Cheating

A Qiu, behind the veil, smiled and placed the sword back on the stall. She extended a slender, white hand and casually pointed to a rather inconspicuous half-broken brick among the many items scattered on the stall, saying, "If we want this sword, would you give me this brick to use as a liner for my fish tank?"

Gu Yi glanced at it once, and his eyes immediately flashed with a sharp light. He secretly praised A Qiu's eye for talent. She had managed to find the only genuine antique on the stall in such a short time.

The old man said with a worried look, "Young lady, auntie, those are the famous 'Qin bricks' among Qin and Han dynasty bricks and tiles, used to pave the floors of the Epang Palace. Don't you see the figures dancing on them? Those are things our ancestors risked their lives to steal from the palace. How can we just give them away for free!"

Gu Yi ignored his nonsense and pulled A Qiu by the hand, saying, "Let's go."

A-Qiu smiled and let him pull her to her feet before leaving.

Seeing that the two were really about to leave, the old man immediately shouted behind them, "Deal! Sword plus this brick, forty five-zhu coins!"

A Qiu and Gu Yi exchanged a smile. Gu Yi took out his money pouch, emptied out all the money, and paid the old man. A Qiu then stretched out her hand, but instead of drawing her sword, she reached for the brick first.

Just then, a slender, boneless hand reached out and, with lightning speed, picked up the half-brick right before A-Qiu's eyes. A woman's voice, tinged with a strange, foreign accent, said, "Forty five-zhu coins, is that it? I'll take it!"

Then came the crisp sound of coins clinking together, and a brocade pouch filled with money fell onto the stall.

Caught off guard, A Qiu, though her internal strength was gone, still retained her moves and reactions. Her outstretched hand remained in the same position, but changed from a palm strike to a grappling move, instantly grabbing the opponent's wrist and twisting it to dislocate it.

It should be understood that, whether in the common people or in the martial arts world, it is taboo to openly seize a deal that has already been made by someone else by relying on force.

If it were her second senior brother, Mo Yimingyue, then it wouldn't be just a wrist that would be dislocated, but an entire hand.

What A Qiu hadn't anticipated was that, having lost her internal strength, her speed was far inferior to before. As she turned to seize the opponent, a gleaming dagger suddenly shot out from her wrist, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, aiming straight for her wrist meridians.

This series of changes occurred without warning. Given the speed of the opponent's response and the ruthlessness of their actions, they are almost certainly a formidable killer.

Although Gu Yi was paying, he had already caught a glimpse of the gleam in the woman's hand out of the corner of his eye. His right palm slid out of his sleeve like lightning, swiftly seizing the wrist, cutting the pulse, and taking the brick in one go. With a smooth movement of his left hand, he had already shielded A Qiu to his side.

The woman's dagger clattered to the ground. Clutching one wrist, she staggered backward, demanding in a delicate voice, "Who are you?"

A Qiu was overjoyed as she took the brick from Gu Yi's hand, her beautiful eyes sparkling as she gazed at it, saying, "Luckily you're here, otherwise the one I finally had my eye on would have been snatched away by this wicked woman."

She used to be a fearless figure in the martial arts world, and had never suffered such a loss before. Gu Yi's timely and decisive action allowed her to retrieve her belongings without getting hurt. She felt incredibly safe and comfortable being by Gu Yi's side, and her tone carried a hint of coquetry.

Neither in the past nor now, Gu Yi had ever heard A Qiu speak to him so coquettishly. His heart trembled slightly, but he only said calmly, "You must never be so stubborn again."

He was referring to the fact that she had lost her inner strength but was still managing to fight others.

A-Qiu simply stuck out her tongue and smiled as she carefully examined the broken brick under the lamplight.

Actually, what she initially set her sights on at this stall was this Han Dynasty pictorial stone brick. Asking to buy the sword was merely a diversionary tactic to mislead the old man. Given the old man's shrewdness and cunning, if he knew the pictorial stone brick was a genuine antique, he would have certainly set a high price, or even kept it to himself, waiting for a better price.

The reason she took a liking to this was because her master, Wan Qiqing, had a similar broken brick on his Songxuetang bookshelf. After a quick glance, she felt that the style was similar, and she thought it would be good to take it back to Gu Yi as a decoration.

Here, A Qiu was intently examining the bricks in the lamplight, while Gu Yi held her loosely with his left hand and held the jade scale in his right, never leaving her side. Both of them ignored the defeated woman's question, because they had no desire to get entangled with her.

Even the old man at the stall could tell that A Qiu and Gu Yi were dressed in fine clothes and had outstanding bearing, indicating that they must have extraordinary backgrounds. Yet the woman didn't even consider their backgrounds and tried to snatch their things in broad daylight. Her eyesight and knowledge were questionable.

Having been defeated by Gu Yi in a single move, instead of immediately making a hasty escape, he brazenly asked for his name, which was extremely disrespectful of etiquette. He was probably not from any powerful force in the West Market, or even Jianzhang City.

However, there are too many people in the world, and the two of them had absolutely no interest in teaching such people a lesson.

Unexpectedly, when the woman saw that Gu Yi was tall and handsome, and that his martial arts skills were not hidden, her beautiful eyes immediately lit up, and she said in a coquettish voice, "This young master looks so talented, yet he snatched something from my hands. Don't you feel ashamed?"

A Qiu was about to retort that it was true that she had snatched the item from her, and that Gu Yi had merely helped her retrieve it. However, after only one glance, she noticed that the woman's deep, dark green eyes seemed glued to Gu Yi, and she immediately realized that she was just deliberately trying to provoke Gu Yi into talking. Feeling inexplicably choked up, she angrily said, "Let's go."

Gu Yi was too slow to process her girlish thoughts, but he naturally let her pull him away. But the two had only taken one step when a fragrant breeze wafted by. It was the woman who had shifted her position and skillfully bumped right in front of Gu Yi.

Gu Yi was not someone to be trifled with, and today he was also careful to protect A Qiu. Forcing him to come closer like this was a major taboo for Gu Yi. A fierce glint flashed in his dark eyes, and he raised the jade pendant in his hand, ready to teach the other party a heavy lesson.

But the woman saw what he was doing, stopped just before she reached him, and smiled as she raised her face, saying, "Young master, it's quite irresponsible of you to just leave like this!"

She hadn't touched him, so Gu Yi had no reason to act ruthlessly. He held the jade pendant, his face ashen, and said, "Make way."

A Qiu was furious, but she regretted that she didn't have any internal energy at the moment, otherwise she would have beaten this woman to her knees and begged for mercy. As the head of the Divine Weapon Hall of Lanling Hall, when had she ever been ignored like this?

She looked at the woman again, while the woman was also curious about what was so special about the woman who was being so well protected by this handsome young man in black, that made him ignore her beauty. So she focused her eyes and looked at the mysterious part of her face through her veil.

Their eyes met, and they exclaimed in surprise at the same time, "It's you!"

It turned out that the deep-set eyes and high nose of the Hu woman was none other than Princess Wansui, the leader of the Kucha music and dance troupe who had been confined to the post station and repeatedly forbidden by the emperor from entering the palace.

A Qiu, acting on the orders of Cheng Hua Ling and An Dao Ling, went to the post station to persuade her to behave herself and stop having such fantasies. At that time, Shangguan Yuqi, the head of the Eastern Palace Flying Phoenix Guard, also accompanied her. The two of them collaborated to fight her with a sword dance and a whistling sound, forcing her to admit defeat and give up.

Ah Qiu recalled seeing the striking figure of the Hu woman on West Market Street. At that moment, he felt a sense of familiarity. Now, he was certain it was her.

Princess Wansui saw through the disguise beneath her veil, her gaze sweeping over the woman before she said with ill intent, "Aren't you the Emperor's woman? Why are you having a secret rendezvous with another man here?"

She could tell at a glance that Gu Yi and A Qiu were unusually close. Gu Yi did not look like the Lord Shangguan from last time at all; he was not some kind of guard or bodyguard, and his temperament was different.

Although the demeanor of that Lord Shangguan from last time was not similar.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yi's expression involuntarily turned extremely ugly. Before A Qiu could answer, Gu Yi's face darkened, and he said, word by word, "Say what you just said again."

Princess Wansui was both delighted and alarmed. She was delighted because this young man hadn't spoken a word to her since they last spoke, but now he had actually engaged her in conversation, which was clearly a good omen. However, she was alarmed because Gu Yi's brows were furrowed with anger, and his tone was as cold as ice. If she answered incorrectly, he might immediately resort to violence.

She had already witnessed Gu Yi's martial arts skills, which could only be described as unfathomable.

Although she loved to stir up trouble and thrived on chaos, her own life was of paramount importance. She hesitated for a moment, then remained silent.

A Qiu, standing behind Gu Yi, laughed and said, "So what? You're so eager to be the emperor's woman, yet here you are, flirting with other women and trying to steal other women's men?"

Upon hearing A Qiu's voice, Gu Yi's gloom immediately dissipated. Hearing her cheerful and bright demeanor, he guessed that she had probably been spouting nonsense to someone again. Her final phrase, "someone else's man," caught him completely off guard, leaving him momentarily speechless.

My only thought was that I would have to give her a good beating when I got back, to teach her not to talk such nonsense again.

Princess Wansui, her eyes sparkling, walked casually to the two of them, and with one hand lifted A Qiu's veil, she said with a smile, "Girl, since you are so beautiful, why bother to hide your face? Any man who sees you will fall in love with you, what is the emperor compared to that?"

Her right wrist was dislocated, so she was using her left hand. Gu Yi was certain that she was going to use that "Wrist Blade" move again. Just as he was about to strike, he heard a calm laugh coming from the roof of the shop across the street: "I advise you to keep your hand in check, otherwise you might have to give up one of your hands today."

Upon hearing that voice, A Qiu's eyes lit up instantly, and she exclaimed in delight, "Senior Brother Mo Yi!"

The white-clad figure on the opposite rooftop rose to his feet, his eyes flashing with a sharp light, a nonchalant smile playing on his lips.

In stark contrast to his languid expression, he was holding a heavy dagger stretched out like a full moon, and his aim was at the tall and slender figure of the Princess.

Princess Wansui had never lost to anyone in terms of beauty in her life, but the two men from the Southern Dynasty she met tonight did not treat her as a woman, nor even as a living being.

The latter was even worse. Mo Yimingyue seemed to be smiling, but when she looked at her, her slightly narrowed eyes were devoid of any emotion, as cold as if she were looking at a dead person.

He received a report at dusk that there was unusual activity in the West Market, so he went to see for himself. He saw this unfamiliar foreign beauty appearing in the West Market, seemingly searching for the thing mentioned in the spy's letter.

If that were all, it wouldn't be a reason for Mo Yimingyue to take action. But she first openly snatched someone else's pre-ordered item, and then she even attempted to injure someone by lifting their veil, which violated the rules of the West Market.