However, the pain she had expected never came. Instead, she heard… a whoosh?
Chu Lian panted as she laid sprawled on the ground. When she slowly opened her eyes, she saw that the assassin had already fallen next to her, his eyes wide with an arrow through his throat.
Chu Lian pushed herself up with difficulty before she looked around. She immediately spotted the azure-eyed man on the second floor, sporting a bow in his hands.
That arrow was his.
Chu Lian let out a sigh of relief as her body softened into mush.
Without waiting for Chu Lian to catch her breath, that whoosh sounded again. She turned to look, a little stiffened, and saw that the second pursuer had also been shot to death with a single arrow…
By then, Chu Lian had finally regained her senses and realised that someone had just died right in front of her. Her pupils shrank and her face turned extremely pale.
Still leaning on her arms, she began to shuffle backwards, as if trying to get away from the dead men.
Not much later, a number of troops charged down from Defeng Teahouse. The azure-eyed man led them straight to Chu Lian.
She saw that the soldiers were wearing armour and carrying swords at their waists. These must have been the reinforcements from the city guards that Wenlan had sent for.
The azure-eyed man extended a hand to help Chu Lian up. “Sixth Miss Chu, are you hurt anywhere?”
Chu Lian felt like jelly all over, but she persisted in standing up. She took a small glance up at him before quickly lowering her gaze. Chu Lian pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Your Highness Prince Jin, I’m fine. I just suffered a shock, but I’m uninjured.”
Once he heard Chu Lian addressing him as Prince Jin, his extraordinary azure eyes narrowed slightly. Prince Jin waved two people forward, and two maidservants immediately came forth from behind him. They gently supported Chu Lian at either side.
By this time, Wenlan had also come charging out of the crowd. Seeing that Chu Lian was safe, tears spilled out from her eyes. “Third Young Madam, it’s good that you’re alright!”
Chu Lian tried her best to pull out a weak smile for Wenlan. Without waiting for her to speak, Wenlan knew what she wanted to ask. “Third Young Madam, please don’t worry. Xiyan is fine! She had a small injury, but the doctors are tending to her in the forecourt of the teahouse.”
Without waiting for the two to finish their conversation, another person rushed forward from the crowd.
Chu Lian turned to look and realised that it was Royal Princess Duanjia’s handmaid, Jinxiu.
The moment Jinxiu came over, she grabbed onto Chu Lian’s thigh. She cried out in anxiety, “Third Young Madam, what about our princess! Where has our princess gone?!”
Prince Jin glanced at the outer coat that Chu Lian was wearing. When he recognised it as Royal Princess Duanjia’s, a trace of understanding flashed through his mind.
Chu Lian blushed, the red evident against her pale face. After narrowly escaping danger, she had actually completely forgotten about the princess in the well…
She awkwardly coughed to hide her guilt and secretly glanced at Prince Jin. “Come with me.”
Wenlan quickly moved up to support Chu Lian. When Chu Lian led Prince Jin and the soldiers to that little courtyard, she peeked into the well and saw that there was no one there. Noticing that the piece of wood was still floating on the surface, she shouted loudly, “Princess! Come out quickly! Help has come!”
The tough soldiers surrounding them had constipated expressions on their faces.
Following that, ripples appeared on the surface of the water as a head suddenly popped up from under the wood, like a water ghost. Royal Princess Duanjia’s voice resounded with anger, “Chu Liu! You’re late!! Hurry and get someone to pull this princess up!”
Hearing the anger in Royal Princess Duanjia’s voice, Chu Lian was finally able to relax.
Actually, as Chu Lian reflected on her actions, she admitted it was a little too rough of her to have pushed the princess down the well. She had only been thinking of saving her life, but she hadn’t thought of the mental anguish that the saved princess would have been going through. Luckily, Royal Princess Duanjia wasn’t such a fragile person.
The soldiers quickly prepared some rope and threw it into the well.
Once they brought up the soaking wet princess, without waiting for Prince Jin to put the cloak he had prepared around the princess, Royal Princess Duanjia reached out and hugged the dazed Chu Lian tightly.
The princess’ voice sounded a little hoarse as she whispered into Chu Lian’s ear. “Stupid Chu Liu! Do you know how scared I was alone in that well?! If I have nightmares after this, I’m going to buy a puppet, paste your name on it, and stick a needle into it every day to relieve my trauma!”
Chu Lian froze up after hearing the princess’s words. As expected, this princess was really hateful. All she had were complaints after she had saved her life! Chu Lian was at a loss for what to do when she suddenly realised that there was something hot flowing down her neck.
Chu Lian’s heart immediately softened. She patted Royal Princess Duanjia’s back lightly and reassured her with a gentle tone. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. If Princess has nightmares in the future, I’ll make something delicious for you to eat, okay?”
Royal Princess Duanjia was choked with sobs as she pushed Chu Lian away and wiped her tears. She stared at Chu Lian with reddened eyes before pursing her lips, “Chu Liu, are you serious? Don’t you dare lie to me! I want to eat that cat head cookie! And your handmade roast duck!”
Chu Lian: ……
My dear princess, could you stop changing moods so quickly? My delicate heart can’t take it.
Are you sure you weren’t crying so pitifully just to trick some food out of me?
Chu Lian wanted to roll her eyes at the princess.
