On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, when the moon was full, there was an imperial rite to the moon.
Golden phoenixes presented coolness, jade dew gave birth to chill, the scent of osmanthus wafted, and the light of the silver toad was full.
In a small courtyard in the southern part of Fufeng County City.
Li Wanshun, dressed in an intricate black and gold-trimd dress, sat in front of the dressing table, flanked by candles on candelabras. The flas illuminated her reflection in the bronze mirror. Even though a mask concealed half of her face, the exposed part remained exquisitely beautiful, unparalleled in the world.
Princess Wenxi of Great Qin.
With her noble and elegant deanor and her beautiful appearance, by virtue of divine influences and celestial graces bestowed at the age of seventeen.
Her expression was slightly dazed, her fingers sliding down the black hair at her temples to her lips, touching the slightly cool pendant, and her body moved slightly. Over her elaborate clothing, the golden phoenixes danced, their colors extraordinarily striking and beautiful.
Since her father’s death seventeen years ago, such attire had beco rare.
Her mind replayed the voice and smile of her father. Dressed in the dragon robe, the Crown Prince, unpredictable and majestic as seen by ordinary people, holding the power of life and death, was before his children the best father in the world.
The best of the best.
He would do her hair, and laugh loudly:
"My lady wife, who is as fair and gracious as you?!"
"When you marry, I shall let this boundless world, ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains, send you off like blazing peonies, unparalleled in wealth and splendor, continuous in legacy, from ancient tis till now, only you will go out!"
The woman’s eyes were dazed, and the joyful yellow-clad figure beside her gradually dissipated like ripples on water.
The warmth of the mont thus grew even colder.
She fell silent, then gently placed her right hand on the dressing table, touching the dagger that lay across it.
Length of a palm, colored golden yellow, with a dragon head around its hilt and fangs devouring the blade.
She held the cold dagger inverted in her palm. The technique from the Sword Forging Manor perfectly conford to the curves of her hand. Without effort being visible, the dagger had already sliced through space, leaving behind a streak of cold light. There was no sign before the movent, and no sound of wind by the ear afterwards. Clearly, she had used highly sophisticated assassination martial arts.
Li Wanshun looked at the dagger, now feeling seven to eight parts familiar, and murmured:
"A father’s debt, a child repays…"
The breath from her lips stirred the lamps.
Making the dagger even colder.
Born into no ordinary family, her father had known Yu Wenze, the Great General, well enough that despite her master being transferred elsewhere, she had trained in martial arts from a young age. After decades of hard training, she now approached Longn, ranking Seventh Rank.
She took a deep breath.
Soundlessly, a figure materialized behind her, a woman dressed in a Taoist robe, with a sword on her back. Although her features were unassuming, her eyes and brows emitted a fierce aura, warning strangers to stay away.
This was her personal guard, possessing the cultivation of Middle Third Rank and Fifth Rank, given to her by the Forr Emperor of Great Qin to replace the Xuanwu Guard mandated by the Emperor. Over the years, they had grown as close as sisters.
Having trained in a branch of the Taoist Sect, she had cultivated a powerful killing intent, which she could conceal whenever necessary. Once she struck, none beneath a grandmaster could withstand her.
The Daoist nun appeared and gently saluted Li Wanshun, saying:
"Your Highness…"
Li Wanshun softly humd in response and closed her eyes, recalling many things in her mind, rembering her father’s gentleness, recalling the happy tis when she first t Master Wang. He would take her sneaking out of the palace to play in the world beyond the Imperial Palace.
They would go to the riverside to catch fish, watch fireflies filling the sky; he taught her many things, just like her father had. The laughing Master was another bright mory from her childhood.
All these warm mories remained vivid in her mind.
But precisely because of these clear mories, the indescribable emotions that erged within her chest beca increasingly intense. mories she thought she had forgotten suddenly resurfaced in her mind upon knowing of the boy’s existence, becoming ever clearer, causing her heart to ache. She was compelled to speak softly, saying,
"...Today, when that boy cos, I will signal with the dropping of a cup."
Her voice paused slightly, then continued,
"Capture him."
The Taoist nun agreed, and then rembered the description of the boy’s rare and sharp swordsmanship, known as being ordinary in Internal and External Skills, but uniquely skilled in swordsmanship as portrayed by the bookkeeper. After pondering for a mont, she spoke again,
"Just capture him?"
Li Wanshun nodded her head, her right hand tightening around the replica of the Dragon Slaying Dagger.
Above the candlestick, the fla flickered slightly.
"Just capturing him will be enough."
In the woman’s mind, the blood-stained dagger beca clearer, and she closed her eyes, saying,
"I will take action personally."
The Taoist nun looked at the resolute expression gradually firming on the half-exposed face of the woman, took a step back, and did not further attempt to persuade.
Even in her eyes, the princess didn’t seem to be a match for the boy.
Although she possessed an exceptional Internal Strength Martial Body and had reached the Longn Pass, she had never experienced real combat. A sudden confrontation, with her Seventh Rank Cultivation, could at most compare to an Eighth Rank Martial Artist’s skills. She would need to slowly summon her Inner Strength to utilize six to seven tenths of her capabilities.
But the boy excelled in swift killing, possessing extraordinary swordsmanship, capable of defeating Eighth Rank opponents.
She should have persuaded her, but having known this young woman since childhood, she was accustod to following behind her. In her heart, she knew the imnse pressure that had accumulated over the years; although sowhat anxious, she was confident in her own high level of cultivation. With her presence, she was certain that nothing serious could occur.
The boy seed to rely entirely on his longsword; it might be possible to make him relinquish his sword.
With his hands empty, it seed unlikely that any mishaps would occur.
The Taoist nun contemplated this thoughtfully.
Above the candlestick, the red candle gradually shortened.
Li Wanshun sat quietly in place, the Taoist nun never far from behind, silently as if the quiet room were detached from the mundane world, slowly sinking into an abyss, deep and silent. Were it not for the candles gradually burning down, the passage of ti would almost go unnoticed.
The candlelight dimd.
The sounds of breathing grew calr.
Suddenly, a knocking sound ca from outside the door, a palm neither light nor heavy tapped on the wooden door, making a crisp snapping sound. It crisply pierced the silence in the room, shattering the original atmosphere. The Taoist nun slightly turned to look back, Li Wanshun’s eyes lifted, her left eye pitch-black, the right pupil jade-green, reflecting the bright candlelight.
The candle went out.
In both eyes, there was only profound depth.
................
Outside, Wang Anfeng in blue attire t up with Yu Wen, who seed not at all unfamiliar, heavily patting the door.
Ding Song hurriedly arrived, opened the wooden door, and smilingly welcod the two into the courtyard.
With a gentle creak, the wooden door softly closed, swallowing the figure of the boy.
The beast-head on the door appeared sowhat fierce under the reflection of the red candle.
PS: First update
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