“What is your name?”

“No one has ever asked my name like this before?”

“Then what do others call you?”

“They call me Your Majesty…”

“What a braggart. Only emperors and kings can be called Your Majesty, but I know you’re not the king of Da Jing. Unless you’re an emperor of mortals, but I don’t believe that, because mortals couldn’t possibly enter Da Jing City without inside help to open the realm gates…”

She had known the answer long ago, but had never believed it. By the time she believed it, everything was already set in stone.

Two days ago, outside Huadu City.

The sky was overcast with rolling dark clouds. Wild winds whipped the withered yellow autumn grass by the roadside, making it rustle. On the official road, sand and dust flew everywhere. A woman in a light purple skirt with her face covered by a silk veil was urging her horse forward in haste.

Heavy rain began to fall. Seeing a dilapidated building in the forest ahead, the woman viciously kicked her horse’s belly and rushed headlong under the eaves before dismounting in a flurry. Pushing open the worn wooden door, she discovered this was an abandoned old courtyard with a broken house standing on the left side of the yard. The courtyard walls had crumbled away for the most part, leaving only waist-high foundations.

Two shouts commanding horses from behind interrupted the woman’s observation. She turned back to see two galloping black horses charging toward her through the rain, carrying two riders – one in black fitted clothing, the other in dark red luxurious robes, appearing to be master and servant.

The two arrived at the entrance. The man in fine clothes leaped down from his horse and strode up the steps without a sideways glance, while the black-clothed youth behind him hurriedly took the reins he had tossed aside and led the horses under the nearby eaves.

He stood over eight feet tall with bronze-colored skin. His well-shaped eyebrows swept diagonally into his temples, and his phoenix eyes with upturned corners held a profound gaze. His handsome features carried a sharp, spirited, heroic aura. His magnificent robes in rich colors were exquisitely beautiful, yet bore no trace of arrogance – instead, they seemed perfectly suited to him. Such a man, even just standing motionless, radiated an overwhelming sense of noble magnificence.

“This rain is truly vexing.” The man in fine clothes raised his hand to brush rainwater from his body with a complaint. Several drops of water he flicked off splashed onto the woman’s veil, and the eyes visible above her veil immediately showed displeasure.

Sensing he was being stared at, the man turned his head to glance at the woman, but offered no polite apology. Instead, he arrogantly lifted his robes and entered the doorway.

The woman had no intention of making an issue of it, but seeing his haughty and conceited manner, she couldn’t help wanting revenge. Her index finger lightly flicked beneath her sleeve, causing the man’s foot to slip. He stumbled forward awkwardly, instantly losing all dignity. The woman laughed aloud. The man’s face quickly flushed red, then pale. After a cold snort, he swept his sleeves and entered the broken house.

The rain continued without stopping from noon until nightfall. At first, the woman leaned against the wall watching the curtain of rain outside, but later dozed off drowsily. When she sensed someone standing in front of her with something strange on her face, she quickly opened her eyes and reached out to grab the person’s pressure point.

“So it’s a beautiful young lady who knows martial arts.” The man in luxurious robes had been prepared and stepped back, smiling as he held a piece of light silk and spun to avoid her grasping technique.

The woman steadied herself and raised her hand to touch her face. Her veil was indeed gone, revealing apricot eyes, a delicate nose, and pink cherry lips – it was none other than Yusang.

“Give it back.” Yusang extended her hand without good humor.

“With such looks, what a pity to cover them up. I’m keeping this veil.” The man smiled smugly and smoothly tucked the veil into his sleeve.

“People who steal my things generally don’t end well. You’d better think carefully.” Yusang said with a smile, placing her hands behind her back where spiritual power was already condensing in her palms, ready to strike.

Just then, a series of urgent hoofbeats interrupted Yusang. The man opposite, who had been teasing her, also put away his smile to listen. The hoofbeats grew louder and closer, finally stopping outside the courtyard. A rough voice cut through the air into the building.

“Listen, you inside! I opened this road, I planted these trees. Hand over your valuables and I’ll let you leave.”

The two people in the stalemate inside were momentarily stunned, realizing they had encountered highway bandits. Yusang glanced at the brocade-clad man opposite her, her eyes rolling as she suddenly smiled and said, “Young master, may I ask your surname and given name?”

Hearing this, the man turned his head toward Yusang with a roguish smile and said, “What, trying to curry favor with me now? Don’t worry, I’m someone who cherishes beauty and tenderness. I would never leave a beauty to flee for her life alone. When we return to Huadu Capital, you can repay me with your body.”

“How very kind of you, young master. You still haven’t told me your name.”

“Zhao Yirong of Huainan.”

Yusang smiled sweetly at him and nodded, saying in a saccharine voice, “Mm, don’t worry. If you lose your life in a moment, I’ll gather your corpse and even erect a gravestone for you, so you won’t be left exposed in the wilderness with no one to care.”

“Beauty, you’re quite mischievous, still joking at a time like this. Let’s see how I deal with you later.” Zhao Yirong returned the barb with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Stop dawdling and delaying! Quickly hand over your money, or I’ll chop you all to pieces!” The people outside began growing impatient, roaring at those inside.

Zhao Yirong stepped lightly to the side as he exited, pressing against a section of ruined wall to look outside. Yusang also quietly climbed to the top of the wall to peer out. She roughly counted about forty-plus people, all in fitted clothing and carrying weapons. Zhao Yirong’s servant lay motionless in the mud in front.

Zhao Yirong glanced at Yusang, who had copied his wall-climbing, narrowing his eyes as he flashed her a challenging smile. His form shot upward as he leaped out to engage the bandits in combat. Unable to be outdone by some mortal dandy, Yusang followed suit, also flipping over the wall to jump out. But unexpectedly, the earthen wall collapsed, taking her down with it into a pile of dirt.

Yusang stuck out her hand in a disheveled state, flailing several times before extricating herself from the soil. Spitting mud from her mouth, she looked toward Zhao Yirong and saw him entangled with several men, his strikes clean and swift – a trained fighter.

“There’s another one.” Someone among the bandits shouted, and immediately, a large man moved to surround her. Just as Yusang was about to strike in response, someone’s arm encircled her waist, forcibly pulling her back several steps. Looking back, she saw it was Zhao Yirong.

“These people strike viciously – it wouldn’t be good to injure a beauty. Just watch from the side.” Even while being surrounded and attacked, Zhao Yirong’s tone remained undiminished in arrogance.

For Yusang to deal with these mortal mountain bandits would be child’s play, but seeing Zhao Yirong’s conceited love of showing off, she suddenly changed her mind and let him pull her around as they dodged through the flashing blades.

After a spinning maneuver, Zhao Yirong drew a flexible sword from his waist to engage the charging bandits. Silver light flashed as the blade turned in four directions. The clash of weapons rang exceptionally loud in the forest. Fearing he might accidentally injure Yusang, Zhao Yirong pushed her to stand by a tree. Yusang watched for a while – though Zhao Yirong’s skills were extraordinary, he was ultimately fighting many with few. Combined with his opponents being well-prepared, he gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.

“Even though you’re strikingly handsome and distinguished, who told you not to let me help?” Yusang secretly gloated in her heart. Seeing no one paying attention to her, she took the opportunity to turn and leave. But after walking some distance, she felt that abandoning someone to die like this was somewhat lacking in virtue. Sighing, she returned – if she couldn’t save him in time, at least collecting his corpse would be good.