"Fourth Prince, Princess Ke Xin, let's quickly leave here. These two fight three or four times a day over tiny matters, like enemies."
"..."
"They've been here for two days already?" Fourth Prince dusted off his body and asked.
"Yes, they came out yesterday - the first group to pass through. You're the second group." The examiner answered.
"Second... second again..." Fourth Prince muttered. He was starting to get displeased with this result.
"Who are they?" County Princess Ling Lan asked.
"Just them and another one called Lone Star."
"Lone Star, Lone Star again. This girl's strength is actually so strong." Princess Ke Xin muttered softly.
"Just a temporary coincidence. This is merely one trial. Whether she can still be first in what follows depends on her ability." Li Yuan snorted coldly at this time.
"Exactly. Just a commoner. No matter how strong, she can't be that strong - just solid fundamentals." Fourth Prince was equally disdainful. He didn't think he would lose to anyone, didn't think Lone Star would be very strong.
Like some people present, he just felt Lone Star's fundamentals were strong, because previous tests basically tested fundamentals, not real martial combat.
As for Nangong Suxin and Young Miss before them, they wouldn't underestimate them. From the two's battle, they could see some things. If they were in there themselves, they might not be able to be as relaxed and natural.
Of course, they wouldn't think they'd lose to the two - being unable to do something didn't mean being unable to win.
"Sky Fire Prairie Burn."
"Boundary Ink Defense."
"Boom."
"..."
Dust flew again. Fourth Prince and others who hadn't left were affected again. Before they could get angry, Young Miss and her opponent made dust explode again, once more...
"Enough." Fourth Prince was angry and roared.
"No, it's still early."
Young Miss and Nangong Suxin replied simultaneously, completely ignoring Fourth Prince and others' anger, continuing to fight.
"Ding ding clang clang..."
The two's swords made pleasant or harsh sounds in their clashing - pleasant or harsh depending on one's mindset. Actually, the sounds were all the same.
"Stop." After being silent for a while, Fourth Prince exploded again.
"Who are you? What qualification do you have to make us stop?"
Still the same, speaking in unison, shocking Fourth Prince and others, even making the examiner beside them sweat.
You two young misses, you're still people of Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Even if you can make names for yourselves in this Dragon Gate Tournament in the future, you should still show some respect to royalty.
"Sorry everyone. When my big sister and Miss Mo Yu fight, they won't be distracted. They don't know you all. Please forgive them." At this time, Third Miss suddenly appeared in the distance, apologizing to Fourth Prince and others.
Of course it was in the distance - approaching their battle circle would definitely be unlucky.
"Also, please stay away from them. Swords and blades have no eyes."
In Third Miss's apology this time, she more or less reminded the other party that you also have responsibility - who told you to stand near their fight.
Why was Third Miss here?
Actually, this place belonged to logistics support areas. Attendants and supporters of Dragon Gate Tournament participants could come up - as long as numbers weren't too many. From outside, there was a path that could easily come up, taking at most half a day.
"May I ask this beautiful miss's name?"
When Fourth Prince saw Third Miss Nangong, his eyes lit up. Very gentlemanly, he came beside Third Miss, bowed and asked. At this time, he also naturally left the vicinity of Young Miss and her opponent.
Li Yuan and several others followed Fourth Prince, all sizing up Third Miss. They seemed very interested in Fourth Prince's object of interest.
"Fourth Prince is too kind. Just call me Nangong Su." Third Miss said neither servile nor overbearing.
"So it's Miss Nangong. Are you here to take care of your big sister?" Fourth Prince asked with a smile, seeming to have lost his earlier anger, as if nothing had happened.
"I wouldn't call it taking care. I'm just seeing if there's anything to help with. Actually, I'm not very useful." Third Miss lowered her head, replying softly.
She wasn't used to meeting strangers and always had this attitude toward strangers. But in others' eyes, they thought she was being shy about something, finding her even more adorable.
Speaking of great family maiden deportment, no one here could compare to this Third Miss. Nangong Suxin and Young Miss had no comparison in this aspect - what they possessed was heroine spirit, of course at this time.
Actually, if the two young misses restrained themselves a bit, their great family maiden aura would be very strong too. Of course, at this time they didn't need restraint - this was originally in the Dragon Gate Tournament, plus the two were originally enemies.
From the beginning, Young Miss had endured because of Third Miss, but now her patience seemed at an end - she could no longer bear it.
"How long will they fight like this?" Princess Ke Xin asked. Her voice was so gentle - gentleness was her unique mark. No matter what situation, she maintained a gentle attitude.
Though just struck by dust, while others were very angry, only she gently patted herself, her expression carrying faint gentleness.
"According to past situations, it should be much longer. Everyone, please go rest first." Third Miss didn't speak - the earlier examiner replied.
"Then, Miss Nangong, we'll go rest for a while. We'll see you tonight." Fourth Prince continued being polite. Though he wanted to win over Third Miss, he knew what time it was now. Most important was maintaining stamina for upcoming trials.
"Alright, goodbye." Third Miss replied softly.
Really a good woman. How didn't I notice before? Fourth Prince thought while going to rest.
Actually, not noticing was normal. Third Miss had only been with her big sister, always in carriages along the way, basically never showing her face. Naturally, not many people knew.
Besides, she came to participate in imperial examinations, not the Dragon Gate Tournament. Fourth Prince's materials wouldn't show her at all.
After Fourth Prince and others went to rest, Young Miss and Nangong Suxin ended combat again. Young Miss was once again defeated. Just as the two were still staring at each other, teams from behind appeared.
This time, surprisingly it was Qingyun Province's Zhan Bai who appeared. He was alone, not teaming with others. This genius youth among commoners hadn't practiced very profound martial arts but had trained fundamentals to the extreme. Appearing here as the third batch was naturally very normal.
Afterward, it was still Qingyun Province - the other three from the Mo family. Subsequent Qingyun Province members seemed to all come in groups of three, with pretty good results, relatively advanced. Not one person was eliminated.
Discovering this situation, Fourth Prince understood - three people was an excellent small team that could display high mobility while maintaining cooperation. In such circumstances, it was most suitable.
He had previously been a five-person team. It seemed his earlier loss also had this reason - losing in configuration.
At this time, Fourth Prince seemed to push the blame on configuration, feeling someone was dragging him down. He felt if he were alone, he could definitely achieve better results, like Zhan Bai.
Ling Lan, Ke Xin, and that military family's tiger daughter Zhang Caiyi were all burdens. Of course, he wouldn't reveal this matter.
The next day, something happened that made Fourth Prince very displeased - those few he considered burdens actually got along well with Young Miss and her group, talking and laughing.
Though he could use this opportunity to approach Third Miss, he was still very displeased, especially with Young Miss.
Actually, why Ling Lan, Ke Xin, and Zhang Caiyi got along with Young Miss, besides being similarly aged girls, most importantly was that Young Miss deliberately approached them.
That's right, deliberately.
At that time, Young Miss appeared before the three women in what she felt was a very "handsome" pose, then said very flirtatiously: "Hi, do you beautiful ladies have time? Let's sit and have breakfast together."
At this moment, the three women didn't yet know Young Miss's preferences - they just found Young Miss very interesting and said yes with smiles. They didn't know they'd boarded Young Miss's pirate ship.
Speaking of it, these three girls' appearance, figure, learning, and status were all very perfect. Being targeted by Young Miss was very normal.
Actually, why Fourth Prince brought them - besides Princess Ke Xin being his sister - most importantly, he wanted to incidentally increase feelings with County Princess Ling Lan and Zhang Caiyi. At that time, he felt he had certain victory, so bringing a few with slightly weaker strength naturally didn't matter.
Of course, the three women's strength wasn't weak - that "slightly weaker" was only relative. Those who could participate in this Dragon Gate Tournament were all genuine materials. No one would fake it because paper couldn't wrap fire. Faking would be exposed sooner or later.
Just speaking of strength, the three women were all Scholar-level intermediate martial artists. Among ordinary people, they were all geniuses.
Because Fourth Prince had ulterior motives toward them, when he saw Young Miss "taking advantage" of them, he was very displeased. Especially after knowing Young Miss was also "monopolizing" Third Miss, he became even more displeased. He was actually getting jealous of Young Miss, though very slightly.
"Mo Yu, I discovered that without the little servant, you've become more unrestrained. Previously you didn't seem to approach other girls." Nangong Suxin looked at Young Miss with a very puzzled expression.
(End of Chapter)