Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

“Some unknown men have launched the attack,” the middle-aged man replied before running away.

Xu Zifan went ahead to check when another nobleman with him asked him not to go ahead. “Did you not hear some unknown men attacking people? Let’s go the other way and ask the royal inspectors for help.”

Xu Zifan did not hear him and took the sword from him. “You go to the royal inspector. I will go ahead,” he said and ran ahead. He saw in the main center of the market, everyone was running to save their lives. The soldiers were fighting the unknown men and amidst that, he saw Li Hua. He ran in her direction and at the right time, he saved her from getting hit by the arrow.

Now, they were in the carriage and Xu Zifan scolded Li Hua for planning to fight with the Queen without thinking that the consequences could be dangerous. This was the first time, he had raised his voice at Li Hua and the reason was very clear. In his eyes, she made acted too naive.

“Elder Brother, she would have used another way to kill me in the palace then. Prince Lóng Wei is not here and I wanted to help him by revealing the true face of the Queen. His Highness thought that the Queen would not plan anything against us, but the opposite happened,” Li Hua argued with Xu Zifan.

“What if someone dies today? Feng Lao, Chang Shi, and the others who help you have taken, any one of them can die. I saved you from that arrow, or else you would have been injured. Do you think it is some kind of play? How could you order something like this, Li Hua? You know very well how many lives we have lost already, yet you decided to act on the Queen’s plan,” Xu Zifan was disappointed in Li Hua. “You could have told the King about this. I have not expected you to do something like this, Li Hua.” He averted his gaze from her.

“I do not doubt the capabilities of Feng Lao and Chang Shi. I know that they are better than those assassins. Forgive me, if I did something which hurt you,” Li Hua said and lowered her eyes.

Xu Zifan looked at her with tears in his eyes. “Li Hua, because of you, I am alive. If something had happened to you today, then I would not have been able to survive. At least, you should talk with your brother about it,” Xi Zifan confronted her. Li Hua started to feel guilty. She wondered if she did wrong by going ahead with this plan.

.....

The journey to the palace was peaceful. She landed safely in the palace and looked towards the entrance. She was waiting for Xiwan, Feng Lao, and Chang Shi to return safely too. Everything happened so quickly that she could not even get to see if they were not harmed in any way.

Hei Chengxi came to her and asked her if she was fine. He had sent one more troupe of soldiers to the market and was heading there too. “General Hei, I am fine, but I do not know about the others,” she asserted.

“I will see you soon. Please return to your manor,” Hei Chengxi stated. Li Hua’s heart was restless now. After hearing out about her brother, she realized that she did not think about their lives. As she walked towards the main palace, she found out that the news about the attack on her had not broken out in the palace because everything seemed too peaceful to her.

“Your Highness, are you okay?” Court Lady Hong asked as she heard that Li Hua got attacked in the King’s manor. Li Hua halted in her way and looked at the lady, who rushed to her.

“Yes, I am,” Li Hua said. From her, Li Hua found out that only five minutes ago, the news of the attack on her was delivered. Court Lady Hong told her that she would accompany her to the chamber. Li Hua nodded. Xu Zifan also went after them. When Li Hua reached her chamber, she found Jin Yu there.

“Li Hua, why did you go out? Wait! You are not hurt, right?” Jin Yu held her arms and checked her. Li Hua pulled away her arms and asked everyone if they would go out.

“I will not,” Xu Zifan said.

“Please,” Li Hua requested. Jin Yu left with Court Lady Hong while Li Hua stayed in with her brother. Xu Zifan did not step out of the chamber as he knew that she would think of some useless things in her head.

He rested his left hand above her shoulder and asked her to look into his eyes. “They will be fine. They are great warriors,” Xu Zifan assured her. “Now, listen to me carefully,” he stated before continuing, “do not fight alone with the enemies. It is not wise. Forgive me for raising my voice at you earlier.”

Li Hua’s eyes turned misty. She thought everything would go smoothly, but she had no idea now where it was headed to. According to Xiwan, there were not many assassins, but judging by the sudden surge of them, she realized that she underestimated her enemy. Her brother was right. They already had lost many lives and it would be their loss if they lost the remaining precious people around them.

“Now, listen to me carefully. I will go to Qijiang to meet Prince Lóng Wei. I had to tell him the situation here. This is important so that he would end the matter there as soon as possible with the other two princes,” Xu Zifan stated.

“But Brother what if-” she paused as he was unable to point out her worries for Xu Zifan.

“I will ask Chang Shi to accompany me,” he stated. Li Hua nodded her head. However, there was a question before Xu Zifan. Why Hei Chengxi, who was the General, agreed to help Li Hua. There was something that Li Hua missed. Hei Chengxi was the seniormost person among them, yet he did not stop Li Hua. It bothered him and he pulled Li Hua into his embrace. His left hand remained on the top of her head as he caressed it. Hei Chengxi was hiding something from them and Xu Zifan had to find out about it.