The air felt tight enough to snap.
Jiao Shui stayed on the floor because honestly, standing between those two was asking to be struck by lightning, political fury, or an emotionally charged sword.
Emperor Yang stood rigid, jaw clenched, eyes burning at Song Lingfang like he'd just uncovered a traitor—or worse, a rival.Song Lingfang, in contrast, looked perfectly calm, brushing imaginary dust off his sleeve as if assassins weren't scattered unconscious across the balcony.
[System: Host has accidentally caused a territorial standoff.][System: Step away slowly.][System: Or pretend to faint.]
Tempting. Very tempting.
Finally, the Emperor spoke.
"What exactly," he said slowly, "were you doing on my concubine's balcony at this hour?"
"I am not—!" Jiao Shui squeaked.
Song Lingfang exhaled lightly, the edges of his calm sharpening."I came because she called for me."
"She did not," the Emperor snapped. "She barely knows your name."
Song Lingfang met his gaze without fear."Perhaps not in this life."
Jiao Shui choked on her own breath.
The Emperor's hand tightened around his blade."Speak clearly."
"I will," Song Lingfang replied. "But privately. With her."
Jiao Shui's soul left her body.
The Emperor let out a sound that was half a laugh, half a promise of death."Absolutely not."
Song Lingfang smiled. It wasn't threatening, but it was bold in the quietest way.
"Your Majesty," he said, "you cannot protect her if you do not know what hunts her.And you cannot know what hunts her without knowing what she once was."
Jiao Shui froze."What I once was? I've only been here for, like, a day!"
Song Lingfang stepped toward her, gentle again.
"You've been here before."
Everything in her mind screeched to a halt.
"What?"
"You return every hundred years," he murmured. "Just like the prophecy says."
Emperor Yang's expression cracked—shock, distrust, and a flicker of something wounded.
"She is not some ancient spirit," he hissed. "She's a concubine who fell in a lake and hit her head."
"That is what you want to believe," Song Lingfang said softly. "But she is more."
Her heart hammered so hard it hurt.
"More… what?"
Before Song Lingfang could answer, a sharp whistle cut through the night.
More assassins.Dozens.Moving across the rooftops like a wave of shadows.
[System: Host, new issue.][System: Incoming enemies: thirty-seven.][System: That is a lot.]
"A siege," the Emperor breathed. His expression darkened into murderous focus. "They're after her."
"Not just her." Song Lingfang's eyes narrowed. "They want what she carries."
"I carry NOTHING!" she yelled. "Not even emotional stability!"
[System: Correct.]
The Emperor grabbed her wrist again, pulling her close.
"We're leaving," he said. "Both of you, with me."
Song Lingfang stepped in front of them, blocking the doorway.
"No. They'll expect you to flee that way."He pointed to a small panel carved into the wall.A panel Jiao Shui hadn't noticed.
A hidden escape.
Song Lingfang slid it open, revealing a narrow secret passageway.
"I'll take her," he said.
The Emperor's voice dropped to lethal softness.
"You think I'll hand her over to you?"
"You want her safe?" Song Lingfang asked. "Then choose with your logic, not your jealousy."
Silence.
Jiao Shui looked between them like a rabbit stuck between two dragons having a domestic argument.
Emperor Yang exhaled slowly.
Then turned to her.
"Who do you choose to go with?"
Her stomach flipped.Her brain melted.Her soul quietly died.
Both men watched her.
One fire.One moonlight.Both terrifying.
[System: Host must decide.][System: No pressure.][System: Just the fate of your life, romance route, and future plotline.]
Jiao Shui swallowed.
The assassins were almost at the balcony.Time was dying fast.
"I… choose—"
The door EXPLODED inward.
A masked figure lunged straight at her.
No chance to finish her sentence.