The day of the ambassador trip came quickly. In the past month, Xue Xian had spent her days walking around markets and eating food, catching up with some old friends from the academy, and just finding fun things to do in general. Suddenly having to wake up so early in the morning and take on such an important assignment was a horrible feeling, but at the same time it was probably a good thing that she had something to actually do now.

    After leaving Hu Xuan some instructions on running the bureau in her place for the next few months, she selected a handful of subordinates to take along for the trip and headed to the agreed upon meet up point. She really didn’t need to take any people with her, as it was best not to have too many unnecessary people follow along on this trip, and having Xue Xian come along herself was more than enough. However, she decided to do so anyway since it was always useful to have some subordinates on hand.

    As they rode their horses to the meet up spot, Xue Xian suddenly said in a very serious voice, “Hey.”

    The four subordinates that she took along answered in unison immediately, none of them faltering, thinking that she must have other orders for them. “Yes Commander!”

    “Do you guys have any food?” 

    “...” The four people exchanged a glance, at a loss. Finally, one of them said a little hesitantly, “Reporting to Commander… we do not…”

    Her nose twitched. “Damn. What’s the point of me bringing you guys along if you don’t supply me with food?”

    “Ah… um, aren’t we here to guard the ambassador?” another soldier said.

    “No, I’m here to guard the ambassador. Let’s be real, if we encounter anything on our journey, I’d be doing the most fighting.”

    “...” 

    At the very least, anyone who was accepted into the Shadow Feather Bureau would have exceptional fighting abilities, and here, their very own commander had just demoted them to errand boys. They felt a little wronged on the inside, but they also knew that she was just like this. It was like she couldn’t live one day without watching people suffer from misfortune, the type of person who’d watch the world burn just for her own amusement.

    Good thing they were on the same side…

    By the time they arrived at the point of departure, the ambassador party appeared ready to leave, the servants making the last bit of preparations. There weren’t a lot of people, but there were a lot of carriages. A large carriage that probably housed the Rui ambassador and tribute was surrounded by numerous smaller ones and a few guards from the Imperial Dragon Bureau. The rest of the people were all servants from the palace who ran about doing preparations, giving the scene quite a busy appearance.

    A man in black martial robes highlighted with gold and a high ponytail tied by a long, black hair ribbon and secured by a jade hair crown was busy instructing the Imperial Dragon guards, his poise elegant and refined. A long spear with a curved, blue frost-like blade was stabbed into the dirt by his feet as he assigned guards to their positions. 

    The sound of the arrival of horses caught his attention, and he turned to look in Xue Xian’s direction, revealing a handsome face with jade-like skin, his phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. His long eyebrows furrowed a little and pursed his lips when he caught sight of Xue Xian, contrary to Xue Xian’s scarily delighted expression when she saw him.

    She hopped off her horse and walked over to that man, a suspicious smile on her face. 

    “Wah, isn’t this A-Che? I haven’t seen you in so long!”

    Xiao Che looked at her with dead eyes. “What do you want.” Though his words and tone were cold, he had a pleasant, decorous voice that was nice to listen to.

    “Aw come on, don’t be like that! We haven’t seen each other for a whole year because we’re both so busy, and that’s the first thing you say to me?” Xue Xian feigned a hurt expression, looking especially pitiful. Any man who saw a beautiful girl like her with an expression like that would probably feel sympathy within their hearts, but Xiao Che was different from other men to begin with, and he had also dealt with Xue Xian’s antics for several years during their time as confidants together, so he had long since been immune to all her tricks.

    “Wipe that ugly expression off your face. We’re here on important business, how have you not changed at all?!” he replied scathingly. “How are you even a commander?”

    Xue Xian shrugged, smiling shamelessly. “I dunno. His Majesty thought my performance as confidant was exceptional, perhaps? Either way, I do get things done, so what’s there to complain about?”

    He sneered. “A lot.”

    “Well, maybe it’s just you who has a bone to pick with about everything.” Xue Xian said with a sigh, shaking her head regretfully. “A shame that your personality is like this when your face is so handsome.”

    “I’ll just take that as a compliment.” he said flatly.

    “Take it as however you want,” Xue Xian chuckled, “anyway, more importantly, do you have food?”

    Xiao Che mutely unhooked the bag on his horse and handed it to Xue Xian, who opened it to find a bunch of piping hot steamed buns. Her eyes brightened as she saw this and immediately reached in to take one. “You are much better than my useless, foodless subordinates. Wanna join my bureau and become my subordinate? I’ll pay you extra.”

    “No.”

“Tch.” Xue Xian closed the bag of steamed buns and began to swing it casually. “Why do you have a bag of steamed buns anyway?”

“Why? Because His Majesty informed me beforehand that you would be here, so I specially prepared those to occupy your mouth on our journey, and I knew you’d ask for food.”

Xue Xian grinned at him. “So you were thinking of me! You’re just mean on the outside and soft on the inside, huh?”

“...” he had only talked to her for a brief minute or so, and he already had a headache. Xiao Che ignored what she said and instead replied, “I think we’re about ready to depart now. We shouldn’t delay any further.” 

    The food technique really worked well, and Xue Xian didn’t talk anymore. She also had her own boundaries and knew when it was time to move on, so she merely nodded and hopped back onto her horse, holding the bag of buns in her hands, and urged her horse forward as the succession of carriages and people began to move along the road. 

    A one way trip to the Zhongchi Empire would take at least one month to arrive at their capital if they hurried, one and a half if they didn’t. It was likely that they would then stay there for another half a month before making the one month return trip. 

    Although the Emperor had told Xue Xian that she needed to guarantee the safety of the Jaded Grail, she herself knew how important this trip itself was. The Zhongchi Empire had been at war with the Rui Empire for a long time, even during the reign of the previous Emperor, so the fact that the current Emperor was able to negotiate peace with the Zhongchi Empire within three years of his reign was an impressive feat. Located to the west of the Rui Empire, these two countries were the most powerful and influential countries out of all the countries on the mainland, so it was only natural that the two would come to conflict vying for the topmost position. Xue Xian didn’t know what impressive ideas His Majesty had come up with to deal with the stubborn Zhongchi Empire, but she was only here to follow orders and carry them out, nor did she really care. If she really wanted to, she could definitely be a good court official, but Xue Xian found politics extremely boring and didn’t pay much mind to it unless it was needed for a mission. 

    In any case, considering the fact that His Majesty finally managed to achieve peace with the Zhongchi Empire and that he had trusted her enough to make sure this mission was successful, Xue Xian would do her best to a certain extent.

    They traveled the whole day with brief breaks for the horses in between and covered decent ground by the time night fell. With the sun already dipping beneath the horizon and the sky turning into a gradient of purples and pinks, Xiao Che decided that they would stop at the next inn. It was likely that this would also be the only time they would get to rest at a decent inn, as the further away from the capital that they traveled, there would be more and more small villages instead of towns, and the war with Zhongchi had also taken a toll on less fortunate commoners. 

    Once Xiao Che made that decision, it didn’t take long before the next town appeared in sight. 

    Although they had traveled quite a ways from the capital, they were still within the area of the Rui Empire that was considered ‘well-off’. The name of this town was called Hong Hua (Red Flower), and as its name suggests, this town was a very frivolous and easy-going place. Oftentimes during vacations, wealthy officials would come to this town to rest and indulge themselves in pleasures, from good food to brothels, there was nothing short of fun in this town. 

    They stopped at the largest inn in the whole town, the waiter in the front of the inn immediately smelling profit and warmly welcoming them. While people lead the horses and carriages to the shed in the back, the ambassador got out of his own carriage and walked towards Xiao Che and Xue Xian who was watching the scene from the side. 

    “Commander Xiao,” the ambassador greeted. 

    The ambassador the Emperor chose to send was called Wei Fang, the head of the scholarly Wei family. He was a respected court official in his mid 40s and was known to be a reasonable, cool-headed person. Both Xue Xian and Xiao Che had a good impression of him, approving of the Emperor’s decision to send him as the ambassador for this trip. 

    “Many thanks for being willing to come along on this trip. I have long heard of Commander Xiao’s prestige and strength and am more than happy that you are willing to lend it to this official.”

    Xiao Che nodded at him politely. “It is nothing, I am merely following orders the Emperor has given me and don’t deserve this much praise.”

    Wei Fang looked like he was going to say something else when he caught sight of the Xue Xian standing next to Xiao Che, watching their exchange indifferently. Wei Fang was unaware of Xue Xian’s identity, but seeing that she was allowed to stand side by side with Xiao Che, then she must be an important figure as well. “Please excuse this official’s inexperience, but this young lady is…?”

    Xue Xian changed her expression to a polite yet friendly one, her tone of voice amiable. “This one is from the Shadow Feather Bureau, my name is Xue Xian.”

    Hearing her mention the Shadow Feather Bureau, Wei Fang understood. “Ah, I see. Many thanks to Miss Xue for accompanying me on this journey as well. This official just wanted to give thanks for ensuring my safety, as it is late, I won’t disturb Commander Xiao and Miss Xue anymore.” He cupped his hands and bowed his head one last time before heading into the inn.

    When he was gone, Xue Xian said, “Although I have heard of Wei Fang before and have a good impression of him, he really isn’t someone I’d want to befriend.” Her polite tone was completely gone, reverting to her usual mellow, half-playful, half-lazy tone.

    Xiao Che turned to look down at her. “Why?”

    “I mean… listen to the way he talks, it’s way too stuffy. He wouldn’t be any fun to poke fun at and would probably just apologize or something.”

    “…” Xiao Che was speechless.

    “Ah, but of course Commander Xiao is someone I’d love to befriend! Your expressions and replies are always on point, very fun to talk to.”

    He glared at her. “Thanks for your grace, but I would hate it. And I’m almost sure being considered your ‘friend’ is about the same thing as being considered an extra scapegoat.”

    “Ai, don’t make me out to be so cold hearted.” Xue Xian snickered. 

    He shook his head disapprovingly at her and moved on to business. “When the Emperor decided to sign the peace treaty with Zhongchi, there was quite a lot of opposition in court, especially the older aristocrats. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them tries to sabotage this trip, so we should be careful.”

    Xue Xian scoffed, her gaze turning a little cold. “It’s always those old rats. Peace is a good option, and yet they insist on fighting battles that they have no contribution in.”

    Xiao Che didn’t comment, although he didn’t show disagreement either. “In any case, the Jaded Grail is on me, so I’ll keep it safe. I’m more concerned about Wei Fang.”

    “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Xue Xian caught onto his implication and casually agreed. “That’s part of my mission anyway, so I’ll make sure it’s completed.”

***

    On the outskirts of Hong Hua, two men in black cloaks were conversing with each other. 

    One of them said to the other, “The main goal here is to get the Jaded Grail, secondary goal is to kill Wei Fang. Don’t forget that and just start fighting people. Once you kill Wei Fang, come back immediately.”

    “You don’t need to tell me.” The second man replied, his voice nonchalant. It was clear from the two’s tone of voice that although they were working together, neither of them liked the other very much and was purely here together because of a common goal. 

    The first man snorted. “Who knows? Maybe you’d go crazy and start fighting people for no reason just to indulge yourself.”

    “Haha, I must say you worry too much, Shi Tang. I don’t need you telling me what I should and shouldn’t do.”

    The man named Shi Tang sent a hateful glare towards him, but he no longer said anymore as the two entered the city.

    Meanwhile, Xue Xian was casually sitting on the roof of the inn, right above Wei Fang’s room, a stick of tanghulu she told her subordinates to get her in her mouth. Her legs dangled over the edge as she surveyed the red lit city, still extremely lively despite it being quite late now.

    As she was at the top of the roof, she could only faintly hear the liveliness and felt that it was relatively peaceful, the cold night air especially crisp and clear, the full moon and stars shining brightly on the sky. 

    Xue Xian turned her gaze from the people frolicking down below to peer up at the sky, a sense of emptiness slowly descending within her as she stared up at the peaceful river of stars above her. It really…

    Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she caught a very faint glimpse of a shadowy figure. Xue Xian was immediately on edge, her eyes narrowing in the direction that she had seen the figure and her ears perking up.

    Abruptly, there was a flash of silver as Xue Xian drew her swords, the moonlight reflecting off of their blades to give them an ethereal appearance. In nearly the same moment that she drew her swords, she launched herself up from where she had been sitting, her feet twisting flexibly to give her momentum and shot herself straight towards that figure.

    Despite the enemy noticing her movements and moving to dodge, he was no match for her speed. Amongst the martial artists within the palace and academy, Xue Xian’s speed was unmatched, and there weren’t many who could keep up with it. It could be said that Xue Xian’s fighting style was based off of this incredible speed of hers.

    Xue Xian barreled straight into that person and decisively moved her blades in for the killing blow, but unexpectedly, that person retaliated and pulled out a dagger from within his sleeves, making a slash at her. 

    “Tch,” Xue Xian cursed under her breath and leapt backwards, flipping elegantly in midair and landing on her two feet neatly, her dual swords pointed outwards. The moonlight shone down upon her face, revealing her snowy, beautiful face, except now her eyes were icy cold, not a trace of her usual playfulness to be seen.

    “Well well well,” came a nonchalant male voice. “Look at what an interesting thing we have here!”