327 Fighting Back is the Artist’s Style

She was just chatting with Yufeng as they walked down the halls to her room, truthfully not expecting anything to happen. Yet unexpectedly, she crossed paths with another group. 

It was a group of young men. She noticed the colors of their robes first. Though they were white and blue, like the Lingxin uniform, the white was on the inside of their robes, while the outside was a layer of darker blue fabric. The patterned embroidery on their sleeves was also different. She looked up at their faces, recognizing none of them.

Seeing as they weren't fellow Lingxin disciples, Yujia paused in her steps and bowed out of pure courtesy. 

That was when things went wrong.

The person walking at the front of the group, seemingly the leader of his friends, stopped in his tracks as well. Instead of bowing like a normal person, however, he lurched forward and grabbed her arm. 

At this sudden touch, Yujia whipped her hand away, looking up at the gaze leering down at her. The young man in front of her reeked of alcohol, stronger than the fragrance of wine Yujia and Yufeng enjoyed earlier. He had a handsome face, but the expression that he wore brought nothing but disgust from Yujia.

"Please watch your actions carefully, Noble," she said coldly, giving him a glare of equal frigidity.

"Oh?" He blinked, though his eyes didn't seem to improve in sobriety. "Do you work here? Spend some time with this Noble, and I'll be sure to reward you for your time."

Yujia rolled her eyes. She realized that she wasn't wearing her Lingxin robes, as she was dressed in casual wear when she exited the hot springs. But still, the robes she currently wore were of high quality silks, and if the man in front of her had any eyes at all, he would've been able to notice that she didn't carry the demeanor of an average worker. He was just too drunk, like the rest of his snickering friends behind him.

Deciding it would be better to move on, she ignored his statement and began to walk past. That was when he grabbed her shoulder, his hand then sliding down her arm.

Yujia's eye twitched. She slowly turned around, using one hand to peel his disgusting hand off of her. She realized that maybe it would be a bad idea to keep giving this idiot drunk any attention, but perhaps the wine she drank earlier was kicking in for her confidence. 

Looking up and running her fingers through her hair, she scoffed, then replied, "You want to play with this Young Miss? Sure."

He blinked, seemingly not expecting that response. "Young Miss?" He looked her up and down again, then grinned a little wider with that lecherous smile of his. "You tell me, what kind of game are you thinking of?" He reached forward with his hand for her chin.

Two things happened next.

Two, Yujia kneed him in the groin.

The peaceful atmosphere of the hot springs lodging was suddenly cut by a loud howl of pain.

Eyebrows raised, Yujia glanced over at Yufeng. A wide smile appeared on her face as she told Yufeng, "Nice!" 

She didn't expect that Yufeng would strike as well, but now that she did, it was even better.

Yufeng, with an expression of pure distaste, looked down at the man she still twisted the hand of. He was sobbing in pain, both holding a hand over his crotch and begging to be let go. "I can't stand people like you," she scorned.

His friends were not one to stand back and do nothing. Outraged, they rushed forward, but Yufeng bent that man's hand back by another degree, with another crack. This was met by another yelp of pain.

"His fingers are only sprained right now. Step forward again and I'll break them for good, and then you won't see him using his hand anytime soon," Yufeng informed, the side of her mouth curling up into a smile.

"Let go!" The young man with his fingers bent cried out, "Please, I'm sorry, let go!"

One of his friends with a face that looked like a rat exclaimed, "Do you know who he is? How dare you two— "

"Who he is?" Yujia shook her head and gave a shrug. "Why should I care? Judging by the robes you all wear, aren't you some students of some school? I am a disciple of Lingxin Pavilion Academy. My status is not lower than any of yours."

She thought back to her master, the master of the Emperor himself. If anything, she had a bigger backing than any of them. But then again, using that card so quickly would be no fun, would it?

"When did Lingxin have a female disciple?" she heard one of the other friends murmuring, regarding her with skepticism. 

"I am Han Shiche, the son of General Han!" the young man, out of pure panic, spouted between a cry.

Yujia blinked. Was that supposed to impress her? Or instill any fear?

Before she could say anything, another voice interjected, "And I am Rong Yuan, the son of the commander of the entire military. Han Shiche, you dare to do anything unpleasant to my Junior Sister?"

Yujia turned to this voice, seeing the Rong Yuan she perceived as so annoying in the past. For the entire trip, she had been avoiding him due to his pestering that was perhaps as annoying as Han Shiche's, but right now, she was actually rather glad to see him.

He entered from the other side of the hall, and Han Shiche's face turned to see Rong Yuan as well. Yufeng dropped his hand at this moment, and Shiche fell to his knees.

"Noble… Rong," Han Shiche stuttered, face turned white. But then, after a second of breathing, he seemed to regain his wits, standing up. He backed away a few steps from Yufeng but kept his eyes on Rong Yuan. "Your father may be a rank higher than mine, but it doesn't give you the right to excuse anything that happened today! I was openly assaulted by these two under the witness of everyone here! If word of what happened traveled out, I'm afraid your Junior Sister can't withstand the consequences!" 

Yujia really wanted to roll her eyes again. "We're competing with our family background now?" she questioned, almost laughing.

"If you have the guts, name what family you come from," Han Shiche demanded.

"Really, competing with names and history isn't my style. I'd much rather make this a competition of skill," Yujia mused, "but if you must…" 

She gave a little dramatic pause. She tended to have a flair for these things.

"My master is Yue Ze, founder of Lingxin Pavilion and master of the Emperor himself. I suppose you could call me the Emperor's junior sister?" She gave a mock-courtesy nod of her head. "Greetings."

Like that, she watched the face of Han Shiche and his friends drain again of color. 

Checkmate.