The breeze was gentle, the sun warm and bright!
Clack clack clack clack...!
The crisp crack of wooden swords striking each other rang without pause through the courtyard of Qing Mo's home in Xinzheng!
Yan Lingji, learning swordsmanship for the first time, held a wooden sword Qing Mo had once used. Across from her, Jing Ni sparred with a wooden sword she had whittled on the spot!
Qing Mo, meanwhile, sat beneath the eaves, with the alluring, curvaceous Zi Nu perched on his lap!
With her purple-painted nails, she gently picked up a deep-purple grape and slipped it into Qing Mo's mouth!
"State Preceptor! The sword technique Fire Princess is using is remarkable. It balances offense and defense, its sweeping moves surging like a blaze that never dies!"
"Exactly! Otherwise, how could it be called the Fire Dance Whirlwind Sword Technique?"
Hearing Zi Nu's assessment, Qing Mo smiled faintly. His broad, warm hands gently squeezed the soft flesh at her waist, keeping a tempting blush on her lovely face!
Zi Nu wore the pale-purple dress from the later part of the original story. She had put on none of her usual seductive makeup—not even the half-butterfly marking beneath her left eye!
Truthfully, Zi Nu had never liked the revealing clothes she wore as a courtesan at the Purple Orchid Pavilion!
This elegant pale-purple dress better brought out the clarity and hope that had always lived in her heart!
"State Preceptor! There are only three days left before the deadline to capture Tian Ze alive and hand him over to you!"
"Han Fei, Wei Zhuang, and Zhang Liang have looked worried for days!"
"Tian Ze is too good at hiding. Every time Wei Zhuang gets close, they slip away one step ahead of him!"
Zi Nu raised her clear eyes to