—

“Guards!”

Teng Yun hadn"t even come down from the carriage before it was chaos outside.

Xue Junliang was already out of the carriage. He had predicted someone would intercept the Empress" entourage en route, but didn"t expect them to be so brazen to attack somewhere so close to home such as here at the Shili Pavilion.

Xue Houyang was more prepared, but still he didn"t think they"d be ambushed here at the horse station. Chaos soon ensued, especially since this entourage was to escort the Empress, they"d brought many female servants.

Teng Yun was still sitting inside the horse carriage; heart beating rapidly. It was the perfect time to escape. But his current body was so weak; if previously he was afraid of being captured while trying to escape, right now he was afraid he"d be killed by a.s.sa.s.sins.

Teng Yun lifted a corner of the curtain to peek outside. The a.s.sa.s.sins seemed to be targeting Xue Junliang.

Xue Junliang was a king of a country, he could not be killed that easily. If the a.s.sa.s.sins wanted to kill Xue Junliang, they should have come prepared with a more thorough plan.

But Teng Yun also thought that it was better this way. The a.s.sa.s.sins targeting Xue Junliang meant they were occupied. There were a lot of them. No one should be able to notice a single person sneaking out of the carriage.

At this time, Xiu Yao climbed up into the carriage in a panic. Pulling Teng Yun, she said, “Empress, run! The guards won"t be able to hold these a.s.sa.s.sins back for long!”

Teng Yun, on the contrary, guessed if he didn"t run, the a.s.sa.s.sins wouldn"t be able to reach him. After all, these guards were all elite soldiers picked personally by Xue Houyang. But, this was the best chance to escape, he reasoned.

After pondering for a bit, he finally reached up and took off the phoenix crown on his head, then took all of the jewelries on his person off. Xiu Yao was not a fool, she immediately understood her mistress" intentions. She hurriedly searched inside a small drawer for a set of plain-colored clothes. She then helped her mistress to take off her outer robe and exchange it with the newly-found clothes.

Xiu Yao was a maidservant who had seen many things in her life, on the exterior, she was able to look calm. But inside, she was so scared her soul might fly away. Her hands kept shaking. By the time her mistress had finished putting on the plain clothes, Xiu Yao was already drenched in sweat.

Xiu Yao peeked outside. When she deemed that the coast was clear, she jumped out and helped her mistress to climb out.

Teng Yun had taken off every bit of his jewelries. Added with the plain clothes he was wearing, he now looked like any other ordinary palace maids. He and Xiu Yao looked inconspicuous enough.

The road where their carriage stopped had a small body of water on one side, and a small forest on the other. Teng Yun led Xiu Yao entering the forest, but as they trudged in, they heard sounds of footsteps other than theirs, as if someone was chasing them.

As Xiu Yao started to panic, Teng Yun whispered to her, “Split up.”

“Empress…” Xiu Yao was unwilling. She knew two people were bigger and easier target, but she didn"t think she could go on her own. Teng Yun didn"t give her much time to think; he immediately picked one direction and left her behind.

There was a lot of tall weeds and gra.s.ses in this forest. Teng Yun was wearing a skirt; the garment made too much noises when in contact with the gra.s.ses, his foot-wear crunched noisily on dry leaves. His current physical strength was non-existent; he was already gasping every two-steps. He couldn"t breathe as if his throat was clogged.

Teng Yun shrunk in among the gra.s.ses, covering his nose and mouth while trying to calm his breathing.

He hid at a good timing, as right the next moment he heard voices coming, closing in to where he was hiding. Teng Yun held his breath, fearing they would find him there.

When those people walked pa.s.s his hiding place, Teng Yun relaxed a tiny bit. His sight had started to dim and he could feel the world spinning. He collapsed on the ground.

Those a.s.sa.s.sins seemed to be well-trained. When they heard the smallest sound of someone falling, they immediately turned back, cutting the gra.s.ses with their blade as they went.

Teng Yun used his hands to force himself get up but they were shaking. His body had no strength whatsoever. Then suddenly, he was pushed by someone.

Teng Yun fell into the slope behind him. The slope was not too steep, but the fall was very deep. The base of the slope was well into a deeper part of the forest it was too dark to see.

When he was pushed down, Teng Yun couldn"t put out resistance. Then he felt he was being held firmly inside someone"s embrace as the both of them rolled down the slope.

The other person clasped a hand over the back of Teng Yun"s head; protecting Teng Yun from protruding blocks of stones.

Their descent was chaotic and dizzying. Teng Yun squeezed his eyes shut as if that could stave off the churning in his stomach and the urges to throw up.

When they finally landed on a flat ground, Teng Yun exhaled loudly. He kept his eyes closed because he felt as if the world hadn"t stop spinning. When he felt the spinning eased, he pushed himself off the ground. He was pulled up, and before he could take two steps, he was dragged into some kind of hole in the ground.

After some time, the urge to throw up gradually calmed down enough for Teng Yun to open his eyes. Xue Junliang was the first thing he saw.

Xue Junliang"s ta.s.seled-crown was gone. His hair-band was still on, but most of his hair had escaped and was loose messily. His black robe was now grey with dirt and had sc.r.a.pes and scratches in many places. He looked like a mess but the expression on his face was calm as always.

With one hand, Xue Junliang pulled Teng Yun deeper into the pit, while the other hand was place on Teng Yun"s mouth, gesturing not to make a noise.

The a.s.sa.s.sins saw someone fell down the slope and naturally followed. Fortunately it was very dark down here. Fallen trees and weeds littered the ground, and there was a small river that emitted foul odor. The a.s.sa.s.sins searched for some time, but fearing their targets had ran away, they dared not linger too long and eventually moved on deeper into the forest.

Xue Junliang didn"t retract his hands. Long after the a.s.sa.s.sins had gone far, he finally released Teng Yun.

Teng Yun gulped in deep breaths. For a time there, he"d thought he"d be suffocated to death.

Watching the other person blushing with exertion, Xue Junliang chuckled lowly. They were crouching very closely, Xue Junliang"s hot breath brushed by Teng Yun"s earlobe, making him shiver. Teng Yun turned around and sat facing away from Xue Junliang.

By a tacit understanding, the two didn"t move, they would wait longer to make sure the a.s.sa.s.sins wouldn"t return before they could come out of the pit.

Xue Junliang had open and b.l.o.o.d.y wounds all over his body obtained in their fall; the wounds looked awful, fortunately they were not very serious. But his right hand seemed unusually stiff.

Not perturbed by dirt and dust, Xue Junliang casually sat on the ground next to Teng Yun and said, “Aifei, what to do? Seems like I broke my hand.”

Teng Yun didn"t expect this person would save his life. He stared at Xue Junliang with a complicated emotions warring in his eyes. They were enemies all their life, Teng Yun even died by Xue Junliang"s hands. But now, this person was willing to save him.

But how did Xue Junliang suddenly appeared here? Did Xue Junliang find out Teng Yun tried to flee?

Teng Yun took in Xue Junliang"s poorly appearance. It was as if Xue Junliang wasn"t afraid of losing against a group of a.s.sa.s.sins, as if he didn"t realize he"d landed himself in a difficult situation.

“What? Is Aifei feeling touched? Don"t worry, when we"re back at the Palace, you can stare at me to your heart"s content.” Xue Junliang remarked suggestively; deliberately deepened his voice.

Teng Yun ignored him. He got up to search for a fairly-thick twig nearby. Then he sat beside Xue Junliang, tore a strip from Xue Junliang"s tattered outer robe and fixed him a makeshift splint for the broken hand.

Xue Junliang used his other hand to poke at his torn robe, as if regretting how bad its shape now. Smiling, he casually said, “Aifei is very good at this.”

Teng Yun"s movement paused, and then he continued, pretending not to care. Teng Yun was used to fighting outdoors, used to handle small injuries and wounds like these by himself. But a sheltered grand princess most definitely didn"t; not to mention handling injuries, she would have been very fl.u.s.tered in this kind of situation.

He thought all of the above, yet he still helped fixing Xue Junliang"s hand.

Xue Junliang felt something was odd about his Empress, but the feeling was fleeting and he soon forgot, not giving it much thought.

With one good hand, Xue Junliang took off his black outer robe and spread it on the ground. Patting it, he said, “Let"s sit down and rest. Houyang"s soldiers should find us soon.”

Teng Yun glanced at the robe on the ground. He was both didn"t want to talk and didn"t have the strength to argue. The body he was in right now was really spoiled; had zero physical strength and poor endurance. Teng Yun"s throat felt raw and swollen. He thought he"d throw up if he attempted to talk.

Teng Yun sat at the spot farthest away from Xue Junliang. Seeing this, Xue Junliang shifted to sit right next to Teng Yun. He reached a hand to guide Teng Yun"s head to rest on his shoulder, saying, “If you"re tired, close your eyes and rest.”

Teng Yun was indeed very tired and as soon as he sat down, his weariness came over him. But because he was leaning against Xue Junliang, his mind couldn"t rest and his body was tense.

Xue Junliang found that, despite obediently resting her head on his shoulder, the Empress was tense all over. He couldn"t help letting out a laugh, then he circled the Empress" waist, hugging her from behind.

Teng Yun"s drowsiness fled away in an instant, replaced by shock. Xue Junliang only felt the other person shivered so he tightened his hold, saying, “It"s cold, we"ll be warmer like this.”

Xue Houyang"s moves were swift; in under one shichen, he"d already found Xue w.a.n.g and the Empress, and had captured most of the a.s.sa.s.sins.

Xue Houyang knelt and plead guilty, but Xue Junliang didn"t say anything because at this time, the Empress had fallen asleep and no one dared speaking too loudly for fear of waking her up.

—

Teng Yun surfaced from his slumber in a daze, feeling very warm like he was coc.o.o.ned in something. He shifted to burrow deeper into the coc.o.o.n but felt something fur-like tickled his face. He was startled into waking up.

Xue Junliang watched as the Empress woke up so suddenly and thought she had a nightmare. Gently patting the other person"s back, he said, “It"s alright. Go back to sleep, we"ll arrive at the Palace soon.”

Still half-awake, Teng Yun stared at Xue Junliang for a long time. He felt like he was swaying gently and was tightly covered with a fur blanket. Xue Junliang had changed his clothes and was now back to his usual well-groomed and confident persona.

Xue Junliang looked down at the Empress, who was resting her head on his lap and still groggy from sleep. He"d thought the Empress wouldn"t wake up until after they arrived at the Palace.

He hadn"t allowed people to change the Empress" clothes because he didn"t want her to wake up. He didn"t mind being dirty again, so he lent his own legs as the Empress" pillow.

Right now, the Empress" face was a little bit flushed, maybe because she was feeling warm and comfortable. Her eyes were somewhat misty; staring vacantly at him.

Xue Junliang knew this was not the proper time and place; but being stared like that, with that kind of expression, he felt a stirring of excitement. Added that the Empress" head was pillowed on his legs; this kind of position really gave people ideas.

If they were to stay in this position for a minute longer, Xue Junliang knew the other person would be able to tell his reactions.

He laid the Empress down onto the couch and put a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. When he gently pinched the Empress" earlobe, she softly mumbled ‘Enn." Hearing the sound, Xue Junliang"s heart tightened as if someone was squeezing it.

His hands slipped from the Empress" earlobe to grip her chin, then he leaned down and clamped her lips with his.

—

[T/N : Argh! Just as we"re about to have the juicy bits…]