On a wide sparring ground where yellow dust covered the large stretch of land, two swords clashed with each other with quick moves. As the speed of the swords accelerated, the swinging steel blade clashed with loud crisp sounds that echoed throughout the whole area. 

The servants standing on the side held their breath looking at the two people holding their swords and fiercely waving it at the other. The sound of the metal clanking as they collided with each other rang in the arena, bouncing off the walls. The spectators had their undivided attention on the moving figures as they held their breaths nervously speculating who would be the winner of this match. 

Each strike seemed more fatal than the other like the two were at each other’s throat with their every move. But if one looked closely, they would be able to see that one of them was holding back and going easy on the other. 

Suddenly, in a split second, one of the swords flew in the air making a perfect arc and dove on the ground with a thud. Following it, the match immediately came to an end with an obvious result and cheerful applause from the onlookers. 

“Woah easy, Princess!” The man who had his sword dropped raised his hands in defeat while giving a crooked smile. 

The other person raised the brow of her proud eyes and tilted her head. A fine layer of sweat glistened on her neck and forehead as she breathed heavily. Her slightly flushed face made her look lovely. Finally, she lowered the sword pointed at his throat seeing that he had admitted defeat. 

“It seems Princess is spending more time with your sword than zither,” chuckled the handsome man picking up his sword that was lying on the ground. He was the great General of the Jin kingdom who commanded the troop of the army with thousands of soldiers.   

“General can’t even defeat me in a sword fight, this princess wonders how you command such a large army,” scoffed Princess Xin An Rou jokingly while letting the servant take her sword. There was a subtle satisfaction in her eyebrows but only upon careful look. 

Instead of taking offence at her words, General Hu laughed with mirth in his eyes. “Princess, it does not take strength alone to become the General. One needs to have a sharp mind to observe and command the right thing at a crucial time,” he explained without taking his eyes off of her. 

Princess Xin An Rou was the first to break eye contact. “It seems General Hu’s sword skill needs some good polishing. Next time, this princess hopes you don’t give me a match this easy,” she said while patting the sleeve of her black practice robe before turning to leave. The high ponytail of her long silky hair swayed with every step she took. Her back view was followed by the starry eyes of men until her figure disappeared.

Although everyone saw General Hu deliberately fling his sword to let the Princess win, they couldn’t help but admire their valiant Princess. It was a well-known fact that Xin An Rou was a freedom-loving beauty who was like a lone flower blooming at an unreachable height.

She didn’t seem to have awareness of the effect of her charm on men but that didn’t stop those men from desiring her. Rather it seemed they found her personality more refreshing than the other noble ladies who were trained in managing the house. 

The royal palace of Jin was enormous and lavishly decorated. Princess Xin An Rou walked through the wide corridor where servants were lined in two rows to make a path for her. Dragging the stray hair away from her face, An Rou walked in graceful steps towards her chamber with a small smile adorning her face as she nodded to the people passing by. 

Xue Xi, the personal maid of An Rou ran behind her helping her wipe the sweat. “Princess, did you see General Hu’s look when he was sparring with you. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you.” She giggled as she followed An Rou to her room. 

An Rou’s lips slightly curled upwards but she didn’t reply. After entering the room, she silently raised her arms to let the maid help her remove her dress. In her mind, she was still relishing the moment of defeating General Hu in sword fight. 

“Princess, it's clear that he likes you. So why don’t you consider him? After all, he has good looks and a high position in the court. This servant can see that he will make you happy,” asked Xue Xi curiously. She didn’t understand why Princess An Rou didn’t accept any man when there are so many highly qualified suitors waiting for her to accept their heart. 

“Xue Xi, I don’t need a man to be happy. Also, don’t forget that he already has a concubine. If I choose a man to be my husband, I must be his one and only. There should not be any other woman in his life,” replied An Rou giving a side-eye to her maid. 

“Princess, but is there such a man in this world? Even the emperor has so many women in his harem,” said Xue Xi with disbelief. She then remembered another matter and worriedly reminded, “Princess, you haven’t attended a single guqin class this week. Is it okay for you to skip the class and practice sword?”  

“I don’t understand why I have to attend such useless classes. Why don’t they get that I am not like those women who hide within their palace walls while playing the guqin and painting flowers?” An Rou groaned with dissatisfaction. In reality, she was well trained in the four arts of painting, calligraphy, qin and chess. 

“Did I receive any letter from Mother this month?” asked An Rou remembering that she hadn’t heard from Xin for some time. It was soon that she would be returning to her homeland so the empress should have sent her a letter. 

“Her Highness never forgets to write to you every month. We received her letter just yesterday,” said Xue Xi while bringing in a letter with a seal of Xin. 

An Rou’s face gleamed with happiness as she hurriedly grabbed the letter from the hand of the maid who smiled helplessly seeing the Princess’s excited expression. The princess sat on a nearby chair and tore open the seal in one quick move before pulling the letter from the envelope. 

Upon reading the content, a beautiful smile bloomed on her lips, making her already attractive face even more perfect. Holding the letter in her hand, she bit her plump lower lips as she remembered the man she had seen from afar when he had last visited Jin. She had only asked about him in passing to her mother in one of the letters but little had she known that he would be the one coming to escort her to Xin. 

She remembered the boy slightly older than her when she was still in the Xin Kingdom. The silent and serious Lu Tong Xiao followed his father, who was the Prime Minister, to the palace and learned about his work from very early on. Unlike the noble children who used to try every chance in befriending the royal children, the young Lu Tong Xiao looked at them with disinterest in his eyes. 

“Princess, quickly tell, who is coming to take you home?” asked the maid excitedly. The maids of the princess had gossipped over a long time debating on who would be her escort. After all, the man who accompanied a royal princess on her coming of age ceremony would become the talk of the town as it would signify their close relationship with the royal princess. 

An Rou played with the letter on her hand, her beautiful fingers twirling and rolling the paper into shapes. Her long lashes slightly lowered covering her expressive eyes. Turning to look at the maid impatiently waiting for her answer, she gave a slight smile while shaking her head, “Why are you getting so excited? It’s just an escort, nothing important.”

Xue Xi immediately whined seeing the Princess keeping the news from her, “Princess, don’t keep this servant waiting. Tell me, who is it?”

Playing with the tendrils of her hair, An Rou gave a deep smile, her pink lips forming a perfect arc.

“It seems Prime Minister Lu will be coming to take me home.”