Bright red unfurled in the mottled light and shadow. That person’s hair tips flew up, her eyes filled with bloodthirsty pleasure. Withered leaves whirled around her, and where her blade pointed, no one remained standing.

The assassins looked at her in shock, as if seeing a monster.

Sensing the gaze from nearby, the red in Ruyi’s eyes instantly faded.

She pulled out the half-embedded blade, bound the people with tree vines to the side, and said reproachfully: “I clearly said to count to twenty – why didn’t little Princess keep her word?”

Li Zhaoying followed the assassin’s gaze and gasped.

Seven or eight death warriors had all been seriously injured in just these few moments, tied up like sheep to the tree trunks beside them.

She even dared to turn her back on them, walking gracefully toward her with a smile: “They’re just small fry, not as scary as you thought.”

Several of the death warriors could still move their hands. At such close distance, they didn’t dare stab Ruyi in the back, not even daring to lift their heads to look at her.

Li Zhaoying couldn’t quite understand. The buzzing sound of surviving a disaster made her sit down dazedly.

“Princess!” Zhou Tingchuan shouted anxiously.

She turned around, stupidly, to see Shen Qiyuan arriving with a team of guards. His expression was grave as he looked this way. He dismounted and had people arrest the assassins first, then strode toward Liu Ruyi.

In this moment, Li Zhaoying wasn’t even angry that he ignored her. She even felt she had misjudged him – Brother Qiyuan’s discernment was indeed extraordinary. The girl he fancied was no ordinary person.

She looked at Ruyi in shock again—

“Wuu wuu wuu, so scary! Fortunately, the Princess has extraordinary skills, otherwise, we would have died here today.” She trembled and wiped her tears.

Li Zhaoying:?

Li Zhaoying: ???

Wait, that’s not how the scene just played out!

Shen Qiyuan glanced at the assassins who were all still alive, his expression softening.

Didn’t she say she’d do it again next time?

The demon who had committed countless evils had a soft heart.

His fingers twitched – he wanted to touch the top of her head, but with others present, his hand ultimately didn’t rise.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Qiyuan looked at Li Zhaoying: “Thank you, Princess. I will naturally report to His Majesty later and commend the Princess’s bravery.”

“No, it wasn’t me.” Li Zhaoying stood up. She was not someone who would steal others’ credit!

Ruyi weakly turned around, blinking as she bowed to her: “Thank you, Princess.”

“It was you just now.” She became anxious. “You protected me.”

“The Princess remembers incorrectly.” Shen Qiyuan said seriously. “Miss Liu doesn’t know martial arts.”

“That’s right.” Zhou Tingchuan also said against his conscience. “Our Miss Liu is weak and sickly, afraid of even killing chickens. How could she injure so many assassins?”

All three spoke in unison, looking at her with innocent and pure expressions, making Li Zhaoying doubt her mind.

Had she remembered wrong? Had she displayed divine powers just now and injured all these assassins herself?

Haha, her limitless divine skill had already been mastered.

—She couldn’t laugh.

Li Zhaoying put on a long face and took Ruyi’s arm, saying sullenly: “If you don’t want to take credit, I’ll take this achievement for you, but if there are rewards, I’ll give them all to you.”

Ruyi modestly waved her hand: “How embarrassing – I live at Moon Gazing Pavilion, the one on Spirit Street. Don’t go to the wrong place when you deliver them, Princess.”

Li Zhaoying finally burst out laughing.

She held her more intimately, walking and saying: “I’ll keep sister’s secret. Can sister teach me a move or two?”

“No problem, but I’m a commoner and you’re a princess – we don’t usually get to meet.”

“Ah, this princess just eats idle meals. No one cares where I go. Sister can rest assured – I’ll come find you when I return to the city.”

They had been shouting and fighting just moments ago, yet now they were suddenly getting along?

Zhou Tingchuan found it amusing and sidled up to Shen Qiyuan: “My lord, our Miss Liu seems particularly good at winning people’s affection.”

“Hmm?” Shen Qiyuan turned his head and looked at him kindly.

Zhou Tingchuan wiped his face and immediately corrected himself: “I mean, this Miss Liu you invited.”

“All things turn toward the sun – it’s natural law.” He nodded, looking at Ruyi’s back ahead. “Moreover, there’s the grace of saving a life.”

Li Zhaoying revered the martially powerful, so Ruyi would naturally suit her taste.

However, as soon as the two got back on horseback, Li Zhaoying spoke again: “Sisters are sisters, but the agreed competition still needs to be completed, right?”

Ruyi again made an “aiya” sound and leaned against her horse’s neck, whimpering: “The bow is too heavy, I can’t lift it.”

Shen Qiyuan’s expression immediately turned cold upon hearing this.

He glanced at her and asked coolly, “If the prize were changed to Qingyi or Zhou Tingchuan, could you lift it then?”

Zhou Tingchuan’s back went cold upon hearing this, and he immediately shouted to the guards: “Let’s go first, wait ahead! Princess, please go forward two steps too – this humble one has something to say to the Princess.”

In the blink of an eye, they ran away quickly.

Li Zhaoying looked back in puzzlement, wanting to hear what they were going to say, but her reins were pulled by Zhou Tingchuan, dragging her far ahead.

“Little lord’s strength has grown considerably,” she said irritably.

Zhou Tingchuan sighed: “Two hundred corpses – whoever moves them grows stronger. Please don’t look back – this is advice I’m trading my life for.”

…

Only after everyone had gone far away did Ruyi turn her face toward his direction, her lazy eyes languid: “I couldn’t lift it no matter who it was for.”

Shen Qiyuan’s expression improved somewhat, but not completely.

He lowered his eyes and asked: “As the Princess said, am I not worth your desperate fight?”

Smiling faintly as she looked at him sideways, Ruyi only rubbed her waist and complained: “Very tired, can barely stay on the horse.”

“Answer me.” He tensed his jaw, and even his tear mole trembled slightly.

“I’m about to fall.” She sighed.

Such a person, such a heartless and faithless person – so what if she fell and died!

He was so angry his hands shook: “If I care about you, then I am—”

Before he finished speaking, the person in front of him fell from her horse.

The ground below was thin with soil and jagged stones protruding. His pupils contracted, and his body reacted even faster than his mind. He stepped forward two paces and caught her firmly in his arms.

Ruyi looked up, her face showing no fear at all, but rather some successful cunning. She hooked her hands around his neck, her long eyes smiling: “Then you are what?”

He closed his eyes in frustration.

Why couldn’t he show some backbone? She wouldn’t die from the fall anyway. Always worrying about her would only let her manipulate him.

Look, in such a situation, she confidently spoke: “Since my lord has me in his heart, why care what I think? Even little Princess understands – liking someone is your own business, nothing to do with others. As long as you can convince yourself, that’s enough.”

He set her down and said coldly, “With such behavior from you, if I still have you in my heart, then I truly know no shame.”

Ruyi raised an eyebrow, mounted her horse again, and pulled the reins as if nothing had happened: “How is liking someone shameless? It’s just a matter of whether the other person accepts it. My lord, if you want me to fight desperately, you need to give me a reason worth fighting for.”