Aoyama

July 14th, the thirty-second year of the Jia Ning era.

A large two-masted ship had been drifting at sea for a long time, with the flag of the Tokyo Circuit Governor flying at its bow, and a young woman vomiting while clinging to the flagpole.

She couldn't vomit up any food, only some warm water she had just drunk.

Behind the woman, Jiang Pan, an official under the command of the Jiedushi of Tokyo, said worriedly, "Your Highness, please hold on tight, lest you fall into the sea."

Princess Liyang asked weakly, "How long does seasickness last?"

Jiang Pan thought for a moment: "It will take at least two or three days, and at most seven or eight days."

Princess Liyang suddenly turned around and glared fiercely at Jiang Pan: "Why am I still seasick after all this time? When will we finally reach the shore?"

Jiang Pan said with difficulty, "Your Highness, I did not expect that Lu Jin had colluded with the pirates and arranged for so many pirates to surround and intercept us in advance. Now we cannot go to Lushun or Jinzhou. I have to wait for the commander's news before I can decide when and where to land."

Princess Liyang frowned: "Sea pirates? They're just merchant ships from the Chen and Xu families of the Southern Dynasty flying black flags, colluding with Lu Jin."

Jiang Pan asked doubtfully, "Your Highness, did the people of the Southern Dynasty leak the information to Lu Jin? Otherwise, why would the pirates be waiting for us in advance?"

Princess Liyang sneered: "Then you underestimate Lu Jin too much. He didn't get the news in advance; he just has a habit of preparing for everything and proceeding step by step. He does this, and his subordinates in the Military Intelligence Bureau follow suit."

The sails of the two-masted ship bore marks of axe cuts, and some of the soldiers on board were injured, including Jiang Pan, who was at the Dao Seeking Realm, who had a bloodstain on her brow bone.

Jiang Pan comforted him, "Your Highness, please calm down. The military commander should know about this soon, and he will find a way to help you."

Princess Liyang said solemnly, "Wait? The worst thing to do on the battlefield is to wait. By the time he finds out what happened at sea, we'll already be surrounded by pirates... Ugh!"

She was only halfway through her sentence when she hugged the flagpole and vomited into the sea.

At this moment, a foot soldier on the ship hurriedly walked onto the deck and whispered a few words to Jiang Pan, whose face turned ugly.

Princess Liyang wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and asked in a deep voice, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Pan hesitated for a moment: "Your Highness, the Privy Councilor finds fish dishes too fishy and greasy, and wants to eat beef shoulder and lamb... and also watermelon and grapes."

Princess Liyang's face turned cold: "All around is the sea, with no port for thousands of miles. Where are we going to find cattle, sheep, melons, and fruits for him? Why doesn't he say he wants to eat dragon meat? I'll just cut a piece off my own body for him."

Jiang Pan said in a low voice, "Your Highness, please be careful with your words. He is, after all, the Privy Councilor."

Princess Liyang looked at the sea, her expression weary: "These past few days, I haven't been able to help but think that the journey from Baidadan City to the capital of the Southern Dynasty was actually quite enjoyable."

Jiang Pan asked in confusion, "What does Your Highness mean by this?"

Princess Liyang smiled and said, "Although we were fleeing for our lives back then, I didn't have to worry about anything, nor did I have to bear the fate of so many people. The people who accompanied me were all people I would never regret getting to know."

Jiang Pan was even more puzzled.

"Let's go and see what our Privy Councilor is up to," Princess Liyang said, lifting her skirt as she walked into the cabin. As soon as she entered, she saw Yuan Cheng leaning against the table, with bowls and dishes overturned on the floor.

Opposite them were the Tokyo Road soldiers kneeling in a row, one of whom had a bloody head.

Yuan Cheng, dressed in a loose-fitting white undergarment, picked up the last porcelain bowl on the table and smashed it when he heard footsteps.

Princess Liyang had barely stepped inside when she calmly stepped back to avoid the bowl that was smashing towards her. Then she walked into the room with an air of nonchalance: "Privy Councilor, we apologize for our poor hospitality. But here at sea, even the most skilled cooks can't cook without rice. What you want, we simply cannot give you."

Yuan Cheng looked up and glanced at her sideways: "Do you all think that even if I return to Jing Dynasty, I will lose power, so you deliberately neglect me? You actually try to fob me off with this pig swill!"

Princess Liyang said slowly and deliberately, "Privy Councilor, I traveled thousands of miles, my feet were worn out twice, and I survived more than ten assassination attempts. I risked my life to bring you back from the Southern Dynasty, all so that you could return to the capital and take charge of the overall situation... How can you say I was being perfunctory?"

She looked down at the wounded soldier's wound and frowned: "Privy Councilor, let's not talk about my near-death experience. Let's talk about these men from Tokyo. These days, the ship is running low on fresh water and coal. They can't even bear to drink hot water, but they still want to make sure you can take a hot bath every day. Anyone would have some kindness and gratitude. Why would they resort to violence?"

Yuan Cheng pointed at her and said sarcastically, "At a time like this, you still want to win people's hearts?"

Princess Liyang waved to the soldiers: "Go out and treat your injuries first."

Once only three people remained in the room, she bent down to pick up the broken porcelain from the floor.

Yuan Cheng sneered, "Yuan Yin, don't pretend. Don't think I don't know what you're plotting. You want to coerce me back to the capital, use me as your puppet, and pave the way for your ambitions. That's all."

Princess Liyang paused slightly as she picked up the bowls and plates, her fingers gripping the porcelain turning white.

After a moment, she straightened up as if nothing had happened and said with a smile, "Privy Councilor, I know that being a prisoner has become a knot in your heart. You want everything to be the same as before, with people fawning over you, kneeling on the ground to offer you fine clothes and delicacies, and if you want to spit, someone will immediately open their mouth to serve as your spittoon... But the only thing a person can never do in this life is to go back to yesterday."

Princess Liyang smiled and said, "Privy Councilor, you were once a prisoner. If you have the ability to get over that hurdle in your heart, then when you return to the capital, you can still contend with Yuan Xiang and Lu Jin. But if you can't even get over that hurdle, what good will it do you even if you return to the capital? If a person is blinded by anger and inferiority, it's fine if he has no power or influence; it will only harm one person. But if he has power and influence, he will harm a whole group of people... Don't you think so?"

Yuan Cheng flew into a rage: "When did it become your place, a woman, to lecture an old man like me?"

Princess Liyang ignored him and instead picked up a piece of fish from the shards of the broken porcelain bowl, put it in her mouth and chewed. After a moment, she sighed and said, "It really doesn't taste good, but we've lost power now. We have to huddle together like wild dogs and eat wild food. If we can't even eat this, how are we supposed to survive?"

After saying that, she carried the broken porcelain shards to Yuan Cheng.

Yuan Cheng roared, "What are you doing in front of me? Take it away!"

The next moment, Princess Liyang held a shard of broken porcelain in her hand, slashed it across Yuan Cheng's neck, and then quietly watched as blood spurted out, splashing onto her face and body.

Jiang Pan's expression changed, and she hurriedly took a few steps forward, but it was too late.

He turned to Princess Liyang: "Your Highness?" Princess Liyang said calmly, "They all think that only Yuan Cheng can stand against Yuan Xiang and Lu Jin if he returns, but I don't think so. So many people are waiting for Yuan Cheng to return and take charge, but they don't realize that they are waiting for a good-for-nothing. Jiang Pan, Yuan Xiang should have realized by now that his opponent is Lu Jin, not us. He is old, but Lu Jin is still a tiger in his prime. Yuan Xiang needs us."

Jiang Pan lowered her gaze: "The commander once said that everything was up to you... but Yuan Cheng is dead, how are we supposed to explain this to the court?"

Princess Liyang wiped the crimson blood from her face, quietly watched Yuan Cheng breathe his last, then turned and left the cabin: "This isn't the first important person I've killed, nor will it be the last. Take his head back and say that Yuan Cheng was killed by pirates."

She returned to the ship's side, leaned on the flagpole, and gazed into the distance.

For some reason, after killing the person, she stopped getting seasick.

I felt as if a heavy stone had been floating in my heart, and finally it settled down.

Jiang Pan came up behind her and asked respectfully, "Your Highness, what should we do next?"

Princess Liyang said softly, "Let me think about it. If it were him, what would he do in this desperate situation?"

Jiang Pan asked curiously, "Him?"

Princess Liyang suddenly pointed east: "Let's not go to Lushun and Jinzhou, let's go to Goryeo."

Jiang Pan's expression changed: "Go to Korea?"

Princess Liyang pondered for a moment: "Go to Jingcheng Port in Goryeo."

Jiang Pan took out a sheepskin nautical chart from his bosom: "Your Highness, if we dock at Jingcheng Port, we may be questioned by Goryeo."

Princess Liyang sneered, "When has Goryeo ever dared to make things difficult for the envoys of the North and South? They can't even avoid it, so they leave through Jingcheng Port."

Jiang Pan hesitated again and said, "If we go through Jingcheng Port, we'll have to cross Changbai Mountain and pass through the Martial Temple to get back to Jingchao."

Princess Liyang looked at the sea and said firmly, "I am going to the Temple of Martial Arts. Yuancheng is dead, and the Jiang family is in disarray. If we don't bring back some new bargaining chips to the capital, we might as well not go back at all."

“But the Martial Temple is already behind Lu Jin.”

Princess Liyang's eyes were unfathomable: "Who said the Martial Temple would always stand behind Lu Jin?"

……

……

The two-masted ship sailed for eleven days before docking at Jingcheng Port.

As Princess Liyang had predicted, the Goryeo official in charge of the Ministry of Rites did not dare to show his face, allowing Princess Liyang and her entourage to drive straight into the territory and ascend Changbai Mountain.

Princess Liyang changed into men's clothing and traveled lightly up the mountain from the north slope. It took her two days and two nights to finally see the north gate of the Martial Temple.

Unlike the south slope.

At the end of the long steps on the south slope stands a tall archway with a plaque that reads "The Great Master of the World" hanging on it. The couplet on the left and right reads, "I am a person beyond the reach of Heaven, freely gazing at the mountains and waters."

On the north slope, there is only a stone tablet, on which someone wrote four large characters with sword intent: "Unauthorized trespassers shall die."

Princess Li Yang only glanced up once before continuing upwards. Jiang Pan and the others exchanged glances, and finally gritted their teeth and followed.

Princess Liyang stepped onto the moss-covered stone steps and walked a few more steps. Just as she reached the stone tablet and was about to take another step forward, a blade flew from the sky and blocked her path.

Jiang Pan stood in front of Princess Li Yang, gritting her teeth and saying, "Your Highness, be careful."

Princess Liyang raised her hand to push him away, and looked up, but her gaze was obscured by the white clouds.

Changbai Mountain is shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, and Tianchi Lake can only be seen for a few dozen days a year. At this moment, the end of the stone steps disappears into the clouds and mist, and no one can be seen.

A voice came from within the clouds: "Get lost."

Princess Liyang did not back down, but said loudly, "Princess Liyang of the Jing Dynasty, Yuanyin, has come to pay homage at the Martial Temple gate, unafraid of death."

The person in the clouds casually tossed out another word, "Get lost," and then there was no further movement.

Princess Liyang neither moved forward nor backward.

Jiang Pan watched Princess Li Yang's retreating figure. He had originally thought that she had found out the whereabouts of the successor of the Sword Cultivation Sect in the Southern Dynasty, kept it a secret before, and now wanted to use it to make a deal with the Martial Temple.

But it seems that Princess Liyang has no such intention.

He sighed softly, "Your Highness, the Martial Temple will not allow us to enter the mountain gate."

Princess Liyang calmly said, "Then we'll wait here until they're willing."

Sunset and moonrise.

The moon sets and the sun rises.

She waited at the foot of the mountain gate for three days and three nights, but the people in the misty clouds of the Martial Temple ignored her completely. (End of Chapter)