Cupid's Assistant

Chapter 80

Xiaodan groggily opened her eyes. She felt like she was asleep for a long time. The first thing she saw was darkness. She wanted to rub her eyes, but immediately realized her hands were tightly chained behind her back. She soon realized she was locked in a stone cell. She struggled to move. She felt heavy chains binding her ankles together. She then heard a rustling noise beside her.

"Whose there?" A voice asked.

It sounded familiar to Xiaodan. "Yinuo? Is that you?" Xiaodan asked.

"Xiaodan?" Yinuo replied.

"What happened?" Xiaodan asked.

"I'm not sure either, but it doesn't look good for us," Yinuo said.

"Are you able to use your power to break the chains?" Xiaodan asked quietly.

"I can't. I'm still in a weak state. My powers haven't fully restored. What about you?" Yinuo asked, barely able to move as they had chained her whole body.

"I can't move my wrist," Xiaodan softly said, struggling to move her wrist.

They soon heard footsteps coming toward them, and they immediately quieted down.

"It looks like you two are up?" a familiar voice spoke as he came closer to their cell.

Xiaodan and Yinuo quietly waited to see the culprit. He soon stood in front of the door cell as one of his henchmen carried a lantern for him, and another henchman stood watch. They both saw Zhang Yuz, standing there. At first, they were a bit shocked, but Xiaodan did have a lingering guess.

"I see that you are not too surprised that it is me," Zhang Yuz said, stepping into the cell and looking down at them.

"Somewhat. So what do you plan to do? What's the purpose of capturing us? What you want is Crown Princess Zhao Ying. Don't tell me you plan to trade the water dragon in exchange for her. Don't you also need the water dragon to make it rain again? Would you really want to disappoint Crown Princess Zhao Ying? And, what's the purpose of capturing me? What kind of benefit can I give you?" Xiaodan questioned, gazing up at him.

"Ha, so many questions. Well, you don't need to know my purpose, but I will answer one of your questions," Zhang Yuz said coldly, as he crouched to Xiaodan.

"The reason why I capture you is for you to make Ah Ying fall in love with me," Zhang Yuz smiled evilly.

"And how can I do that?" Xiaodan said, unfazed.

"Aren't you one of Cupid's assistants?" Zhang Yuz smirked. Before Xiaodan could make an excuse, he added, "You don't need to make an excuse; I already overheard your conversation last night."

Xiaodan was stunned but quickly collected herself. "Then you must have heard, I'm just one of his assistants," she said clearly and emphasized the last word. She didn't see the point of denying it as she saw the craziness in his eyes. Before she let Zhang Yuz talk, she added, "All I do is assist."

"HA!" Zhang Yuz roared in anger. He grabbed Xiaodan by the collar. "But you made Ah Ying and Fu Zhong fall in love with each other!" Zhang Yuz shouted.

"I simply help them interact with each other. I didn't do anything else," Xiaodan said, looking up at him, composed.

"Lies. That can't be!" Zhang Yuz roared, throwing Xiaodan back to the ground.

"I'm not lying. Some things are meant to happen," Xiaodan groaned.

"You... shut up!" Zhang Yuz shouted, wanting to kick her, but before he could, a guard came running in. The guard whispered to one of the henchmen behind Zhang Yuz.

The henchmen leaned close to Zhang Yuz and whispered, "We have spotted them. They are in the capital, heading towards the palace."

Zhang Yuz nodded his head and spun around to leave the cell. "Let's get prepared! Also, make sure these two don't escape and kill anyone who tries to free them," Zhang Yuz ordered. Both Xiaodan and Yinuo listened as their footsteps grew distant.

_____

Zhao Ying and Fu Zhong broke through the doors and into the palace courtyard. They saw Zhang Yuz waiting for them.

"Zhang Yuz-" Zhao Ying tried to say.

"Let's not get emotional," Zhang Yuz cut her off.

"You know why I'm doing this," he said, looking at Zhao Ying deeply.

"What about my father?... You didn't..., right?" Zhao Ying couldn't help but ask in a choked voice. Zhang Yuz went quiet.

"What do you think?" Zhang Yuz said vaguely. In fact, Zhang Yuz couldn't bring himself to kill Emperor Zhao. He grew up under the care of Emperor Zhao, and if he were to kill him, how would Zhao Ying care to love him? So he had Emperor Zhao under house arrest in his room.

"Zhang Yuz, you..." Zhao Ying tried to say.

"Enough talk! Are you giving yourself to me or not!" Zhang Yuz shouted.

"She is mine, and she is not going anywhere," Fu Zhong seriously said, looking up at Zhang Yuz.

"Oh, is that so...," Zhang Yuz narrowed his eyes.

"Yes," Fu Zhong said firmly, staring directly at Zhang Yuz.

"Attack!" Fu Zhong shouted as an army surrounded Zhang Yuz and his army.

"What?" Zhang Yuz was confused.

"You think I didn't send a message back home for my men, just like you did?" Fu Zhong said, baffled.

______

"Xiaodan, are you alright?" Yinuo asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little bruised," Xiaodan answered, moving a bit.

"We have to get out of here-" Before Xiaodan finished her sentence, they heard voices shouting.

"Fire!" Guards shouted.

Xiaodan and Yinuo soon smelled a faint smell of something burning. It didn't take long for them to see smoke coming in. They soon heard footsteps running to them. Once it got close, they saw it was He Jingy and Jiu Jun.