Today, Gu Nan is still practicing her sword skill.
Xiao Lu squats some distance away, looking at Gu Nan worriedly.
The miss has talked less by each month, just like the lord.
She is like a piece of wood that rarely makes a sound.
The miss learns martial arts and military from the lord. Does learning such things turn people into a piece of wood?
Seeing the look on Gu Nan, painting fairy leaves her alone, as if knowing the reason behind her solidity.
She swings her sword into a blur, dazzling light shining off its blade. In months of practice, Gu Nan has finally become skilled at manipulating her chi. The profound chi within her reveals the true form of her sword skill, as she has finally acquired the Ghost Valley master’s teachings. Her strikes of the sword leave behind a series of afterimages, delivering a chilling sensation to whoever in audience.
She does not know how hard she can hit with one blow at her best, and she does not bother to test it. However, she knows that she can defeat Meng Wu with one blow, and can spar with the Ghost Valley Master for several dozen rounds. She is confident that she can only lose to the Ghost Valley Master in skills, not chi.
“Zing.” The long sword returns to its scabbard, followed by a sheath sound which is mixed with the buzzing noise of airstreams.
Lao Lian has entered into the yard.
“Miss, the king of Qin will arrive soon. Our lord demands your presence.”
The king of Qin…
Gu Nan lowers her long sword and nods: “I will be there.”
The king has just entered the gate when Gu Nan arrives at the lobby. She falls to the ground to pay formal greetings.
He arrives on a horseback instead of a grand palanquin which is meant to show a king’s magnificence, three royal personal guards by his side.
Gu Nan can tell that they are strong by just a glance.
The king of Qin looks at those in front him on the ground, who are the only remaining people of the Wu An mansion, raises his hand and says: “forgo the courtesy.”
After everyone rises from the ground, he smiles: “the Wu An mansion is still as desolate as usual.”
Bai Qi’s physicality has attenuated drastically, and looks nothing like his usual self as a war legend. Now, he is just an old man barely on his feet.
Supported by Wei Lan, Bai Qi pays his courtesy: “I let you see my unsightly form.”
For some reason, the king signs: “I just want to have a conversation with the lord Wu An. Since you are unwell, I come over myself.”
Unlike on the court when he always hides his emotions from all officials, the king of Qin right now lets his sorrow and weariness emerge from his expression.
Bai Qi dips his head, and grinds out a smile with difficulty: “your highness, if so, please follow me into the room.”
Bai Qi and the king enter the room from the backyard, leaving Gu Nan and the three royal personal guards outside, staring against each other.
Inside the room, Bai Qi and the king of Qin sit facing against each other. Bai Qi attempts to serve tea to the king, but is stopped by his highness.
“General Bai is ill; let me do the work.” Saying so, he pours tea into both his and Bai Qi’s cups.
While he was pouring tea, a smile creeps up his face. “When was the last time we sit together and have a conversation like this?”
Bai Qi narrows his eyes as if trying to remember something, but only shakes his head and answers with a smile: “I cannot remember.”
“Me neither.”
The two of them savor the tea until half of the pot is empty.
Then the king of Qin speaks softly: “Since the beginning of our invasion north, other kingdoms had taken actions and blamed us for acting against human ethnicity by burying alive hundreds of thousands of captives.”
“Now, we are at the edge of a total defeat. I should have listened to you, lord Wu An.” A sentiment of remorse and weariness can be heard in his words.
“If all those under heaven start to attack us in return, it is not likely that we have a chance to win. In that case, general Bai, what should gua do?”
The king of Qin on the court can never be wrong, and that is exactly why he has to be here alone with Bai Qi. Here, he can acknowledge his mistake as Ying Ji, but not as a king. *Ying Ji is his name. *
Bai Qi drinks up the tea in his cup in one go. He has been contemplating over this issue in the past months, and now he has an answer.
His shoulders drop as he feebly opens his mouth.
“Your highness can discard one of your pawns to save the great kingdom of Qin.”
“Discard a pawn?”
Bai Qi puts down his teacup. “All the kingdoms raise war against you under one excuse, which is the incident at Chang Ping.”
“Your highness can execute Bai Qi as an apology to the world, and hence takes away their only excuse.”
“Without an excuse that unifies all six’s strengths as a whole, any single kingdom alone does not dare attack Qin on its own.”
“And if we give away more benefits on top of that, the siege against Qin will be broken.”
Saying so, Bai Qi leans down over the ground, like a mountain falling apart, his voice worn and depressed.
“Your highness, Bai Qi is useless now, and can be the said pawn to be discarded.”
Gu Nan standing outside of the rooms instantly narrows her pupil, her heightened hearing allows her to catch the conversation going on inside.
She silently grabs the sword hilt, ready to rush into the room.
The three royal guards simultaneously step in front of her, blocking her way.
Gu Nan raises her sights, her eyes behind her hair shine a chilling glimmer: “out of my way.”
“Ka.”
The guards unanimously place their hands on their swords, and pushes out the blade using their thumps, revealing an inch of their blades and the dangerous light reflected from them.
As if the air in the yard has been frozen.
Gu Nan unleashes her chi which makes her broad sleeves flutter.
Sensing it, the three guards feel sweat in their palm, as it is beyond their expectation that a girl under twenty can have such astonishing chi and will to sword.
The pressure delivered from Gu Nan makes them want to flee.
“Nan’er, I never mean for you to do this when I pass my chi to you. Take it back.”
A voice travels to the outside, weak but steady.
Gu Nan closes her eyes. When she opens them a gain, the chilling light inside of them is replaced by a bleak sentiment.
Quietly she lowers her head, “yes, master,” and steps aside.
Like a rock lifted from their chest, the three guards take a long breath.
“Please forgive us.” Bai Qi looks at the king of Qin resignedly.
“Not a big deal.” The king gestures with his hand, his voice worn: “it is understandable since Nan’er is young…”
“General Bai, is this the only option available?”
“Yes.” Looking at the dull floor, Bai Qi says: “in that way, Qin will be saved.”
“It is just that I have to ask your highness to keep an eye on Nan’er and Zhong’er in my place.”
“As a father as well as a master, I have owed them a lot.”
“Zhong’er.”
The king of Qin remembers the time when he visited Bai Qi’s home to celebrate his son’s birth, and saw the infant in Bai Qi’s arms.
Bai Qi laughed happily that day.
However, due to his constant absence from home as well as rigid regulations on Zhong’er, the father went into conflict with his son.
The king of Qin smiles bitterly as if remembering his own kid who never listened to him: “is he still not home yet?”
Bai Qi has been by his side for over thirty years, although they are of the relation between a king and a minister on the court, in private they are close buddies.
He knows more than anybody how much Bai Qi has sacrificed for the country.
“Lord Wu An.” The king of Qin tidies his clothes, and falls to ground.
“I, Ying ji, pay you my utmost gratitude.”
Today, Gu Nan is still practicing her sword skill.
Xiao Lu squats some distance away, looking at Gu Nan worriedly.
The miss has talked less by each month, just like the lord.
She is like a piece of wood that rarely makes a sound.
The miss learns martial arts and military from the lord. Does learning such things turn people into a piece of wood?
Seeing the look on Gu Nan, painting fairy leaves her alone, as if knowing the reason behind her solidity.
She swings her sword into a blur, dazzling light shining off its blade. In months of practice, Gu Nan has finally become skilled at manipulating her chi. The profound chi within her reveals the true form of her sword skill, as she has finally acquired the Ghost Valley master’s teachings. Her strikes of the sword leave behind a series of afterimages, delivering a chilling sensation to whoever in audience.
She does not know how hard she can hit with one blow at her best, and she does not bother to test it. However, she knows that she can defeat Meng Wu with one blow, and can spar with the Ghost Valley Master for several dozen rounds. She is confident that she can only lose to the Ghost Valley Master in skills, not chi.
“Zing.” The long sword returns to its scabbard, followed by a sheath sound which is mixed with the buzzing noise of airstreams.
Lao Lian has entered into the yard.
“Miss, the king of Qin will arrive soon. Our lord demands your presence.”
The king of Qin…
Gu Nan lowers her long sword and nods: “I will be there.”
The king has just entered the gate when Gu Nan arrives at the lobby. She falls to the ground to pay formal greetings.
He arrives on a horseback instead of a grand palanquin which is meant to show a king’s magnificence, three royal personal guards by his side.
Gu Nan can tell that they are strong by just a glance.
The king of Qin looks at those in front him on the ground, who are the only remaining people of the Wu An mansion, raises his hand and says: “forgo the courtesy.”
After everyone rises from the ground, he smiles: “the Wu An mansion is still as desolate as usual.”
Bai Qi’s physicality has attenuated drastically, and looks nothing like his usual self as a war legend. Now, he is just an old man barely on his feet.
Supported by Wei Lan, Bai Qi pays his courtesy: “I let you see my unsightly form.”
For some reason, the king signs: “I just want to have a conversation with the lord Wu An. Since you are unwell, I come over myself.”
Unlike on the court when he always hides his emotions from all officials, the king of Qin right now lets his sorrow and weariness emerge from his expression.
Bai Qi dips his head, and grinds out a smile with difficulty: “your highness, if so, please follow me into the room.”
Bai Qi and the king enter the room from the backyard, leaving Gu Nan and the three royal personal guards outside, staring against each other.
Inside the room, Bai Qi and the king of Qin sit facing against each other. Bai Qi attempts to serve tea to the king, but is stopped by his highness.
“General Bai is ill; let me do the work.” Saying so, he pours tea into both his and Bai Qi’s cups.
While he was pouring tea, a smile creeps up his face. “When was the last time we sit together and have a conversation like this?”
Bai Qi narrows his eyes as if trying to remember something, but only shakes his head and answers with a smile: “I cannot remember.”
“Me neither.”
The two of them savor the tea until half of the pot is empty.
Then the king of Qin speaks softly: “Since the beginning of our invasion north, other kingdoms had taken actions and blamed us for acting against human ethnicity by burying alive hundreds of thousands of captives.”
“Now, we are at the edge of a total defeat. I should have listened to you, lord Wu An.” A sentiment of remorse and weariness can be heard in his words.
“If all those under heaven start to attack us in return, it is not likely that we have a chance to win. In that case, general Bai, what should gua do?”
The king of Qin on the court can never be wrong, and that is exactly why he has to be here alone with Bai Qi. Here, he can acknowledge his mistake as Ying Ji, but not as a king. *Ying Ji is his name. *
Bai Qi drinks up the tea in his cup in one go. He has been contemplating over this issue in the past months, and now he has an answer.
His shoulders drop as he feebly opens his mouth.
“Your highness can discard one of your pawns to save the great kingdom of Qin.”
“Discard a pawn?”
Bai Qi puts down his teacup. “All the kingdoms raise war against you under one excuse, which is the incident at Chang Ping.”
“Your highness can execute Bai Qi as an apology to the world, and hence takes away their only excuse.”
“Without an excuse that unifies all six’s strengths as a whole, any single kingdom alone does not dare attack Qin on its own.”
“And if we give away more benefits on top of that, the siege against Qin will be broken.”
Saying so, Bai Qi leans down over the ground, like a mountain falling apart, his voice worn and depressed.
“Your highness, Bai Qi is useless now, and can be the said pawn to be discarded.”
Gu Nan standing outside of the rooms instantly narrows her pupil, her heightened hearing allows her to catch the conversation going on inside.
She silently grabs the sword hilt, ready to rush into the room.
The three royal guards simultaneously step in front of her, blocking her way.
Gu Nan raises her sights, her eyes behind her hair shine a chilling glimmer: “out of my way.”
“Ka.”
The guards unanimously place their hands on their swords, and pushes out the blade using their thumps, revealing an inch of their blades and the dangerous light reflected from them.
As if the air in the yard has been frozen.
Gu Nan unleashes her chi which makes her broad sleeves flutter.
Sensing it, the three guards feel sweat in their palm, as it is beyond their expectation that a girl under twenty can have such astonishing chi and will to sword.
The pressure delivered from Gu Nan makes them want to flee.
“Nan’er, I never mean for you to do this when I pass my chi to you. Take it back.”
A voice travels to the outside, weak but steady.
Gu Nan closes her eyes. When she opens them a gain, the chilling light inside of them is replaced by a bleak sentiment.
Quietly she lowers her head, “yes, master,” and steps aside.
Like a rock lifted from their chest, the three guards take a long breath.
“Please forgive us.” Bai Qi looks at the king of Qin resignedly.
“Not a big deal.” The king gestures with his hand, his voice worn: “it is understandable since Nan’er is young…”
“General Bai, is this the only option available?”
“Yes.” Looking at the dull floor, Bai Qi says: “in that way, Qin will be saved.”
“It is just that I have to ask your highness to keep an eye on Nan’er and Zhong’er in my place.”
“As a father as well as a master, I have owed them a lot.”
“Zhong’er.”
The king of Qin remembers the time when he visited Bai Qi’s home to celebrate his son’s birth, and saw the infant in Bai Qi’s arms.
Bai Qi laughed happily that day.
However, due to his constant absence from home as well as rigid regulations on Zhong’er, the father went into conflict with his son.
The king of Qin smiles bitterly as if remembering his own kid who never listened to him: “is he still not home yet?”
Bai Qi has been by his side for over thirty years, although they are of the relation between a king and a minister on the court, in private they are close buddies.
He knows more than anybody how much Bai Qi has sacrificed for the country.
“Lord Wu An.” The king of Qin tidies his clothes, and falls to ground.
“I, Ying ji, pay you my utmost gratitude.”
