Like thunder struck her, she frantically clutched him aside and a sword swayed making a deep long cut on her back from shoulder to down.
It was so sudden and her movement was frenzied that it shocked him before another move could hurt her, Lue Zhen made a thunderous move, hide her behind him.
Two veiled men brought their swords to finish him just that he would not let them make another move.
He wielded his sword and in few breathes, they were severely injured by him but before he could arrest them they stabbed themselves and died.
He turned around; Jie Lan could not stand and fell on the ground when Lue Zhen was facing them. Her face was white like paper; he could see she was suffering immensely.
He supported her; few guards came rushing when they heard that swords were clashing in the garden side.
He sheathed his sword and bent to pick her up, his left hand got drenched with the blood of her wound.
He rushed toward the inner court.
Mansion's oldest maid was also herbalist and physician too. Henan was also informed in no time, various maids surrounded Jie Lan.
She was taken to her room by Lue Zhen; he came out and related the incident to Henan and went back in a hurry to settle the matter of those two intruders.
Henan stood in the top forte to observe the surrounding of the mansion but there was nothing unusual, she went to check the condition of Jie Lan, she was unusually calm, the big wound was hurting but she did not show any unrest, old maid conducted surgery and after that wound was fastened with thick gauzes.
Jie Lan fell asleep after two hours of painful suffering.
Henan did not sleep the whole night thinking about different aspects of previous and present events.
After Lue Zhen issued some urgent orders, Lue Zhen was standing on a forte to look around, "Whose blood is this, is that man's who attacked you?" his fellow guard pointed toward his left hand.
He simply forgot to clean his hand but it made him remember the girl who definitely had seen the attackers first and was unable to shout for help due to excessive fear but what made her courageous to suddenly clutch him aside and faced the sword which she definitely had no means to dodge.
He remembered, what made her so, the moment left a deep impression on him and he was unable to understand, why she chose to face the sword which was aimed at him? He stared at his blood dye hand for long and shook his head.
I think, I saw her somewhere, he thought to himself.
In the morning he went to the girl living quarters, he took permission from Henan before.
Henan was in fact surprised to hear that Jie Lan took a wild turn to save Lue Zhen.
Her sister led him in the room.
There were thick strips around her waist, her sister did not stay in the room, she even did not tell Jie Lan that Lue Zhen was here to see her.
She was sitting opposite side of her bed; she was feeling intense pain because herbal liquid which she was given in the night had lost its effects.
A few minutes ago, her sister had combed her hair which was now straight, her shoulders were bare and she was thinking to cover her shoulders with loose gown cover.
Lue Zhen entered in her room which was kept nicely and cleanly furnished with necessary furniture items.
"Miss, I am Lue Zhen, I am here to express my gratitude," he did not know what to say further, he just stood there rooted with slightly bent eyelids.
Jie Lan heard a familiar voice and marginally turned her head to see who it was but then she suddenly remembered that her shoulders were bare.
She hurriedly tried to stand up and a sharp pang runs through her back, "Ahh," he could see her struggle to stand up but when he saw that she was about to fell, her voice added to his worry. He ran toward her.
He put his hand on her back to hold her, another soft scream and he remembered that there was big wound on her back, he supported her on his chest, thinking there was no way.
"Are you feeling comfortable now?" she was feeling ashamed but it was clear that he did not pay attention to her bare shoulders that were indeed better on her part, with his support, her wound did not stretch to make her uncomfortable.
"I am Jie Lan," little embarrassed she spoke.
"Your name is wonderful and you are courageous but you should not have risked your life," silently few tears fell on his chest.
It was unclear whether this was due to her pain or his words but he did not say anything harsh.