His Majesty And I ✔️

Floating Clouds

I wrote this like... probably 6 months ago. Finally reached here. Couldn't wait.

Chapter 58

Imperial Concubine Wei
Wei Li Lian
Hougong

It was her wedding day with Yuwen Hong. She had this beautiful huge, long, red hanfu. It glowed in the light. Her mother was there, though she couldn't see her face. They hugged and laughed. Nameless was in attendance too in the midst of her loved ones.

King Tobba was also happy for her. He asked for forgiveness for all his doings and they made up, father and daughter reconciled. Yuwen Hong promised not to kill anymore because he was deeply in love and for her he was going to change.

Ai and Dao were her wedding attendants. They were all so happy. Grand Consort Shu was happy. Mistress Han was excited. Even stoned face Mistress Ki was smiling. Yang Liu and General Feng were love doves at her wedding. Luo Meng didn't get an invitation, that rat. And so did all of the harem. They couldn't  spoil her day by gossiping.

“Li Lian.” A faraway voice called her.

Where was she?

In her chambers?

In the dragon palace?

Last night… What happened last night?

Oh, yes, she was called to sleep over and got prepared for the emperor, but he never came. He was too busy after wasting away his day with her doing nothing. He probably found her already asleep.

Sleep… She wanted to sleep more. Just one more minute. Because she was warm. It was warm all over and she was so rested.

Around her waist was Yuwen Hong’s arm. Being a restless sleeper, since she was always adjusting all the time because of her backaches, sometimes she ended up throwing off the blanket. And many times, Yu’er would cover her and bring her back to sleep straight.

When he turned to the other side of the bed, he turned with her, rolling her over to the other side. No wonder he didn’t like her sleeping in his palace. It seemed like so much effort. Yet, she enjoyed it the most, she didn’t care.

“Li Lian.” His raspy voice came again. She was too tired to answer. It was not yet daylight, that she was sure of.

“My love?” His hand circled her stomach tenderly. “Wake up.”

“Why?” she groaned.

When he noticed she was half awake and was alert enough to hear him, he said, “I have the dragon sword beneath the pillows we are resting on.”

She frowned at the urgency of his voice.

“Listen to me, carefully. I am going to count to three and I will jump out, you pull out the dragon sword and throw it to me.”

“What is―”

“One, two, three!”

Yuwen Hong leapt out of the blankets and flew into the air. The long hours he spent training with his generals gave him the ability to move quietly, almost without sound, and to be a deadly opponent in close combat.

"Who dares to break into the dragon palace? Come out!" He demanded with a scary tone she had never heard from him.

From the shadows, wave after wave of men in black came out and charged at him. They screamed as they ran, their held up swords shining under the light of the moon that came through the top windows.

Instantly, there was crushing, grunting, and breaking of bones. Squeals of pain and grunts of perturbation.

Li Lian couldn’t believe what was happening. She went on her knees and scrambled around with trembling hands. Pulling the pillows, she threw them away and found a heavy sheathed sword. The metal of the case was encrusted with patterned designs by the feel of it.

Looking up, there was a scuffle of men wrestling against the other. Swords swished in the air, clunking against each other. Blood splattered and there was a continuous thudding of people falling on the floor. The only reason she could make out who Yuwen Hong was in the dimness, was because of his white silks among the black.

“I found it!” She screamed to him.

“Throw it over!”

She didn’t think twice in abiding, though not sure if he would catch it.

Yuwen Hong was however, more than skilled. He maneuvered, snapping the neck of the man in front of him, and black flipped just in time to catch the sword. He was quite fast and his movements unpredictable.

Her shouting became her downfall. The intruders realised she was also in the room and two of them made the decision to come for her.

“Run!” he commanded.

Li Lian knew if she stayed and tried helping on this fight, she would be a destruction to him. She clambered for the door with the man on her heels.

“Assassins!” she screamed, expecting the entourage to help, but the door was opened to a passageway with a sea of people running up and down. There were more of the men in black.

The dragon palace was under attack.

The men following launched an attack against her, but she swerved out of the way that they hit the wall. She was about to punch them when General Feng appeared and slashed their necks with his sword in one go.

“Where is His Majesty?” He impatiently asked.

“Ins-Inside! There are many in there. Go help him now.”

He didn’t need her to tell her twice. “Go hide in the study room. Your maid is hiding there too.” General Feng told her as he rushed into the bedchamber.

Looking around, some of the entourage lay unconscious.

Thank heavens Ai was safe. How would she face life without the only person she grew up with if anything happened to her? She looked around and was surprised to see the many servants fighting back against the assassins. They were not helplessly getting killed but holding their own. Surely, Yu’er’s entourage was special. They were trained in martial arts and knew how to defend themselves.

Court Lady Nam was getting overpowered by three men who were attacking from all sides. Li Lian widely kicked one of the men and rammed him hard on his neck sending him on the floor. Court Lady Nam took this opportunity to hit the rest to the pulp. A glance of appreciation passed from the woman to Li Lian, then she continued on to help another maid that fought off four.

When Li Lian examined the person she just hit, she realised a very familiar thing that had bothered her before.

The shoes!

Those shoes, she had seen them worn by a very peculiar eunuch before. Then to add things up, the past weeks she had seen unfamiliar faces scattered around the palace.

It was definitely a mass infiltration, something that had been planned for months. Though she was sure they were not her people, the question still stood; who were they from?

She took the lying man by his garments, pulling him up. Li Lian shook him awake, to which his eyes fluttered.

"Who sent you?"

He coughed out blood.

"Tell me now. Who sent you, or do you seek death?"

He grinned, a devilish smile, before starting to chew something. And there and then, foam formed in his mouth.

Li Lian let go of him like he was a sack of hot potatoes. He had poison tucked in his teeth so that he would die if his mission failed. It was catastrophic.

At that moment, Li Lian decided she would try helping out than to go hide like a scared cat. She had to get to the bottom of this. Only to her demise, when she rotated she got a sharp hit on her head that had her falling, and everything became black.

~Author's Note~

I really wanted to reach here before stopping.

S.V