Sun Mei and Bai Jingfei on a Picnic

Bai Jingfei sat in her luxurious carriage heading toward the Fa district. Her hair was plaited with gemstones and flowers and her clothes were made of rare and exquisite silk.

One could see her from a mile away, dressed in purple, lustrous silk that reflected so much light it practically glowed. She was like a purple, expensive, beacon.

On the other hand, Sun Mei sat on her horse, trying to make it follow Bai Jingfei's carriage.

She was dressed from head to toe in combat gear and had a sharp sword slung by her waist. She looked the perfect part of a general's daughter.

Her horse, though, had other ideas. It was determined to get a taste of the grass on the roadside. While the grass certainly looked tempting it was odd that a horse from a noble house would want to eat common grass growing next to a ditch.

Sun Mei had been trained from a young age, to ride horses, in battle combat, strategy and what not, but no one had ever taught her how to deal with a horse that refused to run. All it wanted to do was eat but Sun Mei didn't want to fall behind.

She gave the horse a kick and soon she was moving ahead of Bai Jingfei, looking back at the pampered young miss once in a while.

She scoffed.

Sun Mei had very little respect for Bai Jingfei to begin with but her current appearance made her respect for her fall even more.

'Such a pansy young miss. Weak and wimpy. Does she have no dignity?' she thought disdainfully.

Bai Jingfei had other opinions though. Why would one travel on a stinky horse when they had the choice of a luxurious carriage filled with pillows. And it was free.

Sun Mei wasn't doing anything special by sitting on a horse. She would be there at the same time so it was unlikely that anyone would care how she had come.

Coming on a horse meant an uncomfortable ride. The horse would randomly break out into a run and Bai Jingfei felt nauseous just sitting on a horse of that sort. If she was given the choice she would've taken a business class flight but that wasn't an option here.

Bai Jingfei finally decided she wanted to stop on the roadside for a picnic.

Ever since the day she stopped on the mountains and got a good look, she realized she wanted to have a picnic in the grass.

Wide blue sky, fluffy white clouds, a general breeze blowing. The sunlight falling on dandelions and butterflies fluttering around. If she took out a little carpet and some sweets .

"Stop here please." she said softly.

Sun Mei turned around sharply to stare at Bai Jingfei in awe. There was the height of shamelessness and then there was Bai Jingfei.

Who made up what she lacked in height, in shamelessness.

Sun Mei stopped anyway, her horse was acting up and a break never hurt. The troops however had to move along since they had to rejoin the rest of the army.

Sun Mei got off her horse, brushed it a little and then finally made eye contact with the expensive loli who was getting off her carriage with the support of the carriage driver.

As a fierce tomboy she could never hope to dress all prettily like Bai Jingfei but as a young miss she had to maintain her appearance.

Bai Jingfei grinned ever so slightly and then waved to Sun Mei, calling her over to come eat with her.

"MeiMei! I have grapes! Would you like some?"

It must be said that Sun Mei had never actually talked to Bai Jingfei. To her, suddenly being called 'MeiMei' was not only a shock, but extremely disgruntled. She looked at Bai Jingfei for a few seconds before turning around to tie her horse to a nearby tree.

"Miss, we'll move ahead then. We'll see you in the Fa district" said one of the troop members that had been trailing Bai Jingfei and Sun Mei all along.

Sun Mei nodded and the troops went on their way.

They had stopped simply because Sun Mei's horse was acting up but as soon as she turned she saw Bai Jingfei spreading her carpet on to the grass. Bai Jingfei patted on the carpet, inviting Sun Mei to come sit with her.

Sun Mei sighed and sat down on the carpet, not wanting to offend Bai Jingfei. After all, the two of them would be spending time together for the next 2-3 weeks at the minimum. It would be hard if they couldn't maintain public friendliness there would be a problem.

She reached for a grape and began chewing on it mindlessly as Bai Jingfei opened up a box of sweets. Sun Mei stared off into the distance, hoping they could move soon.

Then she saw it.

From the distance she could see dust rising as a few fierce looking men on horses galloped toward them. They were muscular men with scars all over their body, brandishing their weaponry as they moved closer and closer.

Sun Mei knew they could only mean trouble. From a young age her father had been telling her stories of war and ambushes, by the jianghu and fierce bandits.

They were bloodthirsty warriors who robbed and plundered whoever they came across. Sun Mei had been taught to be wary of anyone approaching with weapons, lest they had bad intentions but these men quite obviously had bad intentions.

Leading the pack of men was one particularly muscular man with a deep scar across his chest. He grinned as he made eye contact with Sun Mei, knowing that he had just come across a wealthy person, one worth robbing.

"Oh no, are those bandits?" exclaimed Sun Mei as Bai Jingfei yawned.

She had sent her troops ahead while trying to deal with Bai Jingfei's picnic and now it was just her, Bai Jingfei and Bai Jingfei's carriage driver.