Zhao Yun vs. Lu Bu

Zhao Yun and Lu Bu were standing across from each other. They both looked at each other eyes as the will to win was in them.

They didn't move an inch from their positions but Lu Bu was sweating while Zhao Yun wasn't surprising the people watching the duel that didn't even start yet.

Lu Bu then makes the first move as he rushed at Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun prepared for Lu Bu's attack as he put his guard up. A first came for his face but Zhao Yun catches it and spins it making Lu Bu spin to the right following the direction Zhao Yun was spinning his arm.

Lu Bu attacks in the same motion with his right foot trying to make Zhao Yun lose his grip over Lu Bu's fist.

Zhao Yun let go of the fist as he blocked with his right underarm while Lu Bu used his left hand to catch his fall making him do a one-handed handstand before pushing himself away trying to make some distance between both.

Zhao Yun on the other hand followed. He wanted to finish the fight as fast as possible. Zhao Yun jumped as he tries to kick Lu Bu in the face while he is stabilizing.

Lu Bu sees Zhao Yun and uses both of his arms to block the incoming attack. The kick connects with both arms and Zhao Yun suddenly pinned using Lu Bu's arms to stabilize as he bends his leg making him smaller while the other leg passed through the defense hitting Lu Bu directly in the face.

Zhao Yun then stretched his bend leg out again and makes a somersault using Lu Bu's arms pushing Lu Bu away making him lose his stability because of the kick and the push that followed.

Once on the ground, Zhao Yun rushed at Lu Bu to finish the fight only to find a fist coming for him again. Zhao Yun this time dukes under the fist while advancing when he counters hitting the abdomen of Lu Bu before hitting his chin.

Lu Bu loses his balance again but grabs Zhao Yun's shoulder with the hand that missed him. Lu Bu recovers while trying to hit Zhao Yun with his other hand having a smile on his face.

Zhao Yun smiled as well because his blood was suddenly burning from excitement. The only other person in this era so far to make it possible was his younger brother.

Zhao Yun sees the first coming for him and he placed his forehead in position to intercept the fist. Both collide and the people could hear bones break.

The Emperor was excited about seeing the fight as well as the children while the Empress wasn't interested in the fight. The Eunuchs were assessing their enemy while Ding Yuan was smiling.

"It seems my son won," says Ding Yuan sure of it when he heard the cracking of a bone.

"I'm not so sure there, Ding Yuan," says He Jin as he smiled before saying, "Who would have thought that a real monster was living in Zhending."

Zhao Yun moved again as Lu Bu let go of his shoulder to defend against Zhao Yun's next attack since his other hand couldn't be used. All the fingers in his hand were broken from the collision between hand and forehead.

Zhao Yun didn't attack but grappled the arm of Lu Bu and threw him over his shoulder before he signed and kicked Lu Bu a little under the neck to not kill him.

Lu Bu landed on his back instead of his head because of the kick but was still out as his eyes rolled back. Zhao Yun then lifted Lu Bu from the ground and walked to the Pavillion the people were watching from.

He puts Lu Bu in front of He Jin and Ding Yuan and says, "My Lord, can you tell him from me that it was a long time since I felt my blood rush like that. Also that, I will fight him again. He just has to wait until the war against the Yellow Turbans is over."

"I will tell my son that," says Ding Yuan as he honored Zhao Yun's attitude towards his son.

Then Zhao Yun walked towards the Emperor with his head down when the Emperor says, "Raise your head, Warrior. You should be proud and not cower behind some rules that forbid you to rise it. You won and We want to see the face of the person clearly."

Zhao Yun raised his head as he looked at the Emperor's eyes making the Emperor feel proud when a Eunuch says, "Your Highness you shouldn't allo-"

"Are We not the Emperor. Are you saying that the Emperor can't see the face of the man that killed two high-ranked people and showed us quite an exciting fight!" says the Emperor shut down the Eunuch that talked with his glance.

"No, your Highness," says the Eunuch as the Emperor looked back at Zhao Yun and says, "A Warrior like you should be rewarded for winning. We heard that there is a mighty horse in the west."

The Emperor looked at He Jin and says, "We want to compensate the young warrior with the horse."

"Your Highness, I-," says Zhao Yun when He Jin interrupts him by speaking louder than him.

"Of course, Your Highness. I will send immediately a messenger towards the west to Dong Zhuo. He should know more about that horse since it is in his territory," says He Jin as he looked at Zhao Yun shutting him down.

"Your Highness, maybe we should make him a Royal Instructor," says the Empress as the Emperor was thinking about it.

"Your Highness, we shouldn't tie a strong and young horse that still hasn't reached its peak to us. He can become stronger and he will defend our land as he did before," says one of the Eunuchs trying to sway the Emperor from making a decision that wouldn't favor them.

"They are right, your Highness. He is still young and he needs more experience before we should hire him," says He Jin knowing why his sister wanted to get Zhao Yun inside the Palast.

"Hmm... You are right. He still needs to experience the world and make some mistakes to learn from them. But we will reward him two sacks of gold and ten stones(1stone=6,35kg) of rice. They will be sent to Zhending. But We want you to remain in the capital until the horse arrives. We want to hand over the horse ourselves to you," says the Emperor as Zhao Yun kneels in front of him while looking at the Emperor's eyes.

"I thank you, my lord," says Zhao Yun as he puts his hand over his fist while bowing to the Emperor before standing up again

"We have to thank you because the war should be over soon since you killed the Rebel Leader. But excuse us for retreating now. We still have other matters to attend," says the Emperor as he stood up and says again, "Walk tall, Young Warrior."

Then he leaves followed by the Empress and the two princes. The Eunuchs went another way while He Jin walked towards Zhao Yun and says, "You have done better than expected. I really thought it would be a close fight."

Zhao Yun looked at Lu Bu who was still out as he says, "Maybe in the future. But I need to return to the battlefield. It might be calm but that can change from one moment to another."

"Well, you won't be able to leave for now. It will take at least a month until the horse arrives. I can send you back when it is really necessary but that won't be since Lu Zhi is back on the front," says He Jin as Zhao Yun sighs.

"Don't be devastated by it. Just take what you get you never know when the goodwill of the Emperor stops," says He Jin as Zhao Yun bows as he went to the sideline to pick his belongings before putting them on.

"That means I will have to stay another month around the capital. If Lu Bu wants to find me don't tell him where I stay since I'm traveling with company," says Zhao Yun as he was ready to leave giving them another bow before leaving the courtyard following a servant.

The servant brought him out and He Jin looked at Ding Yuan and says, "I think the boy hasn't shown all his cards but only parts of it."

"I have to agree to that," says Ding Yuan seeing the mark left on Lu Bu's abdomen that resembled a fist.

"I'm happy that my sister didn't get her will or we would have lost a brilliant warrior," says He Jin as he grinned.

"I will take Lu Bu to his room so he can rest, for now, my lord," says Zhang Liao who saw the whole fight and was excited wanting to fight Zhao Yun.

He carried Lu Bu away while Ding Yuan nods and stayed behind with He Jin. In the meantime, Zhao Yun left the Palace and was on his way towards the inn he and Diao Chan were staying.

He arrives and finds Diao Chan sitting alone with a white kitten sitting on the table eating the food Diao Chan was feeding it.

"Don't give Snowflake too much food or he will become fat," says Zhao Yun as Diao Chan stood up and walked towards him.

She gave him a hug when Zhao Yun says, "We will have to stay for another month in the capital. That means we will have more time to enjoy it before we return. Also, you will get your own horse so we will train your horse riding until the next month."

"I understand," says Diao Chan a bit disappointed since she wanted to meet Zhao Yun's family.

"How about we get back to our room. That way you can take care of me," says Zhao Yun as Diao Chan looked at him worried thinking that he was seriously injured.

"How bad was the fight if you need to be taken care of?" asks Diao Chan when she notices the bruise on his forehead.

She touched it gently as Zhao Yun fake flinched when he felt her fingers touching the spot making her worry sick.

She dragged Zhao Yun into their room while Snowflake followed them. Once inside Zhao Yun laid down on the bed after taking his armor off as Diao Chan saw a bruise on his left shoulder as well leaving a mark that looked like a hand.

"Does it hurt badly?" asks Diao Chan as Zhao Yun smiles while caressing her face.

"Not with you around," says Zhao Yun as he grabbed Diao Chan and both laid on the bed when he says, "Let's stay like this for a moment.

Zhao Yun was hugging Diao Chan as they stayed like that for an hour before she left to order some food for Zhao Yun.