Chapter 2: Oh! My Sweet Liar! (Wang Fei Bu Kao Pu)
FlamingoBees
Translating Chinese Historical Dramas for your enjoyment... and mine! :)
Chapter Two:
Xiong Xiruo fell to the ground in fright as she saw two women in strange costumes rushing in to catch chickens.
“Ah, an assassin!” The two women suddenly stopped, their faces filled with panic, and scrambled away in terror.
Xiong Xiruo scratched her head in confusion. Were they filming a drama?
“Seize the assassin!” A man in armor, leading two squads of people, came in and surrounded Xiong Xiruo. As the guards drew their swords, the glint of blades sliced through her hair.
Oh my gosh, this is the real deal!
Xiong Xiruo was trembling with fear.
Isn’t filming usually done with props? Why are they using real weapons? This production crew must not care about the actors' safety; they might end up bankrupt if someone gets hurt.
“I’m not an assassin! I just accidentally ended up in your filming set!” Xiong Xiruo raised her hands in surrender, on the verge of tears.
The two women earlier had been dressed in ancient silk garments, and now this group was dressed as ancient guards, complete with armor, swords, and cloth boots.
It seemed they were indeed filming, and everything was so well done that there were no signs of a mistake.
“Nonsense! Wearing such strange attire, a girl without her hair styled—who else could you be but an assassin? Speak up! Who sent you to assassinate the prince?” The leader of the guards demanded with a stern face.
What? I’m wearing strange clothes? Aren’t you the ones dressed up oddly?
Xiong Xiruo was puzzled, but the edge of the guard’s sword was getting closer to her neck, making her feel a chill.
“Ah, this is really freaking terrifying!” Xiong Xiruo now truly felt the reality of her situation.
This didn’t seem like a drama; it was definitely real. “I have no grudge against you. I didn’t draw you as poor farmers or anything. Why are you seeking revenge against me?”
Xiong Xiruo felt incredibly wronged and mumbled to herself.
A sudden flash of realization hit her!
No way—could she have crossed over to another world?
Such a dramatic scenario actually happening to her!
Could it be that global warming has made crossing over more common? Well, at least watching those time-travel dramas had prepared her for this. Ah, watching TV does have its benefits.
“Stop talking! Take her away!”
“Wait, wait! I’m not an assassin. I’m a second-year high school student. I made a mistake, I admit it. I won’t defy my teachers anymore, and I won’t make my parents worry. I’ll burn my comics right away and promise to study hard. Please don’t kill me…”
Xiong Xiruo was sweating profusely, while her heart was crying.
Her academic performance had always been at the bottom, she had depicted the school as a poverty-stricken village, and the teachers as inept village officials. Her comics were a hit among the students, but the homeroom teacher had found out, and her parents were called to a meeting where she was severely reprimanded.
Was this their way of getting revenge on her?
Xiong Xiruo clung to a sliver of hope, hoping that she wasn’t really crossing over and that this was just a grand scheme concocted by her teachers and parents to teach her a lesson.
“That wild behavior surely marks her as a troublemaker!” The leader’s expression grew even more stern.
Wow, it’s really time travel!
“I... I’m not an assassin!” Xiong Xiruo fell to her knees with a thud, raising her hands in surrender. “Please, esteemed warriors, spare me! I’m really not an assassin! Look at me—I’m just an ordinary girl who can’t even kill a chicken. How could I be an assassin? You can search me! I’m not carrying any weapons!”
Why is it that others who time travel usually end up as noble ladies or coming from prominent families, while she ends up in such a chaotic scene, and now she’s facing execution?
Regardless of the circumstances, Xiong Xiruo decided to focus on saving her life first.
After all, the two swords at her neck were no joke; if they weren’t careful, she could be dead in an instant. “You don’t seem like an ordinary assassin,” the leader said, still holding his sword close to her neck. “Who are you, and why have you entered such a heavily guarded place?”
Xiong Xiruo’s eyes widened in disbelief. “A palace? You’re saying this is a palace?” she asked. “Which dynasty is this, and which prince’s palace is this?”
“Presumptuous! I’m asking you who you are! Who sent you?” The leader, losing patience, made the sword in his hand make a sharp sound.
Xiong Xiruo felt a shiver down her neck from the sword’s edge and hurriedly explained, “What I meant is, I’m definitely not an ordinary assassin because I’m not an assassin at all! I’m not a spy, either. I have nothing to do with spies!”
How was she supposed to know who sent her? Was she supposed to say it was the heavens who sent her?
“Seeing your strange attire and behavior, you must be one of those palace maids who escaped from the cold palace!” The leader eyed her coldly.
“Yes, yes, I’m one of those palace maids who escaped from the cold palace,” Xiong Xiruo said, her eyes darting around the room. “My lady, she was bored in the cold palace and wanted me to bring her some fun, so I snuck out to get some paint for her. It’s very lonely in the cold palace, and I have nothing to do anyway, haha…”
If she guessed correctly, this should be some sort of painting studio, so saying she came to get paint seemed plausible enough.
“Which lady are you serving?” The leader, still not satisfied, pressed further. “What’s your name?”
“Seriously, how would I know which lady I’m serving? Are there many ladies in the cold palace?” Xiong Xiruo muttered quietly, unable to think of a way to escape. She could only delay as much as possible. “Well, actually... my lady was never favored, so even if I told you, you wouldn’t know her. Besides, she’s been in the cold palace for a long time, and no one remembers her anymore!”
“Nonsense! Since the new Emperor, all the ladies from the cold palace were released. How could you be one of them?” The leader sneered. “You’re sneaky and suspicious. Even if you’re just a powerless girl, you must be up to no good. Take her away and present her to the ruler!”
After losing the Jiangbei region, the Emperor had removed the titles, submitting to Song. The country was in ruins, and there was no more cold palace!
“This is so unfair! I’m really not an assassin! I’m wronged!” Xiong Xiruo was stunned by the leader’s words.
Heavens!
How was she supposed to know that this ruler was so generous as to release the ladies from the cold palace?
Would she die without ever knowing which dynasty she had traveled to?
Heaven, please send a divine savior to rescue me. Why bring me to this horrible place just to kill me?
Wait a minute—this ruler is so generous; he must be a good person, right? They wouldn’t kill her indiscriminately. With this thought, Xiong Xiruo felt a bit less afraid, relieved that she hadn’t been executed on the spot. Just as she was secretly relieved, the guards holding her suddenly stopped, and she heard the leader say, “Your Highness.”
“What’s the commotion?”
A clear, deep male voice rang out, making Xiong Xiruo’s ears tingle. Wow, such a beautiful voice!
“Replying to Your Highness, we’ve captured an unidentified woman who appears to be an assassin,” the leader replied respectfully. “We are about to present her to the Emperor.”
Your Highness?
Could it be that she’s lucky enough to meet the prince right away? Is he a divine savior sent to help her? He must be!
But she could only hear his voice and not see him. Xiong Xiruo craned her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the prince, thinking, “Stop talking and move forward a few steps. Let me see the prince’s stunning appearance. With such a nice voice, he must be very handsome! Does he look like any of my favorite celebrities? Yang Yang? Li Yifeng? Kim Soo-hyun? Song Joong-ki?”
“Oh? A female assassin,” the prince said indifferently.
“Bring the assassin forward.”
The leader waved his hand, and Xiong Xiruo was pushed in front of the prince. “Kneel!”
As soon as her knees hit the ground, Xiong Xiruo looked up at the prince. The moment she saw him, she felt as if she had found her soulmate, even her soul’s other half!
“Heavens, so you sent me here to marry the prince?” Xiong Xiruo’s eyes were full of affection as she gazed at the prince, mumbling to herself, “Now I’m not afraid. I won’t die.”
“Then, execute her. There’s no need to trouble my father,” the prince said coldly, giving Xiong Xiruo a dismissive glance. His demeanor was as cold as ice.
Prince Li Hongyi, known for his serious and reticent nature since childhood, was rumored to have depression. Liu Tongling, who was used to this attitude, knew that the prince was set to inherit the throne. However, with the Song Dynasty eyeing the Southern Tang’s territory and internal conflicts rampant, the future was bleak. The prince’s statement reflected his disillusionment with the current state of affairs and the uncertain fate awaiting him.
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