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Chapter 44 - The Battle without Weapons

XieRong felt as though she were being subjected to another battle, one of wits, words and confidence, as she knelt before the emperor. It was as if she were being punished rather than rewarded.

XieRong peeked under her eyelashes to see the emperor stroking his beard as peeered down at her. Dressed in white and gold robes, he sat on his throne with an imposing aura around him. She quickly brought her gaze back to the ground below her.

"We have heard that it has not even been four months since the young lady started learning martial arts. What has second young miss Guo have to say about this?"

XieRong bowed her head lower.

"His majesty is all knowing and wise and has not heard incorrectly."

"Raise your head. Tell us who has trained you?"

"This one’s uncle has trained this one."

"Oh? Is this true general?"

XieRong’s uncle, general Guo ZiHao, who had been standing to the side, came and stood next to his niece. He cupped his hands and bowed.

"Replying to his majesty, it is true that this one trained her."

"Is this girl not unfavoured by the Guo family? Then why has general Guo trained this child?"

"Your majesty, this girl reminds this one of his younger sister. This one could not help himself from training this one’s niece."

The emperor merely nodded his head.

"The crown prince wants to reward this girl for her hard work. What has the general Guo to say about this?"

The emperor’s words were daring the general to reject the prince’s reward.

XieRong felt guilty that her uncle had been put into such a situation because of her and made a point to thank as well as apologise to him afterwards.

On another note, XieRong had never seen her uncle so polite and mannered before. Today, her uncle looked every bit the general he was with his polished silver armour with their family’s symbol of the eagle carved on his armour and embroidered with silver on his dark blue cape.

"His highness is merciful and benevolent and it is this one’s honour that this one’s niece will be rewarded by his highness."

"Then come and receive your reward little girl."

XieRong got up and went to receive her reward, her eyes unwavering and shoulders straight. She knelt once again before the emperor who stood up and beckoned a servant who was holding a gold tray with two large pouches on it.

"We had already decided the reward for the competition, so these bags of gold and spirit stones will be what we gift you. Additionally, we will also permit the crown prince to reward you as he was the one who wanted us to reward you to show the people that hard work and determination is appreciated by us."

XieRong understood the implied meaning meaning behind the emperor’s words. He did not want the people or her to think that she was favoured by the royal family.

She received the gifts gracefully with both her hands.

"This humble subject is honoured and thanks the emperor for his thoughtful and generous gifts."

The emperor was pleased at the young girl’s cleverness. She had purposefully changed the way she addressed herself to show that she understood his meaning without making it too obvious.

The crown prince was seated on a wheel chair next to the emperor, dressed lavishly but as pale as a ghost, coughing occasionally. If XieRong had not met him before she would have definitely believed the rumours.

"This prince was highly impressed by second young miss Guo’s performance. So, this prince has decided to grant you a simple favour as long as it is within this prince’s power and does not harm a person or the country in anyway."

The crown prince’s voice was raspy and hoarse very much unlike the smooth deep voice that had threatened her that day.

"Your Highness is still young and does not know much as he rarely leaves the palace so his highness may not realise but one from the royal family can not give away such a precious gift so easily."

The empress’s voice was melodious and enticing but in contrast her words had poison hidden underneath the artificial sweetness. To the people it may seem as though she were a kind mother advising her child but to those smart, it was obviously a reprimand for foolish behaviour and a jab at his poor health and ultimately his ability to take over the throne.

XieRong who was still kneeling, quickly glanced at the emperor and the crown prince to gauge their reactions. Both of them were unperturbed. The emperor just continued to stroke his beard, as though he were waiting for a show. The crown prince coughed lightly but still had an expression akin to that of a bodhisattva, peaceful and smiling when the words he said next were anything but.

"This son thanks mother empress for sharing her wisdom and experience with this youngster. However, this one wishes to be an example to his subjects and teach them to appreciate hard work by bestowing a generous gift. This son only hopes for the empire and its people to prosper and flourish and will not let any harm come to them. This one has heard that mother empress’ constitution is not what it used to be and that mother empress is often weak due to fatigue and overwork, so mother empress need not worry about such matters and concentrate on looking after her health."

The empress laughed lightly. It was fake with no mirth or humour, filled with tasteless poison and veiled threats instead. Her eyes never moved from the duelists’ ring that was beneath her, but they had grown ever more frosty.

The tension had grown so thick that one could slice it with a sword. XieRong clenched her fists to suppress both her laughter and the rush of fear she felt. The empress was a terrifying and powerful woman. Unlike the previous empresses before her, the current empress actively participated in the imperial court alongside the emperor and could sway the tides of politics with the flick of her sleeve.

XieRong remembered what her aunt had told her about the empress’ influential background.

The empress was the niece and disciple of the sect master of the Thundercloud sect, known to possess two blue spirit roots for ice and wood elements and purple spirit roots for lighting and wind elements plus a mind strength powerful enough to leave cracks on the strength testing stone. Also, the Thundercloud sect was the third top most sect in the all of the five continents, and to be its top disciple would be recognised an honour anywhere within the five continents. Further more, she was the only remaining blood daughter of the west merchant family, the rest of the daughters had died in her w.o.m.b, during childbirth or in their early years. Besides, the current elder had only been a concubine of the previous master but the birth of this daughter changed her fate of a concubine to becoming the second wife instead. Naturally, the elder doted on this daughter of hers. The empress had made sure that she had everything in her grasp by marrying her younger sister, who was the daughter of the main wife, to the current duke of west and the emperor’s youngest sister to her own younger brother. She had also gone as far as to place her elder cousin as the noble consort when the previous noble consort died.

XieRong truly wanted to avoid any direct confrontation with such a powerful and cunning opponent. If even the emperor and crown prince were wary of her, who was she to face this woman?

"My, my. This one knows how much the empress and the crown prince care for each other, but perhaps such concerns can be expressed another time? The young lady has been kneeling for some time now," a calm voice spoke from beside the empress.

XieRong glanced at the woman sitting two chairs away from the empress. If the empress’ beauty were to be described as fierce and striking, this woman’s could be said to be a beauty that soothed the eyes.

"What is the pure consort’s suggestion on the matter of the young lady’s gift?"

"My emperor, this consort feels that the empress’ concerns are valid however the crown prince is now a young man who should be responsible for his actions."

XieRong commended the pure consort in her heart. Her words showed no direct favouritism but indirectly offered more support to the prince than the empress.

The emperor nodded at the crown prince to proceed.

XieRong could see the empress’ cold fury in her eyes, however it lasted only a moment. It was as though the empress knew she would have a chance to get back at these people in the future.

"So, second young miss Guo, what is it that the young miss wishes for?"

XieRong lowered her eyes and pretended to think about it.

"The young miss can wish for more gold, spirit stones, a high level spiritual beast, a recommendation letter to get you into the top sects, a fief, a title."

XieRong looked up to meet the crown prince’s eyes.

"This lady has nothing she needs or wants at the moment. However, this lady would like to invite the Duchess Fang to stay at the Guo Estate for some time."

The crowd was flabbergasted at the young lady’s stupidity. She had wasted such a great gift on such a trivial request. She could have asked for so much yet she had asked for so little. This, in their eyes, was not considered humbleness but absurd and dumb behaviour on her part.

The crown prince smiled. He knew that the little girl before him, ten years his junior, was anything but a fool.

"This wish cannot be granted by this crown prince. It is this crown prince’s aunt’s decision. However, this crown prince promises to escort this one’s aunt if she agrees."

"We object to this request. Our sister is sick and needs to recover in the palace."

XieRong felt her body stiffen at the emperor’s words. She knew the emperor would be opposed to it but the intensity of his opposition was much more than what she had expected.

"Your majesty, this lady would like to accept the young lady’s invitation. This one has been longing to go out of the palace as this one has been feeling better lately."

The duchess glanced at XieRong at the last part. XieRong held her gaze for a while before turning away.

The duchess who started to kneel beside her was stopped by the emperor. He stood up and grasped the duchess’ shoulders before she could kneel.

"Elder sister, we will not be able to bear it if something happens to you."

The duchess’ tone grew gentle and soft.

"Younger brother, the imperial physician has already said that my disease is incurable. This one would like to spend the rest of her time doing things this one likes. This elder sister hopes that her younger brother will allow this one’s selfish request."

The emperor was hesitant. His previously emotionless eyes now look conflicted.

"My emperor, why not allow the duchess to leave for some time? The change of scenery might help the duchess regain her strength."

XieRong flicked her eyes to see the crown prince’s eyes light up.

The empress had taken the bait.

Of course, the proposition of the crown prince personally escorting the duchess to the Guo Estate was a plan setup by the crown prince to get the empress to help them convince the emperor to let the duchess leave. The empress was sure that the poison within the duchess could not be cured by ordinary means so it did not matter much to the empress whether the duchess died within the palace walls or outside them, but if something happened to the duchess while the crown prince was escorting her, the duchess would be useful to get rid of the biggest thorn in the empress’ side: the crown prince.

The emperor, thus, had no choice but to agree to XieRong’s request.