I woke up as the Villainous Empress

Even though they all were in disguise, they came prepared with their weapons in case the situation worsened. The protection of the Crown Prince was their utmost priority and they cannot take any risk with it even though Zheng Liang is skilled enough, not only to protect himself from danger but also others as well.

Half of the guards took their positions as instructed and went downstairs to control the situation, to take the people to a secure place. Meanwhile, half of the guards stayed back with Zheng Liang as they will carry out the mission to capture the bear along with him.

“Gu Lan, Escort Lady Yang Ning out of this place using the backdoor. Since someone has seen the bear nearby, it will take some time for him to reach the backdoor.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I will escort her out of this place safely and will come back again.” Gu Lan said.

He was reluctant to leave Zheng Liang alone in this situation, just to escort Yang Ning out of this place. However, there is no choice.

No matter how much he dislikes her, she is still the strongest candidate to become the Future Crown Princess.

It was his duty to protect her and her maid.

If he cannot accompany Zheng Liang to capture the bear, he will come back again after escorting Yang Ning to a safe place. She should be able to go back to the Yang Household after that, isn’t she? He wondered.

.....

Zheng Liang did not say anything further to Gu Lan anymore as he was aware that he will not listen to him and will surely come back to fight with the bear.

“Let’s go Lady Yang Ning. We need to leave this place before the situation worsens.” Gu Lan turned to Yang Ning and urged her to follow him.

“But....His Highness....” Yang Ning was reluctant to leave as Zheng Liang was not leaving with her and was insisting on chasing the bear himself with the other guards.

” I will be fine. You should leave now or else you won’t be able to leave later on.” Zheng Liang warned her because soon the guards will take over the place and will set their trap to capture the wild bear who is killing people without any mercy.

Later on, he won’t be able to help her to escape either as the situation will not allow him to do so. That’s why she needs to leave as soon as possible before the bear enters the premises of the place and the situation turns severe.

Yang Ning was hesitant but seeing the assuring look on Zheng Liang’s face, she also calmed down.

That’s right. He is the male lead of the novel. There is no way he will die just because of a bear attack.

He will fight and will come victorious. Like any male lead in a novel. Right? She tried to convince herself.

Yes. If the main lead dies, the whole story will come to an end. This story will not end this way, does it?

‘I am the villain here. I should be more careful because, in situations like these, villains die first. Let’s leave from here first.’ She realized the sensitivity of the situation and decided not to stand at the ceremony and escape from this place first.

Yang Ning’s body is already weak enough. In addition to that, she cannot deal with a bear attack.

” Then....Please take care of yourself. I will see you later.” She said,

“Wait a minute!” Zheng Liang stopped her and took a dagger from a guard and handed Yang Ning the sharp dagger to hold in her hands to protect herself. Even though Gu Lan will be escorting her, having a weapon with her in this situation will be the best self-defense.

” Keep this with you. You can use it in case of an emergency. Do not hesitate to kill anyone if the situation calls for it.”

Yang Ning was dumbfounded to see the sharp dagger in her hands. It was heavier than she had expected and was feeling even more scared when she heard him say that she can kill anyone if she needed to protect herself.

“Thank you. However, if you’re giving me something to protect myself, can I ask you to hand me that one? I will feel more comfortable with that one, than using a dagger.” She said while pointing at the pair of an arrow and the bow that one of the guards was holding.

Zheng Liang was surprised by her sudden request. He gave her a dagger because it’s easier to use and she does not need to have any training to use that.

But arrow and now? “Lady Yang Ning, are you sure you want that? It’s not easy to use that one.” He asked her to confirm if she even knows what it is.

Yang Ning nodded with confidence. She will feel more confident with the arrow and bow than with using a dagger to protect herself.

Even though Yang Ning’s body is weak and has almost no strength in her body, she will still be able to protect herself because her mind remembers all the techniques to use a bow and arrow.

Zheng Liang did not waste any more time and handed the arrow and bow to Yang Ning and said, ” Keep the dagger as well and be safe.”

Yang Ning couldn’t say no to him and nodded before she hid the dagger under her robe and carried the quiver on her back that had the arrows and the bow in it before grabbing her long and heavy skirt and raising it higher.

The guards standing behind Zheng Liang gasped in horror when Yang Ning suddenly exposed her bare ankles and some skin of her calves as well to everyone, surprising Zheng Liang and the other guards at her random action.

She cannot put her life in danger just because of the so-called mannerisms. To escape from this place, she needs to run, and to run, she needs to remove all kinds of obstacles from her way.

The biggest obstacle right now is her long and heavy skirt. She cannot possibly die because of a mere skirt.

She almost died because of the heavy skirt by drowning once, she cannot take that chance once again.

The guards immediately closed their eyes when Yang Ning raised her skirt as they could not dare to stare at the bare skin of the future Crown Princess, meanwhile, Zheng Liang was simply baffled at her actions.

” My lady....” Xiaowei was shocked by Yang Ning’s sudden action however before she could say anything, Yang Ning shut her up with her words. ” Xiaowei, hurry and grab your skirt. If not, tear it in half and run. Your life is more important than a mere piece of cloth. So...don’t hesitate.”

Xiaowei pursed her lips and was convinced after listening to her words. She was right. Escaping out of this place safely should be their priority, not the length of their skirts.

Gu Lan was surprised by the witty act of Yang Ning. He thought that even in this urgent situation, she will give more importance to the noble mannerisms and the etiquettes. She is a noble lady after all, who is soon going to become the Crown Princess.

But to his surprise, she understood the urgency of the moment and wasn’t acting like a picky, spoiled brat noble lady as other people call her.

However, he wasn’t in the mood to appreciate her active mind. It wasn’t the time to do that.

“Let’s leave now. We don’t have any more time left with us.” Gu Lan said and showed her the way while walking ahead of her.

Yang Ning nodded and glanced at Zheng Liang one last time before hurriedly following Gu Lan out while holding onto her long skirt.

She also made sure to check that Xiaowei was also following her and wasn’t falling behind. She cannot leave her partner to die at the hands of the bear.

Xiaowei can only die when she dies. Not before that. Otherwise, who will serve her if not for her?

___

After Gu Lan and Yang Ning left the area to escape through the backdoor, Zheng Liang went downstairs with the other guards to check the situation and plan the trap to capture the bear.

“Your Highness, all the people have been taken to a safe place. Since we could not make all the people leave the brothel safely, they have been taken to the terrace. This way, we will now have enough space to lay the trap against the wild bear.” The guard who was in charge of the safety of the people came running to inform Zheng Liang about the situation.

“GOOD. BLOCK ALL THE EXISTS AND LOCK THE AREA THAT IS GOING TOWARDS THE TERRACE. WE CAN NOT TAKE ANY RISK WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR SAFETY.” He commanded.

“YES, YOUR HIGHNESS.” The Guards shouted in unison.

” ALSO, FOUR PEOPLE WILL BE ON STANDBY NEAR THE ENTRY GATE AND WILL SHUT THE DOOR CLOSE AS SOON AS THE BEAR ENTERS THE PREMISES. WE HAVE TO CAPTURE HIM BEFORE IT COULD RUN AWAY FROM OUR HANDS AGAIN. ”

” Your Highness, shouldn’t we be on standby near the exit gate of the backside? Because it was near that road where the wild bear had been seen a while ago and even attacked a woman. The information we received earlier was not specified. It was the backdoor, not the front gate. ” The guard informed him.

“WHAT.....DID YOU SAY?”