Underneath A Thousand Skies ✔️

58 Favoring Qie Over Wife (58)

Zhao Cheng answered her smile with one of his own.

"Jia'er doesn't need to bear with such formalities. If Jia'er wants to, she could call me whichever way she likes."

He particularly liked hearing her voice saying 'wang ye'. This title was a favorite of his for no other reason than because it was what she called him during moments of passion. Just the memory of her voice, low and sweet, made his throat tighten and his gaze turn heated.

Song Jia scratched her nose. She pretended not to see the awkward gazes of his guards. She didn't even dare to take a look at Bai Mei Lien's expression, only putting on an innocent appearance, placing all of the guilt on Zhao Cheng's head.

Don't look at me, this grandma doesn't know anything, ah~

Zhao Cheng, seeing her embarrassed expression, struggled to hold back his laughter. He took her hand and teased, "Is Jia'er being shy?"

Song Jia thickened her face and retorted, "Your Majesty is joking, why would chenqie be shy?"

"If Jia'er isn't shy, then why is Jia'er blushing?"

"Your Majesty, chenqie's skin is very sensitive to the sun, that is why chenqie's cheeks are red."

Song Jia glared at him.

Stop teasing this grandma, you shameless hoodlum!

Zhao Cheng opened his mouth, about to continue teasing her. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw the glint of an arrow. It was a dying archer that still had a breath left, and used it to release a poisoned arrow from his light repeating crossbow. But because his hands were shaking too much, the path of his arrow changed and missed Zhao Cheng by a large margin, instead accidentally aiming straight at Bai Mei Lien.

"Lien'er!"

Despite his confused feelings, Zhao Cheng's body moved before his mind could catch up. Bai Mei Lien was carrying his child, she was a woman who had grown with him since childhood, a person bound to him by memory and duty.

Instinct alone drove him to shield her, turning his body towards the arrow without hesitation. It was a habit of care too deeply ingrained to cast aside. Yet, in that single instant as he pulled her into his arms, Zhao Cheng suddenly understood...his heart did not move.

There was no surge of fear, no ache, only stillness.

Bai Mei Lien was still gripped in the throes of jealousy from the harmonious interaction between Zhao Cheng and Song Jia, which made her have a delayed reaction when she suddenly found herself wrapped inside Zhao Cheng's arms.

"Brother Cheng?" she asked in confusion.

It was not only Zhao Cheng who had seen the arrow. Song Jia had also seen it, in almost the same exact time that he did. From the beginning, Song Jia's mind only revolved around her mission, which was to 'protect the monarch.' Not to mention, Song Jia had an inner hero complex. So when she saw the approaching danger that threatened the life of the only potential savior of this world, she didn't hesitate but used her anti-gravity boots to leap forward into the line of fire.

Zhao Cheng only felt a warm body suddenly hug his back, her slender arms going around his waist. A soft and sweet floral scent drifted to his nose, and Zhao Cheng's whole body stiffened. An image suddenly flashed in his mind, of a girl nestled in a tree full of pink and white peach blossoms. He did not dare to look back, but when the body suddenly slid down, he could not help but turn around to catch her.

On the pure and pristine white dress, blood quickly spread and bloomed, like a red lotus flower opening in the snow. It was a beautiful but devastating sight.