This Princess Wishes to See Her

*Smack!* A sharp crack rang out. At some point, the elder had returned to the pelt-clad youth's side and swatted him squarely across the back of the head. Lowering his raspy voice, he hissed nervously, "Idiot, stop staring!" The pelt-clad youth rubbed the back of his head, looking at his master in confusion. "Master, wh-what's wrong?" As he spoke, his gaze inadvertently drifted back toward the woman's retreating figure. Dressed in palace robes, her graceful silhouette skimmed the snow and stepped through the air without leaving a single track. Her long hair cascaded down like a waterfall, exuding an indescribable elegance and beauty that seemed entirely out of place in their surroundings. Like a pure lotus blossoming from the mire. She appeared to be heading into the city. Seen in profile, the light from the ancient inscription lamps atop the ramparts reflected off the snow and cast a faint glow across her face, accentuating her crystalline, jade-soft skin. Within her flowing golden pupils lingered a subtle trace of divinity. Pausing for scarcely a breath, the young woman walked straight past them, heading inside the city walls. *Smack!* A perceptive corporal struck the helmet of a white-armored soldier who stood entranced by the woman's beauty, scolding in a low whisper: "Stop staring! That token belongs to the Prime Minister's Manor. That girl's cultivation is fathomless!" Why did those white-armored soldiers, who had been arrogant and impatient with his master, behave like docile sheep before this young woman? *Smack!* Even as the thought crossed his mind, another blow landed on the pelt-clad youth's head. The thick bearskin cap did nothing to cushion his master's force: "Still looking? You're still looking! Do you want both of us to die right here?" Compared to the corporal's tension, the pelt-clad elder's voice carried a streak of fearful exasperation. The youth immediately reined in his wandering thoughts. He had never seen his master like this. In his mind, his master was someone whose composure remained unshaken even if Mount Tai collapsed before him. Though bewildered, the youth obediently looked away and asked no further questions. The old and young stood frozen in the open snow before the walls of Beifeng City. Upon this very ground, once carpeted with the corpses of countless Great Yan armored soldiers and Barbarians, they waited anxiously as the young woman's figure gradually vanished into the massive, towering archway of Beifeng City's gate. After a long while, the pelt-clad youth's cautious voice sounded, as if terrified of catching another slap: "Master, that beautiful woman was truly so prett—" "Enough." His heart still pounding with lingering dread, the elder tied the snakeskin bag containing a hundred taels of broken silver onto his horse. Turning back, he spoke with deep gravity: "Xiao Tong, we are merely people of the Jianghu, martial artists. That person just now was a true immortal." Half-comprehending, the youth asked, "A true immortal... Then why were you so nervous, Master?" "The temperaments of immortals are unpredictable, just like the high officials in large cities—impossible to fathom." The elder shook his head, lingering fear in his tone. "Back in the day, your martial uncle was beaten to death on a whim merely for stealing a few extra glances at some immortals descending the mountain." The youth frowned for the first time. "Why didn't anyone avenge him?" In his eyes, a murderer pays with his life and a debtor pays with money—it was the natural order of the world. The elder's mouth opened and closed. A complex look filled his eyes, and a sudden hesitation sprouted in his heart over whether he should send the boy to the Imperial Capital. Though the Imperial Capital was immense, bustling, and full of myriad opportunities, it did not seem like a good place for such an innocent, naive boy. Amidst the silence, the elder swung into the saddle, hauled the youth up with him, and steered the horse southward: "Blame your master for his incompetence. But if you reach the Imperial Capital, you must, absolutely must rein in this naive nature of yours. Watch less, listen less, speak less, and do more." "Oh..." The youth remained puzzled. "Then we're not taking revenge?" "..." A wave of helplessness washed over the elder. As they rode farther away, his voice took on a hint of hearty laughter: "If you can become an immortal, it wouldn't be impossible—provided you're strong enough. "Tong Xi, remember this: though we may be formidable figures of the martial realm to commoners, before truly powerful dignitaries, we are nothing more than ants." With that, the elder glanced back at the snakeskin bag strapped to the horse. "We agreed on one hundred and sixty taels, yet even when these soldier-thieves give us less than half, your master still has to offer smiles and cater to their whims. If I could step into the Innate realm, things would be entirely different. "Xiao Tong, in the future, you must become strong—so strong that no one dares bully you!" The youth nodded half-comprehending. "Oh..." "Alright, let's hunt a few more Barbarians, and then I'll take you to the Imperial Capital." The voices of the master and disciple faded across the boundless snowfield, gradually shrinking into two black specks before vanishing altogether. Meanwhile, the other side of the colossal Beifeng City welcomed new guests—or rather, its masters. A massive lion-eagle beast bypassed the city gate inspections entirely, soaring directly over the thousand-foot-high wall. Accompanied by a piercing cry, it landed within the ruined Demonic Beast Bureau inside the city. Welcomed by personnel dressed in Demonic Beast Bureau attire, one man and two women silently leaped down from the colossal creature's back. Though the city lay in ruins, a few simple wooden sheds and shelters had already been constructed. Li Qingyan clearly had no intention of exposing her movements. Before dismounting, she handed Xu Yuan and Bai Muxi each a black muli veil while changing into a suit of black martial attire herself. The token she presented to the Demonic Beast Bureau was not an imperial princess medallion, but an identity token belonging to a captain. Even so, a captain was nearly at the pinnacle of rank within the Beifeng Army, granting them seamless passage through the martial-law-restricted Beifeng City without the slightest hindrance. Led by staff from the Demonic Beast Bureau, the three mounted demonic beasts and rode into the city. This was Bai Muxi's first time seeing a surface city of such scale. Curiosity and wonder flickered in her bright eyes, but the "special training" Li Qingyan had subjected her to over the past month kept her from speaking out of turn. She simply rode obediently behind them. Looking at the ruined streets on either side, Xu Yuan pulled on his reins and asked Li Qingyan in a low voice, "Qingyan, why must we stop in Beifeng City?" Turning her head, Li Qingyan, dressed in her chest-bound black attire, teased, "What, is our Third Young Master so impatient to return to the capital and wed this princess?" Xu Yuan gave a dry chuckle and replied without hesitation, "Don't go making promises here. Unkept promises become shackles, and over this past month, Your Highness hasn't fulfilled a single one." At that, he muttered under his breath, "Tsk, tsk. 'A woman of her word, Li Qingyan.'" "..." A flicker of embarrassment crossed Li Qingyan's exquisite, otherworldly face. Taking a deep breath, she pretended not to hear him and answered with an entirely different topic: "Though the Barbarian King has been eliminated, I still can't rest easy regarding the decisive battle with the Barbarian main army within our borders." Xu Yuan didn't press the matter, continuing the conversation with interest: "Are you worried the imperial army lost?" "Not to that extent. Having lost their king, the Barbarians are like wolves stripped of their fangs and claws; their defeat is practically sealed." A faint smile touched Li Qingyan's voice, but it soon grew grave as she transmitted: "However, there are many things I must verify first. At the very least, we must confirm whether the routed Barbarian remnants still maintain their military formations. If they do, and we run into them while flying south on the lion-eagle beast, it would be difficult for me to protect you in my currently wounded state." Xu Yuan caught her drift and narrowed his eyes. "At the very least, you're worried our Imperial Father and the others have already moved against the sects in the three northern provinces?" Li Qingyan turned her head away and did not answer, but a frosty chill like fallen snow settled in her magnificent crimson pupils. She had not forgotten that Beifeng City's fall was due to the willful inaction of those sects, nor would she ever forget the blood debts those sects had carved into the frontier soldiers over the past dozen-plus years. Now that the reckoning was finally at hand, how could she simply head south to the Imperial Capital? Veiled by the muli, Xu Yuan could not clearly see Li Qingyan's expression, but he could roughly guess her state of mind. Rubbing the Barbarian King's Sumeru ring on his fingertip, he suddenly asked via sound transmission: "Qingyan, how do you plan to handle our Second Brother?" "How do you want to handle him?" "We've been out of contact for so long. I reckon he probably assumes we're dead." "...He won't." "Hm?" "..." Li Qingyan took a deep breath, her voice cool: "I said, that Second Brother of ours wouldn't be so naive." Xu Yuan frowned slightly. "Why do you say that?" Li Qingyan gazed southward into the distance, as if seeing the Second Prince's face through the city walls, a cold smirk playing at the corners of her lips: "Put yourself in his shoes, and you'll understand." Xu Yuan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "He plotted to teleport us into the Barbarian main camp. If the plan had gone smoothly, the Barbarian King Chi Feng wouldn't have vanished along with us... Is that what you mean?" "More or less," Li Qingyan nodded slightly. "I'm not close with that Second Brother, but I've heard some things about him. What I can think of, he can almost certainly deduce as well." Xu Yuan shook his head and said leisurely, "Besides, we don't have evidence." Li Qingyan glanced at Xu Yuan and smiled. "Indeed we don't. But don't you have that fox spirit's corpse?" "..." Xu Yuan fell silent. Nan Jinxi... He actually didn't bear much ill will toward the fox spirit; if anything, he found her quite pitiable. As one of the three kings of the Fox Clan, she had met an unceremonious death for a heartless man, flayed and deboned, lying lifeless and silent inside a dead Sumeru ring. After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan murmured, "Even if the Second Prince truly had feelings for her, with his shrewdness, he would never admit it, nor would he let slip any sign of emotion." Li Qingyan raised an elegant, valiant brow, her eyes curving into two glistening crescents: "At least we can disgust him. When I see him again, why don't I serve him a bowl of fox meat congee?" Xu Yuan's eyelid twitched. Then he chuckled: "Do you think he'd drink it?" Li Qingyan looked up at the overcast sky and let out a soft snort: "Whether he wants to or not, he'll drink it for this princess." As they spoke, the party of three had already been led by the Demonic Beast Bureau guides to the current captain's headquarters in Beifeng City. The force currently garrisoning Beifeng City was the Xuanwu Battalion of the Beifeng White Armors' Fourth Division. According to Li Qingyan, this was a direct force given to her by Uncle Mu. Of the six Beifeng divisions, the Fourth and Sixth Divisions had both been assigned to Li Qingyan, an imperial scion, by Marquis Wucheng. Li Qingyan had kept none of this from Xu Yuan. Yet learning this left Xu Yuan somewhat baffled by the relationship between Marquis Wucheng and the imperial family. The Beifeng Army was essentially Marquis Wucheng's private force, much like the Zhenxi Army was to the father of his good brother Li Junwu. Marquis Wucheng belonged to the imperial faction, but according to Xu Yuan's understanding, factions supported the crown because doing so yielded greater benefits. It was akin to placing a wager. Yet Marquis Wucheng had never used his military power to assert independence; instead, he handed his private troops directly to the imperial family, sacrificing his own interests to protect the crown. Stepping into the command tent, they found a burly man in white armor seated at the main desk, perusing military dossiers. Seeing the three enter, he barely lifted his eyelids, his voice low and tinged with impatience: "May I ask what business brings you three here?" "..." Xu Yuan felt a strange amusement. This was her direct subordinate? Just wearing a muli veil and changing clothes was enough to make him fail to recognize his direct superior? Li Qingyan remained silent, glancing around the tent at the other officers and clerks at work. The captain frowned slightly, let out a sigh, and waved an impatient hand at his subordinates, dismissing them. Within a few breaths, only Xu Yuan, the two women, and the white-armored captain remained in the tent. Once everyone was dismissed, the burly white-armored man stepped straight down from the main seat and dropped to his knees, his voice trembling: "Your Highness, you're unharmed?!" Well, look at that. He had recognized her all along. He was just playing along with the chest-bound princess. Then again, men who reached these positions were all slick operators, able to discern their superior's intent at a single glance. Xu Yuan muttered inwardly. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Li Qingyan stroll past the captain, seat herself at the main desk, and look down at the kneeling man: "What is the current situation?" As her direct subordinate, the burly captain knew precisely what Her Highness was asking. He instinctively glanced at the two unidentified companions beside her. Seeing Li Qingyan offer no objection, he answered in a hushed tone: "It has already begun. A ten-day ago, the mountain gates of the Tianqiong Palace and Qiqing Gate sects were breached by Mr. Zong and Commander Shi respectively." Commander Shi was the commander of the Beifeng Sixth Division. Silence fell in the tent. Li Qingyan removed her muli veil, set it on the desk, and gently tapped the surface, looking as if she had anticipated this. After a moment of thought, she asked, "What about the other sects? Any movements?" The burly man pondered briefly: "Forgive me, Your Highness. This subordinate is stationed on rotation here in Beifeng City, so I do not know many details." Li Qingyan glanced at him: "Has the city's communication crystal been repaired?" Knowing she intended to contact the Imperial Capital, the burly man immediately nodded: "It has been repaired. Does Your Highness wish to use it?" Li Qingyan hesitated slightly, but did not go at once. Instead, she said, "No rush. First, tell me what you know." Kneeling on one knee, the burly captain promptly recounted the major events that had unfolded across Great Yan since Li Qingyan and Xu Yuan's disappearance. The decisive battle between the imperial court and the Barbarians. The rout of the Barbarian main army. His Majesty utilizing the Barbarian Slaughter Order to mobilize troops. Using the "Sun-Blotter" to blockade sect mountain gates. And... "...Just a moment ago, a woman arrived from the Imperial Capital carrying the token of the Prime Minister's Manor's Sword Saint." "..." Hearing the last part, Li Qingyan gave Xu Yuan a cool, sideways glance: "Changtian, is she looking for you?" Xu Yuan hesitated, asking instinctively, "General, could you describe her features in detail?" The burly captain hesitated slightly: "Golden eyes..." *Tap.* Before the captain could finish, Xu Yuan's fingers twitched, and he instinctively took a step back. Uh-oh. Seeing this, Li Qingyan frowned: "What's wrong with you?" Xu Yuan fell silent for a moment, the corners of his mouth twitching as he said with utmost caution, "I mentioned her to you before in the Imperial Capital... ahem, she's the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion." "..." A glimmer of recollection flashed across Li Qingyan's eyes, and realizing who the woman was, her eyes curved into two glistening crescents: "Captain Zhang." "This subordinate is here!" "Summon this Saintess up here. Tell her this princess wishes to see her." "..." Xu Yuan.