4 An Unexpected Acquaintance

A rough hand grabbed my arm. "What are you doing here alone, missy!" a rough, hairy man leered. The tell-tale putrid stench of alcohol and neglected dental hygiene reeked from his mouth, too close to me for comfort. I turned to avoid it. Who knows where I had stopped in front of, but there was a pack of young men staring at me. One knocked the hat off my head and they told me what they wanted to do to me. "Hmm? I don't think she's from the brothel, look at her clothes!" "We should back off." "No, we rarely see anyone this beautiful even from the brothel!" "We should have a good time, what do you think?"

They were clearly drunk, but some were more cool headed and attempted to diffuse the situation. I tried to refuse politely and backed away discretely, but they were not having any of it. Damn this long skirt! I turned here and there, looking down the street and wondering how far I could get if they chased me, and what were my odds if I fought them. Ling Yue was pretty strong, eh? I hadn't tested out her knuckles yet. But what if she couldn't overpower them? They were a group of men after all.

Before long, I backed away so much I was at the other end of the street, and they had followed me over. "Please leave me alone!" I cried out, trying to shake them off my arm. I accidentally hit one, leaving him snarling. "Now you'll get it, we were still being nice!" "You can't blame us! Who asked you to come out by yourself?"

This was serious. A shiver ran down my spine as I surveyed their ravenous expressions. I grabbed the folding fan I had at my waist and hit the one closest to me, splintering the flimsy fan, and stepped on his foot. Then I elbowed him in the face. He staggered back in shock.

That was a cue for the rest to start coming after me, in the name of revenge or in a drunken stupor I didn't know. I dodged a meaty arm with unfounded agility and ran in the direction of the palace. They cursed at me as they followed, falling all over themselves, arms and legs inhibited by the alcohol. "You vile woman! Come back right now!"

People avoided us on the street, no one willing to help. Windows and doors closed in a hurry and people stepped off the pavement, turning away. I turned back to glance at the creeps following me. Ling Yue's body was quite strong after her years of training, but considering how far I walked, it must be pretty far to the palace. Would she last? No, the question was, what if they caught up?

"Got you now, you little slut!" a tall, lanky man grabbed me roughly. I promptly stuck my fingers in his eye sockets and yanked violently, popping his eyeballs out. "Ahh!" he shouted, letting go of me to nurse his eyes. Then I kneed him in the balls. Ha! Years of living alone abroad had made me very street smart! If only I had some pepper spray now!

After my small victory, I continued running. Stopping briefly to deal with him let them close the gap. "You crazy woman!" the man recovered predictably and made another mad lunge for me. I had just dodged him when suddenly an arm reached out behind me and threw him. He flew quite some way and landed in a pile of trash.

I barely had time to look back at my saviour when the rest of the group caught up, huffing and puffing and still looking quite angry. Uh oh. My saviour, clad in navy robes dispatched a few of them immediately. I had to help too. I had no more stamina left to do any fancy moves, but my hairpin was very sharp. I viciously stabbed a few in the eye and kicked a few crotches whenever I saw them. My saviour finished them off. "Phew... you have a scary way of fighting..." he trailed, before he turned to me. He was probably referring to my stabbing eyeballs and kneeing crotches.

That was when I saw his face. He froze. I froze. Hold on... he looked a little familiar. "E-" "Not here." He covered my mouth, pulling me into an alley. I went with him speechlessly. It was only then that I noticed a familiar few men around him and some hiding in dark corners. His bodyguards. But why was he out by himself? He didn't pay attention to his concubines but went out rescuing random damsels in distress?

When he finally let go, I gasped for breath. His face already returned back to his usual cold mask. "Noble Concubine Ling, what are you doing here? You aren't supposed to be out of the palace without permission!" he reprimanded. "E-Emperor, you are out of the palace in civilian clothes too." I pointed out, not to be outdone. Don't think I didn't notice he was out of his dragon robes and looked very low profile!

He was flabbergasted. I then realised what I had done. Maybe I was a bit fearless since I grew up without an Emperor, but if he was going to feel offended, then so be it. If he didn't kick me out, I would run away. I would start right now! "D-Don't change the topic!" he said. I turned away sullenly.

"Please don't tell my maidservants... I just wanted to explore the city. They insist on guarding the door!" I said sheepishly. He just stared blankly at me, lost for words. "Right, I heard you hit your head and lost some memories..... so... you snuck out of the palace in the middle of the night and got into a fight..." as he spoke, the more ridiculous he found it and he laughed.

As expected of someone from a military family. Lu Qing Yu looked at the woman before him, who only reached up to his shoulders. He never felt Noble Concubine Ling was anything special before, but she had taken him by surprise this time. No matter how the concubines pleaded, seduced, or wowed him with their bodies and talents, or their families threatened, all he did was take in concubines, but left them to rot in the harem. He hadn't actually taken any interest nor slept with any of them.

And to think he ran into one outside... looking like this... after hitting her head... this was too unique! Lu Qing Yu looked uptight and lofty, but sometimes he too liked to sit and drink alone in the city. Well, as alone as he could be, secretly tailed by his bodyguards. There were too many people watching his moves in the palace. For a moment, he forgot her penalties for sneaking out of the palace. He was just a boy, and she was just a girl, and he had just rescued her from some thugs.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She blinked slowly. "Yes, good thing you arrived in time. I was running out of stamina." she said. He snorted. "You seemed alright to me. Your stabs and kicks were very fierce." As he recounted how she went for the crown jewels and beat them... a bit of terror seeped into him. What a fierce woman. She seemed so gentle and unassuming too! Why did she turn into a whole new person outside?

She was dressed in plain clothes, but the fine embroidery gave her away. "If you want to dress like a civilian, you should at least wear plainer clothes. Its a miracle you weren't robbed." He said. She scoffed. "Yes, I was nearly taken advantaged of instead." She retorted. He choked. Then he noticed she was still clutching a worn out looking fan. Probably from having hit them with it, it was now splintered and dented. "Give me that." He took it, then handed it to a bodyguard behind him. "I'll give you a new one. Its useless."

They ended up sitting in a tea house. Before long, Lu Qing Yu had a peculiar realisation. As he heard about how bored she was and how she didn't remember anything, and he told her about how he sometimes snuck out too, he realised she was looking him in the eye. To be exact, she was talking to him normally, without care for honorifics or being cautious or forever conceding to him. When was the last time he had a normal conversation with somebody as the Emperor? Maybe that's why he snuck out and tried to be a normal person.

He was a royal prince. All his life, people gave in to his every whim and treated him with as much terror as awe. Apart from his brothers... all gone now... except that one, who even now distanced himself, he got the sense they weren't actually looking at him. As a prince, he still had some humanity. But when he ascended the throne, it was like he ceased to be a person. The country came first, whether it was his picks in women (all picked out by the dowager or court or pressure), or what he wore, or what was appropriate for him to do.

"You're talking to me normally." He blurted out. She stared at him like he was stupid. "Of course I am." She said. "Oh... should I not? Sorry, I hadn't realised." She corrected herself. "No! Its... fine. Don't use those rigid titles anymore. Your Highness this, Emperor that. Its stifling." He said. "Alright.. Lu Qing Yu?" she suggested. His heart lurched. Didn't she know the Emperor's name was taboo? It was a bit much, even for him. "Not that." "Uh.. Lord? Sir? Husband?" she tried.

"Sorry." I added. "As I mentioned, I hit my head. I'm not very sure about honorifics." His face was steadily turning redder. I wondered if I was making him more angry. Should I run? "Husband... is fine." He said. He hadn't looked closely before, but she was really beautiful. Though, it might be the atmosphere speaking. The night wind came in from the open window, lifting up some strands of hair tucked behind her ear and settling them on her cheek.

Without thinking, his fingers softly brushed her cheek, rearranging the errant hairs back in place.