“I cannot even begin to fathom the immense arrogance it takes to make our benevolent prince wait this long!” Song Xinqi complains loudly, ensuring that anyone beyond the foyer can hear her derisive commentary.

Fengxian pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “We did show up unannounced, so it is my fault.”

His response is purely diplomatic since governor Chen had more than enough time to prepare for his arrival. However, after standing about for the better part of an hour, even his ironclad patience is wearing thin. Some of his brothers would have ordered governor Chen’s execution for this level of disrespect after just a few minutes, but Fengxian needs information and the governor’s cooperation.

“Should we find the attendant?” Bai Chuanyu asks. “He can’t have gotten too far, even if he left the city.”

Chuanyun rattles his saber in its scabbard, signalling his agreement. Fengxian merely waves a hand to calm them like well trained hounds. The delay is suspicious, but not that suspicious. In the governor’s absence, Fengxian begins ruminating on plans for the rest of the afternoon. He expected to spend most of it questioning the governor, but that seems less likely by the second.

“Your highness!” the governor’s portly attendant wobbles into the foyer and bows as far as his belly will allow. “I apologize, profusely, on behalf of governor Chen, but I cannot find him anywhere. The coachmaster has informed me that the governor departed the city this morning and did not mention when he will be returning.”

Fengxian closes his eyes as Xinqi gives the attendant a well-deserved earful and lets his frustration flow down and out of his body. “Very well, please inform me immediately if governor Chen returns.”

“Your highness!” Xinqi prickles with irritation and half-ready to string the attendant up to flay him alive. “Let me find him. I will have the governor back here by the end of the day!”

“There will be no need for that,” Fengxian’s reply is particularly sharp and directed entirely at the attendant, not Xinqi. The terrified servant catches on right away and begins uttering thanks and praise for generously sparing the governor and his staff.

Fengxian turns to the door and pauses long enough to give his order. “We’re leaving.”

The rotund servant wipes his brow and flees the moment Fengxian turns his back on him. The furious glares of the three well-armed retainers were too much for him to bear and follow him out of the foyer. Fengxian hopes that his fearful nature will encourage him to follow through and notify him as soon as his master returns. Better yet, he may even find governor Chen and urge him to return to the city before long.

“We really should have punished them somehow,” Xinqi mutters, garnering the agreement of the Bai twins in the process.

“There will be plenty of time for that later.”

Fengxian comes to a sudden halt after passing through the governor’s gate and looks down upon the small group of men and women gathered in the street. As soon as they lock eyes, the crowd bows.

“Your highness! Welcome to Anyi!” a middle-aged man in fine silk robes rises and steps forward. “I am Weinan’s administrator, Hua Yuanjia. On behalf of governor Chen, we have come to greet you.”

“Did governor Chen put you up to this?” Fengxian puts his hands behind his back and looks down his nose at them. “I admit, I am annoyed by his sudden absence.”

“No, no! We have come on our own,” Yuanjia gestures to some of his fellows. “This is Magistrate Li, and beside him is Prefect Yuan. We also have…”

Fengxian raises a hand and cuts the administrator off. “Introductions can wait.”

The officials exchange nervous glances.

“I apologize. I did not mean to offend you, nor cause undue worry”

“Oh, your highness! There is no need to concern yourself with us lowly officials! We merely wished to show you the true hospitality of Anyi! If it isn’t too much to ask, we would be honored to have you join us at my estate for a proper reception.”

“I would not mind getting out of the sun…”

“Wonderful!” Yuanjia claps his hands together and the tension among his fellows visibly subsides. “I will show you the way, if it pleases you. And of course, I will tell you all that you wish to know about Anyi, Fuzhou, and the nearby regions.”

Fengxian’s annoyance fades entirely and he finds himself smiling pleasantly for a change. “Oh? Then please, lead the way.”

The reception at Hua Yuanjia’s estate is a proper one by all measures. The food is exceptional, the music is relaxing, and the conversation is stimulating. The various officials offer introductions along with a gift, and as usual, Fengxian declines the majority of them. Instead, he urges them to invest in the city and the surrounding lands to ensure future prosperity for Xi’an. Humbled, they bow and sing his praises. Fengxian secretly hopes that they possess even a shred of sincerity and that at least one of them follows through.

“I hope that you’ve enjoyed the feast, your highness,” Administrator Hua cheerfully pours him another cup of wine. “As you undoubtedly know, Fuzhou produces many of the ingredients that the imperial cooks use in Tiansheng. Our staff might not be masters, but I hope that the freshness helps make up for what we lack in skill!”

“I did not know,” Fengxian half-lies. While he knew once-upon-a-time, it has long-since slipped his mind. “It is truly exceptional, though. The recipes differ from what I am used to, but the taste and presentation are just as superb.”

“Ah! The cooks will be pleased to hear of your praises.”

“After my disappointing morning… they deserve it.”

“Mm… that was most regrettable, your highness. I am truly sorry that you had to endure such disrespect! Governor Chen spends less time in Anyi with every passing month, or so it seems.”

Fengxian stops the wine glass halfway to his lips and narrows his eyes. “It must be difficult to do his job while absent.”

“Undoubtedly, your highness,” Yuanjia notices the stalled wine glass. “Is the wine not to your liking?”

“Ah, no, it is quite good. That aside, where does governor Chen go, and why does he leave so often?”

“Hmmm… the where is a question I cannot answer, but his family owns lands in the north, so I suspect he travels there more often than not. The why, however, I can only speculate.”

Fengxian empties his glass and sets it aside where Yuanjia cannot reach it to refill it. He suspects his host will fill it no matter how many times he empties it, and that can get dangerous. “What is your speculation, administrator Hua?”

“I dare not speak of it in public, but those gathered here today are loyal. Not only that, they have confirmed many of my suspicions, and are similarly alarmed! Governor Chen is a man of ambition, but does not have the skill to support it.”

“It isn’t uncommon for someone to be promoted beyond their means these days, I am afraid.”

“No, your highness, that it is not. However, governor Chen is also a very pliable man. We believe that he has fallen on hard times, though mostly of his own making. Ever since he took office, many suspicious characters with dubious intentions have been ingratiating themselves upon the governor, and we believe they mean to take advantage of him.”

The administrator clears his throat. “That is, if they haven’t already.”

“I read about the numerous posts that were filled since he took office,” Fengxian muses, content to draw as many rumors from the talkative administrator as possible. “Do you think these benefactors of his are encouraging them?”

“Oh, almost certainly! It is a miracle that I have retained my post under governor Chen,” Yuanjia sways precariously, overcome with worries and stress. “I must at least endure a little longer. Once my daughter is safely beyond the governor’s reach, and no longer requires my support, he can do away with me if he pleases.”

“Your daughter?”

“Yes! My Hua Xuan, pride and joy that she is, will soon move on from Anyi to do great things,” Yuanjia glows with every word and any worry he may have felt a moment before is dispelled. “She received a letter of acceptance to a daoist sect up in the mountains. It saddens me to know she will be spending all her time away, but at least she is still close to home.”

“Well, congratulations to you and your daughter, Administrator Hua!” Fengxian allows Yuanjia to refill his wine glass one more time to celebrate the news. “Anyway, that’s not really what you want to be hearing about. You’re more interested in the health of Xi’an!”

Fengxian nods and makes a show of sipping at his wine. He plans to make this glass last a while. “How is the local sentiment? What are the peasants complaining about these days?”

“Well, the people of Anyi are well-cared for, and Weinan flourishes. The nearby commanderies are also prospering since the last few years have yielded exceptional harvests. However, Fuzhou’s wealth and success does not remain with them for long, and the peasants are becoming restless.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, your highness, I am certain you are aware, but taxes have increased markedly over the last ten years. We are used to small increases here-and-there, but lately… it isn’t quite the same. To make matters worse, governor Chen denies all of our proposals and rejects our inquiries, so public works have been stagnating. I do not enjoy saying it, but even us officials have become quite frustrated.”

“Governor Chen rejects everything?” Fengxian wracks his brain, picking through mental logs from years of court meetings. “That is odd. Thinking back, I do not recall any memorials from Fuzhou since governor Chen took office. He isn’t merely rejecting yours, but he’s not sending any from the provincial level, either!”

Yuanjia gasps dramatically and holds his hand over his heart. “None? How can that be?”

“My memory is not perfect, so I might be missing something minor, but it is strange that nothing has come up at all. Most governors submit a memorial for budgetary expansion on a yearly basis, if nothing else.”

“This is dire news, your highness!”

Fengxian changes his mind and empties his cup before holding it out to Yuanjia. “I haven’t been paying as much attention to it in the past, but I will need to check records of other governors, too. If no one is submitting memorials then that indicates a larger problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Based on what I’ve heard on my travels, the people are catching on and realizing that their taxes are paying for less each year. I understand a desire to cut back on expenses to balance the budget, but if this is the case then the court’s coffers should be expanding, but the last treasury report I saw didn’t indicate anything of the sort.”

“If governor Chen is indebted to someone and is using the budget meant for public works to pay them off, that would explain some things,” Yuanjia keeps his proposal somewhat hushed. “But who could put that much pressure on an imperial governor?”

Fengxian swirls the wine in his cup while he considers some worst-case scenarios. His brothers are often up to various schemes, but they all want to inherit the throne, so undermining their own inheritance isn’t in their best interests. However, it isn’t impossible that someone is lining their own pockets in order to get an advantage by squeezing lower officials.

The cultivators of the daoist sects across the empire are individually powerful, but generally place limited value on worldly wealth, so it is unlikely they are up to anything. Xi’an isn’t the only place with daoists, though, and he finds himself thinking back to the little dragon figurine and the words of Elder Wu.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

‘If someone from beyond the borders is involved, it could justify the internal weakening of the empire. Undermining the Mandate of Heaven in such a fashion would render the whole of Xi’an vulnerable!’ Despite his dark thoughts, Fengxian banishes them with a shake of his head.

“It is too early to say, besides, we could be completely wrong. It bears further investigation.”

“I am at your disposal, your highness! If there is anything I can grant you, just ask!”

“Even me, father?”

Yuanjia almost loses hold of his wine glass at those words. “Dear me, girl! You cannot sneak up on me like that!”

Fengxian half-turns to view the girl standing behind the administrator. She is young, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, and quite tall for a woman. Yuanjia’s daughter is markedly expressionless, but her glimmering eyes are locked onto Fengxian like a falcon eyeing her prey. Every fiber in her body is wound tightly, as if she is ready to lash out and strike at any moment. The most worrisome thing about her, however, is that she just appeared out of nowhere.

“He isn’t my type.”

Fengxian raises a brow at her pointed comment.

“Your highness, please, do not pay her any mind!”

“Are you strong?”

“Strong?”

“Yes, I refuse to allow my father to marry me off to a weak man.”

Fengxian gulps as he finds himself in a precarious situation. “That… isn’t what we are discussing, lady Hua. However, I am well-practiced, and quite skilled with a blade, so I feel confident that I am stronger than many.”

“Fight me.”

Yuanjia lets out a sound like a steam-filled cooking bladder deflating.

“Fight you? That hardly seems appropriate.”

“I will return with a sword.”

“Your daughter is an interesting girl,” Fengxian comments as she wanders off. “Is she serious, though?”

Yuanjia slowly turns his head and locks eyes with Fengxian. His expression is devoid of life, as if he has just given up on everything. “I’m afraid so…”

“I suppose I can humor her for a time.”

The administrator swallows hard. “Your highness, please forgive this humble servant if he oversteps his bounds, but I must warn you, there is nothing humorous about the situation.”

“What do you mean?”

Yuanjia wipes his brow with a silk handkerchief and tries to steady his trembling hand. This poor man is clearly concerned for his life! “My daughter does not know how to show restraint.”

He leans towards Fengxian and clutches the arm of his chair so hard that his joints crack and pop. “Run, your highness. Quickly, before she returns! I will come up with some excuse, but please, make haste!”

Fengxian shies away from the administrator and glances towards the hall Hua Xuan departed through a few moments before. She appears just then, carrying a training sword and a spear. A hasty escape is off the table.

“I’ll be fine. I had the best teachers in the empire, after all.”

Fengxian rises from his seat and adjusts his azure robe. As soon as he is upright, he becomes distinctly aware that the eyes of every local official and servant have turned to him.

‘Why are they looking at me like that?’

Yuanjia releases a strained whimper and nearly slumps to the floor beneath the table while servants start scrambling about.

“Clear the floor!” Hua Xuan barks.

“Oh, she is really serious about this, isn’t she?”

After prying administrator Hua’s vice grip from the sleeve of his robe, Fengxian assures him that it’d be alright and nothing bad will come of the incident with his daughter. The poor man isn’t entirely convinced, but relents, and silently stares at the ceiling while pouring a glass of wine for himself.

“Since you are strong, I look forward to this,” Hua Xuan states while offering him the training sword.

Fengxian accepts it and gives the wooden blade a few swings to test the weight and balance. It isn’t a true blade, but it is well-crafted. It will do.

“Do you make these challenges often?” he inquires while he inspects a few minor dents along the blade.

“Only if people seem strong.”

“How many have you fought?”

The young girl twirls her spear and then slams the butt onto the ground. “Three-hundred and seventy-two.”

Her answer is quick and sure. He does not doubt the number at all. “That is… a lot. Does Fuzhou have a lot of strong fighters?”

Fengxian tries to feel out her level of skill before they begin. The number of opponents dwarfs his own, so she must be challenging just about everyone she comes across. Unless she travels out of Anyi on the regular, that could easily account for every respectable martial artist in the area.

“Fuzhou? Hm, not really. I’ve fought warriors from all across the empire.”

“Really?” Fengxian almost chuckles, but refrains. She seems serious enough. “Who is the strongest fighter you’ve faced?”

“Liu Zhang.”

“Liu Zhang? Master Liu Zhang of the Skysplitting Sword School? That Liu Zhang?”

Hua Xuan shifts her stance and lowers her spear towards him. “Yes. He was weak.”

Fengxian blanches. ‘Master Liu Zhang? Weak? Is she just trying to intimidate me?’

“You will be my first prince,” Hua Xuan says those words so matter-of-factly that he feels a bit uncomfortable about it. “Approach me when you are ready. I will respond.”

Fengxian hesitates for just a moment, then raises his sword and steps forward. However, the moment he lifts his foot — no, even before that. The moment he even flexes the first muscle needed to begin that movement, she strikes.

Hua Xuan’s spear collides with the wood sword in a thunderous display of speed and precision, one that sends a vibration of pain surging up Fengxian’s arm as he is pushed backwards. He has faced other warriors who have forced him back before, but it is usually a step under his own power. Hua Xuan’s blow forces his feet to slide across the floor and he is repositioned by a good handspan or so.

“Your reaction time is good.”

Had he not managed to get his sword up in time, that swing of her spear could have injured him quite badly. Her lithe frame doesn’t look all that impressive, certainly no stronger than Song Xinqi, but the master of the Twilight Abode can’t do anything of the sort.

“You’re v-”

Fengxian narrowly deflects a series of rapid thrusts from Hua Xuan, dancing back to keep some distance between them so he can try to think. However, she has no intent on allowing him to do as he pleases. Her spear is dangerous, and its reach is a problem, so he counters by rushing forward to get inside the reach of the blade.

A deafening crack fills his ears and he is gifted with a spare moment to appreciate the ceiling as it rapidly recedes from view. Fengxian lands flat on his back, head ringing and jaw stinging from where the haft of her spear connected with him. It is abundantly clear how someone like Liu Zhang lost to Hua Xuan. Her speed and strength are on a completely different level!

“You did well. I suspect you’d handle yourself quite well against Liu Zhang.”

“How about a rematch?” Fengxian rises and dusts himself off.

The blow still stings and throbs, but it is fading. A martial artist of his caliber understands the basic principles of reinforcing his body with Inner Force, but if he hadn’t…

He didn’t like the mental image of Xinqi nursing him back to health after the defeat. ‘She’d like that too much…’

“If you insist.”

He can’t help feeling amused by her curt answers. She doesn’t say much, and avoids using his title or honorifics of any sort, but it doesn’t seem deliberately disrespectful. If anything, he hasn’t earned her respect yet.

‘It makes sense, though…’ he reflects on her nature while staring at the ceiling for the fifth time. ‘One more time and I think I can beat her!’

“One more… time!” he struggles to his feet and raises the practice sword. It looks just as beat up as he does.

Hua Xuan looks at him without showing any outward emotion, as she has done the entire time. She’s not even breathing heavily. “No.”

“No…?”

“You have lost and cannot win.”

He smirks. “Are you sure? I am confident I have you figured out!”

She stares at him for a moment, then shakes her head. “A man who can barely walk will never catch one who has already started running.”

“What… what does that mean?”

“You cannot win, because you do not understand why you are losing. You believe you have figured me out, but you cannot even see the truth.”

“What truth?”

“I have only reacted to what you choose to do. I rely upon no style, no skills or techniques, and no training of any sort. I merely react to you. You have dictated every action I took, and each resulted in your defeat.”

Fengxian lowers the sword. “I don’t understand…”

“You spend all of your time thinking about how to fight, and how you will fight me, yet you cannot plan your way to victory against a foe who never thinks, and only acts. Unless you can overcome my instinct, you will always lose. No plan or strategy can do that. You must become strong enough without them, so that when you act, and I respond, you may respond in kind. Only then, once you have become truly strong, will thinking do you any good.”

With that said, she turns away from him, putting an end to any further discussion. He is left feeling hollow by the defeat. He cannot tell if she is speaking the truth, or if she is just spouting nonsense, so he tosses the sword to the distraught Xinqi and returns to his seat.

“Are you okay, your highness? My daughter doesn’t know when to behave. I swear, she will be the death of me!”

Fengxian rubs his jaw as Xinqi, intent on avenging him, is mercilessly deposited onto the floor by Hua Xuan. It seems that even the master of the Twilight Abode is no match for the impressive Hua Xuan. That does give him some consolation.

“It is fine. She is very skilled. Who taught her?”

“Hm? No one taught her. She learned on her own.”

“Truly?”

“Truly! She is a natural born prodigy, which is why the daoists are so interested in her, I suspect.”

“Well, the empire is lucky to have someone like her. I learned a lot.”

“Really? That is great! I can’t always understand the things she tries to tell me, but I do my best.”

“She said I must learn to run, or something like it.”

“What does it mean?”

“That is a good question, administrator Hua. It seems I lack the proper perspective to understand her lesson.”

“Perspective?”

Fengxian nods. “Yes. Perspective. It seems to me that I really need to consider what it all means. Perhaps once I’ve gotten a better idea of perspective, I can understand what is ailing the great Xi’an.”

“Oh, well, I see. If that is what you believe, then I will do my utmost to help!”

Fengxian chuckles dourly as Chuanyu takes over for Xinqi and has similar luck. “I appreciate that, administrator. I suspect we’ll be seeing plenty of each other for a while, so I will be in your care.”

“Ah! Your highness! It will be my pleasure!”

“What do you think?”

General Dong Peishao rumbles while pondering what he’s learned. “I wish I had been with you. This girl, Hua Xuan, sounds like a truly formidable foe. I regret not having a chance to test myself against her.”

“We all lost,” Fengxian informs him with a heavy sigh. “Even Xinqi was no match for her.”

“Hah! I assume she will be prickly for a while. So, this advice she gave you… to learn to run or fall behind, or some such?”

“That seemed to be the essence of it.”

“I can’t say for certain since I wasn’t there,” the wizened general strokes his beard. “But I have an idea or two.”

Fengxian draws his gaze away from the distant sunset bathing Anyi in a reddish orange glow and pushes away from the balcony’s railing. “What might that be?”

“This might feel childish, but hold up your hand, like this,” Peishao holds his hand up with his palm towards the floor. “Perfect. Now, keep your hand above mine at all times, and I will attempt to do the same.”

Fengxian hesitates when his general’s hand quickly shifts and rests atop his. With a grin, they begin the whimsical game and a moment later are switching places as swiftly as they can. For the most part, they are equal, but the old man’s experience gives him a slight edge.

“That’s good enough.”

“So, what was that supposed to show me?”

Peishao crosses his arms and turns back to the view from the prince’s suite. “At what point did you react?”

Fengxian steps up beside his general and shrugs. “As soon as I could?”

“You were watching, and as soon as you saw me move, you realized that you had to do the same, right?”

“I suppose that is true.”

“The girl, Lady Hua, suggested that she fought you by reacting, and purely by instinct, right?”

“That is what she claimed.”

“Then the reason she could win is simple,” The old man gives him a toothy smile. “She’s just better than you. Hah!”

Fengxian rolls his eyes.

“I jest, your highness, however, there is some truth in it. If she played that silly game with you, you would have lost just as soundly. You, Lady Song, the Bai kids, and even I, we all observe and react to what happens, but that causes a delay. We must see, then acknowledge, and then choose what to do. I have met other warriors like Lady Hua, and they do nothing of the sort, they merely react the instant something begins to happen.”

“Is that even possible?”

“It is. You’ve been training with me for a long time, your highness. The stances and techniques I have taught you are all drilled into your head and you no longer need to think about them to use them, right?”

Fengxian nods. “They’re like second nature to me at this point.”

“You can instinctively use these techniques in an appropriate situation, which gives you an advantage over someone who has not trained to that level. They must think about how to move, not just how to react. Lady Hua has gone a step beyond the rest of us. She not only uses her techniques by instinct, but knows when and how to apply them in the same way. We still have to judge the situation and select the proper technique.”

“So, that is what she means? We walk because we have to think about how to react and she runs because she doesn’t have to?”

The old man shrugs and then claps him on the shoulder. “That is just the speculation of a foolish old man with too many wasted years under his belt. You’d be better off asking her to elaborate.”

“Lady Hua refuses to talk about it,” Fengxian replies with a frown. “She uh… she won’t even acknowledge me when I try to bring it up.”

“Mmm… I’ll never understand women.”

Fengxian watches in silence as the old man departs without explaining his final comment and then turns back to the city view. Perhaps he is right about what Lady Hua said and he needs to work harder to advance his martial skills. However, if so many, including Liu Zhang, were defeated by her, it is not a skill that many can master.

‘Perhaps I have found the right perspective,’ he muses. ‘But making use of it seems like the bigger challenge…’