Imperial henchmen? My divine skills are all hacked versions.

Mo Feichang unfolded the paper and read it from beginning to end. His hand holding the teacup tightened slightly, and then he looked up at Lu Jing.

Shen Weiya leaned over and read it aloud from the beginning. After finishing, she was also stunned, and turned to look at Mo Feichang.

"Master, this poem is excellent, far surpassing your own skill!"

Mo glared at her, then looked at Lu Jing, "Don't tell me you wrote it. Who wrote it?"

"If adults look down on people, how come it wasn't me who wrote it?"

"Your handwriting isn't that bad."

Mo turned the paper over so that Lu Jing could see the scrawled handwriting.

"You've been a commander of a thousand men in the General Headquarters for over a decade, and I've never seen a document you've signed."

Lu Jingqian chuckled twice, scratched his head,

"It was written by Mr. Xu at Taibai Tower yesterday. Yang Xu was there too, Lao Feng was there too... Everyone went, they all ordered, but I didn't."

Mo glanced at him speechlessly, then fell silent, her gaze returning to the paper.

Shen Weiya read the poem again and couldn't help but speak.

"This poem is really good, but the handwriting... it's really ugly. By the way, why didn't Xu Xian come today? I was waiting for him to bring me something delicious!"

He is off work today.

Mo carefully folded the poem and placed it under his inkstone, then wrapped the sword again in coarse cloth and handed it to Shen Weiya.

  

"Take this to him, and he can treat you to something nice. Go out the back door, walk to the end, and his house is the third one on the left."

Shen Weiya took the sword with a big smile, but as soon as she held it in her hand, she was so heavy that she fell forward.

She barely managed to steady herself, carrying her sword and slowly moving outwards, the scabbard dragging on the ground and clanging against the stone pavement.

Mo Feichang watched her unsteady back, shook his head, picked up his brush again, and looked down at the poem manuscript pressed under the inkstone.

"That's how things have always been... If you can't stand it, you have to endure it. Those who can't endure it are all dead."

...

Fifteen minutes later, Shen Weiya arrived at Xu Xian's house on horseback.

She tied her horse to the locust tree in front of the door, and with her sword in hand, she laboriously made her way to the door, nudging it with her knee.

A little girl opened the door, half a piece of osmanthus cake dangling from her mouth, holding a turtle in her arms. Her eyes lit up when she saw her, she took the cake out of her mouth, and called out in a clear, cheerful voice.

"Princess Taipin!"

Shen Weiya paused for a moment, then smiled.

"My title is Anqing, not Taiping."

She struggled to step over the threshold, sword in hand. "Where's your brother?"

"My brother is sleeping..."

Hua Xi closed the door, led her inside, and then looked up at Shen Weiya again.

"But my brother said your chest is very poor, so he calls you Princess Too Poor."

Shen Weiya paused, looked down at her flat chest, then at the little girl's magnificent breasts, and her face flushed red.

She threw the sword she was carrying to the ground and rushed into the inner room.

"Xu Xian!!!"

Hua Xi reacted swiftly, reaching out two fingers to pinch the hilt before the sword hit the ground and gently lifting it up, placing the sword horizontally on the back of a tortoise that was dozing on the stone table in the courtyard.

The turtle poked its head out of its shell, rolled its beady eyes upwards, saw the sword hilt on its back, then pulled its head back in and closed its eyes.

Xu Xianzheng is dreaming.

In his dream, he became the emperor and was sitting in the Golden Palace selecting concubines. One after another, girls walked past him, each one beautiful.

Just as it was the fourth person's turn, the girl suddenly turned around. She looked exactly like Shen Weiya and yelled at him, "Xu Xian!"

He sat bolt upright, yelling, "Who's there!"

Then I saw Shen Weiya.

Shen Weiya stood less than three feet from his bedside, her hands covering her face, her eyes wide and bulging out from between her fingers, her face flushed red.

"Why aren't you wearing any clothes?!"

Xu Xian looked down at his bare upper body, then at Shen Weiya, who was peeking through her fingers while covering her face.

What clothes do I wear to sleep in my own home?

He grabbed his clothes from the bedside table, quickly put them on, stood up, and walked over to her. "I'm dressed. Open your eyes. What are you doing in my house?"

Shen Weiya lowered her hand, her face slightly flushed, and forced a fierce stare at him.

"My master told me to bring you a sword!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Xian quickly walked outside.

Walking into the courtyard, he saw the straight sword lying across the stone table. The sword was jet black, and the blade pattern was like water. Hua Xi was standing on tiptoe and gently tapping the back of the sword with her fingers to listen to the sound.

He reached for the sword—hmm? He didn't pick it up!

He put in a bit more effort, bent his knees, and pulled hard, finally managing to lift the sword.

The veins on my wrist throbbed slightly, and it was only with the circulation of blood and qi that I could barely stabilize the sword.

He tried to swing the sword with one hand. The blade made a whistling sound as it cut through the air. This swing was at least three points slower than when he usually used the Goose Feather Sword. It was too heavy and he couldn't control it flexibly with one hand at all.

He switched his grip on the sword to both hands and swung it again. This time, his swordplay was much more stable, but after three consecutive slashes, his forearms started to ache.

"Why is it so heavy?"

He looked down at the dark blue blade patterns flowing across its surface. "What kind of sword is this?"

"The Cold Iron Elite sword weighs a thousand jin and is worth ten thousand gold pieces. Why do you think it's so heavy?"

Shen Weiya crossed her arms, leaned against the doorframe, and sneered.

"You haven't answered my question yet. Why did you tell your sister that my title is 'Princess Taipin'? Do you know you're defaming a princess? According to the law, this is punishable by..."

She thought for a moment, "I'll have it cut off before I go to the palace!"

Xu Xian looked at the straight sword in his hand; the sword was so heavy that his wrist was still trembling.

He had just casually mentioned Shen Weiya's nickname to Hua Xi that day, just teasing his sister. Who would have thought that this girl would come knocking on his door today?

But the sword before them, which Mo Feichang called "scrap iron," was actually elite cold iron worth a fortune—it was far too heavy!

"Lord Mo only said it was some scrap metal..."

He held the sword horizontally in front of him with one hand, carefully examining the blade patterns. "How did this become elite cold iron?"

"You believe what Master says about scrap iron? He calls the millennia-old cold iron scrap iron and the heavenly silkworm silk rags. Anything in his house could buy a whole street."

"This sword was specially made for you. He had the furnace opened early in the morning, and the master craftsman stayed by the furnace all night to quench it."

Shen Weiya pointed to the blade pattern on the sword as she spoke.

"Did you see that blade pattern? It's a dark blue blade pattern that naturally forms after the cold iron is quenched. It's called the 'Sea Pattern.' The master craftsman in the Inspection Division used to be a swordsmith in the Armory Division. He was even surprised when he created this pattern!"

He said this sword was the one he was most satisfied with in his life, but his master gave it away.

She grew angrier as she spoke, "You have no idea how good your master has been to you! I've been learning swordsmanship from him for so many years, and he's never even forged a piece of sheet metal for me!"

Xu Xian placed the sword horizontally on his lap, his fingers running from the guard all the way to the tip of the sword.

The straight sword, weighing a thousand catties and worth a fortune, was designed by Mo Feichang himself and quenched by the master craftsman of the Inspection Department.

Yesterday he casually mentioned wanting a three-foot straight sword with a thick back and narrow blade, and this morning the sword was delivered to him.

He served as an unofficial minor official at the Iron Gate Pass for many years, and no one ever forged a sword for him. He even had to buy the goose-feather sword with his own money.

In my previous life, when I was a criminal police officer, my handgun was also issued by the government, with the serial number engraved on the gun. I had to return it on the day I retired.

This is the first time in both his lifetimes that someone has made a weapon specifically for him.

"Si Zheng has always treated me exceptionally well..."

He was moved and looked up at Shen Weiya, "Go back and thank Lord Mo for me, and tell him that I will accept this sword."

"Why should I pass on a message to you? I'm going to castrate you, you slut!"

Shen Weiya took two steps forward and punched him in the back of the shoulder. The force wasn't great, but the spot was exactly on the side where the Gu Master had kicked and cracked his ribs yesterday.

Xu Xian immediately hissed in pain.

Hua Xi, who was standing nearby holding the tortoise, spoke up.

"Princess Taipin, my brother was kicked in the chest by a bad guy yesterday, and his ribs haven't healed yet."

Shen Weiya quickly withdrew her hand, snorted, but her eyes were no longer so fierce.

Xu Xian, wincing in pain from Shen Weiya's punch, dared not retaliate. He put down his sword, stood up, and walked behind her. "Your Highness, please calm down..."

Xu first pressed her down on the stone bench, then gently kneaded her shoulders a few times with his hands.

Shen Weiya froze. "Why are you massaging my shoulders... like a maid?"

It was the first time she'd ever been so close to a man, and she felt incredibly uncomfortable; she could barely speak.

"Stop pinching me! I will never forgive you, you vile woman! I'm going to tell Father Emperor to castrate you!"

Xu Xian continued pressing his hand, then smiled and looked down.

"Then how can you forgive me?"

Shen Weiya tilted her head and thought for a while, "You cook me a good meal first, and I might consider not castingrate you today, but it has to be something I can't get in the capital, something I've never eaten before, and it has to be delicious. You can't just fool me."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xian smiled slightly and stood up straight.

"That's easy! Hua Xi, go to the market and buy a few pounds of mutton, then go to the grocery store and buy some tofu, a bunch of greens, some dried chili peppers, and oh yes, also buy a bag of Sichuan peppercorns."

Hua Xi took a couple of steps outside while holding the turtle, then turned back to look at Xu Xian. "Brother, what is Sichuan peppercorn?"

Xu squatted down and described them to her: "Small reddish-brown particles, smaller than grains of rice, with a numbing smell. The grocery store owner knows them."

Hua Xi responded and went out with the turtle in her arms.