With this sound, the entrance of the imperial courtyard fell silent. Although the Qing Kingdom had enjoyed peace for a long time, and the battles on the northern frontier were only minor skirmishes, it had only been established for a few decades, so the martial spirit and valiant aura of the people still remained. It was normal for Ye Ling'er, as a daughter of a military family, to wear a small scimitar at her waist. However... throwing this knife at Fan Xian's feet was quite abnormal.

Fan Xian raised his eyebrows, knowing that this was issuing a challenge, similar to the way European nobles in the world he once lived in liked to throw gloves in each other's faces when dueling. He scratched his right cheek, feeling a little itchy, and amusedly thought that if the Qing Kingdom's duel rules were to throw knives at each other's faces, every duel would probably be successfully held.

Everyone was looking at Fan Xian, and Ruo Ruo nervously tugged at his sleeve. Despite Ye Ling'er's slender waist and delicate appearance, she came from a prestigious martial family and was a genuine seventh-rank expert. No playboy in the capital dared to provoke her. However, since she had thrown her saber to issue a challenge, Fan Xian, as a man, would appear timid if he refused to fight, and he would probably lose face in the capital.

Seeing the two dignitaries arguing fiercely, the guards stationed at the entrance of the courtyard kept their eyes and noses to themselves, pretending not to hear anything. Naturally, no one would be foolish enough to tell the princess in the courtyard – "Your best friend is about to fight the man you are going to marry" – who would be so stupid?

……

……

"Since you are known for being accomplished in both literature and martial arts, I cannot match your poetic talent, but I also want to see for Wan'er's sake whether you have the ability to protect her." Strangely enough, since throwing down her waist saber, Ye Ling'er's whole state had undergone a very peculiar change. She had calmed down, and her eyes, as beautiful and clear as jade, were full of confidence. Her small and delicate body seemed to contain extremely great power, which she was about to unleash on Fan Xian.

Fan Xian's heart tightened, and he realized that this girl was a formidable person who was hiding her strength. However, he smiled slightly and waved his hand, saying three words that no one present expected.

"I refuse."

Refuse a duel? This was already a rare occurrence, and refusing a woman's invitation to fight would probably make Fan Xian even more ashamed. Everyone was puzzled as to why Fan Xian would make such an astonishing choice.

Fan Xian explained very sincerely, "Although Miss Ye dislikes me, she is, after all, Wan'er's good friend. How could I bear to attack her?" Before anyone could boo, he smiled and said, "Moreover, I am unwilling to hit a woman unless it is absolutely necessary."

The carriage had arrived long ago, but it had stopped outside because it saw the tense situation here. Wang Qinian saw that the person confronting the master was Ye Ling'er, so he could only worry anxiously and dared not use the identity of the Surveillance Department to suppress the other party.

After saying these words, Fan Xian once again took his sister's small hand and walked towards the carriage as if to show off.

A clear and angry voice burst out! Ye Ling'er could finally no longer endure Fan Xian's continuous and countless sarcastic verbal attacks. At this moment, she erupted. Her figure blurred, and she had already rushed behind Fan Xian, throwing a punch straight forward! – Fortunately, she still had some martial arts etiquette, and she gave a warning before acting.

Sensing the violent wind behind him, Fan Xian exerted force with his right hand extremely cleverly, leading his sister to the side a little, and then turned around.

Then he saw a fist straight at his face!

This fist was small and pretty, with fair skin, and he could even see the faint blue veins on it. When clenched, only the thumb was exposed, and it was painted with pink nail polish.

Being able to see so many details in such a short period of time only proved two things: first, Fan Xian was a sentimental and sensual person at heart; second, although Ye Ling'er's attack was fierce and fast, it was still much slower than the unpredictable stick on the cliff in Danzhou.

His toes moved an inch on the ground, but his whole body leaned to the left with lightning speed, allowing the deadly punch to completely miss, brushing past his cheek.

With a whooshing sound, the fist missed and still created a gust of wind. The hair on Fan Xian's cheek fluttered. At this time, his right hand had already been raised unknowingly, and his index finger was slightly bent, tapping on Ye Ling'er's pulse gate in a flash of lightning!

Even the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards, Gong Dian, would not be able to dodge this move if caught off guard, let alone Ye Ling'er. He only heard her hum lightly, and the tightly clenched fist had already loosened, right next to Fan Xian's cheek. But Fan Xian didn't have time to be happy. His eyes narrowed, and he retreated three steps in strange disbelief, and clapped his hands three times in the air.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Three crisp sounds rang out around him!

It turned out that when Ye Ling'er's fist loosened, her five fingers bloomed like peach branches in spring. Each finger was like a stern branch, attacking his temples. Fan Xian dodged it entirely by instinct, and printed three palms, blocking the five streaks of energy that came through the air.

"Ye Family Scattered Hands!" The onlookers exclaimed. The Grand Master of the Qing Kingdom, Ye Liuyun, was Ye Ling'er's uncle. They had not expected that this young lady had obtained Ye Liuyun's true teachings.

Before the exclamation stopped, Fan Xian calmly rushed forward and punched Ye Ling'er's palm solidly!

After a muffled sound, no matter whether Ye Ling'er's fingers were peach branches or anything else, they were all scattered. The domineering true energy contained in his palm unceremoniously broke open the opponent's scattered hands! Ye Ling'er floated back half a Zhang, clutching her wrist in pain, looking at Fan Xian in surprise. She never expected that the true energy in Fan Xian's body was so strange. After touching his palm, it invaded upwards along her meridians. That kind of pain made her mind wander, and she immediately lost the intention of scattered hands.

"You are not my opponent." Fan Xian still smiled and provoked the other party with words.

Ye Ling'er gritted her teeth and rushed up again. This time, her momentum was even more fierce than before. Her five fingers were joined together to form a saber, and she slashed down horizontally. The palm saber broke through the wind, making a whooshing sound. She was a woman, and her innate true energy was not as abundant as that of an adult man. Therefore, when Ye Liuyun taught her scattered hands, he used some thought. When encountering an expert whose true energy surpassed her own, she would join her fingers into a palm, transforming the meaning of the scattered hands' withered branches into the force of a fierce slash to cut down wood.

Fan Xian's heart tightened, but his body did not sway in this constant downward slashing palm wind. He just changed his footwork rapidly, relying on the life-saving skills he had practiced on the cliff in Danzhou, and narrowly and wonderfully, or rather extremely dangerously, brushed past each of Ye Ling'er's vertical palms.

Ye Ling'er's palm wind became more and more fierce, and the onlookers vaguely felt that there seemed to be a chilling wind blowing all around the field.

It was as if countless knives were flying around Fan Xian. He vaguely felt a trace of danger, groaned, filled his body with domineering true energy, stopped heavily on the ground with his heel, forcibly stopped the retreating trend, exerted force in his waist and abdomen, and his whole body suddenly fell forward as if he had been punched from behind, advancing instead of retreating, without any interruption!

The palm wind disappeared, and Fan Xian also disappeared.

……

……

In the next moment, the onlookers all opened their mouths wide.

Fan Xian disappeared into Ye Ling'er's arms, his two hands like iron pincers choking her armpits, holding her terrifying two palms on his shoulders - to be exact, he grabbed the other party's vitals with a body technique similar to hugging the other party before Ye Ling'er's two palms were chopped down.

Fan Xian's trick seemed rogue, but in fact, he had to find the only way to get close to her body in the palm wind, and this way was just a fleeting small space. His speed and vision had reached a terrifying level - of course, all of this was thanks to Master Wu Zhu's good teaching.

Ye Ling'er suddenly discovered that the other party had fallen towards her like a ghost, and then hugged her. She frowned. She also knew what kind of vision and means the other party must possess to be able to approach her body, so she was greatly shocked in her heart, but she was not confused. Her palms stopped, and her whole body rose into the air!

Without any warning, she kicked at Fan Xian's shin. If this kick was solid, Fan Xian would probably fall on her in pain, but she couldn't care about that much at this time.

At this moment, Fan Xian loosened his hands, allowing her unfinished palm force to fall freely!

The human body structure is so strange, that if your palms slash down, it will be particularly awkward and difficult for the foot below to kick upwards. And what Fan Xian needed was the other party's momentary unsuitability. Taking advantage of this brief moment, he had already punched straight over!

This was Fan Xian's third punch in Kyoto, besides the Niulang Street murder. Every one of his punches broke a person's nose, and today was no exception.

With a soft sound, a gorgeous blood flower floated past, floating with a very romantic feeling.

……

……

Ye Ling'er squatted down, covering her nose, with blood between her fingers. After a while, she began to cry loudly in pain. Fan Xian was puzzled by this, thinking, if you want to fight, I will fight with you, how can you cry when you lose?

The servants of the Ye Mansion had already surrounded her, but they were very disciplined and did not rush up. It seemed that it was common for Miss Ye to duel with others, but there were still many pairs of eyes staring fiercely at Fan Xian. Fan Xian flicked his long shirt very freely, without any scruples. The imperial guards watching the fun in the distance sighed in a low voice: "Miss Ye has a long family history, but she still suffered Fan's dirty punch."

Looking at the Ye family lady squatting on the ground crying, Fan Xian now remembered that the other party was just a fifteen-year-old girl. But he didn't feel any guilt. Not hitting women didn't mean he was willing to be hit by women. Back then, when his mother first entered Kyoto, she had beaten the father of the woman in front of him, now the Kyoto garrison commander Ye Zhong, into a pig's head. His Uncle Wu Zhu had also fought Ye Liuyun under the imperial city, causing the Qing Kingdom's Grand Master to retreat for several months and abandon his sword for scattered hands.

He hit Ye Ling'er with a punch, which could be regarded as continuing this glorious tradition.