Double rescue
The Imperial carriage was pulled by a pair of beautiful thoroughbred horses. Its body was decorated with various colored patterns, and the roof was lined with golden leaves.
The carriage was slowly moving forward, driven by the roar of fireworks and the cheers of people. From such a noisy excitement, the young Prince Yang Jinglong, sitting in the carriage, nervously massaged his temples and relaxed his frowning forehead.
He had been tense since the morning. The constant fuss around and the heavy suit, hung with meaningless festive tinsel, completely spoiled his mood and contributed to increased irritability.
Lately, he had become increasingly convinced that he did not belong in the palace, did not belong among all these people. Even the battlefield seemed to him a more pleasant place to live. At least he's used to it.
Today was the quintessence of everything that annoyed him so much. He was forced to participate in this parade, despite all his reluctance, which constantly made him feel out of place.
He looked indifferently in the direction where people were having fun at a short distance from him. There was happiness and serenity on the faces of these people. When the imperial carriage passed by them, they whistled after him and honored him as their hero.
Yang Jinglong involuntarily looked away and sighed heavily.
«I don't deserve this.»
He wished he was all alone in the palace right now. Not to see those stupid expressions. Not to hear their laughter.
When the man closed his eyes, trying to distract himself from the surrounding noise and interrupt his oppressive thoughts, the carriage suddenly stopped.
It turned out that there was a traffic jam ahead due to some embarrassing situation. There was an uproar in the crowd because of a girl who was forcibly taken away by a couple of big rude men, while several people from the crowd unsuccessfully tried to stop them.
A dagger was put to the girl's throat, which prevented her from being rescued soon. Her loud desperate cry cut through the crowd and reached the prince's carriage, which made the person sitting inside suddenly, as if waking up from a dream, shake his head and look in the direction from which the sound came.
At the moment of realization, his pupils shrank to dots, and his heart began to pound wildly in his chest.
A pretty little girl with flowers in her hair and cheap torn clothes screamed for help as a pair of tall, sturdy men dragged her away from the pandemonium.
For a while, Yang Jinglong didn't know how to react. A wave of goosebumps passed over his skin.
«It can't be. It's "her."»
Yang Jinglong quickly jumped up from his seat and left the carriage.
Not understanding what was happening, the servant ran after the prince, trying to stop him, but he did not explain anything and went straight to the scene.
People immediately made way for him and began to eagerly watch what was happening. Yang Jinglong walked past them with a firm step, never taking his eyes off the familiar girl for a second.
She did not immediately notice his approach, but when he appeared in her field of vision, she could not believe her eyes.
Seeing the impending danger, two men - one overweight with a mustache, the other with a small scar on his cheek - immediately rushed away, throwing the captured girl onto the road and leaving her unable to get up from the pain.
– Security! – The prince shouted, after which a pair of guards in formal suits ran to catch up with the bandits.
Yang Jinglong himself went up to the fallen girl and gently picked her up in his arms. When this happened, a huge whistling hum rose in the crowd and a fountain of pink orchids fell on the head of the young couple, which chased them until they reached the carriage and disappeared from sight.
Yang Yulan watched with bated breath and slowly chewed the meat on a stick.
Today's event has really stirred her up. She could not have imagined that one day she would personally witness this scene.
At one time, she often grieved when her favorite web novels did not have a decent film adaptation. Every time, something was bound to go wrong. Sometimes the cast was chosen unsuccessfully, then the acting was so terrible that you couldn't look without tears, then the exit was constantly postponed, and then simply forgotten as if it didn't exist.
Everything was perfect this time. After all, who could be a more canonical actor for adaptation than the hero himself, whom the author wrote.
Yang Yulan was cheerfully glancing towards the carriage and maliciously rubbing her hands with pleasure.
When the food she had left was almost gone, she realized that no more performances were expected, so she stomped towards the stall with hot buns.
She had not managed to walk halfway along the planned path, when a familiar fat figure with a mustache caught her eye. The man was holding a pair of flutes in his hand and was moving in a certain direction, hiding from the Imperial Guards.
«Since when do bandits carry musical instruments with them?»
The girl suddenly became curious and decided to follow this man. A little while later, another strangely familiar figure was added to the man with moustache. It was a girl in a hood.
A couple of people quietly skirted the main crowd, walked into a less busy block and walked around the corner. Yang Yulan hid in the distance and could barely make out what these people were talking about. However, she could hear snatches of their dialogue from time to time.
– We don't know how it happened. This was not in the original plan – the fat man complained.
– Exactly! He came out at such a bad time – The second scarred bandit echoed him, coming out of nowhere.
Their dialogue seemed rather strange to Yang Yulan, but she did not understand the context enough to draw any conclusions.
At the moment when Yang Yulan decided that their conversation was over, the man with moustache carefully took out a silver dagger from his bosom. This movement went unnoticed by the girl in the hood.
– Damn it! He's not going to hurt her, is he?
Yang Yulan could never stand by when someone was in the slightest danger. Since childhood, she has always helped people, even though it most often went sideways for her. Even if she didn't like the person very much, even if she had some kind of score to settle with him, she couldn't help but try to rescue someone in a moment of need.
Just like now, she subconsciously pulled out a bow from behind her back and pulled the string. Without hesitation, she shot into the wall next to the head of the mustachioed criminal. He dropped the dagger from his hands and ran away at all costs, taking his partner with him.
The hooded girl turned sharply at the sound and caught Yulan's gaze, which made her involuntarily flinch
«How did she figure out where I was so quickly?» – Yang Yulan peered into the girl's face that opened up to her – But more importantly... Isn't that the pretty girl I met this morning? Even the mole is in the same place. What's her dealings with these criminals?
Yang Yulan did not take any more chances and, after making sure that the attackers were no longer going to return, she decided to make her own feet.
Seeing the familiar mask moving away from the crime scene, the hooded girl froze in place.
«It's him again»
There was a rustle next to her and a man in a mask and black robe jumped down from the roof next to her. A gruff female voice was heard.
«Shall I catch up with them, Your Highness?» – She asked, bowing to her princess.
– It's not worth it. These two idiots don't know anything. That girl just paid them for the show.
She looked at her bodyguard and after a while she still asked.
– Where did this masked man come from?
The girl in black immediately understood who she was talking about. Her Highness was talking about a man who shot an arrow and thwarted their plan.
– I've been following him for a while, Your Highness. I think he's an ordinary man and accidentally caught you here, following the bandits. Should I catch him for questioning?
– No – the stranger girl looked emotionlessly in the direction from which this man appeared – let him go.
Then she added:
– We're going back. Get me the information I asked for.
The girl in black gave an affirmative answer, adjusted the mask on her face and disappeared from sight in a second.
At this time, her ward picked up a fallen dagger from the ground and twisted it in her hand for a while, examining it for any clues.
She was about to throw it into her pocket when she felt an object there, a foreign object, and froze in surprise. Surprise flashed across her face for a second, but immediately disappeared as if it had not existed in the first place.
The girl pulled out a small flower from her pocket and, without hesitation, threw it on the ground.
«What nonsense is this?»
She put the hood back on head and walked away in an unknown direction.