This Empress Wishes to Take You as a Disciple
"Reporting to Your Highness, I am Gu Yuan."
"Gu Yuan?"
Princess Huai'an pursed her lips.
"Oh, I see."
"So you were the one shouting all over the palace early this morning and disturbing my sleep."
"You deserve punishment!"
"Take this!"
Huai'an struck at Gu Yuan with her palm, her movements light and graceful, her figure agile and quite a sight to behold.
It just looked better than it worked.
This was probably what they meant by flashy moves with no substance...
Gu Yuan was a little dazed.
No matter how he looked at it, this scene seemed familiar.
He remembered now. This was exactly what had happened when Princess Huai'an first met the heir of the King of Qingzhou!
Huai'an had struck at the heir of the King of Qingzhou with her palm, and although he knew she was a princess, he had straightforwardly struck back...
Princess Huai'an had been sent flying and cried for help. The heir of the King of Qingzhou had leaped into the air, caught her in his arms, spun 1,080 degrees, and landed steadily, all while holding a red ribbon that had appeared out of nowhere...
Their eyes had met in a tender gaze, and sparks of love had flown... Ugh, what a cliched costume romance plot.
And now the part that originally belonged to the heir of the King of Qingzhou had fallen to him?
Well, well, well. Is this the legendary power of a transmigrator's fate?
Has heaven secretly ordained that I replace the original protagonist, become the new protagonist, and take the protagonist's woman while I'm at it...?
Tch!
Women will only slow my pursuit of longevity!
Gu Yuan turned sideways and easily dodged Princess Huai'an's attack, instinctively starting to raise his foot...
Wait, that's not right.
If I hit the princess, won't I lose my job as a guard?
That would be wonderful!
Bang!
Without hesitation, Gu Yuan kicked Princess Huai'an.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
This guy actually dared to hit the princess?
How many heads did he have to lose?
"Ah! Help!"
Princess Huai'an lost her balance and screamed.
Gu Yuan didn't move an inch.
Shangguan Weiming leaped up, caught Huai'an by the shoulder, and steadied her.
Huai'an's hair was disheveled, and her face was slightly pale as she glared fixedly at Gu Yuan.
"You dare kick me!"
"I only just made a breakthrough, and my true qi is in disorder. I lost control of my move for a moment and accidentally injured Your Highness. I know my crime is grave, and I will accept whatever punishment Your Highness sees fit, without complaint!"
Gu Yuan looked utterly terrified, but inwardly he was growing expectant.
Come on, seize me and throw me in prison.
After a while, I'll break out and take Father, Mother, and my older sister to Qingzhou... Perfect!
At his current pace, he would reach the third rank in a month or two at most. By then, as long as the empress didn't act personally, no one would be able to stop him.
"Your Highness, Gu Yuan only took up his post today and is still unfamiliar with everything in the palace. He meant no offense to Your Highness. Please be merciful and spare him the death penalty," Shangguan Wei said, pleading on Gu Yuan's behalf.
Huai'an pursed her lips. "Since Commander Shangguan has pleaded for you, I'll spare you the death penalty."
"But even if you're spared death, you won't escape punishment. Starting today, you'll serve at the princess's residence and be my punching bag every day until I'm satisfied!"
Gu Yuan inwardly called her crazy.
He wasn't the heir of the King of Qingzhou, with a peculiar fondness for being someone's punching bag.
Shangguan Weiming knew of Gu Yuan's talent and said awkwardly, "Your Highness, Gu Yuan was appointed an imperial guard by Her Majesty herself. He would need Her Majesty's decree to serve at the princess's residence."
Huai'an's face darkened. "I'm a princess. Can't I decide where a guard serves?"
"Well..."
"Her Majesty has arrived."
The Mystic Shadow Guards immediately stood at attention. "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Huai'an raised her eyes and looked straight at Qi Yueli, her gaze three parts indifference, three parts fear, three parts dislike, and ninety-one parts estrangement.
She pointed at Gu Yuan.
"I want him!"
Qi Yueli remained expressionless and did not answer. She merely said indifferently, "Escort the princess back to her residence."
Huai'an froze. She didn't dare talk back, so she bit her lower lip and voiced an unwilling but helpless protest:
"I don't need an escort."
"Xiaoyun, we're going home."
"Y-yes, Princess..." Xiaoyun lowered her head and followed shakily behind Huai'an, disappearing around the corner.
Things are a little strained between these sisters, Gu Yuan silently remarked to himself.
No wonder Huai'an later helped the heir of the King of Qingzhou and killed her own sister with her own hands...
Sometimes, Gu Yuan thought the empress was rather pitiful too. She had no father or mother, her sister wasn't close to her, disasters were breaking out everywhere, the people had turned against her, the princes were rebelling, and she was surrounded by traitors...
It really wasn't easy to keep going under those circumstances.
"Gu Yuan, come with me."
*?*
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After the two left, the Mystic Shadow Guards breathed a sigh of relief.
"Commander, why does Her Majesty pay so much attention to Gu Yuan?"
Shangguan Weiming slowly said, "Just a few days ago, he was still a foolish youth who hadn't even entered the martial path. Why do you think?"
Everyone froze.
"He hadn't entered the martial path? Gasp-!"
"You mean he went from not having entered the martial path to the seventh rank in just a few days?!"
At that moment, everyone froze in place.
Such talent was far beyond what could be called genius!
"Your Majesty, where are we?"
Gu Yuan hadn't planned to ask, but the more he looked around, the more he felt something was off.
Secret doors opened one after another.
He didn't need to guess to know that something important was hidden inside.
Qi Yueli turned around, pressed her lips together lightly, and replied:
"The Great Qi Martial Repository."
*!!!*
Gu Yuan looked startled. This was where Great Qi kept its collection of martial arts. Wasn't it supposed to be a forbidden area?
Why had the empress brought him here?
"You have considerable talent for martial arts. This empress wishes to take you as a disciple. Are you willing?"
"..."
"Your Majesty, is this an imperial decree?"
Qi Yueli shook her head. "It is not a decree. Whether you accept is entirely up to you."
Gu Yuan smiled. "Uh, Your Majesty, I actually already have a master. I could never change masters."
He had refused, just as expected.
Qi Yueli wasn't surprised in the least.
How could a little rebel who was bent on going to Qingzhou be willing to become her disciple?
She had only asked casually and hadn't held out much hope.
"I see. In that case, I won't press you."
"The repository holds martial arts collected throughout Great Qi. You may choose any one of them to practice."
Choose any one?
Isn't the empress being a little too good to me?
Gu Yuan was full of questions.
Still, questions aside, he did indeed need a supremely yang and forceful martial art right now.
After all, he was going tomb raiding that night.
There were zongzi in the tomb...
He would feel much more at ease with a yang martial art to defend himself.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Qi Yueli nodded lightly, walked out of the repository, and disappeared from Gu Yuan's sight.
"The empress really does trust me..." Gu Yuan sighed softly.
The Martial God Physique lets me learn techniques extremely quickly. I should learn a few more rather than let them go to waste.
Soon, he spotted two techniques on the meditation cushions.
The True Yang Art could transform true qi into scorching yang flames, making it especially effective against ghosts and evil entities;
The Six Yang Finger condensed true qi at the fingertips and fired it out, dispelling all manner of evil and driving demons away.
These two are just right!
Delighted, Gu Yuan began to practice.
Outside the repository, Qi Yueli murmured to herself:
"I put them somewhere so conspicuous that he should be able to find them."
"I hope he can gain some understanding from them, so that my sending someone all the way to the Orthodox Yang Taoist Temple to fetch these two techniques won't have been in vain..."