20 The Point Of No Return

Spring 485 BC - Langya - The Capital of Yue

The girls had been under training for almost three years, and it's time for them to go to the final selection. King Goujian and his queen, together with his high ministers, would choose two out of ten girls to be sent to Fuchai, while the rest would be sent to Bo Pi and other ministers of Wu who received bribery from Yue.

That night the girls were brought to the palace to dance and sing on the banquet held by the queen. There were King Goujian, the queen, and the other officials, princes, and princess who attended the banquet. Those who participated in the banquet were given two flowers. They had to give two girls that they considered to be the most suitable girls to be sent to Fuchai.

It was not easy for them to choose which two girls were suitable for the mission. But among those ten girls, there were three girls who were stunning and won everyone's heart. They were Shi Yiguang- Xi Shi, Zheng Dan, and Ying.

If Shi Yiguang was like a beautiful spring breeze, Zheng Dan was like a beautiful shiny day in the summertime, while Ying was a beautiful snowy mountain. So majestic, beautiful, cold, and untouchable.

King Goujian could not take his eyes off Ying. He felt something strange in her that attracted him. When Goujian was introduced to Ying, he laughed and said, "Girl, you're such a lovely girl! But why didn't you smile when you're dancing?"

Everybody laughed when they heard it. They just realized; indeed, Ying didn't smile at all when she danced.

Ying didn't say anything. She didn't know how to answer. She looked at Goujian straight to his eyes then lowered her head.

Goujian was a bit confused by her reaction. He noticed that Ying was taller compared to the other girls. She was even slightly taller than himself. He still wanted to ask something to her, but the queen already introduced him to Shi Yiguang and Zheng Dan.

After the girls performed their dance in a group, they also have to perform one by one to show off their skills—either singing, music, or poetry.

Xi Shi performed a beautiful dance while singing. Zheng Dan performed her sword dance.

Ying preferred to play music and sing. She had composed a song with a lyric taken from the Chu poetry. Goujian laughed happily and clapped his hand, praised her, and said, "Girl, you are really talented in music and singing!"

Ying happily smiled when she heard that. That's the first time in that whole evening that she smiled happily. Her eyes sparked only to add her beauty. Goujian saw her smile and said, "Such a beautiful smile you have. You should smile more often!"

Ying nodded and retreated.

After the banquet, the girls were sent back to Fan Li's house that night, while Fan Li and Goujian, the queen, and Wen Zhong had another meeting.

Wen Zhong said, "I had traveled to many places when I was young. But I have to say I've never seen anyone more beautiful than those three girls."

"Yes, this time, Fuchai would fall into our beauty trap!" said the queen. Everybody agreed and made a toast to wish them luck.

"My king," said Fan Li with a severe face.

"What's the matter?" asked Goujian. During his captivity in Wu, it was Fan Li who accompanied him. He and Fan Li somehow had bound a real friendship and not only a relation between a minister and his king.

"My king," asked Fan Li with a trembling voice. He immediately rose from his seat and kneeled in front of Goujian and said, "My Lord, your servant Fan Li has a request, and hope that you will grant my wish!"

"What is it?" asked Goujian, surprised. He lifted Fan Li's hand and raised him. "If I could grant your wish, then surely I would grant it!"

"Please bestow Shi Yiguang as my wife instead of sending her to Fuchai!" said Fan Li.

All of the people in the room were shocked. Goujian was also shocked. Fan Li continued, "Although it was I who initially sent her to the queen, and I know from the beginning, that she's the right person to do this task. But I can't help falling in love with her. I am begging for your mercy to release her!"

Goujian was speechless. Fan Li was indeed the one who at first came up to them and sent Shi Yiguang to Queen Yue to be trained. If there's no Fan Li, perhaps they wouldn't be able to find a beauty like Shi Yiguang.

"But we have promised to Fuchai to send three girls for him!" said Goujian.

"We promised to send him two most beautiful girls from Yue!" said Wen Zhong. "It's no harm to take Shi Yiguang out of this mission!"

Goujian stared at him and said, "If we promised two, and we give three! That's a bonus, and Fuchai will be delighted. But when we promised Fuchai two, and out of two, there's a girl who never smiled…what would Fuchai think?"

"Although Ying seldom smiles, Ying is an adorable girl. There's no harm to take Shi Yiguang out of the mission," Fan Li said.

" Ying reminds me of Baosi, the favorite concubine of King You of Zhou. It is said that Baosi did not laugh easily. Therefore King You decided to amuse his favorite queen by lighting warning beacons and fooling his nobles into thinking that the Quanrong nomads were about to attack. The nobles arrived at the castle only to find themselves laughed at by Baosi. Seeing Baosi could laugh with that trick, King You continued to abuse his use of warning beacons just to make Baosi smile. Later on, he lost the trust of the nobles. One day when the Quanrong nomads attacked, and he lit the warning beacons, everyone thought that the king was only fooling around. In the end, King You was killed during the battle," Fan Li continued. "Ying, could be our next Baosi who will destroy Fuchai and Wu!"

Everyone thought that Fan Li's argumentation was reasonable.

King Goujian pondered for a while. He respected Fan Li and felt terrible if he had to refuse him. Therefore he deliberately asked his queen, "My queen, what do you think?"

The queen said, "Although the girl didn't say much, I can tell that she's a prideful young woman. I'm afraid that she's not a concubine material at all. I think that Xi Shi and Zheng Dan are more suitable although Ying is more beautiful!"

Everybody didn't say a word. They all had the same opinion as to the queen. Although very beautiful, Ying seldom smiles. She had the aura of a queen, towering and lofty. Although she could dance gracefully and elegantly, she didn't have the attitude that was willing to serve anyone. Instead, she had an aura that demanded other people respect and bow at her feet. Fuchai was an old man, he might not be able to appreciate that kind of beauty.

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That night Fan Li sat on the courtyard of his house, watching the moon with a bottle of wine. He was afflicted. He loved Shi Yiguang, but he's also a minister of Yue. And at the beginning, it was him who took Shi Yiguang to the palace to be trained as a concubine for Fuchai. He didn't expect that he would fall in love with her. How could he let the woman he loved to be sent away and given to another man?

But he had to. Fan Li had no choice since he's a minister of Yue. He gulped his wine with a shed of tear on his cheek. He didn't realize when Shi Yiguang came approached him.

"Mister Fan," said Shi Yiguang. Fan Li turned his head and saw Shi Yiguang stood behind him with a somber face.

He couldn't bear to see her sad face. He lowered his head and said, "Shi Yiguang, please forgive me! I am a useless man, and I can't help you!"

"Mister Fan, I know your difficulty! I hope that one day when you and King Goujian conquer Wu, release me and take me away with you! My love is for you. I will live and serve Fuchai to fulfill my duty as a citizen of Yue until the day you conquer Wu and kill Fuchai!"

Fan Li, with a sad face and teary eyes, said, "Shi Yiguang, you have my word! From now on, my goal to conquer Wu is not only for the sake of Yue Kingdom but also for you! As long as I live, I will do anything to get rid of Wu, Fuchai, and bring you back to be mine!"

Shi Yiguang threw herself into Fan Li's arm. Fan Li held her tight, also with teary eyes.

Not only two of them were sad and heartbroken. There's also another girl who accidentally saw both of them hugging and declaring their love for each other. That girl was Ying.

Ying went back to her room with tears in her eyes. How she wished that she had someone who would love her. "A hero shed no tears," she said and wiped her tears, while she's trying to fall asleep.