Married to Ke Qing

Chapter 5

Having spent 5 million mora on weapons in the forge, I also spent 100 thousand on training swords made from a particularly strong tree obtained from Sumeru. If they had not been initially dulled, they would have been a formidable weapon no worse than the Steel Sting I had bought. And then we quickly returned home.

"What's bothering you?" I decided to ask Ke Qing directly when we returned home.

"A lot, actually." The girl sighed heavily, and then sat down on a chair in the hallway and continued. "Someone deliberately spread rumors about the fictitiousness of the marriage and it is possible that in the near future, ill-wishers will begin to appear who will try to check whether you are worthy of being my husband. This is completely different from what I promised you.

- Well, then I just need to become stronger so that no one could doubt it, and the money, I'm sure that by this evening all of Li Yue will know how much I transferred to family expenses, and knowing you, they will soon go in the right direction. - I was not upset at all.

- And this worries me no less. What happened to you? Where did you get such trust in me? And, especially since it was there in the forge, you almost openly announced that you wanted to fight with me in a pair. This is not normal.

- Have you heard such a phrase, "God forbid you live in an era of change"? - I decided to ask.

- Yes, but what does this have to do with it?

- Very simple. That day, when you gave a speech at the descent ceremony, about how the archon would not be able to protect us forever, many saw provocation and disrespect in your words, but did you know that Geo Archon liked what you said? For him, it was like a sign that his children had grown up and soon, it would be our generation that would have to witness great changes, and changes are never easy. And you know, I admit honestly, although I can hardly help with documents or anything like that, it will be a great joy for me to overcome the coming changes side by side with you.

- ... do you think that Geo Archon will leave us like what happened with Anemo Archon in Mondstadt?

- I don't think it will be the same, but I know in what guise he walks among us, pretending to be an ordinary mortal.

- Are you serious? - the girl looked at me incredulously, unsure how to treat my words, as the ravings of a madman or still as the truth.

- Yes, if you want, I can tell you his name and where he is usually located, but of course on the condition that no one else knows about it, I would not want to incur the wrath of the stone.

- ... - she looked me in the eye for a few seconds before giving in and asking with a sigh. - Who is he?

- Zhong Li, a consultant at the Wang Sheng funeral home. - I told him with a smile. - I'm sure that after talking to him, you'll quickly notice their similarities in worldview, and this is also the answer to the question that torments many about how he knows what many have forgotten. And yes, the opinion of those who considered him an adept is not wrong, because as we know, our archon is just an adept.

- A good theory. - the girl nodded. - but nevertheless, it's still a theory.

- I'm not insisting on anything. - I shrugged.

- Let's get back to the fact that you want to fight side by side with me. - Ke Qing became serious. - You understand that if you start training now, you basically won't be able to catch up with experienced warriors in skill?

- I understand, that's why it's important for me to work on the basics, and then I'll try to compensate for it with the power of the elements, and who knows, maybe I'll turn out to be a genius.

- Hm. Let's go "genius" and see what you can do. - the girl chuckled and, rising from her chair, headed towards the training ground on the estate's territory.

Well, to be honest, I couldn't deny myself the pleasure of looking at her beautiful figure from behind, which moved with truly feline grace, and her perfect slender thighs in stockings could well be called a separate form of art, which any heterosexual man would not mind admiring every day. And that's not to mention her hairstyle, which, creating the impression of cat ears, would not leave indifferent not only guys, but even girls.

- You're staring too intently. - Ke Qing, who was walking ahead, turned to me.

- Sorry, I just can't get over the thought that with this hairstyle you look like you have cat ears, and it's quite cute.

- ...You haven't forgotten that our marriage is fictitious, have you? - Ke Qing asked, while only an almost imperceptible blush on her cheeks betrayed her embarrassment.

- I haven't forgotten. - He smiled. - But personally, at the moment, I like absolutely everything about you.

- ... - I don't know why, but seeing how the girl's growing embarrassment began to grow into obvious confusion due to not understanding how to react, I, seeing how she silently turned around and continued on her way, felt a chill run through my body, as if I was about to be killed soon.

And soon, when we were there, I understood why.

- Take out your training sword, let's see what level you're at now. - Ke Qing stood right in front of me with a wooden sword in her hands, and her stance literally screamed "you're screwed." However, could I show weakness at such a moment? So I decided no, although I'm sure it was written all over my face.

- I'm ready. - I said, trying to copy the stance I saw in one of the many videos on medieval fencing. Right leg slightly forward, back straight.

- Okay, I'll start with the speed of ordinary millelites. - Ke Qing said, and then rushed towards me. Yes, her movements did not exceed the speed of ordinary people, and I could even somehow miraculously deflect her blow to the side, but the next moment, she, having taken only one step, redirected the blade so that the tip of the sword painfully hit me in the ribs and I, unable to hold back a slight cry of pain, stepped back, holding my hand to the painful area.

- You are dead. - the girl stated, and then began to explain. - Although you learned this stance somewhere, quite good for duels at short distances, and even managed to parry the blow, but made a fatal mistake. You should not only have deflected the enemy's blade, but also applied force so that the enemy did not have time to change the direction of the blow back to you, or move himself. In a real battle, any delay means death. Once again.

- Yes. - I nodded.

And again she rushed at me, I was ready to try to deflect her blow again and do everything right this time, but instead of the expected clash of swords, I was knocked down quite hard, literally knocking out my breath from the impact with the ground.

- Watch not only the enemy's sword, the body is a weapon no less dangerous than the sword. - Ke Qing said, while I slowly rose from the ground, believe me, such a fall is, to put it mildly, not very pleasant and I have already successfully earned bruises and black eyes, especially in the place where she hit my legs.

- Ready? - the girl asked when I finally stood up.

- Yes.

- Then let's begin.