Chapter 41
Chapter 41
“Shengsheng?”
Zhiyu stared in confusion as Shengsheng dragged her out the door in a frantic rush.
“Where are we going?”
“To find the Crown Prince. Be good and keep up.”
Shengsheng coaxed her while accelerating her pace.
Life had been so wildly eventful lately that Shengsheng had almost forgotten this crucial scene.
In the original novel, Weiqing Song was ambushed while walking through the imperial garden.
The two sides fought so fiercely that even Jian Zhang, who ordinarily remained at Weiqing’s side to protect him, was forced to join the battle. Left alone, Weiqing presented the assassins with an opening. At the critical instant when an arrow flew toward him, the heroine he had forcibly brought along sacrificed herself and took the arrow in his place.
Only after that did Weiqing truly fall in love with her.
This was an essential plot point, and Shengsheng had nearly forgotten it!
What a grievous sin.
“Xiaoyu, do you remember our acting lessons?” Shengsheng asked breathlessly as she hurried along. “I have a new script for us.”
It was strange. They were moving at exactly the same speed, yet Shengsheng was exhausted as a dying dog, practically ready to hang out her tongue and pant. Zhiyu, meanwhile, had not shed so much as a drop of sweat. She looked perfectly fresh.
Was this part of the heroine’s halo too?
The bearer of that halo brightened.
Zhiyu loved acting.
***
“Protect His Highness!”
Blades flashed amid murderous cries. At the center of the bloody melee, guards formed a protective ring around Weiqing.
When he saw his men beginning to lose ground, his brow furrowed slightly.
“Jian, go assist them.”
Jian nodded. Like a blade leaving its sheath, he shot into the fray.
Shengsheng and Zhiyu clearly arrived later than they should have.
It did not matter. As long as the hidden archer had not loosed his arrow, there was still time.
Shengsheng had deliberately skirted the worst of the fighting and approached from the side.
When Weiqing saw the two women, he waved for the guards to let them through.
Shengsheng reached him gasping for breath.
“Your Highness, are you all right?”
*If you’re all right, have a sour plum.*
Weiqing had nothing to say.
Another inexplicable joke.
“Why are the two of you here?” he asked, glancing at her windblown hair.
“We happened to be taking a walk nearby. When we heard there were assassins in the imperial garden, we rushed here to protect Your Highness,” Shengsheng answered earnestly.
*We came to watch the excitement and advance the plot while we were at it.*
At the mention of the plot, Weiqing understood.
“How fascinating. It seems the palace pays the imperial guards for nothing. The two of you arrived faster than they did.”
Shengsheng recognized that tone.
The imperial guards were about to suffer.
She had just opened her mouth when A-Pang suddenly flew in front of her and waved.
Weiqing saw them, of course. He was still trying to guess what the gesture meant when an arrow shrieked through the air.
Its target…
was Shengsheng.
*What the hell?*
She watched the gleaming arrowhead tear viciously toward her, but her body froze. It felt as though something had bound her feet to the ground. She could not move a single step.
The expected agony never came.
Instead, the muffled sound of an arrow piercing flesh, followed by a pained moan, jolted Shengsheng back to herself.
She stared in disbelief at the young woman in moon-white robes standing before her. Tears burst from her eyes.
“Xiaoyu!”
At the same instant, A-Pang screamed inside her mind.
*Shengsheng! It is happening again!*
This time, the arrow flew unerringly toward Weiqing Song.
The first shot had been nothing more than cover for the second.
Shengsheng still held the wounded Zhiyu in her arms. Weiqing, meanwhile, seemed lost in thought. Though he clearly saw the arrow, he did not move.
Only a few seconds had passed.
There was no time to think.
The male lead could not die!
Weiqing had just caught hold of the small detail that felt wrong and was preparing to dodge when a foot slammed violently into his waist.
Caught completely unprepared, he was kicked bodily through the air.
*Brother, this is all I can do for you.*
The imperial guard reinforcements arrived, rescuing Weiqing’s men from almost certain defeat.
The assassins were quickly captured. Before the commander could bind them, however, every black-clad attacker swallowed poison and died.
They moved with astonishing speed and perfect order, as though they had rehearsed the act long ago.
When Jian Zhang, reeking of blood, turned to find Weiqing, he witnessed a sight he would never forget for the rest of his life.
His master was a man of grand strategy and penetrating intellect, learned in every field, and handsome beyond the slightest criticism–a man with a face like flawless jade.
He was the Crown Prince of the Zhen Kingdom.
Yet for reasons Jian could not begin to fathom, that illustrious man was currently sprawled facedown on the ground like a dog that had lunged for dung.
He was not moving.
Jian did not dare speak. But when every colleague nearby sent him pleading looks, he steeled himself and stepped forward.
If he would not descend into hell, who would?
“Your Highness… are you unharmed?”
Jian’s voice had never sounded so gentle or cautious.
Several seconds passed.
To prevent anyone else from seeing a scene that made him want to slaughter every witness present, Weiqing finally spoke.
“Help me up.”
As Jian raised him, he plainly heard Weiqing suck in a painful breath.
“Your Highness, you are injured!”
Jian’s alarm earned him a furious glare.
Never in his life had he seen His Highness make such an expression.
“Where is that… insolent palace maid?”
A vein throbbed wildly at Weiqing’s temple, but the culprit was nowhere in sight.
Jian was bewildered. One of the nearby guards, however, knew whom he meant.
“Your Highness, that young lady stopped her friend’s bleeding and then carried her away.”
“Good. Very good.”
Weiqing laughed coldly.
Every hair on Jian’s body stood on end.
“This incident will likely alarm Father. Return to the palace first.”
Jian nodded. After dismissing the others, he lowered his voice.
“Those assassins were clearly well trained. It seems the document we obtained was genuine after all.”
Weiqing frowned. “No. Investigate further. Something about this affair still feels wrong.”
Jian did not know what had raised his master’s suspicions, but Weiqing’s commands had never led them astray. He obediently accepted the order.
“Then… what of the culprit who did this to you?” he ventured.
Weiqing’s face turned frosty.
“Summon an imperial physician for me first.”
“Your Highness, why did you not say so earlier?”
Weiqing struck him on the arm.
How could he have said anything in front of so many people?
Jian helped him into the sedan chair. After lowering himself painfully onto the seat, Weiqing suddenly thought of an excellent punishment.
“Go. Take back every last thing I rewarded her a few days ago.”