Chaos
Xiao Wan'er's eyes were so intense and intense that Pei Yingguan was at a disadvantage in the stare-down with her. He turned his head and looked away.
"Senior Brother, I am already twenty-two years old, not twelve, and certainly not a two-year-old child." Xiao Wan'er still stared at Pei Yingguan, her tone serious.
Pei Yingguan stood there, his expression flickering. After a long moment, he turned and left silently.
Xiao Wan'er quickly forgot about her casual chat with Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er. She continued on duty as usual, and treated Pei Yingguan no differently.
A few days later, a eunuch entered the Shenlongwei office.
The eunuch was clearly well-versed in the layout of the government office. He smoothly made his way to Xiao Wan'er's side, bowed, and said, "Captain Xiao, the Empress summons you to the palace for an audience."
Xiao Wan'er, who was writing at her desk, put down her brush, grabbed a copper coin, and tossed it three times. As expected, the result was not pleasant. She stood up and cleared the desk.
"Lead the way." She ordered the eunuch.
Xiao Wan'er, led by a eunuch, entered the Daming Palace. As they passed a palace passage, she spotted two groups of figures in the distance. Leading them were a man and a woman, facing each other. The woman, her hair adorned with pearls and jade, and dressed in splendid brocade, pointed at the man and tried to charge forward, but was held back by the maid behind her. The man lowered his head, remained silent, and clenched his fists. The eunuchs around him either knelt or stood stiffly, none daring to step forward.
As Xiao Wan'er looked at them, the ornately dressed woman also looked back. She retracted her previous stance, but her ferocious aura remained. In the silence, the man, who had been bowing his head, quietly raised his head, his sinister eyes sweeping over them.
Xiao Wan'er felt a genuine sense of discomfort. She withdrew her gaze and quickened her pace. The cold feeling from behind her gradually disappeared as she moved away.
"Who were those people just now?" When she turned around and couldn't see the two groups of people anymore, Xiao Wan'er asked the eunuch who was leading the way.
"Your Excellency, it's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Her Royal Highness Princess Anle."
After passing through Guangshun Gate and entering the empress's palace, Empress Wei was already waiting. Seeing Xiao Wan'er, she stood up, walked over to her, took her hand with a familiar air, and led Xiao Wan'er's eunuchs to retreat silently.
"I've only met Captain Xiao at palace banquets before. This is our first private meeting." Empress Wei was incredibly beautiful, and her mere smile could instill a newfound affection. "I've been looking forward to this for so long, and I'm finally honored to meet you."
Xiao Wan'er looked at her, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of forewarning. She tried to break free from Empress Wei's hands, but they were held tightly.
"I invited Immortal Xiao here today because I want you to agree to a favor for me."
Xiao Wan'er's heart was filled with alarm.
"Although my daughter is married, she is still young and immature. I would like to invite the immortal to be my daughter's husband."
The ominous prediction came true, and Xiao Wan'er's heart was completely broken. Thinking of the elegant woman she had just seen, she felt a headache.
"Your Majesty, as a Taoist priest, I am afraid I am not qualified to be the princess' husband."
"Your Excellency has misunderstood," Empress Wei said in a gentle but undeniable voice. "I was hoping you would teach Anle martial arts. As the most powerful cultivator in our dynasty, it shouldn't be difficult for you to teach a mortal like me."
After the Queen said this, Xiao Wan'er had nothing more to say.
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I will do my best to teach Princess Anle."
Empress Wei's grip on Xiao Wan'er's hand finally loosened a little, but she still didn't let go. Instead, she pulled Xiao Wan'er out of the palace.
"Where are you taking me, Madam?"
"Of course, we're going to the Purple Palace," Empress Wei said matter-of-factly. "I've chosen a martial arts master for Anle, so naturally I have to inform Your Majesty."
Empress Wei brought Xiao Wan'er to the Zichen Palace, and they heard the coquettish voice outside the palace.
"Father, please agree to this!"
Xiao Wan'er focused her spiritual energy into her eyes and peered through the wall to see the scene inside the palace. Princess Anle, dressed in gorgeous attire and ornaments, was shaking the emperor's arm, pleading with him for something.
But the emperor refused, albeit gently.
"Anle, this matter concerns the country and the people. It's not something to be trifled with. Don't make a fuss about it." Worried that his daughter would be unhappy, he added, "Is it okay for the emperor to give you more fiefdoms?"
Just at this moment, Empress Wei brought Xiao Wan'er into the Zichen Palace.
"Your Majesty, I have found a martial arts teacher for Anle. This teacher is Captain Xiao Wan'er of the Shenlong Guard." As she spoke, she turned sideways, letting Xiao Wan'er behind her out.
Xiao Wan'er saluted the emperor.
"I greet your majesty."
"Haha, Zi Tong has good taste," the emperor readily agreed to the queen's invitation. "My dear Xiao, my daughter is young and naive, so I'll be asking you to teach her."
"I don't deserve it. I will teach the princess seriously."
As the three of them chatted, Princess Anle stared intently at Xiao Wan'er, who took a moment to secretly glance back. At one glance, she felt like she was looking at an ambitious wolf cub that hadn't received proper guidance from its elders.
She was certain in an instant that she had received an extremely troublesome task.
Princess Anle had already paid her respects at the emperor's urging. She recognized Xiao Wan'er and performed the ceremony reluctantly.
"Anle has met Mr.
"Your humble servant greets the princess." Xiao Wan'er returned the greeting.
Princess Anle accepted her teacher, and the emperor and empress were delighted. The emperor waved his hand and issued an imperial decree, ordering Xiao Wan'er to come to the palace every day at noon to teach the princess and promoting her to the rank of county lady.
With a simple imperial decree, Xiao Wan'er was granted the title of Fifth Rank, an exceptional title. By the time she returned home from her duty that evening, the decree had spread throughout the Chang'an officialdom.
When they reached home, Shangguan Wan'er's trusted maid was standing at the door as expected. Xiao Wan'er didn't need her to come over and greet her, she just walked up to her quickly.
"Where is your master waiting for me? Take me there."
The carriage slowly came to the door of Shangguan Wan'er's residence. Xiao Wan'er lifted the curtain and stepped out of the carriage. Through the open door, she saw Shangguan Wan'er with an anxious look on her face.
She immediately laughed: "Isn't this what they say, 'Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles'?"
"You're still laughing?" Shangguan Wan'er was furious. "Don't you know what a devil Princess Anle is?"
Xiao Wan'er pulled Shangguan Wan'er straight to the main room of her house and sat cross-legged on the mat very skillfully.
"The Queen has given the order, what can I do? I'll just teach her well first."
Then, Xiao Wan'er got a warning on her first day in office.
Xiao Wan'er arrived at the class before the hour of Wei, but by noon, Princess Anle was still nowhere to be seen. The sun gradually moved westward until, just a quarter before the hour of Shen, Princess Anle finally arrived. The beautiful princess was still wearing her elegant long dress, looking nothing like she'd been practicing martial arts.
"Princess, you can't practice martial arts when you're dressed like this." Out of the professional ethics of a minister and martial arts teacher, Xiao Wan'er reminded her.
"Do you really think you're my master? Li Chongjun is nothing more than a slave to me, not to mention you, a minor official of the seventh rank?"
Seeing this, Xiao Wan'er shook her head and sighed, then drew her sword and, with a few light swings, chopped off her clothes and dropped them to the ground. Just as Princess Anle was about to scream, a set of riding clothes fell from the sky, covering her face.
"I have used magic to block the view of others. Princess, please change into your martial arts attire."
Princess Anle was furious.
"I will ask my father to dismiss you from office!"
"After class, it's up to you, Princess," Xiao Wan'er said calmly, "but I'm still your husband, so you should listen to my instructions."
Amidst the stalemate, Xiao Wan'er added another weight to her argument: "Princess, if you can't even master martial arts, how can His Majesty trust you with the responsibility of entrusting the Tang Dynasty to you?"
Princess Anle's expression was uncertain. She stared at Xiao Wan'er for a long time, but finally put on her riding clothes obediently.
Xiao Wan'er clapped her hands and removed the magic that blocked the outside world's view.
"Yes, but it's a pity you came too late today. It's almost 3 p.m. For the rest of the time, you can jog around this yard."
Princess Anle reluctantly ran to the beginning of the Shen period. After she finished the lap, Xiao Wan'er asked her to stop.
"That's all for today. I hope you can come here on time for class tomorrow."
Princess Anle left without a word. Xiao Wan'er didn't care and leisurely returned to the government office. As soon as she returned to the government office, her deputy captain came over.
"Captain, how does it feel to teach the princess?" The deputy captain had killed evil cultivators with her in Quanzhou, and they were also friends for life and death, so he did not mince words when speaking.
Xiao Wan'er pondered for a moment and said slowly, "My junior brother was really obedient back then."
The deputy captain smiled knowingly.
To Xiao Wan'er's surprise, after returning home from work, Pei Yingguan repeatedly looked at her with an attitude of wanting to say something but stopping himself.
"Brother, what's the matter?" After several times, Xiao Wan'er could no longer pretend to be blind and asked directly.
"Did Princess Anle give you any trouble?"
Xiao Wan'er laughed: "How could she possibly give me a hard time? Senior Brother, don't worry."
While laughing, I couldn't help but sigh that Princess Anle really has a bad reputation.
The next day, Princess Anle arrived on time in her riding uniform. Her face was grim. She had indeed gone to the Emperor and Empress after class the previous day to request that Xiao Wan'er be relieved of her position as martial arts instructor, but her request had been rebuffed.
Seeing her coming, Xiao Wan'er asked her to do horse stance.
She looked up in shock, and saw that Xiao Wan'er looked serious and had no intention of pretending, so she had no choice but to lower her head and do as she was told.
Soon, she couldn't hold on any longer.
"Let's go here first," Xiao Wan'er said without making things difficult for her, "Princess, you still lack exercise."
Princess Anle's expression darkened once again. She was so exhausted her legs were trembling, and without caring about her princess's appearance, she simply sat down on the ground.
"Water!" She gave an order, and the palace maid following her immediately brought up the kettle. She had just taken two sips when she was interrupted by Xiao Wan'er.
"Princess, it's not advisable to drink too much water after high-intensity exercise."
Princess Anle glared at her and angrily threw the kettle at the maid. The maid was caught off guard and was struck. Xiao Wan'er frowned and then increased her training.
"When I become the Crown Princess, I will chop off your head!" After the training, Princess Anle pointed at Xiao Wan'er and shouted angrily.
Xiao Wan'er smiled.
"You should become a princess first. Power cannot be gained by pampering, coquettishness, or bullying others. If you have time, Princess, you should read more books."
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