Lang Huan carried the princess to her carriage and said to A Cai, "Let's go to the princess's mansion."
A Cai said, "Ohh… so she's Her Highness…" Then he looked at the maid walking behind them. That must be Sister A Li. A Cai felt happy about the growing relationship between the Young Master and the princess—it gave him a chance to be close to A Li.
A Li chose to sit with A Cai on the driver's seat, while Wu Ming rode her own horse.
Along the way, the road was unusually quiet. Lang Huan started to feel uneasy. A Cai, on the other hand, was deliberately slowing the carriage so he could spend more time with A Li.
Lang Huan told him to speed up. "A Cai, did you forget to feed your horse? Why is it moving so slowly?"
A Cai just grinned sheepishly, then urged his horse to move faster.
When they arrived at the princess's mansion, Lang Huan was about to carry Feng Yao down from the carriage, but she lightly slapped her hand away.
"I can walk by myself," she said quickly, then stepped down with A Li's help.
Lang Huan could only sigh and wait until Feng Yao had safely entered the mansion. Just as she was about to get back into the carriage, a voice called out from behind.
"Lang Huan…"
Lang Huan immediately turned around. Master Xuan Kai…?! Her eyes widened. She hadn't expected to meet him here. "I thought you had ascended to heaven! Where have you been all this time?"
"I have something I need to discuss with you," said Master Xuan Kai, his expression serious and even slightly angry as he eyed Lang Huan from head to toe.
Lang Huan felt a strange aura but tried to stay calm. She turned to A Cai. "A Cai, you go ahead. I'll have a quick word with my master."
A Cai nodded. Since Lang Huan was with her martial arts master, surely nothing bad would happen, he thought, before turning his horse and riding off with the carriage.
As soon as A Cai was out of sight, the atmosphere turned cold. Without warning, Master Xuan Kai attacked.
The quick strike nearly hit Lang Huan's neck. She leapt backward to avoid it. "What is this?!" she exclaimed.
"Turns out it's true… you've changed," muttered Master Xuan Kai. He attacked again, this time faster and stronger.
Lang Huan raised her arm to block, and the battle began.
They fought beneath the soft light of dawn, as the sky slowly shifted from dark to pale blue. Each of Xuan Kai's strikes carried a deep anger, and Lang Huan could only wonder—what was it that had made her master so enraged?
"I don't want to fight you!" Lang Huan shouted, struggling to block a powerful blow.
She took a few steps back, deflecting strike after strike, breathing heavily. "What do you want from me, Master Xuan Kai?!" she cried, trying to understand the reason behind his attacks.
But Xuan Kai didn't respond. He continued attacking, his hands like shadows—fast and deadly. Lang Huan blocked one strike aimed at her face and then jumped to avoid a kick that nearly hit her abdomen.
Their fight carried them farther away from the princess's mansion, through gardens until they reached a quiet, desolate area.
Lang Huan started to lose patience. She deflected one spinning strike, then gripped Xuan Kai's wrist tightly. "I don't want to fight you, but you're leaving me no choice!"
Taking a deep breath, Lang Huan focused her energy. Her body emitted a blue aura, and in one swift motion—BOOM!—she landed a powerful punch to Xuan Kai's chest.
The blow sent him flying several meters back, slamming into the trunk of an old tree. As the branches shook, a flock of small birds burst into flight—flapping toward the morning sky in a flurry of wings and startled cries, their motion breaking the silence of dawn.
Lang Huan clenched her fist, her body trembling slightly—not from exhaustion, but from the storm of emotions within her. "Why…? Why are you attacking me, Master?"
Xuan Kai slowly rose, holding his chest with one hand. His breathing was heavy, but his eyes remained fixed on Lang Huan.
"What is your relationship with The Eldest Princess?" he asked quietly, but his tone was as sharp as a blade. "Have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten your identity as a woman?"
Lang Huan froze. So this was what had made Master Xuan Kai angry.
She lifted her chin slowly. "Even though you are my master… you have no right to interfere in my affairs," she replied coldly.
A murderous aura slowly emanated from Lang Huan's body. Her gaze changed—calm yet threatening. Xuan Kai, who had trained her since she was young, could feel it clearly. This child… was no longer the Lang Huan he once knew.
"Your father asked me to teach you martial arts, to cultivate morals and ethics. Look at what you've become—a demon. Loving another woman is an immoral act."
Lang Huan's gaze sharpened, her face stiffening. "What did you say?" She raised an eyebrow, tone calm but piercing. "I don't kill or rob. I simply love someone. What's immoral about that?"
Xuan Kai didn't respond, but the look in his eyes revealed the collapse of everything he believed in.
"I regret helping you hide your true identity," Xuan Kai said, his voice heavy. "If the princess knew who you really are, she would kill you."
Lang Huan fell silent. Those words cut through her like a knife. She wasn't afraid of dying by Feng Yao's hand. But… if that woman hated her?
That would hurt far more.
Seeing Lang Huan speechless, Xuan Kai let out a laugh—bitter, full of irony. "You know it too, don't you? This relationship will never work."
"I don't care if you want to reveal my identity," Lang Huan interrupted, her voice flat. "But can you bear all the consequences?"
Inside her heart, a storm raged. But her face remained as calm and cold as the morning frost.
"Nothing can stop me from doing what I want." Lang Huan snorted and flicked her sleeve.
"You…"
Before Xuan Kai could finish, Lang Huan leapt into the air and vanished in a flash of qinggong—swift as the wind. Her figure darted through the trees, disappearing into the morning mist.
Xuan Kai stood motionless, staring in the direction his disciple had gone. He took a deep breath, his body still aching from the recent blow.
How could she have reached this level of internal strength in less than a year? he thought.
---
Lang Huan returned to the Duke's Mansion with a gloomy expression. The morning light had begun to warm the sky, but it couldn't chase away the storm clouds in her heart. She walked through the quiet inner courtyard, her steps echoing faintly in the stillness. As she passed near the pavilion where Su Qing lived, raised voices suddenly broke the silence—sharp and full of tension.
Lang Huan stopped behind a carved wooden post near the corridor. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but the voices carried clearly in the morning air.
"Su Qing… you're my wife!" came the voice of the Duke of Huguo, slurred and hoarse with drink. "We were married in front of everyone. There's no reason I can't touch you."
"Don't touch me!" Su Qing snapped back. "Our marriage is a formality. That was the agreement from the start. It's a political tool—and you know it."
Lang Huan heard the Duke's heavy footsteps approaching, then the sound of something being grabbed.
"But I'm a man—and you're my wife. Do you really think I'll be satisfied with just like this?!"
"Go back to your room!" Su Qing shouted. "You're drunk."
"I'm drunk because of you!" the Duke yelled.
Lang Huan couldn't help but feel sorry for Su Qing.
Inside the room, Su Qing shoved the man trying to embrace her toward the door. "Don't touch me!" she said with disgust, her eyes blazing with hatred.
The Duke staggered back, nearly falling. He looked at Su Qing with bloodshot eyes, filled with disbelief and fury.
Lang Huan clenched her fists behind the wall. She could hear Su Qing's voice—laced with pain. The Duke and Su Qing were husband and wife; this wasn't her place to intervene.
She turned to leave—but froze when she heard Su Qing gasping and crying. Lang Huan couldn't bear to hear it. Without thinking, she spun around and kicked open the door to Su Qing's room. It crashed off its hinges and struck the drunken Duke of Huguo squarely in the head, knocking him unconscious.
Su Qing stared in shock. Her clothes were disheveled, and she didn't know what to say. Lang Huan stepped forward and gently wrapped her own outer robe around Su Qing's shoulders.
Su Qing's eyes flicked to the faint rouge mark on Lang Huan's cheek. She knew Lang Huan had gone to Yun Xiang Tower. Bitterness welled up in her chest, especially after being seen by Lang Huan in such a humiliating state.
Lang Huan checked the Duke's condition, then helped carry him back to his room. She ordered A Cai to summon a physician and instructed him to repair the door to Su Qing's room.