Royal Princess Duanjia rubbed the corners of her eyes as she inwardly continued her outburst. “Chu Liu, you dummy! You’d better be alive after this! You still owe this princess a whole roast duck! You promised that we’ll make it together next time! You can’t go back on your promises! Otherwise, this princess will make trouble for the entire House Jing’an, especially that darn annoying husband of yours!”
Royal Princess Duanjia suddenly had something out for He Changdi. After all that happened, Chu Lian had already become her best friend. Furthermore, Chu Lian was such a nice person, but that He Sanlang actually dared to abandon her. He was definitely a wife-abandoning animal!
Chu Lian, still standing in the small courtyard, didn’t have the spare time to think of all that. Her heart was thumping rapidly in her chest. It was impossible not to be scared. However, she didn’t have a choice. Chu Lian quickly put on Royal Princess Duanjia’s coat and ran over to the pile of kindling near the entrance of the closed courtyard. She dove inside in a panic. Under the cover of some dried grass, Chu Lian didn’t dare to move an inch. She held the mental map of the courtyard in her mind and calculated the escape route she was going to take.
She pressed on her own chest with her right hand and felt the beating of heart. In her heart, she prayed for Wenlan to return quickly with reinforcements.
From the gaps in the grass covering her, Chu Lian could see the two pursuers carefully stepping into the courtyard. They were completely covered in black clothing. Even their faces were wrapped up in black, leaving only their sinister-looking eyes peeking out. The swords they held had been covered in blood at some point; beads of red were rolling down the sharp blades and dripping onto the tile-covered ground. Chu Lian felt like she could almost hear the pitter patter of the falling blood.
Her heart in her throat, she watched every movement that the assassins made. The two men swept the courtyard with their gazes once they entered, as if they were just about to find either her or Royal Princess Duanjia.
Chu Lian shut her eyes and took a deep breath. The next time her eyes opened, they were as bright as stars in the night sky.
She mentally counted to three before pushing aside the kindling covering her. Without any room for further thought, Chu Lian ran towards the entrance of the courtyard.
When the two assassins spotted the young girl appearing out of nowhere, one of them quickly followed after her while the other remained in the courtyard.
The remaining assassin walked up to the kindling pile that Chu Lian had just been hiding in and used his sword to poke through it. After pushing aside the grass and discovering that there was no one else hiding in there, he spat in anger. After that, he continued looking through the courtyard.
It seemed like the assassins weren’t stupid.
Eventually, the gaze of the remaining assassin landed on the only well in the courtyard.
He strode towards the well and lifted the wooden cover on top of it, scanning the inside. Although it was rather deep, the sunlight reached far enough that he could see the bottom.
Seeing that there was only a piece of wood floating on the water’s surface and nothing else, he harrumphed and turned to leave.
Hiding under that piece of wood was Royal Princess Duanjia. She waited until a few more moments had passed before she dared to come up for air. In her heart, she cursed the assassins a million times over, while worrying for Chu Lian’s safety.
As her lungs cried out for more air, Chu Lian’s steps grew heavier and heavier.
The footsteps behind her sounded closer and closer and it seemed like there wasn’t a shred of hope left for her. Under the wide sleeves of her clothes, Chu Lian gripped a golden hairpin she had removed from her head. If there was really no other choice, then she would choose death!
She took a deep breath. Death didn’t seem so scary in the midst of all this tension. She wondered if she would return to her original world if she died. If she could, the first thing she would do was write a five hundred long review to scold the author of this book!
The face of her pursuer seemed to carry a wretched smile behind the dark cloth wrapping around his face. His sword was just about to reach her; Chu Lian could almost feel the air being pushed towards her by the blade.
All her energy was gone. She was struggling to breathe. She purposely stumbled on her next step, miraculously dodging the assassin’s fierce strike.
Sprawled on the ground without any more strength to dodge the next attack, Chu Lian turned and stared at the assassin. She pressed her lips together tightly, determination clear on her face.
When the assassin finally saw the face of his target, a flash of annoyance passed through his eyes. He had been chasing the wrong person!
He angrily shouted, “You damned bitch! You tried to trick me! Since you’re not the princess, there’s no use in keeping you!”
Right as he finished speaking, his sharp blade began its descent, its target Chu Lian’s snow white nape.
The silhouette of the blade was reflected in Chu Lian’s eyes.
Her gaze sharpened. She refused to give up! Even at this critical moment, she didn’t want to give up. No matter where she was, nothing was more important than her very own life. The spark in her eyes brightened as strength gathered in her body from who knew where. She flipped over and actually dodged the man’s attack! At the same time, she rolled next to his feet.
She tightly gripped the hairpin in her hands and, without any hesitation at all, plunged it into his foot.
The man cried out in pain as his eyes flushed red. Even in his wildest dreams, he would never have thought that this fragile little noble girl could hurt him.
He punted Chu Lian away and increased the ferocity of his attacks.
That burst of movement has expended the last drop of energy in Chu Lian’s body. She didn’t have any power left in her to fight. The bloodstained blade flashed; it was going to fall upon her any second now. Chu Lian quickly shut her eyes.
