Qian Jiaoniang was escorted into the carriage, surrounded on all sides by guards. Xing Muzheng himself sat within—no fly could have slipped past. Her heart was already calm again. She waited for the physician to arrive to tend her wound. Casting a glance at him, she saw his gaze fixed on her throat, his face dark as thunder, as if ready to slaughter at any moment.
Suddenly he leaned in, tilted his head—and brushed his tongue over the cut.
Qian Jiaoniang shivered, the wound burning anew. She pushed him away. “What are you doing?”
He allowed himself to be pushed back a little, but his eyes still clung to the raw mark on her neck. Assassins after him were nothing new, something he was long accustomed to. But someone daring to aim at Jiaoniang—his temper could not endure that.
“Forgive me, that you were hurt,” Xing Muzheng said in a low voice.
She blinked in surprise. “It was but a scratch, hardly your fault… besides, you saved me. I have yet to thank you.”
His brow furrowed. “No need to thank me. Saving you is as it should be. But that you were frightened—that should not have been.”
She could not find words in reply.
The physician was summoned and, panting, requested entry. Xing Muzheng admitted him. Under the Marquis’s fixed gaze, the doctor cleaned, medicated, and bound the wound, then respectfully said, “My lord, my lady—the lady’s injury is only superficial. With a few days’ rest she will be well.”
Xing Muzheng thanked him and had him dismissed. Yet his eyes lingered on the stark white bandage at her throat, his face still grim as death.
From outside Ah Da reported: “My lord, the men were taken alive! But nothing incriminating was found on them.”
As expected. Xing Muzheng said, “Take them back. I will interrogate them myself.”
The Marquis himself, to conduct an interrogation? Ah Da was stunned. It had been long indeed since that had happened.
“Were the arrows examined?”
“They were. Two and a half feet long, with black-gold heads. Not the sort common to outlaws or brigands. And the assassins used not bows but crossbows. From the look of them, they were very like the new-model crossbows of our own dynasty.” These had longer range and greater power than ordinary bows. The two assassins had fired from trees outside the polo ground, which was why none had noticed them sooner.
Xie Dynasty’s newly manufactured weapons? Qian Jiaoniang’s eyes flickered slightly, as if thinking of something. Only—there was one thing she truly did not understand. “Why would the assassins want to kill me?” She had neither power nor influence—only the hollow title of “marchioness,” and even that was shaky and insecure. Why would those aiming at Xing Muzheng also want her dead?
It wasn’t that the assassins would kill her by chance—their target was her. Xing Muzheng had already thought this through just moments ago. The arrow shot at him—even if he hadn’t dodged—would have missed him by a few inches. But the arrow aimed at Jiaoniang had been utterly lethal. Clearly, shooting at him was a feint—an east-of-sound strike to draw the eye west—meant to confuse onlookers and divert attention.
So… who could have such a deep-seated grudge against Jiaoniang?
Xing Muzheng was silent for a moment. Then he said to Qian Jiaoniang, “I’ll take you back first.”
“No more polo?” Jiaoniang blurted out. As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a bit embarrassed. She had just survived an assassination attempt, and here she was only thinking about playing—didn’t that make her seem terribly frivolous?
A flicker of amusement flashed through Xing Muzheng’s eyes—sure enough, she had a big heart. “You’ve got an injury on your neck. If you keep playing polo, you’ll inevitably feel unwell. Once you’re healed, we’ll come back again.”
His tone was almost like coaxing a little child. Jiaoniang grew even more self-conscious. She cleared her throat softly, turned her head aside, and gave a quiet “Oh.”
Only after saying “Oh” did she feel like she’d forgotten something. Once the carriage had started to move forward, Jiaoniang suddenly remembered: “I promised my elder sister that you would meet with Second Brother-in-law and the Sun family.”
“An unexpected incident happened today. Why not have them come to the marquis’s residence tomorrow instead?”
Jiaoniang said, “I already gave my word to Elder Sister. If I don’t keep it, the Sun family might grow suspicious. And besides, Second Sister saw me get caught up in that accident—if I don’t see her, she’ll probably worry.”
Xing Muzheng pondered briefly. Jiaoniang, seeing his hesitation, said, “If it’s inconvenient for the Marquis, then let’s have them meet tomorrow instead.”
Xing Muzheng looked up at her. “I have no inconvenience. Since you don’t want your sister to worry, it’s fine to meet them.”
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