"Zi-ning, look after yourself while on the way back to the capital, alright?" Yongxing said as he bade farewell to his younger sister in front of the Du manor.

Today, Zi-ning would be leaving Anyang to return to Huangcheng, accompanied by both Zhenghuan and Shengwu. After last night's debacle, Enling was nowhere to be seen, while Lady Du seemed more irritable than usual, frequently pressing her bag of medicinal salts to her nose.

"You take care of yourself too," Zi-ning replied, clutching tightly to her brother's hand. The events in her life had shifted dramatically, and the moment when she had witnessed her brother's death had come and gone, yet Yongxing was still standing fit and healthy in front of her. Till now, she still did not know what the true cause of her brother's demise had been in their previous lives, and how Lady Min and Meiyan might have had a hand in it, but it was enough for now to know that he was well.

"I'll be sure to return when it's time for your wedding," Yongxing teased. Glancing over at Zhenghuan, who was standing by his horse, he added, "If anyone dares bully you or not treat you well, you write to me immediately and I'll fly back immediately, got it?"

"Don't worry, nothing like that will happen when I'm around," Zhenghuan replied in all seriousness.

"Shouldn't you be calling me Da-ge? Seeing as you're looking to marry my little sister?" Yongxing said, sticking his chest out pompously.

Zhenghuan rolled his eyes behind his silver mask. "And I am still your commanding general," he replied drily.

"That's enough, both of you," Zi-ning chided. Was it appropriate for two grown men to be quibbling like that in front of the entire Du household? Already Lady Du did not think highly of her, so Yongxing and Zhenghuan's behaviour would only make the woman view her with more disdain. Although Lady Du was only Zhenghuan's adoptive mother, she had still been the one to bring up Zhenghuan throughout these years, so Zi-ning did not want relationships to become strained because of her.

"Zi-ning, Zhenghuan, have a safe trip," Yu Zixi said. She had also come to bid farewell to them this morning, and although she looked a little under the weather, she still forced a smile upon her face. Turning to Shengwu, she hesitated for a moment, then said, "Have a safe journey too, Shengwu."

Shengwu cleared his throat awkwardly. "Thank you," he said. "If you ever have the chance to visit the capital, let me know. I can show you where some of the better art shops are."

Zi-ning looked at Zixi, then at Shengwu, then back at Zixi again. Ever since Zixi arrived, she had noticed that the girl's eyes seemed to drift in Shengwu's direction every now and then, a little more than was normal. Even now, there was a little shyness in the way Zixi was speaking to him. A tiny smile crept upon Zi-ning's face. Given time and the right opportunity, perhaps there might be room for a budding relationship to blossom between these two. At least she wished there would, because Zixi and Shengwu seemed to be a good fit for each other. In her past life she had not lived long enough to see Shengwu get married—maybe things would change this time around.

"Shall we go?" Zhenghuan asked, holding out his hand to help Zi-ning board the carriage.

She nodded. Giving her brother another affectionate squeeze of the hand, she stepped onto the carriage. Through the window, she waved goodbye to Yongxing as the entourage began to trundle away from the Du manor, until they rounded a corner and all those faces vanished from view.

Zi-nign sighed, dropping the curtain. Her time at Zhuiya and Anyang had not been without troubles, but it had been reinvigorating to spend time away from the schemes and political machinations of Huangcheng and the royal court. Now, it was time to go home—and perhaps time for another battle to begin.

#

"Once we get past this section of forest we'll reach the northern gates of the city," Zhenghuan said, "so we should reach by sundown."

It had been a relatively uneventful journey from Anyang, but the bumpiness of the rural roads kept giving Zi-ning a mild, persistent headache, so she was glad that it was about to end. She lifted the curtain, staring out at the verdant greenery surrounding them. The thick canopy shrouded them in shadows, making it almost impossible to tell whether it was even night or day. Slightly ahead, Zhenghuan and Shengwu rode on horseback, while another eight or nine guards from Zhenghuan's Shadow army surrounded her horse carriage on all sides.

"Zi-ning, are you feeling alright? Do you need us to take a break?" Zhenghuan asked, turning his horse around and trotting it alongside.

She shook her head. "No, let's keep the pace. We should try to reach Huangcheng before they lock the gates for the night, else everyone will have to spend another night out in the open."

A small bundle sat by her side, carefully wrapped in layers of violet silk cloth. It contained boxes of peach pastries from one of the best eateries in Anyang, meant for her grandmother and her maidservants, Hana and Shujin, who would undoubtedly nag at her for having been gone so long. They were the only people that she missed from the household. As for everyone else... she was certain that they would be less pleased about her return.

Suddenly, an arrow came slicing through the air and through the carriage window, narrowly missing Zi-ning by a finger's width. It impaled itself on the window frame on the opposite side.

"Ambush!" one of the guards shouted.

An ambush? So close to the capital?

"Zi-ning, stay inside and keep away from the windows," Zhenghuan hollered. Through the shifting curtains, she could see him with his sword raised, fending off the shower of arrows that was coming through.

Assassins dressed in black came leaping through the trees, engaging the guards in battle.

"Shengwu-ge, come up here," she called, gesturing to the young official who was trying his best to steady his startled horse. Shengwu was a scholar, not a soldier, so it would be more dangerous for him to remain outside.

Shengwu nodded, quickly hopping off his horse and joining her inside the carriage.

"Did you manage to see how many of them there are?" she asked.

His brows knitted into a frown. "I can't be certain, but at least fifteen. They're very highly skilled though, and very organised," he replied.

The implication was clear. That this was not a simple case of a bandit attack, even though bandits were not uncommon in the areas surrounding the capital. This was a premeditated assassination. The question was—who was their target?

Zi-ning lifted the curtain once more, surveying the situation outside. The assassins seemed evenly matched with the guards, and there were three who were focusing their attentions on Zhenghuan alone, trying to force him away from the carriage.

If they're targeting the carriage, that means they're either after me or Shengwu-ge.

And her gut instincts told her that it was more likely her.

There was a loud thump as someone landed on the roof of the carriage. Zi-ning and Shengwu plastered themselves against the walls, just the blade of a sword came piercing through from above. Then, the entire carriage roof caved in, smashed into pieces by the bulky assassin. Splinters of wood flew everywhere.

"Zi-ning!" she heard Zhenghuan shout. He made an attempt to break free from his attackers, but another two stepped in to block his way.

An assassin leapt into the carriage, pointing the tip of his sword at Zi-ning.

Looks like it really is me.

In their previous life, the target had been Yongxing, but this time around it had changed. Someone did not want her to return to Huangcheng, and from the looks of things, they might well succeed.

"Zi-ning, look out!" Shengwu shouted. He lunged towards the assassin, brandishing a short dagger that he had pulled out. The assassin pivoted to a side to avoid him, his attention momentarily snatched away from Zi-ning.

Zi-ning's eyes widened in alarm as the assassin's sword sliced above Shengwu's head, and the young scholar went tumbling to the ground. One of Zhenghuan's guards leapt on board, kicking the assassin hard in the gut. The latter went hurtling backwards, almost falling out through the window. However, he managed to hang on by stabbing his sword against the carriage wall.

"Miss Han, Official Bai, follow me," the guard said, helping them both off the damaged carriage. All around them, fierce fighting was still going on, blood soaking through the soil.

The guard tried to lead them away, but before they could get far enough, a few assassins gave chase, leaving the poor young man to fend off their attacks. Zi-ning gasped when one of the assassins managed to plunge his blade into the guard's left shoulder, and the latter fell to his knees.

The duo found themselves backed against the trunk of a towering elm tree, with three assassins advancing towards them, closing off all routes of escape.

"Zi-ning, I'll distract them and you run, understood?" Shengwu whispered.

"I can't let you do that. You're not trained in martial arts!"

"It doesn't matter. Their target seems to be you, so they might not even bother engaging with me for long. I'll just have to fend them off for long enough so that you can get away, and for the Shadow Lord's guards to come and provide reinforcements. Don't worry."

"Shengwu-ge, I—"

But he would not take no for an answer. Before Zi-ning could even finish her sentence, Shengwu had already launched himself at the assassins.

"Go!" he yelled.

Knowing better than to let Shengwu's effort go to waste, Zi-ning took off running. She dashed through the bushes and brambles, winding through the maze of tree trunks. There were footsteps behind her, and when she turned, she saw two assassins who had broken away from the group and were gaining on her.

"Ah!"

She tripped on a stray branch, and her entire body went lurching forward, falling to the ground.

The assassins were upon her. Zi-ning rolled sideways to avoid the blades that were stabbing her way. One managed to nick her at the right shoulder, and a sharp pain jolted through her body.

No, I can't die like this, she told herself. She had gone through too much to die once more, without having yet achieved her revenge.

Reaching between the folds of her robes, she pulled out a small packet of powder that she kept on her at all times for protection. Shutting her eyes and holding her breath, she flung the contents of the packet at the two assailants. White powder clouded the air. The two men screamed. Without bothering to wait, Zi-ning scrambled in the opposite direction as quickly as she could, still keeping her eyes firmly shut. When she had gotten some distance away, she quickly took out a small brown pill and swallowed it, then she opened her eyes again and turned around.

The two men who had been trying to kill her were now lying on the ground, writhing in anguish. Blood was oozing from their eyes, and they were clutching at their throats as if they could not breathe.

Fenghou san was one of the deadliest poisons in the medicinal record books, and was rarely used because there was no known antidote and its powdered form meant that it was equally dangerous to the wielder as it was to the victims. However, she had managed to create her own antidote for the poison after referencing the journal that the Old Hu had given her.

Zi-ning wasted no time. She hurriedly went back the way she came, hoping that Shengwu and Zhenghuan were fine. When she arrived back the carriage site, she heaved a sigh of relief to see that all the assassins had been taken down, and Zhenghuan's guards were busy checking the bodies and scenes for evidence. Shengwu was sitting by the side, having wounds on his left arm bandaged by one of the attendants.

"Zhenghuan," she called out weakly, walking over to them. She knew that she looked a mess, with dirt covering her robes and her hair in a huge mess, but she was uninjured and alive, so that was all that mattered.

When he heard her, Zhenghuan spun around, relief washing over his formerly tense face. Without another word, he marched over and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Thank goodness you're alright," he whispered.

Zi-ning stood there quietly, letting herself bask in his warmth. It was a remarkable feeling, knowing that there was someone who truly cared and worried for her.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked. "Are you injured?"

They slowly separated, and Zi-ning took the chance to study the vicinity a little closer. Other than Shengwu, a few of the other guards had also suffered some injuries, although none looked particularly serious. They had, however, lost two of their men, and Zi-ning couldn't help but feel guilty for their deaths, because they had died protecting her.

Zhenghuan shook his head. "A few scratches," he said. "What about you? What happened? Shengwu said that he tried to block the assassins to let you have a chance to escape, but two of them managed to get away from him. Did they catch up to you?"

"I'm fine. I... I had some poison on hand, so they didn't manage to get me."

One of the soldiers ran up to Zhenghuan, holding a wooden pendant in his hand. "General, we found this on one of the assassins," he said. "None of the others are carrying any identifying items."

Zhenghuan took the pendant, frowning as he studied the characters carved into the wood. "Isn't this from the city guards?" he murmured. Looking up again, he said, "I want portraits sketched for all these assassins, to run an identity check on all of them once we reach Huangcheng. Start from the city guards."

They're no ordinary mercenaries. They're city guards?

So it was Lady Min after all. Zi-ning had already guessed it, but this confirmed her suspicion. One of Lady Min's brothers was a relatively high-ranking commander in the city guards, so it was very possible for him to have deployed these guards as assassins. She had to admit that it had been a very good attempt, and if Zhenghuan and his men hadn't been around, then they would likely have succeeded.

A sliver of cold rage slithered up her spine.

Was this what Lady Min had done to Yongxing in her previous life? Sent these assassins after him when he was being brought back from the battlefield, injured and fighting for his life?

Her stepmother had gotten away with it before, but not this time. This time, she would be certain that Lady Min would regret ever having tried to harm her and her loved ones.

Turning to Zhenghuan, she said, "I think I know who sent them."