Under the long night, nearly a hundred black-clad men brandished their long swords, eyeing their targets menacingly.
In the air, a powerful gale generated by their internal energy billowed everyone's clothes.
The horses in the princess's mansion grew restless, snorting, swishing their tails, stomping their hooves, and neighing from time to time.
Chu Junyi's heart tightened. It seemed that there were people who didn't want him to live.
Who could it be?
Lord Zhu and his ilk?
"Your Highness Consort, take the princess and leave first," Jing Bai said, stealing a glance at Chu Junyi before quickly turning back, gripping his long sword and preparing for battle.
Chu Junyi gritted his teeth impatiently. "I'm afraid we won't be able to get away!"
Sure enough, the next moment, the black-clad men swarmed forward like a tide.
Chu Junyi tried to retreat with Li Xinyue in his arms, but their escape route was immediately blocked by the black-clad men.
The black-clad men surrounded them from all directions, and countless long swords glinted menacingly as they drew closer.
Chu Junyi had no choice but to put Li Xinyue down, wrapping one arm around her shoulder while gripping his long sword tightly with the other, determined to protect her at all costs.
Li Xinyue frowned slightly, a vague sense of unease creeping over her. But the alcohol was getting to her, and her consciousness was hazy. She remained in a stupor.
A cold glint flashed before her eyes, and her small hand instinctively clutched at Chu Junyi's front lapel.
Chu Junyi raised his sword and neatly severed the incoming blade.
The light that had been aimed at her instantly faded into darkness, and only the gentle breeze generated by its momentum brushed past her cheek. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly.
The black-clad man looked at the broken sword in his hand, stunned. He had never expected this man, burdened as he was, to be so agile.
Seeing this, the other black-clad men all fixed their gazes on Li Xinyue in Chu Junyi's arms, launching their attacks from this angle to catch him off guard.
Chu Junyi dodged left and right with Li Xinyue in his arms. Then he quickly hoisted her onto the horse's back, cut the reins, and slapped the horse hard with one hand.
The horse neighed and galloped away. The carriage that had been detached from the horse crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The black-clad men changed their tactics. Some went after the horse, some surrounded Jing Bai, and the rest spared no effort in attacking Chu Junyi.
But without the burden, Chu Junyi moved even faster. His sword strikes were like phantoms, and his martial arts techniques were dazzling.
After tangling with him for a while, the black-clad men realized that they couldn't capture him despite their numbers.
No wonder the mastermind had to hire an entire assassin organization to deal with this man. It was truly necessary.
Suddenly, the sound of hooves caught everyone's attention.
When Chu Junyi realized that someone dared to target his Xinyue, his rage boiled over, and he forced out all his internal energy.
The internal energy made his official robe flutter violently. His hairpin was shaken off, and his long hair fluttered wildly in the air. The black-clad men were terrified and hesitated for a moment before daring to approach.
But Chu Junyi's strikes became even faster. While throwing his sword to kill the black-clad men outside the encirclement, he could also pierce through the chest of the black-clad man in front of him with his bare hands and crush his heart.
With a spurt, blood splattered everywhere.
The brutality shocked the black-clad men once again!
Who the hell was the villain here!
Jing Bai was also stunned! Who would have thought that the gentle and courteous consort would have such a brutal side? He even began to worry that the princess might fall victim to his violence.
At that moment of shock, a sword blade came slashing towards Jing Bai. He quickly dodged, but it was still a step too late. His hand was cut, and he let out a cry of pain.
Chu Junyi heard the cry and turned to look.
Jing Bai's terrified eyes met Chu Junyi's murderous gaze. For a moment, his scalp tingled.
But Chu Junyi quickly turned back, repelled a wave of attacking assassins, and then leaped out of the encirclement to chase after the horse.
Coming to his senses, Jing Bai fought desperately to hold back the black-clad men, buying more time for Chu Junyi.
As Chu Junyi leaped forward, the sword he had thrown had already successfully killed the black-clad man who had tried to ambush Li Xinyue and was now back in his hand.
The horse stopped obediently when it saw its master, lowering its head and nuzzling his palm gently.
Chu Junyi stroked the horse's head and then tightly held Li Xinyue on the horse's back again. Only then did his anxious heart calm down.
Li Xinyue, who was in a half-awake state, was jolted uncomfortably by the bumpy ride. It wasn't until she fell into a warm embrace that she felt better. The loose long hair gently brushed against her cheek, tickling her.
She frowned slightly and reached out to pinch the strand of hair.
Chu Junyi lowered his head and gently tugged at it.
At this time, the Crown Prince had dispatched the guards of the Eastern Palace to support them.
Chu Junyi ordered Jing Bai to stay and assist in the extermination of the enemy, while he himself picked up Li Xinyue, mounted the horse, and returned to the princess's mansion.
Lian'er and Hongxiu were startled when they saw Chu Junyi return with his hair loose and a menacing aura.
Hongxiu keenly noticed that there were still bloodstains on the consort's hands that were holding the princess.
Could it be that the princess was injured?
Just as Hongxiu was about to ask, she heard Chu Junyi explain tiredly, "The princess is drunk. Go and make a bowl of sobering soup."
Then he carried Li Xinyue back to Mingyue Courtyard.
Hongxiu decided to wait until Jing Bai came back to find out.
In the bedroom, Chu Junyi carefully placed Li Xinyue on the bed. Then he realized that his bloodstained hands might have soiled her clothes, so he rushed to wash them.
When he returned, he was holding a wet towel. He took off her bloodstained outer robe and carefully wiped away the bloodstains on the bed with the wet towel.
After finishing all this, he sat down on the ground tiredly and silently stared at the sleeping Li Xinyue.
Li Xinyue murmured his name softly in her sleep.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and the murderous look in his eyes gradually faded, but a trace of worry crept in.
It was probably impossible to hide what had happened tonight.
If Xinyue knew that he came from the underworld and was so cruel, would she be afraid?
Would she divorce him?
Alas!
How could it have come to this!
Everything had been so joyous at the banquet, but in the blink of an eye, it had turned into this.
So, how could he resolve this situation now?
He lowered his head, covering his eyes with his hand in sorrow.
"Your Highness Consort, the sobering soup is here."
Chu Junyi came back to his senses, got up to open the door, took the soup bowl, and then closed the door.
Lian'er outside the door had wanted to take the opportunity to go in and have a look, but she didn't get the chance.
Chu Junyi personally fed the sobering soup to Li Xinyue and then went to take a bath.
Not long after he left, Li Xinyue woke up.
Probably because of the sobering soup, the effects of the alcohol had diminished a bit. But her reaction was still a bit slow. She stared blankly at the bed curtain for a while before realizing that this was her own room and that she was back in the princess's mansion.
Where was Chu Junyi?
There was a faint sound of water coming from the bathroom. She came to her senses and staggered towards the bathroom.
A strong fragrance of flowers and soap wafted towards her.
Beneath the fragrance, a naked man was sitting in the bathtub, supporting his head with one hand while pouring water over his body intermittently with the other.
Li Xinyue stared at this scene for a long time, stunned.
Then she finally realized that this seemed to be her bathroom, and this man seemed to be her man.
It was Chu Junyi.
These three words seemed to unlock some extraordinary mechanism. Scattered fragments of memories flashed through her empty mind. There were memories of her deliberately mispronouncing his name while drunk, and there were also memories of her feeling a hint of desire for him in the carriage while drunk.