The true problem truly began only moments later. Heavy footsteps suddenly thundered through the inner palace roads. Armor rattled. Spears shifted.
Orders echoed sharply between the stone corridors. Then from three separate entrances soldiers poured into the area in unison. Not dozens.
Hundreds. Then more.
In moments nearly two thousand palace guards flooded the inner district surrounding the the two. Armoured steel gleemed under the sunlight as weapons are pointed at Luo He and Jin Mulan.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Servants fled. Nearby guards lowered their heads nervously. Even the air itself seemed heavier beneath the pressure of organized military force.
At the center of the formation a heavily armored general stepped forward. His expression was cold and severe as he looked down toward the unconscious drunken guard still bleeding onto the stone floor.
Then his eyes slowly rose toward Luo He and Jin Mulan. "Do you have any idea," the general said loudly, "who you have laid hands upon?"
Neither of them answered immediately.
The general pointed furiously toward the unconscious man. "That is the captain responsible for protecting the emperor's women and inner palace concubines!"
His voice thundered through the corridor.
"To assault him within the palace grounds is equivalent to attempting to violate the imperial harem itself!" Several surrounding soldiers immediately tightened their spear formations.
"This is treason against the imperial household!" the general roared. Jin Mulan's eyes narrowed sharply. "He is unconscious, not dead," she said coldly.
"The fool attacked us first." She said angryly. But before she could continue
dozens of spearpoints suddenly surrounded them from every direction.
Cold steel stopped mere inches from their robes.
One wrong movement and both of them would be impaled instantly. Even then Luo He remained completely calm.
Almost bored.
Meanwhile several soldiers hurried forward and lifted the unconscious guard onto a wooden carrying board meant for transporting corpses or wounded officers.
Two men raised it carefully. The general himself stepped closer afterward and knelt briefly beside the unconscious captain. His fingers pressed lightly against the man's neck. Checking his pulse.
A few seconds passed. Then the general's expression shifted slightly.
He knew the man was alive. Still breathing, merely unconscious. Jin Mulan saw realization pass through his eyes immediately.
And then without hesitation the general pulled a dagger from his waist and drove it directly into the unconscious guard's heart. THUD. Blood spread instantly across the wooden board.
Several nearby soldiers visibly stiffened.
Even some guards looked disturbed. Jin Mulan's eyes widened for half a second.
Then immediately burned with fury. The general slowly stood afterward before turning dramatically toward the surrounding troops.
"This man has been murdered!" he shouted. He pointed directly toward Jin Mulan. "That woman had stabbed him through the heart!" He said out aloud.
Jin Mulan nearly exploded. "I did not kill him!" she shouted furiously. "You killed him, you ugly bastard!" She shouted.
Heat began rising visibly from her body now. The faint red glow in her eyes deepened dangerously. Several nearby soldiers instinctively stepped backward from the terrifying pressure radiating from her.
"Do you even know who invited us here?" she shouted. "It was His Majesty the Crown Prince himself!" But the general only sneered coldly. "Seize her." He shouted. Immediately the spear formation tightened further.
Meanwhile the two guards previously carrying Luo He's wrapped dark cloud shuttle were already lying dead nearby.
Quietly eliminated. No witnesses. No loose ends. Everything had clearly been prepared beforehand.
Jin Mulan's fury became terrifying now.
The air around her visibly distorted from heat. Nearby soldiers began sweating despite the cold weather. One more moment and the entire corridor might truly erupt into slaughter.
But suddenly Luo He lightly placed one hand onto her shoulder. The gesture was calm. Gentle even. Yet strangely grounding. Still her anger did not fully subside.
Then the general suddenly stepped forward and swung his hand toward her face. Perhaps to humiliate her publicly before arrest. Perhaps simply because he believed she could no longer resist.
But before his hand could land something changed. A freezing breath of wind swept through the corridor. Instantly
the temperature dropped. The soldiers nearest the center shivered involuntarily.
Then a cold female voice echoed through the palace. "Who," the voice said slowly, "gave you idiots permission to harass my guests?" The voice came with cold yet calm wrapped in murderess intent.
Silence. Absolute silence.
The general froze instantly. Then another voice followed colder this time. "Do not move." A terrifying pressure descended across the corridor. "Or I will ensure none of you ever can again."
The soldiers immediately paled. Several dropped to one knee on instinct alone.
The general himself turned white before hurriedly bowing deeply. "Your Highness!" The surrounding guards followed instantly.
"Greetings to the Third Princess!" From the deeper palace corridor she finally appeared. The Third Princess walked forward calmly beneath the lantern light dressed in blue royal robes trimmed with silver embroidery.
Her expression was ice cold. Beautiful.
Yet openly furious. Her gaze swept once across the dead guard. Then across the soldiers. Then finally toward Luo He.
For the first time her expression softened slightly. She gave him a small respectful nod. "Minister." She said. Luo He nodded back lazily from within the spear formation as though none of this had been remotely surprising. "General." Luo He said.
The soldiers were dismissed almost immediately afterward. No one dared question the Third Princess once she intervened personally.
The massive formation dissolved with astonishing speed as armored men retreated from the corridor, dragging away the dead captain's body together with the shattered remains of the situation they had tried to create.
Only silence remained behind. Blood still stained the stone floor. Broken tension still lingered in the air. Yet Luo He looked completely relaxed. Almost entertained.
Then suddenly his eyes lifted toward one of the distant upper palace towers.
Far above the inner courtyards stood a tall castle balcony hidden partially behind thin silk curtains. Most ordinary people would never have noticed the figure standing there. But neither Luo He nor Jin Mulan were ordinary.
Through the distant palace haze Jin Mulan saw her clearly. A woman dressed in pale yellow robes stood frozen behind the window lattice. Beautiful. Noble.
And visibly distressed.
Her fingers clenched tightly against the edge of the wooden frame while she stared downward toward the aftermath below. She had clearly been watching everything.
And judging by the look on her face
things had not unfolded the way she expected. Even from that impossible distance, Jin Mulan could see disbelief lingering in the woman's expression.
Perhaps she had expected Luo He to lose control. Perhaps she had expected Jin Mulan to slaughter soldiers in anger.
Perhaps she believed the Crown Prince's little trap would finally force Luo He into making a fatal mistake.
Instead he had somehow turned the entire situation back in his favor again.
Without panic. Without effort. Without even raising his voice.
Then to Jin Mulan's complete disbelief,
Luo He casually smiled upward toward the distant tower and gave the woman a playful wink. Jin Mulan stared at him.
"You saw her?" She asked curiously.
"Of course," Luo He replied lightly.
"You are impossible." She said. "Don't forget honey, I am also a cultivator." He said calmly. "She seems stressed," he observed calmly.
"You are the reason for that." Jin Mulan answered. "That sounds unfortunate. She is a pretty woman." He said. Jin Mulan resisted the urge to hit him. Nearby, the Third Princess finally approached them directly.
The moment she arrived she bowed respectfully. First toward Jin Mulan. Then separately toward Luo He. The distinction was deliberate. Careful.
Respectful to both. Yet slightly deeper toward him.
"I am here to see the Crown Prince," Luo He said smoothly afterward. As if an attempted political execution had not nearly occurred moments earlier. "Would Your Highness kindly show us the way?" He said calmly.
The Third Princess immediately smiled brightly. A dangerous smile. Beautiful enough to disarm people. Sharp enough to ruin them. "Of course," she replied warmly. "Follow me." She said joyfully.
Then she turned gracefully and began leading them deeper through the inner palace corridors.
The roads ahead became quieter as they entered restricted noble districts lined with silver lanterns and winter flowering trees.
Eventually the surrounding servants disappeared almost entirely. Only the sound of distant water channels and soft footsteps remained.