Chapter 37: The Lustful and Deranged Hostage Prince x The Favored and Arrogant Princess (37)

At night, the Qiwu Palace was exceptionally quiet.

Rainwater pooled on the blue-tiled roof dripped down the eaves, making a faint, rhythmic sound in the silent courtyard. A maid carrying a tray approached, then suddenly caught the sound of light, shallow footsteps, barely audible amidst the patter of the rain. Sensing something amiss, she turned, only to lock eyes with a pair of fierce, murderous pupils.

*Slash!*

Before she could cry for help, a chill struck her neck. She reached up, and a spray of bright red blood erupted. The body collapsed without a sound.

Dozens of assassins dressed in black approached the bedchamber. With a soft click of the window lattice, they slipped inside like ghosts. The room was dimly lit, and on the couch behind the gauze curtains, a figure lay peacefully, breathing steadily.

The leader gestured for the others to stand guard, then held his breath as he crept forward, the broken blade in his hand gleaming with a terrifying, cold light. As the tip of the blade pressed against the throat of the "person," the assassin realized the texture was wrong. He ripped away the quilt in a fury. It was merely a straw effigy wrapped in silk!

"It's a trap!"

His pupils contracted, but before he could finish the sentence, countless torches flared up outside the wooden windows. Guards armed with spears surged in like a tidal wave. The assassins reacted swiftly, scattering to retreat.

"Assassins! Catch the assassins!"
"Charge!"

The clash of blades soon erupted outside. Shu Yao and Wantao hid behind the rockery in the palace garden, watching the tiger fight from a safe distance.

"How did Your Highness know there would be assassins?"

Shu Yao replied, "It would be more abnormal if he didn't come to kill me."

Given such a humiliating defeat, how could Chu Yuan swallow it? Having lost his position as Crown Prince, he was now unrestrained, and his primary desire was to take her life. How brainless. If anything happened to her, the negotiated marriage alliance would be stalled, and neighboring countries would surely launch an attack, leading to unnecessary casualties.

What fate awaited a discarded prince? Shu Yao sneered at Chu Yuan’s stupidity.

"Your Highness, watch out!"

Wantao suddenly shoved her aside. A sharp longsword thrust out from a gap in the rockery, piercing the exact spot where she had been standing.

*Slash!*

A blade flashed as an assassin in black lunged straight for Shu Yao. Wantao drew the dagger from her waist and parried the assassin’s sword. "Your Highness, run!"

Realizing their hiding spot was exposed, Wantao urged Shu Yao to flee. Shu Yao did not hesitate for a second, vanishing into the shadows at the end of the rockery. With her gone, Wantao could focus entirely on the attacker. Having been sent to Princess Jianing as a bodyguard by Lady Yu, she possessed basic martial skills and held her own against the assassin. However, the man wielded a longsword while she had only a small dagger, putting her at a disadvantage.

"Hiss!"

Her right arm was gashed by the sword. Wantao frowned in pain and turned to run. The assassin started to give chase, but then, remembering the purpose of his mission, he glared hatefully in the direction Wantao had fled. "Wretch," he cursed, then turned and bolted after Shu Yao.

The hem of her gown, embroidered with golden peonies, was soaked through with mud. Rain lashed against her cheeks, but Shu Yao dared not look back. The oxygen in her lungs depleted rapidly; she gasped violently, her wet hair plastered to her face, and rainwater stung her eyes, making it impossible to keep them open.

The Imperial Guards had arrived, but these were highly trained death squads; they would not give up until she was dead. She had a persistent shadow trailing her. She twisted and turned through the narrow, winding palace paths, the surroundings silent save for the dripping rain. Only then did she realize how far she had strayed from her bedchamber.

Shu Yao finally let out a breath, her palms damp—she could not tell if it was sweat or rain. The excessive physical exertion left her unable to speak; her throat burned, and her stomach churned violently.

As Shu Yao crouched to dry-heave, a bloodied sword pointed silently at her heart.

*Thwack!*

The blade pierced flesh. Shu Yao spun around to see the assassin holding the sword, half the crimson tip jutting out from his own chest. A large hand clamped over the assassin's mouth, muffling his agonizing cries.

*Thud.*

The assassin fell, revealing the blood-splattered face of Shen Jingmu. He withdrew his blade and flicked the blood off the tip.

"Have you finished running, Your Highness?"
"Why is it you?"

Shu Yao leaned against a tree to steady herself, stunned by his sudden appearance. Shen Jingmu kicked the corpse aside, the sound of his boots crushing dead leaves echoing in the quiet.

"Who did Your Highness expect? Xiahou Yu, far away in another land? Or Chu Lanqing?"

Shu Yao found his tone inexplicably insolent and curled her lips in scorn. "What are you? How dare you address the Crown Prince and the Imperial Brother by their given names? If word of this got out, your head wouldn't be enough to pay the price."

Shen Jingmu slowly sheathed his sword and said gently, "Your Highness's attitude is truly chilling."

Shu Yao did not feel safe being alone with Shen Jingmu. After all, this was the man who would ruthlessly take her life in a month’s time. To lower her guard just because he had saved her now would be even more foolish than Chu Yuan. She knew full well what kind of atrocities she had inflicted upon Shen Jingmu; were it her, she would have long since taken her revenge rather than letting him live to this day.

Shu Yao stared at the sword in his hand and instinctively retreated two steps. Shen Jingmu stepped closer, his presence cloaked in the thick scent of blood.

"This servant will escort Your Highness back to the bedchamber."
"There is no need."

Shu Yao edged along the tree trunk, moving one step, two steps away. Once she had put enough distance between them, she turned and bolted, her hair streaming in the wind.

Shen Jingmu narrowed his eyes. Was she... afraid of him?

The perimeter of Qiwu Palace was swarming with Imperial Guards. Seeing Shu Yao drenched and disheveled, Wantao rushed over to her. Emperor Chu An stood nearby, his hands behind his back, staring at the dozen or so corpses lying before him. The moment they were captured, they had all chosen to swallow poison, just as they had during the autumn hunt. There were no leads. Emperor Chu An’s expression was dark, as if ink were about to drip from his face.

***

"Useless! Useless! All of you are useless!"

Lady Li, who had been "bedridden," shoved the palace doors open and firmly clutched Chu Yuan’s mouth.

"Mo... Mother."
"Hush."

Her jade finger pressed against her lips, her delicate, vivid brows furrowed. Lady Li said with displeasure, "I knew it was you. You have no self-control."

Chu Yuan’s eyes were bloodshot as he shouted in a breakdown, "Mother! That wretch has caused me such misery; I cannot let her go!"

Lady Li sneered, "When did I ever say I would let her go? She wants to go on this marriage alliance? She’ll have to see if she can make it out of the capital alive first."

Everything she relied upon had been destroyed by Princess Jianing. Even without Chu Yuan, she would not let that wretch go!

***

"Does Your Highness truly intend to go through with this marriage alliance?"

Shen Jingmu’s hoarse voice, mingled with the scent of incense, drifted into Shu Yao’s ear. This was the second time he had asked. Shu Yao lay on her side on the daybed, not even lifting her eyelids.

"My affairs are not for a lowly slave like you to question."

Shen Jingmu lowered his gaze, his eyes sweeping inch by inch over her soft, white feet. She was to be sent away for a marriage alliance, yet she still couldn't see the reality of her situation? Did she truly believe she would remain a high-and-mighty princess after the alliance?

A nameless fire burned within Shen Jingmu’s chest, raging fiercely. He was furious at Shu Yao’s stupidity.

"Does Your Highness like Xiahou Yu?" he asked in a raspy voice.

Shu Yao couldn't be bothered to answer. "Get out once you've finished cleaning."

Shen Jingmu did not move. He asked again, "Does Your Highness like Xiahou Yu?"

Shu Yao found him tiresome and replied dismissively, "And what if I do?"

Shen Jingmu chuckled, his voice laced with cruelty. "You fancy a creature who crawled his way up from a pile of women?"

Shu Yao’s expression turned icy; she lifted her foot to kick him. "What are you—"

The water rippled as the man’s gloomy face loomed larger before her. Shen Jingmu suddenly hooked his fingers around the gilded railing of the couch, his shadow engulfing Shu Yao’s features.

"Your Highness doesn't even know who it is you are to marry, yet you have the leisure to bicker with this slave?"

Shu Yao kicked out at his chest, but he caught her ankle with a firm, precise grip. Shen Jingmu leaned down and bit into her ankle, the metallic, sweet taste of blood spreading as his teeth pierced her skin.

Shu Yao trembled in pain. "You dare?"

The scar on her collarbone had forced her to wear a high collar for days—fortunately, it was winter, so it didn't look strange. But now this brute was biting her again!

"Xiahou Yu has been playing with women since he was ten. What is it you like about him? Is it his incompetence, or that ugly face of his?"

"Let go!"

Shu Yao struggled to grab his hairpiece, but Shen Jingmu pinned her hands down against the daybed. His breath washed over her ear, mixed with the scent of the blood he had drawn from her.

"Once the relations between the two countries break, you will be the first to die. How is your situation any different from this slave's?"

"Oh, no... there is a difference."

He suddenly tore open her collar and began to grind his teeth against the bite mark on her collarbone, his voice so low and raspy it sounded like poison.

"You are being handed over to be ravaged by others, your life and body entirely in their hands."

He laughed aloud. "Your status is even lower than mine."