As he approached her step by step, Tao Sheng became so nervous that her heart raced. She stepped back repeatedly until she backed up against the screen.

Watching Prince Rui’s face getting closer, Tao Sheng clenched the golden hairpin she had been holding since morning.

This golden hairpin was made by a craftsman for self-defense and was very sharp. Tao Sheng forced herself to calm down and aimed it at Prince Rui’s neck. She was afraid that if she missed, it would trigger his desire to conquer her and make him even more uncontrollable.

Just as the golden hairpin was about to pierce Prince Rui’s neck, a sharp sound of breaking ceramics echoed, and Prince Rui collapsed.

The person behind him who intervened was none other than Su Cheng, whom Tao Sheng had just met a few days ago.

Tao Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, put away the golden hairpin, and went to check on Prince Rui’s injuries.

Su Cheng’s attack was strong. The back of Prince Rui’s head started bleeding, and he fell down. Luckily, he was still breathing steadily, so he was likely just knocked out and not close to dying.

Su Cheng used a sweet white glaze dark-flowered green peach plum vase from the antique shelf as his weapon. 

As a martial artist, Su Cheng could cause a lot of damage with his moves. Fortunately, when traveling, Prince Rui had brought only the lightest items, including this vase, which was much lighter than the heavy antique vases usually found in the palace. 

If he had used a heavy vase, Prince Rui might have been seriously hurt, which would have caused problems for them.

Tao Sheng calmed down and asked Su Cheng, “When did you catch up?” 

Su Cheng had been in the military camp for years. Seeing Prince Rui knocked out didn’t affect him much. His only concern was that he hadn’t been gentle enough and that Prince Rui would wake up too soon. Now, he felt relieved that Prince Rui would stay unconscious for a while.

“I followed your team on the road when you set out,” Su Cheng explained.

The emperor didn’t stick to the usual rules. The first two teams left at midnight, and Su Cheng was still asleep then, so he didn’t go with them. When he woke up and saw that the team was slow to move, he learned they didn’t leave until noon.

Even though the Holy Chariot seemed to be missing many people, Su Cheng had no way to contact Tao Sheng, so he decided to follow them.

He hadn’t seen Tao Sheng in the team, then remembered she had followed the princess’s carriage, so it made sense that she wasn’t with the horse riders. He calmly waited for a chance to talk to her.

Later, the team stopped before dark, and he finally saw Tao Sheng leave the camp with a eunuch and go to a courtyard.

Feeling that something was off, Su Cheng found the right moment to climb over the wall into the yard, hoping to find Tao Sheng to understand what was happening.

He waited in the dark outside Prince Rui’s door. When he heard something suspicious inside, he broke in.

He didn’t expect that Prince Rui would act righteous in front of others but was a beast behind their backs, even mistreating a young lady.

Angry, Su Cheng picked up a vase and smashed it on Prince Rui’s head.

This action knocked Prince Rui unconscious and gave Su Cheng and Tao Sheng time to escape.

Tao Sheng felt a headache looking at the fallen Prince Rui. 

No matter what, Prince Rui was in charge of the team. Now that the emperor and the King of Chu weren’t with him, even if Prince Rui woke up fine, he wouldn’t let this go easily.

After some discussion, Su Cheng remembered to ask, “Have you told the emperor about this?”

“I have already informed him,” Tao Sheng said. “The emperor divided the team into three groups and went to Chengde, probably to deal with this situation.”

“Then I’m relieved,” Su Cheng replied. “I came to ask you about this. If the emperor knows, my mission is complete. Given the current situation, why don’t you come with me to Lingguo and stay at Lord Ji’s house to avoid trouble?”

Tao Sheng thought about it. 

Su Cheng was right; the situation was not good for her. Prince Rui controlled everything. Even if he failed this time, he would find other ways to trouble her. 

Plus, it was uncertain if the emperor would go to the Mountain Resort. If he didn’t, and she and Prince Rui went to the temporary palace, trouble would eventually come.

Tao Sheng understood the emperor better after spending time with him.

Even if the emperor knew she had left the team without permission, as long as she explained why and showed that Prince Rui had crossed a line, he wouldn’t punish her.

Thinking this, Tao Sheng decided, “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

***

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