There was a place named Yunnan, which enjoyed a spring-like climate all year round. In Yunnan, there was a city named Dali, which was famous for "Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon" represented by the winds of Xiaguan, the flowers of Shangguan, the snow of Mountain Cang, and the moon over Erhai Lake. Almost everyone who visited Dali would have sightseeing of the four well-known attractions, but two individuals here were not in the mood for view enjoyment at all. They were heading towards Dali, and they did not stop over when they were passing by Xiaguan. Now they were close to Mountain Cang and Erhai Lake, they still did not plan to stop for the great views and continued the journey in a hurry. One of them wore a silk cap and long robe which was flowing gracefully in the wind; the other one was dressed in a bronze helmet and iron armor, the sound of metal clanking as he moved. Both men carried long swords and appeared to be younger than thirty years old. Judging from their dress, one was great at literature and another one was expert at martial arts. What a good match!

　　Dali was much less busy than the capital of the nation Song, Kaifeng; even second to the capital of the nation Liao, Shangjing. However, inside the city of Dali, the businesses went prosperous, people lived a safe and satisfactory life. The two men arrived in the city, undoubtedly, they did not go sightseeing either; they went towards the Great Palace, and even directly went into the Great Palace. No one dared to stop them because each of the two men held a jade plaque in their hands when they came. The jade plaques were not heavy, but of great significance. They were made of Hetian jade, extraordinarily precious. If you had ever got a piece of Hetian jade, you would not care about jades such as Xuyan jade or Lantian jade at all. Except for these, only Cold Jade might attract your eyes. Nevertheless, Cold Jade is something extremely rare and hard to find; finding one is not easier than fishing for a needle in the ocean. The total value of a thousand pieces of Hetian jade in market should be slightly higher than the price of a single piece of Cold Jade. But no one who owns Cold Jade would agree on such a deal, especially to the martial artists. In fact, the people who possessed Hetian jade were too impressive, how could they except to earn more? The value of the two Hetian jade plaques didn’t lie in material, but in the fact that the holders of such plaques were permitted to get into the Great Palace without any check.

　　Duan Siping established the city of Dali, when his heritor of the fourth generation, Duan Zhengming took it over, all nationals preferred supporting Gao Shengtai. Two years later, Gao Shengtai passed away; his son Gao Taiming followed his father's will to drop out of the political battle with Duan Zhengchun. In fact, Gao Taiming was not willing to give it up, but anyway after his father's death, Gao’s family lost power and privileges, in addition to being pressured by twelve persons, Gao Taiming returned the empowerment to the Duan’s family eventually. As a result, each one of the twelve people received a royal gift, Hetian jade plaques which allowed them to go into the Great Palace without any notification of royal and exempt from kneeing down in front of the emperor. Duan Zhengchun was in charge of the nation for twelve years before empowering Duan Zhengyan. The current times were the second year of the Song Xuanhe Era; Duan Zhengyan had been on the throne for around thirteen years. Most of the twelve people who were given the jade plaques had already passed away. The two men were exactly the descendants of two people among the Twelve.

　　Holding the jade plaques, the two men passed the Yellow Gate and then arrived at the Luan Ying Hall. This was where the royal family practiced martial arts. Just that moment, two other people were having an exercise battle in the hall and hearing a servant outside announced loudly, “Here waiting… are Wei Yuqing and Zhao Ziren from Yongchang Mansion!” Hearing it, Wei Yuqing and Zhao Ziren stopped by the door. Dali was in a remote location in the southwest where there was always a policy of protecting nationals’ safety as a priority, hence wars seldom occurred there. Due to it, officers working for internal affairs had some more privileges than military teams, that was why just then the servant called Wei Yuqing’s name first and Zhao Ziren’s name was placed on the second. This type of practice in Dali was quite like its neighboring nation Song.

　　For the Duan family, its family name DUAN, evolved from name JI which originated name Ji Duan of Spring and Autum Dynasty, he was also known with a name Gongshu Duan. In years from the Five Dynasties to Song Dynasty, though the Duan’s family established an independent nation in the southwest, they were indeed the descendants of the Chinese Han lineage. Their ancestors could be tracked backward to the famous general in charge of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Duan Gong, he was a prominent military head who led to repel Western Qiang and the Eastern Qiang; ultimately, Duan Gong was promoted to the position of Grand Marshal. Even backward, their ancestry could be Duan Huizong of Du Hu Mansion in Xi Han Dynasty, a military commander ever visiting the city of Wu Sun as an ambassador four times and winning a few battles as the key person. Inheriting from the ancestors in this family, Duans never disappointed the nationals in the aspect of working with the other nations, also would love to follow culture of Han Dynasty to manage a nation, like in such a way to divide geographic areas by names of JUN (Towns) and FU (Provinces).

　　Inside the Luan Ying Hall, the two men practicing swords were good looking guys, though they were apparently of different generations. One was over forty years old, while the other might be just twenty years old. When Wei Yuqing and Zhao Ziren entered the hall together, the younger man pointed to seats and said: "Please take your seat." Wei Yuqing and Zhao Ziren walked to the chairs but waited to sit until the other two men sat down.

　　Wei Yuqing said, "Your Majesty called us here for something urgent. May we ask what it is?" The King, Duan Zhengyan, nodded slightly but did not talk about anything. The Prince, Duan Yichang said, "Do you remember that ten years ago?" Wei Yuqing answered, "Your Highness Prince talked about General Zhao, Lord Sima, General Zhan and I dropped off the Her Highness Princess to Mountain Cang to learn Martial Arts?" Duan Yichang replied, "Exactly. Now it’s ten years, my big sister's sword skill must go beyond me." Zhao Ziren asked, “What happened to Dian Cang Faction?” Duan Zhengyan shook his head and still kept silent. Duan Yichang said, “Right now, no news, but I am sure we will have a breaking news soon. Please read this letter.” He showed a paper to Wei Yuqing. Wei Yuqing and Zhao Ziren got it and turned out to be astonished after reading the first line of words.

　　After reading the whole letter, Zhao Ziren said, "Only His Majesty, his highness Prince, the husband and wife who were leaders from the Dian Cang Faction, Qing Sima, Zhan Zijiang, and the two of us, knew that mission. How did the people in Western Xia get that?" Wei Yuqing continued, “Someone disclosed the secret.” Duan Yichang said, “Maybe someone from the Great Palace or the Dian Cang Faction.” Yichang mentioned “someone” in the Great Palace or the Dian Cang Faction, it was obvious that he trusted Sima and Zhan Zijiang who had yet to come.

　　Finally, Duan Zhengyan started to share his idea, "Frankly speaking, all six of us are suspects." The other three in the presence felt surprised by what he said. Wei Yuqing said, "Your Majesty and Your Highness Prince would never tell the plan to anyone. Only two of us, as well as Lord Sima, General Zhan might do that." Duan Zhengyan said, “I didn’t mean some of you guys have under-table connection with Western Xia, I mean it was possible that someone leaked it by accident." Zhao Ziren agreed, "Your Majesty is right. In this case, everyone who knew about that plan ten years ago will make a suspect, including Your Majesty and the Your Highness Prince, and even Her Highness Princess herself."

　　Wei Yuqing thought for a while, then suddenly said, "I don’t think so. If the secret happened to spread out, everyone in Dali would have known about it. Even the people in Tibet or the Song should also have heard of it. But we see now there is no news from any side of us. So, I think there is definitely someone who has an private connection with Western Xia, and it is not quite long time ago since they started to work out, otherwise the people from Western Xia would have already come to blame us." Duan Yichang nodded and said, "Lord Wei always gives insights into details."

　　Duan Zhengyan nodded, all sudden his face turned to be serious, he stood up and pointed to Wei Yuqing with his sword, “Bull shit! It is you, now want to mislead everyone!” Wei Yuqing and Zhao Ziren were astonished with what the king said, but did not understand why he talked about this. Duan Yichang also stood up and carried his sword pointing to Wei Yuqing, asking him, “I know your father made great contribution to the prosperous of my family, my family really appreciated your father and awards to your family. Now your father passed away, why did you turn to do that? What benefits did you get from Western Xia?” At that moment, Wei Yuqing and Zhao Ziren were scared and could not sit anymore, Duan Zhengyan said to Zhao Ziren, “As far as I know, you are a small part of this plan, so I think it’s serious to punished you a death. Catch Yuqing to redeem yourself!”

　　Both men took a step back, not getting the point. Duan Zhengyan was stern as he continued, “Ziren, if you are willing to connect with the scum, I cannot forgive you!” Speaking the last few words, he shot his sword at Zhao Ziren quite fast. Duan Yichang said, “It’s not humiliation to be killed here.” His sword followed suit. At the beginning, neither of Wei Yuqing and Zhao Ziren dared to draw their swords in front of the king and prince, but seeing their sword blades almost hurt them to death, Wei Yuqing and Zhao Ziren had no choice but to draw their swords for defense.

　　The four swords intertwined, and the battle between the king and his subjects raged fiercely. Wei Yuqing was fighting while trying to explain, but his voice was hidden by the clash of swords. The king and prince couldn't hear what Wei Yuqing was saying. Zhao Ziren talked with Wei Yuqing, “We didn’t do that! Why do we have to prove it? Let’s move! They will know the truth someday.” Yuqing understood and feigned a strike before retreating. Ziren had already got to the door, but he saw that king and prince did not pursue them, he realized something. He turned to Yuqing and said, “Bro, they have security everywhere. I don’t think we can escape.” Yuqing saw Ziren dropping his sword to the ground, he felt despair and in the same way, he threw his sword to the ground and cursed, “Who set me up?” Soon it was so quiet there, a second later the king and prince burst out laughing. The two young men turned in confusion and saw that Duan Zhengyan and his son had sheathed their swords.

　　Duan Zhengyan said, “Your ‘Skill of Dragon-Stride Sword’ almost caught up with mine.” Zhao Ziren replied, “We are honored by the late emperor’s favor, who taught us the royal family’s sword skill.” He was ashamed when he talked about that, but it came to him that he never had private connection with Western Xia, the feeling of shame quickly vanished. He said calmly, “Your Majesty, please don’t tease us, but you will be sorry about that in the future.” Hearing this, Duan Yichang could not stop laughing. Yuqing spoke with seriousness, “That’s right. We may lose our life today, but we are not regretful at all. Even in the afterlife, we are honest before our ancestors.” Duan Zhengyan said in a clear voice, “Though I am the king of the nation, I have known you both for long time. If I did not do this, I know you would never show me your personal best of sword skill.” Duan Yichang replied, “If General Zhao had used his best skill, I would go to hell.” Duan Zhengyan turned to his son with a smile, saying, “Our home city Dali, it’s always known as the ‘Kingdom of Wonder Scent’, the residents are faithful to Buddhism. If you were to pass away, it would be your final destiny.”, he continued, “Both of your sword skills are amazingly improved. I am more confident about the battle against the Thirteen Guardians of Western Xia.” Ziren and Yuqing did not get his point, but after considering for a while, they were relieved.

　　The four of them sat down again. Zhao Ziren said, "We twelve people are here, the Thirteen Guardians of Western Xia are nothing at all! We do not allow them to take the princess!" Wei Yuqing said, "Your Majesty decided to join the final war?" Duan Zhengyan replied, "Exactly. But this time, Western Xia has proposed thirteen battles, it’s over challenged. I worry they have other schemes." Yichang said, "They just want to humiliate us, it’s revenge for our deed ten years ago." Ziren said, "If we accept marriage, we wouldn't be in trouble today." Yuqing said, "Western Xia borders Khitan to the east, and in the future, they will surely face military disaster. I believe the reason Your Majesty decided that was for the safety of the princess." Duan Zhengyan said, "You understood my intention." Ziren said, "Five years ago, the Jurchen tribe that was led by Wanyan Aguda established the nation Jin in Huanglongfu. Now, the Liao fails to stop the Jurchens and has no power to handle Western Xia. If we knew what happened today, we should not cheat them." Duan Zhengyan said, "No, Liao cannot destroy Jin; in turn, it could be expected to be destroyed by Jin. In that case, Jin will be sure to grow, Western Xia will worry.” The other three people agreed with it.

　　At that moment, the servant outside the door called again, "Zhang Wentong and Shi Shutong from Shanju Province!" Then two men, one civil officer and one military officer came into the hall. The middle-aged general, Shi Shutong saw the King Duan Zhengyan but did not bow. Instead, he leaned his iron spear against the wall and asked, "Shanju Province borders Tubo to the north. Why did Your Majesty call the two of us here?" His voice was loud like a bell. Wentong Zhang, dressed as a scholar, tugged at his sleeve and said, "His Majesty's called us for an urgent meet, there must be for an important topic." Yuqing briefly explained the situation. Wentong furrowed his brow and stroked his beard, then said, "This is really tough. Among the Thirteen Guardians, the other twelve are easier to handle, but only the leading guardian named Qianzheng Li whose martial arts are overwhelming. Even if we 'Six Ding, Six Jia' work together, we may not be able defend his 'Cold Wave Palms." Ziren said to Wentong, "Bro, you are the senior of us twelve, and also with most experience. Do you know the background of Qianzheng Li?" Wentong Zhang replied, "He is a royal family member of Western Xia. In his youth, he lived on the Mountain Tian and mastered extreme deadly kung fu. The Thirteen Guardians all have the surname Li, but only he is the descendant of the royal family; the others were granted the surname Li by the King." Zhengyan said, "I see. Anyway, there is only one Big Li. Although we will lose one battle with him, we will try our best to win the other twelve battles."

　　Shi Shutong couldn't help giving comments, "Damn it, Li Qianzheng! He's just a paper tiger with a big name! I will fight with him on that day." Duan Zhengyan said, "Minister Shi, you acted impatient, but I know you are the bravest man and intend to make more opportunities for our victory." Zhang Wentong said to Shi, "Bro, you'll be in danger for this way." Wei Yuqing added, "On the letter it said no matter alive or death, there’s no regret. It seems this time Western Xia army will conquer us with all efforts.”

　　The six of them were sitting down, the voice outside was on again, "Meng Feiqin and Cui Shiqing Xiu from Xiushan Town, Wang Wenqing and Hu Wenchang of Huichuan Province have arrived!"

　　The first one coming inside was Meng Feiqing. Hanging from his left side of waist was a gourd with the word "井" (jing) , it was in pale green, while on the right side, there were four more gourds, each inscribed with the character "泉" (quan), in four colors—red, black, yellow and white. The mismatch made his outfit look quite out of place.

　　Next one was Cui Shiqing. In his right hand, he held a sharp knife, and his left hand held a huge piece of beef leg. As he walked in, he was still slicing the meat with the knife and putting meat into his mouth slice by slice. He walked relaxedly towards Duan Zhengyan. Just due to focus on the beef, his walk was slower than Meng Feiqing.

　　Wang Wenqing and Hu Wenchang entered side by side. Wang Wenqing’s most eye-catching feature was his right pinky finger, there dangled an exquisite sharp dagger swinging back and forth. Hu Wenchang, with a thin face, was tall height and especially had a large nose. He carried a wolf’s-tooth mace into the hall, his armor clanging loudly, making him look like a divine coming from the heavens.

　　Wei Yuqing briefly explained the situation; Meng Feiqing, Wang Wenqing, and Hu Wenchang immediately began to discuss details. As soon as Meng Feiqing opened the mouth, he did not only talk, but also had to drink something; no one knew what he was drinking. Only he could figure out the "medicine" in his own gourds. When Wang Wenqing spoke, his pinky lost all attention, instead, his voice attracted everyone. His voice was high-pitched, almost identical to the two eunuch servants waiting outside. It made one doubt about his gender. Hu Wenchang, speaking a slightly awkward Mandarin, let listeners tell soon that he was not Han Chinese, but from the minority of Bai. The three people were active to share their opinions, what was Cui Shiqing doing? He was still enjoying meat. He was indeed a meat lover.

　　When Duan Zhengyan started to speak, all the other people stopped talking. However, that did not mean everyone closed his mouth, anyway Cui Shiqing was still busy chewing away. Duan Zhengyan asked the eight men, “All of you have confidence to conquer Wester Xia?” No one dared to promise it, but except Cui Shiqing, the other seven all replied in a second, “We will fight to the last minute of life!” Then Cui Shiqing followed their voice, “I will too.” This was the first time since entering the hall that he had used his mouth to talk, not eat.

　　“Sir, I can replace you for a while,” one of the attendants said.

　　"No, no. I do appreciate it." replied the other.

　　"I think you must feel tired. Let me stand here for a moment." Wang Wenqing dismissed the senior servant and stood by the door himself. His dagger, hanging from his pinky, swayed back and forth, making the young servant standing opposite him feel uneasy. At that moment, another two people came side by side. The young servant, still being distracted by the dagger, didn't notice new visitors. Instead of him, Wang Wenqing raised his voice to announce, "Sima Qing and Zhan Zijiang of Tengchong Province are here!" Probably with great inner strength, his voice kept longer than any of the previous times. It sounded unpleasant! The young servant almost fainted by the noise. The other people in presence wouldn’t faint because all were preparing to join a tough battle; it was perfect to get to know the strength of each other, that was also helpful in enhancing much confidence.

　　Sima Qing had a large cloth bag hanging from his waist, inside of which something seemed to be wriggling. Zhan Zijiang, on the other hand, wore shining silver armor that was brilliant. As the two came to the door, Sima Qing glanced at Wang Wenqing and then laughed. “Heh, look at you idiot.” Wang Wenqing responded with a smile, “I don’t care.” Sima Qing’s thick mustache twitched, and he didn’t bother to reply. He walked straight into the hall. Zhan Zijiang gave a greeting to Wang Wenqing and followed him in.

　　Twelve members of the Six Ding and Six Jia, only ten had arrived one after another in the morning. The other two people have not yet come. By now, it was already noon time, and the banquet had been prepared well. Zhan Zijiang feeling annoyed, said, "Sima and I live the furthest, but we are here now. The two live nearest, why not come early?" To be honest, Except Cui Shiqing who had just finished a beef leg, everyone else was starving. Cui Shiqing was the most impatient of them all. He had already viewed all the meat dishes on the table and was sitting to start.

　　Duan Zhengyan said, "If General Cui cannot wait, please start it first." Cui Shiqing was delighted and picked up his chopsticks, but then put them down again and said, "Sorry, I will not do that." Zhang Wentong said, "They are really enthusiasm about travelling. This time to Dali, they won't come here before they finish visiting all the 'scenic spots'—the 'wind, flowers, snow, and moon'." Shi Shutong muttered, "Damn it, His Majesty called for an urgent meeting, but they take the chance for a relaxing holiday!" Wang Wenqing said, "I think they won't be satisfied until the sun sets." Sima Qing felt uncomfortable as soon as heard Wang Wenqing’s voice, he said to Wang, "Shut up." Wang Wenqing retorted, "Doesn’t make sense?" Sima Qing answered, "Even if they’re late, they might be arriving before sunset." Wang Wenqing argued, "After sunset. I am sure." Sima Qing insisted, "Before sunset!" Wang Wenqing replied, "It must be after sunset!" By now, Sima Qing could not endure Wenqing and said, "Let’s have a bet. If they are here before sunset, you will lose, then marry a girl!" Wang Wenqing grinned, "If they come after sunset, Sir Sima, will you follow my style? I welcome a new companion." Everyone, including Duan Zhengyan, laughed loudly. They were hungrier for using more energy. So, they no longer waited for the two latecomers and began to have dinner.

　　As the setting sun cast a golden glow, the young servant shouted, " Zang Wengong and Ming Wenxiang of Weichu Province are here!"

　　While everyone was discussing a solution, Zang Wengong came in happily with a few scrolls of paintings in hand. Upon seeing Duan Zhengyan, he said, "Your Majesty, I have painted one landscape each from Xiaguan, Shangguan, Mountain Cang, and Erhai Lake. I would like to present them to Your Majesty." Duan Zhengyan laughed, "Minister Zang does know my interests."Zang Wengong proudly unrolled the paintings, one by one, and began introducing them. Zhan Zijiang said, "Our enemy is coming soon, but Minister Zang came late, and still does not yet understand what the priority topic is." Zang Wengong looked surprised and said, "What? An enemy is coming! So, Your Majesty called me not for chat on painting? I am sorry for misunderstanding it. I should not go travelling first. Now the enemy is Tibetan or Song Dynasty?" Zhan Zijiang thought he was too funny. Duan Zhengyan replied, "Neither Tibet nor the Song. It’s Western Xia; the Tangut are coming." Ming Wenxiang folded his fan and asked, "Why does Western Xia want to cross over Tibet to attack us?" He was armored and wore the attire of a military officer, a folding fan with his hand made his outfit look weird.

　　Duan Yichang gestured for them to sit and said, "Please have a seat first. We can share ideas."