At that time, I was bewildered
Sima Yao knew that given Li Wen's status in the Langya Prince's Mansion, even if he really beat Xie Lang today, it wouldn't be a big deal. Afterwards, his father would naturally apologize to his elder brother, the Emperor, and Li Wen would be severely punished in appearance, but Xie Lang would have already lost all face, and everyone would know that the Langya Prince's Mansion was not to be trifled with.
This is the use of a loyal servant.
Her only worry was Shangguan Jin's attitude.
Shangguan Jin looked at Sima Yao and Li Wen again, sighed, and then said, "Let's leave it at that for today. Xiao Lang, let's go back."
Without uttering another word, he took the book in his hand, turned, and left. The renowned sword, renowned throughout Jiangzuo and unparalleled in its elegance, was already sheathed at his waist.
Xie Lang shrugged noncommittally, then bowed to Sima Yao before calmly following Shangguan Jin away.
This situation was completely unexpected for Sima Yao and Li Wen.
Especially Li Wen.
His gesture of drawing his sword just now was not out of recklessness or impulsiveness, but rather to save face for the Langya Prince's Mansion and to vent his anger.
The Grand Secretary Shangguan Jin reprimanded Sima Yao, and even if her father, Sima Jun, were present, he would have no objection. But who was Xie Lang? How dare he speak ill of her from the sidelines and kick her when she was down? If he didn't teach him a lesson and make his stance clear, would he really think that the Langya Prince's Mansion was a soft persimmon to be manipulated?
He acted this way in front of Shangguan Jin, and he was mentally prepared to be reprimanded by Shangguan Jin.
But that's the very purpose of a loyal servant. He accepts punishment and being scolded is no big deal, but he must protect Sima Yao from being bullied.
Unexpectedly, Shangguan Jin led Xie Lang away without saying a word, leaving Xie Lang feeling as if he had punched empty air, feeling helpless and bewildered.
Sima Yao gritted her teeth, made up her mind and chased after him, calling out, "Lord Chancellor."
Shangguan Jin had already sat in the carriage draped with a blue cloth curtain, with Xie Lang holding the reins, and was about to drive the carriage away.
Seeing her chasing after him, Xie Langfang reined in his horse and turned around, saying, "Your Excellency, Grand Chancellor."
Only after receiving his approval did they lift the curtain.
When Sima Yao looked, she saw that Shangguan Jin inside the carriage had already opened "The Essentials of Mountains and Rivers" and was about to read it. At this moment, he had to look at her, his brows furrowed slightly, as if he was annoyed that she had interrupted his reading.
With just a slight furrow of his brow, Sima Yao felt her heart race and her breathing become labored.
Previously, she had only seen him as calm and composed, handling matters without haste, and without any airs of officialdom. Now, she felt she had glimpsed Shangguan Jinlin's unassailable, dignified and composed presence befitting a prime minister of a nation.
But she was, after all, a descendant of the King of Langya, of royal blood, and her courage and personality far surpassed those of ordinary people.
She looked up at Shangguan Jin in the carriage, and smiled as naturally as possible, "Lord Chancellor, could you please not tell my father about what happened today?"
Shangguan Jin was slightly taken aback at first, then, as if he remembered something, a hint of amusement appeared on his lips.
He gazed deeply at Sima Yao and said softly, "Okay."
After saying this, Xie Lang had already lowered the curtain.
But Sima Yao still heard Shangguan Jin say one more thing.
Xie Lang, who was usually gloomy, also smiled and said, "Don't worry. The Grand Secretary has many naughty children and younger relatives, as well as nieces like the eldest daughter. He knows what he's doing and won't let you, Princess, be disciplined by the Prince."
The carriage rumbled away into the distance, while Sima Yao stood there in a daze, her dislike for Xie Lang seemingly lessened considerably.
Shangguan Jin, valuing his status as the prime minister of the country, had already declared the matter closed, and should not have bothered to complain to her father about such a trivial matter.
However, she felt more at ease only if he gave her a verbal guarantee.
What was unexpected was that he made no excuses or took the opportunity to reprimand anyone.
He simply said to her, "Okay."
The last words spoken before her departure, hidden behind the curtain, seemed to caress her heart like a spring breeze, stirring her emotions.
He said softly, "I won't tell your brother either."
Upon hearing this, A-Qiu fell silent.
According to what I heard from others, Shangguan Jin was very self-disciplined, almost harsh, but in reality, he was a very sentimental person.
Otherwise, he would not have made an exception and taken up an official post for Emperor Dezong, Sima Jingyuan.
He broke into the Forbidden Palace at night for the sake of his niece, Shangguan Yanxiu.
In the end, he sacrificed himself for the death of General Li Mingyuan, the Marquis of Guannei.
The tenderness that Sima Yao glimpsed in him for a moment, just as Xie Lang said, was because he was thinking of his nieces and grandnieces in his clan.
Yanxiu, Yuqi...aren't they all incredibly bold and unconventional?
Shangguan Jin also had a kind of understanding and tolerance towards these younger people, which was both like that of an elder and a friend.
Therefore, he did not severely reprimand Sima Yao for abusing his power.
Because she was ultimately not a member of the Shangguan family, her nature was not ultimately too bad.
Aqiu remained silent for a long while before saying, "This was how Aunt Yao and the former Grand Secretary first met. And what happened after that?"
Sima Yao blushed slightly and said, "After that, I racked my brains day and night to figure out how to learn his swordsmanship. Because in my life, I have never seen such a magnificent and agile swordsmanship, enough to change the landscape and silence the years."
A Qiu exclaimed in horror, "You went to him to become his apprentice?"
Given Sima Yao's personality, this is very likely something she would do.
Sima Yao, unusually hesitant, said, "No, that's not true." She added, "I know that it's not easy to get into the Grand Secretary's household. First of all, the Shangguan family has strict rules and is a prominent family of upright officials. Even the Grand Secretary was only invited by Uncle Dezong after much pleading to stabilize the country. Besides, my reputation isn't very good..."
This was probably the first time since birth that Sima Yao had felt heartbroken and restless because of her terrible reputation in the Jianzhang elite family.
Shangguan Jin is a gentleman of impeccable character, pure and noble. There is absolutely no way he would accept her, the infamous Princess of Langya, as his disciple.
During that late spring, she was unusually well-behaved, staying indoors and lost in thought, day and night, her mind filled with nothing but the unparalleled brilliance of Shangguan Jin's sword strike.
Even her family's proud and unique heavy sword technique lost its luster in her eyes.
Her lack of interest in everything and her lack of effort in swordsmanship soon caught the attention of her mother and then her father.
That morning, her father specially asked her to go to the training ground to practice martial arts. As expected, her "Hundred Unique Skills of the Qilin" was defeated by her father after three moves.
Sima Jun possessed extraordinary strength and wielded his sword with lightning speed. In just a few exchanges, he had her stagger and retreat in a sorry state.
This was the first time she had been defeated by her father's sword since she was fifteen.
She leaned on the ground with her sword, feeling overwhelmed with shame and unable to lift her head.
Sima Jun said with a stern face, "Your mother said that you haven't been going out much lately, and I didn't think it was a bad thing at first. A daughter is growing up, and it's good for her to settle down. But now it seems that you've been using your mind and energy somewhere else."
With a clang, he flicked his wrist and sheathed his sword, declaring firmly, "We swordsmen of the Sima family may lose our swords, may they break, but our hearts will never stray to another's!"
Upon hearing her father's words and seeing Li Wen making a helpless gesture to her from the side, Sima Yao knew that her father must be suspicious and had already questioned Li Wen about the whole story that day.
Her mind raced, and she immediately knelt down, saying, "Your unworthy daughter lost the sword duel to the Grand Secretary. As this was a defeat I had never suffered before, I was completely flustered. I beg my father to punish me!"
Seeing that she readily admitted it, Sima Jun's expression softened somewhat. He snorted and said, "Who is Shangguan Jin? He was already famous in Jiangzuo twenty years ago. It's normal for a junior like you to lose to him. It's nothing to be ashamed of!"
Seeing that Sima Yao's expression remained gloomy, he couldn't help but get angry again and shouted, "Are you planning to give up after losing one sword? There are so many skilled martial artists in and out of the world. Even your father has lost to you before. Should your father just commit suicide?"
Sima Yao knelt on the spot. She was not good at hiding her feelings. When she looked up and saw her father's angry eyes, she blurted out her true thoughts without warning: "The Grand Secretary's swordsmanship is truly unparalleled. After seeing it, I felt that I could not compare to it in my life. I want to... I want to become the Grand Secretary's disciple and learn the Gentleman's Swordsmanship!"
She was stunned when she uttered her last sentence.
Her father was extremely concerned about his reputation, and she was his only successor and the top swordsman in the Sima imperial family. How could he allow his daughter to become a disciple of someone else?
As expected, the atmosphere in the room froze instantly after she uttered those words, and even Li Wen was taken aback.
If the Shangguan family represents the "pure stream" of contemporary politics, then the Langya Prince's Mansion is the most powerful of the powerful, arguably the central camp of the "turbid stream" among the elite families. Sima Jun's way of life was to cater to Sima Yan's lifestyle of indulging in food, drink, and beautiful women, never criticizing him in the slightest, thus gaining Sima Yan's favor.
Sima Jun was very shrewd and knew he didn't have the strength to shake the "pure stream" faction, so he never directly clashed with Shangguan Jin. But given the antagonism between these two major camps, Sima Yao's idea was not only wishful thinking, but simply incomprehensible.
As soon as Sima Yao spoke, he knew he had said the wrong thing and immediately fell silent.
To her surprise, Sima Jun's reaction was not as furious as she had imagined.
Sima Jun slowly sheathed his sword and turned around, saying in an emotionless tone, "As far as I know, Shangguan Jin's Gentleman's Sword Technique is his family's secret, and he won't easily pass it on to outsiders. Moreover, I don't know if you're just acting on a whim. After all, taking a master is a big deal. A teacher for a day is a father for life. If you take him as your master and then change your mind after a couple of days, even His Majesty won't be able to handle the situation."
Upon hearing this, Sima Yao did not directly object, but instead seemed to think that there was great potential in it. She immediately exclaimed, "Absolutely not! I have seen swordsmanship and martial arts before, but the exquisite swordsmanship of the Grand Secretary and the style that is so different from ordinary martial arts are truly something I have never seen before in my life!"
Sima Jun said calmly, "Is that so? What's so special about his swordsmanship? Why don't you tell me?"
Sima Yao tried hard to recall, and then said, "I don't know if what I said is right or wrong. But our family's direct lineage swordsmanship relies on strength to win, is simple and unadorned, and follows a single path to the end. It is to meet force with force and water with earth, without any trickery, trickery, or fancy tricks. It only shows people the straight path, hence it is called the King's Sword. But the Grand Secretary's Gentleman's Sword seems to have transcended the scope of ordinary martial arts, reaching the realm of controlling the sword with qi and governing people with the Dao. And this kind of realm, I have only read about in books before."
Sima Jun snorted, then asked, "And how did you lose to him back then?"
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