“A Grandmaster at twelve or thirteen… in a few more years, she’ll probably reach the Great Grandmaster realm. Even when the Old Prince was young he wasn’t this fierce!”

Someone exclaimed in shock.

“Is this information accurate?” the gaunt old man asked again.

“Of course it’s accurate.”

“Sigh… The Great Xia Dynasty has endured for a thousand years, its fortune flourishing. It really can’t be underestimated… If this matter is true, then what happened in the imperial palace can only be truthfully reported to the Holy Envoy and left to the lords at headquarters to decide.”

The gaunt old man let out a sigh and blew out the candle.

* * *

Idle clouds and pond shadows drift through long days, things change, the stars move and autumn comes again and again.

In the blink of an eye, another three years had quietly passed.

A lot had happened in those years.

Half a year ago the old emperor passed away.

The Third Prince, Jiang Heng, ascended the throne, taking the imperial title Emperor Xia Heng and changing the era name to Yong’an.

Granny Li had, in the end, not managed to survive last winter.

She passed away peacefully on a day of swirling snow and was buried at a temple outside the city.

Jiang Zirou was promoted to third-rank chief of the Sutra Repository Pavilion.

Last year, two new young eunuchs were assigned to the palace to help with cleaning, so Jiang Zirou became completely idle in the palace.

* * *

Spring, at night.

On a picturesque lake outside the city, Jiang Zirou stood in white robes, bearing herself straight and tall, aloof from the world.

A small wine gourd hung at her waist and her long hair, like a waterfall, flowed loosely over her shoulders.

She was fourteen this year, about to reach the hairpin age, which according to Great Xia’s customs meant she was already considered an adult.

Her figure had filled out and the childishness in her brows and eyes had faded somewhat. In every frown and smile, there was now the bearing of a beauty who could topple a nation.

Clang!

Moonlight flowed like water.

Jiang Zirou’s spirit stirred and the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow in her hand let out a crisp ring as it flew sideways. Blade qi surged, first like surging rivers and seas, then like fine, drizzling rain, leaving a thin scratch across the still surface of the lake.

Blade raised, blade falling.

A golden ripple lightly skimmed across the water’s surface and behind Jiang Zirou, a towering figure like a sacred mountain flashed into view for an instant and then vanished.

She opened her eyes.

In those deep, pool-like pupils, the brilliant starry sky was reflected.

‘The Great Grandmaster realm really is wondrous beyond compare.’

With a gentle step, she soared across the heavens like a flying immortal.

All she left on the tranquil lake below was a single slash mark that shattered the reflected moon, the ripples lingering for a long time, a sign that the girl’s sword path had already reached an almost godlike level.

* * *

A few days later.

During the Qingming Festival, fine rain fell.

In the world beneath the heavy curtain of rain, Jiang Zirou held an oil-paper umbrella and carried fresh flowers in her arms as she arrived outside Jialan Temple.

She gently knocked on the temple’s main gate.

Before long, a young monk in a gray robe pushed it open.

Seeing Jiang Zirou, who was as peerlessly beautiful as a fairy in the rain, he froze for a moment, then hurriedly pressed his palms together and bowed his head in a Buddhist chant.

“Amitabha. I do not know for what business the female benefactor has come today?”

“To see two old acquaintances.”

* * *

Palace maids and eunuchs in the palace, if they had no family left alive after their deaths, would be buried at temples outside the city.

Jiang Zirou’s birth mother, as well as Granny Li of the Sutra Repository Pavilion, were both buried here.

In the past few years, Granny Li had taken quite good care of Jiang Zirou.

She was a woman with a bitter life, spending it all in the palace.

Because she had no backing behind her, she had inevitably been bullied and her life had been half-filled with misery. It was only in her old age, after becoming chief of the Sutra Repository Pavilion, that things had improved a little.

Before she died.

Granny Li gave the salary and jewelry she had saved up to Jiang Zirou.

Although Jiang Zirou did not particularly care about such worldly things, she still cherished a bit of affection for the old woman.

She placed a bouquet of white flowers in front of Granny Li’s grave and waved her hand to clean away the weeds growing before the mound.

Holding the oil-paper umbrella, Jiang Zirou walked to another shabby tombstone.

Grave of Palace Laundress Madam Zhao

Yes, this was where Jiang Zirou’s birth mother of this life was buried.

As for her own mother.

Jiang Zirou naturally did not have many memories. After all, when she came to this world, the original host’s mother had already been dead for more than half a year.

The original host had lost her mother at a young age, so there were not many memories of her.

All she remembered were those hands, reddened and cracked from washing clothes in cold water… and the few pieces of candy, warmed by body heat, that would appear in those hands during the New Year and festivals.

Placing the other bouquet of white flowers before her mother’s grave.

Jiang Zirou let out a long sigh and saw, in the distance, a few birds cutting through the rain and darting beneath the gray clouds.

For a moment, she could not tell whether she was a traveler from another world, or a down-and-out princess who had gained an extra set of memories.

* * *

A rainy night.

The Upper Study was brightly lit.

Crash!

A jade-and-glass cup worth ten thousand gold was slammed to the ground by the former Third Prince, now the Great Xia Emperor, Jiang Heng.

Shattering across the floor.

“These ministers who are like jackals, wolves, tigers and leopards, it is truly outrageous! Outrageous!”

Three years had passed.

Yet the Third Prince looked like he had aged ten years. Nearly half of his black hair had turned gray or white and his bloodshot eyes were filled with thunderous fury.

“Your Majesty, please calm your anger. If you harm the dragon body, what are we to do!”

The old eunuch attending at his side offered tea and patted Jiang Heng’s back in distress.

Emperor Heng drank the tea and coughed twice.

Seeing a patch of blood on the white silk handkerchief, he frowned, put it down and stared at the three trusted high ministers kneeling before him as he asked in a deep voice, “The current feudal princely clans have grown too big to control and are colluding with the imperial princes, plotting to throw the realm into chaos. My beloved ministers, what are your views?”

Those high ministers at the peak of power all kept their heads lowered.

None dared make a sound.

“If that is the case, then I will speak plainly. These great noble clans have already become a chronic disease, their treacherous intentions hidden for a long time. If they are not removed today, then in future will this realm belong to my Great Xia, or to these clans?”

“Your Majesty, you must not!”

The Grand Chancellor, Wang Cijiu, paled and immediately knelt to the ground, begging earnestly.

“The feudal princely clans have deep roots in the land and keep private troops. They secretly communicate with several of the great martial holy lands. Moreover… outside the palace, there are already rumors that in order to take the throne, you poisoned the late emperor and suppressed your brothers. Although these things are complete nonsense, if we send troops now, I fear we will be playing right into the hands of these clans… It would be better to first use marriages to appease them and after this period of time passes, think of another way?”

“That is unwise! Since these clans dare to spread such traitorous rumors, it is clear they are already prepared to tear off all pretense and make a move. If we strike like thunder now, there is still a sliver of life. If we drag this out any longer, we will be raising a tiger that will later bring calamity.”

The Great General Xiang Heng stepped forward and spoke in a deep voice.

“No matter what, our Great Xia Academy is willing to serve at Your Majesty’s command.”

The last man was dressed like a scholar, about forty years old, in white robes and a green scholar’s cap, his bearing outstanding.

His name was Zhao Gou and he was the dean of the Great Xia Academy.

The Great Xia Academy taught the Confucian classics and also instructed in martial arts and was one of the six great martial holy lands.

Therefore, Emperor Heng placed great weight on his words.

“Good! In that case, my lords, for these thirty thousand li of rivers and mountains—around fifteen thousand kilometers of our realm—let us once again fight a great battle together!”

The young emperor laughed heroically, his spirit soaring to the clouds.