Not Your Typical Villianess

Some minutes earlier, At the military training ground 

Lu Yaozhu and the three key commanders of the battalion stood on the raised platform overlooking the training ground, watching as the armoured soldiers completed a military drill. The military drill began at daybreak, with the soldiers carrying heavy weapons while running lapses. 

Lu Yaozhu was tasked with training the recent recruits for the Imperial Army as soon as he returned to the capital. After meaty three months of training, the recruit made significant improvements. After running a thorough evaluation of the recruits, the results were encouraging.

They were now ready to be presented to the Emperor and ministers. He could barely seat still for a minute, these days. The Emperor kept questioning him about the condition of the soldiers. 

Emperor Zhong was arrogant by nature, he liked to boast, with the Envoys from Chu state present he wished to display northern Wei's military might. Emperor Zhong's pride would ultimately lead to his downfall.

The emperor aimed at conquering all the states, that was his only driving force and while Lu Yaozhu didn't like that plan, he was glad that the Emperor had such thoughts. The Emperor's hunger for conquest was the only reason the Lu family was still standing.

If it wasn't for the strong military power behind the Lu family, the Emperor would have gotten rid of them. Lu Yaozhu didn't like risking the lives of his men and himself continuously on the war front but was forced to do so to survive The Emperor's greed was endless and Lu Yaozhu couldn't get over the fact that he was one of the driving forces enabling it.

Lu Yaozhu stopped the training as the sky gradually got darker, he ordered the soldiers to return to the barracks. Lu Yaozhu met with his commanders to plan the next day's drills, he rode back to the capital with Yu Tao at the sunset.

He heard screams and horse heaves as they rode through the woods. Lu Yaozhu reined in his horse and listened to determine where the cries were coming from. He turned the horse around and rode in the direction the cries came from.

He saw a carriage ride headed towards a huge boulder, there wasn't a driver controlling the spooked horses. Lu Yaozhu jumped down from the bed and ran towards the carriage. He watched as the carriage door was pushed over and a servant and mistress pair jumped out of the carriage.

The timing of their jump was unplanned because Frome the angle of their jump and the movement of the carriage they were headed straight for a tree. The Mistress noticed that first, she pulled her hands away from that of her maid and pushed the maid away.

It was only for a split second but Lu Yaozhu's impression of this young mistress increased. He ran quickly, stepping on a tree trunk to propel himself forward, he jumped forward. Lu Yaozhu grabbed the young mistress hands and pulled her into his arms as they spun in the air.

Lu Yaozhu grabbed the tree trunk to steady their landing. The young mistress was a bit unsteady after their landing but he held her up until she got back her footing. He stepped away when she did and gave space for the maid from earlier and other female servants who ran to their mistress.

A properly dressed male who seemed like a guard walked to him, bowed and said "Thank you for saving our Young Mistresses life. Please stay back while we get you a reward".

Lu Yaozhu laughed, shaking his head he replied "please don't, don't think anything of this, there is no need for that". He stepped back and returned to the horses. Meanwhile, Princess, Xia Ying tried to get away from her maids and speak with her saviour. 

She hadn't said anything to him during the few minutes, she was in his arms and instead, she stood there like a dummy while looking at him. The servants were difficult to shake off from her, she watched her closely and ask If she was feeling pain anywhere in her body.

Which she denied, by the time she was able to get away from the or unwavering concern, her saviour was gone. "I haven't even gotten his name" she murmured sadly. The next day at mood Xia Ying arrived at the palace, she was led to the Empress palace by a palace Matron serving the Empress.

The Empress welcomed her warmly, she asked about her parents and grandmother. When the Empress asked about her trip, Xia Ying replied "It went smoothly Your highness. We didn't run into any trouble, apart from the tires of the carriage detailing and spooking the horses, the trip went smoothly".

Empress Lu asked quickly "the carriage tires derailed! How could that happen, were you hurt anywhere?". Empress Lu instructed Xuanyi to send for an imperial physician.

Xia Ying had only said that to inquire about her saviour, seeing the Empress's reaction, she replied swiftly "No no I wasn't hurt, your highness. Luckily a kind man came to our aid".

"Oh, that is good. Tell his name, so that I can send him a reward", Empress Lu replied relieved to hear that Xia Ying was saved. The Eldest princess sent over her precious granddaughter from Xi'an to the capital at her request. If anything happened to the Princess, she would be held responsible since the princess was under her care.

Her heart skipped for a second as she heard about the accident, for a second she feared that it was caused by imperial consort Shi and the Shi family. Luckily, it was just an accident, or she would have gone on the warpath.

To ensure Xia Ying's safety she had kept her visit under the wraps so as not to tip off the sixth Prince's camp. She made use of the Emperor's recent guilt trip, brought about by imperial concubine Sheng and the fifth Prince. 

The Emperor put on a disguise of consoling her by sending over gifts and spending some nights at her palace. His little actions were useless, it has been twenty-two years. She no longer got moved by his pretence. A broken glass jar can't be fixed, she gave him face by accepting the gifts and acting pleased.

Xia Ying sighed on hearing the Empress question "he left quickly, your highness. I wasn't able to get his name".

"Don't worry about that, I will call the best painter to draw his picture. Then have a few reliable people search for him so that we can offer him a reward".

Xia Ying's face brightened up "really, thanks your highness".

"It is nothing my dear" Empress Lu replied.