiencing the pampered Empress Dowager Zheng’s slap, how could he stand by coldly?
Yan Feng’s eyes were clear and fervent, reflecting the candle flames on the Eight Immortals table, like the rising sun—fervent and sincere.
He would protect her.
If someone struck, he’d block. If there was danger, he’d shield. When her life was threatened, no matter who it was, he’d fight with his life to protect her fully. It was that simple.
He couldn’t betray her trust.
Chu Yunge’s hand paused: “Not afraid of danger?”
Yan Feng paused: “I am.”
That was why today, despite his rage, he didn’t dare snap Empress Dowager Zheng’s neck and hands to vent for her.
He hated that he couldn’t chop her hands into eighteen segments, into minced meat—but he could only think about it.
He couldn’t act impulsively.
“You’re afraid but still protect.” As a veteran TV drama viewer, Chu Yunge used to put herself in the protagonist’s shoes, but later empathized with the maids, guards, and workers. She couldn’t stand seeing guards or maids beaten to death or implicated because of their master.
Yan Feng fell silent. Anyway, he knew what he had to do.
Chu Yunge’s hands were very gentle, focused on applying the medicine. Yan Feng looked at her exquisite face so close by, and his gaze gradually turned infatuated.
Why did the princess look better and better?
Clearly, she had always looked like this before, but back then he hadn’t noticed her beauty. It seemed like she started looking good after rewarding him silver, detoxifying him, and taking him to eavesdrop on gossip.
Now, looking at her, eyes were eyes, nose was nose, mouth was mouth—everything looked good. Her eyebrows and hair strands were blacker and smoother than others’.
“What are you looking at?” Chu Yunge’s voice brought Yan Feng back.
“Nothing.” Yan Feng didn’t dare look into her eyes, afraid of being discovered. But as his gaze slid down, it landed on her fine lips.
He didn’t know how to describe them—just that they were pink, perfectly shaped, exceedingly tender.
They looked so sweet, making one want to take a couple of bites…
Thinking of the red date stuffed with walnuts he had just eaten, his heart pounded faster and faster. Yan Feng’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he involuntarily leaned closer…