“Lan Zhi has many virtues that I haven’t yet discovered.” Si Xitong said earnestly and firmly, “Where can I find fault?”
Encouraged by her, Xie Lanzhi was instantly filled with motivation.
She was moved for a short while, but Si Xinian couldn't stand seeing her older sister protecting her, so she clearly said these words to him.
Si Xinian, holding his sword, bowed slightly to Xie Lanzhi: "Marshal, I've heard from my elder sister that you are highly skilled in martial arts. I happen to know some as well and would like to spar with you. What do you say?"
"I can agree, but sparring isn't that simple." Xie Lanzhi already had a plan. To prevent the boy from testing her with martial arts every day, she simply shut him up first.
Si Xinian sensed the hidden meaning in her words and said, "Marshal, please speak."
Xie Lanzhi immediately set a condition: "If I win even one move, you'll have to change your address to me from now on."
"From now on, call me brother-in-law."
Si Qinian trembled, and when he lowered his head to answer, he spoke with some difficulty: "Qinian... as you command."
"But I also have one request."
Xie Lanzhi said, "Speak!"
The boy's eyes showed defiance, and he spoke in an arrogant yet gentle tone: "If the marshal is suspected of yielding to me, then I'd rather not call him brother-in-law!"
Even if it was just for her brother-in-law's sake, Xie Lanzhi took it very seriously. She didn't really need to argue with a child, but this wasn't an ordinary child.
She should be cautious: "I can see you're working really hard."
Si Xinian's competitive spirit was burning like a blazing fire; he held his weapon, already on the verge of battle: "I have no choice but to fight."
Xie Lanzhi sensed a hidden meaning in his words: "What do you mean?"
"Because Qi Nian's brother-in-law needs to be able to grace a formal occasion and cook a delicious meal."
Xie Shangguang, who had been hiding nearby for a long time, finally poked his head out and asked Si Xinian, "Fourth Prince, is the person you're talking about the Marshal?"
Si Xinian frowned, puzzled: ?
Xie Shangguang replied with an attitude of taking it for granted: "The Marshal personally selects even the socks for the mistress in the Southern Region, let alone the kitchen."
These words made Si Xinian's face darken. He quickly adjusted his conditions and said, "Then let's change it. Xinian's brother-in-law must be both literate and martial, and he must be a man who only wants to be Liang Shanbo in this life and who has feelings for Zhu Yingtai."
Xie Shangguang shook his head, spoiling the mood: "Isn't it unlucky that one of them dies of illness first, and the other commits suicide, and then they both turn into butterflies? Fourth Prince, are you cursing the mistress?"
"......"
"Shut up!" Xie Lanzhi and Si Xinian shouted at Xie Shangguang almost in unison, startling him into silence.
Xie Shangguang finally realized the spark between the two.
"Mistress, aren't you going to stop him? What if the Marshal beats the prince to a pulp?"
Si Xitong sighed, "It should be fine."
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 18:08:00 on November 27, 2021 and 18:54:45 on November 29, 2021!
Thank you to the little angels who threw landmines: 迷, 47284678 (1 each);
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Ahe (10 bottles); W (2 bottles); Xinxin (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 34 Brother-in-law, the head of her family?
"If you're not satisfied, you can kill me."
Whether intentionally or on a whim, the atmosphere, which was originally just a friendly exchange, suddenly became as heavy as a thousand pounds.
The young man, oblivious to the danger, went ahead without hesitation.
He was still the same as always. Although Xie Lanzhi didn't have much contact with him, she could sense from his fighting style that the young man was extremely stubborn.
Xie Lanzhi said, "There's no need to go to such lengths."
"You're just trying to tell me that you won't go easy on me, and that I should take you seriously too."
Si Xitong's eyes narrowed slightly, but she remained silent. She recalled how A-Nian had told her with a smile last night that he wouldn't let Lanzhi lose face in public.
But what we're doing now is a completely different matter.
Looking at Xie Lanzhi again, she stood close by, holding her sword, her face expressionless, and her gentle demeanor gone.
The two were on the verge of exchanging blows.
Xie Lanzhi took a deep breath, but when she raised her sword again, she threw it to the ground. The bladeless sword fell to the ground with a dull thud. Then she coldly ordered, "Bring me the real sword."
Si Xinian's eyes lit up and he exclaimed in approval, "That's exactly what I was thinking!"
"Lanzhi! Anian!" Si Xitong tried to step forward to stop the two.
Xie Shangguang quickly stepped in front of her and stopped her.
Si Xitong was slightly taken aback: "Shang Guang, even you think they should really fight with knives and guns."
Upholding the martial spirit of the Xie family, Xie Shangguang reminded her: "Madam, the Grand Marshal needs to establish his authority in front of the Fourth Prince. I have heard rumors about your younger brother. At such a young age, he was able to manipulate Huang Mang and his men with ease. He must be someone who does not accept being above him. And no matter who the Marshal is in front of, she will always be the one at the top."
"This is a bottom line that cannot be crossed!"
"The fourth prince is arrogant like a wolf, and although wolves are fierce, they are still animals that are very submissive. They need someone to stand above them."
"And the Fourth Prince must also kneel at the Marshal's feet!" Otherwise, the two will only have an endless struggle until the Grand Marshal loses patience and kills the Fourth Prince.
This is the worst-case scenario.
“That’s what she thinks too…” Si Xitong stopped trying to stop the two of them, looked at them, and clenched her fists tighter and tighter.
Xie Shangguang nodded and said, "The Marshal is only kind to the Mistress. She's not like that to everyone. I can see that her maximum tolerance is only for you. The reason others are safe and sound now is because they haven't stepped into her forbidden zone. Once..."
The consequences would be unimaginable if this happened.
Si Xitong suddenly let go and let her hand fall.
Xie Lanzhi struck first, delivering a swift and merciless flying kick to Si Qinian. Si Qinian blocked with his sword held horizontally to his chest, the blades clanging together. He stepped back a foot, regaining his footing, and the swords clashed again, aimed directly at Xie Lanzhi's face, the two being nearly a head shorter. The blade aimed diagonally at Xie Lanzhi's crown, showing no mercy.
Xie Lanzhi tilted her head back, barely dodging the attack, and then struck Si Xinian with the hilt of her sword.
Si Xinian bent his knees and slid down to the ground. He saw the cold blade of the sword graz his nose, and then he punched the spot where Si Xinian had been standing. The punch missed and slammed into the ground.
Bang! The blueboard shattered, and stone fragments flew everywhere.
Si Xinian frowned immediately. Was this a sword fight or a fist fight? But he could tell that Xie Lanzhi was using her sword as a cover, but she was actually using her fists, relying on her strength.
Xie Lanzhi's attacks were relentless, with no pauses for breath. She pursued, striking with both fists and legs. Her swordsmanship, initially blunt, gradually became more familiar to her. Then, she unconsciously twirled the hilt, like a flying pen thrown into a container, the blade flashing past Si Xinian's face.
Clang! The blade was stuck diagonally in the gap between the bluestone slabs. Xie Lanzhi dodged and slid, performing a split, and reached for the sword.
Si Xinian held the sword in front of him, then immediately flipped backward, spinning four times in place like a flower bud. The sharp, cold blade, due to its rapid high-speed rotation, circled and approached Xie Lanzhi.
Xie Lanzhi moved slightly, rolled on the ground, and used her brute strength to force herself to turn over, dodging frequently.
As Si Xinian drew closer, she retreated further until she had nowhere left to retreat. Then she crouched down, lifted a piece of blueboard as a shield, and charged forward like a bull drawn to blood.
With a sword and a board, the impact caused the two to push each other away, the board was shattered, and the blade tip was knocked off.
With no barb on the sword tip, Xie Lanzhi finally swung her sword horizontally, striking Si Qinian's sword tip three inches behind. With a clang, a corner of Si Qinian's sword blade was severed.
The swordplay contest finally came to an end.
Si Xinian did not move again. He glanced at Xie Lanzhi, who was covered in dust, his eyes filled with fighting spirit.
A moment of contemplation flashed through his mind: his footwork was so terrible, yet he was getting more and more enthusiastic as the fight went on.
Xie Lanzhi received a glare from the troublemaker. She brushed the dust off her clothes and thought to herself, "He probably won't submit today."
During the competition, both Xie Shangguang and the nearby imperial guards witnessed the Fourth Prince's agile swordsmanship. He only needed two or three moves to make the marshal unable to dodge.
The marshal's sword strike, aimed at avoiding injury, was not her fighting style.
In the eyes of others, there was doubt and wavering.
Xie Lanzhi, however, seemed not to hear, showing no concern or attempt to conceal her strength.
Si Xinian swept his gaze across the crowd with a cold look, sensing that something was amiss.
Then, turning his gaze to Xie Lanzhi, he stared intently at her, and uttered a sentence that filled him with a sense of crisis: "I certainly don't accept you. I don't accept martial arts!"
Xie Lanzhi stared at him and said, "If I can make you submit just by beating you, then I'll think highly of you."
"Your sword intent displeases me; only your fists are somewhat formidable," Si Xinian questioned. "In that case, how will you protect my elder sister?"
“My elder sister doesn’t need any barbarian to protect her. Only an invincible and brilliant person is qualified to stand by her side!”
Xie Lanzhi kept her gaze fixed on the young man.
She accepted all the provocations and questions without flinching.
Their tolerance for him was simply unbelievable.
Si Xinian's heart tightened at the sight of her gentle eyes, but when she looked again, she realized that her elder sister only had eyes for her.
He loosened his grip, the sword fell to the ground, and said in a complicated tone, "A pair of easily deceived eyes."
"Can Xie Ying also become affectionate and loving towards others because of relationships?"
"Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. A flower in a greenhouse only makes people weak and easily bullied."
This statement seems more like something he would say to himself.
Upon hearing this, Xie Shangguang immediately glanced at the guards around him, intending to order them to keep quiet and not spread the news of today's events. Suddenly, he noticed that all the guards around him were unfamiliar Xie family members. He was shocked. When did they change?
The familiar faces were there right before the fight.
Si Xitong stepped forward and stood between the two. Xie Lanzhi silently sheathed her sword and put it behind her back, placing one hand on Si Xitong's left shoulder.
Si Xitong immediately half-supported and half-leaned into her arms, looking at Xie Lanzhi's broken knuckles and a deep cut on her middle finger, with some blood and flesh visible underneath. She bit her lip slightly and said worriedly, "I am not feeling well, please trouble the Marshal to escort me back to the palace."
"Okay," Xie Lanzhi said, putting her arm around her.
Si Xinian: "The Marshal has not yet answered me."
Faced with Si Xinian's question, she smiled slightly: "Brother, sometimes winning or losing a contest cannot convince people, but there is one thing that will surely make people willingly submit."
Si Xinian asked, "Which point?"