Phoenix: Rules Of The Harem
Chapter 12: Behind the Missing Mask

In a room filled with dark ornaments, someone was closing his eyes with a peaceful face. He did not fall asleep, just trying to enjoy the special aroma of incense that he had just ordered a while ago. One hand is used as a pedestal to lean on the pillow with the position of the body lying on its side. Unfortunately the peace did not last long because a woman suddenly knocked on her bedroom door and entered while bowing to pay her respects.

"Greet the Young Sun of the Empire. As per your previous orders, 30 top-tier hit men are ready to run the task. They're all waiting for your next order, Your Majesty."

"Hooo~ turned out time passed very quickly, it was time for me to move harder than before. Tell them to go to the place I told you before, this time there should be no failure at all, Su Zhi!"

"As you command, Your Majesty." the woman called Su Zhi bowed respectfully before exiting the room of the young imperial sun, Crown Princess Shao Mu Lan.

"Good! I will wait for the final result here with pleasure. Enjoy your new life in hell, brother." Mu Lan smirked with sneaky glittering eyes, the only great barrier towards the imperial throne should be gone and that meant Mu Lan should be prepared to eliminate that huge barrier.

.

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One week after the reconnaissance incident Ling Mei experienced as she toured downtown, the, Grand Empress Shao suddenly gave her an official order to vacation together with Yun Rui in one of the castles in the countryside belonging to Grand Empress located in the corner of Ningle city bordering the city dead Jianhu. It was a little strange and suspicious, but the Great Empress's order was absolute which meant Ling Mei had no right to refuse.

Because of that order, Wei Yun Rui now looked quite troubled preparing all the items they would bring on the way to Ningle city. He even asked some servants like Shu Lian, Yu Shen, and the other male servants to help him prepare everything. It looked exaggerated, but Ling Mei was quite trying to understand him because after all this was the first trip that Yun Rui had with Ling Mei as her partner. In contrast to the busy Yun Rui, Ling Mei secretly asked the five members of the third level shadow guard to escort them personally on her way to Zhuzi Palace.

He deliberately did not bring too many bodyguards because he wanted to see the results of their training directly on the trip this time. After all, Ling Mei had more than enough martial power to deal with a group of assassins even if she had to fight it alone. Looking at the movements of his enemies and some important information he had obtained, it was likely that this trip was not a simple one. Therefore, in this situation the only thing that matters most is the safety of those who go with it. Plus considering the plan that Great General Hong had suggested, Ling Mei couldn't possibly hide the fact that she hadn't been mentally handicapped for Yun Rui in a long time.

Ling Mei stood staring at the round window that was in front of her, from a distance she could see Yun Rui who was walking with Shu Lian through her pavilion. "Be prepared! We'll all leave tomorrow morning, make sure Yun Rui and his servants don't know where you are!"

"Alright, Your Majesty." the five members of the third level shadow guard bowed respectfully before carefully exiting the pavilion belonging to Ling Mei.

............................

As had been said in the previous day, this morning Ling Mei and Yun Rui had been inside the horse carriage that was going to deliver them to Ningle city. The fourth princess brought two chariots. One was for Yun Rui and Ling Mei who were at the front; another one was behind for Wu Jin, Yu Shen, and Shu Lian. Ling Mei did not need to bring many servants because even if Zhuzi Palace was a palace located in the countryside, the place had quite a number of servants on duty to take care of all the needs of the palace.

Everything looked fine, there was no strangeness appearing around them as the two horse carriages walked. Even Ling Mei still had time to accept the mouthful of grapes that Yun Rui gave her. The young man really served him well even at a time like this. Entering the time of the afternoon, when they had all reached the city of Ningle they had to pass through the forest-filled road quite densely before reaching the countryside, that was where the peculiarities began to appear. Ling Mei silently peered out from behind the window that was on the side of the horse carriage, as several black shadows flashed swiftly between the tree branches. It seemed like it was the hired assassins who had been stalking them since earlier.

Ling Mei gave a faint grin before closing the window again with the curtains, in a moment...

As the fourth princess of the empire had guessed, shortly after she saw many black shadows, their horse carriage stopped abruptly making Yun Rui and Ling Mei almost fall forward and hit the wall of the horse carriage. Ling Mei quickly grabbed onto Yun Rui who was about to fall down and held him tightly, yet remained soft.

"Is there something wrong? Why did the train stop?" Yun Rui asked in complete ignorance, only he and Shu Lian did not understand Ling Mei's plan and the awkwardness that existed on this trip.

"YOUR MAJESTY, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!!" suddenly the coachman who was in front shouted loudly making Yun Rui and Ling Mei exit quickly from the horse carriage.

Aye! It's time!

As expected, the black shadows that had previously lurked them now began to appear and surrounded Ling Mei's two chariots. With a face half-closed by a veil, all-black clothes, and a sword in each of their hands, made Yun Rui believe that it was not ordinary bandits but assassins.

"Fourth Princess Shao Ling Mei, if you turn yourself in kind, we will kill you quickly and painlessly!"

One of the dozens of hitmen said in a loud tone, it seems like he is the leader of the group. Yun Rui who heard that grabbed Ling Mei and hugged her tightly, trying to protect her partner with her body, a worried look on her face. Wu Jin, Yu Shen, and Shu Lian had prepared to protect the two by standing in front of their master. Ling Mei looked at all of them with a flat gaze, she could see that all of them were women, a Shao Mu Lan would never entrust something like this to a man. Because to Mu Lan, men were simply unreliable weaklings. Ling Mei took off Yun Rui's embrace, immediately after which she stood beside her official husband with a haughty look on her face.

"HAHAHAHA!!! First brother, it turns out that you really want to kill me! Looks like you really can't wait to send this many hit men!" suddenly Ling Mei laughed out loud, then she said with a piercing tone and an icy gaze.

The hitmen looked at Ling Mei in surprise, as well as Yun Rui and Shu Lian who were now fixated on seeing Ling Mei become someone different from before.

"Wu Jin!" call Ling Mei without taking her eyes off the hitmen.

"I, Your Majesty."

"Count them all well! Make sure no one gets missed! And all of you, get out! It's time to kill these useless mice!"

Wu Jin looked at those hitmen with a sharp gaze, one by one he counted with certainty without anyone missing. Whereas the people summoned by Ling Mei were now coming out of their hiding places and standing right behind Ling Mei. Two of them turned out to be undercover coachmen and riding their horse carriages, while the other three followed Ling Mei's entourage using qinggong.

"Your sword, Your Majesty. We third level shadow guards are ready to take orders." one of the five women walked up to Ling Mei and gave a sword believed to belong to Ling Mei while lowering her head in salute.

"I have counted them all, Your Majesty. It can be ascertained they are exactly 30 people."

"En, I get it." Ling Mei nodded, her countenance still looking so cold that the assassins were shivering in fear.

Yun Rui could only see him, he was so shocked that he was unable to say anything. Ling Mei had tricked him very well. Then Yun Rui again thought, was all the sweet treatment Ling Mei gave her a real falsity?

"Your Majesty, k-you...."

"You may be surprised, but I have a reason for this. I hope you understand, Yun Rui." Ling Mei looked at Yun Rui who was looking at her with a wounded face and teary eyes with a cold look.

This was the true nature of Ling Mei, so cold and heartless. No matter what, he was focused on his goal. Then Ling Mei's hand moved to retrieve a dagger from behind her hanfunya. The dagger with the engraving of the phoenix and the dragon looked beautiful, yet sharp and shiny in the eyes of his knife. Ling Mei grabbed Yun Rui's one hand and gave the dagger to him.

"Look! I know you're pretty good at martial arts. Since there are no swords left, I hope that you can protect yourself and your servant with these daggers while I kill them. Don't think of anything else other than you focusing on killing the person who attacked you, I promise I'll explain it to you after this."

Yun Rui turned her face away with sad furrowed brows. "I understand, Your Majesty."

Ling Mei then turned back to face the assassins, they looked alert despite being in disbelief when they saw the real face from behind the mask that Ling Mei had been wearing.

Ling Mei chuckled, she sneered cunningly from behind her pretty face. "Because you already know, then you must die, isn't that the rule?"

Ling Mei's face returned cold, looking dangerous and full of darkness. He continued, "Whoever the enemy has seen my true self, they must pay for what they see with their life. You have 30 men, I'll make sure none of you can come back alive from this place!"

"Omong empty! I'm gonna kill you! Everybody attack him!"

Sure enough, those hitmen moved to attack Ling Mei and the others with full force. Even every single person from Ling Mei's side had to fight three to four people at once in a single strike. Ling Mei's slash after slash lay on the people who attacked her, mercilessly the woman moved her sword with an overwhelming killing aura. Ling Mei looked like the Great General of Hong Empire when she was young, so powerful and domineering. Can Ling Mei see that the others were also busy fighting against the attacks of the other assassins, even Yun Rui was also holding back the attacks that were thrown at her with unfocused gazes.

Waitaminute! What's?!

This is not true! Ling Mei who saw that quickly fended off the sword in front of her and pierced the stomach of the assassin in front of her deeply through the killer's back. Ling Mei had to get to Yun Rui before the damned hitman managed to injure the chaotic-looking Yun Rui.

JLB!

"What are you doing?!! What if he kills you?!" ling Mei shouted furiously as she managed to stab the assassin woman right on her left back before she actually managed to stab Yun Rui in the heart.

"Y-Your Majesty..." Yun Rui said softly when she realized that Ling Mei had been standing in front of her with an angry face.

Wei Yun Rui had been thinking about his wife since then, how the sweet memories he had with Ling Mei had been twisted back in his mind. She had always hoped that everything that happened was not a lie, Yun Rui even thought Ling Mei had been willing to open her heart to him. Yun Rui never expected Ling Mei to deceive him for such a long time and let him wait without any meaningful certainty.

"Focus Yun Rui! You should focus when fighting with your opponent! Don't think about anything other than this! Do you understand?!" ling Mei's hands gripped Yun Rui's two arms tightly and spoke in a demanding tone.

Yun Rui looked at Ling Mei's face with a wistful look, a broken-hearted expression clearly visible on her charming face. "Your Majesty .. Do you love me?"

Hearing the question as Ling Mei was stunned, her grip on Yun Rui's arm slowly loosened. "I...."

Ling Mei turned her gaze behind Yun Rui, trying not to stare at the young man who was her official companion. However, soon after both of Ling Mei's eyes widened when she saw a hitman who she believed was their leader was behind Yun Rui and prepared to throw his sword towards Yun Rui.

"Fuck up! Time not to!" ling Mei said inwardly with a worried feeling.

Quickly the fourth princess of the empire hugged Yun Rui tightly and twisted their positions until the hitman's sword slash ended up hitting Ling Mei's back. Yun Rui saw it clearly, how the assassin slashed at his wife's back with the pointed sword until it made a gaping wide wound.

"Uhuk! Damn, the sword is poisonous!" Shao Ling Mei coughed with a lot of blood coming out of her mouth.

Blood drops from behind Ling Mei's back started to pierce through her clothes, followed by Yun Rui's falling tears and rushing down her cheeks. Unfortunately this did not last long, the head of the assassin group was seen to be back on the move and attacked the injured Ling Mei from behind.

"Your Majesty, behind you!!!" Yun Rui exclaimed in panic.

TRANGS!

Without looking back, Ling Mei quickly held the sword with one hand. Shortly after that he parried it at full force and spun facing towards the hitman. Ling Mei grinned, there was blood soiling her lips and chin violently. "Your abilities are good, but unfortunately I still have to kill you."

"Shut your mouth and let's fight with me, you fucking princess!" full of annoyance the assassin chief attacked Ling Mei blindly, he had been blinded by the overflowing anger.

Even if the assassin could scratch Ling Mei's right arm, the fourth star of the empire could still stand firm with a cold face and not show a look of pain at all.

"Looking at my subordinates who were fine despite being scratched, I thought that the sword that was covered in poison was only yours. Are you deliberately killing me with poison so that I can't be saved? Hear that! I'll tell you one secret...."

Ling Mei pressed her sword in front of the assassin chief's chest making the assassin hold down Ling Mei's sword so as not to pierce her heart with all her might. Feeling unsatisfied, Ling Mei casually threw her own sword and chuckled softly.

"Even if you put a lot of deadly poison in your sword, I cannot die easily just because of a poison."

With his bare hands, Ling Mei gripped the tip of the assassin's poisonous sword and reversed its position until the sword now turned towards the heart of its owner. Ling Mei's two hands that were covered in blood from the pointed sword eyes held firmly the palm of the assassin who was still holding the handle of his sword. Ling Mei stared intently in the eyes of the assassin woman after she managed to pierce her left chest, the imperial trash princess smiled coldly with her hands that were increasingly pushing into the poisonous sword until it pierced through the chest of the assassin chief.

Then Ling Mei whispered beside the dying assassin's ear, "What if you feel for yourself just how deadly the poison you've put on the surface of your sword? See you in hell, beautiful sister!"

Coinciding with Ling Mei finishing off their chief, the shadow guards had also finished killing the other assassins. Ling Mei smiled faintly seeing they were fine despite getting a slight scratch in some places.

"Is everything really dead? I don't want any of them alive!"

"As you have commanded before, Your Majesty. We're killing them without any leftovers." Wu Jin said in a flat tone.

"Ba— Uhuk!"

Blood came back out of his mouth, Ling Mei sighed. He had almost forgotten about the poison that had just entered his body, although it would be fine thanks to the poison training he had been going through all this time. However, because having a wide wound made his blood come out quite a lot, the poison became slightly reacting and inhibited his movement.

"Your Majesty, you've been poisoned!" Wu Jin exclaimed worriedly, even for Wu Jin who knew about it a long time ago, he still remained worried about Ling Mei.

"That's gonna be fine. Let's continue the journey! Anyway we should arrive at Zhuzi Palace before midnight, and the three of you rest in the carriage that Wu Jin and Yu Shen are riding on!"

They all bowed respectfully and said, "As per your orders, Your Majesty."

Ling Mei walked over while carrying her blood-soaked sword towards her carriage with a flat face, leaving Yun Rui who was still looking at her with a face soaked with tears.

Shu Lian approached her master with a sad look, "Let me drive to your carriage, Your Majesty."