Volume One, Chapter Three: Walking My Own Path

Zhu Xiaozhi did not look back. She brandished her hairpin as a weapon, slashing wildly until it finally pierced something soft with a dull thud. A splash of viscous liquid splattered onto the back of her hand. In her past life, she had been too squeamish to even kill a fish, but in the face of mortal danger, she realized that slicing through human flesh felt no different from cutting a block of tofu.

"This little wench has a vicious hand!"

The grip on her hair did not loosen; instead, it tightened, forcing Zhu Xiaozhi to stumble backward. "Come and help! Forget about that old man, kill her first!"

Desperate and clutching at straws, Zhu Xiaozhi closed her eyes and screamed for help through her inner voice:

*Father, save me! Save me! I’ve been captured, ahhh—!*

No one answered.

Zhu Xiaozhi stopped struggling. She steadied herself and turned to face the pockmarked man who had caught up to her, speaking with a tone of earnest persuasion: "You know as well as I do that my father is about to become Emperor, the most powerful man in the world. Punishing you would be as easy as crushing an ant. Why not show some mercy and let me go? I can let bygones be bygones."

"Hmph, this Fanyang City has long been the domain of the Military Governor, General Ning. Your father can only become Emperor because General Ning hasn't decided to take the throne for himself yet. Your father even has to borrow troops from him!"

"Stop wasting breath on her! As long as no one knows the princess is here, we are safe. Do it!"

As the blade pressed against her throat, she tried to repeat her previous tactic, kicking out at her captor, but she only managed to strike his thigh. Feeling the sting of the blade against her neck, she cried out, "I have already sent word of my location! Even if you kill me and burn me to ash tonight, my father will find me!"

The pockmarked man spat a glob of phlegm, his nose held high in contempt. "Bah, don’t make me laugh. This is the heart of Fanyang, dozens of miles from that dilapidated shack on the outskirts of the city where you live. Even if your father becomes Emperor, he couldn't convince General Ning to dig three feet into the earth to find you—he’s still relying on wealthy merchants like the Liu family for tribute!"

While feigning panic, she mentally transmitted a message to her father:

*I am currently in the center of Fanyang. This family is named Liu; they are merchants, quite substantial ones, and they seem to have ties to the Military Governor.*

The pockmarked man scanned the girl’s skin, exposed by the struggle, his eyes lingering greedily on the collarbone partially revealed by her disheveled robe. He loosened his grip, his fingers stroking her smooth hair with a lecherous touch.

"The little lass looks so soft and delicate, with skin so tender you could pinch it, yet she strikes with such cruelty—you nearly cost me half my life. I’ve never tasted a princess before. Why don't you play with us for a while? If you serve me well, I’ll grant you a quick death."

*A chance!* But before Zhu Xiaozhi could kick him again, he suddenly collapsed with a cry, revealing the wrinkled, fat face of the old man behind him.

"Bah! It is not your turn to speak here!"

The old man had not died after all. His features were twisted in agony, and he pressed a white cloth to the back of his head where a gruesome wound was still oozing blood. His hand, spotted with age and dark blemishes, shot forward to seize Zhu Xiaozhi’s slender arm.

Zhu Xiaozhi’s heart leaped into her throat, but the man approached with a fawning, oily smile. "Your Highness, it was my greed that blinded me. Seeing your beauty, I lost my senses and dared to offend you."

He had spotted Zhu Xiaozhi at a temple fair and sent an old woman to investigate her; if she were from a humble background, he intended to kidnap her as a concubine. The old woman had been too incompetent, daring to target a member of the royal family. As a merchant, he knew better than anyone who could be offended and who could not.

A phoenix, even if it falls from the branch, is still a phoenix.

He reached out to brush her shoulders, but she dodged nimbly. He dropped his hand with a sheepish expression, continuing to curry favor. "Although our Liu family only deals in silk, we have over a dozen shops here in Fanyang and are quite well-known; even General Ning’s estate accepts our tea. Please, for the sake of General Ning, spare me."

Zhu Xiaozhi stood with her hands behind her back, nose tilted upward, casting a sidelong glance at the cowering man. "Boss Liu is a sensible man. Inform my family at once, and I shall spare your lives."

The old man bowed and scraped. "There is no need for your command; General Ning’s men are already on their way."

She dared not trust him fully and kept poking at the darkened communication interface in her mind:

*This Liu family deals in silk and has a dozen shops in Fanyang—Father, are you still there?! Your daughter almost died!*

The rhythmic sound of iron hooves approached, shattering the quiet moonlight. On horseback, a youth in white robes, his face as handsome as jade and his eyes like bright stars, burst into her sight through the night.

"We are late in coming to save you, Your Highness. Are you unharmed?"

"Xiaozhi!"

A small chestnut horse stumbled behind him. The man on its back looked weary, yet his features were strikingly handsome and remarkably similar to the face she saw in her own mirror. "Father is late. The envoys were short-handed, and it took some time to persuade General Ning to intervene..."

Seeing this, the old man hurriedly gestured for his two servants to kneel. "Commoner Liu pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"The Princess was wandering alone, and seeing her in such a pathetic state, I invited her into my home to be cared for. Once I learned of her noble status, I immediately notified General Ning. It is all my fault for being so rash and causing such a farce. I wish to offer ten thousand taels of silver as a humble apology."

Zhu Xuanli hurried to pull his youngest daughter into his arms to check for injuries, unable to spare a thought for anything else. Unaccustomed to such intimacy with a stranger, she quietly broke free and moved closer to the white-clad youth who was closer to her own age.

They had known before arriving that this wealthy merchant was backed by the Ning clan and was not to be trifled with. Seeing that his companions looked exhausted, Zhu Xuanli coughed softly and tugged at his daughter’s sleeve. "Since the misunderstanding has been cleared up, Xiaozhi, just accept his gift and let it go."

Zhu Xiaozhi’s apricot eyes widened. She decisively shook off her father’s hand. "What misunderstanding? He trafficked people and abducted a woman! Just because he has money, does that mean we should tolerate such heinous acts?"

Zhu Xuanli signaled her with his eyes, his voice low and soft. "The Nings hold great power in Fanyang; we cannot afford to provoke them. You don't know this, but to convince them to send troops, the court had to waive Fanyang’s taxes for half a year."

To have his daughter treated like merchandise and nearly violated, and yet be unable to punish the culprit—what a spineless Emperor he was.

Zhu Xiaozhi was furious. Seeing a cold glimmer at the waist of the youth in white, she reached out without hesitation and drew his sharp sword. "Lend me your blade!"

As the words fell, the steel flashed. Zhu Xiaozhi swung with all her might, and the old man’s arm fell to the ground with a thud.

Blood gushed from the jagged hole, and a single drop landed on her forehead, appearing strangely bewitching under the cold white moonlight. More red stained the gold threads of her ceremonial dress, as if the phoenix were weeping blood.

"Since you have acted without humanity, I shall enact justice for myself."