son, don't mess around

backyard.

When Lin Jiangnian found Li Piaomiao, she was practicing sword in the backyard.

Amid the lush bamboo forest in the backyard, a slender figure in white clothes stands alone, her skirt fluttering in the breeze.

In the bamboo forest, Li Piaomiao stood there quietly like a sculpture, holding in her hand the 'Silver Moon' that Lin Jiangnian rarely saw her use.

The "Silver Moon" and the "Autumn Water" in Lin Jiangnian's hand should be considered a pair. Both swords were made by a sword-forging master in the sword art. In some ways, the two swords have the same purpose.

The 'Autumn Water' in Lin Jiangnian's hand was given by Senior Li, while the 'Silver Moon' in Li Piaomiao's hand seemed to be more in line with her temperament.

Cold, unparalleled, and chilling.

It was broad daylight and the sun was shining brightly, but there was a chill in the bamboo forest.

'Silver Moon' was unsheathed, and the silver light reflected in the courtyard. The chill seemed to blend with Li Piaomiao's own temperament.

She just stood there quietly and didn't make any move.

There is peace between heaven and earth.

Her figure seemed to merge into one with the heaven and earth.

Not far away, Lin Jiangnian watched this scene quietly, amazed in his heart.

As expected of her!

He is worthy of being the greatest genius in swordsmanship in the past hundred years. Even if he does not take action, the strong sword intent still comes at him.

It’s hard to imagine what would happen if she used all her strength.
In this world, how many people can be her rival?

Lin Jiangnian suddenly recalled the dark shadow he encountered in the palace on New Year's Eve when he forced his way out of the palace.

On the night of New Year's Eve, the third prince started a rebellion, but was defeated by Crown Prince Li Ci Ning.

At the same time, that night Li Piaomiao met a mysterious master who broke into the palace to assassinate the previous emperor.

Li Piaomiao was injured in the battle with the mysterious master.

The injury is not light.

Afterwards, the two were trapped in the secret room of the palace. Li Piaomiao's injuries relapsed, causing his physical condition to fall into a desperate situation. In the end, he was rescued by Lin Jiangnian in a confused manner...

Lin Jiangnian narrowed his eyes. Who is that mysterious master?

The fact that he could fight Li Piaomiao to a draw shows that his strength is at least above the second rank, or even close to the first rank.

There are only a few masters of this level in the world, and there won’t be too many of them.

This person has not appeared since that night in the palace, and his origins are still unknown. However, Lin Jiangnian has a vague guess in his mind... the leader of the Tianshen Sect!

This person's origins are mysterious, his identity is mysterious, and even his martial arts are extremely mysterious... Judging from all the signs, this person is the most suspicious.

But since the chaos in the capital and the death of the previous emperor, the leader of the Tianshen Sect disappeared and his whereabouts are unknown.

Also disappearing were the Tianshen sect believers in the capital, and... Liu Su, whose whereabouts had been unknown since leaving the capital.

Before leaving the capital, Liu Su's whereabouts were still under Lin Jiangnian's control. The spies he arranged along the way in the capital would regularly report back Liu Su's whereabouts.

Intelligence showed that not long after Lin Jiangnian left the capital, Liu Su also left the capital and headed north to Xuzhou. After staying in Xuzhou for a few days, she suddenly turned back south, as if she had received some urgent order.

But not long after Liu Su went south and entered the territory of Yanzhou, he suddenly disappeared, as if he had disappeared out of thin air.

The spies Lin Jiangnian arranged along the way found no trace of Liu Su.

This is a bit unbelievable.

This time, Lin Jiangnian deployed a large number of spies along the road from Linjiang City to the capital. In addition to his own guards, there were also intelligence personnel from the Linwang Mansion itself.

Under such circumstances, Liu Su still "disappeared" out of thin air.

This is obviously wrong!
Either she discovered the spy left by Lin Jiangnian and deliberately hid her whereabouts. Or...something happened!

Lin Jiangnian frowned slightly. The information sent back from Yanzhou was from more than ten days ago. It was still unknown what the situation was like now.

He has ordered people to closely monitor and check the post stations on all official roads in Yanzhou, and report to him immediately if any trace of Liu Su is found.

But it is hard to say whether it can be found.

If Liu Su was hiding on purpose, it would not be difficult for her to hide from Lin Jiangnian with her strength.

But, it seems that she has no reason to hide from Lin Jiangnian?

What Lin Jiangnian was more worried about was...whether something had happened to her? !
Just as Lin Jiangnian was lost in thought, Li Piaomiao in his sight in front of him put away his sword and turned around, staring at him quietly.

When the two looked into each other's eyes, Li Piaomiao's gaze was calm and indifferent, without any of the shyness or joy that a girl should have when she meets her beloved.

Not even a little bit.

Seeing this scene, Lin Jiangnian sighed inwardly. This princess was indeed different from ordinary women.

"What about sword practice?"

Lin Jiangnian's eyes fell on the 'Silver Moon' that she had put away, breaking the silence.

Li Piaomiao glanced down and nodded calmly: "Just take a look."

"Breakthrough?"

"not yet."

"Oh."

"..."

The conversation between the two was extremely simple and plain.

There was no disturbance at all.

It even felt like an awkward conversation.

Li Piaomiao's personality has always been like this. She is not good at speaking, and she rarely expresses her emotions. Even last time, perhaps because the atmosphere was right, she suddenly said something... very ambiguous.

But now, she has returned to her coolness again.

Except for a strange color that occasionally flashes in the eyes at certain moments.

"The weather is nice, do you want to go for a walk?"

Lin Jiangnian asked.

Li Piaomiao's expression remained calm. He looked up at Lin Jiangnian and nodded.

"it is good."

"..."

Linwang Mansion, back mountain.

The palace is located by the mountains and rivers, perched at the foot of two peaks, and covers an area as far as the eye can see.

Even now, Lin Jiangnian didn't know exactly how big the entire palace was. But he was sure that the actual area was not necessarily smaller than the imperial palace in the capital.

Whether in terms of scenery or luxury, it even surpasses the imperial palace.

After all, the imperial palace is under the watchful eyes of a group of ministers in the court. If the emperor wants to expand the palace or renovate it, he still has to consider the ministers' opinions. If he disagrees with them, he will be accused of being extravagant.

But it was different for the Lin Wang Mansion. The ministers in the court also scolded and impeached them, but these impeachments were like drizzle to the Lin Wang Mansion, not hurting them at all.

At this moment, it was afternoon and the sun was shining brightly.

There is a winding path on the back hillside, with a courtyard building located in the middle.

Lin Jiangnian and Li Piaomiao appeared in the courtyard and looked out from the railing, having a panoramic view of the palace.

How spectacular!

In front of us, we can see the Sun Moon Lake at the foot of the mountain. The lake is clear and the sunlight reflects rainbow light on the lake. The Ruyi Tower located in the center of the lake is very eye-catching from a distance. The top of the attic seems to reflect golden light, covering the entire Ruyi Tower.

"This is a summer resort built by the prince. The climate is cool and it is perfect for cooling off in the summer."

Lin Jiang young spoke loudly.

Li Piaomiao remained silent and nodded slightly.

Lin Jiangnian did not take Li Piaomiao for a walk in Linjiang City. Although the city was prosperous and lively, there were many people and it was not suitable for him to communicate with Li Piaomiao.

To communicate feelings, you naturally have to be alone together.

The Linwang Mansion itself is a beautiful summer resort, and there will be no one to disturb you.

"That is the important military base of the palace, where a group of elite soldiers of the prince are stationed..." Li Piaomiao looked at a place covered by clouds not far away, as if thinking about something.

After a moment, she suddenly said, "The military advisor beside the prince is right there, right?"

Lin Jiangnian nodded: "It should be, but I haven't seen him very often."

In addition to the four loyal masters around Prince Lin, there is also a military advisor who has been with him for many years. The military advisor has been with Lin Hengzhong for more than ten years and has been giving him advice. Lin Hengzhong's achievements today are inseparable from the contribution of the military advisor.

But that military advisor had a strange personality and was a loner, and Lin Jiangnian had never met him before.

Li Piaomiao remained silent, looked quietly into the distance, nodded, and did not ask any more questions.

At this moment, Lin Jiangnian suddenly turned around and looked at Li Piaomiao, staring at her cold face, and chuckled: "Can I ask you a question?"

Li Piaomiao looked at him and nodded without comment.

"Why do you like martial arts?"

This question startled Li Piaomiao, and a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes.

Why do you like martial arts?

Very strange question.

After a while, she glanced at Lin Jiangnian and shook her head slightly.

Lin Jiangnian was surprised: "Don't know?"

"do not like."

Li Piaomiao's answer caught Lin Jiangnian off guard.

"You don't like martial arts?!"

Lin Jiangnian was a little bit unbelievable.

Li Piaomiao looked calm: "Yes."

"you sure?"

Lin Jiangnian was a little stunned.

She has such a terrifying talent in martial arts that she has already become a top-notch master at a young age.

So she said she didn’t like martial arts?

Didn’t Jinxiu clearly say that the only thing she was interested in was practicing martial arts and was obsessed with all kinds of martial arts techniques?

Which part went wrong?

Li Piaomiao looked at him quietly: "Why do you think I like martial arts?"

"What do you say?"

Lin Jiangnian sighed and spread his hands: "Why don't you listen to it, is your words convincing?"

You are young, but you have mastered the highest level of martial arts. No one of your age can rival you!
In this case, you say you don't like practicing martial arts...how do those people who have studied martial arts all their lives but have achieved nothing think?

You're pretending, right?

But Lin Jiangnian knew the princess in front of him. She was not pretending... What she said was most likely the truth.

Li Piaomiao lowered his eyes and remained silent.

“These may not be what I want.”

She spoke calmly.

"What do you mean?"

Lin Jiangnian seemed to understand: "If you don't like it, why did you choose this path?"

Li Piaomiao said: "My father asked for it."

"your dad?"

Lin Jiangnian was very surprised.

Was Li Piaomiao practicing martial arts arranged by the late emperor?
Li Piaomiao looked away and said calmly, "For people like us, our paths have been arranged since we were born. We can either learn to read and write like our brother, learn court etiquette, state governance, and participate in government affairs. Or we can be assigned to the army and trained from a young age..."

"Girls like me are relatively lucky. Most of them can spend a relatively peaceful and comfortable childhood. When they grow up, their father will arrange a marriage for them..."

These princesses of the royal family seemed to be of noble status, living a life of luxury and having no worries about food and clothing since childhood. But in fact, they were just canaries being kept in captivity.

The purpose of their existence is to serve as a tool for the royal family to win over various forces.

High-end items are still items after all.

"I'm relatively lucky."

Li Piaomiao looked calm, as if she was talking about something that had nothing to do with her: "My father discovered my talent in martial arts and sent me to the way of the sword when I was very young... I stayed in the way of the sword for ten years."

Kendo was once a huge sect in the martial arts world, and it produced countless talented sword masters with a profound foundation.

Afterwards, he was recruited by the imperial court!

After all, no one could stop the imperial court from recruiting them. The last one who was unwilling had already become an insignificant part of the bandit suppression chapter in the dynasty's history books!
The sword path is full of lunatics, a bunch of perverts who are obsessed with studying the pinnacle of martial arts. For Li Piaomiao, life in the sword path is extremely boring.

But fortunately, she herself is also a boring person.

In addition, she met the twins Jinxiu and Anning. Unlike her, Jinxiu and Anning were abandoned outside the sword path. It was said that their parents died very early, and the two little guys were helpless and almost froze to death outside.

Jiandao was not a kind place and was unwilling to take in two baby girls of unknown origin. It was Li Piaomiao who spoke up and took the two of them with him.

This area has been around for more than ten years.

Jinxiu and An Ning have become her closest maids.

An Ning has been sensitive and timid since she was young. She doesn't like to move and likes to stay with Li Piaomiao. Jinxiu is more outgoing, lively, naughty and smart, which is in sharp contrast with An Ning.

It was precisely because of this pair of twin sisters that the eldest princess' life was not completely stagnant.

Li Piaomiao didn't like practicing martial arts, but it was the only thing she could do.

She displayed an extremely terrifying and enchanting talent, and in just a few years, she grew into the youngest genius master of kendo.

World famous!

At this time, she was finally noticed by her father.

The emperor was very pleased and happy. He praised her as his good daughter and conferred the title of Princess on her in front of all the officials in the court.

But she didn't feel happy at all!
I have no interest or feeling about it.

Even though she became the eldest princess and was favored by her father, she still could not escape the fate of an arranged marriage.

"I am a very important chess piece to my father."

Li Piaomiao's tone was calm and calm, without any emotion in it.

No complaints were heard.

"So, your father really wanted you to break into Prince Lin's Palace and destroy it from within?"

Lin Jiangnian raised his eyebrows and looked at her: "Marry me, and then... control me?"

"maybe."

"what about now?"

Lin Jiangnian suddenly asked.

"Now?"

Li Piaomiao was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Lin Jiangnian, his eyes showing a hint of relief.

Lin Jiangnian reached out and took her hand from under her sleeve.

The fingers are slender, long and crystal clear, with a cool feel and a great touch.

Lin Jiangnian looked down, feeling the soft touch of his palm, then looked up and met Li Piaomiao's eyes. She was looking at him calmly, her eyes were calm, she didn't resist, and she seemed a little... confused?
"Do you still intend to continue to control this prince?"

"Or……"

"Let this prince control you?"

"..." (End of this chapter)