Behind them, waves of armored guards were already flooding into the outer courtyards like black tides of steel.
Yet despite that the Third Princess remained strangely calm.
"I am the Emperor's favorite daughter," she said calmly. "The Crown Prince will not dare touch me openly." Her voice carried confidence. Not arrogance.
For a moment Luo He simply looked at her silently while the sounds of approaching soldiers echoed louder around them.
Then he stepped back off the shuttle entirely without hesitation. The two female guards looked shocked. Even Ning Jia frowned slightly.
Luo He walked directly toward her until only a small distance remained between them. Then finally he spoke calmly. "Do you still not understand?" He said to her solemnly.
The humor had vanished from his voice completely now. "The reason the Crown Prince dares move this openly," Luo He said quietly. "Is because he no longer fears the Emperor returning alive."
Ning Jia's eyes narrowed slightly. Luo He continued. "Maybe His Majesty is already dead." The distant palace bells echoed sharply through the night. "Or maybe," Luo He added softly. "He soon will be."
For the first time since the chaos began real uncertainty finally appeared within Ning Jia's expression. Because she understood immediately what that meant.
If the Emperor truly disappeared, then her protection vanished with him. And inside the imperial court, fallen power invited immediate death.
Luo He stepped even closer afterward.
His voice lowered slightly. "So I cannot leave behind something as valuable as you for my enemies to have." Luo He said softly.
While the two stood there caught in their moment, the world itself did not politely pause for romance.
This was not some gentle love story where armies waited respectfully for confessions and feelings before continuing the battle.
The palace soldiers certainly had no intention of allowing sentiment to interrupt military orders. The instant Ning Jia's hand touched Luo He's dozens of arrows were released simultaneously.
The sound alone was terrifying. A thunderous metallic storm erupted across the palace courtyards as black waves of arrows tore through the night sky.
Arrows came toward them from every rooftop, tower, and elevated corridor surrounding the inner grounds. Even the air itself seemed to darken beneath the sheer number of projectiles descending upon them.
Yet none of the arrows reached them.
Not one. Before the storm of steel could touch the group, countless arrows suddenly halted midair all at once as if striking invisible glass.
Then the entire volley collapsed downward in unison, clattering harmlessly across the stone courtyards beneath them like heavy rain.
A transparent ripple spread faintly through the air around the shuttle afterward. Only the two female guards noticed it immediately.
Their expressions changed slightly.
Spirit barrier. A powerful one. Neither Luo He nor Ning Jia even bothered reacting outwardly to it. Ning Jia was still staring into Luo He's eyes.
And Luo He himself merely smiled faintly, though deep within his thoughts he acknowledged the shield calmly.
Because he was the one maintaining it.
Even while speaking. Even while holding her. Even while surrounded by an entire palace army.
Part of his mind remained coldly calculating every danger around them at all times. That was the terrifying part about Luo He.
He could laugh during assassination attempts. Flirt while armies closed in. And still silently maintain enough spiritual force to stop dozens of arrows without visibly straining himself.
Meanwhile the palace itself had already erupted into chaos beneath them.
Commanders shouted overlapping orders from every direction.
"Bring them down!" "Seal the outer corridors!" "Archers reload!" "Do not let the shuttle escape!" Formation walls tightened rapidly across the surrounding courtyards.
While armored soldiers poured through every connecting gate like flooding rivers of steel. Spears lowered. Crossbows raised. Spirit lanterns ignited one after another across the rooftops.
Bathing the palace district in crimson warning light. An entire fortress was mobilizing against four people. And still Luo He acted like a man stealing time instead of fleeing death.
Ning Jia looked directly into his eyes now. For once Luo He was not mocking her. Not teasing. Not playing games.
He sounded entirely serious.
"Come with me," he said quietly. Then after a brief pause. "I promise you," his gaze softened slightly afterward. "You will never stand beneath anyone in my household." He said calmly.
The palace wind moved softly between them. For a single moment, the chaos around them almost seemed distant.
Then suddenly Luo He reached forward and kissed her before she could fully respond.
Ning Jia froze completely. Not from fear.
From shock. Because despite all the years she had known him despite his arrogance, recklessness, and endless confidence.
This was perhaps the first truly honest thing he had done without hiding behind humor. Around them, more guards flooded into the courtyard. Archers repositioned.
The invisible barrier around the shuttle trembled again as another wave of arrows shattered harmlessly against it in sparks of pale spiritual light.
Even the two female guards looked increasingly alarmed now. An entire imperial army was gathering. Yet Luo He still looked completely calm.
When the kiss ended, Ning Jia remained silent for several long seconds. Then finally she took his hand herself. That alone was answer enough.
Luo He smiled faintly afterward before guiding her onto the Black Cloud Shuttle beside him. "Lets go," he ordered immediately. The shuttle answered at once.
The entire craft vibrated beneath flowing spiritual power. The surrounding winds exploded outward violently.
Several nearby soldiers were thrown backward instantly while lantern flames across the courtyard bent sideways beneath the pressure wave.
Then before the tightening formations could fully close around them the Black Cloud Shuttle shot upward into the night sky like a black comet.
The acceleration was so sudden that the stone courtyard beneath them cracked outward in several places from the force alone.
Countless soldiers shouted below.
Archers fired desperately again. Arrows streaked upward through the darkness. But every attack shattered harmlessly against the invisible barrier surrounding the shuttle.
The imperial palace rapidly shrank beneath them. Lanterns became rivers of gold. Walls became lines. Entire armies became moving clusters of insects flooding through glowing stone corridors far below.
And high above the capital the four figures vanished into the night aboard the Black Cloud Shuttle while chaos erupted throughout the palace beneath them.
The cold air rushed violently past them while the enormous city stretched endlessly beneath the moonlight. No one spoke for a long while afterward.
Then eventually far beyond the inner palace district the shuttle descended toward the outer capital where Luo He's humble estate lied hidden inside the sleeping city.
And at last they arrived at Luo He's mansion. The mansion had already transformed into a war camp by the time Luo He returned. No servants wandered aimlessly anymore.
No lanterns or music echoed through the outer courtyards. Every person remaining inside the estate understood the same thing they were not preparing for travel. They were preparing for exile.
Or war.
Possibly both. The remaining household servants moved rapidly beneath torchlight carrying sealed wooden crates, folded blankets, preserved food stores, medicinal herbs, water skins, and weapon bundles across the front courtyard.
Where the escape force had begun assembling. Nearly fifty people remained loyal enough to leave with Luo He immediately. Not all of them were warriors.
Some were servants responsible for the household. They choose Luo He over their former masters as they saw something different in him.
Some were former soldiers bought from slavery years earlier. They were won over at the chess game and are now more than willing to follow with their new masters.
Some were simply people who came in as paid workers. They understood their fate would become worse if they stayed behind, once the Crown Prince moved openly.
The stable courtyards had been emptied almost entirely. Fei had personally gathered the few usable horse the estate still possessed and had also baught many from around the capital. The gold was never a problem for Luo He.
In total, thirty-three horses had gathered. Now fully ready for travel.
Most were dark northern warhorses bred for endurance rather than speed, though several smaller southern horses had also been prepared for the servants and younger attendants unable to handle larger beasts.
Fei himself stood beside the largest mount in the courtyard. The stallion barely looked like a horse anymore.
It looked closer to a demon beast wearing the shape of one.