Exactly what I hoped for! Your overconfidence will be the cause of your downfall!
Su Xi-er picked up speed as her attacks got fiercer, forcing the leader off balance and onto the defensive. With her background in dancing and observation of her shifu’s moves, she had developed her own style of martial arts by combining both toughness and flexibility.
With this quick and decisive style, Su Xi-er looked more like she was performing a sword dance instead of engaging in battle. It wasn’t long before she successfully suppressed the leader and disarmed him with a loud clang. One more step, and he felt a kick sending him falling to the ground.
How could I lose to a woman!
Su Xi-er pointed the tip of her sword at him. “Do you surrender?”
After taking a moment to collect himself, the leader of the guard said, “You can do whatever you want to me!”
“How stubborn. You sishi are definitely brave, but none of you have the brains to match it!” At this, she made a cut on his chin with her sword.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps nearby, but a smile made its way onto her face. Her people had undoubtedly arrived. Although Situ Li’s sishi moved quickly, the sound of their footsteps revealed them to be a disorganised jumble of people.
The leader of the guard craned his neck to see a mysterious man dressed in blue with a matching blue veil.
Feng Changqing walked up to Su Xi-er and bowed. “Princess Consort Hao, this compound is designed to be a maze. This subordinate had to spend quite some time locating you.”
Su Xi-er acknowledged him and removed the sword from her opponent’s neck. “Keep him alive.”
She then turned to look at the other men, recognising each of their faces as ones who had sworn their loyalty to her when she had still been Ning Rulan. Feng Changqing had told them that the Eldest Imperial Princess was still alive, albeit in another body. Though this was hard to fathom, the men chose to believe that the Eldest Imperial Princess was indeed alive.
Someone in the group knelt, and before long, everyone else followed suit. “This subordinate pays respects to Princess Consort Hao.”
There were about 200 men who were brought in from Nanzhao, and out of that entire group, there were about 50 to 60 of them in the compound. The rest of the them were outside of Beimin’s capital city, aiding Pei Qianhao and Xie Yun in capturing Situ Li.
Su Xi-er walked up to them and waved her hand. “There’s no need for formalities. All of you are my family.”
Most of these men were either orphans or people who had received Su Xi-er’s help when they were down and out. Most of them did not have their own families, which was why they decided to swear loyalty to Su Xi-er. To them, Su Xi-er was akin to a goddess, someone who served as their emotional pillar of support. As a result, they had been devastated upon receiving news of her demise.
Even now, they were at a loss for words and their eyes red upon seeing their Eldest Imperial Princess alive and well.
The leader of the guards was shocked at what he was witnessing. He knew that these men had to be Princess Consort Hao’s subordinates, but their loyalty seemed to be different from theirs to the Third Imperial Prince.
“You’ll be kept alive at the behest of the Princess Consort.” Feng Changqing said coldly, jolting the leader out of his reverie.
“Why don’t you kill me? I’ll never betray my master!”
Turning, he then flinched as a frigid glare from Su Xi-er silenced his protests.
