Chapter 14

The mother and daughter continued talking for a while longer. Half an hour later, Su Jiao glanced at the time.

“It should be nearly time for His Highness to come out. I’ll go take a look out front.”

She rose and headed out, not forgetting to call back into the room as she left.

“It’s colder up here in the mountains. Even though Mother is in good health, please have the servants keep a close watch on her.”

“Don’t worry. Your brother came by just a moment ago and has already instructed the servants.”

Mother Su watched her leave with a warm smile. The maidservant behind her spoke up as well.

“Madam, both of your children are wonderfully devoted.”

“Wei’er and Jiao Jiao have both grown up to be such sensible children. I’ve watched them grow up, and once Wei’er is married and Jiao Jiao is safe and happy, I can truly rest easy… cough, cough…”

Mother Su hadn’t finished speaking before she pressed a handkerchief to her mouth and coughed twice.

“Madam, what’s wrong? You were perfectly fine on the way here.”

The maidservant cried out in alarm and grabbed the cloak nearby, draping it over her shoulders.

Mother Su waved her hand away, pressed it to her chest, and made her way to the inner room.

“I’m not sure if it’s because I tired myself out walking. I’ve been feeling a tightness in my chest. I’ll go rest for a bit.”

****

Su Jiao made her way along the courtyard toward the front of the temple. To avoid running into people and getting drawn into pleasantries, she had deliberately chosen a small side path.

It had rained at Huguo Temple just yesterday, and the narrow path was a mixture of cobblestones and mud. She took every step with great care.

She had just passed a pond when, amid the surrounding stillness, the sound of rapid footsteps came rushing toward her from afar. A bitter gust of wind carried with it the heavy, iron-tang scent of blood, and then came a sharp, high-pitched cry.

“Someone come quickly — protect His Majesty — catch the assassin!”

Before Su Jiao could react, a violent rush of wind swept past her. A figure dressed in black rounded the corner, spotted her, and closed the distance in two or three strides, pressing a sword flat against her throat.

“I—”

Before Su Jiao could get a word out, the assassin had already clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Shut up. Say another word and I’ll kill you right now.”

The Imperial Guard pursuing him from behind reached the corner and caught sight of a slender figure in pale lavender clutched against the assassin.

“Someone come — quickly, more men — the assassin has also seized a young lady!”

****

The wind howled through the temple grounds. The biting cold swept over her in waves, and Su Jiao’s head grew dizzy and muddled as the assassin carried her along, darting and pausing by turns, until at last the world went dark before her eyes and he ducked into a narrow mountain cave.

The assassin threw her down hard. Su Jiao’s back slammed against the stone wall of the cave, and the sharp pain made her gasp sharply.

“Gold, silver, jewels — what do you want?”

The assassin had not yet had a chance to speak when he heard her look up at him through the pain and open her mouth.

His hand, which had been pressing against his wound to staunch the bleeding, paused. He turned and glanced back at Su Jiao.

Those cold, indifferent eyes shifted, and a faint smile appeared in them — though to Su Jiao, it looked far more like mockery.

“Xie Yan’s princess consort. You’re far more interesting than Xie Yan.”

Xie Yan?

Su Jiao had assumed the assassin had grabbed the nearest person in his panic, but it turned out he had known her identity all along.

Her back stiffened at once. Inwardly, she was on high alert, though nothing showed on her face.

Xie Yan was out of favor at court. If the man knew who she was and had chosen to take her hostage anyway, could it really not be to use her as leverage?

If he wanted a useful hostage, shouldn’t he have grabbed Xie Yan himself rather than me, his consort?

“I am nothing but a lowly ant. Seizing me, a prince’s consort, is nowhere near as useful as seizing a prince himself. You’re still hiding inside Huguo Temple and haven’t gotten out yet, are you? With so many guards outside — you dared attempt to assassinate the Emperor, and one prince’s consort certainly can’t save your life.”

“Then what are you suggesting?”

“Why not go and seize a prince who’s actually of some use? The Fourth Prince is Noble Consort’s youngest son. The Fifth Prince is the most favored by His Majesty… and if all else fails… the imperial mausoleums of the First and Second Princes are not far from Huguo Temple…”

“Silence!”

Su Jiao hadn’t finished speaking when the man’s gaze turned suddenly ice-cold, as though he had never imagined she could say something so preposterous. His eyes turned strangely vicious.

He stepped toward her in two or three strides and seized her by the throat.

“You’ve said so much, yet you haven’t said a word about your husband, Xie Yan. What’s the matter — are you so afraid I’ll drag him here to his death?”

“Not at all.”

Su Jiao’s face had gone red. She coughed twice before she managed to speak with difficulty.

“My husband is just the same as me. Neither of us is favored at court. Taking me or taking him makes no difference. But if you truly want to take someone… his chambers are in the northeast corner of Huguo Temple. He was summoned by His Majesty an hour ago — if you really did come here to assassinate the Emperor, you must have seen him. My husband has difficulty with his legs, so no matter how serious things get outside, he stays in his courtyard. If you want to take a hostage, I can lead you there.”

The assassin: …

He looked at Su Jiao again, at something of a loss for words.

It was his first time encountering someone who, in order to save her own life, could not only sell out her husband without a second thought, but even spout such nonsense as digging open a dead man’s grave.

“It seems Xie Yan really did find himself a princess consort with no brain at all.”

A woman like this, once she left the Cold Palace, probably wouldn’t last even a single day. The assassin released her in disgust, afraid he might somehow catch her stupidity.

“Could it be that you don’t have the nerve? Not even the courage to dig up a dead man’s headstone — or to take a cripple hostage? You can only seize a helpless woman like me?”

Su Jiao’s gaze seemed thoroughly contemptuous. The assassin’s eyes flashed with anger exactly as she had anticipated. He stepped forward again and seized Su Jiao by the throat.

“Stop wasting my breath. I have no need to take a useless wretch hostage just to escape.”

The words had barely left his mouth before he realized he had been drawn into Su Jiao’s trap. He grew even more furious.

“I’ll kill you right now.”

The sword in his hand swept toward her. Before it could reach Su Jiao’s throat, she dodged with swift, sharp reflexes, raised her hand, and flung out a spray of white powder.

He caught a faint, delicate fragrance, and in the next instant his head felt as though it were splitting apart. The wound on his arm began to burn and throb. He dropped his sword and clutched his head, crying out in pain. Su Jiao seized the moment and slipped out of the cave, hunched low as she went.

The cave was indeed still within the grounds of Huguo Temple. Su Jiao hiked up her skirts, her slight frame weaving through the trees as she ran as fast as she could toward the outside.

She had deliberately provoked the assassin into a rage. In truth, she had long since prepared the medicine she always kept close at hand, hidden in her sleeve. The drug was meant to induce hallucinations and cause unconsciousness. The more furious he grew, the faster the blood rushed through him, and the quicker the drug would take effect as it seeped into his wound.

Su Jiao ran, gasping for breath, not daring to slow her steps for even a moment. She passed the cave, and the small path came into sight just ahead—

Whoosh—

An arrow came streaking toward her, filled with murderous fury, aimed straight at her back.

Su Jiao summoned what strength she had and twisted aside. The arrow grazed past her hair and buried itself in the tree ahead.

She crashed hard to the ground.

Her cheek burned with searing pain. Blood slid down the side of her face. Before she could get up, a cold sword was already pressed against her throat.

Su Jiao went rigid all over.

She turned her head. The assassin in black had closed in on her.

“You tricked me.”

He crouched down and yanked Su Jiao up by the hair, forcing her to lift her head.

Half of her face was already soaked in blood, but the daze that clouded her mind cleared the instant she met the killing intent in his eyes.

She swallowed, and her voice came out trembling.

“Don’t kill me. You took me hostage knowing who I was — your purpose is Xie Yan. He’s in his chambers at Huguo Temple. I can take you there.”

As soon as these words left her mouth, the assassin understood at once that everything she had said before had been deliberate.

He let out a cold laugh.

“Killing you first makes no difference.”

He reversed his grip and drove the sword toward Su Jiao’s heart — swift, clean, and certain. Cold light flashed. Su Jiao squeezed her eyes shut, never in her life having felt death so near.

Whoosh—

At that critical instant, an arrow came shooting through the air from out of nowhere, slamming into his sword and snapping it clean, the force carrying clean through and piercing the assassin’s palm.

The hand that gripped the sword was instantly drenched in blood. Su Jiao tried to rise and run, but her body had not a shred of strength left.

Disheveled strands of hair fell across her eyes. The blood made her vision swim darker and darker. Yet the assassin made no move to press forward and finish her.

He clutched his bloodied palm and stood there, staring at the newcomer.

Xie Yan stood with a bow in hand. Through the black gauze veil, his eyes met the assassin’s — and then—

He drew the bow again.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he loosed a second arrow.

The second arrow grazed the assassin’s cheek as it flew past — in exactly the same spot where Su Jiao’s face had been cut. The arrow tore the assassin’s veil away. The man in black reacted with startling speed, reaching up to press the veil back over his face. He held Xie Yan’s gaze for one long moment, then launched himself off in the opposite direction.

Su Jiao remained frozen where she was.

In the instant the assassin had turned his head, the veil slipped from his face. Though he pressed it back almost immediately, she had caught that one glimpse — and seen a face that by all rights should never have appeared again.

That was…

The late First Prince.

The First Prince, whose face she had only ever seen once in a portrait inside the imperial palace — who had died years before Emperor Jia and Xie Yan’s time had come. The First Prince who had been dead for years.

How could he be here?

Su Jiao’s thoughts fell into instant turmoil. The shock struck her before she could brace for it. On instinct she looked up, and when she saw the expression on Xie Yan’s face, she was struck dumb all over again.

Since her rebirth, she had never seen Xie Yan like this.

His entire bearing radiated a cold, bone-chilling ferocity. His eyes were frosty as frost, the murderous intent pouring from him unconcealed. His face was dark and grim as he stared fixedly in the direction the assassin had fled, another arrow nocked and ready in hand. He looked nothing like a prince — more like a wrathful spirit risen straight from the depths of hell.

“Ahh—!”

A scream rang out from the end of the path. Both husband and wife turned at the same time, and there stood a guard who, by the look of him, had been watching from that spot for who knew how long.

“Third Prince, you — quickly, someone come — the assassin has seized the Third Prince’s consort and fled—!”

Su Jiao’s heart sank at once.

She was, after all, a royal consort. It would be no small matter if word got out that she had been taken hostage.

Xie Yan turned at the same moment. A flash of fierce ruthlessness passed through his eyes. Without a moment’s hesitation, he drew the bow, shifted his aim, and before the guard could shout another word, an arrow had passed clean through his heart.

The tainted blood spilled onto the ground. Su Jiao startled, and watched as Xie Yan, carrying the bow, walked toward her with an uneven, limping gait.

Su Jiao felt a rush of relief and was just about to speak, when she remembered what she had said earlier.

He couldn’t have… heard any of that, could he?

Xie Yan walked forward step by step. The bow dragged behind him along the ground, leaving a winding trail of blood. The darkness had not left his face. His gaze was fixed entirely on her.

All her honeyed words every day, and the moment her life was on the line, she had learned to sell him out first — even said she would personally lead someone to his chambers to seize him.

How very charming.

The bow in his hand was drawn taut. From three steps away, Xie Yan raised the arrow, his face expressionless—

“Husband!”

A pair of hands wrapped around his leg. Xie Yan looked down, and a face of stunning beauty — streaked with blood yet undiminished — came into view.

Perhaps it was the relief of having survived, for tears spilled from her eyes. She clutched his robe and held fast, refusing to let go, her soft voice edged with the catch of weeping.

“It hurts so much. Thank goodness you came in time.”

Xie Yan: …

The tears fell entirely on his clothing. Su Jiao gripped his robe and tried to pull herself up, but after two attempts, she sank back down where she sat.

He looked down at her. From that angle, her already slender frame looked even more delicate.

Meeting her eyes, brimming with tears, Xie Yan was silent for a moment, then finally put away the bow and bent down to pick her up.

Fine. She was little more than a girl of sixteen or so. It was only natural to fear death.

****

That arrow had grazed her cheek, breaking the skin and leaving a bloody mark. It took two or three handkerchiefs before all the blood was cleaned away. There was no bronze mirror in the courtyard, and Su Jiao could not apply the medicine herself, so the task fell to Xie Yan.

The moment the handkerchief touched the wound, Su Jiao couldn’t help but wince and cry out.

“Hiss… that hurts.”

Xie Yan gave her a cool sidelong glance, said nothing, and pressed down harder.

“It really hurts!”

Su Jiao couldn’t help but cry out again.

The wound was on her cheek, and after the ordeal she had been through, she was already frightened and thoroughly exhausted. Xie Yan showed no gentleness at all — the handkerchief dragged across the wound with firm, blunt strokes, sending a sharp sting through her with every pass.

“I said it hurts. Why won’t you listen?”

Su Jiao sniffled, unable to stop herself from grumbling. Those clear, dark eyes seemed to fill with tears once more, threatening to spill over.

Xie Yan: …

He forced himself to be patient and lightened his touch. After a few more careful wipes, the original delicate loveliness of her face came through again.

Only now there was a bloody mark marring it. Xie Yan looked at it for a moment, then frowned.

“It won’t look too ugly, will it?”

Having just survived, Su Jiao had caught her breath and was mentally cursing the assassin — and Xie Yan, for being involved — up and down.

Xie Yan said nothing.

“Will it really look that ugly?”

She pressed him again.

Worried it’ll scar?

It was the first time Xie Yan had ever seen her pursue a question so insistently.

“Does it matter so much whether you’re beautiful or not?”

“It does.”

Su Jiao nodded.

A pretty face brings joy to yourself, and when others look at you, they feel pleased too.

Xie Yan was quiet for a moment.

“It won’t scar.”

The arrow had only grazed the surface — it looked like a great deal of blood, but with medicine and a few days’ rest, it would heal.

Hearing that, Su Jiao visibly let out a breath of relief. But when she thought back on how close a call the day had been, a chill still crept up her spine.

“How did you get there so quickly?”

“Father Emperor ordered all the princes to pursue the assassin. I happened to spot him.”

“What a coincidence, then. It was fortunate you arrived in time…”

“Otherwise, how would I have had the chance to hear my princess consort speak from the bottom of her heart?”

Xie Yan cut her off. Su Jiao’s expression stiffened. She knew then that he had heard.

At the time, she had only said those things as a means to an end. The courtyard right next to where the assassin had taken her was where the senior officials were lodged — any assassin who went there would have walked straight to his death.

And at a moment of life and death, whose life mattered more than her own?

But she didn’t dare say that aloud. She quickly stepped forward with a fawning smile.

“Husband is magnanimous and does not hold petty grievances. What I said then was nonsense, nothing more.”

“Nonsense? Then what is the truth?”

Su Jiao blinked.

“Husband arrived in time and saved me from danger. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart. That is of course the truth.”

She thought for a moment, then reached out and pinched the sleeve of his robe.

“That shot you made, piercing his palm clean through with one arrow — I’ve never seen anyone with such precision. That was truly impressive!”

Meeting her bright, shining eyes, Xie Yan turned his head away with slight awkwardness.

“Merely adequate.”

As the two of them talked, and Su Jiao saw that Xie Yan was no longer dwelling on the matter, her mind turned again to what she had witnessed.

It had been only a glimpse, yet she was almost certain it had been the First Prince’s face.

Could there truly be two people in the world who looked so alike?

Or could it be that years ago… the First Prince had never actually died?

She was still hesitating over whether to bring it up, when Chang Lin came rushing in from outside.

“My Lady the Prince’s Consort, Her Majesty the Empress has requested all the princes’ consorts and the ladies of the inner court to come to the courtyard at once.”

The summons came without warning. The blood on her face had only just been stopped, and with no medicine yet applied, Su Jiao quickly covered it with a veil and hurried over.

She stepped across the threshold, and every gaze in the room fell on her at once.

From the dais, the Empress’s voice rang out in its usual falsely sympathetic tone.

“This palace has heard that the prince’s consort was taken by the assassin. Were you injured?”

In an instant, Su Jiao’s bow came to a halt.

Aware of the eyes fixed on her — some watching for entertainment, some offering pity — Su Jiao quickly ran through her memory and could not recall the assassin’s abduction of her being witnessed by anyone who had seen her face.

When a royal consort or a young lady was seized by a criminal, rumors were almost certain to follow. And as a member of the imperial family, any stain on her name would fall directly on her brother and her mother as well.

“Nothing of the sort occurred. Has Your Majesty perhaps mistaken me for someone else?”

Su Jiao steadied herself and kept her composure.

“How could I be mistaken? A guard said the young lady was wearing pale lavender, and besides, just now someone saw you being helped back by Yan’er… What happened to your face? Surely it wasn’t the assassin who did that as well?”

The Empress’s exclamation drew every gaze back to Su Jiao once more.

Su Jiao’s hair, though tidied, was nowhere near as neat as it had been when she arrived at the mountain. The ladies of the inner court instantly shifted to expressions of undisguised amusement.

Well, this was something. If it really was the prince’s consort the criminal had seized, then in this state — wounded or not — her reputation alone would be enough to bar her from ever holding that title properly. And at the worst of it, the entire Su family would become a laughingstock.

Anger flickered in Su Jiao’s eyes.

“Your Majesty should choose your words with care. The wound on this consort’s face was inflicted by a stray wildcat just now, and I had not yet had time to treat it before being summoned here. The one seized by the assassin was absolutely not this consort.”

The Empress remained unmoved.

“Is that so? What kind of wound? Remove the veil, and we’ll have the imperial physician examine it and we’ll know at once.”

“It’s only a small wound. There is no need for Your Majesty to summon an imperial physician.”

“Of course there is. If it truly is a cat scratch, you should have it cleaned and treated as soon as possible — we wouldn’t want it to scar your face. And if it is not a cat scratch…”

The Empress gave a cold smile.

“Then you had better think carefully about the consequences of deceiving this Empress.”

With that, she waved her hand, and a palace maid immediately led the imperial physician forward.

Su Jiao had not expected the Empress to come so thoroughly prepared. Alarmed by how well-informed she was, Su Jiao’s heart also sank at the sight of the imperial physician.

“Your Majesty, there is truly no need…”

Su Jiao tried to deflect once more.

“Imperial Physician.”

The Empress cut her off. The imperial physician stepped briskly forward.

“My Lady the Prince’s Consort, please allow this subject to examine the wound.”

The crowd pressed in around her. There was no one at Su Jiao’s back. She stepped back twice, knowing there was no way to escape this—

Seeing that she had not moved, the imperial physician, acting on the Empress’s orders, reached toward her veil to lift it.

Before his hand had gone halfway, a tall figure entered from outside and stepped in front of Su Jiao.

Her wrist tightened, and the moment Su Jiao recognized who it was, the tension in her chest released.

Xie Yan stood before her, took hold of her wrist, and drew her behind him, away from the imperial physician’s reach.

“This son and the princess consort have been together in the courtyard all day. This son can vouch for the princess consort — her injury was indeed not caused by the assassin. Nor was she the young lady who was taken.”