Chapter 18: Touching The Bones

Zhao Yan realized she had made a fatal mistake. She shouldn’t have placed all her hopes of survival on a capricious and dangerous power figure.

Forced forward by the blade at her back, Zhao Yan’s mind raced rapidly.

In a hurried glance moments ago, she had noticed that there were two assassins pursuing her: one holding her at knifepoint and another archer hidden behind the roof of a nearby building. Even if she could deal with the thug holding her, she feared that she would be shot through by the archer hidden behind the roof before she could take two steps.

Gritting her teeth, Zhao Yan raised her arm to grab hold of the hand of the thug holding the knife and cast her gaze upon Wen Renlin, who was watching coldly from the sidelines.

The curve of Wen Renlin’s lips faded away, and before she could even ponder the change in the Crown Prince’s expression, she saw her adjust the angle of her wrist, then suddenly jerk backwards in the opposite direction of the blade.

Almost simultaneously, a sleeve arrow shot out from under her wrist, piercing through the throat of the thug behind her from bottom to top.

He didn’t even have a chance to utter the expected plea. Using the sleeve arrow Wen Renlin had casually given her to test earlier, the Crown Prince efficiently dealt with the assailant holding her—

He had thought that such a deadly weapon would scare the Crown Prince into discarding it immediately, but who would have expected her to keep it on her person.

Time seemed to freeze as the towering figure of the thug fell stiffly like a mountain. Zhao Yan quickly shot out a second sleeve arrow, but it missed the assassin hidden behind the eaves due to the distance.

Left with only one sleeve arrow, Zhao Yan stumbled, intentionally falling towards Wen Renlin.

Everything happened in an instant. Cai Tian and Zhang Cang barely had time to react before they saw the assassin’s arrow flying towards the Prince!

Startled, Wu Yun treads his horse to raise its hooves high, while Wen Renlin’s eyes grew cold. He reached out and caught the arrow flying towards her, then swiftly dismounted, pulling Zhao Yan away from the hooves.

The sky was dim, the snow was chilling, and his jet-black eyes were especially cold.

The struggle just now drained all of Zhao Yan’s strength. She breathed heavily, unable to even peek at the faint anger in Wen Renlin’s eyes.

Wen Renlin held her in her arms, half embracing her from behind, grabbing her trembling right arm and guiding her to aim the sleeve arrow at the assassin who was drawing a bow behind the roof.

A low, mellow voice sounded by her ear, and Zhao Yan instinctively pulled the trigger.

The last sleeve arrow flew out, and before the assassin could release the string in his hand, a point of crimson appeared between his eyebrows. He stiffened and then fell straight down from behind the roof.

The dull thud as he hit the ground made Zhao Yan’s pupils tremble, and she weakly let her hand fall. She opened her mouth slightly, panting urgently, her vision blurred, only hearing the moist breath Wen Renlin sprayed behind her ear.

When the blood flowed back, her chaotic senses gradually became clear, and she felt a tingling sensation on her cheeks.

Zhao Yan turned her gaze blankly and saw Wen Renlin squatting beside her, using a clean cloth to wipe away the blood splattered on her cheek—

It was from the first sleeve arrow that pierced the thug’s neck, accidentally staining her.

Realizing how dangerous their current proximity and posture were, Zhao Yan instinctively tried to move away, but Wen Renlin used her other hand to clamp down on her chin.

Even though Wen Renlin didn’t exert much force, Zhao Yan felt as if she were immobilized, unable to move, only able to stiffly tilt her head back, watching Wen Renlin patiently wipe her pale cheeks clean as if she were targeting pressure points.

With half-lidded eyes, Wen Renlin’s excessively long eyelashes veiled those captivating beautiful eyes, giving him a serene and harmless appearance. He deliberately slowed down his movements, wiping with extreme care, yet also incredibly tantalizing.

His gaze lowered, landing on the fox fur collar stained with blood on Zhao Yan’s neck, the soft white now tinged with wet red, like the delicate plum blossoms in the snow.

It wasn’t the blood of the assassin, but the blood seeping from Zhao Yan’s neck.

Wen Renlin’s hand holding the cloth moved downward, pushing aside the collar to take a look. Sure enough, there was a tiny scar about an inch long, presumably caused by the thug’s blade.

He made a faint “hiss” sound, furrowing his brow, “The Crown Prince is truly willing to risk his life just to implicate me.”

If it weren’t for this person’s attitude of sitting back and reaping the benefits, she wouldn’t have needed to take such risks!

“I was truly terrified and acted impulsively…” Her voice trembled slightly, pitifully saying, “Fortunately, I didn’t cause any harm to the Prince, otherwise, I would find it hard to forgive myself.”

Wen Renlin raised his lips slightly, his thumb lightly brushing over the slender white neck hidden in the fur collar, wiping away the bead of blood that had seeped out, not exposing her poorly crafted attempt at flattery.

Since these people had run into him today, there was no reason not to clean them up, or else it could easily lead to gossip.

He just wanted to see the Crown Prince beg for mercy.

Wen Renlin’s slightly chilly gaze fell on the Prince’s smooth and flawless neck, devoid of any roughness or bumps. After a moment, he calmly instructed his attendants, “Fetch the golden wound medicine.”

Zhao Yan tightened her fox fur, propping herself up with difficulty on the tiles, saying, “There’s medicine in my carriage…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Gu Xing, whose armor was splattered with blood, led a team of guards and hurriedly approached, saying anxiously, “Your Highness!”

Before the horse even stopped, he hastily dismounted, kneeling forward quickly, “This subordinate arrived late to the rescue, please forgive Your Highness!”

It couldn’t have been more timely!

Zhao Yan finally had a reason to escape Wen Renlin’s scrutiny and quickly helped Gu Xing up, saying, “You distracted the main force of the assassins, allowing me to break through the encirclement. What fault is there in that?”

After saying this, she turned back to Wen Renlin and sincerely said, “Many thanks to the Prince for arriving in time to assist, rescuing me from the clutches of the knife-wielding assassin.”

As she straightened up, she avoided Wen Renlin’s gaze and, escorted by Gu Xing, got into the carriage.

Liu Ying was unconscious for a moment but soon woke up, with a cut on her forehead and a scratch from an arrow on her forearm, luckily both minor injuries. The fact that the Eastern Palace Prince was attacked on his way back was no small matter. The Imperial Guards quickly arrived and were negotiating with Wen Renlin and the others.

Zhao Yan glanced at a corner of the curtain pulled back, where Wen Renlin stood with his hands behind his back, still holding the cloth he used to wipe away her blood stains in his palm.

The striking crimson stains on the cloth contrasted with his knuckles, making them appear ivory-white.

Without warning, Wen Renlin turned his face slightly.

Zhao Yan immediately let down the curtain, hiding herself in the cramped shadow.

The Imperial Guards quickly cleared the road, and Gu Xing led a new horse to be harnessed. Before setting off again, there came a very light tapping sound from outside the carriage.

Outside, Wen Renlin’s calm voice came, “I, together with the Imperial Guards, will escort His Highness the Crown Prince back to the palace.”

The place where he had touched her neck began to tingle. Zhao Yan straightened up and, through the curtain, softly replied, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Outside the Chongwen Hall, she rarely addressed him as “Grand Tutor”, as if guarding an invisible boundary, always reminding herself not to let her guard down.

Wen Renlin didn’t say much, just loosened his grip on the cloth in his hand.

The Imperial Guards escorted her all the way to the gate of the Eastern Palace.

Under Wen Renlin’s gaze, Zhao Yan got off the carriage, stiff-backed, and entered the Eastern Palace. She turned around the corridor and went straight to the Cheng’en Hall in the inner courtyard.

It wasn’t until she closed the door behind her that she collapsed as if unable to hold herself up, slowly sinking into a chair.

Liu Ji suddenly got up from the window and, seeing the sorry state of Zhao Yan and Liu Ying, instantly realized, “Something happened on the way to the suburban sacrifice?”

“Your Highness.” Liu Ying, ignoring her own wounds, endured the pain and brewed a cup of hot tea, offering it, “Have some tea to calm your nerves.”

Zhao Yan raised her cold fingertips and realized that her hand was already shaking too much to hold the teacup steady.

“Now, do you still dare to say that the Crown Prince died from a recurrence of his old illness?” she asked hoarsely, looking at Liu Ying.

Liu Ying lowered her head, trembling, unable to speak.

Liu Ji’s expression became grave, and she asked with suppressed anger, “Who dared to attack you?”

Zhao Yan shook her head. Gu Xing said those were all death warriors, and when the assassination failed, they poisoned themselves.

But the current crisis wasn’t caused by this group of unidentified assassins, it was…

She lowered her gaze, looked at the empty iris flower in her sleeve on her wrist, and pressed her lips into a thin line. When Wen Renlin shielded her in his arms and held her wrist to aim at the assassin behind the eaves, she distinctly and unmistakably felt the warmth of Wen Renlin’s knuckles.

In that critical moment of life and death, she was powerless to stop Wen Renlin’s touch.

Did he find anything?

Perhaps not. The fabric was thick, and besides, his expression at the time was too calm, without any hint of surprise or anomaly. Zhao Yan propped her forehead, closing her eyes as if exhausted, trying to calm her tumultuous thoughts.

She dared not think further, dared not speculate on what tomorrow might hold for her.

Outside the palace gate, Wen Renlin sat on horseback, his gaze fixed on a spot of blood on his fingertip. It was what he had touched when wiping away the wound on the young prince’s neck, along with that warm and smooth sensation.

The cold clouds hung low, the horse restless, snorting, while Zhang Cang and Cai Tian stood guard on either side of the solemn prince. They exchanged glances, none daring to urge forward.

Wen Renlin flicked the faint red stain, then reluctantly pulled out a wrinkled handkerchief to carefully wipe away the traces.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if he had found some new amusement.

“I have urgent matters to attend to, so send someone on a journey,” he said.

With that, in a cheerful mood, he spurred his horse and galloped away.

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