After hearing Mo Xiuyao’s words, Ye Li remained silent for a while before saying languidly, “Isn’t marrying into the Ding Guo Wang Fu enough proof of this Wang Fei’s courage?” Any other young lady, after being rejected by Li Wang and then assigned to the Ding Wang, would have hanged herself with a white silk rope. The fact that she was still here should be sufficient proof of her courage, shouldn’t it?
“Ah—” A child’s cry came from not far away. Princess Changle froze, then suddenly called out, “It’s Zhenning! Ding Wang Fei…” Sitting to the side, Mo Xiuyao waved his hand, and two shadow guards seamlessly withdrew from the battle, swiftly flying toward the source of the cry. Ye Li frowned as she watched Liu Guifei sitting beside the Emperor – if they could hear Princess Zhenning’s cry, she didn’t believe Liu Guifei hadn’t heard it. But Liu Guifei’s expression remained as cold and composed as ever. Even the Empress had frowned and glanced that way several times, yet Liu Guifei, as the birth mother, acted as if she hadn’t heard anything. Previously, Ye Li had only thought Liu Guifei had a cold temperament that looked down on worldly matters, but now looking at her, she couldn’t help but feel chilled. What could be going through the mind of a woman who showed no concern for her own daughter’s safety?
Surrounded by layers of guards, the Empress spoke to Mo Jingqi with a dark expression. Mo Jingqi raised his head to look in their direction. Seeing Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li sitting calmly to the side, his gaze darkened slightly as he called out, “Ding Wang, please bring back my second princess.” Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly, rose to his feet, smiled at Ye Li, and flew toward the outside of the tower. Given Mo Xiuyao’s status, it wasn’t inappropriate for him to sit without taking action, but if the Emperor personally made a request, refusing to act would be unacceptable. The Empress hadn’t expected Mo Jingqi to ask Mo Xiuyao to rescue the princess – she first froze, then looked toward Ye Li’s direction with worried furrowed brows. Never mind the Ding Wang Fei – her daughter was still young, and without the Ding Wang there to protect her, how could she be at ease? Glancing at Liu Guifei sitting calmly to the side, the Empress darkened her expression toward Liu Guifei for the first time, “Zhenning has been taken by assassins, doesn’t Liu Guifei care at all?”
Liu Guifei faintly withdrew her gaze from the tower exterior and replied calmly, “With so many palace guards, they will naturally rescue Zhenning safely. Thank you for your concern, Empress.”
The Empress felt her chest tighten with anger. She gave a cold snort and stopped speaking, only constantly watching Ye Li and Changle on the other side. Given the Emperor’s temperament, he would not agree to let her send someone to bring Changle over, even though his daughter was in chaos.
As soon as Mo Xiuyao left, the assassins’ attacks toward their direction became even more fierce. These assassins had been holding back earlier out of consideration for Mo Xiuyao’s presence. Now that he was gone, they naturally wanted to deal with their enemies before he returned. A black-clad assassin was thrown to Ye Li’s feet, and Princess Changle couldn’t help but scream at his fierce countenance. Ye Li frowned and stood up, saying, “Dark Two, Qingluan, take two people to protect Princess Changle.” Dark Two looked at Ye Li disapprovingly, while Princess Changle tightly gripped Ye Li’s clothes, refusing to let go. Though young, growing up in the palace had given her intuition superior to most – she felt very safe beside Ding Wang Fei. Ye Li pulled away her hand and said softly, “Be good, it’s dangerous to stay by my side. Go to a safe place with these two.”
Princess Changle blinked at her, “Ding Wang Fei, come with me…”
Ye Li smiled faintly and shook her head, sweeping a glance at Yelü Ye fighting skillfully to the side. She knew as soon as she moved, Yelü Ye would draw more assassins toward her. Since that was the case, better to stand here and respond to changes with constancy. “Princess must be obedient, don’t make your mother worry, alright?” Princess Changle hesitantly looked at the Empress anxiously watching her from not far away, and finally nodded obediently.
During the fighting, Yelü Ye looked back at Ye Li still standing not far away, raised his sword eyebrows, and smiled, “The Wang Fei truly has extraordinary courage.”
Ye Li leaned against a pillar and said flatly, “I would be happier if Prince Yelü wasn’t drawing people this way. I’m so scared my legs are weak and I can’t move.”
Having his intentions exposed directly, Yelü Ye showed no embarrassment and smiled, “Ah, Wang Fei has discovered it. I just wanted a chance to play the hero saving the beauty. Surely Wang Fei won’t blame me, right?” Hearing this, Dark Three at the side raised an eyebrow and grabbed a knife-wielding assassin with one hand, throwing him forward. The bright blade light thrust straight toward Yelü Ye, who heard the wind and nimbly turned back, kicking away the out-of-control assassin. “This one… be more careful.”
Dark Three raised his hand expressionlessly, apologizing without sincerity, “Lost control for a moment, please excuse me, Prince.”
Yelü Ye raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Wang Fei truly has talented people around her. This prince naturally won’t take offense.”
“Yelü Ye! Die!” It seemed such casual fighting had finally wounded the assassins’ pride. With a fierce roar, several black-clad men simultaneously threw themselves at Yelü Ye without regard for anything else, their attacks so fierce it made one’s heart tremble. Yelü Ye finally began to fight seriously. Ye Li leaned against the pillar watching the chaos around her, giving high contempt to Mo Jingqi surrounded by layers of guards. While his officials were being slaughtered by assassins, as ruler he kept half the guards around himself, unwilling to let them leave his side to deal with the assassins. They say Mo Jingqi was skilled at controlling people’s hearts, but now it seemed when facing life-and-death situations he forgot everything – even though this wasn’t a life-and-death situation yet.
With several whooshing sounds, more black-clad men rushed into the tower from outside. Ye Li couldn’t help but frown – with the palace’s strict security, how skilled must these assassins be to infiltrate the palace on such a large scale? And the palace guards – it had been nearly a quarter hour, yet not a single guard had arrived! Vaguely sensing something was wrong, Ye Li began to move inconspicuously toward the tower exterior. A strange smell wafted faintly through the air. Ye Li narrowed her eyes and called out sharply, “Quick, run! They’re going to burn down the tower!” As soon as she finished speaking, Dark Two in the corner had already grabbed Princess Changle and flown out. Behind her, Qingluan nodded to Ye Li and followed. Dark Three beside Ye Li struck back an assassin with his palm, grabbed Ye Li, and also leaped out of the Star-Plucking Tower.
Amid a rain of arrows, they had just landed and found cover when looking back, the first and second floors of the Star-Plucking Tower were already ablaze. Some fire arrows had been mixed in with the earlier arrows, and what Ye Li had smelled in the tower were accelerants. Moreover, it was early June – the tower’s all-wooden construction plus paint meant it would catch fire instantly. With everyone on the third floor, when the fire started the already chaotic Star-Plucking Tower filled with endless screams and cries for help. “Dark Three, save them!”
“Wang Fei, we didn’t bring many people into the palace,” Dark Three frowned.
Ye Li said in a deep voice, “Don’t worry about me, save people first.” Those qualified to ascend the Star-Plucking Tower today were all important court officials – never mind if half were killed or injured, even if just a few were hurt it would be trouble.
Dark Three had no choice but to wave the few shadow guards who had followed them out to go up and save people. Soon Mo Jingqi and the imperial consorts were rescued one by one by the guards. The guards who had been uselessly surrounding Mo Jingqi immediately engaged the assassins outside. In the darkness, no one knew how many assassins there were. The high-ranking consorts, princes, and princesses were fine with people protecting them, but as for those consorts without rank, probably no one would care even if they died. As soon as the Empress landed, she looked around anxiously. Finally seeing Ye Li, she didn’t care about anything else and hurried over, “Wang Fei… Changle…” Ye Li said, “Your Majesty need not worry, Princess Changle has been sent to a safe place.” The Empress let out a relieved breath and smiled gently, “Thank you…”
“Look out!” Ye Li pulled the Empress away and pushed her toward the approaching guards, tilting her head to avoid the blade light sweeping toward her, skillfully sliding past the assassin’s body. The originally confident assassin only felt a chill in his chest, staring down dumbly to see blood spurting from his chest. Ye Li turned back to tell the guards, “Take the Empress to a safe place.” The golden phoenixes embroidered on the Empress’s clothes were too eye-catching – as soon as they landed two arrows had come their way. After instructing the guards, Ye Li flashed away and melted into the night again, her clear eyes coldly and calmly watching everything before her.
“The Ding Wang Fei truly has nimble skills, this prince admires you.” A voice sounded beside her with a hint of teasing.
Ye Li narrowed her eyes and threw an elbow strike at the person who suddenly appeared beside her. The newcomer was no simple character, raising his hand to try to grab her arm. Ye Li’s lips curved in a cold smile as she quickly tilted her head, a dagger flashing from her sleeve toward the person. The man gave a heh sound and dodged sideways, but in an instant Ye Li had already kicked out, clearly seeing that the person opposite her was Yelü Ye, who had disappeared somewhere in the chaos. Yelü Ye raised his hand to block but had to let go because Ye Li’s dagger was already thrusting forward. Yelü Ye spun to avoid it and smiled helplessly, “Ding Wang Fei, with enemies before us, must we fight among ourselves?” He had seen many women skilled in martial arts – which Northern Rong woman, young or old, couldn’t handle herself? But he had truly never seen a woman with such fierce moves. She was no less skilled than specially trained assassins. Yelü Ye finally confirmed now was not a good time to provoke her. If they fought and others took advantage of the situation, they would truly be losing more than they gained.
Ye Li flew back and looked at him coldly, “Internal strife? Prince Yelü’s choice of words is wrong, probably due to unfamiliarity with Great Chu’s language.”
Yelü Ye rubbed his nose and smiled, “At least we’re on the same side now, aren’t we? I just wanted to protect the Wang Fei, but now I see that’s unnecessary.” Ye Li gave him an insincere smile and said, “Protection isn’t needed, Prince Yelü should stay far from me, be careful of friendly fire.” Yelü Ye watched Ye Li accurately cut a would-be ambusher’s neck veins with her dagger, and couldn’t help feeling a chill in his neck. So this was Great Chu’s Ding Guo Wang Fei – truly as ruthless as the legendary Ding Wang. However… such a woman was interesting…
“Protect His Majesty!” The palace’s imperial guards finally arrived fashionably late. The flood of imperial guards instantly put the assassins who had been relying on darkness at a disadvantage. Ye Li looked back at the now one-sided situation, then unhesitatingly turned and headed deeper into the palace. Yelü Ye, who had been watching her intently, rubbed his chin and followed with great interest.