The Men at Her Feet

Pei JingZhi lifted his arm gently, sending a wave of force towards the window, shutting it up and proceeded to lay her down onto a chair, “Princess, I’ll send LingYao in to assist you.”

Princess QingLuan, whose back had been facing the window, was clueless about the two men’s exchange.

Princess QingLuan had not noticed the exchanged between the two men as her back was facing the window during the commotion. At least this man still has some consideration for others, she thought in relief, mistaking his action for kindness.

Before long, LingYao entered the room with new garments in tow, assisting her swiftly before leaving the room.

Pei JingZhi was standing guard near the door and upon seeing her, he grabbed her hands firmly in his, “Princess, this one will take you home!”

Princess QingLuan frowned deeply, wanting to reject his request as she was somewhat afraid that he would continue this nonsense at her residence, but her words got stuck in her throat as she noticed his extremely grim expressions.

Before waiting for her approval, Pei JingZhi grabbed her hand as he ran down the stairs and left the restaurant swiftly.

Did something bad happen? She thought nervously as he ran, seemingly to escape from something or someone.

Numerous murderous intent landed on them the moment they stepped out of the restaurant building as assassins appeared, each holding a sharp blade in their firm hands.

Pei JingZhi, knowing that he could not face such number of enemies while still protecting the princess, lifted her up immediately and ran, easily jumping over the restaurant fence while the assassins gave chase relentlessly.

Suuuh… Suuuh… Princess QingLuan who was wrapped up safely in his arms, could hear sounds as the assassins began releasing their hidden weapons at them.

As she clutched onto Pei JingZhi’s shirt tightly, he grunted deeply as his shoulders jerked suddenly. There was a bloody hole on his shoulder and blood was flowing out unendingly.

“Princess, I’ll delay them as best as I could,” He said calmly as he released his grip on her, “Please run.”

Princess QingLuan, being someone on her second life, valued her life a lot as she knew the feeling of death. She gazed at him deeply before turning away ruthlessly, escaping quickly into the big crowd.

After losing sight of the princess, Pei JingZhi rushed into the crowd of assassins, snatching a blade of one of the assassins, he began fighting them all, getting the upper-hand as the assassins were in shock as they had not expected a studious man to have such great martial skills.

But the assassins regained their composure quickly as they retaliated his attacks. As his shoulders were already heavily injured and going against so many men, he could only watch helplessly as two assassins ran off towards the princess’s direction.

Princess QingLuan, who had ran into the crowd, quickly turned towards a dark alley as she removed the jewelries from her hair and the extravagant outer coat, quickly hiding in a bamboo basket nearby.

To her dismay, a random dog began barking furiously at the basket that she was in and attracted the attention of the frustrated assassins, who stared at the basket suspiciously before walking towards it to check.

She almost screamed as their footsteps got louder, and she stared up with a terrified expression at the two assassin’s grinning face as the basket cover was removed.

Bang! Bang! Two loud noises were heard before the two assassins dropped unconscious on the floor.

She stood up immediately and stared at her savior in delight, he was a handsome young man, dressed fully in black. His eyes glowed with a mischievous glint as he smiled slightly at her, reaching out a hand to steady her.

“Thank you, kind man, for saving me!” She bowed gracefully at her savior.

“How do you know I am a kind man?” The man dressed in black replied cheekily as his slight smile turn into a big grin, “And what makes you think that I am saving you?” He growled deeply, his husky voice sexy and seductive.

Princess QingLuan stared at him in a gaze, not knowing what he meant.

“Girl, do you not know about the sparrow that awaits in the dark while the mantis catches a cicada?” He whispered deeply into her ear, chuckling softly and he twirled her hair between his fingers.

(TNote: Chinese idiom of “螳螂捕蝉, 黄雀在后”. It basically means that while the mantis is catching its prey, a sparrow would be waiting behind. Waiting to devour both mantis and its prey.

In this case, the princess would be defined by the cicada, the assassins defined by the mantis and the man dressed in black would be the sparrow – aka the final winner in this game.)