Heaven and Earth Sword Cry
She paused for a moment, then said, "You can't avoid facing the Jianzhang Army, the central army of our Southern Dynasty, forever, nor can you hide your strength forever! The 'Shaoshi Qin' is known as one of the three wonders of the Southern Dynasty, but Shaoshi's power over the world comes from the killing and conquest of the Louyue Sword!"
Facing Pei Yu's sharp, piercing gaze, A Qiu finally broke out in a cold sweat.
Pei Yu finally began to suspect her.
On the night Pei Yuanli was assassinated, A Qiu met Pei Yu. At that time, she used the "Rainbow Rift" sword that Mo Yimingyue had lent her, and the sword technique she used was a sword style that she had figured out herself from the sword techniques of Gu Yi and Shangguan Yuqi.
Because it is a sword technique that no one has ever used before, it is impossible for anyone to recognize it, nor is it possible for others to figure out its method.
However, it is impossible for three martial arts masters with no background or origin to suddenly appear in the capital overnight, yet possess the strength to withstand two generations of Flying Phoenix.
Afterwards, Pei Yuanli died in a duel with Li Chongyu, and A Qiu was the one who helped Li Chongyu fight her way out of the encirclement. The superb skills she displayed during this process, as well as the courage to take Pei Yu's arrow head-on, certainly do not prove that she was the one who assassinated Pei Yuanli the night before. She could also say that everything was entrusted by Gu Yi, but Mu Huaying and Pei Yu could not possibly be without suspicion of her because of this. On the contrary, based on all the clues, she was the one who should be suspected the most.
Because of her past as a dancer, she harbored a deep-seated grudge against the Divine Hound Camp; because of her attempt to assassinate Huang Chao'an, she narrowly escaped being poisoned by Mu Huaying in the imperial prison. Now, she has firmly sided with Li Chongyu.
Therefore, she is the prime suspect among the experts who would assassinate Pei Yuanli at the Pei residence on the eve of the duel.
No one knew better than Pei Yu and Mu Huaying that three months ago, when she was imprisoned and Mu Huaying fed her poison, she appeared to be nothing more than a defenseless dancer. And in just a few months, no matter how skilled Gu Yi was, it was impossible for him to train someone capable of catching the "Sun-Eating Arrow" bare-handed. This simply defied the laws of nature. The truly skilled a person was, the more they understood this principle.
Shangguan Yuqi was unaware of all this, but she still had to admit that Pei Yu's statement made sense.
She sighed and said to A Qiu, "If you want to achieve a position like the Junior Tutor, you must demonstrate the strength of a Junior Tutor. If you truly have this ambition, the current crisis may well be an opportunity."
He then said to Pei Yu, "Is Miss going to have a public duel with Lord Si Le at the training ground? I can act as arbitrator and witness."
Pei Yu smiled and said, "No rush. Let's select people first." As she rode along, she announced to the crowd, "The lady beside me is the current Grand Master of Music, and also the successor of Junior Tutor Gu Yi. I invited her and Chief Shangguan here today to select warriors to perform the 'Shao' and 'Wu' music pieces. Those who wish to participate can come with us."
After she finished speaking, no one moved. Instead, many people cast mocking glances at A Qiu, or even looked at her with ill intent.
Although Pei Yu forced A Qiu to duel, he had no intention of humiliating her. He explained in a low voice, "These people are all from noble families, and most of them regard dancers as playthings. They see singing and dancing as mere entertainment, so they would never willingly rehearse music and dance. This is why I insisted that the Master of Music come in person."
Shangguan Yuqi frowned and said, "Not all dances are for entertaining women. The 'Yanshi Ning' dance we performed at the state banquet, and even the sword dance 'Qiankun Dingshi Ge' that I practiced, can be considered ritual dances. Ancient nobles also practiced the Six Minor Dances to discipline their minds and bodies and correct their temperaments, but this tradition has been lost now."
Pei Yu glanced at A Qiu with a half-smile and replied, "Who says otherwise? But such is the way of the world. It all depends on the abilities of our Master of Music." Pointing the whip at the military camp, she said with high spirits, "How to make these soldiers from noble families understand that women who serve in the arts of music and dance, though different from men who fight on the battlefield, are equally worthy of respect—that is what the Master of Music must do. Otherwise, even if you can kill Huang Chao'an, you cannot change the prejudice people have held for thousands of years against those who entertain with art, and the prejudice and contempt men have for women."
Shangguan Yuqi said, "But that's easier said than done."
Pei Yu shouted, "If it were easy, why would we be needed? If we want to defeat the Northern Qiang, we must unite as one and cooperate sincerely, whether in the arts of literature or martial arts. If we continue to distrust and hinder each other, haven't we learned enough from the mistakes of the past?"
She spoke these words loudly, and every soldier in the Divine Hound Battalion heard them. Before they could even understand what she meant, they heard A Qiu shout, "Good! I agree to Commander Pei's proposal!"
Then, she spurred her horse forward and shouted at the dark mass of Divine Hound Camp soldiers before her: "I am Shi Wanqiu. I was the one who let Marquis Li Chongyu go. Now, Commander Pei has challenged me to a duel on the training ground. My life or death is in the hands of fate. Anyone who is willing to go down with Commander Pei can come along!"
After saying this, before anyone could react, A Qiu spurred his horse and galloped straight towards the center where the highest commander's flag was planted.
Upon hearing this, the soldiers of the Divine Hound Camp became even more agitated, and immediately dozens of the boldest and most unconvinced men picked up their weapons and quickly followed.
The remaining people, realizing what was happening, were also filled with rage. Each grabbed a spear, axe, knife, or halberd and surged towards the center of the training ground, leaving Pei Yu and Shangguan Yuqi behind.
Shangguan Yuqi's expression changed. "She wants to fight a thousand men alone? Has she gone mad?"
Pei Yu had not expected things to turn out this way, and asked with suspicion, "Has she never been in the army before, and therefore does not know the consequences of provoking the morale of the entire army?"
Shangguan Yuqi retorted angrily, "Of course she's never been in the military! But Commander Pei, you probably don't know what the consequences will be for provoking the successor of the Junior Tutor like this, do you?"
Pei Yu suddenly remembered something, and his back instantly felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over it.
Shangguan Yuqi stared at her and said with a wry smile, "The young master's famous achievement was that he guarded the palace gate with the Carved Moon Sword by himself and slaughtered nearly a thousand elite rebels from Hengzhou. As a result, blood flowed in front of the palace gate and the ground was covered with mountains of corpses. No one knows how he did it, but he did it."
When A Qiu dismounted and stood alone in the center of the training ground, what she saw was the setting sun in the western sky.
The sunset clouds layered upon each other, bursting forth with streaks of purple, blue, light, and dark colors, painting the sky.
The hostility and voices that came rushing in from afar, along with Shangguan Yuqi and Pei Yu riding over, were all irrelevant to her at this moment.
She was listening intently to something.
The sword rang out.
A faint clanging sound emanated from the scabbard of the Crescent Moon Sword at her waist.
She had completely understood what Pei Yu meant.
It is also clear that Pei Yu's intentions were not entirely malicious.
As Pei Yu said, in the turbulent political landscape, one must have one's own stance, and as long as one has a stance, it is impossible not to have enemies.
She had undertaken the mission of assassinating Pei Yuanli and escorting Li Chongyu out of the city, so she should have known that the Jianzhang Army would definitely regard her as an enemy and would definitely seek revenge.
What Pei Yu did was simply give Jianzhang Shi and her a fair chance to settle the matter.
If she wants to replace Gu Yi, she will inevitably have to cooperate with the architects and gain their genuine admiration. Whether that admiration stems from love or fear, it doesn't matter.
Whether as an enemy or a future comrade-in-arms, Pei Yu, as the commander of the Jianzhang Division, also wanted to understand her true worth.
The sound of the sword's cry was initially faint, but then grew louder and louder, even drowning out all other sounds, becoming like a great bell, deafeningly loud.
For the first time, she felt connected to the spirit of "Louyue," and the sword seemed to have become a living being, responding with its sharpness to the overwhelming hostility surging in the training ground.
Although she knew perfectly well that the thousands of soldiers swarming in front of and behind her would surely have hacked her to pieces if Pei Yu hadn't been restraining them, strangely, she felt no fear whatsoever, only a clear and insightful understanding.
The "Carved Moon" sword in her hand intensified its power, constantly proclaiming its strength to her.
She had no doubt that this was a blade that had drunk the blood of a thousand men. Its power had always been hidden beneath its exquisite and beautiful exterior.
A Qiu stood in the center of the training ground, and with extremely smooth and graceful gestures, slowly drew his sword, pointing it diagonally in front of him.
She kept her eyes down, not looking at anyone, and her sword was not pointed at anyone.
Centered on her, she was surrounded by a surging tide of Divine Hound soldiers on all sides, a tight encirclement like an iron barrel. Yet, no one dared to approach within three zhang of her.
Because everyone can feel that the Moon-Carving Sword moves with them, its attack range changing in an instant.
Pei Yu, usually so composed, was now filled with surprise and doubt, and asked, "What's wrong with her? Why is she acting so strangely?"
She was a master of both the battlefield and the martial arts world, skilled in killing and conquering, but she had never experienced such a strange feeling before.
Like the eye of a hurricane, a terrible storm is brewing, but it appears eerily calm.
Shangguan Yuqi closed her eyes and sensed for a moment, then opened them and said decisively, "Under the pressure you exerted, she broke through the swordsman's 'using qi to control the sword' realm and finally reached the threshold of 'using the mind to control the sword.' However, I suggest that you immediately restrain your soldiers, retreat ten zhang, and challenge her to a fair duel."
Pei Yu asked, puzzled, "Why?"
Shangguan Yuqi calmly said, "An enraged army is like a huge mastiff, a ferocious beast that no one can control when it loses its rationality. But if you try to feel it now, you will find that it is also a destructive force that no one can predict."
She continued, "Her breakthrough at this moment did not happen naturally during meditation, but was triggered by the ferocity and arrogance of the Divine Hound Camp, so the consequences are unpredictable. If you do not want the Divine Hound Camp to turn into a blood-soaked hell today, you would better suppress them immediately and stop stirring up trouble."
Shangguan Yuqi was known as the foremost swordsman among the powerful clans of Dayan, and was also called the "Sword Immortal." In terms of martial arts skill and cultivation alone, no one of his generation in the Southern Dynasty could match him.
Pei Yu immediately shouted, "Everyone retreat! Do not move! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"
Her shout was delivered with full internal force, and everyone in the training ground heard it. The soldiers, who were originally excited, were also sobered up by the shout and immediately obeyed the military order, retreating and making way for a large open space.
Ah Qiu then spoke up, saying each word clearly: "The Divine Mastiff Camp can select fifty-six soldiers to join Commander Pei in challenging me."
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