Tired and drenched in sweat, Xing Tanxing finally finished her daily routine and chose to take a rest. Right when she turned her head, she was surprised to see Rui by the side of the training grounds. But she noticed that he is deep in his thoughts. She deliberated for moment if she should greet him or not. In the end she chose to be a hospitable host and greet him."Greetings young master Rui. What brought you here? Do you want to exercise? We have diverse weapons here for you to use." Xing Tanxing offered. But Rui replied her with a sharp and piercing stare. "Did I do or said something wrong?" She thought confused.
The guards simultaneously looked at Rui after their princess greeted him. They actually don"t like him compared to Lin Xulian. Lin Xulian is polite would often greet them despite the fact that they are only guards in the manor. Rui on the other hand only looked gentle but doesn"t interact with them at all. That is why they concluded that he is conceited and is looking down on them.
One of the guards and also considered as the top and strongest among them stepped forward and approached Rui. "Young master, if you may, this servant would like to ask for your guidance and have a practice duel with you. We heard that you came from a foreign country and we would like to see the martial arts you have for us to learn from. It would be helpful for us so that we can perform better in protecting our princess."
The other guards suppressed their cold smile and echoed the guard"s plea in chorus. "Please guide us young master!" They may be asked him respectfully but their intention is far from it. They want to teach him a lesson about humility and also to show him that they are not someone he should look down.
But even though the guards are obviously having suspicious intentions, Rui didn"t noticed it. His mind is still in the possibility of Xing Tanxing being a love rival. So hearing their request, he didn"t think too deeply about it and just agreed. Besides, he needs to distract himself to clear his mind for a while.
Xing Tanxing also agrees to the guards" demand. She knows that Rui would be able to give them some guidance after learning his ident.i.ty. As a princess, she only knows about Lin Xulian being the empress, a well-known doctor and also the mistress of the Lin mercenary clan. As for Rui, she doesn"t know anything. He wasn"t as flashy as their brother Lin Huang after all.
So when she asked her brother Xing Guang, she learned that Rui is actually the current Lord of Jianghu. But of course she needs to hide it to everyone because he and Lin Xulian are currently hiding. "Great! We have variety of weapon in store. You may choose anything suitable for you, young master Rui."
"There"s no need. I already have one." Rui unsheathed his short sword that was hanging horizontally behind his waist.
Seeing his unremarkable and dull looking weapon, the guards wanted to laugh but chose to suppress it because they can"t humiliate their master"s visitor. But Xing Tanxing still noticed their attempt to hide their laugh. In actuality, she was worried after seeing Rui"s weapon. Although she knows that he is strong, having a good weapon is also important and could turn the tide in any battle.
Rui isn"t concerned about his weapon even a little bit. He admits that his weapon isn"t fancy or particularly noteworthy at all. But his adoptive father Lin Xu taught him and the other member of the clan that any weapon can be strong and sharp based on the owner. So he just proceeds and stood in the center of the grounds. "You can go ahead and fight me either one by one or all at once." He said without any underlying or offensive purpose.
But the guards are undoubtedly offended. "We"ll go one by one young master. We think it would be unfair if we gang up on you." The guard who first approached him said while restraining his anger.
"You don"t have to worry about me." Oblivious to the fact that he had offended the guards, Rui still insisted.
The guard snapped and signaled the others to attack simultaneously. "Then don"t blame us young master." Then all the guards attacked Rui from all directions.
To their surprise, Rui didn"t even break a sweat while blocking their attacks using his dull weapon. And instead of fighting back, he would correct their posture and ask them to try again. Later on, their original plan of teaching Rui a lesson reversed. They also stopped attacking simultaneously and stepped inside the field one by one. Because of this, Rui was able to correct their movements better and they also learned faster.
The battle that started from anger ended in a productive training. They have no idea that Rui is used to this kind of thing because he trains the imperial guards of the Phoenix Palace during his stay in the Gonglu country imperial palace. His training and upbringing in the Lin Martial Arts School also added into it. In a short one hour or so, Rui managed to gain the guards" respect and admiration.
Still oblivious to their inner thoughts, Rui continued teaching the guards like it is a normal thing to do. But unknown to him, he is not only oblivious to the guards" thoughts. He also didn"t notice the look of admiration and other deep feeling she cannot control from Xing Tanxing. Xing Tanxing turned around and patted her chest to calm her wildly beating heart.
"Not good. This is too much visual and emotional stimulation. How can I control this feeling if he keeps showing how perfect he is!" Xing Tanxing thought in annoyance.