"Yako, are you trying to beg Master Takeuchi not to let Miki follow Mr. Chen Xiao?" The Imperial Prince suddenly sighed and said quietly, "You should know Master Takeuchi's character better than I do. How could he possibly take back his decision just because you plead? Besides... Master Takeuchi must have his reasons for making such a decision."
"No, I still want to beg him!" Ya Zi said resolutely. "No matter what... I can't watch Miki follow such an unreliable Chinese man!"
After saying that, she bowed to Ms. Sato and ran out quickly.
Only Sato and Chen Xiao remained in the room, staring at each other. Miki, who looked like a docile and frightened rabbit, could almost be ignored. Chen Xiao noticed that, except when she was killing someone, Miki acted like a simple, innocent, and obedient little girl most of the time.
"How should I address you?" Chen Xiao looked at his "employer" and frowned. "You shouldn't have the surname Sato, right? Don't you members of the Japanese Imperial Family claim to be descendants of Amaterasu, so you don't have surnames?"
Sato covered his mouth, smiled calmly, and said, "Well, these customs of our people were all taught to you by your Japanese translator, right?"
Chen Xiao didn't deny it, but shook his head and said, "I won't call you Your Highness, that's too cheesy. I'm not Japanese, I'm Chinese. China hasn't had any nobles for a long time. I'm not used to bowing to any nobles or maintaining a fearful and subservient attitude. So..."
A hint of melancholy flashed in Ms. Sato's eyes: "Actually, it's alright, you can continue to call me Ms. Sato." Her voice carried a faint trace of helplessness: "Sato... is actually my future husband's surname. According to our royal family's traditions and customs, once a royal girl marries and enters her husband's family, she will change her surname to take her husband's surname. At the same time... I will also be officially removed from the royal family, and from then on, I will no longer be a member of the royal family."
She paused for a moment, her smile tinged with bitterness: "Actually, I've always been used to using Sato as my surname. And... actually, perhaps it would be more appropriate for you to call me Mrs. Sato."
Chen Xiao could hear the helplessness and a hint of difficulty in the other person's tone.
Presumably, this marriage was not her wish.
Chen Xiao didn't press the matter further, simply nodding: "Alright, Ms. Sato. Now we've gotten to know each other anew... I think that knowing your true identity over the rest of this month will help me protect you better."
Sato sighed, looked at Chen Xiao, and frowned, saying, "Actually... I'm quite curious as to why you were assigned to protect me. Because I don't feel like I need to be protected."
That concluded their conversation.
In fact, although Chen Xiao had been staying by Sato's side these past few days, he hadn't had much verbal interaction with this high-status lady.
Miki, on the other hand, finally spoke after calming down.
“Chen Sang, you…”
"Let's talk about it when your sister gets back." Chen Xiao waved his hand. "I do hope that old man Takeuchi will change his mind and take you back from here."
"Am I...am I clumsy?" the girl asked timidly.
Clumsy?
Please, your skill in killing people with a knife is frighteningly advanced!
Finally, after a short while, Takeuchi Yako returned.
The woman was perfectly fine when she left. When she returned, she had a five-finger mark on her cheek—clearly, her attempt to persuade old man Takeuchi to change his mind hadn't worked. On the contrary, she probably angered the eccentric old man and suffered a bit.
Strangely, despite returning home with half her face swollen and red from a slap, Takeuchi Yako showed no sign of pain, disappointment, or helplessness. She appeared lost and dejected, her eyes unfocused, as if she had suffered a severe emotional blow.
She even had to lean against the wall to walk back; she probably would have fainted at any moment if she hadn't been holding onto the wall!
After returning, Sato's loyal attendant actually forgot to bow to her. It was unbelievable that he would be so absent-minded and impolite to this woman, who had been with him for many days and was so rigid and almost mean-spirited!
"You! You!"
Upon seeing Chen Xiao, Takeuchi Yako seemed to suddenly snap out of her daze!
This time, however, she didn't yell at Chen Xiao. Her gaze towards Chen Xiao was finally focused, no longer unfocused.
However, the dissatisfaction and disdain they once showed towards Chen Xiao have now all turned into... awe?!
That's right! It's awe!! And beyond awe, there's also a touch of disbelief!!
"You!" Takeuchi Yako pointed at Chen Xiao, her finger trembling. "You!!"
"Huh? Did you get slapped across the face and become an idiot?" Chen Xiao frowned and smiled bitterly: "What about me?"
"You! You actually injured Grandpa?! You! How could this be?! How could you possibly do that?!"
"I..." Chen Xiao hadn't even had a chance to answer...
"What?!" Even the usually introverted and composed Princess Sato, standing to the side, paled instantly. Her face was filled with surprise as she jumped up in disbelief, her eyes widening as she stared at Chen Xiao in astonishment, as if a flower had suddenly sprouted from his nose!
"Chen Xiaojun...you, you really hurt Master Takeuchi?" Sato swallowed hard, then asked in an almost incredulous tone.
"Hmm...we had a sparring match, and then everyone got a little injured." Chen Xiao thought for a moment, "That old man injured me too, and I still have a bandage wrapped around my arm under my clothes."
However, the two women seemed unsurprised by Chen Xiao's injury; they simply stared intently at him!
"You...you actually injured Master Takeuchi...? You were sparring? You actually injured him? You actually have the strength to hurt this old man?! How is that possible?!"
In the end, even this dignified prince almost lost his composure and screamed.
"Is this... strange?" Chen Xiao realized that something was amiss.
However... if the old man hadn't suddenly raised his head and shouted "Qiu Duo Ma Dai," he would probably be even more seriously injured now.
Of course, Chen Xiao was also well aware that the reason he was able to land the attack was mostly not because of his superior strength, but because his sudden use of that "short-range strike" had created a mental weakness in the Japanese swordsman who had been traumatized over half a century ago, causing him to lose his composure in an instant. "Chen Xiao-kun!" Sato's tone was very serious: "Do you... do you know the status and strength of Master Takeuchi in the Japanese martial arts world? With his strength, no one has been able to hurt him for over twenty years! Even when facing top-tier Japanese martial arts challengers, no one has ever managed to scratch him! You... you actually managed to injure him in a sparring match?"
Seeing Sato's accusing look, Chen Xiao quickly raised his hands and said with a wry smile, "I... I didn't do anything to him! I just punched him twice in the waist... Oh, right, I also broke his sword."
"What?!"
"Hongduo!!!"
Sato and Takeuchi screamed at the same time. In their excitement, they even forgot to speak Chinese and blurted out Japanese instead!
Sato, being of royal lineage, had cultivated a composed demeanor from a young age. He finally regained his composure, but looking at Chen Xiao, his tone was awkward and strange as he slowly asked, word by word:
"You mean! You! Chen Xiaojun, in a sparring match, broke the sword of Takeuchi Bunzan, the grandmaster of Japanese Kendo and the Imperial Sword Master?!"