An Author and Protagonist Got a Happy Ending [Transmigration] - Chapter 30

The Fifth Prince remained completely oblivious.

“Let me teach you a lesson: never underestimate those you think are weak,” the Fifth Prince sneered twice. “Hmph, did you relax your guard just because you thought they were ordinary people?”

The Fifth Prince glanced at the old woman nearby and kicked her, cursing, “Old hag, you can’t even act properly, truly useless!”

Xiao Muyu’s eyes widened. “Hey! Do you have no shame, bullying the elderly and the weak?!”

The Fifth Prince snorted coldly. “None of your business, shut up!”

He shouted, but he finally stopped kicking her. He retreated several steps until he was within a range he deemed safe, then shifted his attention back to the Princess and began his performance.

“You actually betrayed me! I trusted you so much that I traveled ten thousand miles to seek your help, only to find that Your Highness is such a treacherous person. I truly misjudged you!”

The Fifth Prince looked pained and indignant, as if he had suffered a great grievance.

“I only promised to help the Xiyan Kingdom suppress its unrest; I never promised to help you. The root of Xiyan’s chaos is your meddling and instigating. If one wishes to restore order quickly, the most efficient way is to deal with you.”

The Princess’s voice was calm as she spoke, closing the distance between them imperceptibly.

“Furthermore, as an outsider, meddling haphazardly in your national affairs is not a wise move. Since the new King has taken office, it is only right and logical to leave the matter to him.”

“Shut up! What do you know! Imperial Father’s favorite person was me. How could he possibly pass the throne to that useless eldest brother? I am the one most qualified to succeed.”

Agitated, the Fifth Prince brandished his knife, nearly slicing Xiao Muyu’s neck.

Xiao Muyu, held by the throat, was forced to take a step back with him. Her hand, hidden beneath her sleeve, gripped the hilt of her dagger, but seeing the Princess’s unfazed expression, she hesitated for a moment.

Is it necessary to expose myself in front of the Princess?

There was still a long time before the future plot point that could save her life. Until then, Xiao Muyu didn’t want to trigger the Princess’s suspicion. If possible, she just wanted to be a quiet, useless “salted fish” until she gained true freedom.

Perhaps the almanac before the trip had read “unsuitable for all matters.”

Xiao Muyu hesitated as the blade grew closer to her neck.

“Stay right there! Don’t move! Or I’ll kill her!”

He wouldn’t dare. But the Princess actually stopped in her tracks.

Xiao Muyu felt the trembling in the arm of the person behind her and finally realized something—was she… being used as a hostage to blackmail the Princess?

The Fifth Prince didn’t seem to have kidnapped Xiao Muyu on a whim for revenge; it was a calculated move with ulterior motives. Recalling his deliberate attempts to get close on the journey, it was indeed unusual.

However, back then, Xiao Muyu thought this was just a common ailment of villains and cannon fodder—that one couldn’t use common logic to fathom their thinking. At that time, the impression she projected was likely nothing more than “eye candy,” “weak,” and “unenthusiastic.”

Perhaps she could add one more: “protected by the Princess.”

Xiao Muyu felt she had found the reason.

“I know you care deeply for the Saintess. If I were to scar her face, it would surely break your heart. If you don’t do as I say, she might lose her life—yes, don’t come any closer! Step back, drop the sword in your hand.” The Fifth Prince smiled insidiously. “I didn’t expect the cold and aloof Princess to be such a sentimental person.”

He made the Princess sound like some deeply devoted lover.

Xiao Muyu felt it necessary to give him a heads-up: “Uh, actually, she’s not. I’m just a tag-along burden; I’m not that important. I think if you kneel and beg for mercy now, you might still keep your life—uh, okay, I’ll stop talking.”

The tip of the knife waved threateningly before her eyes, and Xiao Muyu shut her mouth.

The Princess actually dropped her sword and took two steps back. Aside from her face showing no sign of anxiety or worry, she appeared to have compromised. “What do you want me to do?”

The Fifth Prince laughed with satisfaction. “That’s more like it. I want you to go to the palace, pretend to continue cooperating with him to get close, and then take the opportunity to kill him. Once he’s dead, that seat will be mine—”

The Princess calmly reminded him, “I recall you have three other brothers.”

The implication was that even if the current King were killed, it wouldn’t logically be the Fifth Prince’s turn to ascend.

The Fifth Prince sneered, “Three useless wretches, sons of lowly concubines. They don’t compare to me. I’ve already had them placed under control.”

The Princess shook her head, sighing, “It seems the current King is quite incompetent.”

The Fifth Prince, thinking she was talking to him, laughed. “He’s just a brute, no strategy, no wisdom. He’s as stupid as a dead pig. If the news of him being King gets out, people will laugh themselves to death. A few provocations would be enough to trample all of Xiyan. He’d probably even stupidly thank them.”

“Silence!” a powerful roar came from behind.

The Fifth Prince’s face froze. He was all too familiar with that voice. It was the “good eldest brother” he so despised.

“Fifth Brother, I truly misjudged you! I never expected you to be such a ruthless person!” The current King of Xiyan arrived with a troop of men, looking at the Fifth Prince with a face full of disappointment and grief. “I wanted to give you a chance to reform, but you took advantage of the chaos to escape the city, and now you even harbor treasonous thoughts. Xiyan can no longer tolerate you. Men!”

The Fifth Prince glared at the Princess, realizing what had happened. “It was you!”

The Princess curled her lips into a light smile, a talisman held between her fingers. “The Fifth Prince truly needs to catch up on his studies. Have you never heard of a Sound Transmission Talisman?”

The Fifth Prince swung his knife, his expression vicious as he tried to slash Xiao Muyu’s face. “If that’s the case, then don’t blame me—”

Before he could finish, the Fifth Prince’s face turned deathly pale. His arm stiffened, and the knife fell to the ground with a clang. He clutched his arm and wailed, stumbling back two steps before his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground. He felt a bone-chilling cold in his arm and leg, so stiff they felt like they didn’t belong to him. He couldn’t control them, yet he couldn’t stop the waves of pain from radiating outward.

“AAAAAAAAHHH! My hand! My leg! You—what did you do to me?!”

“Let me teach you a lesson: never underestimate those you think are weak,” the Princess returned his own words. “To kill you, I don’t even need to get close.”

She had never regarded the Fifth Prince as a threat. Whether in her past life or this one, the Fifth Prince was only good at dark schemes and crooked ideas; he had no talent to speak of beyond causing trouble. Setting aside this playboy who never studied seriously, Xiyan’s social customs were simple, and because of its isolation, there weren’t many cultivators to begin with. Those who could endure the hardship of cultivation and possessed talent were even fewer.

This was why the Princess felt safe bringing Xiao Muyu out. As long as no one from the outside interfered, protecting one Xiao Muyu was effortless for her.

She walked over slowly, pulled Xiao Muyu to her side, and looked down to inspect the wound on her neck. It was just a small nick. Xiao Muyu wiped it with her hand, and the bleeding had already stopped, but after being smeared by her fingers, the blood all over her hand and neck looked much more frightening.

Someone lying nearby regained consciousness and looked up. Seeing Xiao Muyu’s neck covered in blood as if her head had been severed, they immediately fainted again from terror.

Princess: “…”

Xiao Muyu: “…”

The only background noise was the Fifth Prince’s wailing.

The King looked at the Princess with some difficulty. “Your Highness, my fifth brother…”

“I’ve only disabled his limbs. Rest assured, he won’t die.” The Princess glanced at the Fifth Prince, whose wailing weakened slightly. “I have no intention of meddling in your national affairs.”

“That’s not what I meant.” The King looked at the Fifth Prince, then at Xiao Muyu, and sighed. “In any case, thank you, Your Highness. Since the Saintess is injured, why not come to the palace to rest and recover for a while? It would allow us to extend our hospitality.”

The Princess looked at Xiao Muyu, seeking her opinion. Xiao Muyu knew the Princess was in a hurry to go up the mountain. She naturally had no fondness for palaces and had no desire to be a guest, so she shook her head.

“It’s just a minor injury; it’ll be fine soon.”

The King wanted to insist, but the two had already said their farewells and were preparing to leave. He could only sigh and advise: “The mountain ahead is very dangerous. In recent years, many woodcutters have disappeared while gathering firewood. Perhaps they were taken by wild beasts, or there are traps. If you two must proceed, it’s best to take a detour.”

He didn’t know their destination, but his intent was kind. The Princess nodded and didn’t argue.

The Princess led Xiao Muyu straight up the mountain. The mountains outside Xiyan were different from those in Xuefu; they were no longer a monotonous white of snow, but a lush, vibrant green.

However, perhaps because it was so desolate, the foliage was so dense it blocked the sun. A thin mist swirled in the distance. As they entered, the sheer majesty and breadth of the mountain became apparent, like a bottomless abyss. Walking alone inside actually felt somewhat eerie, as a chill gradually seeped into the body.

There was a clear spring near the mountain entrance. The Princess stopped and handed Xiao Muyu a handkerchief, telling her to wash the blood from her neck.

The spring water was living water, gurgling up from below. It was icy to the touch, making her hand instinctively flinch. After wetting the soft cloth, Xiao Muyu looked at the now-calm surface of the water and saw her reflection. The blood on her neck was indeed startling, even though it didn’t hurt.

Xiao Muyu hesitantly touched the wound. But when her fingertips met her neck, she couldn’t help but recoil. It wasn’t because of the cold.

The spring water rippled without wind, and her reflected face blurred, gradually transforming into the likeness of another person. The woman in the reflection had a soft countenance; she looked like a gentle person, and she was smiling at Xiao Muyu.

Xiao Muyu covered one eye and suddenly felt an urge to vomit. She instinctively took a step back but didn’t notice the branch on the ground. She stumbled and fell, her head hitting a tree trunk.

The violent impact caused a blurry double image to appear before her eyes—memories that seemed to have been sealed away long ago.

A woman was walking toward her with a knife. The knife rose and fell. She didn’t feel pain, only intense dizziness and nausea.

Then, she fainted. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was Hua Feixue’s panicked face.