"It is you, Your Highness?"
In a quiet voice, the Princess said, "Brother Ming, I have something to discuss with you. Please allow me into your room."
"Ah? You want to come into the room?" I looked down at Su Xiao, who was sound asleep in my arms, "Th-That is not too convenient, is it? How about I come out?"
"No." The usually composed and steady Princess sounded anxious this time. The image of her frowning appeared in my mind. She hesitated for a moment then added, "I-I jumped over the walls to get in."
"You jumped over the wall?! Why?"
The Princess went quiet.
I then cursed myself for being stupid.
'The Princess is no mere commoner! Is it appropriate for her sneak into a man's bedroom at night? Moreover, she has a fiancée. If news of her visiting me in the middle of the night was to spread, Jin Wangsun would probably be fine, but if it gets out tomorrow, I'll be able to marry her the day after.'
"By the way, Your Highness, you sure are familiar with this place! How did you know where my room was?"
"I didn't know. I was planning to knock on door by door. If it wasn't yours, I'd flee using qinggong. Your room is the first room, so I found you on my first try. Stop asking so much and open up already."
'Oh, open up, open up… open my foot!! Can I open it?!! Somebody has planted an aphrodisiac of some sort in this room and it's yet to go away!'
'Why does she have to come knocking now?!'
'If she finds Su Xiao in my room, I… I… What's there to be afraid of? I'm not in a relationship with the Princess. Plus, Su Xiao is a guy.'
I couldn't help but let out a snicker from the bottom of my heart.
'I'm straight. Why do I need to be afraid of others seeing me together with my colleague, who's got a flush and sleeping in my arms, looking powerless…? Why do I sound more and more guilty?'
'No, no, no, it's just a hallucination. I…'
The Princess suddenly thundered, "Ming Feizhen! Hurry up and open the door!"
Owing to the shock she gave me, I swiftly chucked Su Xiao into the blanket! I was afraid the blanket would suffocate him, so I had to remove my outer shirt to gently cover his face. That way, he won't suffocate.
"Give me a moment. I am coming."
The Princess couldn't wait. She fumed, "I can't wait any longer. I'm coming in."
I saw a silver light appear. A shiny blade appeared between my doors and silently opened. She used the perfect amount of strength! I'm not educated on sabre arts, but I do know they can be tremendously swift. The amount of strength she used was worthy of praising her as a sabre user, who had reached the pinnacle. One could behead their target without them being aware. In fact, the target would still be able to normally move for a second before they die. The sabre can be wielded so swiftly that the opponent doesn't even realise they were cut, and most definitely that they were already dead.
She perfectly cut the doors open, so they didn't shift on their hinges. They looked as though there weren't cut with a blade. She must've used such a skill.
I almost unwittingly cried out. The Princess entered as swift as the wind. I finally realised why she couldn't wait.
She was dressed in a black as ink tight suit, revealing her voluptuous curves. I don't know if she was in a rush and picked up a smaller size. Her breasts looked as though they were eager to burst out of the suffocating cloth. However, upon looking at her hips, they were slender, which was a match made in heaven for her long slender legs. Upon closer inspection, I realised that her torso actually fitted out the entire upper body section of her clothes, not that it was small and tight.
Although I knew that today would be my only chance to relish the sight of her sensual body, I didn't dare to take too many glances. I quickly faked a serious demeanour and pulled a seat out for her.
"Your Highness, why are you here so late…? Erm, my room…"
Despite pondering for a long while, I couldn't come up with how to refer to myself. When we were on the streets yesterday, I called her 'Miss Li,' and used terms we use in the pugilistic world to refer to myself. Now that we were meeting in private in a room, however, it would be too amorous if I didn't refer to myself as if I was on duty. With that said, she is not an official, while I am not ranked, so it would be somewhat weird to refer to myself as, 'Your Subject.'
She, too, evidently felt that it would be slightly weird; but, she seemed to be distracted by something else, and therefore didn't correct me.
I saw the flush look of anger on her face, so I asked, "Your Highness, is something bothering you?"
"Hmph!" The Princess sat in my sight and wore on a cold look. She frowned and replied, "I can't believe that my father intends to betroth me to Jin Wangsun."
'Oh, so that's what this is about.'
"I knew the Emperor was biased! He told me to diligently prepare for the contest and give it my best, then turned around and told you and Jin Wangsun that it is a done deal?!"
"Well, he hasn't cheated for him yet. My father assigned fair tests, so he wasn't biased there. That, I can attest to." The Princess answered my question, but then was even more infuriated, "What I can't comprehend is why he'd consider Jing Wangsun a candidate, given his character!"
"Upon entering the city, he rode around on a horse and crashed all over the place, knocking over the denizens booths, and then used silver to instigate conflict between the people. I, personally, witnessed that. If it wasn't for his status, I'd have given him a lesson long ago."
I had almost forgotten the Princess had a strong sense of justice. I just tried to pinch some makeup in the palace last time, and she chased me down nine streets, let alone Jin Wangsun's conceited behaviour. The Princess has a strong sense of justice and has a serious personality. Once she settles on a particular way of thinking, nobody can change her mind.
Her face appeared slightly flush underneath the candlelight. She clenched her teeth and fumed, "Yesterday, he even dared to hit my uncle and grandpa! The two of them are still in pain. I can't forgive him."
Her angry frown then became even more prominent. She slammed her hand on the table, "I will never marry such a man!"
'Fantastic! This Princess of ours is invulnerable to criticism! She sides with reason and her family!'
Nevertheless, there's an issue with her logic there.
I corrected her, "But…, Your Highness, you have to realise something. If you refuse to marry him, does that not mean…"
She looked at me with a confused look and interjected before I could finish, "Brother Ming, that doesn't make sense. There are only two Fuma candidates. If I don't marry him, it goes without saying that I'll be marrying you, then."
'You thought it through already?! Wow! That came faster than a tornado!"
"Marry me?" I blinked my eyes, "Your Highness, are you sure about that?"
"What's the big deal?" The Princess waved her hand as if it was an insignificant matter to her, "I came to discuss with you how to help you win in the contest, so that you can marry me."
'Oh?'
I tilted my head with a perplexed look.
'What a virtuous wife. You understand the big picture very thoroughly. As your husband, I am very glad to know that. I shall not stand on ceremony then. Come, come, come, let us come to the bed to practice our Big Flirting Art three times before we continue. Henceforward, you and I shall address each other as husband and wife. I have two sweet osmanthus cakes here. Please try them… Yeah, get fucked!!'
I jumped to my feet!
'You're supposed to bloody give the explanation when I wear my perplexed look!'
Princess Hongzhuang titled her small head. She seemed to not understand why I reacted so oddly.
Confused, she asked, "What?"
'That wasn't a cue to act cute!'
'You certainly do look very beautiful with that look, yes; but before that, explain yourself!'
'If I marry you, does that I mean I get to rub, I mean, what am I on about? What makes you think I can marry you?!'
Glossary
*Why I don't use 'Light Arts' for qingong - First of all, if you have practiced Wushu (any style - see how you don't translate that as 'Martial Techniques,' but use 'Wushu'?) and trained at schools which deliver lessons in English, as well, you will know that you don't use the term qinggong and not 'light arts' or any other literal translation. Secondly, there is the chance that "Light Arts", as in the opposite of 'dark,' may crop up at some point. Yin and Yang references, for one. If you translate it as 'light arts' or its variants for whatever reason, you'd have created a conundrum.