Head Servant: The master said to put the sword in the 1)study.
(The head servant enters the room and sees Yu Jiaolong.)
Head Servant: Yes?
Jiaolong: I am one of your guests. I am Governor Yu's daughter.
Head Servant: Ah... This is the master's study. What is it that eh...
Jiaolong: Just looking for a room to sit in silently and not be a 2)nuisance.
Head Servant: Ah. I am head servant Delu. And this is another of our guests.
Jiaolong: I must say, it's heavy for such a thin piece of metal.
Xiulian: It is all in the 3)hilt. And the blade is no ordinary metal. Still the sword, as weapons go, is wonderfully light. The problem is always getting used to handling them.
Jiaolong: It is not a problem for me at all. When I was little, the western residents had a 4)garrison of Imperials. They would let me play guard everyday. This 5)scabbard is so beautiful.
Xiulian: And so is the sword. Except when it is 6)tainted with blood. Imagine this work is four hundred years old.
Jiaolong: Exquisite. Sorry, you said it belongs to...
Xiulian: A friend of mine, the warrior Li Mubai. He has decided to give it to Bei Le Ye.
Jiaolong: Li Mubai? The greatest of all the Wudangs? To Bei Le Ye? I would not give up something like that in a million years.
Xiulian: It is a long story, about swords.
Jiaolong: You sound like a real expert.
Xiulian: Oh yes, but I prefer the Shuang Dao to a normal blade. I am not much good with a straight sword. For certain moves, however, you really need this.
Jiaolong: But... I guess it is wonderful being a Wudang, to be totally free.
Xiulian: Even our Jianghu world has a certain code. 7)Integrity, trust, friendship. Without rules, none of us would survive very long.
Jiaolong: I have read all about the great fighters like you. 8)Roaming wild, 9)dispensing with those who 10)get in your way...
Xiulian: (laughs) If they told how it really is, they wouldn't sell many books.
Jiaolong: You are just like in the stories.
Xiulian: No place to bathe for days, sleeping on the ground, or in 11)flea 12)infested beds. Is all that in the tales?
Jiaolong: In two weeks I am marrying. Only it is really not the type of life that I want.
Xiulian: But it is a good arrangement, so I hear. Congratulations. To get married is a joyous event.
Jiaolong: You are not married by chance?
Xiulian: Think I am?
Jiaolong: No, you could not roam around so freely.
Xiulian: You are an opponent I better not argue with.
Bei Le Ye: Go ahead, Governor. (Governor draws the sword.) Thirty-three inches long, one and one-tenth inches wide. The hilt is eight inches long, two point six inches wide and seven tenths of an inch thick, with seven 13)rubies missing from the guard. The design tells you that it was made before the Qin dynasty and 14)engraved with a technique that, by the time the Hans started to rule, was long lost.
Governor: Bei Le Ye, they should appoint you court historian.
Bei Le Ye: A sword by itself doesn't rule. A sword lives through skillful handling.
Governor: Please continue. You have an 15)avid listener.
Bei Le Ye: The Imperial court is now concerned with the officials and royalty. On every street corner, you can be sure the royal guard keeps security tight. But Beijing is not a wilderness like the western provinces. This is a world full of wild characters. Your quest to run a healthy city depends not on the judges and their courts. It's by 16)courting the warriors of Jianghu that your position will always be safe. (slices with thesword) To be strong and 17)supple is the secret to ride out the storm.
Xiulian: I never noticed how much my name looks like the word for ¡°sword¡±. You are definitely ¡°talented¡±. Calligraphy demands the same control as fencing. It all lies in the wrist.
Jiaolong: I wouldn't know. Maybe it does. That's it.
Xiulian: Thank you for receiving me. I'm told you are nearing your wedding day. I imagine you are spending a lot of time getting ready.
Jiaolong: I am hardly lifting a finger at all. I do not even think about it. My parents are arranging everything. We became 18)aquatinted with Lu Junpei when we first got here. My mother says the Lu 19)clan is very powerful and highly ranked. And that my marrying one of them will help father's career a great deal.
Xiulian: Entering such a noble house, I should think, is a great honor.
Jiaolong: Yes, but I wish that I were like the exciting heroes in the stories I read. Characters like Li Mubai and yourself. I suppose I am happy to be marrying. But when the choice is yours, to choose a certain life, and when you are free to choose whom to love and how to love him, that is real happiness.
Xiulian: Think so? I shall tell you a story.
Jiaolong: Is Li Mubai in it?
Xiulian: And me, yes. I was also once engaged to be married.
Jiaolong: You were?
Xiulian: His name was Meng Sizhao. He and Li Mubai were bound by oath. And one winter day they ran into a trap. Meng rescued Li Mubai, and in doing so he was killed. And so I became very close to Mubai. And as we shared adventures our feelings grew stronger. But after Meng'ssacrifice, how could we dishonor his memory? So you see, I would like your freedom as well. And yet I have never been allowed it.
Jiaolong: But do not blame yourselves for it. The way that Meng died is horrible. That's how things happen.
Xiulian: I am a woman who, as all women, is bound by tradition. I do not know how it is with the aristocracy, but it weighs a lot on me.
Jiaolong: Please let us just be women. I would like us as sisters. I really want us to be friends and be equal.
Xiulian: All right. Then as one sister to another, let me say I sincerely wish you the happiest of marriages.
