Jin qing could hear him before she saw him.

"Tell the Xue Xian to come out herself and face us! Or is she too scared? Is she a fake? I heard she's the illegitimate daughter of a family, brought up from the countryside! How good can she be?"

Goodness, his voice is loud. He has quite the set of lungs.

Yi ping's fingers closed into a fist. "He's been saying that for the past three days. If you aren't going to teach him a lesson, I-"

"Yi Ping."

"Ah... Sorry."

Jin qing approached the top wall and peered down at the man.
She couldn't see him too clearly, but he seemed to be standing at the Wei river bank, shouting up taunts and insults. Judging from the slight hoarseness in his voice, he's been trying his hardest. His hair was frizzed and gray in some spots, face wrought with wrinkles and scars she could see even from as high up as she was.

He looked oddly familiar as if Jin qing had seen him somewhere.

"You!" He pointed a finger at her, his voice rising. "Have you finally desires to show yourself? Coward! I was here for three days, and three days you made me wait!"

Jin qing stayed silent, watching him carefully. She held out an arm to stop Yi Ping from advancing, telling him silently that he shouldn't let the man's taunt aggravate him.

The man paced around, his head twitching a little, side to side. "So?! The pathetic Wei shall fall to the Song! If it doesn't collapse inwards first! Just like the once-great Liang!"

Jin qing took in a deep breath. She found it odd that the man was pacing around rather than staying in one spot.

"The Song will take all! And our general shall take your head!"

He is very welcome to try.

Jin qing didn't move her head and kept her gaze upon the man, her face expressionless. "Yi Ping. Tell men who are going guard duty on the bank to capture the man."

"Why?"

"The taunts are a distraction. He's actually scouting out positions."

"How can you be so sure?"

Because that's the style of the man leading them.
"A feeling, but better to be safe than sorry."

Yi Ping repeated what she said to some guard to his left, but Jin qing kept her eyes on the man.

The man looked up and suddenly began to run, running back to the Song.

"He's getting away!" Yi Ping looked up alarmed. "Guards! Make sure he-"

"No. Leave him be."

Yi Ping stared at Jin qing, confused. "But didn't you-"

"It's alright. Leave him be."

Yi Ping was so confused. But didn't Jin qing just tell him to capture him? Why was she letting him go now? "Why?"

"I have my reasons. Besides, even if you allowed the guards to act, they wouldn't have caught him anyway."

Yi Ping stared at his sister's face, her expression unreadable as it looked like all her emotions have disappeared. "Alright then."

Jin qing nodded and started to walk back, stepping down the stairs carefully.
Her head was filled with too many thoughts.

Yi Ping hurried after her and followed her closely, curiosity filling him as he watched his sister's mind tinker and zone out from the world.
It amazed him, how a woman with such a petite figure and such an ordinary face could be capable of things she had accomplished. In the past, you can pass Jin qing on the streets and not pay too much attention to her, but now... even if she was in regular civilian clothes, you couldn't help but look at her and admire her sense of elegance and hidden confidence.

"Jin qing, what are you going to do now?" Yi Ping asked.

"I suppose I'll go and find my maids and fill them in on the plan, which I'm sure which you'll hear of soon." Jin qing answered simply, her face still stone cold.

"Well..." Yi Ping patted his sister's back, as she was shorter than him despite being older. "I'll see you on the battlefield."

Jin qing nodded and walked the other way, her pale and pure white robes contrasting with the dark colors of the earth around her. Her capable but petite looking body was small compared to the big and burly men around her.

Yi Ping couldn't help but stand and stare for a moment longer before heading his own way.

<><><>

"Miss!" Bai yan stood up "we couldn't find you anywhere! You'd think the legendary Xue Xian would be easy to find-"

Jin qing smiled, though it was fake. "Don't worry. I was with Yi Ping."

"Oh?" Ye bing looked up. "What did you two do?"

"We walked around, and filled each other in on a few things." She lied. "You two have heard of the plan. Correct?"

"Yes!" They said in unison.

Ye bing held out a small but heavy bundle. "Here, your armor. You went out undefended last time, and probably got hurt, and this armor should help."

Jin qing nodded. Especially against that man, just this once she wouldn't mind the extra weight on her. "Thank you, Ye bing."

"It was Bai yan's idea, I just helped with the sewing and the mending." Ye bing shrugged.

"Though we both agreed that you'll need protection." Bai yan grinned "we can't have the Xue Xian getting hurt, now can we?"

Jin qing sat down on a rug that was covering a raised platform in the room prepared for her. "Thank you, thank you both, for your consideration. Do you two have anything for yourselves?"

"Yes! Lighter armor, but yes we do." Bai yan smiles sweetly. "No need to worry!"

"Who gave you this armor?" Jin qing asked.

Bai yan and Ye bing exchanged looks.

"We asked for them." Ye bing answered quickly.

"I'll go ahead and assume the Emperor gave them to you after I left first."

They sighed at the same time, sitting down next to her.

"The emperor asked us not to tell you." Bai yan pouted. "He said that you'll be upset over it, and might not wear it."

"Well, tell him that I wore it because that's exactly what I'm going to do." Jin qing saw no reason to not use a set of perfectly good armor, even if it was provided by the emperor.

Her maids nodded. Good, it looked like their miss didn't mind as much as they feared she would.
Clearly something was wrong between her and the emperor, but they couldn't figure out what.

<><><>

Night fell, the moon high up in the sky.
The reinforcements were in position, the attack ready to commence the next morning.

Jin qing sat alone, the room illuminated by only the single candle to her right. Her maids had left, fallen asleep in a separate room, leaving her alone to her thoughts.

What if she encountered that man the next morning? Would she have the strength to finally kill him? A rivalry she had known since she can remember.

She stared at the flickering light, the only bright thing in such a dark and quiet room.
A breath of cool wind blew into the room, the small flame casting dancing shadows on the walls.

Jin qing held up her hand, making small shapes and figures using her hands, something she would often do with her brothers in the countryside.
She smiled a little to herself at the little movements, fond memories resurfacing. She can almost hear their cheerful laughter, their hushed tones as they told each other to be quiet, and their voices as they told nonsense stories to cheer her up when she was bedridden.

An unusually strong wind blew the candle out, extinguishing the flame along with the memories from her mind.
Her hand dropped, staring at it in the dim light of the moon. She would have given anything to be with them right now, away from her responsibilities as the Xue Xian.

The cold touch of metal hovered above her neck, the feeling of a controlled breath behind her.

Jin qing didn't move, closing her eyes. "Who is it?" She asked softly.

"If you'd like to live, Princess, I'd suggest you move."

"I'm sure you've gotten me confused with someone. As you can see..." Jin qing's hand went for the knife, pushing it away from her throat by twisting his arm.

The man dropped his knife in surprise, and leaped back, his hand ready to draw another weapon.

"You came into the room of the Xue Xian." Jin qing said softly, her voice and expression emotionless. "I'd have to politely ask you to leave."

The man stood, right by the window, his face covered and masked by cloth. The only thing Jin qing could make from his face was his usually bright eyes. "I will. When I want to."

She tilted her head a little.
This mystery person's voice sounded oddly familiar to the person who had taunted her earlier today. Judging from how softly he was speaking, he didn't want Jin qing to recognize him.

Jin qing stepped forward, walking toward him slowly.
In the dim light, she looked lifeless, her eyes blank and distant, but somehow alert as ever. "Then I apologize, I'll have to make you leave the hard way."

The man threw something at her, which Jin qing caught In her hand. Based on the soft feeling and the small amount of dust that rained from it, it was a smoke bomb.
The man suddenly charged forward, his two daggers raised.

Jin qing dodged his strike easily, and countered, her movements as fluid and as flexible as water, bringing around his strikes, hitting only when she sees a clear opening. She analyzed his style, all offense, very little defense.
But she was a little worried. He seemed to be more skilled than her, the accuracy in his strikes are far better than Jin qing could ever manage, always striking for points that would strategically weaken Jin qing.

But she was faster and managed to dodge them all. If this man gets one good hit on her, she was done for.

The man struck her side with the heel of his hand just as she manages to snatch the hidden dagger he didn't take out earlier.

Both of them fell backward, the man out of breath.

Jin qing managed to control her breathing so she looked more confident than she felt. The sharp jab on her side numbed that side of her body, and she knew for sure that was going to be replaced with a bruise the next morning.

She rose the dagger and pointed it at the man. "Leave. Or our next exchange will be your death." She threatened though she was unsure if she'll be able to uphold it.

The man picked up the weapon Jin qing had made him drop earlier and went for each other at the exact same time.

He grabbed her arm when Jin qing attempted to disarm him and twisted it, but Jin qing held onto her weapon.

Her quick thinking kept her throat from getting slit, kicking his stomach as best as she could with their distance.
The man fell backward, clutching onto his stomach.

Jin qing tried to raise her arm, but it didn't respond.
She looked down at it and tried moved her shoulder in a circular pattern.
The man must have pressed onto some nerve when he held onto her arm.
Jin qing cursed under her breath. This man was good.

She looked up when the man leaped out from the window, and Jin qing ran to try and follow on where he was going, her eyes searching the dark.
The man was gone.

She sat down on her bed and massaged her arm, waiting for the tingling feeling to indicate that her arm was ready to function again.

The man had called her a 'princess.'
Was that a mistake? Or was it intentional? Or was it some sick habit he has of calling his victims little nicknames?

Using her good arm, she relit the candle and reached for the one sword he had left behind, studying the patterns carved into the hilt and the craftsmanship of the blade and tried to figure out where the man came from.
He was obviously sent by the Song, but she wanted to confirm something...

Jin qing suddenly dropped the dagger as if it was hot iron.
The assassin from the Song, but the design wasn't from the Yu clan.

The pattern... the design... the style of the man's fighting...
This was no ordinary assassin, nor some random highly trained one either.

No.

Jin qing buried her face in her hands, a sense of fear suddenly passing through her.

The dagger belonged to a member of the elite guards and assassins of the Liang royal family.

Ahhhhh late chapter!
I'm so sorry everyone!
Was busy yesterday and could update >~<