A finger flick pierced wood to test a new art; an urgent report from Bronze Gorge shattered the peace
"Who isn't afraid of her?" Yun Shuyue pulled down her sleeve to cover the dust on her wrist. "It's not just her. Have you seen Sister Lin in the backyard who wipes her knife every day?"
She never speaks, standing under the tree like a stone statue. You can walk past her without a sound. Last time I jumped down from the wall, the moment I landed, the back of her knife was already pressed against the back of my neck.
Meng Jiuning nodded in deep agreement, rubbing her aching knuckles. "That one was indeed ruthless. Just now in the warm pavilion, she rubbed the short knife in her hand on the whetstone three times, and each time I felt like she was slashing at my neck."
"You've only been here for a day, what do you know?" Yun Shuyue couldn't stop talking once she started, and she leaned forward. "And that Sister Murong, she has a terrible temper. The whip at her waist makes a whooshing sound when she swings it. If the prince dares to look at any other girl, she can whip the stone mill in the courtyard in half."
Divine Physician Shen is even more dangerous. She looks gentle and mild, but if you really offend her, the tonic she brings you the next day will be so bitter that you won't be able to eat for three days.
Only Sister Liu and Sister Xie are easy to talk to.
Meng Jiuning was stunned.
In the warm pavilion, she felt that these women were all incredibly powerful and each controlled their own territory, making it hard for her to breathe. But now, hearing them from Yun Shuyue's mouth, they all seemed like fierce and ruthless figures in the inner quarters.
"Then... what about the Prince?" Meng Jiuning couldn't help but ask, "Does the Prince not care?"
"What does Your Highness care?" Yun Shuyue rolled her eyes and muttered softly, "Your Highness himself is forced to drink bitter medicine by Divine Physician Shen every day. If you drink it too slowly, you won't even get any candied fruit."
Meng Jiuning couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
The frustration he felt earlier, suppressed by the group of women in the lobby, inexplicably dissipated in the cold wind.
She glanced down at the bloody gash on Yun Shuyue's hand, then untied a small bamboo tube, about the size of a palm, from her waist, uncorked it, and poured out a glob of viscous, bright green liquid. "Give me your hand."
"What? This isn't poisonous, is it?" Yun Shuyue shrank back warily.
"The juice of horse chestnuts picked from the mountains of Dali is used to prevent insects and rotten meat."
"You're standing in the mountain wind, and your wound is covered in dust. It'll probably swell up like a bun tomorrow." Meng Jiuning grabbed her wrist in annoyance, dipped her fingertips in grass juice, and smeared it directly on the wound.
A cool, herbal scent wafted to my nose, and a refreshing coolness washed over my previously burning, stinging hand.
Yun Shuyue blinked, watching Meng Jiuning apply the medicine with her head down, and stubbornly added, "This ointment of yours is actually... much more pleasant to the smell than those bitter medicines from Divine Physician Shen."
"That's natural. Dali mountainous and densely forested, teeming with snakes and insects. Without a few herbs on hand, you wouldn't survive more than three days." Meng Jiuning pushed the bamboo plug back in, shook her split index finger, and her expression fell again. "What's the use of knowing all this? In this Yi Prefecture City, I can't even handle a raw chestnut."
"What are you afraid of? Sister Su just wants to temper your princess-like temper." Yun Shuyue took out two flattened oil paper packets from her bosom, opened them, and handed them over. "Here, some fried dough twists I stole from the kitchen. I'll give you half."
Meng Jiuning looked at the shriveled twisted dough stick covered with sesame seeds, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took a bite.
Crisp, slightly salty, with the aroma of flour that has been thoroughly fried.
Two girls, their noses red from the cold in the outer courtyard, sat between two baskets of raw chestnuts, chewing on dry, hard fried dough twists while continuing to plot how to sneak away from Su Yao's eyes to buy rice cakes in the back street next time.
Sudden.
Yun Shuyue tilted her snowman hat to the side and asked a question.
"I heard you volunteered to be a hostage in the Prince's mansion. That's strange."
What's strange about it?
"Are you also interested in the prince? Did you stay because of him? He really is a good person..."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Who likes your prince?"
"Then why are you blushing?"
"Shut up!"
Inside the study, the underfloor heating was warm, and the aroma of tea slowly filled the room.
Gu Moran leaned against the soft couch, flipping through the defense registers of various checkpoints in Jiannan Circuit.
A crisp notification sound rang out in my mind without warning:
[Detected that Meng Jiuning's favorability has increased by 20, currently at level 36.]
The combined favorability rating of the core female characters in the Prince's Mansion has surpassed 600, achieving the " Red Sleeves Add Fragrance " milestone!
[Achievement Rewards: Ancient Martial Arts Skill " Divine Finger Flick " (Mastery Level, increases accuracy of hidden weapons, and refines power); Auxiliary Inner Strength Technique " Turtle Breath and Qi Concealment Method "!]
With a soft hum, a multitude of complex energy circulation techniques and breathing incantations instantly flowed into the limbs and bones.
Gu Moran's eyes brightened. The internal energy that was originally surging in the Fourth Rank Middle Stage quickly settled down under the guidance of the mental cultivation method, like water receding from a calm lake. His breathing became long and weak, almost imperceptible.
Even if First Rank top-level expert stood outside the door, without using their divine sense to probe closely, they would only think that the person sitting inside was an ordinary, sickly scholar with no martial arts skills.
Between the fingers and knuckles, a subtle and refined sense of inch-force emerges.
Gu Moran casually took a small pebble from the pen holder on the table to place at the bottom.
With fingertips gripping the pebble, thumb and middle finger slightly misaligned, the Fourth Rank internal energy within the body is rapidly compressed to the fingertips along the Shaoyang meridian.
"Call out!"
A very short and sharp whooshing sound rang out.
Three zhang away, a round hole the size of a finger was pierced through the two-inch-thick nanmu window frame. Before the wood chips could even disperse, a pebble had already pierced through the window panel and was driven hard into the courtyard.
The entire window frame didn't even wobble; the cut was as clean as if it had been made with a knife.
Gu Moran withdrew her right hand, rubbed her knuckles, and felt reassured.
Ordinary hidden weapons are thrown out with wrist strength, making a loud noise and their trajectory is easy to track. This Divine Finger Flick relies on compressing internal energy into a single point and suddenly launching it. The closer the distance, the more terrifying the destructive power.
Within three zhang (approximately 10 meters), an ordinary Fourth Rank martial artist without strong armor could have their protective qi penetrated directly.
Just as Gu Moran was about to try a second time, a series of hurried and chaotic footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.
The heavy cotton curtains of the study were suddenly flung open, and a cold wind howled in, carrying with it a chilly atmosphere.
The Yi Prefecture, Si Renyou, was ashen-faced, his boots covered in half-melted black mud. He didn't even bother to announce his arrival before striding into his study.
Fang Bi followed behind, his expression frighteningly tense.
"Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!" Si Renyou gasped for breath, his voice hoarse and cracked from running so fast.
Gu Moran withdrew his hand back into his wide sleeves, calmly gesturing to the round stool in front of the table. "Lord Si, catch your breath first. Sit down and let's talk."
Fang Bi stepped forward, pulled out an urgent report from his pocket—sealed with red paint and stained with horse sweat, snow, and cement—and slammed it onto the table.
"Your Highness, it's the Tubo! They didn't go all the way for Dali!" His voice was heavy. "Of the ten thousand barbarian cavalry that marched south, eight thousand besieged three fortresses on the Northern Territory of Dali. The remaining two thousand elite light cavalry, under the cover of a blizzard, turned back halfway and sneaked in along the salt road. Yesterday at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), they launched a surprise attack on Bronze Gorge!"