RWNEFE -Chapter 12 The Long Staff Whistles – The Great Zhou God of War Is Nothing Special

At last, the day had come for the Shen family’s exile.

The city gates would open at the very end of the Yin hour (around five in the morning). Everything needed for the journey had already been prepared. Before going to bed the previous night, everything was checked once. After that, it was checked again. At four o’clock, they got up and checked a third time. Three rounds of inspection—nothing could possibly go wrong.

At four thirty, Chunxue and Qiushuang each drove a carriage and set off. Just as they were nearing the city gates, they were suddenly stopped by a group of people!

It was Bai Qingling.

“Where do you think you’re taking things from our Prince’s residence?” Bai Qingling waved her hand, and the guards immediately surrounded the two carriages.

Shen Lanxi got down from the front carriage. For the sake of convenience, she had already changed into men’s clothing. Dressed in fitted attire, she didn’t wait for Chunxue to help her, but leapt down cleanly and decisively from the carriage.

“I was wondering who it was—so it’s you two. What, did you hear I was leaving the city and come early to see me off?”

Bai Qingling looked at the woman who had already fallen into disgrace. She was in this state, yet still putting on the airs of a noble county princess—who was she trying to impress?

“Search them!”

Shen Lanxi reached back and pulled a staff from inside the carriage, pointing it coldly at Bai Qingling.

“I’d like to see who dares!”

Bai Qingling sneered inwardly, but she didn’t want to play the villain in front of Zhou Ruyuan.

“Shen Lanxi, our prince is a man who values old ties. If you honestly hand over the items stolen from the Prince’s residence, His Highness might spare your life for the sake of past affection. If you refuse, don’t blame our prince for showing no mercy!”

Shen Lanxi showed no fear. She slammed the staff hard into the ground. The solid steel staff struck with a resounding clang. Combined with her fitted outfit, it made her look agile, valiant, and heroic.

“You keep saying I took things from the Prince’s residence. Where’s the evidence? Who saw it? If no one saw it, then it’s slander. If you dare order the guards to search my carriage, that’s abusing power and bullying the weak!”

She let out a cold laugh and looked at Zhou Ruyuan.

“Under the Son of Heaven’s very feet, try touching me if you dare!”

Seeing the guards hesitate, Bai Qingling immediately grew furious and shouted,

“What are you standing around for? Search them!”

The guards rushed forward. Shen Lanxi moved like lightning, her long staff whistling through the air. The first guard to attack didn’t even see what happened—he was already sent flying five or six meters away, crashing heavily to the ground.

Shen Lanxi pointed her staff at the fallen guard, her expression icy.

“Whoever dares to make a move—this will be his fate!”

Bai Qingling was utterly shocked. Impossible. Shen Lanxi was a pampered county princess—how could she possibly know martial arts?

“Get them!” Bai Qingling shouted. “The prince has ordered that the lost items must be recovered. If they aren’t found, all of you will be punished by military law!”

The guards attacked again.

Shen Lanxi tightened her grip on the staff and swung it in a wide arc. When the staff collided with weapons, sharp metallic clangs rang out.

Any guard whose weapon struck the staff had his weapon jolted from his hand, clutching his right arm in agony as the shock fractured his bones.

Her feet touched the ground—borrowing momentum, she leapt into the air, flew to the other side of the carriage, and swept her staff through the air again. Another five or six weapons fell to the ground, along with guards lying there, clutching their right arms and wailing.

Shen Lanxi seemed to merge with the darkness itself. Wherever her shadow went, the staff tore through the air with piercing whistles. Her speed was ghostlike. The guards couldn’t even see where the staff was swung—by the time they realized it, searing pain from shattered bones and tendons had already surged through their arms, leaving them only able to scream in misery.

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty guards were all sprawled on the ground.

Bai Qingling stared in disbelief at the scene before her. Shen Lanxi had always been delicate, unable to lift or carry much—there was no way she could be this formidable!

Shen Lanxi leapt forward, her long staff moving like a swimming dragon, pointing straight at Bai Qingling.

“Watch out!” Zhou Ruyuan shouted.

The next second, a shrill, piercing clash of metal rang out. Horror flashed through Zhou Ruyuan’s eyes. Ignoring the stabbing pain in his right arm, he hurriedly struck to block Shen Lanxi’s attack.

But he couldn’t even last three moves before being kicked away, sent flying.

“Your Highness!” Bai Qingling cried out in alarm and rushed over.

Shen Lanxi drove the long staff forcefully into the ground. It sank more than an inch into the earth, standing upright without falling. Beside the staff stood her straight, unyielding figure, her eyes filled with disdain as she looked at the man sprawled there, unable to rise.

“The Great Zhou God of War? Grossly overrated. Nothing special.”

Zhou Ruyuan snapped out of his shock. Before he could even question how her martial arts were so formidable, her words humiliated him so deeply that his blood boiled with rage, fury consuming his every thought.

“Shen Lanxi…” Zhou Ruyuan staggered to his feet, clutching his throbbing right arm.

Bai Qingling supported him, her gaze vicious with hatred.

“Shen Lanxi, you dare injure the prince like this? I will never let you off!”

Shen Lanxi sneered disdainfully.

“If you don’t accept it, come fight me again!”

Bai Qingling’s pupils shrank, her fingers trembling slightly.

Even someone as powerful as the prince couldn’t defeat Shen Lanxi. If she were injured… who would take care of His Highness?

“Shen Lanxi, you dare commit violence and injure the prince, harm a royal prince—this is a capital crime!”

Shen Lanxi withdrew her staff and held it across her arms.

“I dared to strike, so I’m not afraid of you accusing me. Zhou Ruyuan, my uncle the Emperor issued an edict ordering you to remain confined and reflect on your actions. You appearing here now is defying the imperial order. If I deserve death, then you—and the woman beside you—won’t escape either!”

Raging flames burned in Zhou Ruyuan’s eyes as he glared at Shen Lanxi with a grim expression.

Suddenly, noisy commotion sounded not far away. Yamen runners were escorting the exiled prisoners over.

From the distance came the sound of the city gates opening.

With a dark expression, Zhou Ruyuan said coldly, “Return to the residence!”

Bai Qingling shot Shen Lanxi a vicious glare, then glanced toward the approaching prisoners, carefully supporting Zhou Ruyuan as they left.

—

“Wow~ Miss, how did you become so amazing?” Chunxue and Qiushuang crowded around Shen Lanxi, exclaiming excitedly.

With a serious face, Shen Lanxi said, “I’ve watched you two practice martial arts for years. Watching and watching, I learned it.”

Qiushuang looked puzzled. “You can learn just by watching?”

Shen Lanxi replied, “Your miss here is extraordinarily gifted. Just like how some people don’t study that hard yet can easily place first in the imperial exams. Others study day and night until they ruin their eyesight, yet still can’t even pass as a xiucai!”

Chunxue and Qiushuang were stunned for a moment, then their faces lit up with realization.

That made sense. Their miss must be one of those legendary geniuses blessed with natural talent!

The city gates opened, and they went to wait outside the city.

“Miss, will the prince send people to arrest us?” Chunxue asked nervously.

Shen Lanxi looked toward the imperial city and curled her lips into a smile.

“Don’t worry. He won’t have time. I left him two grand ‘gifts.’”

Just imagining the expressions on Zhou Ruyuan and Bai Qingling’s faces when they saw the first gift was enough to be wonderfully satisfying.

Unfortunately, by then she would already be more than ten li away—she wouldn’t get to witness such a spectacular scene.

“Miss, what kind of gifts?” Chunxue asked.

“They’ve treated Miss so badly—why is Miss still being so nice to them?” Grand gifts? Not splashing manure all over the Prince of Zhennan’s residence was already merciful enough.

“Miss, there’s an ox cart coming toward us. It looks like Nanny Li’s family!”

Shen Lanxi lifted the curtain to look—and indeed, it was Nanny Li’s family!