Chapter Thirteen: The Swordswoman Azure Jade

Zhu Wen was somewhat taken aback. At such a critical juncture, why was his senior brother reminiscing about the past instead of rushing to save their junior sister? Yet, knowing Meng Kai, there must be a reason, so he could only prick up his ears to listen.

"That was many years ago," Meng Kai began. "At the time, the Master and I were traveling everywhere, forging ties with heroes in preparation for raising an army."

As he spoke, Meng Kai ordered a carriage to be brought for Zhu Wen. After having him lifted inside, he commanded the cavalry unit to follow the messenger and scout the situation.

"Junior brother, we shall talk as we go," Meng Kai said, offering a look meant to put Zhu Wen at ease.

"Back then, she stood silently by the roadside, dressed in rags, covered in blood..." Meng Kai paused, then continued, "Yet in her thin, small hands, she clutched two gory human heads! At that moment, I saw not a flicker of fear in her eyes, only deep-seated, marrow-cutting hatred."

"Can you imagine? An eleven-year-old girl, counter-killing the human traffickers who had abducted her, and then severing their heads to carry with her?"

"She told us then that she was the daughter of a hunter from Shanzhou. Her father had been a scholar who failed the examinations repeatedly and had to inherit the ancestral trade. Both her parents possessed some martial arts skills, enough to hunt tigers in the mountains and fell bears with arrows. We never expected that the pair of traffickers, under the pretext of buying furs, would gain her parents' trust, ambush and murder them, and then abduct her to the lands of Shandong."

"She suffered untold hardships along the way, feigning weakness and helplessness to lower their guard, only finding the opportunity to slay her enemies in revenge. But her father and mother could never return..."

Zhu Wen was shocked; he had no idea his junior sister had such a past. Hearing that her father was both scholarly and skilled in arms, yet had to become a hunter due to repeated failures in the examinations, he felt a pang of sympathy. His own father, Zhu Cheng, nicknamed "Zhu of the Five Classics" during his life, was a man of great learning, respected by his neighbors, yet in an age where high-born nobles usurped power while scholars of humble origin sank into the mud, he too could only be a village schoolteacher.

Meng Kai sighed heavily. "If it were merely pity, the Master could have just had a subordinate adopt her. But to possess such courage and ferocity at such a young age earned the Master's deep admiration. Junior sister is not as simple as you think; her archery is a family legacy, and her foundation is exceptionally deep."

"No wonder," Zhu Wen remarked. "Watching her stance when drawing the bow, it is clear she laid the foundation from childhood."

"Not only that..." Meng Kai offered a teasing look. "Though she is young, her close-quarters combat is no worse than yours, and like you, the more desperate the situation, the more her fighting spirit and killer instinct are ignited. In my view, she will be fine."

Zhu Wen was stunned, not knowing why Meng Kai was so certain. He spoke of her past suffering with such pity, clearly holding deep affection for her, yet now that her life was at stake, how could he speak as if it were none of his concern?

As they talked, the troop reached the vicinity of the battle. A thick,腥 foul scent of fresh blood assailed them, stinging their noses. Zhu Wen looked up anxiously, seeing the ground strewn with corpses of men and horses. A sense of foreboding welled up in him, and when he failed to see that familiar red figure, only her red-maned steed standing alone in the field neighing at the north wind, he cried out internally that she was in danger. But then, a familiar voice rang out:

"Ban Fanlang, why would I need your help?"

As the carriage brought Zhu Wen closer, he saw a slender figure standing in the heart of the fray, holding a jade-green blade. She wore a form-fitting suit of armor, emerald in color, shimmering with the luster of the finest Hongzhou celadon. The lotus-petal-shaped plates of the breastplate wrapped around her chest, revealing a striking, snowy-white complexion.

Yet, no one dared to harbor any lewd thoughts, for blood was dripping in large drops from her blade; clearly, she had just severed many heads.

The woman’s skin was like snow, her face an oval shape with a sharp, elegant nose. Her features were well-defined, and her large eyes shone like torches—it was indeed Duan Hongyan. But Zhu Wen could not see the usual playfulness and charm in her; instead, he felt a bone-chilling aura of slaughter. She was like a green lotus blooming from a sea of blood, cold and piercing.

On the ground lay scattered scraps of red cloth; clearly, this suit of armor was usually concealed beneath her garments.

The typically bold and boisterous Ban Fanlang, who had been charging at the front, had just cleaved a Song Wei army cavalryman with his sword, but upon seeing her fierce expression, he immediately adopted a conciliatory tone: "Lady, please calm your anger! General Meng heard you were in danger and brought us here in a hurry..."

"Oh?" Duan Hongyan said coldly. "What danger could I possibly be in?"

Meng Kai gave a bitter smile and asked, "Where are the others?"

"They all died in battle. That is why I slaughtered all these Zhongwu cavalrymen." Duan Hongyan’s gaze was cold as she swept it over the piles of men and horses. She then turned her white-jade-like left palm, revealing a deep gash that reached the bone. "But I took a slash to the hand as well. It truly hurts."

Standing tall in the center of the slaughter, blood dripping from her blade, she looked like a female Asura. "Fortunately, the grain and provisions are safe. By the way, before I slit the throat of that little commander, he was blustering that if their leader, Wang Jian, hadn't come in person, he would have sliced my Green Lotus armor and me into strips of roasted duck. It was quite amusing."

She recounted all this with a tone as if it were none of her concern, as if she were long accustomed to slaughter.

As she spoke, her gaze drifted and landed on Zhu Wen’s face. She looked slightly lost for a moment, then uttered two words: "Nice to meet you."

Zhu Wen was suddenly frozen, while Meng Kai whispered with a wry smile, "Let me introduce you. This is also my junior sister, Duan Qingyu."

Seeing Zhu Wen’s bewildered expression, Meng Kai leaned in and whispered in his ear, "The events of that year were too great a trauma for her, so she developed a split personality. If she is pushed to the brink or triggered by something, Duan Qingyu emerges. At such times, even Ban Fanlang must respectfully address her as Lady Qingyu, or else he’ll be on the receiving end of her throwing knives."

Zhu Wen finally understood. He had heard of such conditions, but he never imagined it could result in a complete personality change, as if she were two different people. Truly, the world is full of wonders.

"You... are you named Zhu Wen, with the courtesy name Liangyu?" Duan Qingyu seemed to be searching through her memory. It was clear that for her, the memories of the other personality were vague, as if they belonged to someone else.

A moment later, she added, "You don't look like a 'humble gentleman' at all."

When Zhu Cheng had named Zhu Wen, he had used the line from the *Book of Documents*: "A humble gentleman, warm as jade," hoping his youngest son would grow up to be a refined and elegant man.

"Oh dear, this humble one... has met Lady Qingyu. I have been injured by bandits and am currently unwell, unable to perform the full courtesies. It is truly an affront to such a beauty, a pity, a tragedy..."

Zhu Wen raised a hand to his forehead, pretending to try to rise from the carriage to bow. His tone was affected, sounding exactly like those pedantic, sour scholars. He was clearly mocking those "poverty-stricken scholars" who knew only how to read dead books. This made Meng Kai, Ban Fanlang, and Dai Xiaolou burst into laughter. Even Duan Qingyu, despite looking "as beautiful as a peach blossom and as cold as frost," could not help but smile, a faint trace of mirth appearing at the corners of her lips.

She turned her gaze to the cavalryman whom Zhu Wen had beaten black and blue. "Boy, didn't you flee on horseback without engaging in much of a fight? I recall the Zhongwu army didn't manage to hurt you. What happened to your face? Who hit you?"

The cavalryman sighed mournfully. "Camp Commander Zhu heard that I had abandoned Lady Qingyu and fled back alone. He was furious and, despite his own injuries, slapped me across the face..."

Duan Qingyu looked surprised, then waved her hand. "Very well, I understand." She turned her head to Zhu Wen. "Judging by your wounds, you were injured by that old thief Song Jue’s 'Eight Methods of Bloody Battle,' were you not? Once we return to camp, we shall report to the Master. Next time we engage, we shall ask the Master to take the field and sever that old thief’s head."

Meng Kai thought to himself that while the Master was formidable, it would be difficult to defeat the "Heavenly Blade" Song Jue quickly. To kill Song Jue, it would likely require the Alliance Leader, Wang Meng, to take action. This was his rational assessment, but his junior sister idolized the Master, so he naturally would not interject and displease her.

Upon returning to camp, they learned that Qi Keyang had also been forced back by Huang Chao. This probing battle ended with a minor victory for the Grass Rebels, the greatest achievement being Zhu Wen slaying the brave general of the Pinglu Army, Ye Luoliang.

Hearing Duan Qingyu and Meng Kai mention that the leader of the Zhongwu cavalry was named Wang Jian, Huang Chao’s eyebrows twitched. "Wang Jian... I know this young man. No, rather, I am very familiar with him."

Beside him, Huang Chao’s nephew, Lin Yan, asked, "Uncle, since Wang Jian is an officer of the imperial army, how could you..."

"You must know that I am an old acquaintance of Manager Fan of the Huaiyang Gang, and we have collaborated for many years. The Huaiyang Gang also deals in salt. Ten years ago, Manager Fan sent him to negotiate the salt trade with me, which is how I came to know him."

The Huaiyang Gang, also known as the Eagle Claw Sect, was famous for its "Powerful Eagle Claw Technique."

"When I first met him, he was only twenty. Even then, he was extremely sharp, managing accounts with great precision, and was highly valued by Manager Fan. Interestingly, because he was the eighth child and had been a bit of a rascal in his youth, having once stolen a donkey, he earned the nickname 'Thief Wang the Eighth.' At the time, I liked the lad very much and invited him to drink on several occasions."

A man with a purple-hued face asked, "Might I ask, Great Commander, since Wang Jian was so valued by Manager Fan, why did he join the Zhongwu Army as an officer?"

This man, with his square, purple-brown face, thick eyebrows, and round eyes, was Dai Xiaolou, a brave general under Huang Chao who wielded a tiger-headed gold-inlaid spear. He had been part of the group that rescued Zhu Wen from Song Jue.

Huang Chao replied, "A few years ago, for some reason, Manager Fan offended the Jiedushi of Xuanwu and was about to be imprisoned. Wang Jian stepped in to take the fall, claiming full responsibility for the crimes, and was sentenced to penal servitude by the judge."

"After entering prison, he heard that Manager Fan had not looked after his wife and children. His wife remarried, and his property was seized by relatives. In his rage, he broke out of prison and hid in Wudang Mountain. A Taoist priest, seeing the uniqueness of his bone structure, wrote a letter of recommendation to Cui Anqian, the Jiedushi of Zhongwu. He gradually rose to the rank of team commander and was highly regarded."

"When I heard of this, I knew that although Wang Jian had suffered a great loss, he had gained a reputation for loyalty in the martial arts world, which would surely benefit him."

Meng Kai took up the thread. "In that case, the internal strife in the Huaiyang Gang last year, where Manager Fan’s entire household was slaughtered, was likely the retribution for his lack of integrity."

"Wang Jian is now in Song Wei’s camp. This man is resourceful and cunning, which will compensate for the shortcomings of the brothers Song Wei and Song Jue. If he is allowed to fully display his talents, then we will have more to worry about than just the 'Snow Commander' Qi Keyang."

At this point, Huang Chao slapped the ring of his sword, producing a clear, resonant sound. His words rang out like metal hitting stone: "However, my prediction is that even if that old thief Song Wei knows Wang Jian’s advice is correct, he will find it hard to make the decision to adopt it."