(Well, things just got real~~ >=D ^^ )

 

~

 

Yan Ran is sitting at the table in her room. "I wonder if the secret will be revealed……" she says to herself. "Forget it, I'll just cope until tonight is over first and then see what happens."

 

All of a sudden, Yan Ran unexpectedly hears an abnormal sound at the window. "Who is it?!" she calls out.

 

She sees a man, covered in blood, jump into her room from outside the window.

 

 

Yan Ran gets up and takes a step back. She stares at him in panic and fright. "W-Who are you?!"

 

"Don't move!" the man warns in a low voice, holding his sword at Yan Ran's neck. "Move again and I'll kill you!"

 

At the same time, there are sounds of footsteps and commotion outside.

 

"Come, men!" Yu Chi Lie's follower with braided hair yells. "Search! Seize that assassin who dares to assassinate the great prince!"

 

So this person is an assassin, Yan Ran says inwardly.

 

~Flashback~

 

The whole story is like this: this assassin received an order, and followed Yu Chi Lie the entire way, desiring to assassinate him. Unintentionally, the assassin was careless for a short moment and was discovered by Yu Chi Lie.

 

Hah, you want to kill me? Yu Chi Lie thought. Well, as if you "can" kill me.

 

Thus, Yu Chi Lie deliberately led the assassin to the Drunken Red Brothel. He also deliberately offered a high price to buy Du Yan Ran so that she can be the Plum Blossom. Furthermore, he loftily pointed out his identity in front of everyone. His purpose for doing all that was to grab people's attention, thereby drawing the snake out of its cave.

 

(Note- Draw the Snake Out of Its Cave is an idiom which means to lure the target to appear.)

 

Unexpectedly, the assassin was indeed fooled, and went into Yu Chi Lie's room in the dark. He succeeded in assassinating a person! However, it turned out that Yu Chi Lie was not in the room at all. The person who died was the Yang Mi Er who went in Yan Ran's place to stay in the bedroom!

 

Yu Chi Lie laughs slightly, currently sitting down in the brothel's guest hall. "How can killing me be that easy?" He looks over at his follower. "Ā Si Qi, capture that person for me immediately. I'd like to see who it is who's got such big guts! When you catch him, first pluck out his leg tendons, then chop off his hands and feed them to dogs!"

 

"Zun ming!" the follower with braided hair, known as Ā Si Qi, replies loudly.

 

(Note- Zun ming = I obey your command.)

 

~End of Flashback~

 

By this time, the Xi Sheng imperial bodyguards have already reached Yan Ran's door. Ā Si Qi knocks on the door. "The person inside!" he calls. "Hurry up and open the door for me!!"

 

"……" Despite hearing the voice, the assassin in blue clothes does not move. Instead, he looks at Yan Ran, as if expecting her to do something.

 

"……" Yan Ran looks back at him. This person is covered in blood, and has a sword with him, she thinks to herself. If I enrage him, it might lead to a fatal disaster. Why don't I just……

 

Thinking it over, she decides to first provide cover for this person. She looks at the bed, then over at the closet. No, those won't work, she thinks. They'll find him easily. Yan Ran looks back at the assassin, and comes up with a plan.

 

~~~~~

 

Seeing that Yan Ran still hasn't opened the door after so long, Ā Si Qi angrily kicks the door open!

 

However, he sees--

 

…a man and a woman standing before him with their arms around each other……and with bare torsos. The woman has a thin piece of cloth covering the lower part of her body.

 

"!!!" Ā Si Qi quickly turns his head away.

 

The imperial bodyguards behind Ā Si Qi see such a sublime scene, and couldn't help whistling~~

 

"What are you doing!!" Ā Si Qi yells, ignoring the bodyguards. "You two, put your clothes on!!"

 

Yan Ran turns to look at Ā Si Qi and pretends to be taken aback. She gasps and hurriedly pulls the blanket over to cover herself with it. "S-Sir," she stammers. "Why did you barge in?"

 

 

The assassin removes his arms from Yan Ran's waist and looks away from her, his face red.

 

"Shut up!" Ā Si Qi turns his head slightly to look at them. He sees that Yan Ran has covered herself, and relaxes. "You're doing this stuff at a time like this?!"

 

"This is a brothel," Yan Ran explains. "If we don't do this, then what are we supposed to do?"

 

The imperial bodyguards standing behind Ā Si Qi burst out laughing.

 

"Enough nonsense!" Ā Si Qi shouts. "Let me ask you, have you seen an assassin pass by here?"

 

"Assassin? What assassin?" Yan Ran asks, playing dumb.

 

"A blue-clothed assassin covered in blood and holding a sword!" he bellows in annoyance.

 

"Oh, Sir, you saw us too--" Realizing how awkward that sounds, Yan Ran rephrases her speech. "The two of us were doing that just now, why would we have the minds to care about some assassin!"

 

"…………" Ā Si Qi considers that for a few seconds. He then huffs. "Stinkin' women!" He looks over at the bodyguards. "Let's go! We'll go search somewhere else!" Ā Si Qi ignores Yan Ran and leads the bodyguards away to search another room.

 

Yan Ran closes the door before letting out a sigh of relief. She then turns around to see that the assassin's face is so red that it's as if blood is going to drip from it. He looks down, not daring to look at Yan Ran.

 

"!!" Yan Ran stares at him, having nearly forgotten that he's still here. "Don't-Don't misunderstand……I said that in order to save you just now!"

 

The man continues to look down, his face crimson. "I-I know……" he replies helplessly. He bends down to pick up his clothes.

 

"……" Yan Ran watches him, speechless.

 

Once he's dressed, the man reaches under the bed and pulls out his sword. Standing up straight, he looks at Yan Ran. "Zhan Yue thanks Miss for your life-saving grace!" he declares. "I will definitely return your kindness in the coming days!" he promises, embarrassed. After saying that, the blue-clothed man jumps out the window and runs off with flushed cheeks.

 

"……" Yan Ran giggles. "That little assassin's so innocent~" She sighs again. "My sacrifice tonight sure is a big one."