"I dare not!" Ying said and kneeled. "If my king wants to see my sword, then this is it!" She took the sword hung on her waist and presented it to Goujian."
Goujian pulled the scabbard and saw how beautiful the sword was. It didn't look inferior at all compared to Fuchai's spear. He returned the sword to Ying and threw Fuchai's spear to Fan Li and gave ordered, "Fan Li, you and Ying! Use those weapons! I want to know which one is better!"
Fan Li was uneasy. "My king, Ying is a woman. I can't fight her," Fan Li said.
"She's not an ordinary woman. She forges powerful swords for us, she's not weaker than you! Do it now!" King Goujian ordered.
"My king, why not take one of the Wu soldiers who just surrendered, and let him fight one of our men. They will fight with all their might! If Ying and I fight, we both won't use our all strength to fight!" Fan Li said.
Goujian agreed to the idea. The Wu's soldier used Fuchai's sword, while the Yue soldier used Ying's solder.
"After you," said the Wu soldier.
"After you," the Yue soldier said. The two of them bowed their body to give respect before they started their duel.
The Wu soldier was promised to be given freedom if he could win the duel, while the Yue soldier was promised a promotion and a lot of money if he could win the duel.
The duel was intense. Skill-wise, the Yue soldier was weaker, and most of the time, he had to defend himself. Meanwhile, the Wu soldiers used all his might to win the duel.
After some time, the Wu soldier managed to push the Yue soldier. He hacked his spear toward his opponent's head. The Yue soldier used his sword to dodge and to protect his head.
The two weapons collided and caused sparks.
"Stop it!" King Goujian ordered. "None of you win, none of you lose! You both should get your reward!"
Goujian and Fan Li checked those two weapons. And both of them were shocked to see the two weapons looked like they were used to be. There was not the slightest damage after the hard impact between the two.
Goujian turned his head and looked at Ying, sitting facing a table with Xi Shi and Zheng Dan on her sides. Fan Li knew what's on his mind.
"Ying," said Goujian. "You forged a good sword! I'm grateful for your help."
Ying smiled and lowered her head politely, saying nothing.
"Now, I want to know if your sword could be compared to my sword!" Goujian said.
"My king, your sword is forged by my master, Ou Yezi. I'm just one of his disciples. Of course, my sword is inferior if it's compared to yours!" Ying humbly said.
"I don't think so!" Goujian laughed. He returned Ying's sword to her and said, "Draw your sword, my child!"
Goujian unsheathed his sword scabbard and pointed his sword at Ying. That's an open challenge from Goujian.
Ying quickly kneeled and said, "I dare not, my king!"
"I know that you're not a weak swordsman. Come!"
Ying could not refuse. She drew her sword and pointed at Goujian, and said, "Please forgive my offense!"
Just as Ying ready with her sword, Goujian started to attack Ying. At first, he only used one-third of his energy to attack Ying. He didn't expect that although Ying looked reluctant while dodging her sword, her strength was not weak.
"Girl, Yue Maiden have thought me her swordsmanship. I want to know if you could defeat me!"
Ying had heard about Yue Maiden's famous sword skills. She was curious to know if her skills could be compared to Yue Maiden's. She also started to take seriously the friendly spar.
After some time, Goujian realized that he belittled his opponent. He started to deal with her seriously. He was curious to know how good she was in her swordsmanship.
Fan Li, Wen Zhong, and the other people who knew swordsmanship were all shocked. They didn't expect that the young woman was good. She's probably even better than Yue Maiden.
After three hundred strokes, still, no sign that Goujian could defeat Ying. Goujian grew impatient. In the beginning, he was cautious, afraid that he might hurt the girl. Now he knew that he might not be able to defeat her.
After three hundred and fifty strokes, Ying saw Goujian's weakness. Therefore she changed her tactics.
She deliberately gave in several moves to let her opponent off guard. She made the right decision. Goujian thought the girl was exhausted. He wanted to end the sword match immediately. After all, he was a king. How could he not beat a young girl even though they had fought more than three hundred moves?
Suddenly Goujian's sword slashed hard at Ying's sword. It was too hard, while his opponent was deliberately giving in. As a result, Goujian's body lost balance, and he staggered slightly.
Ying seized the opportunity and slowly moved the side of his sword at Goujian's right hand to force the king to release his sword. She did not intend to hurt the king. But in a battle like that, Goujian reflexively released his sword to avoid Ying's attack.
Goujian's sword fell to the ground.
The sound of the sword clattered on the ground proclaimed who was the winner of the fight.
Goujian was surprised. He was very close to winning. He didn't expect Ying would be able to reverse the course of the battle and won.
Ying was still naive and childish; she laughed and said, "My king, look at both of our swords! There's no damage on our swords! You lose this fight because of your sword skills, and not because of your sword!"
Fan Li secretly regretted Ying's word. "Silly girl! How could you humiliate your king? You may not have a good future because of today's incident!" He said in his mind.
Goujian forced himself to smile and said, "Girl, unfortunately, Yue Maiden is not here anymore. If she's here, I'm sure that she could beat you easily!"
Ying knitted her eyebrows, pondering. Could it be that Yue Maiden was better than her?
"What is the name of your sword?" Goujian asked Ying. "That is a good sword! It is not inferior compare to my sword!"
"I plan to carve the word 'benevolence' and 'justice' in each side of the sword," Ying said. "My teacher said that a sword has to be used to bring justice. But to fight for justice, we have to have a benevolent heart first!"
Goujian saw the girl was still immature. She didn't seem to have any ill intention to humiliate him.
"That's a good name," Goujian said and handed his personal sword to Ying and continued, "Please help me and carve my name on it!"
"Yes, my king!" Ying politely received the sword. She looked happy that her face radiantly glow and her eyes sparkled. She was very proud of her sword, which could be matched to Goujian's sword, which Ou Yezi himself forged in his prime time. And thousand years later, her handwriting carving on the sword still could be seen at Goujian's sword.
After Ying retreated to her seat, Goujian observed the three women in front of him. They were the three beauties of Yue. How he was glad that he had the resources he needed to destroy Wu.
"Shi Yiguang, Zheng Dan, how much our country has owed you! May your names be praised forever!" he said.
King Goujian was happy, but at the same time, uneasy. A minister like Fan Li and Wen Zhong could develop strategies to undermine and destroy the Kingdom of Wu. Would they always be loyal to him?
And a woman like Ying. What about her? A beautiful woman who could forge such formidable swords and beat him with her sword skills. If she stayed in Yue, she's a blessing. What if she goes to another place?