Here's the chapter that was supposed to be for yesterday. I'm sorry I couldn't update. I'm currently busy with moving houses for the second time this year lmao and yes I'm moving during the holidays which makes it even worse but this is the only free time I have. Next update will be on Wed because I can't commit to do it daily this week. Gomen!

Feng Yanyan jumped away from Wangye as fast as he could.

"Ahem... I'm not gay or anything, I was just scared." He could hear shouts from the other boats as Danwan's elite special forces hounded the assailants.

"Gay?" Long Xu Le frowned.

"Uh... another word for a cutsleeve." He rubbed his nose, forgetting that word wasn't really used in this era.

"Don't fool around."

His chin was grabbed all of a sudden and his vision was filled with the image of Wan Li Wang's serious face.

Aiyooo, too close. Feng Yanyan feared his nose will bl–

"Why is your nose bleeding?" The King was puzzled. She was sure he wouldn't have internal injuries because she blocked all the arrows with her whip.

His face was also uninjured.

"This is nothing! Wangye, you said people will come." Feng Yanyan inched away from her while dabbing his nose with a handkerchief.

He felt he would melt from guilt if Wangye stared at him more. Long Xu Le's eyes were painted with suspicion.

"Commander, General Su reporting!"

Her Highness pried her gaze away from Beauty Feng.

"What is the situation?" She frowned.

The attackers were solely targeting Feng Yanyan. It was bad news. Did they discover something about the Feng family or not?

There were many secrets hidden underneath Dalong but Wan Li Wang wasn't ready to expose the Feng family to the world.

At least not yet. That Old Master Feng would surely rage if their family came to light.

Governor-General Su wasn't blind not to see Feng Yanyan's close proximity to the King. But he had no time to play around.

"These people are more decisive than others. The moment they saw the assassination failed, the person closest to our proximity sliced his throat. The others jumped into the waters. The arrows came from different parts of the ship but the trajectories made it look like they were all from one direction."

General Su made sure that Wangye understood the strength of the other party.

These were elites of elites. But of course, their forces were also not to be reckoned with.

"We managed to track the four assassins who escaped. Separate teams are onto them now. It would only be a matter of time until they are captured."

Long Xu Le nodded. Her serene posture was separate from the occasional cries of the panicked crowd upstairs. The limelight of the winners from the race that just ended vanished because of this incident.

The breeze from the lake lifted her robes just a bit.

"Out of all the people in this boat..." Her gaze landed on Beauty Feng.

Feng Yanyan felt the terror of losing his head once again. The King's words were right. Out of all the people, he was the one targeted.

"Wangye, this one swears I didn't offend anyone!" He clutched his neck, feeling a phantom thread tightening around it.

"Noisy."

He received a glare.

General Su shook his head at the young man. In the army, everyone knew better than to spout nonsense when the Commander was thinking.

"Su Chen, it will be known that the target is ben dian."

It was an unexpected order.

The young Governor-General was stupefied. Realizing that he was rudely gawking at his commander, he saluted to follow the orders.

How come her Highness was willing to go this far to protect Feng Yanyan?

It was true that he was related to General Feng but... this guy couldn't hold a candle to the former general.

"You, follow." Long Xu Le handed Feng Yanyan a veiled hat.

The mei ren took it without question. He wanted to say that his knees were still weak from the near-death experience but for some reason, Wangye was already protecting him. He didn't want to look ungrateful and say that he needed rest.

So the beauty trod after the King.

Wan Li Wang's appearance to the public was always like a miracle falling from the heavens. As soon as her Highness came on deck, any sort of commotion stopped and all people fell to their knees.

All that could be heard right now was the whistling of the wind and the water crashing to the hull of the ship. 

Filled with reverence, from the ones nearest to her to those up in the beams and near the railings, they greeted. "Paying respect to the King! Long live King Wan Li!"

Feng Yanyan, who was behind her, felt out of breath from their act of veneration. He had seen thousands of people wishing the Empress to live for thousands of years but never had he seen them do it in a heartfelt way.

Why wouldn't these people want Wangye to live long? Without her Highness, Suliang wouldn't prosper. It would just remain as the dirt territory of the west responsible for being a sacrifice for Hu Ren (barbarians).

As he was thinking of various things, Feng Yanyan stepped on the hem of his robe on the last stair.

He cursed in his mind while falling. He didn't want to ruin wangye's cool moment.

His heart pounded in his chest. Not dying from arrows but going to die from embarrassment. Was this his fate today?

That was when a strong steel-like hand gripped his arm before he could even fall. Confused, Feng Yanyan asked himself if the King had eyes at the back of her head. Well, at least no one but her Highness saw his mishap.

What he didn't know was Long Xu Le found it normal for him to have trouble walking. In fact, she was already anticipating that he would fall at any moment. That was why when she felt him stumbling behind her, she was ready to catch him.

Assisting him to stand beside her without an ounce of change on her visage, the King addressed the crowd in front of her.

"Ben dian's Suliang," came her usual greeting.

All eyes were on Wan Li Wang and of course, they would notice the veiled figure beside her.

From the lean silhouette, it was evident that he was a man. But they could still illuminate the delicate features hidden under the gauze veil. Never had Suliang seen such beauty that was seemingly out of this world.

Trained in the palace to stand next to people of power, Feng Yanyan didn't lose to the King's momentum. His posture was ramrod straight in dignity and solemnity.

It was during these moments that Feng Yanyan could exhibit that he was really the cream of the crop.

The King was clad in deep red, the color of life in our veins. While the man was adorned in pure white with a dash of vivid scarlet.

If Wan Li Wang was a god, then this man was a fairy sent to aid her Highness.

Somehow, it was logical to have him next to her Highness. But everyone still held the same questions in their mind.

Who was the man and why was he so intimately held by the King? Just a while ago, Her Highness even helped him upstairs.

But of course, Wangye would never address these types of questions.

"It's not new that our province is plagued with dangers. But what is there to fear?" A voice oozing with steady credence that everything was held by the palm of her hands.

Somehow even without shouting, her words were carried to the dragon boats who approached the ship they believed Wangye was in.

"Has this King ever failed you? Those who try to harm this King's Suliang shall cease breathing by sunrise."

They were absolute words.

Those were what Wan Li Wang always gave them. There was no need for the passionate speech of consoling or encouragement.

Wan Li delivers her promise.

Among the crowd, there was Prince Ping who also shared some words earlier to quell mass hysteria even before it broke out. But his Highness could never compare to a few spoken words by the King.

Those who were alarmed earlier lost the panic in their eyes. They also saw how quickly the soldiers went into action. A lot of those who were here were also members of the nobility and knew that some royals employed civilian-worn soldiers.

Oftentimes, even though some soldiers wore commoner attire, their aura and body build gave way to their identities. But Danwan's forces were good at disguise.

It was yet another testament to wangye's meticulous thinking.

"The assassins' corpses will be hanged tomorrow by the gates." It was an order and the most effective reassurance.

But Long Xu Le felt the man beside her tremble. Did he get scared by the word hanging?

"Let's go back." She patted the small of his back.

Long Sangyu saw this small action of hers from the crowd. He ordered the captain of the ship to sail back to the shore and approached his sister.

However, all along there was one person in the crowd who was sweating bullets.

Pei Bohai, or Official Pei as others had called him often, told himself that he was young and still had good eyesight. If so, then the person underneath that veil...

There was only one man he could think of who matched those outstanding features even if he could barely see them.

The gentleman from Tanglin, Feng Yanyan.

Didn't he say he was a married man? How come he was wearing a veil next to Suliang's King?

Official Pei's three world views were challenged right now. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing because if he did...

Then that would mean the familiar figure he called Madame Feng was none other than–

At that moment, his gaze was met with domineering eyes. With a slight nod, King Wan Li turned to her private resting area.

That was when Pei Bohai knew that he really screwed up big time.

Edited: Feb. 16, 2023