The Imperial Guard Fourth Army had been losing match after match. Of the students still remaining, the Dragon Fourth Army still had over twenty, while the Imperial Guard Fourth Army had only about ten left.
The Seventh Princess was Colonel Yan’s strongest student, but she had returned to the palace that day, leaving him short one fierce fighter, and his overall strength had dropped considerably as a result.
Now that the Seventh Princess was back, Colonel Yan’s confidence surged at once.
The final outcome of the combat session would be determined by whoever remained standing in the ring at the end.
In truth, winning or losing held no special significance — but it was a matter of pride.
With Princess Luori now back, Huo Yan suddenly felt the pressure mounting.
If Mu Mu were here, he might still have had some confidence — but the crux of the matter was, Mu Mu was confined to the training hall, and there was no telling when he’d be let out.
In fact, judging from what had happened that morning, when the Ninth Prince had examined Mu Mu’s back and shown no particular reaction, Huo Yan already suspected the assassin probably wasn’t Mu Mu.
But the Ninth Prince had been called away partway through, and there was no telling when the rest of the matter would be sorted out — there was simply no way Mu Mu could be brought back at this point.
Seeing the Seventh Princess approach, Huo Yan could only force a calm expression and nod. “Seventh Princess.”
Though students here weren’t ranked by birth or status, members of the imperial family were still members of the imperial family — how could a princess, prince, or imperial son possibly be treated the same as ordinary people?
Colonel Yan likewise nodded. “Seventh Princess.”
Zhan Luori said evenly, “This is the academy. Here, I am simply a student. Colonels, please, no need for such formality.”
The Seventh Princess’s easy, unaffected manner left everyone unable to help but be impressed.
Still, while this Seventh Princess had clear, handsome features and was quite good-looking, she was simply too tall — an ordinary man would struggle to handle her.
So no matter how good-looking she was, few men ever entertained any thoughts about her.
The sparring resumed, and with the Seventh Princess in the mix, the Dragon Fourth Army’s students were quickly defeated one by one.
Though she was a woman, every punch she threw was a heavy strike — moves typically only men learned. An ordinary woman simply couldn’t manage them.
And even if she learned the forms, without enough raw strength behind them, hard-style fist techniques like these would be useless.
It just showed how immense the Seventh Princess’s strength truly was!
For a young woman to possess strength that left even men far behind — it was simply terrifying!
By the end, no one was willing to volunteer to face the Seventh Princess. Whoever got drawn by lot wore a pained expression.
Those who’d originally thought, well, she’s a princess, I can’t go all out against her, ended up giving everything they had by the later rounds — and still couldn’t withstand even three exchanges.
The sparring ring’s remaining students dwindled steadily. Xiao Yingtao had been knocked out early on too, and by the end, only a handful remained.
“Next match: Feng Jiu’er versus Zhan Luori.” The senior student’s voice rang out with finality.
At those words, the watching students all felt a complicated mix of emotions — both excitement and worry.
Their delicate, lovely Jiu’er, facing off against the fearsome, formidable Seventh Princess — if the Princess’s fist happened to land on Feng Jiu’er’s face, what then?
After all, in the sparring ring, blades and fists show no mercy!
Zhan Luori stood in the ring, watching Feng Jiu’er walk slowly toward her, and said with a faint smile, “Someone asked me to ruin that face of yours.”
“…” Did this Seventh Princess really have to be so blunt? With so many students watching, inside the ring and out, wasn’t she worried her words might be overheard?
The senior student standing not far from them had, of course, heard every single word with perfect clarity, and could only give an awkward little cough.
Feng Jiu’er met Zhan Luori’s gaze. Last time, there’d been no opportunity to cross blades with her, so she’d never had the chance to get close.
As for that day when Zhan Luori had come to speak with her, Feng Jiu’er had been standing while Zhan Luori sat, so she hadn’t gotten a sense of her actual height.
But now, the two of them stood together in the ring, and she found she had to tilt her head back just to look her in the eye — which gave some idea of just how absurdly tall this woman was.
She really wanted to ask what on earth Zhan Luori had eaten growing up to get this tall.
Even the players on a national basketball team probably weren’t this tall! Taller than the average man, even!
Being looked down on from such a height genuinely gave off a sense of being overpowered — the difference in presence alone already put her at a disadvantage.
Though Zhan Luori had said something so harsh, there wasn’t much cruelty in her expression at all.
Feng Jiu’er exhaled and said helplessly, “If the other party’s offer is good enough, then Seventh Princess, by all means, give it your best try.”
“Aren’t you afraid I really will ruin that lovely face of yours?” There was even a hint of gentle amusement in Zhan Luori’s eyes.
She’d heard before that the Feng family’s Ninth Miss was a stunning beauty, but hadn’t taken it too seriously at the time. Seeing her now, the rumors really had fallen short of reality.
Standing beside her, taller than Feng Jiu’er by more than a head, it did feel a bit like she was bullying someone smaller.
“If I said I was scared, would you go easy on me?” Feng Jiu’er shrugged. “Since you wouldn’t, why bother pretending to be weak?”
Something flickered in Zhan Luori’s eyes, and she said with a faint smile, “Maybe… maybe not.”
It had to be said, this Seventh Princess really had very little of the typical feminine softness. Not only was she remarkably tall, but even her voice was low and deep.
Other girls were all delicate and sweet, but she showed almost none of that coyness — though, to be fair, she didn’t come across as rough either.
Word had it her teacher was the Guardian General of the realm, himself an extremely hard-edged man — likely the reason she’d been raised with such a temperament.
Feng Jiu’er settled into a fighting stance.
“I’ll give you one hand.” Setting aside the topic of ruining her face for now, Zhan Luori didn’t seem particularly interested in pursuing it further.
She tucked her left hand behind her back, raising her right hand into a fighting stance. “Come.”
“Why not the right hand?” Jiu’er raised an eyebrow. If she was going to give a handicap, why not go all the way?
“Are you sure you want me to give you the right hand instead?” Zhan Luori looked entirely willing to defer to her wishes.
Feng Jiu’er’s brow furrowed slightly. She hadn’t had the chance to see the Seventh Princess fight earlier — could it be the Seventh Princess favored her left hand?
Huo Yan supplied the answer at once. “Jiu’er, the Seventh Princess’s left fist is the dangerous one.”
So it really was true — she favored her left hand. It seemed this Seventh Princess truly was generous, not only giving up one hand, but giving up her strongest one at that.
But precisely because of that, Feng Jiu’er grew even more cautious.
She certainly believed what Zhan Luori had said — if she’d said it outright, it had to be true that someone had asked her to ruin her face.
Who could possibly commission a princess of the realm to do something like this? Surely, within the court, the list of such people would be vanishingly short.
She didn’t know Zhan Luori at all, and had no idea whether she’d meant it as a joke or in earnest.
Nor did she know — beneath that gentle exterior — whether Zhan Luori might, without warning, truly go through with ruining her face for whoever had asked. Though one shouldn’t judge by appearance alone, there was nothing wrong with being pretty, and if this face really were ruined, Jiu’er would certainly cry over it!