Chapter 11: Night Journey to Chang'an

The carriage raced down the imperial road, wheels thudding against bluestone pavements. Night draped over Chang'an like ink-stained silk, its scattered lantern lights glowing like a pearl embedded in the earth.

Su Mingli lifted the window curtain, studying the looming city gates. "Won't this draw attention?"

Xiao Jingxuan sat motionless in the dim interior. "War Prince's carriages pass unquestioned."

"What if someone's specifically tracking you?" Her fingers tightened on the silk drape.

His lips quirked. "You're more vigilant than this prince himself."

"Preparedness wards off calamity." She released the curtain, voice hardening. "That letter lured us here because the trap's already set."

"Precisely why you're here." He tapped a finger against his knee guard—a swordsman's restless habit.

Her laugh sliced the gloom. "As problem-solver? Or pawn?"

Xiao Jingxuan's silence brimmed with unspoken calculations.

She turned away, jaw set. They both knew this journey was a blade's-edge waltz—him testing her limits, her probing his motives. Outside, watchtower shadows stretched like claws across the city walls.

Somewhere beyond those gates, the gameboard awaited its players.

The carriage had barely crossed Chang'an's threshold when Su Mingli sensed the shift in the air.

"Ambush," she hissed, hand instinctively reaching for hidden needles.

Xiao Jingxuan remained impassive, fingers barely twitching. Outside, shadow guards tightened their grips on sword hilts.

Steel sang through the night.

Black-clad figures lunged from alleyways, blades flashing toward the carriage. Moonlight caught the cold glint of poison-coated edges as the first assassin's dagger pierced the window curtain—

—only to freeze mid-thrust, quivering between Su Mingli's silver-tipped fingers.