MTLNOVEL Chapter 163: The Assassination Attempt
We were halfway through the morning when the screaming started. Well, that wasn't strictly accurate. There had been screaming going on all morning, but this one was different.
I turned my head slowly, not out of alarm, but out of habit.
I hadn't even put a trap in that direction, so I really wanted to know what was going on. But that scream was the kind of sound that echoed off polished trees and silk-covered tents. It wasn't the sound of pain or terror. Not to mention, it was just loud enough to demand witnesses.
Ugh. The drama that was about to come.
The girl's scream was quickly followed by the thunder of footsteps and a trio of guards pushing their way through the hunting paths, carrying someone in pale lavender robes like she'd been plucked from a theater stage and not the forest floor.
Crown Princess Yuyan of Baiguang.
Of course.
There was a slash along her sleeve—more fabric than flesh—and a smudge of dirt on her cheek that hadn't been there an hour ago. Her eyes were wide and wet, her lips trembling as she clung to the guard like a drowned bird pulled from a river.
Convenient.
Zhu Mingyu appeared a moment later, arriving from the other side of the ridge. His robes were untouched. No blood. No rush in his step. Just calm precision as he crossed the field and came to a stop just behind her.
"Someone tried to kill me," she gasped, loud enough for everyone to hear. Her eyes scanned the gathered crowd, landing right on me. "She did this!"
There it was.
The silence after was nearly perfect.
Every pair of eyes turned my way. Some went wide with disbelief, while others already narrowed in suspicion. The people around me might have been the most noble in the country, but the truth was that they were no better than high school kids when it came to sniffing out the drama. Seriously, I didn't think that it was a court trained for running a country so much as a court trained for scandal and primed for chaos.
The Emperor stood just off to the side, watching the scene unfold like a spectator at a festival. He didn't move. Didn't blink. Just sipped his tea and waited.
I tilted my head. "Did I?" I asked, voice light. "Why don't I remember that?"
Princess Yuyan's hand pointed, trembling and accusing like a heroine in a badly written play. "You're jealous! You saw me speaking with the Crown Prince—you think I'm a threat to you!"
I let out a slow exhale. A faint hum passed my lips. Not annoyance. Not anger. Just pure, unfiltered boredom.
"If I wanted you dead," I said coolly, "you'd already be fertilizer beneath my peach trees." I waited for a moment for that to sink in and for her to blink, stunned at my response. "And for the record, I do my own killing, thank you. I don't need to outsource that sort of thing."
The silence that followed was thicker than any mist I'd ever conjured. Even the wind paused, holding its breath.
And then—
Laughter.
One, low chuckle. From the left side of the gathering. Seated beside the wine table, lazily reclining beneath a parasol trimmed in gold tassels, was a man in red and white brocade. He held his cup like it weighed nothing and tapped the rim twice with his ring finger before raising it in a mock salute.
Sun Yizhen, the younger brother of Sun Longzi… also known as Yan Luo.
"Now that," he murmured, grinning at no one in particular, "is how you deliver a threat."
More than a few courtiers jolted at his voice, unsure if they were allowed to laugh. But a ripple of amusement broke through the stiffness, and a few nervous chuckles joined his.
Princess Yuyan flushed as her eyes narrowed on the one man she probably didn't want to piss off. Then again, it might be fun if she took on Yan Luo. I wonder if he was in her book.
Her mouth opened, then closed, the weight of a hundred eyes dragging her shoulders downward.
Zhu Mingyu took a single step forward, just one. But the tension it pulled through the air was sharp as a drawn blade. The guards at Yuyan's side tensed, their hands going to the hilt of their swords. Even her bravado cracked for a moment as her gaze flicked to him, searching for some sign of support.
There was none.
Zhu Mingyu's eyes never left me. Cold. Focused.
Not defensive.
Not angry.
Just watching.
Letting the moment stretch… letting them all see exactly who I was when cornered. This was his way of supporting me. He was letting me lead, knowing that he had my back if things went to pot.
And I met his gaze with one of my own. Silent. Steady.
We didn't need words.
But the threat of them—unspoken and blistering—settled like a noose around Yuyan's neck.
With a slight smirk on my face, knowing that Mingyu was firmly on my side, I walked slowly and deliberately toward Yuyan, stopping just a few paces short of her guards. They flinched again, but she didn't.
She stood her ground, so to speak, though I could see her knuckles whitening around the edge of her sleeve.
"You want to matter," I said quietly, my voice pitched low enough that only she could hear. "You want to rewrite the story. Be the heroine. The one who was wronged."
Her jaw twitched.
"You read a book once," I continued, "and now you think you know how this ends. But here's the problem—"
I leaned in.
"I'm not part of your story. You're part of mine."
She paled, but didn't retreat.
"You don't scare me," she whispered.
I smiled. "Then you're more foolish than I thought."
A shuffle of feet behind me—Shi Yaozu, stepping into place just at my back. Shadow appeared a moment later from between the trees, silent as ever, his yellow eyes fixed on the princess's guards like he was deciding who would scream the loudest.
Yuyan's breath caught.
I turned away from her before she could speak again, walking up to Mingyu, I stopped and stood beside him. I didn't need to prove anything to anyone. The stage had already collapsed beneath her feet.
The Emperor spoke for the first time.
"Crown Princess Yuyan," he said mildly, "please do try not to die during a ceremonial hunt. It would sour the mood."
There was no reprimand. No defense. Just dry amusement and thinly veiled disinterest.
She bowed stiffly.
The show was over.
For now.
Minyu took my hand as the two of us rejoined Yaozu beneath the shade of a pine, the trees swallowing all of us from view.
"She'll try again," he murmured.
"Of course she will," I replied, brushing a leaf from my sleeve. "The problem with women like her is that they mistake fantasy for prophecy. She doesn't just believe she's meant to win—she believes I'm in the way of her winning."
Yaozu didn't speak again as Mingyu softly grunted in agreement.
"If anything happens to you," started Mingyu, his hand tightening around my own. "I will risk war with Baiguang and kill her myself."