What If...I Remember?

Chapter 22

Feng Jiu sat behind the folds as the physician treated her wounds, and from the silhouette of a person, she could tell that Song Xuan Ren still stood there, waiting for her wounds to be tended. Glancing out to the opened window, Feng Jiu realised that the sky had already darkened, and she remembered that time passed quickly in the mortal realm. Problem was, in her haste with finding Di Jun, she hadn't found a place to stay.

"Reporting to your Highness, I have finished treating this lady's wounds." Feng Jiu quickly pulled her robes on and secured them as the physician pulled away the divider, and Song Xuan Ren nodded at him, "You may leave. And the maids, too." 

And even as the physician shuffled off, Song Xuan Ren sat beside her, "Xiao Jiu, I'm curious, really. You said that you were an orphan, yes? Then where did you pick up this entire set of martial arts?" "My aunt and uncles." Feng Jiu said truthfully, and Xuan Ren gestured for her to continue. "My aunt and uncles brought me up and taught me how to fight, for self defense, and after I learnt enough to be self sustaining, I left my hometown to explore the world. I came to this city just not long ago."

"Why did your parents die?" Song Xuan Ren couldn't help but ask, and Feng Jiu shrugged, "I don't think they died, it's more like they abandoned me to travel to other places. I was only very young back then. My aunt brought me up with my Fourth Uncle." Again, it was the partial truth. Most of the time Bai Yi was chasing after his wife for each time she grew jealous for nothing, and she was taught mainly by Bai Qian, Zhe Yan and Bai Zhen. 

"I was brought up by my tutors." Xuan Ren smiled at her, "That makes up about the same, doesn't it?" "How does it?" Feng Jiu pretended to be shy, "Your Highness, you're the Crown Prince, and I am just a commoner. How could we be the same?" "But is that not a refined blade and bow you have in your pack? You do not come from a poor family's bloodline." Song Xuan Ren insisted, and Feng Jiu smiled, the lie easily slipping off her tongue, "Your Highness, those are the already family heirlooms." 

"It matters not. How would you like to stay in the palace? I can assign you as my bodyguard first." Song Xuan Ren said dismissively, and Feng Jiu's eyes widened, "Your Majesty, that would be unfitting for me-" "It would not. Dare you say your martial arts are poor?" Song Xuan Ren grinned, and Feng Jiu was reminded that this was indeed Di Jun, with his way of talking through things and thick-skinned attitude. 

"I dare not say so, lest I be punished for dishonesty. But your Highness, I am just a girl, and that recruiting me to even be your personal bodyguard would bring unpleasantness to the guards, would it not?" Feng Jiu tried to reject, but like all her previous efforts, they were all in vain, for Song Xuan Ren shook his head, smiling, "They wouldn't dare. So are you in?"

And Feng Jiu could only bow politely, "Thank you, Your Highness, for the offer. I accept it."

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"A girl? Your Highness, not to be distrustful, but how could a girl protect you?!" The head of the guards sputtered in absolute confusion, and Feng Jiu didn't know if to defend herself, or wait for Song Xuan Ren's rebuttal. "She saved me from assassins, Zhong Diao. And since they were assassins there to harm me, they most certainly had to be of a certain skill, did they not?" Song Xuan Ren replied to the captain, and the captain, Zhong Diao, furrowed his brows, "I still don't trust her. It could've been luck, or it could've been just her archery. We have no use for long range weaponry; the capital's wall might need it, though."

"I can spar." Feng Jiu said irritatedly, and Zhong Diao smirked at her, "Don't be too confident, little girl. So can we." "Then let the actions speak." Feng Jiu unsheathed her sword, the scabbard hanging loosely on her hip, and Zhong Diao pulled his blade too, before gesturing with one hand for Feng Jiu to start.