Amidst the cheers of the crowd, the assassin's sword did not descend. Instead, he whirled around and lunged straight at the Second Prince.
Ren Ruyi was holding a bronze wine cup; with a flick of her wrist, she could have ended this rash assassination attempt right then and there. Yet she did not.
Perhaps to Empress Zhaojie, even blood relatives were far less important than the subjects of Anwu. Since the Second Prince had turned away from the righteous path, there was no particular need for him to stay alive. Ren Ruyi would not strike the blow herself, but she was willing to play the part of a bystander.
The Second Prince retreated in a blind panic. The swordsman's face was smeared with blood, his gaze terrifyingly fierce, as if he were utterly determined to stake his life on completing this single strike.
The intruder had lacked food and water for days, and having just fought his way through a bloody skirmish, his sword speed was already sluggish. The guards around the Second Prince had recovered from their shock and were already moving to draw their blades.
Ren Ruyi let out a soft sigh. This strike was finished.
The Second Prince, however, lacked the judgment to see it. He grabbed the lapel of the eunuch beside him and violently yanked the man directly in front of himself.
Panicked and out of his mind, the eunuch awaited the blade that would pierce his body and take his life amidst his own shrieks. Yet that moment never came.
A throwing knife flashed from the side, followed by a small wine cup, flying straight toward the assassin's calf. The man stumbled hard, his weapon slipping from his hand and clattering to the ground.
The guards, who had been about to hack him to death on the spot, saw him fall and instantly changed their minds, deciding to take him alive instead.
Several guards surged forward, pinning the man to the ground within seconds.
Following the trajectory of the flying knife, Ren Ruyi looked up and locked eyes with Li Tongguang, who had just arrived. Li Tongguang quickly averted his gaze and hurried toward the Second Prince.
Watching the direction he had come from, Ruyi could easily imagine that her Wuer, just like her, had deliberately waited a moment—ensuring there was no possibility of the assassination succeeding—before stepping in to save those two innocent lives.
The Second Prince shoved away the human-shield eunuch collapsed on top of him, caring not at all that the poor wretch had been scared out of his wits and had even pissed himself in terror.
"Get lost!"
Scrambling in a panic, the eunuch scuttled off to the side.
"Kill him! Someone kill him for me!" The Second Prince was beside himself with rage, even reaching out to grab a guard's sword so he could execute the assassin with his own hands.
Then, changing his mind in the next breath, he screamed with extreme arrogance, "I want him sliced to pieces! Go to the prisoner-of-war camp and kill everyone connected to him! Kill them all!"
None of the surrounding officers and generals dared to utter a word. The Second Prince was already half a crown prince; his will was effectively the will of the future Emperor of An. Who would dare defy him?
"Your Highness the Second Prince, I am afraid this matter is somewhat improper. How can prisoners of war be slaughtered at whim?" Li Tongguang clearly did not hold the future crown prince in high regard.
"Marquis Changqing, you! Are you trying to defy my orders? You... you son of a kept man, what qualification do you have to question me..."
Hearing this, Ren Ruyi naturally found it deeply upsetting. Wuer's softest spot was his humble birth, and the Second Prince and his ilk brought it up to mock him every chance they got, twisting the knife in his heart.
"Your Highness the Second Prince, that remark makes very little sense." Following the voice, Li Tongguang saw Yang Ying walking over with an expression of fierce indignation, lifting the hem of her robes as she approached.
"By your logic, I was likewise raised in the cold palace, yet I still enjoy the honors of the Emperor of An in the capacity of Prince Li. The founding emperors of both An and Wu also rose from humble origins, yet both achieved the merit of founding dynasties. The Marquis Changqing earned his noble title through brilliant military achievements, not because of some gold-laced blood flowing in his veins!"
The more Yang Ying spoke, the angrier she grew. Ruyi hurried over and gave two light coughs behind her back, helping her calm down just enough to swallow the even harsher words she had been about to unleash.
The Second Prince had not expected to be rebuked by a mere young woman like Yang Ying. He lost face completely and, unable to find a single word to refute her, could only resort to flailing wildly,
"This is an internal affair of Great An. What business is it of yours, a princess of Wu... a princess of Wu?"
"His Highness the Second Prince speaks endlessly of wantonly slaughtering prisoners of war; why should I not have a say? Since I have come on a diplomatic mission to the An Kingdom, besides escorting His Imperial Brother back, my duty is also to bring home our compatriots of Great Wu. I trust the Marquis Changqing will treat them well so as not to disrupt the peace talks between our two nations."
Yang Ying gave a faint, half-bow to the Marquis Changqing, the underlying message clear: matters of the military camp were not for the Second Prince to decide.
Li Tongguang returned the half-bow, seeing that the Second Prince had thoroughly disgraced himself, losing both face and dignity.
"Your Highness's robes are soiled; you should hurry off to wash and change, lest you shame the imperial family of Great An."
With a flick of his sleeve, the Second Prince had no choice but to depart in disgrace. As he left, he glared viciously at Yang Ying and Li Tongguang, utterly hating the two of them now.
A nameless warmth bloomed in Ren Ruyi's heart. Seeing the two disciples she had trained with her own hands mutually protecting and supporting one another, she naturally felt the quiet gratification of a master.
Li Tongguang swept a single glance across the banquet guests. Among them were many of high rank, but knowing how formidable Li Tongguang's standing was before the Emperor of An, none dared to cross him. They hastily mumbled their excuses and vanished in a flurry.
"You should all head back first. I will not let them slaughter the prisoners indiscriminately," Li Tongguang told Yang Ying and Ren Ruyi.
Yang Ying glanced at the "assassin" still pinned to the ground and asked, "And him?"
"He... judging by his moves, he is not from the Wu Kingdom, but from the Chu Kingdom. He..."
Before Li Tongguang could finish, Yang Ying cut him off. "I don't care which country he's from. They were clearly forced into this by desperation. Is there truly no way to save them?"
"After all, he attempted to assassinate an imperial prince. I will... grant him a quick death." Li Tongguang understood the conflict in Yang Ying's heart, but genuinely saw no alternative.
Lowering her gaze, Yang Ying saw the man pinned to the ground staring up at her with a hollow, lifeless gaze. Despair radiated from his eyes, devoid of any vitality. She simply could not bear it; she knew that for every Chu citizen she encountered today, there were countless others hidden away in places she could not see—people from Chu, people from Wu...
She remembered what Ning Yuanzhou had told her: she was a princess of Great Wu, the Prince Li of Great Wu. She ate from the imperial treasury and was sustained by the common people, and therefore she had an obligation to protect her subjects.
If she could not even save this single man today, what of the second, and the third...
Ren Ruyi leaned in close and whispered a few words into her ear, slipping something into her hand. Yang Ying stepped forward and walked straight toward the man, causing the nearby guards to tense with hesitation.
"Your... Your Highness Prince Li, this man is dangerous."
A single glance from Yang Ying silenced the guard. She reached into her tunic, drew out a small pouch filled with candied fruit, and plucked a single piece from it.
The "assassin" had exhausted his last ounce of strength; aside from his rolling eyeballs, he lacked the energy to make any other response.
Without a second thought for the blood and filth staining the man's face, Yang Ying pinched his jaw open and shoved the candied fruit straight into his mouth.
"Act like a man."
With that, she stood up, handed the remaining pouch of candied fruit to the still-traumatized eunuch standing nearby, and departed with her "maid," Ruyi.
Yang Ying had no inkling of how deeply her actions would alter the lives of so many—including her own.