Half an hour later inside the Imperial Palace.
Princess Jingan walked as though she was walking on clouds then bowed. With a pleasant smile, she greeted her father, "Your Daughter sends her greetings, Father."
"Hahahaha, come, come, come, come here, Jing'er. Sit, sit. Come sit next to me. Let me take a good look at you.
The Emperor couldn't stop laughing.
The Emperor is an infamous daughter-con, a fact that the entire world knows. However, among all of his children, he doted on his youngest Princess, the Third Princess, most. The one he worried about most was Second Princess, who was drifting around in the pugilistic world all the time. However, he liked and got along best with his eldest daughter.
Princess Jingan is cultured and well-mannered, beautiful and graceful. She was known throughout the entire capital for her good nature and has been bestowed the title The Capital's Most Beautiful.
Princess Hongzhuang was, of course, a beauty, no doubt about that; however, she was rarely in the capital; plus, she was fond of swinging weapons around. As a result, her image inevitably paled in comparison to her elder sister. If the ranking was for the capital's martial world's most beautiful female, Princess Hongzhuang would come out on top.
What was rare was that Princess Jingan was nice and considerate. She was the only one among the Emperor's daughters that would often talk about Imperial Court affairs with her father or personally prepare delicacies to cheer him up.
Speaking of which, all three of his daughters have different methods of cheering their father up.
Third Princess is young, pretty, but barbaric and wilful; nonetheless, she loves to act winsome most. Second Princess is a girl of few words, enjoys being alone and rarely smiles. Nevertheless, the Emperor is elated to have them. Only Princess Jingan is most sensible and understanding. She's cognizant of her father's hardships. She always brings him his favourite refreshments. The food is secondary. What he values most are her considerate thoughts. That's why he's fond of his eldest daughter.
After getting married, Princess Jingan only returned to the capital once per year. Otherwise, she stays at Jingan Palace, located in Hangzhou. The two places may be close, but the Emperor is very busy, while his daughter couldn't bear to always be away from home. Thus, it had been a long time since the two met.
"Are you used to life in Hangzhou? I heard that you went with Empress Dowager, Her Majesty to Holy Purple Mountain. What did you gain from it?"
Princess Jingan was also happy to see her father. She shared the interesting things she encountered. She's a warm and kind character. She doesn't like to say much to outsiders, but she can engage in cheerful conversations with her family.
Soon enough, they got to Princess Hongzhuang's wedding.
The Emperor smiled, "I concur, Jing'er. I, too, was foolish. I was so busy thinking about how to gain from Jin Wangsun, such as exchanging her for their land or something and forgot about a low-ranking constable. How can an ordinary disciple from Mount Daluo compare to the patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect?"
"While you are right…" Princess Jingan recalled Empress Dowager's order to assist Jin Wangsun. She paused, but then out of consideration for her sister's bliss and happiness, she said, "We have to take the man's character into consideration, too. Jing'er has never met Ming Feizhen, but Jing'er has met Jin Wangsun. Jing'er was not impressed with his character…"
"Huh?" The Emperor fumed, "He was rude to you? Is that punk crazy? Is beating up my Li family that addicting or something?"
The Emperor aggressively waved his hand and thundered, "Call back the Ultimate Three! End Gold and Silver Sect overnight!"
Princess Jingan quickly waved her hands, "No, no."
She gave the eunuch, who was thrown into panic, a gentle smile. She explained, "You people are so silly. You knew that Father was joking, so why would you react that way?"
The eunuchs, who deliberately ran about to make it seem as though something major was going on, scratched their heads and chuckled with embarrassment when they saw Princess Jingan's smile.
"Ehehehehe, you are too wise, Your Highness."
Jingan giggled at their act, and then shot her father a reproaching glare, "You, too, Father, how could you make such a joke?"
"There's no harm in making a joke when I haven't seen you in so long." The Emperor laughed, and then nervously asked, "But, uhh, did that Jin Wangsun do anything to you?"
"No, he did not. It is just that Jing'er went to visit him at his abode today as a guest. During Jing'er's stay, a robber came. Jin Wangsun and his subordinates were no match. They were utterly defeated. Jing'er met the assailant at the end."
The Emperor became tense the moment he heard a robber came. When he heard that the robber was able to defeat Jin Wangsun and his subordinates, he was even more astounded.
Since his daughter wasn't well-versed in martial arts, she mentioned it with a light heart, but the Emperor knew how tall of a task that was to accomplish.
Jin Wangusn might not be the most skilled at Gold and Silver Sect, but he was ranked second on Seventeen Jiaolong's rankings. Furthermore, as a patriarch, he had to have had highly-skilled fighters accompanying him. Therefore, it begs the question: just who could defeat so many skilled fighters all alone?
Then, he heard his daughter say that she met him. Consequently, he blurted, "Did he do anything to you? What did he go to Jin Wangsun's abode for? What were the Imperial Guards doing?! How could they let my Jing'er meet that man?! Wang Tushui, who's commanding the Imperial Guards in charge of protecting Jing'er?!"
Eunuch Wang poked his head out. With a radiant smile, he replied, "That would be Commander Long Zaitian, Your Majesty."
The Emperor thundered, "Him again?! Does he not know how to cherish the opportunity I gave him? Demote him one more rank. He makes one more mistake and send him off to join the army in Northern Xinjiang!"
"Calm down, Father." Princess Jingan couldn't help chuckling upon seeing her father get angry for her sake, "You are always getting angry, Father. What am I to do if your anger affects your health?"
"But Long Zaitian, he… he… *Sigh*. Jing'er, you don't know the ridiculous deeds he has done." Seeing his daughter's chastising gaze, he surrendered, "Okay, don't demote him; but nonetheless, tell him, one more mistake and he's going to Northern Xinjiang to eat dirt!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Keep going, Jing'er, what about him? Did he harm you?"
This is what you call concern leads to foolish mistakes. His daughter was sitting right in front of him. Of course, she's fine.
"Stay calm, Father. Jing'er met him, but he turned and left." Jingan smiled, "Did you forget that Fuma, personally, trained a group of skilled fighters to stay by Jing'er's side? Jing'er is not afraid."
"Oh, that's true."
"However…" Jingan frowned, "Jin Wangsun causes trouble left, right and centre, and now he has angered someone in the pugilistic world, which goes to show that his character is not remotely close to being upright. Therefore, Jing'er suggests observing him more."
The Emperor expressed his agreement. He was quiet confident in his daughter's evaluation. To add to that, it was his beloved daughter's input, and therefore naturally considered everything she said to be correct. They then proceeded to converse about other topics.
Suddenly, Jingan asked, "Oh, that's right, father, have you seen Fuma?"
"Fuma?" The Emperor scratched his head, "No, I have not. What's the matter? Has he gone off to deal with matters in the pugilistic world again?"
Jingan nodded, "Uhm. He said that there was work at Northern Xinjiang. He said… he would be gone for a while."
The Emperor stroked his beard, "Oh, Fuma really is busy. After he's done at Southern Xinjiang, then he heads to the West. After he's done in the West, he heads to Northern Xinjiang. Why does it feel as though Fuma is always running around?"
Jingan lowered her head. She thought to herself, "Since not even Father knows, he can't be carrying out a secret command from Father."
After some pondering, she stood up and began contemplating something else. Then, her feet began to move on their own.
The Emperor smiled, "Jing'er, recently, how has Hangzhou treated y-, eh?! Why'd you leave? I haven't finished! Geez, she's as impatient as ever."
Princess Jingan had left the hall before she finished listening to her father. She stroked her smooth chin with one hand and the cogs in her little head began to turn.
'Fuma has definitely come to the capital, but can't show himself.'
'What do I need to do to see him?'
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