Surrounded in the middle, Jiang Hanyuan’s gaze swept around her surroundings, and she frowned: “Who are you people?”

There were eight men in total, all with unfamiliar faces she had never seen before. Their attire resembled that of guards from the Worthy Prince’s residence, but this was impossible. How would guards from the Worthy Prince’s residence dare act in such a manner? These people had assumed an attacking stance. Indeed, as her words fell, no one answered. The eight men closed in and, without a word, immediately pounced toward her.

The two warriors at the front—one square-faced, the other round-eyed—reached her in an instant. Suddenly, they both crouched low, one left and one right, each sweeping their legs in rotating kicks toward her, clearly intending to knock her down with a single strike.

Jiang Hanyuan dodged and asked again: “Who sent you?”

She couldn’t be sure about the others, but as soon as these two attacked, she could tell they had solid footwork and swift leg techniques. With this kind of skill, if they also possessed experience, they could easily serve as centurions even in the infantry camps that focused most heavily on close-quarters combat training.

The two warriors remained silent. Seeing their leg sweeps had missed, they quickly rose and attacked again in coordinated left-right strikes.

Jiang Hanyuan stopped talking.

These eight men carried no weapons, and their purpose wasn’t to harm, so most likely, they intended to entangle her in combat.

Though she hadn’t yet figured out why, eight or nine times out of ten, these men were probably acting under the young Emperor’s orders.

If not the young Emperor, who else would dare or be able to mobilize palace attendants, and dare to openly lure her here on such a day? To lure her here and then attack with bare hands, with no intent to kill—what was this but taking off one’s pants to fart? Only that seemingly unreliable young Emperor could pull off something like this.

She didn’t want to be detained here. She swiftly pulled off the silk shawl from her shoulders, wrapped one end around her hand, and viciously whipped the other end across the face of the square-faced warrior attacking from the left. Caught off guard, the warrior took a direct hit to the face with a sharp “crack.” Along with a burst of stinging pain, the shawl wrapped around his head and face, blocking his vision so he could see nothing. His form paused, and his attack stopped, but Jiang Hanyuan didn’t stop. She charged straight forward, bent her knee, and drove it hard into his lower abdomen. The man suddenly experienced excruciating pain, cried out miserably, doubled over, and knelt hunched. Without pausing for even a moment, Jiang Hanyuan stepped on his back for leverage, climbed nimbly as an ape onto a nearby plum tree, stepped on the old branches, then leaped up again, soaring over the heads of the two companions behind the kneeling warrior. Her feet touched ground, and she was already out of the encirclement.

Once free, she immediately turned to go back, but saw that the moon gate she had come through was now closed and locked.

Jiang Hanyuan stopped and looked back.

Except for the square-faced man who had just taken the heavy blow and hadn’t yet recovered, still bent and kneeling on the ground, the remaining seven pursued relentlessly and came at her again.

With people eyeing her menacingly ahead and the courtyard gate locked behind, this meant they intended to make her stay.

Jiang Hanyuan gathered up her cumbersome red skirt, tucked the hem into her waist, exposing what should have been women’s undergarments, then beckoned to those opposite her, signaling them to attack together.

Seeing this beautifully dressed young woman hitch up her skirt to reveal her inner garments, the seven warriors initially didn’t dare look and averted their gazes. But seeing her gesture so dismissively, clearly not taking them seriously, how could they accept this? They exchanged glances, made eye contact, then surged toward her again.

Charging forward this time was a burly warrior with fists like bowls, whose strength was terrifying. As he threw a punch toward Jiang Hanyuan, just before impact, he seemed to show some reluctance and hesitated.

Jiang Hanyuan was already prepared. Before his fist arrived, she leaped forward first, striking like lightning, both accurate and ruthless.

Accompanied by a dull sound like pounding meat, one side of the warrior’s temple was struck as if by a heavy iron hammer. His head buzzed, his vision went black, and blood flowed from his nose. He staggered back several steps. When the dizziness passed, he lowered his head to wipe the blood, then looked up at the woman before him with disbelief in his eyes.

For Jiang Hanyuan, this kind of scenario was like daily routine from her military training days. The army camp was a place that valued fierce courage and combat. Surrounded by men, each one robust and fierce like wolves and tigers, if she didn’t have the ferocity and ability to fight ten men and break through encirclements, what would make them obey her commands? Her identity as Jiang Zuwang’s daughter?

Jiang Hanyuan kept watch in all directions, striking forward and defending behind, knocking all seven men to the ground. Two had bloody noses and mouths, while the others were unharmed.

Such ease was naturally due to her expertise in close-quarters combat, but she could also see that while these men were physically strong with good foundations, they were probably all warriors from the court’s guard units. It wasn’t that the guards were less skilled, but compared to soldiers like herself who had fought life-and-death battles with enemies at the frontier, having never experienced the brutal beast-like killing of battlefields or knowing how mountains of corpses and seas of blood were piled up, there was inevitably a gap in experience and reaction.

Seeing everyone down, she stepped forward to leave, but unexpectedly, these people didn’t know when to quit. They got up from the ground, pursued again, and once more surrounded her. Not only that, but the first one who had been struck in the abdomen also joined in. Eight men stared at her intently, their expressions wary and tense.

Jiang Hanyuan had not wanted to injure anyone, but with this persistent entanglement, she couldn’t help but become angry. Looking around, she heavily kicked away another warrior who had pounced forward. The man flew directly away, and with a “bang,” his back slammed hard into a plum tree. The remaining force of this kick, plus his body weight, caused the bowl-thick trunk to crack and slowly topple over, with plum blossoms on the branches scattering like rain. Jiang Hanyuan followed up, picking up a plum branch as thick as a wrist, whirled around sharply, and the branch became a spear in her hands. The spear point struck with a “crack” toward another charging warrior, hitting him square in the chest and pushing him back. With lightning speed, she swept toward another warrior beside her, aiming for his leg. With another “crack,” the man cried out in pain, his leg bone fractured on impact, and he fell to the ground.

Her usual weapon was a wolf-head red-tasseled spear.

Like the long halberd Yang Hu used, it had great power for cutting and breaking armor on the battlefield, but was very heavy and only suitable for large, mighty generals.

Swords and sabers were also killing weapons, but only suitable for close combat. On a chaotic battlefield, the long, shallow wounds created by chopping with swords and sabers had limited killing power, and the blades easily became dull.

Only the long spear not only possessed the halberd’s armor-breaking ability but was lighter and more flexible than a halberd. Moreover, every spear thrust was lethal. The spear point pierced flesh and penetrated internal organs, capable of killing instantly—its lethality far exceeded swords and sabers, making it the undisputed king of battlefield weapons.

The Jiang family had passed down spear techniques for generations. She had practiced for over ten years and achieved mastery. Though what she held now was just a plum branch, it was more than sufficient to deal with these eight men. Splitting, lifting, thrusting, and sweeping like a fierce wind scattering fallen leaves, she quickly knocked down all eight men again.

This time, she didn’t hold back as much as before. Among the eight men, two had fractured leg bones, one was knocked unconscious after being struck in the head, and the remaining few were all injured to varying degrees, with bruised and swollen faces, groaning continuously. Only that square-faced warrior, who should have been the most skilled among them, held out to the end and still wouldn’t give up, attempting to imitate her by taking a branch as a staff.

How could Jiang Hanyuan give him another chance? She swept the plum branch, knocked the weapon from his hand, then thrust upward, the sharp end of the wooden branch stabbing toward his throat, quick as lightning. The square-faced warrior was horrified; his eyes could see clearly, but his body had no time to react at all. Just as his hands and feet went cold, thinking he would surely die, the sharp branch suddenly stopped at his throat.

“If this were a battlefield, you would already be a dead man,” she said coldly.

He remained motionless, staring fixedly at her, his expression utterly dejected.

Jiang Hanyuan withdrew her hand and was about to discard the plum branch when suddenly someone seemed to emerge from the plum grove behind her, rushing straight to her back and embracing her like a bear hug, arms tightly encircling her waist, then suddenly exerting force as if trying to twist and throw her to the ground.

Now Jiang Hanyuan was thoroughly enraged. Without even turning around, she crouched and executed an over-the-shoulder throw, breaking free from the person who had ambushed her from behind. That person flew up like a kite with both feet off the ground, falling face-up and hitting the ground hard, with one arm also twisted and dislocated from its socket.

“What exactly are you trying to do?” As she roared angrily, she heard that person cry “Ai-yo” and let out a miserable scream, the voice sounding somewhat familiar.

She looked over.

The person who had ambushed her from behind and been thrown by her with a dislocated arm was none other than the current young Emperor, Shu Jian. However, like these warriors, he was also currently dressed in guard clothing.

Jiang Hanyuan paused and slowly loosened her grip.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty—” The square-faced warrior came to his senses, saw the situation, and hurriedly tried to rescue the emperor.

“All of you get away! I’m fine—” Shu Jian shouted.

Though his face was pale and large beads of sweat were pouring from his forehead, he still acted tough. She didn’t care either, just stood there without performing the proper courtesy, watching coldly as he clutched his dislocated arm, gritted his teeth, and finally slowly sat up from the ground, raising his eyes to look at her.

Her initial guess had been correct. He had arranged this.

Jiang Hanyuan still didn’t know what he was trying to accomplish or why he was so targeting her, but she felt truly disappointed in this young Emperor before her.

While the men of the borderlands fought bloody battles, the master of the realm was such a wayward youth whose absurd actions continued one after another—it was truly disheartening.

Perhaps her gaze and expression revealed her current thoughts, as the young Emperor suddenly said: “What are you looking at me for?” As he spoke, he probably pulled his injured arm, wincing again with a trace of pain on his face.

Jiang Hanyuan showed no expression. She first performed the proper courtesy to him and apologized, then approached and crouched before him.

“Hey, hey, what do you want to do? I’m the Emperor—”

The young Emperor protested, but suddenly caught a whiff of fragrance like that from hair in his nostrils. He paused and quickly shut his mouth, holding his breath.

She had already moved away the hand he was using to cover his injured shoulder and said calmly: “It will hurt somewhat. Your Majesty should bear with it.” So saying, she supported his shoulder socket with one hand and took his hanging arm with the other, gently shaking it a few times. After feeling for the right position, she exerted force and pushed upward with a jolt.

The young Emperor couldn’t help but cry “Ai-yo” again, but she had already let go and stepped back. He tested his arm and his eyes lit up: “Ah! It’s better! It doesn’t hurt anymore—”

Before he finished speaking, the sound of knocking came from outside the moon gate leading to the banquet hall: “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! The Regent Prince is here.”

It was his little attendant! From the sound of his trembling voice, he had probably wet his pants again from fear.

This outcome today was truly not what he had expected.

He really couldn’t believe that the woman he had seen that night at the Regent Prince’s residence was General Changning. If impersonation were impossible, then she was stealing credit and deceiving the world. After returning, he kept thinking of finding an opportunity to test her.

These eight warriors were all skilled fighters he had selected from his guards and brought here today. Arranging them thus, naturally he wouldn’t tell them the woman was the Regent Prince’s wife—he only ordered them to attack with full force and defeat her.

According to his original plan, this Jiang family daughter would surely be unable to withstand a single blow. Once she fell and submitted, he could come out and expose her facade in person, then go tell his Third Imperial Uncle and let him know the truth, preventing him from being deceived. He could also use this to threaten Jiang Zuwang and make him never dare harbor any disloyal thoughts again.

This would be a great achievement.

He never dreamed that her martial skills would be so formidable, fighting eight opponents alone. Now, not only had his plan failed, but he had also drawn his Third Imperial Uncle here, creating a huge mess.

This was no small disaster. How could this be resolved?

The young Emperor was also somewhat panicked. He jumped up from the ground, looked down at his clothes, then at the disheveled guards scattered on the ground. Like an ant on a hot pan, he circled twice in place. Before he could figure out how to respond, with a “bang,” the door was forcibly broken open from outside.

Standing outside the moon gate was a figure in sapphire blue robes. Who else could it be but his Third Imperial Uncle?

The young Emperor’s face changed slightly, his body froze in place, so nervous his heart was pounding violently.