Blood trickled down Qingwu's wrist and into her sleeve, leaving half of her forearm soaking wet. Her fingers, which had been gripping the knife, could no longer hold it tightly.
Mei Zhongjun's short knife pressed down again, the blade grazing the thin skin on Qingwu's neck. A few strands of hair on the side of her neck were severed by the iron blade and fell into the pool of blood at her feet.
Qingwu's knees buckled, and she couldn't hold on any longer.
His arms trembled violently under the knife, and blood and foam dripped from his mouth down his chin.
"Be careful, this Mei Zhongjun is actually Upper Third Rank!"
At that very moment.
The window was kicked open from the outside.
Shiqing bounced up from the broken tabletop, and Huayi followed closely by flipping in from the other side, with two knives aimed at Mei Zhongjun's ribs from the left and right.
Mei Zhongjun withdrew his knife, the sole of his boots scraping against the floor tiles, leaving a burnt smell. He took two steps back, his back slamming against the bedpost of the canopy bed. He spun the short knife halfway across his chest, deflecting Shiqing's horizontal slash.
The knife, seemingly painted in Huayi, was passed in from the right. The tip grazed the brocade robe at his waist, tearing a gash in the fabric and exposing the raw flesh beneath, with beads of blood trickling down the hem.
Mei Zhongjun gasped, wincing in pain at the cut on his waist, but he didn't back down. He swung his knife back and forced Huayi back half a step, then used the momentum to lunge half a step toward the bed.
Gu Moli was right there.
Gu Moli twisted her waist backward, flipped herself over the bed railing to the inside, bumped her elbow against the bedpost, and swept the copper oil lamp by the bedside down.
The lamp holder smashed onto Mei Zhongjun's foot, and the scalding lamp oil spilled onto half of his boot. Mei Zhongjun pulled his foot back, and his slash missed.
The blade sliced through a section of the gold-threaded curtain, and the fabric fluttered down to drape over the edge of the bed.
Mei Zhongjun reached out to pull, but the curtain got tangled in the blade, and he had to shake it off a couple of times to get rid of it.
Gu Moli had retreated to the other end of the bed, leaning against the carved headboard, clutching a copper hairpin she had taken from under her pillow.
The hairpin wasn't long enough to kill, but she held it precisely, with the tip pointing outwards and her thumb and forefinger pressed against the shaft.
"Where are you running to?"
Mei Zhongjun was panting heavily, his mouth stretched open, and his smile was full of ruthlessness.
He raised his knife and slashed again.
Gu Moli didn't dodge; she pushed the copper hairpin forward.
The hairpin pierced the hanging gold brocade, and with a twist of her wrist, the entire curtain wrapped around Mei Zhongjun's knife-wielding arm.
Mei Zhongjun's blade was entangled for a moment, causing the force of his strike to be off-target.
Shiqing pounced on him from behind, wrapping her arms around his right hand that was holding the knife, and dangling her whole body from his arm, pulling him down.
Mei Zhongjun slammed his left elbow backward, striking Shiqing squarely in the chest with a dull thud of bone hitting bone. Shiqing was forced to release her grip and stagger backward.
But most of the force of that slash had been dissipated.
Gu Moli loosened the copper hairpin, took half a step back, her breathing rapid, but her eyes kept darting around, staring at the position of everyone in the room.
Qingwu knelt against the wall, her left hand covering the web of her hand, blood oozing from between her fingers. She could barely stand upright, but her eyes were still fixed on the bed.
Shiqing felt a tightness in her chest from the elbow strike, and after taking a step back, her heel landed on the broken window frame, almost tripping.
She looked up and saw Gu Moli cornered.
Looking at Qingwu, the situation is very bad.
Mei Zhongjun is ten times more ruthless than I imagined!
Huayi thrust her knife at him from the side, but Mei Zhongjun dodged it, parrying back with his short sword and slashing a gash on Huayi's forearm Huayi groaned, the knife still in his hand, but his attack slowed down.
Mei Zhongjun took a breath and took another step toward the edge of the bed.
Gu Moli had nowhere to retreat; her back was already pressed against the carved edges of the headboard, causing her pain.
She glanced at the window, then at the Shiqing and Huayi scene.
That's a bit troublesome.
In the moment of crisis, Shiqing shouted out.
"Stop!"
Do you even know who she is?!
Mei Zhongjun didn't stop; he pushed the tip of the knife another half a foot into the bed.
Shiqing stepped back in front of Qingwu, shielding her behind him, and called out to Mei Zhongjun's retreating figure.
"She is Princess Anle! The Grand Princess Anle of the Great Yan royal family! If you dare to lay a finger on her, even ten Marquis of Luoyang's Residence wouldn't be enough to compensate you!"
The room fell silent for a moment.
Mei Zhongjun did not retract his hand holding the knife, nor did he continue to chop.
He turned his head to the side, his forehead covered in sweat and blood spots.
"What did you say?"
The Shiqing was breathless and his voice trembled, but he enunciated each word clearly.
" Grand Princess Anle Gu Moli, is the biological daughter of Noble Consort Chen... Look carefully at who's in front of you!"
Mei Zhongjun stared at the bed for a while.
The curtains half-concealed Gu Moli's face; she showed no panic, nor did she beg for mercy.
Leaning against the headboard, still clutching the bent copper hairpin in her hand, her breathing was erratic, but her gaze was remarkably steady.
This woman is truly fearless!
He suddenly smiled.
Laughter was squeezed out of his throat, in segments, which sounded eerie.
Princess Anle?
He sheathed the knife, tip down, and dripped two drops of blood onto the floor tiles.
" Princess Anle was doing just fine in the capital, why did she come to my Marquis of Luoyang's Residence pretending to be an orphan and begging for food?"
He tilted his head to look at Shiqing, as if he were looking at a madman talking nonsense.
"If you're going to make something up, at least make it believable... Impersonating the Princess of Great Yan, that's a crime punishable by death eight times over."
The color drained completely from Shiqing's face.
She could tell that Mei Zhongjun wasn't entirely unconvinced.
He believed it to some extent.
But those three cents of trust only drove him even crazier.
If it's true, then we absolutely cannot leave any survivors.
Princess Great Yan was surrounded and killed by his men in his courtyard; the whole room was covered in the blood of his privately trained assassins.
If even half a word of this gets out, the Marquis of Luoyang's Residence will be wiped out.
Mei Zhongjun's smile vanished.
His expression went flat, so flat it was almost inhuman.
"You all deserve to die."
His voice was terribly hoarse, and he gripped the knife tightly in his hand.
"Those who impersonate royalty will not live."
He gestured with his chin toward the doorway.
"Big brother! Come quick, help me!"
Gu Moli's fingers tightened.
Outside the courtyard, Mei Boqian stood under the eaves, clutching his waist knife, the blade still dripping with blood.
There were about a dozen corpses lying haphazardly in the yard, and two military crossbows lay overturned against the wall.
Possessing crossbows and raising assassins—these things are out in the open, and either one of them would be enough to bring the entire Marquis's family to ruin.
Mei Boqian didn't rush to move; he first glanced behind him.
Of the thirty guards he brought, seven or eight had been killed, but the rest were still holding on, bows in their hands and arrows nocked on the strings.
He heard the words " Grand Princess Anle " coming from inside the room.
I could hear it clearly.
With his thumb resting on the bowstring, his mind raced.
It's fake. So what if they're killed? A few women from the martial arts world impersonating a princess stormed into the Marquis's mansion. No one can say anything bad about the mansion.
But if it really is...
He glanced down at the corpse of the assassin at his feet, then looked up at the shattered window.
Mei Zhongjun's voice came from inside, tinged with sobs and a frenzied, bloodthirsty intensity.
"Big brother, help me deal with these bitches! If even one of them gets away, our whole family will die!"
Mei Boqian closed his eyes briefly.
When I opened my eyes again, there was nothing superfluous left.
"Prepare the bow and aim it at the main house."
The creaking sound of a fully drawn bowstring echoed throughout the courtyard.
"The people inside, regardless of gender."
He paused for a moment.
"Kill them."
[Thanks to: Zhao Lie for the flower-sprinkling gift x2, Tianzi for the character summoning x3, Wan Huo de 666, Jun Wang for the flower-sprinkling gift, Xiao Zhu for the update urging charm x2, Mi Fen for the likes, Xue Lin for the flowers, Nian Na for the capsules, Ru Yue for the likes, axxdthd for the flowers x3, Huai Nan for the likes, Hua Shang for the love letter, Xin Ying, Shen Qing for the flowers, Qu Qi for the razor blade, and everyone else for their love and support!]