How About I Take Another Blade for You Someday?

Just as the carriage was about to enter an alley, the clash of swords suddenly rang out. It was very close to Di Qingyu, with only a curtain between her and the fighting, but she merely raised her eyes and made no move.

Before long, the clashing outside stopped.

Chunzhi lifted the carriage curtain.

"Master, Du Yutao brought men to assassinate you. They've all been captured."

Clearly, he harbored a grudge against Di Qingyu and was ready to throw caution to the wind to get revenge on her.

Hearing this, Di Qingyu, dressed in a thick silver-white fur coat, raised her eyes. A trace of malice suddenly rippled through their otherwise untroubled depths, and she stepped out of the carriage without a word.

Sure enough, several dozen men in black were being held down against the alley wall. Their leader was Du Yutao, whose mask had been pulled off.

"Di Qingyu, kill me if you have the guts! If it weren't for you, how could my Du Family have suffered this calamity? It was you! You deliberately set me up!"

Seeing the hatred in his eyes, Di Qingyu half-closed her own and glanced at Chunzhi, who immediately handed her a sword.

Di Qingyu took it and laid the blade against Du Yutao's arm, her voice as cold as an ice cellar.

"Who told you all this, and who gave you these assassins?"

Imperial Father had promised Du Yutao he would not kill him, so after Du Chengji beat him half to death, he had thrown him out of the palace to fend for himself. Du Yutao had already been a prisoner; how could he still make such a move, or have the wits to figure it out?

Du Yutao cursed furiously. "Pah! You vicious woman! I couldn't kill you today, and now I've fallen into your hands. Kill me or carve me up, do as you please."

Clearly, he was determined not to reveal a word.

"Gag him."

"Yes."

Seeing this, Di Qingyu's patience ran out. She swung the sword.

"Mmph!!!"

An arm fell to the ground. With his mouth already gagged, Du Yutao could only let out muffled cries of pain.

Di Qingyu glanced at the other men in black. Their eyes were vacant. They had tried to kill themselves, only to be stopped by Chunzhi and the others. It seemed they were deathsworn.

"Kill everyone except Du Yutao. Take him back and interrogate him under torture. Don't let him die."

Di Qingyu tossed the sword aside and gave the order without hesitation. After all, nothing could be pried out of deathsworn.

"Yes," Chunzhi answered with a frown.

She ordered the men to clean up all traces in the alley.

Di Qingyu wearily rubbed the bridge of her nose, then turned around.

But the next second, she froze.

"Who's there?"

Her icy gaze shot over.

In the distance, a tall figure stood atop a wall beneath the shade of a tree. Bathed in moonlight, the young man holding a sword was peerlessly aloof. His eyes, bright as a river of stars, were exceptionally cold as he looked at Di Qingyu.

"Let's talk."

Di Qingyu's eyes flickered. She looked at him without a word, then spoke calmly.

"Get in the carriage."

She bent down and climbed into the carriage first.

"So, the eldest princess knows martial arts after all."

Inside the slowly moving carriage, a trace of coldness showed on the handsome face of the young man sitting across from Di Qingyu, and the chill in his eyes was piercing.

Di Qingyu looked indifferently at the young man before her. "I never said I didn't know martial arts."

"So you deliberately pulled me in front of you to take that blade for you that night, using the General's residence to deal with the Du Family."

Zhu Wuyang's voice could not help growing colder. Tonight, he had happened to see Di Qingyu make her move, and the suspicions he had harbored these past few days had finally been answered. She knew martial arts, yet she had still let herself be surrounded by that good-for-nothing Du Yutao. What else could she have been doing but waiting for him to come and put on a show?

"I owe you a favor. You can ask it of me in the future."

Di Qingyu made no attempt to defend herself, merely giving her promise with unruffled composure. Clearly, this was an indirect admission of her scheme.

Zhu Wuyang's gaze darkened. He had not expected her to admit it so calmly. No wonder he had always felt that the affair with Du Yutao that night had been too much of a coincidence. He had also noticed that night that Di Qingyu had distinctive calluses on her hands, the kind one acquired only through frequent sword practice.

"Your Highness, in saying that, are you so certain there will be nothing beyond your abilities in the future?"

After a pause, Zhu Wuyang gave a soft, derisive laugh, his eyes guarded. "Then again, you went from the cold palace to the position of eldest princess in a year. I've never seen anyone as capable as you. No wonder so many people give you a wide berth."

Di Qingyu did not answer his probing, merely gazing steadily at the young man who regarded her with hostility.

Seeing this, Zhu Wuyang's handsome face shifted, and a mocking smile touched his lips.

"Very well. Then I would ask Your Highness, whatever schemes you devise in the future, if the General's residence should ever meet with disaster, save the lives of everyone there. Can you do that?"

His request really was somewhat excessive. After all, he had only taken one blade for Di Qingyu, yet he was using it to secure the safety of everyone in the General's residence. In truth, protecting Di Qingyu back then had been his duty, since the emperor had assigned him the task.

Or rather, Zhu Wuyang had not been serious at all when he said it. He had merely wanted to sound out Di Qingyu's attitude toward the General's residence and test her abilities.

But who would have thought?

Di Qingyu raised a brow and lowered her eyes in thought for a few seconds. Then she sighed softly and looked up solemnly at the young man before her, her expression serious.

"Very well. If the General's residence should ever meet with disaster, I, Di Qingyu, will do everything in my power to save everyone there."

"..." Just like that, she had agreed.

Zhu Wuyang's eyes flickered. He looked at her, a trace of surprise showing on his face despite himself. He had not expected her to actually agree. Could taking that blade have been worth so much?

"...How about this?"

After a few seconds of silence, Zhu Wuyang parted his thin lips.

"I take another blade for you someday?"

Otherwise, his conscience would not rest. It was as though he had taken advantage of her.

The corner of Di Qingyu's mouth twitched. "..."

Sure enough, the fool from her previous life was still an idiot in this one.

"There's no need." After a pause, Di Qingyu spoke pointedly. "Since you could make such a request of me, Young Master Zhu, you must have something to worry about. We will probably have opportunities to work together in the future. You only need to understand that you and I are not enemies. There is no conflict of interest between us."

"Unless you intend to stand in my way."

A slight chill entered Di Qingyu's eyes. Though the two had been friends in her previous life, who knew what lay in people's hearts in this one?

At that, the joking look faded from Zhu Wuyang's face. He narrowed his starry eyes, immediately understanding her implication.

"Your Highness is a straightforward person. The General's residence has no wish to be your enemy either."

Regardless of how deeply she had been involved in Du Chengji's affair, the fact that she had been made eldest princess without so much as a ripple showed that she could not be made an enemy.

Besides, there was no conflict of interest between them at present.

Di Qingyu remembered something and abruptly said,

"Since we aren't enemies, let me give you a glimpse of heaven's secrets. I hear your younger sister has recently been choosing a husband. Young Master Zhu, you should vet the candidates carefully. Don't let a man who deceives the world and steals a good name ruin the most important matter of her life."

"What do you mean?" Zhu Wuyang's swordlike brows drew together.

What did she know? Heaven's secrets... Could she tell fortunes too?

"Exactly what I said. Whether you believe me is up to you, Young Master Zhu." Di Qingyu turned and lifted the curtain beside her. They were almost at the road leading to the palace gates.

Di Qingyu glanced at the young man beside her, who still wanted to question her further. Taking advantage of his inattention, she lifted her leg and kicked him.

"Forgive me for not seeing you off any farther."

"Oof!"

Her foot struck Zhu Wuyang squarely in the abdomen. Caught off guard, he was kicked straight out through the carriage door.

Mindful of the injury on his back, she had not used much force. As soon as Zhu Wuyang's figure cleared the door, he pushed off with his foot and used lightness skill to fly down to the ground beside the carriage.

Once he had steadied himself, Zhu Wuyang looked back, but the carriage had already sped away.

Hiss! She looked so frail, but she was plenty strong!

Watching the carriage recede, Zhu Wuyang rubbed his abdomen and drew a soft breath. His deep-set eyes narrowed. This Di Qingyu-why did she make him feel as though she had known him for a long time?

Their conversation that night had left him feeling extraordinarily at ease.

It was a feeling he rarely had with anyone.