Was it her mother who had initiated contact with Duke Residence back then? Or was it Duke Residence that had sought out her mother?
Considering that the Nanchu Queen wanted to kill her, there was a high probability that her mother was Princess Zhenmin. If her mother had sought out Duke Residence, remembering her mother’s contribution to the salvation of Daliang, even if it was difficult, knowing she was trouble, they might not be able to refuse, right? If Duke Residence had sought out her mother, this was practically impossible. Since her mother had concealed her name and identity, even the Empress Dowager and Emperor did not know of her whereabouts. It would be impossible for Duke Residence to know unless she had something to ask of Duke Residence.
Thus, her engagement with Zhou Gu should have been sought by her mother.
She could imagine that her mother must have known that she wouldn’t live long and in order to protect her from the exposure of her identity in the future, she had found a refuge for her, which was the Duke Residence.
But her mother probably did not expect that the Emperor, in his old age, held tight to his power. Even his biological son, the Crown Prince, was apprehensive of him, not to mention the renowned Duke Residence? Especially with Zhou Gu, hasn’t Duke Residence effectively tied themselves to the Eastern Palace? Even if aside from Zhou Gu himself, Duke Residence has not been secretly helping the Crown Prince, it does not stop the Emperor from thinking so.
As for her, she was a big problem who had always faced assassination attempts from an early age. Now, the Nanchu Queen was trying to manipulate the Daliang Empress into killing her. In the future... she could think with her toes that she wouldn’t stop. So, since she knows who wants to kill her, she won’t just sit around and wait for death.
So, can she still marry Zhou Gu free of guilt? Should she, being such a problem, disrupt his smooth path to success?
Su Rong always considered herself not a good person, possessing the typical human flaws. At present, knowing that the person who had been trying to kill her was the Nanchu Queen, if she chose the path most beneficial to her, she should marry Zhou Gu and accept the protection of the Crown Prince. Thus, using Eastern Palace and the Duke Residence to confront the Nanchu Queen and her maternal family, the Nangong Family.
But if she does so, wouldn’t both the Eastern Palace and Duke Residence struggle even more due to the troubles she brings?
Zhou Gu was so good, how could she bear to ruin his pure reputation? Should she drag him into her bloody storm?
She hoped for his well-being and wished him peace. Since he embodies purity and nobility, let it sustain throughout his life.
This was what Su Rong had been thinking about from the time she left the governor’s residence to her arrival at the Shili Pavilion outside the city. But she couldn’t just bluntly tell Zhou Gu her thoughts at this time. She still needed to think about it. So, she smiled at Zhou Gu: "You are only sixteen, and I am only fifteen."
In other words, why rush? Neither of them should be in a hurry.
Upon hearing her words, Zhou Gu felt they were fitting. Many men indeed didn’t marry until they reached adulthood, and by that standard, his age of sixteen did seem early. However, for a girl, fifteen was just the age for marriage. Most girls should already be married by the time they reach seventeen.
He wanted to say something, but realizing that this matter wasn’t something he could decide, he still had to return to the residence and see what his grandfather thought about it. He simply nodded, "Alright, I understand."
He pursed his lips, "Then, should I leave now?"
Su Rong waved her hand, "Off you go!"
Seeing how Su Rong had just said she was reluctant to let him go, but promptly let him leave the very next moment, Zhou Gu didn’t know why, but a wave of melancholy swept over him. With a crack of the whip, his steed raised its hooves and galloped off.
All the guards from Duke Residence immediately spurred their horses and followed him.
Su Rong sat on her horse, watching Zhou Gu as he rode off into the distance with his entourage. In a moment, they disappeared at the end of the official road. She reluctantly withdrew her gaze and gave a desolate sigh.
Just as she was halfway through her sigh, her face turned cold. As the chilling wind swept over from behind, she immediately shifted to the side, narrowly avoiding a sword attack from behind. She fell off the horse in her hurry to avoid the attack, and just as she scrambled up, she was assaulted by cold light once again. Dodging once more, she turned around to see a man in black wielding a sword advancing towards her. More than just him, several other black figures appeared behind him, effectively encircling her in a flash.
Su Rong’s expression changed. She flicked her sleeves, unleashing numerous gold needles towards the men in black. With their guards lowered, several of them were hit by the needles and fell down. Taking advantage of the gap, Su Rong quickly rushed past and started to run, flinging gold needles as she went.
She hadn’t expected assassins to attack her in broad daylight. Although she had always been prepared with her gold needles, they were limited. After several rounds, she managed to bring down a dozen or so of the men in black, but there were still a few who relentlessly pursued her.
Having exhausted her gold needles, Su Rong only had a single dagger left. With the black-clad assassins closing in, she had no choice but to fend off their attacks with her dagger.
After several rounds, her arm was slashed by a sword, causing her hand to shake as she held the dagger. Even then, she took advantage of an opportunity to scatter the poison powder she had hidden on her person.
The men in black had not expected that she, being alone, could decimate so many of them, especially since she seemed cornered. It also surprised them that she still had a hidden deadly weapon in the form of poison powder, which took down another three men.
Only two men remained, but these two were evidently the most skilled among the assassins. Now that Su Rong no longer had any poison powder left and merely held onto a single dagger, it was clear the situation was dire.
Su Rong gritted her teeth, enmeshed in a back-and-forth battle with the two men, wounds soon appearing not just on her arm but all over her.
Though this dagger could slice through iron like mud, it was shamefully short, no match for a sword. A wave of frustration welled up in her heart; even if she was to die at their hands, she would make sure they went down with her.
Although her only weapon was a dagger, putting her at a disadvantage, she nonetheless pinned her hopes on brute force. This alarmed the two assassins who even if they had turned her into a bloody mess, still failed to inflict a fatal wound.
Nonetheless, due to excessive blood loss and declining strength, coupled with the fact that these two men were martial arts masters, Su Rong believed that if she continued combating them this way, she might not be able to take them down with her. In a bold move, she seized an opportunity, pulled out the hairpin from her hair, used it as a throwing needle, and hurled it out. One man was immediately stabbed in the wrist, his sword fell, and she seized the moment to spin around, swung her dagger, and slit his throat. But in doing so, she couldn’t avoid the lethal strike coming from the other man’s side.
In that instant, Su Rong’s mind went blank, proving that in the face of imminent death, one is incapable of thinking.
Just when the situation was extremely critical, a stone flew in obliquely, hitting the sword aimed at Su Rong. Instantly deflecting the sword, the imminent danger was averted right before her eyes. She seized an opportunity and thrust the dagger in her hand forward, but the assassin dodged hastily, and her strike reached only his shoulder. Just as she was about to retrieve the dagger and follow up, she saw a figure fall from the sky, a long sword in hand, engaging the assassin in combat.
When Su Rong saw someone racing to her rescue, she retracted her dagger gasping for breath, losing her grip and plopping down onto the ground.
The man who came to her rescue was a stranger, but he was incredibly skilled in martial arts. Dealing with the assassin was a piece of cake for him. After a few moves, he plunged his sword into the assassin’s chest. The assassin fell to the ground, struggling till his last breath.
The rescuer wiped the blood off his sword, sheathed it, then turned back to look at Su Rong.
Su Rong calmly looked back at her savior, a young man dressed in black clothing, very handsome. As he looked at her, he appeared to twitch nervously, opening his mouth and then closing it, seemingly at a loss as to what he should do.
Every inch of Su Rong ached. She stared at the man and asked, "A year ago, beneath Phoenix Mountain, was it you who saved me then? Who are you?"
The man was shocked, "You knew it was me a year ago?"
"I knew. Though the sky was dark, and you wore a mask, I clearly remember your aura."
At this, the man immediately relaxed, his eyes instantly glowing with excitement. His entire being bubbled with joy as he quickly responded, "I am your secret bodyguard."
Su Rong raised her eyebrows. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
The man bowed immediately, in a sign of respect, "Subordinate Fen Ling, greetings, my young mistress."
"When did I get a secret bodyguard?" Su Rong had always known that someone had been covertly protecting her, but they had never met face to face. This was the first time.
Fen Ling blinked, his eyes reflecting a sense of injustice. He whispered, "I have always been your secret bodyguard, but Master Xie didn’t allow me to see you. That is why I never dared to reveal myself."
Su Rong suddenly understood, "So, if I wasn’t in mortal danger today, you wouldn’t have shown up?"
Fen Ling nodded.
Su Rong glanced at her body, smeared with blood; after experiencing life and death pursuits, she had no fewer than seven to eight wounds on her body. She remained silent for a moment.
Observing her pale face, a cautious Fen Ling started to explain, "Master Xie had given me a strict order, saying that unless necessary, you wouldn’t be able to develop your self-protection ability ..."
"I should thank him," replied Su Rong, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
All these years, she had indeed kept practicing martial arts diligently, fearing an unanticipated assassination attempt.
In a low voice, Fen Ling said, "Your wound is rather severe, allow me to take care of the bleeding and bandaging, and then I will take you to get medical help."
Su Rong glanced at the corpse lying not far away and said, "I’ll stop my own bleeding. You clean up the bodies left from the killing spree first, then take me to the Xie Residence to see the doctor."
Fen Ling nodded, "Alright, I should indeed hurry up and handle this."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
