The warning came a heartbeat too late.
A sharp crack split the night as an arrow slammed into the wooden pillar beside the Emperor's head, splintering the lacquered surface.
Jiao Shui shrieked.The bullet comments shrieked louder.
[System: HOST DUCK.][System: WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING.][System: MOVE MOVE MOVE.]
Emperor Yang didn't flinch.
He grabbed her wrist, yanked her behind him, and the warmth of his hand was so startling she nearly forgot about the murder attempt currently unfolding.
Outside the balcony, masked figures in black scaled the roof tiles like shadows come alive. Blades glinted in the moonlight.
One of them pointed directly at Jiao Shui.
"Target located."
Her knees nearly gave out."Target? Me?! Why me? I've been alive for like three hours!"
[System: Host becomes important unfortunately.]
The Emperor stepped forward, placing himself fully between her and the assassins. In one swift motion, he pulled a blade from within his robe.
A curved dagger with a black jade hilt.Royal. Deadly. Beautiful.
He looked furious—not at the assassins, but at the idea that someone dared aim at her.
"You dare invade my palace?" he growled. "You dare target my concubine?"
Jiao Shui sputtered. "I'm WHAT?!"
[System: New title unlocked: Temporary Concubine.][System: Warning: Emperor Yang is declaring things without permission again.][System: Suggest screaming internally.]
The assassins descended.
The first leapt from the roof toward the balcony, blade aimed straight for Emperor Yang's throat. The Emperor sidestepped with a motion so smooth it felt choreographed, grabbed the attacker's wrist mid-air, twisted, and sent the man crashing into the balcony railing.
Another assassin charged.Then another.
Two at once.
The Emperor moved like a storm given human form. Graceful fury. Controlled destruction. His blade flashed, catching the moonlight with each strike.
Jiao Shui pressed against the wall, shaking violently.
[System: Host should not interfere.][System: Host cannot fight.][System: Host is squishy.]
Thanks, system.
Just when the Emperor finished disabling the fourth assassin, one final figure appeared behind him.
A masked man—silent, precise—slipping through shadows toward Jiao Shui.
She froze.
He raised his blade.
"Don't," she whispered.
He lunged.
"JIAO SHUI!"The Emperor spun, too far to reach her in time.
Her mind blanked.Her legs refused to move.All she saw was the blade cutting through the silver light toward her—
And then someone else grabbed her shoulders and shoved her aside with a force that knocked the breath out of her.
A body collided with the assassin.Steel met steel.
Jiao Shui hit the floor with a gasp.
She looked up.
The assassin's attacker stood between her and the blade.Moonlight caught familiar features.
No.Impossible.
Song Lingfang.
The quiet historian was suddenly anything but quiet.
He held a concealed short blade in one hand, blocking the assassin with frightening precision. His expression was calm, cold, lethal. So different from the gentle scholar she met moments ago that her mind struggled to reconcile the two images.
"Stay away from her," Song Lingfang said, voice low.
The assassin faltered.As if he recognized him.As if he feared him.
Emperor Yang stared, momentarily stunned.
"...Lingfang?"
The historian didn't answer.
He twisted, disarmed the assassin with a single, practiced motion, and sent the man sprawling across the balcony.
Silence slammed into the room.
Jiao Shui sat on the floor, shaking, staring at Song Lingfang with wide eyes.
"You—" Her voice cracked. "Why do you fight like that?!"
Song Lingfang finally looked at her.
His gentle smile returned, though it didn't quite hide the sharpness beneath.
"I told you," he said softly. "I came because you called for me."
The Emperor stepped forward, fury simmering under his skin.
"Song Lingfang," he said. "Explain. Now."
Song Lingfang sheathed the blade inside his sleeve like he had done it a thousand times.
"I will," he replied."But not with assassins dying on your balcony."
[System: Host has triggered Major Plotline: The Hidden Past.][System: Intimacy levels: Emperor +4, Scholar +3.][System: Love triangle probability now 99.8 percent.[System: Host is definitely doomed romantically.]
Jiao Shui groaned into her hands.
She peeked through her fingers.
Both men were staring at her now.
One with suspicion wrapped in obsession.The other with tenderness wrapped in secrets.
Neither looked like they planned to step aside.