The Princess Cannot Escape: The Cunning Prince Is Not to Be Messed With

Chapter 84 Crisis After Crisis

Xiahou Ying looked at Yin Quan. Despite having dealt with Gu Lounan earlier, his wedding robe was still perfectly smooth and without a single wrinkle.

That vibrant, pure, and exquisite red looked so festive and pleasing to the eye, as if it had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Wearing the same style and color wedding robe as him, Yin Quan looked at him through the constantly swaying beaded curtain in front of her. She could only see a faint, dark crimson in his eyes, and nothing else.

Staring intently at his utterly expressionless, aloof features, Yin Quan's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that he wants to…

No, no, no, how could Xiahou Ying possibly...

Could it be... possible?

Holy crap! Is this some kind of total rip-off?!

Gu Lounan, you son of a bitch! Even perverts have their limits!

Giving him a choice is tantamount to sending him to his death!

You're the one who should die!

Suddenly, at that moment, Xiahou Ying, who had remained silent all along, began to move his thin lips: "This king will not be threatened by anyone."

She opened her eyes, glared at Xiahou Ying, and felt her heart suddenly stop beating. A roar escaped her lips: "You bastard Xiahou Ying! Are you trying to send me to my death?!"

Before she could finish speaking, Crown Prince Xiahou Jue had already led a large number of imperial guards to surround her.

"Imperial Preceptor! What are you dawdling for?!" Xiahou Jue said as he leaped out from among the guards and shoved Yin Quan off the Phoenix Terrace.

Everything happened too fast. Before she could even react to what was happening, she vaguely saw two figures rushing towards her.

Xiahou Ying? Gu Lounan?

What's going on now?!

Just now, weren't we just hoping she'd die...?

She was really unlucky. She died from a gunshot wound in her past life, and now she's jumping off a building to her death. God must have really disliked her to keep finding ways to torment her to death. It's like there are seventy-two different ways to die...

Just as Yin Quan began to have some strange and chaotic thoughts, he was shocked to see a row of archers in black armor emerge from the high platform. The black-armored guards nocked their arrows and drew their bows, the arrowheads pointing straight down.

Under the pale sunlight, the jet-black arrows gleamed with a dark, gleaming light, exuding a murderous aura that was chilling to the bone.

"Watch out!" she cried out in alarm. She didn't care about doubting Xiahou Ying's sincerity towards her, nor did she care whether she would die from the steel arrow or from gravity first. She only felt her scalp tingle and her vision go black. All she could think of for a moment was cursing.

Hearing Yin Quan's shocked yet slightly panicked shout, Xiahou Ying pursed her lips but did not turn around. Her clear, bright eyes remained fixed on Yin Quan's beautiful, sparkling eyes, as if trying to prove something, or perhaps just stubbornly clinging to her.

Seeing that Xiahou Ying and Gu Lounan were unmoved by her warning, Yin Quan frowned. Just then, a white silk ribbon tightened around her waist, and almost simultaneously, she was pulled into Xiahou Ying's arms. The two of them then landed on the ground.

Staring intently into those cold, dark eyes, as clear as the moonlight, she paused for a moment, then struggled desperately to break free from his embrace. She even raised her hand at him, but it didn't land for a long time.

"Bastard! Didn't you just want to let me die?! And now you're saving me?! Are you afraid I'll haunt you even as a ghost?!" With a snort, Yin Quan swung her arm aside, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to slap Xiahou Ying's cold and aloof face.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, she looked up and saw that the row of archers had been scattered by a group of soldiers wearing fine iron armor, and the prince was nowhere to be found.

She pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "You knew all along?"

Gu Lounan glanced subtly at the furious Yin Quan, raised an eyebrow, looked up, and then slowly curled the corners of his lips into a smile.

Zhao Ting arrived just in time...

Thinking of this, he looked away and glanced at Xiahou Ying, then turned around. Just then, a strong wind suddenly rose on Phoenix Terrace, and the bright yellow banners fluttered and waved. Under the banners, a black crossbow was clearly visible, its tip pointing directly at Xiahou Ying's back.

Seemingly forgetting how heavy the phoenix crown was, Yin Quan looked up at that handsome and refined face, but she couldn't get the answer she wanted for a long time.

He clenched his fists and kept moving forward towards Xiahou Ying, forcing him to take several steps back.

"say something!"

Before she could finish speaking, a sharp, buzzing sound suddenly tore through the air, like a swift black lightning bolt invisible to the naked eye, about to pierce through the tall, upright figure in front of her in an instant.

"summer……"

Her beautiful eyes widened suddenly, and Yin Quan's face turned pale. But then she saw Xiahou Ying flick his wrist, as if a white light shot out from his sleeve.

With a muffled thud, the black arrow suddenly broke in two, one half falling into the snow and the other half embedding itself in the wall.

"I know." With his hands behind his back and eyes lowered, Xiahou Ying barely moved his thin lips before reaching out to stroke her pale, paper-white cheek.

With her lips slightly parted, she stared blankly into those long, narrow, dark eyes, then suddenly grabbed the large hand that was resting on her cheek and bit down hard, not letting go until she tasted a faint metallic saltiness in her mouth.

Watching the two from the side, Gu Lounan pursed his lips, intentionally or unintentionally letting out a barely audible cough, before speaking: "Your Highness..."

Before Xiahou Ying could respond, Yin Quan spoke up first: "When did you two start hooking up?"

Upon hearing the word "flirting," Xiahou Ying frowned slightly, while Gu Lounan remained smiling and showed no displeasure.

Looking around, Yin Quan frowned, and after a long while, she suddenly realized: "Last night, your purpose in coming to the Prince Duan's residence was not to see me..."

Upon hearing this, Gu Lounan raised an eyebrow and opened his two phoenix eyes, which were curved like a new moon, as if he was quite surprised by her guess.

"Little Quan Quan, I'm so glad you're a woman..." That's why I can't bear to kill you.

He swallowed the rest of his words, a slight smile playing on his lips as he spoke. He then strode forward, but stopped after a few steps, turning back to look at Xiahou Ying: "Your Highness, if you don't keep a close eye on her, I will take her away from you sooner or later."

After saying that, he chuckled softly, looked away, and walked slowly forward, gradually disappearing into the distance.

Yin Quan stared at the rather flamboyant crimson-purple figure from behind, her lips pursed, and she couldn't help but shudder.

She had a feeling that... without her knowledge, Xiahou Ying and Gu Lounan had some unspeakable secret.

Thinking of this, she suddenly realized that if everything that happened on Phoenix Terrace was just a carefully planned play for the Crown Prince by those two, then the woman who was just now... the woman who was just now coerced by Gu Lounan... could she not be Qin Chang'an?!

As Yin Quan pondered this, she turned her gaze to Xiahou Ying and moved her lips slightly.

When did all of this begin...?

She didn't even notice?!

Yin Quan's mind was in turmoil for a moment. She frowned and was about to speak when Xiahou Ying spoke first.

"I will explain it to you later, but now..." he said, then paused, and even his gaze toward her softened and became intoxicating in an instant.

"We still need to continue this wedding ceremony."

Blinking, Yin Quan froze, then exclaimed in realization, "Is it really appropriate to talk about this kind of thing at a time like this?! Xiahou Ying, are you kidding me?!"

Before she could finish speaking, a series of clanging sounds of armor clashing rang out from all sides, accompanied by a slightly hoarse yet resounding shout like metal striking the ground: "Your Majesty, I am late in coming to Your Majesty's rescue! Please forgive me!"

Turning her head at the sound, Yin Quan pursed her lips.

The old man in front of her was thin and frail. He was the same person who had come to her residence some time ago after she and Xiahou Ying returned to the capital from Qiucheng. He was also the person on the list that Jing Yu had presented to her—Song Chen.

Without making a sound, Yin Quan glanced at the two people standing together, and suddenly felt a chill that she had never felt before.

When did Xiahou Ying... begin...?

Could it be that he had already planned all of this before she even met him...?

Perhaps the crown prince always believed that he was the mantis hiding behind the oriole, but now, isn't that too ridiculous?

After only a brief moment of looking at Song Chen and Xiahou Ying, Yin Quan lowered her eyes and glanced at her bright red wedding robe through the swaying gold and jade bead curtain before looking up at the ten-zhang-high platform that had long since returned to calm.

Sunlight broke through the clouds, shining straight onto every gray-blue stone brick of Phoenix Terrace, flickering and varying in shades. Yellow-green moss, damp with snowmelt, could be faintly seen between the cracks in the stones. Where the sunlight had not touched, the snow remained, as if to proclaim that the Crown Prince's coup had come to an end.

The red silk was still dazzling, the banners still stood tall, and there wasn't even a single tear.

The crown prince's coup and subsequent loss of power seemed to have never happened.

Yin Quan lowered her gaze to Xiahou Ying, who was standing with Song Chen the whole time. She pursed her lips, then lifted her skirt and walked towards him.

"How do you think Emperor Tianxi will deal with the Crown Prince?"

Upon hearing this, before Xiahou Ying could react, Song Chen first opened his eyes wide without any attempt to hide it, but then quickly returned to normal.

"Princess Consort Duan, this matter..."

"Lord Song, I respect your integrity, incorruptibility, and ability to offer advice, but now that I have married Xiahou Ying as his concubine, the Crown Prince's coup is a matter of state, but it is also a matter of my family..." At this point, Yin Quan paused, and her gaze toward Song Chen became even sharper.

"Therefore, please do not try to fob me off with words like 'women should not interfere in politics'."

She spoke very slowly, as if intentionally emphasizing every word and sentence she uttered.

His expression froze. Song Chen stared at the woman before him, dressed in a bright red wedding robe and wearing a pearl and jade phoenix crown. He was greatly shocked, but only for a brief moment before speaking: "Women are not allowed to interfere in politics. That is a rule established since ancient times..."

"Heh..." Before he could finish speaking, Yin Quan suddenly chuckled and interrupted him, which made Song Chen's old face even darker, but he forced himself to endure it because of Xiahou Ying.

"Rules established since ancient times? I think these rules must have been set by you men. Women are not allowed to interfere in politics? Lord Song, may I ask you, in this vast world, what makes you think that women are necessarily inferior to men? I've heard that the strongest pirate leader currently wreaking havoc on the seven seas is a woman." As she spoke, Yin Quan curled her lips and continued, "Lord Song, it's time to change your mind."

After saying that, Yin Quan slowly walked past Song Chen, and only let go of her skirt when she reached Xiahou Ying's side.

Following her silhouette, Song Chen stared wide-eyed, his expression a mixture of anger and astonishment.

In his eyes, Yin Quan's eloquent speech was nothing but nonsense, yet Prince Duan did not raise any objections from beginning to end, and even seemed to indulge him. He could not understand this at all.

Slowly narrowing his eyes, Song Chen averted his gaze.

If such a woman cannot one day stand willingly by Prince Duan's side, she should be eliminated as soon as possible.

"So heavy!" Yin Quan muttered under her breath, glancing sideways at Xiahou Ying's sharply defined and smooth profile. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she smiled and said, "Let's continue."