• So this next scene picks up from when the Crown Prince takes his little sister Princess Shao Ning and 10th Prince as hostages. Zhi Wei is sent by the Emperor to get his favorite daughter back safely. (It makes more sense in the novel why the Emperor would send Zhi Wei. The Emperor had seen first hand what a good fighter Gu Nan Yi is, so sending Zhi Wei who is good with words along with her guard who would be very useful if the negotiation goes south make a lot of sense.)

A conversation between our two leads before their confrontation with the Crown Prince:

“Certain people can’t stay alive.” Ning Yi says after a moment of silence.

“It is not good for certain people to die either.” Zhi Wei smiles up at him “For example, the hostages.”

“Rescue 10th.” Ning Yi frowns “That’s enough to report back to the Emperor.” After a short pause, Ning Yi continues “I will make sure you are alright.”

Zhi Wei trusts Ning Yi’s words but she stayed silent. This is the first time she negotiated with Ning Yi…it leaves her heart feeling cold. A few words are supposed to determine who live and die. It is only natural that Ning Yi thinks nothing of it. But why does she too feel so calm and matter of fact about it?

In the end, she is a naturally ruthless sort of person after all.

“Don’t disappoint me.” Under the light of the torch, the man’s smile is dazzling “Or else, you will despair.”

The smile was full of meaning, his eyes filled with things even Zhi Wei is unable to discern.

Pulling her horse around, Zhi Wei flashes a grin towards Ning Yi “Don’t let me despair.”

“Or else, I go crazy.”

  • Unlike in the drama where Princess Shao Ning is all about her older brother, in the novel Princess Shao Ning and the Crown Prince had a huge argument over what the Crown Prince is doing and his plan to kill 10th Prince. Furious when Princess Shao Ning tries to protect the 10th Prince, the Crown Prince would’ve killed Princess Shao Ning himself if things didn’t get chaotic from there. (So while Princess Shao Ning will certainly mourn for the Crown Prince, she is not as attached to him as in the drama.)
  • In trying to save the Princess, Zhi Wei and princess both fell over the palace wall. Gu Nan Yi manages to save Zhi Wei but thanks to a mysterious man in a black cloak, the Princess is saved as well.

Rising his head, Ning Yi’s mind is going over all the suspicious things…purposefully avoiding looking at the (Zhi Wei and Gu Nan Yi’s) intertwined hands…and Feng Zhi Wei.

He has to appear calm, so no one would see the real emotions behind them.

When she fell, he was terrified. When he saw her protecting the princess, he was stunned. After the terror and shock, then it was a furious rage…but there was also a sense of bleakness that refuses to be suppressed.

It hasn’t even been more than half of a day since they parted after their negotiation, yet the next time he sees her is to watch her break their deal right in front of him.

She is always like this. Uttering gentle words while wearing a mask but promptly forgetting all her promises the second she turns around. Forever pointing a knife towards him with the most alluring and charming smile.

And him…how much longer is he going to be soft-hearted?

Until when? How much longer is he going to let this ever changing hidden scourge fester?

In the past, he could convince himself that as a useless prince there is no need to create more troubles for himself. But now, everything is about to change. He is already walking on a path of no return. A cutthroat battle for the throne is about to commence, tens of thousands of lives are dependent on him, there is no more room for hesitation and retreat.

No matter what had caused him to hesitate all this time, fate has determined the outcome.

Wei Zhi, Feng Zhi Wei.

Me and you, from now,

are enemies.

Feng Zhi Wei stares at Ning Yi from a long distance away.
That man sits on a strapping horse, with an army behind him seemingly taking in everything under the heaven with his eyes…except her.
Quiet for a long while, Zhi Wei finally lets out a sigh.
She doesn’t do certain things on purpose but for some reason, it’s like fate has other ideas and she always ends up standing on the opposite side of him.
She doesn’t plan on attempting to explain herself to him.
Some things can’t be explained. When she fell off the palace wall with the Princess, he had shown up at that exact moment, witnessing everything…and it’s too late.

  • In the drama, our heroine saved Princess Shao Ning out of a moral responsibility…but as we have established, the Zhi Wei in the novel is nowhere as idealistic as the heroine in the drama. Zhi Wei had fully intended to keep her promise to Ning Yi but changed her mind when she saw Princess Shao Ning’s face. (They met in Qing Ming college before but the Princess had some disguise on back then.) So what’s the big deal about Princess Shao Ning’s face? Remember Ning Yi being shocked the first time he saw Zhi Wei’s face? Yap, those are connected but I am going to leave it at that for now.
  • Before he died, the Crown Prince had asked Princess Shao Ning to do two things for him. 1. Kill the Emperor. 2. Kill Ning Yi. Certain that Ning Yi is the one that had set her brother up, Princess Shao Ning decides that while she is not going to do the Crown Prince’s first request but she will avenge her brother’s death by accomplishing his second request.
  • Like in the drama, Princess Shao Ning has a crush on Zhi Wei and asks our heroine’s help in killing Ning Yi. In the drama, under Princess Shao Ning’s watchful eyes, Zhi Wei is forced to draw Ning Yi into a room pretending that she is going to help the Princess assassinate our hero. In the novel, however, it was Princess Shao Ning who was meeting Zhi Wei in a room trying to persuade our heroine to join her and that’s when Ning Yi’s assassins attacked.
  • Zhi Wei saves the Princess yet again and convinces Gu Nan Yi to take the Princess back to the palace. Left alone in the room like a sitting duck, our heroine calmly plans her escape.

Tossing the candle in her hand into the air, Zhi Wei quickly jumps backward but instead of hitting the hard wall, her body smacks into a warm embrace.

The embrace wasn’t tight but she still couldn’t move at all. The scent of the man come rushing towards her as he nestles his lips next to her ear, sending a cold sweat through her body.

Giving up any attempt of struggling, Zhi Wei’s finger twirls until a blade silently drops into her palm.

The man behind her suddenly lets out a low sigh.

The sigh was drawn out, like the wind that swept across fallen leaves. So low that it almost can’t be heard but seemingly also as loud as a thunder. Zhi Wei’s body jerks slightly in response, as the movement in her fingers freezes suddenly.

During the brief few seconds Zhi Wei’s body stiffened, the man has already reached out a hand with stunning preciseness grabbed hold of the hand that held the blade. Playfully yet gentle, the hand caress the surface of the blade before snapping it in half.

Letting out a soft laugh, the man sends the broke blade flying off into the only peek hole in the room with a flick of his fingers, getting rid of the last remaining light as he plunges the room into darkness.

The blade is gone, but the hand has not left as it traces each one of her fingers repeatedly until it reaches her palm.

Silent, Zhi Wei is utterly still, paying no attention to what should have been a sizzling seductive moment- because while he is holding her, one of his hand is rested right on a fatal pressure point over her chest.

Seemingly completely unaware that a move of his hand could kill, the man is hovering so close until their breaths are mixed and even their hair are entangled, soft yet cold…like their mood at that moment.

Tipping his head to the side slightly, the man’s lips brush across her silky smooth cheek, like a fallen leaf that floated across the water, sending small ripples across.

Sending a shiver through both of them.

In the dark, the man stilled his own quickened breath until it is calm again then silently backed away.

Like a dragonfly’s fragile transparent wings that are powerless to lift the heavy darkness, Zhi Wei’s heart is abruptly filled with a sorrowful ache.

The dark silence in the room is finally shattered by hurried footsteps and yells of “Wei Zhi! Wei Zhi!”

Zhi Wei moved slightly but is not sure how to respond to the commotion. The man chuckles again then suddenly pushed her forward, sending her towards the door. She felt the cool and soft fabric brush against her cheek, carrying with it that familiar scent. She reached out her hand towards it but it only flew past her fingers like water.

 

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