The First Jasmine - Chapter 112
Chapter 112 - Assassination
Hearing Mo Xiunyao's words, Ye Li was silent for a long moment before she slowly retorted, "Doesn't marrying into the Prince of Ding's Manor already prove this princess's nerve?" Had it been any other young lady, after being rejected by Prince Li and then betrothed to the Prince of Ding, she would have simply hanged herself with a white silk sash and been done with it. That she was still alive should be more than enough to prove her courage wasn't small, shouldn't it?
"Ah—" A child's scream rang out from not far away. Princess Changle was stunned for a moment before she suddenly cried out, "It's Zhenning! Princess of Ding..." Sitting to the side, Mo Xiunyao made a slight hand gesture, and two hidden guards vanished from the battlefield without a trace, swiftly speeding toward the source of the cry. Ye Li looked at Noble Consort Liu seated beside the Emperor and frowned slightly. Even they had heard Princess Zhenning's scream; she refused to believe Noble Consort Liu had not heard it. Yet Noble Consort Liu's expression remained as calm as ever, and even the Empress frowned and glanced over in that direction, whereas she, the birth mother, acted as though she had heard nothing at all. Previously, she had merely felt that Noble Consort Liu possessed a cold and detached nature, holding herself above the world, but now, looking at her again, she couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart. What on earth was going on in the mind of a woman who didn't even care about the safety of her own daughter?
Amidst the layers of surrounding guards, the Empress spoke a few words to Mo Jingqi with a dark expression, prompting Mo Jingqi to raise his head and look toward their side. Seeing Mo Xiunyao and Ye Li sitting unconcernedly to the side, his gaze darkened slightly, and he said in a ringing voice, "Prince of Ding, trouble yourself to bring my second princess back." Mo Xiunyao gave a faint smile, rose to his full height, smiled at Ye Li, and vaulted out of the pavilion. Given Mo Xiunyao's status, sitting still and doing nothing would have been acceptable, but once the Emperor personally spoke up, refusing to act would have been inexcusable. Clearly not expecting Mo Jingqi to order Mo Xiunyao to go rescue someone, the Empress was first startled, then furrowed her brows with a worried look toward Ye Li's direction. Leaving aside the Princess of Ding, her own daughter was still young; how could she set her mind at ease without the Prince of Ding guarding her side? Glancing at Noble Consort Liu, who sat calmly to the side, the Empress let her expression darken toward Noble Consort Liu for the first time, "Zhenning has been seized by assassins. Is Noble Consort Liu not worried in the slightest?"
Noble Consort Liu calmly withdrew her gaze from outside the pavilion and replied indifferently, "With so many guards in the palace, they will naturally rescue Zhenning safely. Sorry to have troubled Your Majesty the Empress."
The Empress felt a suffocating tightness in her chest from anger, let out a cold snort, and said no more, merely keeping her attention focused on Ye Li and Changle over there. Given the Emperor's temperament, he would never agree to let her send people to fetch Changle over, even though the one caught in the chaos was his own flesh and blood.
The moment Mo Xiunyao left, the offensive launched by the assassins converging on this side grew even more ferocious. Clearly, these assassins had previously held back because they were wary of Mo Xiunyao and had not yet made their move. Now that Mo Xiunyao was gone, they naturally wanted to eliminate the enemies before them before he could return. A black-clad assassin was flung right to Ye Li's feet, prompting Princess Changle to let out a piercing scream beneath his ferocious visage. Ye Li frowned, stood up, and said, "Hidden Guard Two, Qingluan, take two people and protect Princess Changle." Hidden Guard Two looked at Ye Li in disapproval, while Princess Changle tightly gripped the hem of Ye Li's gown, refusing to let go. Young though she was, her intuition—nurtured growing up in the palace—surpassed that of ordinary people, and staying by the Princess of Ding's side made her feel immensely secure. Ye Li gently pried her fingers loose and said softly, "Good child, staying by my side is too dangerous. Go with these two to a safe place." Princess Changle blinked her eyes at her, pleading, "Princess of Ding, come with me..."
Ye Li smiled faintly and shook her head, glancing at Yelu Ye, who was fighting with effortless ease nearby. The moment she moved, Yelu Ye would undoubtedly draw the assassins back toward her. Since that was the case, it was better to stand right here and respond to shifting circumstances with steadfastness. "The Princess must be a good girl and not make your mother empress worry, understand?" Princess Changle hesitatingly glanced at the Empress, who was nervously staring in her direction, and finally nodded with a semblance of docility.
Amidst the combat, Yelu Ye glanced back at Ye Li, who was still standing not far away, and arched a sword-like brow with a smile, "The Princess truly possesses extraordinary courage and insight."
Leaning against a pillar, Ye Li said indifferently, "If Prince Yelu weren't leading people this way, I would be even happier. In truth, I am currently so frightened that my legs are soft and I can't move."
Having his intentions exposed to his face did not cause Yelu Ye the slightest bit of embarrassment. He smiled and said, "So you saw through it, Princess. Actually, this humble prince merely wanted an opportunity to play the hero saving the damsel in distress. I trust the Princess won't blame me, right?" Hearing this, Hidden Guard Three arched a brow, seized a blade-wielding assassin with one hand, and thrust him forward. The flashing glare of the blade pierced directly toward Yelu Ye, who heard the whistling wind, executed a clean turn, and kicked the out-of-control assassin flying. "This... be a bit more careful."
Hidden Guard Three raised his hand expressionlessly and offered a completely insincere apology, "A momentary slip of the hand, please pardon me, Prince."
Yelu Ye's eyebrow twitched upward as he smiled, "There are indeed capable people emerging in endless streams around the Princess. This prince naturally won't take offense."
"Yelu Ye! Go to hell!" It seemed that such a nonchalant battle had finally wounded the assassins' pride. With a sharp roar, several men in black simultaneously lunged recklessly toward Yelu Ye, their offensive so fiercely lethal it made one's heart skip a beat. Yelu Ye finally began to pull himself together and deal with them seriously. Leaning against the pillar, Ye Li watched the surrounding chaos and felt a profound sense of contempt toward Mo Jingqi, who was surrounded by layers of guards. While officials were being slaughtered by assassins like this, as the sovereign he occupied half of the guards and refused to let them leave his side to handle those assassins. People often said Mo Jingqi was skilled at controlling human hearts, but now it appeared that when faced with a brush with death, he forgot everything—even though, in truth, they hadn't actually reached a brush with death at all.
With several crisp whirring sounds, a few more figures in black charged into the pavilion from outside. Ye Li couldn't help frowning. With the palace's inner guards so strictly stationed, just how much capability did these assassins possess to infiltrate the palace on such a massive scale? And the palace guards—it had already been nearly a quarter of an hour, yet not a single guard had rushed over! Sensing a vague premonition that something was amiss, Ye Li began to move stealthily toward the outside of the pavilion. An odd scent faintly drifted through the air. Ye Li narrowed her eyes and shouted sharply, "Run! They're going to burn down the pavilion!" The moment her words fell, Hidden Guard Two grabbed Princess Changle from the corner and vaulted outward. Behind them, Qingluan nodded at Ye Li and followed closely outside. At Ye Li's side, Hidden Guard Three struck an assassin back with a single palm strike, grabbed Ye Li by the arm, and likewise leaped out of the Star-Gazing Pavilion.
Amidst a flurry of flying arrows, they found shelter and steadied themselves the moment they hit the ground. Looking back, the first and second floors of the Star-Gazing Pavilion were already ablaze. Evidently, the previous volley of arrows had been mixed with fire arrows, and the oil Ye Li had smelled on the upper floor was precisely a combustion-assisting agent. Moreover, it was currently early June, and the Star-Gazing Pavilion, built entirely of wooden materials and coated with lacquer, could be said to catch fire at the slightest spark. With everyone gathered on the third floor, once the fire ignited, the already chaotic Star-Gazing Pavilion dissolved into an endless stream of shrieks and cries for help. "Hidden Guard Three, go save people!"
"Your Highness, we didn't bring many people into the palace," Hidden Guard Three frowned and said.
Ye Li said in a deep voice, "Don't worry about me. Save people first." Anyone qualified to ascend the Star-Gazing Pavilion today was a high-ranking minister of the imperial court; leaving aside half of them dying or getting injured, even injuring a random few would spell endless trouble.
With no other choice, Hidden Guard Three waved his hand, ordering the few hidden guards who had followed them out to rush up the pavilion and rescue people. Before long, Mo Jingqi and the various imperial concubines were also carried down one by one by the guards. The guards who had previously been left uselessly swarming around Mo Jingqi immediately engaged the assassins outside. In the darkness, no one knew exactly how many assassins there were. The high-ranking concubines, princes, and princesses were better off as they all had people shielding them, but as for the low-ranking concubines without standing, they would likely die without anyone paying them the slightest mind. The moment the Empress landed, she swept her gaze anxiously in all directions. Catching sight of Ye Li, she couldn't care about anything else and hurried right over, "Princess... Changle..." Ye Li said, "Your Majesty need not worry, Princess Changle has already been sent to a safe place." The Empress let out a sigh of relief, smiled faintly, and said, "Thank you..."
"Watch out!" Ye Li yanked the Empress aside, shoving her toward the guards who had hurried over, while side-stepping to evade a sweeping blade of light. With agile footwork, she glided past the assassin. The assassin, whose strike had seemed guaranteed to hit, suddenly felt a chill in his chest. Stunned, he lowered his head to see a spray of blood gushing out from his own breast. Ye Li turned back to instruct the guards, "Take Her Majesty the Empress to a safe place." The golden-thread embroidered phoenixes on the Empress's robes were simply too eye-catching; the moment she landed, two arrows had already come flying her way. Having finished giving her orders to the guards, Ye Li flicked her hand and melted once more into the night, her clear eyes staring calmly and coldly at everything before her.
"The Princess of Ding's martial arts are indeed agile; this humble prince is deeply impressed." A voice rang out from her side, carrying a trace of banter.
Ye Li narrowed her eyes and threw a direct elbow strike at the person who had suddenly materialized beside her. The newcomer was clearly no ordinary person either, raising a hand in an attempt to lock down her arm. A cold smile curved the corners of Ye Li's lips. Swiftly tilting her head, she slid a dagger from her sleeve and slashed it toward the newcomer. The newcomer let out a "heh," stepped aside to dodge, and in the blink of an eye, Ye Li had already launched a flying kick, clearly recognizing that the person right across from her was none other than Yelu Ye, who had run off goodness knows where during the chaos. Yelu Ye raised his arm to parry, but quickly let go because the dagger in Ye Li's hand was already stabbing forward. Twirling around to evade it, Yelu Ye smiled wryly, "Princess of Ding, the enemy is right before us, must we engage in infighting?" He had seen plenty of women who knew martial arts; young or old, which Northern Rong woman couldn't throw a couple of moves? But he was truly seeing a woman whose combat style was this vicious for the very first time. She didn't pale in comparison even to specially trained assassins. Yelu Ye finally decided that now was not a good time to provoke her. If they ended up fighting only for someone else to reap the benefits of the chaos, that really would be losing the bait only to let the chicken get away.
Ye Li leaped back, looked at him with cold eyes, and said, "Infighting? Prince Yelu is misusing his vocabulary, no doubt because he is unaccustomed to the language of Great Chu."
Yelu Ye rubbed his nose and laughed, "At least we're standing on the same side right now, aren't we? This humble prince merely wanted to protect the Princess, but it seems that's unnecessary now." Ye Li gave him a mirthless smile and said, "Protection won't be necessary. Prince Yelu had better stay a bit further away from me, lest you get accidentally injured." Watching Ye Li with absolute precision use her dagger to sever the carotid artery of someone attempting a sneak attack, Yelu Ye couldn't help feeling a chill run down his neck. So this was the Prince of Ding's Consort of Great Chu—just as savagely terrifying as the legends of the Prince of Ding. Still... wouldn't a woman like this be the most interesting kind...?
"Protect the sovereign!" The imperial guards of the palace finally arrived fashionably late. The influx of a massive wave of imperial guards caused the assassins, previously holding the upper hand in the darkness, to instantly lose their advantage. Ye Li glanced back at the scene where the tide was beginning to turn, and without a moment's hesitation, she turned and headed deep into the imperial palace. Yelu Ye, who had kept his eyes on her the whole time, rubbed his chin and followed along with keen interest.