What's Wrong with Being a Pair of Cowards? - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

At the Imperial Hunting Grounds, a band of masked assassins burst in, swords raised as they charged toward the Emperor and Empress.

Shen Zichen, who had originally been shielding me, flew to His Majesty’s side and engaged the assassins in combat.

My legitimate elder sister, Lin Zhao, drew her bow and nocked an arrow, striking one masked man straight in the chest.

The two of them moved in perfect harmony, covering the Emperor and Empress’s successful retreat.

The Imperial Guards arrived in time and joined the battle against the assassins.

Seeing that their plan had failed, the masked men suddenly turned and seized the Little Prince, who had been standing in a corner.

Their leader threatened, “If you want your son to live, let us leave.”

The three-year-old Little Prince burst into terrified sobs. The Emperor and Empress were helpless.

During the standoff, my legitimate elder sister Lin Zhao stepped forward and shouted furiously,

“How dare you rebels harm an innocent child?”

Faced with the rebels’ threats, she showed no fear at all.

“I am Lin Zhao, the Chancellor’s legitimate daughter. The current Empress is my aunt.”

“Why not take me hostage instead and release the child in your hands?”

In that instant, every gaze that fell upon Lin Zhao filled with admiration.

Shen Zichen cried out in alarm, “Zhaozhao, you mustn’t!”

Lin Zhao’s voice was resolute. “Zichen, I’ve made up my mind. If misfortune befalls me, you must live well in my stead.”

Another masked man pointed his sword at Lin Zhao.

“Fine. Since you’re not afraid of death, I’ll grant your wish.”

I hid under a table, trembling all over as I watched my legitimate elder sister walk forward step by step.

The worry in Shen Zichen’s eyes grew even stronger.

Then he grabbed me and dragged me out from under the table.

I had always been afraid of death, so alarm bells instantly rang in my heart. I clung to him with all my strength.

“Ah Chen, what are you doing?”

My legitimate elder sister was getting closer and closer to the assassin’s blade.

Shen Zichen said urgently, “Lin Shuang, go distract the assassins for a moment.”

Disappointment and sorrow surged through me. At a loss, I shook my head.

“Don’t be afraid. At most, you’ll get a little hurt. They won’t dare kill you. Once your elder sister is safe, I’ll come save you.”

Before I could speak, he shoved me hard toward the assassin’s blade.

In that instant, tears blurred my vision.

There was no time to grieve. Fear and the instinct to survive forced me to shift my body’s center of gravity.

I lurched to the left and happened to fall beside the martial arts platform.

Sticking my backside up, I crawled underneath it.

The space was cramped and dim. By accident, I kicked something soft.

Someone was there!

All at once, a pair of hands clamped tightly over my mouth, stifling the cry in my throat.

The underside of the platform was dark, but I met a pair of bright eyes.

“Shh-”

I understood and nodded.

Just then, lines of text appeared clearly before my eyes.

[Help, the two most pathetic cowards in the entire book have ended up together.]

Cowards? Was that talking about me?

[Shen Ziyue really is a crafty one. The moment the assassins rushed in, he was the first to hide here and keep himself alive.]

According to these subtitles, the person beside me was actually Shen Ziyue.

The good-for-nothing young master of the Shen Family who never did anything proper.

He was also the arrogant, debauched younger brother Shen Zichen was always talking about.

When I first met Shen Zichen, he had only been an insignificant concubine-born son of the Shen Family.

I, too, was a lowly concubine-born daughter of the Lin Family.

My legitimate mother often punished me by sending me to the Buddhist hall to copy scriptures, locking me in for days at a time. Because of that, I often went hungry.

After it happened enough times, I secretly pried a small piece of gold from the Buddha statue and took it out to exchange for money.

That evening, I was on my way home with a pocket full of cash when a few local thugs blocked me at the mouth of an alley.

Shen Zichen happened to pass by. He drove those men away for me and even escorted me home.

We were both concubine-born. Both of our birth mothers had died young. Both of us were of little standing in our families, our words carrying no weight, ignored by everyone. Inevitably, we felt a sense of kinship in our shared suffering.

During those lonely, difficult days, we wrote letters to each other, pouring out our hearts, and affection grew between us.

“Shuangshuang, once I pass the imperial examinations, I’ll go to your family to ask for your hand. One day, I’ll take you away from that den of wolves and tigers.”

We promised to escape together, joyfully planning our future.

Perhaps, someday, he could be posted away as a minor official, while I opened a shop and did business, far from the turmoil of the capital.

But later, Shen Zichen suddenly rose to fame for his talent. In the imperial examinations, he placed first at every level and became the top scholar personally appointed by His Majesty.

He was no longer that insignificant concubine-born son.

As for the marriage proposal we had agreed on, it was delayed again and again.

My legitimate elder sister, who had always thought herself above everyone, actually began approaching Shen Zichen of her own accord, drawing his gaze to her bit by bit.

And now, for the sake of my legitimate elder sister, he had completely disregarded whether I lived or died.