“Zhao Zeng, stop it!” Xie Wangze’s voice was sharp for the first time, his face twisted in ferocity. Pinned firmly to the ground, he still struggled relentlessly.
“Zhao Zeng, if you dare touch her, I will tear you limb from limb and raze your Zhao State to the ground!”
He threatened, then even began to beg.
“If you want to touch me, do whatever you want—kill me, torture me—but don’t touch her. Don’t touch her.”
Xie Wangze wailed like a cornered, gravely wounded beast. His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead and neck. The murderous aura emanating from him chilled even those holding him down.
But only Xie Wangze knew how terrified he truly was.
He felt a bone-deep fear.
Everyone knew what Zhao Zeng was capable of. With Chu Yunge in his hands, how could she possibly fare well?
He had wanted to take her back, even secretly bringing her to the Chen State, but it ended with the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it. He had been plotted against and ended up harming her.
He had always been confident, scheming and plotting from afar, feeling like everything was under his control. But today… everything had gone wrong.
This miscalculation was far beyond what he could bear.
To face all this on the very day Chu Yunge had pulled him back from the gates of hell—how could he endure it?
Xie Wangze’s furious pleas only fueled Zhao Zeng’s interest.
“Hahaha, what a delightful sound. It seems you’re quite devoted to the Princess. But why doesn’t the Princess show any emotion? No trembling, no cries—it’s truly strange.”
Her pain and fear would only make Xie Wangze suffer more outside.
“What devotion? This Princess’s ordeal today was all because of him.”
“Hahaha, worthy of the woman This King fancies.” Zhao Zeng laughed heartily.
But seeing Chu Yunge remain as composed as ever, Zhao Zeng finally lost his patience. He reached out to grab her. “Let This King see if you’re truly afraid or just pretending.”
Before his hand could touch her, an arrow whistled through the air, piercing the carriage curtain and shooting inside.
Zhao Zeng tilted his head to dodge it, disbelief in his eyes. “How are there still people coming…”
But it wasn’t just a few—it was an endless stream.
Elites one in ten thousand. In a single clash, they wiped out half of Zhao Zeng’s elite team.
Zhao Zeng’s expression changed drastically, and he finally stepped out of the carriage.
Chu Yunge let out a sigh of relief. Her composure had come from faith in incoming rescue, unwillingness to satisfy his perverse desires, and knowing that showing fear was pointless.
Her life was the Emperor’s life, so she had more than just visible guards—there were also the Shadow Guards secretly dispatched by the Emperor to protect her.
Her security level surpassed even the Empress Dowager’s, on par with the Emperor’s.
Chu Yunge straightened her torn clothes and glanced at the ring on her finger. This ring was her final trump card.
It concealed a mechanism: press the switch, and it could wound someone.
Though only a tiny blade, it was coated with deadly poison that would seal the throat upon contact with blood.
If Zhao Zeng had truly laid hands on her earlier, she would have found a way to stab and kill him.
Before killing him, she definitely would have castrated him first, making his death a clear one.
Chu Yunge was just about to test if the switch still worked when the carriage curtain lifted slightly. Xie Wangze, face scratched and clothes disheveled, rolled inside.
Seeing her torn clothes, his face instantly paled. His lips moved, then he abruptly lowered his gaze. He shrugged off his outer robe—uncaring that it was covered in dust—and draped it over Chu Yunge, wrapping her tightly before pulling her into his embrace.
He held her so tightly, as if wanting to merge her into his own body.
“Don’t be afraid, Your Highness. Don’t be afraid. It’s alright now.”
His voice trembled, laced with afterfear. It was gentle, yet carried a bone-deep hatred.
“Don’t be afraid. I will definitely avenge you.”
That final sentence dripped with killing intent, his eyes filled with bloody hatred.
The hands holding her trembled uncontrollably, all from lingering fear.
“I didn’t expect this to happen.”
He apologized in remorse, but after just one sentence, Chu Yunge cut him off.
“Don’t dress up your arrogance so nicely.”
Before Xie Wangze could react, Chu Yunge shoved him away roughly. “Let go—you’re squeezing me to death.”
Xie Wangze released her in a hurry from the slap, guilt lingering on his face along with a rare bewilderment.
“Your Highness… blame me?”
“Or should This Princess thank you instead? Be moved by you?” Chu Yunge tugged at her torn clothes. “This Princess was nearly forced by that trash.”
She clearly didn’t have to go through all this.
She gnashed her teeth. “Xie, This Princess warns you: don’t think you’re the only clever one in the world, the only one scheming flawlessly. You might luck out and escape, but you’ll drag others down with you.”
Protagonists had protagonist halos and wouldn’t die, but side characters were the ones who suffered.
“If This Princess had truly been violated by that beast today because of you, I’d find a man to do the same to you in return.”
A little fairness between men and women—share the hardship.
Xie Wangze was stunned by the scolding, as if it snapped him fully awake.
He was still dazed when Chu Yunge shoved him aside.
Chu Yunge lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and nodded in satisfaction.
The Shadow Guards were capable after all. Zhao Zeng’s men were nearly all killed—over a hundred reduced to just a dozen still guarding him.
“Capture him for This Princess. If you can’t capture him alive, castrate him for This Princess! This Princess will reward you with a hundred taels of gold!”
“Even if you only castrate half, This Princess will still reward you!” Cutting off half wasn’t out of the question.
Men loved comparing sizes; it made for perfect revenge.
For trash like him to scheme against her—she had to strike back, or he’d think she was easy to bully.
Better to take the offensive against such garbage than passively defend. She wanted Zhao Zeng to regret provoking her for life!
He was trash, but she was a madwoman. Provoke anyone, but don’t provoke a madwoman.
After Chu Yunge spoke, the air seemed to still for a moment.
Everyone present felt a chill down below.
Zhao Zeng’s face twisted savagely. “Chu State’s Princess, how bold!”
Chu Yunge turned to the Shadow Guards. “Are you all dead? Letting this thing curse This Princess!”
In the next instant, all the Shadow Guards moved. Every weapon targeted Zhao Zeng’s lower body.
Zhao Zeng’s expression changed drastically as he barely dodged the flurry of flying knives, hidden weapons, and more aimed at his lower half.
Gazing at those eerily glowing eyes in the darkness, Zhao Zeng—who feared neither heaven nor earth, even when cornered—felt fear for the first time. His back felt ice-cold.
No martial virtue at all!
His manhood was his pride; he couldn’t afford any mishaps.
Yet Chu Yunge kept cursing. “Did you skip meals? So many of you can’t handle him! Attack high and low together—see if he values his life or his descendants more!”
The Shadow Guards’ assault intensified. Zhao Zeng had to protect both head and groin, instantly becoming disheveled.
Xie Wangze watched Chu Yunge from the side, dazed. Wariness flickered in his eyes, along with a trace of awe he himself didn’t notice.
The Princess… as fierce and ferocious as ever, even more so than before.
“Madwoman!” Zhao Zeng cursed in disarray, furious beyond measure. “Chu State’s Princess, just you wait for This King!”
Unwilling as he was, for the sake of his little brother’s life, Zhao Zeng could only retreat first.
“Withdraw!”
He had faced assassination dangers on the battlefield before, even ones a hundred times more perilous, but this was the first time he felt so cornered.
Cornered by a woman, no less!