Here is a rare courtyard within the city of Yanmen Pass, although its decoration is not particularly luxurious, the place equipped with a small garden and a simple style villa stands out in this military town.

This small courtyard is where Tiran resides in Yanmen Pass.

"So, let's sort out the current situation."

In the bright and spacious living room, Tiran sat on the sofa and said to Shuma, "Who exactly is that princess of the imperial family?"

As a knight who was previously in charge of covert intelligence work before joining Tiran, Shuma was also adept in this regard. Even before heading to East Land, he had already collected various information through various channels about the possible needs and information related to Xiang Ling's journey to East Land, and had tidied everything up along the way.

"The current Imperial Family of the Western Empire Chu has five princes and one princess. However, Princess Xiang Ling's background is actually quite... humble."

Shuma pondered his words for a moment, but ultimately couldn't think of an appropriate term and had to be straightforward.

Indeed, from the perspective of the palace nobility, Xiang Ling's birth mother's status could even be described as lowly, to the point where her name wasn't even recorded in the records. It is only known that she was a wandering musician from the borderlands.

It seems that Xiang Ling herself is a mixed-blood of West Land and Shenzhou descent with no official status in the Western Chu, not even as common as a civilian, and her acquaintance with the current emperor was not at all like the love-at-first-sight scenarios in stories, but rather one night when she assisted in playing music in disguise for entertainment and in exchange for a few extra silver pieces, she briefly took on the role of a prostitute.

Yes, for a struggling woman at the lowest rungs trying to survive, earning a few extra silver pieces like that was definitely a profitable transaction.

Perhaps because he was drunk at the time, it was only a long time after he returned to the palace that the emperor even realized he had a daughter like her, but by then, Xiang Ling's mother had already passed away.

When Xiang Ling was found in a slum in a certain town in the northwest, this girl who was clearly not yet ten years old was in a scuffle with a boy a head taller than her on the ground, her forehead was split and one side of her face was covered in blood, her clothes were so tattered that they could barely be called clothes, just pieces of rags.

At that time, Xiang Ling's fierce expression left an impression on the emperor.

The emperor revealed his identity and offered his apologies to Xiang Ling's mother, and was ready for whatever reaction the child might give, but to his surprise, she did not cry or show anger, but accepted this sudden "father" expressionlessly like a marionette.

However, considering she was a child who had suffered greatly in the slums without anyone's care, the emperor did not dwell on it too much, instructing his men to take care of her.

Back at the palace, the emperor soon returned to the busy affairs of state as the ruler of a country, gradually forgetting about his daughter— he was the emperor, with many beauties in the harem, and even though he was quite diligent and self-disciplined as a monarch, he already had four princes. Bringing back Xiang Ling was only to soothe his guilt in his heart.

It would be three years later before he paid attention to this child again. It was during a martial arts competition in the court, where participants were usually elite guards from the palace or outstanding youths from prominent families in the capital. Apart from real masters gaining recognition and rewards from the imperial court, some young people from great noble families could also participate, irrespective of winning or losing, the main purpose was to gain recognition and make a name for themselves.

—Including losing dramatically was acceptable, as having a bad reputation was still a reputation, better than having none at all.

The champion of that martial arts competition was the chief swordsman of the court at that time, who was also a talented individual close to reaching the baseline level of immortality. However, he was not the focus of the competition.

The real focus was on a twelve-year-old girl who was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Yes, despite being eliminated in the quarterfinals, Xiang Ling had won several rounds to reach that position. Among her victories were opponents from the imperial guards, skilled and formidable competitors, which was truly unbelievable.

Even the supreme ruler was astonished upon hearing this news. Only after inquiring did he learn that Xiang Ling had been ignored by everyone in the palace and had resorted to learning martial arts from the imperial guards in secret.

Although Xiang Ling was merely a wild child picked up from outside by the supreme ruler's moment of generosity in the eyes of the palace concubines and others, her identity as a princess was still valuable to the ordinary soldiers.

Moreover, Xiang Ling, who could avoid hunger and cold in the palace and could be properly dressed, was definitely an adorable girl — at least outwardly. Therefore, the soldiers were happy to teach her a few tricks, to the extent that Xiang Ling almost became the darling of the imperial guards, and the head of the guards smiled every time he saw her.

But even the guards did not expect that the little girl they were teaching possessed such astonishing talent. In just three years, Xiang Ling integrated all the martial arts skills she could learn in the military, and even managed to defeat a leader who had once taught her a move or two in the martial arts competition.

The supreme ruler realized that he had picked up a treasure. Setting aside any other talents she might have, just her martial arts talent alone could fully develop into one of the finest in the world.

As an emperor, while he cared for his empire, he also understood that to maintain a strong dynasty under the Xiang Clan's rule, an immensely powerful defense force was needed, including the army and experts who treaded the path to immortality.

And now, a future expert with royal blood and ties to the Imperial Family was right in front of him.

This was the first time the supreme ruler truly took notice and valued Xiang Ling.

After turning twelve, Xiang Ling no longer practiced the various martial arts techniques gathered from the military, but officially started delving into the path of immortality, the immortal path passed down through the generations of the Imperial Family.

Emperor Xiang Yu was not a master strategist, and besides his advisor's strategies, the main reason for his achievements was his invincible strength that surpassed all others in the world.

This complete set of cultivation methods was passed down from generation to generation in the Imperial Family. However, there were not many people with enough qualifications and interest to cultivate it. But from the current perspective, Xiang Ling was definitely qualified.

As for the results, Xiang Ling did not disappoint. At the age of sixteen, after fighting the chief swordsman of the court to a draw, she finally gained the recognition of the supreme ruler and received the treatment befitting a princess.

"Drawing with the chief swordsman at sixteen... now that's the protagonist, right?"

Listening to this, Tiran couldn't help but remark sarcastically. Aligning with the standards of the Western world, this was akin to reaching the level of a ninth-grade knight, which was outrageous. Furthermore, according to Mo Yi, Xiang Ling had already mastered the power of rules, resembling a monster.

— Princess Shuma felt an overwhelming sense of defeat for the first time since arriving in this foreign world, especially since the achievement was not aided by making deals with deities.

"Indeed... this is the first time I've seen a genius who can match Your Highness."

Shuma also straightforwardly expressed her agreement.

The princess earnestly began to consider whether she should change her approach and try to curry favor with General Ling, pulling her over to deal with Yuan, which seemed like a good tactic.

But to achieve this goal, did she really need to help Ling secure the throne first? If she succeeded in the end, Xiang Ling's life trajectory would certainly be deemed remarkable.

"By the way, what's the situation with the Chu Empire to the west? Regarding the throne and such."

"Regarding that, it is indeed as Mo Yi described."

Shuma took out another set of separately organized information, "Firstly, there are competitive candidates. Apart from Princess Xiang Ling, the two older princes each have their own power and are eyeing the throne. The other two princes are still young and currently living in the palace, so they should not have the ability to compete."

"Because the Crown Prince and the Second Prince are both legitimate heirs, there is no issue with the legitimacy of inheritance rights, so under normal circumstances, the competition will be between these two."

"To be honest, it's possible that those two princes didn't even consider Princess Xiang Ling as a rival at first. Before Princess Xiang Ling took control of Yanmen Pass, even the emperor regarded her as a protector of the country who kept to herself. However, after the elite Jiangdong army was defeated, Princess Xiang Ling also had the capital to contend."

"Hmm, I can tell, with General Ling and the head of the Gāi Xià Academy, a group of followers swearing allegiance, the typical protagonist template... even the birds she raises are all peculiar species."

Tiran nodded in agreement, and suddenly there were two piercing bird cries behind him.

Seeing the familiar bird, Tiran turned his head and saw the bird he had just seen in the banquet hall sitting on his shoulder, shaking its head and staring at him with its small eyes, seemingly lost in thought.

Moreover... why does this creature look so familiar? At first sight, he didn't realize, but now, upon careful observation, isn't this bird's appearance exactly the same as that of a Scarlet Kite?

Decided, from now on, he's calling you Scarlet Chicken.

Tiran continued to stare at Zhu Li with big eyes, silently thinking to himself.

But how did this fellow fly over to him? Tiran was self-aware that he didn't possess the Disney princess aura that automatically attracts small animals.

"Zhu Li, come back."

With a sudden and abrupt call, Zhu Li flapped its wings and flew back to the girl standing outside the living room's door.

"What the heck?"

Tiran looked in the direction of the door, where he saw a girl he had never seen before standing there, dressed in military garb.

The girl was quite tall, probably even taller than himself. Just by standing there, her fierce aura naturally emanated. Combined with Scarlet Chicken's behavior and Mo Yi's description, this was likely Princess Xiang Ling.

Tiran never expected to meet Xiang Ling in such an abrupt manner. Hey, isn't she a general and a princess? Couldn't she at least show some decorum when meeting me? Just coming straight over without even changing her clothes?

As Tiran appraised the girl, her eyes darted back and forth between Tiran and Shuma, finally settling on Tiran. "Silver War Maiden, right?"

"That's me." Tiran raised an eyebrow, thinking he couldn't afford to appear weak in front of this little girl the first time they met, so he responded with a question of his own, "Princess Xiang Ling?"

The girl nodded naturally, walked in, and casually took off her armor as she moved, hanging her coat on a nearby rack.

This action left Tiran a bit bewildered. Isn't this my residence, even if it's your territory? Isn't this too casual?

"I mean... Princess Xiang Ling, are you always this laid-back?"

"What are you talking about?" Xiang Ling glanced at Tiran with a hint of confusion. "What's not laid-back when you're in your own home?"

"Uhm?"