Zu An was speechless. At least the crown princess is a beautiful woman. She feels tender and smells nice, so I can just about tolerate holding her.

But you’re a damned pig, bro! I can still see grease stains and leftover crumbs on your shirt! Who the hell wants to hug you? Do you really have no self-awareness?

He calmly wrapped his arm around the crown princess’ waist, sidestepping the crown prince and gently pushing him away. Of course, he chose his words carefully. “Your Highness, I still need to fight. If I carry you as well, both my hands will be tied up, and I won’t be able to fight off these assassins.”

The crown prince pouted and pointed at the crown princess in his arms. “Then can’t you just drop her and carry me?”

His statement boggled Zu An’s mind.

This kid really is a master of logic! I can’t fault him at all… 

Shouldn’t your main focus be on preventing me from holding your wife, though? Why aren’t you jealous at all?

An angry huff came from nearby. Qiu Honglei had rushed towards them, sword in hand. She didn’t attack Zu An, but targeted the crown princess in his arms.

Zu An fended her off while secretly sending her a voice transmission. “Honglei, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m going for that vixen. How could she fall over even on level ground? Does she take us all for fools?” Qiu Honglei’s annoyance was growing by the second. She had seen her fair share of her seniors seducing men. This was but one of their techniques.

She had looked upon them with contempt, but she never expected a woman to use it on her… Ahem. On her friend.

Zu An chuckled. “She’s a glorious crown princess. Why would she seduce me? She’s clearly exhausted from all this constant fighting.”

“Hmph, these vixens’ methods are incredible at misleading stupid men like you. It takes one woman to understand another,” Qiu Honglei said with a snort, all the while increasing the ferocity of her attacks.

Zu An was left speechless.

He couldn’t deal with her directly. He had to make sure Qiu Honglei didn’t hurt the crown princess, yet he couldn’t hurt Qiu Honglei either. It really was an awkward situation.

The other assassins reacted quickly, coming to the defense of their Lady Saint.

Qiu Honglei was now conflicted. She was worried that Zu An might be accidentally injured, yet she couldn’t overtly let their enemies go free. This was quite the predicament.

It didn’t take long for the crown princess to recover her strength after her momentary weakness. When she snapped out of her daze and discovered that she was in the golden-token envoy’s arms, she immediately grew ashamed.

She was from a distinguished clan, and had never been held like this by another man before. She had never even held hands with a man before, let alone been embraced by one.

Even after marrying the crown prince, she had never felt comfortable around him. Furthermore, the crown prince was a fool, so she never let him touch her. How could she end up letting this mere guard take advantage of her like this?

In her eyes, the Embroidered Envoy were nothing but palace guards. He was merely a high-ranking one.

She wanted to struggle free, because being seen like that in public was truly damaging for her reputation. However, she could read the situation as well. This golden-token envoy was under attack on multiple fronts. If she made any sudden movements, she could create an opening for one of his opponents to exploit.

She resisted the urge to shove him away and silently observed the assassins’ attacks. She felt a sense of alarm growing within her.

She could feel that the arm around her waist was extremely strong, and heat from it was passing through her thin clothes and into her body. It was as if an invisible force was spreading through her, gradually tugging at her heartstrings.

His gaze was focused as he faced his opponents, and the moves he used to neutralize their attacks were so suave…

Which young lady didn’t yearn for love?

Not so long ago, she had been one who enjoyed romance novels. She used to smile stupidly, curled up under the covers and reading these novels. Ever since she became the crown princess, though, her childhood fantasies were slowly extinguished, one after the other, and she never read those books again.

Wasn’t this the exact scene she had always dreamed of? That her man would protect her like this, even if the entire world was against him?

If only the crown prince was like this, how great would that be…

She subconsciously looked at the crown prince. When she saw his chubby face and those beady eyes, almost invisible under the layers of fat, she sighed.

What was even more infuriating was that the crown prince wasn’t mad that she was in the arms of another man. On the contrary, he was clapping his hands and cheering the embroidered envoy on!

Even though he was praising his strength, the crown princess still felt her heart grow cold. How could the crown prince be that simple-minded?

She did not hold any extravagant hopes that her husband would be some great hero, but he could at least be a normal person. Comparatively speaking, this embroidered envoy holding her gave her a much greater sense of security.

She wasn’t usually this weak, but too much had happened in such a short span of time, and the constant fighting had brought her face to face with the specter of death for the first time in her life. When placed in extreme danger, it was natural that one’s heart would beat much more quickly. Together with a spike in adrenaline, they would experience a quick burst of power.

Once this effect wore off, they would be left drained and weary. The crown princess was currently in this weakened state.

“You know no shame!” cried an angry voice. She noticed an assassin glaring at her, flames burning within her eyes.

The crown princess felt blood rush to her face. What an embarrassment! If even an assassin was ashamed by such a sight, how was she ever supposed to face anyone else in the imperial palace again?

All other considerations went out of her mind. When the man holding her forced back another group of assassins, she quickly squirmed out of his embrace and rushed to her husband’s side. Her heart was pounding.

“Linglong, why is your face so red?” the crown prince asked curiously. “Are you sick? Do you want me to ask the doctor to bring you some medicine?”

“Shut up!” The crown princess yelled in irritation.

“Oh…” The crown prince felt incredibly wronged, but his fear of his wife kept him from retorting. 

Qiu Honglei’s attacks grew more and more ferocious. Her anger was evident through the ki transmission. “No wonder you stopped me. It’s because of this woman! I knew it, you only smile for a new lover, but never bother about the tears of the one left behind. Hmph!”

Just the thought of the crown princess pressed up against his chest was enough to drive her to the brink of madness.

You have successfully trolled Qiu Honglei for 233… 233… 233…

Zu An’s head was about to explode. “I’m being wronged! You know that I was just about to flee, thanks to your amazing master’s appearance. How was I supposed to know that the crown princess would run to me?”

Also, when have you ever been one of my old lovers?

Qiu Honglei pouted. “You could have just ignored her.”

Zu An was despondent. “I’m known as one of the palace personnel right now. If I don’t step in, I’ll be dead for sure…”

Qiu Honglei knew that he was telling the truth, but it did little to cheer her up. “Those are all excuses. The truth is that you found the crown princess beautiful. If she looked like the crown prince, would you have protected her?”

Zu An opened his mouth, but no words came out.

He really had nothing to say. If the crown princess looked like a pig, it was true that he might not have been so enthusiastic.

Qiu Honglei sneered. “Hmph, men!”

Zu An was just about to say something when Shi Miao let out a pathetic scream. He crashed into a nearby hut, blood spurting out of his mouth. The woman attacking him did not let up, but dashed right after him.

Zu An’s expression changed immediately. Even though her movements looked graceful and otherworldly, he knew that her strikes were extremely terrifying. He had no confidence that he could bear the full brunt of her attacks while protecting the crown prince and princess. Just holding onto his own life would be difficult.

Just as he was hesitating, wondering if it was time for him to bail, a strong vibration ran through his token. A thought came to him, and he stuck out his chest and pushed Bi Linglong behind him. “Crown princess, please be careful. Hold onto the crown prince and get behind me. I will protect you!”

The sect master of the Devil Sect was already in front of him. The terrifying pressure she exerted made it hard for him to even breathe.

Right then, a cold voice split the air. “Which scoundrel dares to cause trouble in the imperial palace?!”