Valiant Princess

Seventeen: The women of Longs and Bings

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Captain Ying

(Mark Chao)

Empress Huihuang and Imperial Noble Consort Mei walk side by side in front of the group of women while having a lively conversation with one another. Crown Princess Long Fenghuang and Princess Long Hua are walking just behind them, the younger princess is also holding onto the older princess right hand as the older princess is smiling when she turns to look at her younger sister. Lady Mudan is having a conversation with Duchess Bing while Lady Meili is listening in silence. As an adopted daughter, she feels that it is not appropriate for her to join in the conversation. Lady Mudan realized this but chose to ignore the younger lady as she understands the General is quite fond with his adopted sister and, she is also one of the reasons why the crown princess acted like a dumb fool in the past.

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When they all have arrived at the gazebo, the elder women take a sit on the same bench while the younger ladies sit on the opposite bench. Empress Huihuang is sitting in-between Concubine Mei and Duchess Bing; the princesses are sitting side by side, Lady Mudan sits next to Princess Long Hua. Lady Meili stands awkwardly not knowing where she is supposed to sit, Duchess Bing had realized this and wanted to call her but, before she managed to call her adopted daughter, there is a soft yet clear voice that says, "Lady Meili, do sit next to this princess."

Everyone is now staring at the princess that wears a beautiful golden mask, her naturally reddish-pinkish lips shows a beautiful and enchanting smile, her hand is gesturing for the other lady to come near her and she then softly tap on the empty space next to her, "Do sit next to this princess. She won't bite."

Lady Meili glances nervously at her adopted mother before proceeding towards the other bench, she nervously sits next to the older princess. The crown princess and she are of the same age but as she sits next to her, she can feel a very powerful aura coming out from the fair skin and fragrant smelling princess. She always wonders why her adopted brother refused to like this crown princess in the first place. She has heard how the crown princess had acted in the past, but she does understand that it was caused by him who had treated the lovesick crown princess with cold demeanour all the time. The crown princess might be at fault, but she is not fully to be blamed for her cruel and rampant behaviour, she wanted validation from the General but got none of it. Seeing and meeting the crown princess today made her realized that she is a kind and warm person in nature though a bit distant. It is just that her clear eyes show none of her feelings and, at times, her face is expressionless as well. Watching the crown princess this near to her made she feels so nervous, the princess knew that the General is fond of her and intended to marry her as his wife. That knowledge absolutely made the crown princess mad with jealousy and envy which resulted in the Shengli1 Manor nearly being burned by the then tyrannical crown princess just a few months ago.

The crown princess seems to realize that she is nervous and worried, she surprisingly and gently takes her right hand and says, "Do not be nervous, Meili. You can talk with ease. This banquet is for both family members to casually get to know and be familiar with each other. With this meeting, words can be spoken, and acts can be seen for a better understanding."

Everyone smiles upon hearing what the crown princess had just said. She is becoming an exemplary young lady now. That makes Empress Huihuang smiles even more.

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The 4 beautiful maids calmly walk-in while carrying a medium sized table. They then proceeded to put the table in-between the 2 wooden benches before walking away. After a few minutes, they came back with the tea sets along with delectable desserts. After they are done with their tasks, the four of them silently stand near the gazebo. Nanny Lei calmly starts to make a pot of delicate, smooth and sweet flavour with fruity tones Silver Needles White Tea. Everyone smiles as they are watching her making the tea with such expertise.

Duchess Bing continue to look at Nanny Lei and wonders why a beautiful woman like her rather stay in the palace as with her beauty and calm demeanour, she will be able to marry to any man of her choice. Maybe the rumours that she has heard is true after all. Even by looking at the 4 maids of the Crown Princess made her sigh as they are simply exquisite. That young eunuch serving the Crown Princess look beautiful too. Seems like the Crown Princess is building a harem of her own she thought to herself. Looking at her future daughter-in-law, she must admit that she is indeed a beauty, a calamitous beauty to be exact. Her adopted daughter, Meili, is pale in comparison if compared to the Crown Princess. Her large and slightly greyish coloured eyes that come with long and thick eyelashes are highly captivating. Even with half of her face is covered with a golden mask, there is no doubt that she is very beautiful. If only her attitude is as good as her looks, she thought but, upon seeing how the Crown Princess treated her adopted daughter with nothing but kindness, she is happy and thankful. Deep in her heart, she can feel that the Crown Princess is somewhat reluctant with the arranged marriage. Maybe there is more to come during this simple banquet...

The Crown Princess is sitting there with a captivating smile on her lips but every time that she did do or say something, she surprises everyone else. Except for her servants of course whom calmly stands near the gazebo, their eyes are assessing their surroundings. They are on a high alert for sure. Congming had said earlier that something will go wrong during the banquet so they cannot take any risk whatsoever.

The Empress then asked how the Duchess is doing and, from there onwards, the older women talks candidly about their husbands, children and life as married women. The younger ladies are talking between themselves too. Lady Meili is now being treated warmly by Lady Mudan and Princess Long Hua as Crown Princess Long Fenghuang is being quite friendly with her. A new friendship has been formed during that very moment.

During their lively conversations, there is a sudden commotion in the Peach Blossoms Yard. Seems like a group of assassins have infiltrated into the royal palace and, that assassins have been seen by the guards running towards the Peach Blossoms Yard. Nanny Lei and the maids surrounded the gazebo, they suddenly each holding onto a flexible blade that has been smoothly taken out from their waist belts.

Outside people always thought that the maids are wearing odd waist belts with serpent-shape but turn out that it is a hidden weapon. Xuehua Palace is such an odd place with even odder people in it.

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This comes as a major shocker for Duchess Bing and Lady Meili as they now realized that the maids of the Crown Princess are all capable martial experts. Only a few experts are known to use a flexible blade as their chosen weapon. As the blade is very thin and highly flexible, it is hard to control its movement when it is being used, only those whom can control their qi extremely well willing to use it as a weapon. Wrong usage means that the blade is useless. But, using it in the right way then it can be not only dangerous but fatal weapon as well. Lady Meili also realized that the Empress suddenly stands in front of the Imperial Noble Consort and the Duchess. There are shining silver needles in-between her fingers as well. She also saw how Lady Mudan is blocking the princesses with her body while her left palm shows a subtle hint of concentrated qi.

There is a sudden warm qi surrounding the gazebo at that very moment, everyone can feel it and realized that it is coming from the Crown Princess. She is forming a protective formation barrier for all of them including her maids who are standing in an attack mode.

Suddenly they saw that there are a few people running towards the gazebo in high speed but, before those people can reach the gazebo, the General and the Crown Prince have already stood in-between the gazebo and the assassins. The Emperor and the Prime Minister are watching from a safe distance. Eunuch Xiao Yu and another man are standing near to the 2 important figures in the Kingdom. A group of guards had arrived as well. A fight has started but most of the guards are heavily injured by those highly experienced assassins. Seeing this, the General and the Crown Prince join in the fight as well. Those 2 men are for sure a skilled and strong fighter, but they are obviously outnumbered by the assassins. The Empress breaks out of the protective barrier and skillfully throws her silver needles towards a few of the assassins resulting in them being immobile. Lady Mudan attacks using her power orb to one of the attackers then another which resulted in him to vomit blood. Seeing that they need more help, Nanny Lei and the 4 maids goes on full attack mode. They skillfully s***h the attackers with high accuracy, one s***h on each of the attacker’s neck resulting in instant death.

Eunuch Xiao Yu upon seeing his comrades decided to go forward as well because he saw that more assassins are coming. The man in black still stands in silence behind both the Emperor and the Prime Minister. The Emperor upon seeing the Empress fighting with one of the assassins, using his qi gong to suddenly appear in front of the Empress. He hit the assassin right onto his heart using concentrated qi, the internal organs of that poor soul are destroyed. The man in black using the same qi gong technique join in the fight as well leaving the Prime Minister all alone.

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Captain Ying's outfit.

One by one, the assassins are killed or heavily injured to a point they cannot even move by the surprisingly skilled royals, nobles and servants. Still, one the uninjured assassin suddenly run towards to the Prime Minister with an intention to attack the defenceless Duke. The Crown Princess suddenly vanished from the protective barrier which greatly surprised Duchess Bing and Lady Meili. Before they even know it, everyone saw how she suddenly appears out of nowhere in front of the Prime Minister, she just stands there and stares at the incoming assassin. He is happy because he thought that he will have the chance to take the Crown Princess as a hostage, as he is thinking of easy freedom, there is a sudden pain in his body... Behind the leftover assassin is General Bing Xiaji, who mercilessly stabbed the assassin right through his heart.

The Crown Princess just stare at him and there is a slight smile on her lips. So, she thought... The General for sure likes to stab anyone right into their poor hearts. How quaint she thought to herself. The cold qi in her palm slowly diminishes without anyone noticing it. Though her people know that the Crown Princess intends to kill the assassin in the first place, someone had decided to become a knight in a shining armour much to their annoyance. They are anticipating the extent of the power of the princess newfound qi.

The General seems to be a bit shaken by this. Seeing how the assassin running towards his father made him worried. But, when the Crown Princess suddenly appeared and use her body as a shield, his heart automatically stops beating. He had even stopped breathing for a while. Before he knows it, he is seeing red and, once realization had hit him, he had already killed the assassin without mercy. She has seen it all but calmly stand there in silence while displaying a slight smile at him and says, "Thank you for your effort, General. This princess will remember this."

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1. ** Victory