Kirindas: Thanks for your support as always
Tsuru: Thanks for being with us all this while ^_^
WARNING: Yuri kissing, girls kissing
Of the three men in black, one of them stepped forward and spoke.
"Wei Qi is it, we have come for your life. Make no mistake, we are acting under orders and bear no grudge against any of you. Be at ease, at least all of you may keep each other company in the underworld."
After that, they rushed at us. Xu Mo immediately flew in front to block them, yelling for us to run away.
He had learnt some martial arts when he was young, and could hold them off for a bit. However, the rest of us must still find a way to get out of this tight spot.
Wei Qi and I grabbed Xuan'er and mother as we slowly backed away from the fight. When one of the black clad men saw us creeping away, he kicked Xu Mo away and rushed forward with his sword.
When I noticed, it was far too late to dodge, my eyes reflecting the sword that was about to chop me to pieces when Wei Qi pushed me aside. The sword slashed against his shoulder, his clothes parted, revealing a bloody line where he was struck.
Wei Qi stumbled backwards a few steps, and fell to the forest floor. I immediately ran for him.
"Wei Qi, are you alright? You should be alright, ba?" Seeing Wei Qi laying there in pain, I really did not know what to do, right this moment, mother and Xuan'er were already overwhelmed with fear.
The assassin, seeing that Wei Qi was still arrived, came over with his sword.
I closed my eyes, thinking that my life will end here. The thing I regretted most was being unable to keep my promise to never leave the princess, never to grow old with her, never to introduce mother to the princess as we strolled in these beautiful gardens, eating delicious snacks, to think that I would die here…
While my mind was still listing all the regrets in my life, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared, alerted by the cries of alarm. When the three black clad assassins saw the soldiers, they immediately leapt away into the woods, leaving no trace of themselves with us.
When the soldiers saw the assassins leaping away, some went in pursuit, but most of them gathered over to question us.
By the time Xu Mo came over, Wei Qi already lose consciousness, I hurriedly asked Xu Mo to help me move Wei Qi over to the temple nearby.
"Wei Qi, you must be alright, ah. You just hang on a bit, we'll be there soon." I continued to talk to Wei Qi who was being carried on Xu Mo's back, I truly felt that he could still hear me.
We hurried as quickly as we could towards the temple, when the monks saw us, they immediately escorted us to an empty guest room, even called their temple physician over for us.
Xu Mo slowly eased Wei Qi to the bed, as I watched his unconscious form, my heart constricted. The physician said that he wish to undress the patient to treat his wound and sent all of us out.
After some time, the physician finally came out. According to him, the danger period was now over, and that the wound looked worse than it actually was. It was the shock of blood loss that sent him into unconsciousness, but there was no danger now that the cut has been properly bandaged, and told us all not to worry.
It was only then that I was able to let go of my worry, though those people had been targeting him, he had still bravely blocked an attack against us, otherwise, the one lying on the bed would be me.
We opened the door and came in. Seeing that he's awake, I sat on his bed next to him, "Wei Qi, I owe you my life, you must properly look after yourself. Once you're feeling better, I will show my gratitude properly. Xu Mo and I will stay with you tonight, so let us know if you need anything."
I had just said this when he forced himself to sit up.
"Xiran, why do you say this? I'm the one who troubled everyone. After all, I'm the one they have a grudge against. To think that I've exposed foster mother and everyone else to the threat of assassins, I'm really sorry. You guys don't have to stay with me, as a man this kind of would doesn't trouble me at all."
"Please don't force yourself any more and take good care of your health. None of us will blame you, so don't blame yourself. Who knows what crazy people there are outside, so ruthless. You just lie down here and rest. Don't think about other stuff. We'll leave you to your rest, and see you later." I more or less made him lie down again.
The rest of us also said some comforting words. How he should not think too much of it, should rest, and how we all wished for his speedy recovery. The plan now was to let him rest properly before leaving together.
Wei Qi was showered with our goodwill as he laid on the bed before we all left him to his rest.
We actually spent two days at the temple as he recovered, before making our way back to the city.
At the city, I told Wei Qi that I will meet up with him tomorrow, and told him to rest properly at his house. Xu Mo, Xuan'er and I will have to go and see our master first, it has been a few days after all, and he was probably worried sick.
By the time we reached master's place, it was already late afternoon.
As expected, when master saw us, he quickly rushed over to ask what had happened. I explained the whole story to him. Wei Qi's injury also upset him, however when he heard that there was no life threatening injury, and seeing that all of us were back safely in the city, he also calmed down.
That night, after dinner, the rest of our little party had returned to our respective bedrooms to rest. These two days looking after Wei Qi had left us all exhausted both physically and mentally.
As I made for my room, I pondered over the matters that had happened a couple of days ago, still feeling very uneasy. Just what kind of person would hate Wei Qi to the point of wanting his life?
What I had no idea then, was that at this very same moment, a huge conspiracy was brewing within the Wei mansion.
Wei Qi was sitting alone in his study, a brush in his hand as he busied himself writing something. He seemed to be waiting for something, or someone. The room was quiet at this time of the night. A short while later, the widow opened slightly, seemingly on its own and a man clad in all back leapt in silently. Wei Qi did not seemed surprised by the additional presence in his study, he did not even bother to raise his head. He only said mildly:
"No one has seen you, ba."
"Young master, please be at ease. No one has seen this one, how is young master's wound?" The man said deferentially.
"Not too bad, those were all our people, ba? They've put on an excellent show, as expected of our Great Yan's general. We must gain Song Xiran's complete trust before the next phase of the plan could be implemented. We'll need to borrow his strength in order to recover our Great Yan's glory."
Wei Qi raised his head and nodded his approval of the man's action. The man in front of him was the one who had followed me and the princess around the night market that time, and later was one of the three who had threatened our lives.
"It's good that young master is well, I have already completed all the arrangements, we await young master's next orders."
"Wait a bit more, no need to hurry. We must wait for the right time to strike. You leave first, I will call for you if anything changes. Do not act recklessly without my orders, understand?"
"Yes, young master. Would young master please be careful also." Having said this, he disappeared out the window.
Once he left, Wei Qi gripped his wounded arm. In front of him was piece of paper with the character 'Yan' written in powerful strokes. He carefully put away the piece of paper, cleared everything on the desk, and went out of the study as though nothing out of ordinary has happened.
Life returned to normal as the days slide pass. I often went over the the Wei mansion to see Wei Qi and mother, and continued my studies with master. Time passed very quickly, and in a blink of an eye it was time for the palace to prepared for the Imperial Banquet.
When I arrived at the palace, I could not wait to get back to Yi Hua palace. It's been too long since I've seen the princess, I really missed her~ also, I still have that gift with me.
I saw her sitting with her tea, with Yuan'er in attendance. I rushed in happily to give my greetings, wooshing past Yuan'er.
"Zhen'er, I'm back, it's been so long, are you well?"
"Not well, without you around to make my meals I have no appetite at all." The moment she saw me, her little bottom lip stuck out in a pout, looking spoilt and aggrieved. There was none of that grand coldness from before.
"Haha, is this still my cold and frosty her highness the princess? Zhen'er, forgive me for being late. I shall make lots of good things to compensate you, alright?" I held her hand cajolingly, stroking her silky hair.
"Oh, right, I have something for you." With a secret smile, I whisked out the box from my chest pocket and placed it in front of her.
She looked at the box curiously, and slowly opened it. When she took out the comb, I saw that her eyes looked especially dewy.
"Is this what you ran off to buy that time we went to the market together?"
"Ah? How did you know?"
"Do you really think that I'm someone who could be so easily tricked?" She pinched a large chunk of my face affectionately.
"Hihi, I just want to give my Zhen'er a nice surprise. I've gotten the boss of that shop to make this especially for you, filling it with all the words I wish to convey to your heart… you know?" I happily babbled as I tried to make my meaning clear to her.
"Idiot, how could I now know? Miss you to the bones, together forever, mutual love and respect."
Hearing her put my feelings to words, my heart started to beat faster. This person in front of me, if I could be with her for the rest of my life, I shall have no regrets in this lifetime..
I looked at her affectionately, calling her name and sidled closer.
"Zhen'er~~"
"Hm?"
When she saw me so close, a sliver of anxiousness glimmered in her eyes. Roses bloomed across her cheeks as she tried to avoid my gaze but I caught her hand, and refused to let her escape.
"I hope, but for one heart, to be one as our hair faded grey."
After that, I kissed her lips. She had not expected me to do this, but she did not resist my advances, instead, she tentatively kissed back.
Her lips was cool, tasted refreshingly of flower buds and just as tender.
I had intended to just lightly touch her, but when I felt her response, happiness filled my heart. The two of us began to kiss deeply, the sensation exquisitely beautiful. The desire to press even closer and deeper was irresistible, a sweet fragrance seemed to have permeated the very air, to the point of drunkenness.
Lips pressed against lips, as our mouths entangled with each other, until both of us gasped, breathless. Finally, I reluctantly let go of her lips. Looking down at her flushed little face, her little mouth gasping for breaths, I could not help as the corner of my mouth hooked up in a teasing smile.
I never thought I'd be in a position to see her like this in my life. In the future, I hope to have more opportunities like this. Just thinking about it made my heart sang with joy, my good days are coming again~~
[No… Wei Qi, but I supposed it's inevitable. At least there's a sweet moment here for yuri lovers. I'm a little embarrassed now…]<><>