Li Zhu's Audience Hall - Zhaoge

[RuffRydeR]

"Greeting, milady. I am Wu Weilong, a southern swordsman without his own sword, at least for now."

It was quite embarassing that a swordsman could not afford to have a fine sword on his own. However, he felt that it was better to tell her frankly.

"Oh my..."

Well, now that wouldn't be much of a duel, would it? Thinking a little, she then grins and decides,

"I can fix that difficulty, albeit temporarily. I shall lend you my own precious blade for our sparring match, for I am familair with other weapons. After all, I've always been wanting to try out this new style of fighting I've been working on...It works like an axe, but it's much lighter...I'll show you when we face one another, Swordless Swordsman."

She giggled at the thought, then turned to the odd man,

"Well, I guess you speak throught, though I do not study the martial arts for the purposes of mere entertainment. Then again, it does entertain me, it's true. Maybe if you're such a fine entertainer, you oculd even stay here longer, and entertain me more, Master Huixi."

[NightForever]

Wu Weilong gave a light smile. He bowed to the young princess.

"My humble honor, your highness. With a sword, I might be able to show some of my puny sword skill I have been training."

He stood up and looked around.

"So I guess we will wait here for some other guests before everything starts, right?"

[Jin Shi]

((a little late, but hey night!))

Huixi Zhe was still strolling when she mentioned him. He swiveled on the ball of his right foot to face her again. He had a very grim face on when he was touring, but he suddenly gave his smile again, which was disturbing for most.

"If myBarbie DollPrincess so advises, it will be done, no way around it."

He turned back around and continued touring.

[RuffRydeR]

"So I guess we will wait here for some other guests before everything starts, right?"

"Oh, nonsense! I think the three of you would be fine for today, once our last visitor introduces himself to you two, though I have already met him personally. Isn't that right, Lord Liu. Anymore guests would have to wait for awhil, I'd say, though they're welcome to watch us and you're welcome to watch them too. I'd be so tired and probably hurting, even slightly, by the end of three serious duels that I'd doubt it'd be a good idea for me to push myself past that."

She then looks at the three, glaring especially at the lollygagging Zhe, who seemed to have muttered some insult about her, but not having heard it, she couldn't really demand that he rigth the wrong.

Then, a smile broke out on her face to match Huixi's and she asked,

"So...who's first?"

[Chao Yang]

As Chao Yang rode his horse in a stately manner towards the hall of the city of Zhaoge, he felt a sudden premonition, a feeling of deja vu. Somehow, he knew that he would see faces from his past here. Whether it be those from his distant past or the more immediate one, he didn't know for sure... Somehow he just knew that someone familiar will probably pop up...

Now to the matter at hand, the letter mentioned a challenge, it just looked like the girl was looking for a bunch of fights actually. He wasn't underestimating her though, if the rumors he heard were correct, she was probably stronger than himself in terms of might. Gone were the days when women were traditionally weaker physically then men, ah well time to move on with the flow...

As he neared the gates, Chao Yang dismounted from his horse and approached on foot. He wasn't really here on 'official' business so might as well make the approach as casual as possible. Being polite is the best way to go unless you have good reason to feel that you can bypass manners for a greater good. Walking in his shabby home spun robes, Chao Yang definitely did not feel that he had a good enough reason to go all pompous.

It wasn't even in his nature!

"Excuse me, good sirs." Chao Yang said with a smile, "Princess Xia Liangyu sent me an invitation to come here."

As proof, he took out the letter and showed it to them.

[Jin Shi]

Huixi Zhe slowly turned this time, meeting her eyes again.

"If the lady doesn't find me too unsavory, then I shall volunteer to go first. Any objections, boys?"

He looked at the other two, and answered for them.

"No? Good. The Princess wishes for me to fight using one of her swords, is that right? Or will my knife suffice?"

He slowly unsheathed his knife, turning it, letting it glimmer in the light.

[Xiang Zhuang]

Eight horsemen and a carriage move through the city of Zhaoge, the recent site of a somewhat violent anti-Qin uprising. The soldiers are clearly on heavy alert, glaring at the citizens who return their looks with even more hatred. These new visitors to the city are either extremely bold and arrogant or just plain dumb for they brazenly fly the triangular black flag of Qin from the carriage roof.

The horsemen come to a stop surrounding the carriage when they get to the gates of Zhaoge's administration building. The soldiers hold their spears tightly, worry etching their faces. The carriage door then opens and a large robed minister with an stoney face and a white beard steps down. In a deep gravely voice he declares "We have come here on behalf of the Chief Minister and his most August Imperial Majesty the Second Emperor! We demand immediate audiance with distrinct manager Xia!"

An official at the gates saw the men coming and inwardly sighed. He awaited their arrival and mentally prepared himself for what was about to come. When the minister came forward, the attendant moved out to greet him. After a deep bow, he said, "I will inform the District Manager of your arrival immediately. Please, give me a moment." At this, he left to enter the building.

About 3 minutes later, he returned. With another bow, he said, "The District Manager is clearing his court right now to see you. He asked me to inform you that he will need to see proof of your position upon entry. There have been some problems as of late in the province, and so he is having to take some precautions. Well, if you will follow me."

Assuming he does, the old dude is led into the administration hall of the city and down the large corridor to a large room in the center. The corridor itself seemed to be under repair and there was one area where a door opened up into a collapsed room. The room in the center seemed to be fairly untouched, although the walls showed signs of some recent battle. In the room stood a few scattered guards and, standing at the rear of the room, Xia Xi. For once, his daughter did not seem to be at his side.

Upon seeing them enter, Xia Xi started to move toward the guard and the old dude, but instead, checked himself and gave a polite bow. "This is our visitor?" he asked the guard. The guard nodded in affirmation. Xi turned to the envoy and said, "Thank you for coming. I hope your journey was safe? I wish that I could have come to Henan myself to report, but as you can imagine, things have been fairly disorganized here."

[RuffRydeR]

"Excuse me, good sirs." Chao Yang said with a smile, "Princess Xia Liangyu sent me an invitation to come here."

As proof, he took out the letter and showed it to them.

"The Lady Xia? Well, well...we have been getting a lot of those. I think she's in the practice yard, drilling again. She always does that...Can't very well ask you to leave your weapons here, since you need them, I think, so come along with two of my guards and they'll take you to her..."

They arrived in the middle of Lady Xia's chat with the other individuals, and she just seemed so dazlingly different, even out of place in the elabourate armour and beatiful clothes she had for fighting gear. Even set for a fight, she was still quite the pretty woman.

Her big green eyes came upon the new arrival and she nodded in acknowledgement, but she was a bit busy and would leave introductions for later, for her first duel was about to start,

"Ah, well, your knife will suffice if you wish to fight with it. As for me, I must ask for my maids to outfit me with the rest of my weapons..."

Three maids came along, one carrying Liangyu's bow, which she clipped quite tenderly to her hip, latching it on to her belt. Then, a quiver, hung by her hip and linked to her scabbard, where her blade rested. Finally, her pride and joy, an odd pair of weapons, the design for which she had found in an old text. She called them chakrams, though what they really were, no one knew, but the pair was round, with half of it bladed, and these things, she hung on her back, ready to pull them out for use.

Grinning, she turned to face her opponent, and drew her sword.

"Well, the rest of you'll have your turn sooner or later. Feel free to chat, or to watch. Ready when you are, Master Huixi."

(OOC: Finding a duel runner...Probably XZ, unless the staff aren't busy...=P)

[NightForever]

The Central Gentleman has arrived !

Seeing his friend arriving at the princess's training ground, Wu Weilong gladly approached Chao Yang and patted his shoulder, assuming Chao had not been so drunk during the night in the tavern that he did not remember Wu Weilong.

"Howdy, brother Chao! Nice to see you here! How is it going? I did not know that you would be attending this event."

He gave a light smile to the Chao Yang.

[Lurking Tyranny]

An official at the gates saw the men coming and inwardly sighed. He awaited their arrival and mentally prepared himself for what was about to come. When the minister came forward, the attendant moved out to greet him. After a deep bow, he said, "I will inform the District Manager of your arrival immediately. Please, give me a moment." At this, he left to enter the building.

About 3 minutes later, he returned. With another bow, he said, "The District Manager is clearing his court right now to see you. He asked me to inform you that he will need to see proof of your position upon entry. There have been some problems as of late in the province, and so he is having to take some precautions. Well, if you will follow me."

Assuming he does, the old dude is led into the administration hall of the city and down the large corridor to a large room in the center. The corridor itself seemed to be under repair and there was one area where a door opened up into a collapsed room. The room in the center seemed to be fairly untouched, although the walls showed signs of some recent battle. In the room stood a few scattered guards and, standing at the rear of the room, Xia Xi. For once, his daughter did not seem to be at his side.

Upon seeing them enter, Xia Xi started to move toward the guard and the old dude, but instead, checked himself and gave a polite bow. "This is our visitor?" he asked the guard. The guard nodded in affirmation. Xi turned to the envoy and said, "Thank you for coming. I hope your journey was safe? I wish that I could have come to Henan myself to report, but as you can imagine, things have been fairly disorganized here."

The seals and scrolls were produced to give ample evidence of where and from whom they came. Though this old bearded fellow was not friendly, he was efficient and seemed to do things from the book. The stoney faced envoy looked about the chamber, his eyes searching the room.

Upon seeing Xia Xi and affirming that he is the man in charge he gave Xi a hard look and a stiff bow. "You are District Manager Xia Xi?" he said plainly, not continuing until an answer was provided.

He entered with only one of the armed men who came with him on the journey, the rest were needed to protect his carriage from the rabble outside the walls of the building.