When their gazes met, the one below with the weaker presence immediately cowered. Feng Yue blinked, innocently pointing at Ye Yuqing and shrugging her shoulders like a pure little lamb.
He was the one who moved in for the kiss!
After staring at her like she was dusted for a while, Yin Gezhi shifted his gaze to the people standing properly below and said simply, “Begin.”
Just these two words, nothing more. The young nobles below were all bewildered.
Begin what? What were the rules? Would winning mean becoming his disciple? He should at least say more—how could he just drop these two words and leave it at that?
Ye Yuqing laughed, fanning himself as he walked over. “Since Eldest Prince Yin is taking disciples, he’ll naturally choose those with exceptional talent. Since we’re at the training grounds, why not test your martial skills? The victor can step forward to become his disciple. How’s that?”
The Crown Prince’s words carried weight. Seeing Yin Gezhi didn’t object, the crowd below grew excited, spreading out to leave an open space in the middle.
Feng Yue hesitated between courting death and preserving her life before obediently lifting her skirts and climbing to the pavilion, shrinking behind Yin Gezhi to avoid any more flying weapons.
Yin Gezhi didn’t turn around, just gave a light snort before focusing on the scene below.
“Miss, please sit here.” Guanzhi, who had retrieved the black lacquered sword, thoughtfully brought her a chair.
Feng Yue smiled gratefully, sitting by the railing and craning her neck to look down.
The sight surprised her—while there had only been seven or eight young men earlier, now there were over a dozen people, and surprisingly, quite a few were young women.
What was this about? Did Wu Kingdom allow women in the military?
Two noble youths took the field first, fighting intensely. General Song led Ye Yuqing upstairs, and the group watched from the terrace. At exciting moments, Ye Yuqing would smile and applaud.
Objectively speaking, many of Wu’s noble sons were quite diligent—at least the one in blue robes and another in gray fought until the end, so impressively that she could barely hold back her cheers. Glancing at Yin Gezhi’s eyes, he seemed most interested in these two as well.
After the men finished, the group of women standing to the side stirred. But instead of stepping onto the field, they stood below the pavilion and cupped their hands toward those above. “Your Highness, though women can join the army, we’re naturally inferior to men in strength and endurance. Competing directly with men would hardly be fair.”
Yin Gezhi looked down, his expression blank. “In war, the enemy won’t send women to fight you just because you’re women.”
In other words: if you can’t fight, get lost!
The leading lady below was quite beautiful, her purple armor quite striking. She was likely used to being pampered, so facing Yin Gezhi’s merciless words made her face flush immediately.
“This humble one believes that women can also have the heart to fight in battle. Why won’t Your Highness give us a chance?”
Did she want to fight in battle, or just become Yin Gezhi’s disciple? Feng Yue smiled silently. She’d seen this approach many times before—using loyalty to the country as a pretext to seduce princes.
Such an old trick!
If it were the gentle Ye Yuqing, he might have given them a way out, but unfortunately, it was Yin Gezhi above. He cast a cold glance and said, “If you have the heart for battle, you can sign up at the Army Ministry’s recruitment office. I only take those with real ability. Besides true skill, everything else is useless.”
“…” Everyone below fell silent. Feng Yue couldn’t help but cover her face.
Wake up, ladies—could you expect pearls from this man’s mouth?
Being noble ladies, after all, someone couldn’t bear it and spoke up: “Women’s abilities aren’t limited to fighting. That’s what you men excel at, but why must Your Highness look down on us for it?”
Coming to the training grounds but not competing in martial arts—did they want to compare feminine talents instead? Even Ye Yuqing couldn’t listen anymore, hiding his face behind his fan and shaking his head. Pampered noble ladies weren’t suited for this dusty place.
Unexpectedly, Yin Gezhi didn’t anger. As if he had anticipated this, he nodded and said, “Women’s talents are indeed considerable. If we’re not discussing martial arts, then let’s judge beauty instead.”
Pointing at Feng Yue, Yin Gezhi said flatly, “This woman’s looks are ordinary. If any of you below can surpass her in beauty, I will take you as disciples.”
A breeze swept through, making Feng Yue’s red gauze flutter, the ornament on her forehead gleaming brilliantly, her alluring eyes flashing, enchantingly beautiful.
This was ordinary? Ye Yuqing couldn’t help but laugh.
He had wondered why Yin Gezhi brought Feng Yue here, but now he understood—he had been waiting for this. Yin Gezhi truly was prescient, knowing ladies would come and dig this pit for them to fall into.
The ladies below looked uncomfortable, glancing at Feng Yue, but none were foolish enough to step forward and compare. Some wanted to leave, while others still weren’t convinced and wanted to compete with the victorious men.
So, those who wanted to leave left, while those who wanted to fight continued. Feng Yue leaned against the railing to watch. The lady in black training clothes showed decent skill, exchanging ten moves with the man in blue without falling behind.
“This one’s not bad,” General Song said. “Rare to see a woman with such skill.”
The remaining ladies nodded in agreement, admiringly praising her.
Feng Yue remained silent, only shaking her head slightly when she saw the lady attempt a sweeping kick.
“What is it?” Guanzhi asked quietly. “Does Miss think the lady in black isn’t good enough?”
“She has some foundation, but seems brainless,” Feng Yue said. “The one in blue has the most stable stance. Using a sweep against him is like throwing eggs at stones—a wasted effort.”
Just this one comment made several people below unhappy. They frowned up at her. “Since this lady is so skilled, why not come down and show us?”
Feng Yue grinned, completely without pride, raising her hands in surrender. “My apologies, I don’t know martial arts.”
Yin Gezhi gave her another disdainful look.
General Song laughed heartily to smooth things over. “This humble one has heard that the former Wei Kingdom had a female general of extraordinary skill, no less than any man. If anyone below had her level of achievement, Your Highness would surely accept them immediately.”
Feng Yue paused, lowering her eyelids.
Yin Gezhi said quietly, “There was such a person, but I never had the chance to meet her. Now I never will.”
Guan Qingyue, the legitimate daughter of Guan Canghai. Legend had it that during the Eastern Wilderness Battle, she charged into enemy lines with a red-tasseled spear, fighting against the odds to take the enemy commander’s head, covered in blood yet still maintaining her heroic bearing—a woman truly equal to any man.
Such a woman was suited for the battlefield, but unfortunately, they never fought on the same battlefield. They should have met at the Pingchang Battle, but before her reinforcements arrived, Guan Canghai met with misfortune, and she was imprisoned along with him.
What happened afterward need not be said—the entire Guan clan, all nine branches, none survived. That woman’s bones had probably rotted in the mass grave by now.
“Ah, she lost!” someone exclaimed softly beside him. Yin Gezhi came back to his senses to see the lady in black defeated by the young man in blue, looking quite disheveled.
Ye Yuqing smiled lightly. “It seems she still lacks experience.”
“Who were the final two winners?” Pretending not to have seen, Yin Gezhi turned to ask Ye Yuqing.
Without thinking, Ye Yuqing answered, “An Shichong and Xu Huaizu.”
“Then it’s these two.” Yin Gezhi said, “Guanzhi, bring them back with me.”
“Yes.”
“Your Highness, I’ll take my leave.” After bowing to Ye Yuqing, Yin Gezhi looked up at Feng Yue.
Feng Yue stood up, about to ask if she could leave too, but he simply grabbed her waistband and led her downstairs without a word.
“…Are you walking a dog?”
“Stop talking.” The Eldest Prince was quite displeased. “From now on, you’d better not say a single extra word.”
How unreasonable! Feng Yue pouted, pressing her lips together firmly.
Ye Yuqing continued fanning himself, standing on the terrace watching Yin Gezhi leave. General Song stood beside him, not knowing what this lord was thinking, not daring to make a sound.
“Today’s Eldest Prince Yin was quite interesting.”
After everyone had gone far away, Ye Yuqing finally spoke, laughing softly. “I’ve never seen him like this.”
In his year in the Wu Kingdom, that man had always maintained an expressionless face, showing no emotional fluctuations no matter what he did, whether entering the palace or brothels, as if nothing around him had anything to do with him.
Until that day when Feng Yue fell into his arms, like a stone dropping into a mirror-smooth lake, instantly creating countless ripples.
How fascinating.
General Song was somewhat bewildered. As a simple military man, he naturally couldn’t understand what the Crown Prince meant. He could only nod foolishly and then escort the Crown Prince away.
Yin Gezhi didn’t return to the envoy’s mansion but went straight to Menghuai House.
Feng Yue’s hand hurt badly, but she didn’t make a sound, just quietly following him. As soon as they entered the room, Yin Gezhi shut Lingxu outside, ignoring how she glared at Guanzhi, refusing to open the door.
“You seem particularly petty today.” Sitting on the soft couch, Feng Yue looked at him, showing her kitten-like teeth in a smile. “You couldn’t be jealous of this humble one, could you?”
Looking at her with incomprehension, Yin Gezhi said, “Who do you think you are?”
“Oh my, oh my, it was just a joke! This humble one only said it because you looked too serious!” She giggled a couple of times. “Since you don’t care about this humble one, why be so fierce? This humble one is as delicate as water, can’t take such fright!”
Have you no shame? Yin Gezhi frowned. “The Crown Prince has his eye on you.”
“Is that so.” Feng Yue nodded calmly. “That’s good then. This humble one won’t have to worry about future business—”
Before she could finish, her neck was grabbed again. Feng Yue pressed her lips together, looking up at him.
Yin Gezhi’s face was full of mockery. “Didn’t you say you’d admired me for several years? Now you’ve so quickly switched to admiring the Crown Prince?”
“Young Master,” Feng Yue asked inexplicably, “Will you marry me?”
Who would marry a courtesan? Yin Gezhi shook his head with a dark face.
“Well then, there you have it,” Feng Yue smiled. “Since I can’t marry you, I must try marrying others. Who knows? I might just rise to a higher branch.”