Here’s the rewritten content with standard English grammar and syntax, maintaining the original personal pronouns and xianxia novel style:

The veiled maiden ignored the brocade-clad young man approaching her. Her gaze passed over his shoulder, focusing on the tall, elderly man who followed closely behind. Her expression was somber. “Just now, you were about to kill someone at the slightest disagreement. Though you have your reasons, I believe it’s wrong.”

The young man in brocade stopped seven or eight paces away from the cold maiden. His eyes were sincere. “My name is Gao Zhen, from Yiyang Commandery of the Great Sui. If Grandfather Wu has offended you, I am willing to offer apologies and compensation, fair maiden.”

The tall, elderly man stood behind the brocade-clad youth, his heart filled with complex emotions. This so-called scion of the Gao family from Yiyang Commandery was merely a euphemistic way of speaking. The Great Sui Dynasty had endured for one thousand and two hundred years, and those who sat upon the dragon throne all bore the name Gao. The founding emperor had risen to prominence in Yiyang Commandery.

The maiden remained unmoved. She raised her hands, tightening the bandages around her arms. She then addressed the old man, “If we were outside, facing a martial arts grandmaster who might have already attained ‘Wind Riding Transcendence,’ I would be no match for you. But here and now, with the borrowed strength of my flying sword, you will surely die.”

The tall, elderly man sneered. “If that assassin had known your trump card beforehand, with his peak Lesser Master physique, he could have protected his vital points. Even if you pierced him with ten swords, so what? And he is far weaker than I. I am two realms above him, one of which is considered a natural chasm in the martial path. Little girl, I don’t know where you get the audacity to speak of ‘certain death’.”

The maiden furrowed her brow, her hand subtly resting on the hilt of her saber. “I dislike trouble and hate arguing. How about we test the truth of our words? Whoever wins is in the right. How does that sound, old man?”

The elderly man, rarely threatened, grew irritated. If not for the bizarre environment of this cursed place, he could crush ten girls of her cultivation level with one hand, no matter how gifted she was. Furthermore, if he wasn’t burdened with the crucial task of protecting the young Prince, the hope of the Great Sui, he would risk being suppressed and injured by the self-circulating laws of this realm just to teach this ignorant girl a lesson. A newborn calf feared no tiger, boldness was admirable, but it didn’t mean a tiger wouldn’t devour it.

The brocade-clad young man, calling himself Gao Zhen, quickly intervened to smooth things over. “If the fair maiden insists on pursuing this matter, I am willing to offer this as compensation.”

Gao Zhen lowered his head and opened the pouch at his waist. He retrieved the jade seal, holding it in his palm and extending it towards the veiled maiden. “As a show of sincerity, I only ask that you not pursue Grandfather Wu’s unintentional offense. He was acting out of loyalty and had no intention of harming anyone.”

The white-haired, elderly eunuch trembled, immediately dropping to one knee in a state of anxious fear. “Your Highness, you mustn’t! This old servant is lowly and unworthy. This jade seal is key to Your Highness’s destiny, a rare treasure that can even bear the weight of the people’s faith! How can they be compared? Your Highness is forcing this old servant to his death!”

The young noble, born of celestial lineage and bearing the name Gao, visibly paled.

The maiden seemed impatient, scoffing, “Frogs at the bottom of a well, each cherishing their own trash. Keep your jade seal. I have always liked the saying, ‘A gentleman does not steal another’s joy.'”

The maiden acted decisively, turning and walking away.

The brocade-clad young man sighed in relief. “Rise, Grandfather Wu. Kneeling is unseemly. The twelve Grand Eunuchs of the Great Sui only kneel before the Emperor. If the Censorate or the Ministry of Rites were to see this and make an issue of it, we would both be in trouble. Alright, this trip to the small town has concluded successfully, thanks to our ancestors’ protection. Let us not create unnecessary complications. We must leave this place quickly, and even after we rendezvous with our people outside, we must remain cautious. You must know that among the six pillars of the Great Li Dynasty, the Yuan and Cao families are opposing factions. Unfortunately for us, both these pillars harbor an irreconcilable hatred for the Gao family of the Great Sui. If you were to suffer any mishap here, Grandfather Wu, and your battle strength were impaired, I would find it difficult to return to the Great Sui unscathed.”

The elderly man nodded slowly as he rose. “This old servant knows the importance and urgency of this matter.”

As the old man spoke the word “urgency,” the veiled maiden had already walked more than twenty paces away.

A gust of wind swept past the brocade-clad young man, causing the hair at his temples and the sleeves of his brocade robe to flutter.

It turned out that this influential old man, who held such authority in the Great Sui, had never abandoned the thought of eliminating the maiden. At that very moment, he rushed forward, his first three steps heavily pounding the ground of the alley, the sounds reverberating more than ten feet below the surface. With his fourth step, the old man leaped into the air, his fist aimed at the maiden’s spine.

The veiled maiden’s waist twisted violently, pivoting on her left toes. Her right hand drew her saber from its sheath, and a flash of white, brighter than sunlight, appeared in the alley.

The tall, elderly man attacked with overwhelming force, his fist directly impacting the blade. Surprisingly, only a thin line of blood appeared on the back of his hand from the sharp edge. The old eunuch landed heavily, continuing his advance, pushing the saber-wielding maiden backwards. He casually extended a palm, seemingly slow and composed, but in reality, it struck the maiden’s forehead with lightning speed. The old man was about to increase his force and shatter the head hidden beneath the veil when he swiftly shifted his footwork, his body sliding one foot to the side. A *噗嗤* sound rang out, and he lowered his head to see a sharp point piercing through the right side of his chest from behind – a sword tip.

The old man’s expression didn’t change. He pinched the sword tip with two fingers and pushed it back.

He forcefully ejected the sharp flying sword, guided by the maiden’s will, from his chest.

Due to the obstruction of the flying sword, the old eunuch had failed to smash the maiden’s head. The maiden, who had been sent flying and crashing into the alley, seized this opportunity to catch her breath and used this opportunity to get up. After she quickly vanished into a side alley like a lithe cat.

The young man’s expression was frighteningly dark, his fists clenched, his aura erupting, his face contorted with rage. “Eunuch Wu Yue, Overseer of the Imperial Horse Stables! Why wouldn’t you listen to my hints? Do you truly believe that you, Eunuch Wu, are unrivaled in this small town? We were in the wrong to begin with. She was not overly aggressive afterward and was willing to let the matter rest. Why did you have to be so vicious? It’s simply outrageous!”

The old eunuch retracted his gaze from the direction the maiden had fled and turned back, straightening his back, appearing even more imposing. He slowly walked back step by step, each step seemingly heavy, weighing on the heart.

The young man felt the suffocating pressure. Being suppressed by a servant only fueled his anger. His eyes widened, his teeth gritted. “Eunuch Wu of the Imperial Horse Stables, you are worthy of death!”

The old eunuch said calmly, “Whether it’s a crime punishable by death depends on His Majesty’s judgment. In this old one’s eyes, Your Highness’s safety is of utmost importance, the primary concern. The maiden’s very existence, in this old one’s opinion, has become a pressing danger. Therefore, the only way to ensure peace is to kill her. Only with her death can this old one feel at ease.”

Seeing the raging fire in the young man’s eyes, the old eunuch sighed and said softly, “Having served in the Imperial Palace for over sixty years, this old one has witnessed too many intrigues and struggles, bloody and bloodless, countless times. This old one has no faith in people’s hearts. Just during escorts alone, this old one has personally resolved no fewer than thirty assassination attempts, large and small. Your Highness, the cunning and treachery of those assassins are beyond imagination. Some of them are madmen, completely unreasonable. Take the masked assassin and the veiled maiden for example…”

The brocade-clad young man pointed his finger at the cold-faced old eunuch, angrily scolding, “Shut up! You old eunuch! I don’t want to hear your nonsense! I only know that you ruined my carefully planned recruitment! Even a blind man would know how extraordinarily gifted and talented that flying sword maiden was! Even among the cultivators on the mountains, she would be the most outstanding genius! Such a person, not just in the Great Sui or the Great Li, but throughout the entire Eastern Treasure Continent, is a rare phoenix! If I nurture her for ten years, twenty years at most, she could become the most formidable assassin in my shadow guard! What are land deities and martial arts grandmasters in comparison?! And what did you do? I am Gao Zhen, the future crown prince of the Great Sui Dynasty! I am the master of you, Old Eunuch Wu!”

Strangely, the weathered, old eunuch was not angered by the repeated “old eunuch” insults. Instead, his expression grew even more approving. After the young man finished venting, finally stopping his tirade, the old man looked at the panting youth and smiled, “Your Highness, although you may not have personally experienced some things and are unaware of the world’s treachery and the danger of people’s hearts, Your Highness did one thing very well. It has the same style as His Majesty.”

The atmosphere became awkward.

Gao Zhen, after calming down, seemed to realize that he had made a grave mistake. Before being officially appointed as the crown prince, he had been so disrespectful to an Overseer of the Imperial Horse Stables, one of the three gatekeepers of the Great Sui Palace, and a man deeply trusted by both the Emperor and Empress. Therefore, the prince Gao Zhen opened his mouth to speak, but he saw the powerful eunuch, whom he had just called an old eunuch, smile and say, “Your Highness, remember this: do not casually apologize to servants. It is unnecessary and degrades your status, and the servants may not appreciate it. Even if you feel remorse, you should bury it deep in your heart. You must know that the Emperor, the true dragon of the world, is the supreme being whose words are law…”

Gao Zhen said, “Grandfather Wu, it is too early for me to speak of this with my current status.”

The old eunuch suddenly tensed up, as if facing a formidable enemy. He pulled the brocade-clad young man behind him and looked towards the body of the masked assassin.

A slender, middle-aged scholar suddenly appeared at the end of the alley, walking slowly towards the assassin’s corpse. He crouched down, removed the mask, and revealed a strange face—no eyebrows, a sliced nose, and writing engraved on his face.

There was no doubt that he had been a convict in his lifetime.

The scholar was silent. As expected, this was a premeditated plot. The scheme likely originated with the Wen Temple.

Gao Zhen’s eyes burned with fervor. He stepped out from behind the old eunuch, bowed, and regardless of anything else, performed the proper greeting. Only then did he raise his head and ask respectfully, “May I ask if you are Master Qi from Mountain Cliff Academy?”

The scholar stood up and said to Gao Zhen, “If you hadn’t seized a great opportunity first, neither of you would have left so easily today.”

According to the rules established by the four original sages, the punishment for outsiders fighting each other in the small town was not light, but it wasn’t too heavy either. Compared to the certain expulsion for indiscriminately killing ordinary people in the town, the conflict between outsiders had a clear “loophole” that allowed them to salvage the situation. The reason why Gao Zhen and the other two groups had each brought a “retainer” was to prepare for the worst-case scenario, using them as scapegoats in critical moments. Otherwise, just one quota would cost half of the Great Sui Emperor’s personal treasury. After all, the personal wealth of an Emperor of a great nation, a full half of his fortune, was an unimaginable sum. So who would be willing to be such a sucker for no reason?

To put it plainly, it was like spending money to avoid disaster.

However, the expenses here could be described as emptying a mountain of gold. The so-called “spending a fortune” in the mundane world was child’s play in comparison.

Being evicted, Gao Zhen continued to say on his own, “Master Qi, if there is an opportunity in the future, would you be willing to lecture at my Great Sui Academy? The Great Sui is willing to reserve the position of ‘National Preceptor’ for you!”

The old eunuch thought for a moment but didn’t stop the young man’s presumptuous words.

If they could truly persuade this scholar to offer advice and strategies for the Gao family of the Great Sui in the future, the Great Sui Emperor would surely be delighted.

The scholar smiled without answering.

The old eunuch, who had been decisive and ruthless towards the chance-met veiled maiden, now displayed a completely different demeanor when facing the pillar of stability in this place, Master Qi of Mountain Cliff Academy. He lowered his head, clasped his fist, and said, “Master Qi, we have caused much disturbance, please forgive us. Taking action against a junior just now was a last resort. I hope that you will understand the plight of this old one as a servant of the Gao family.”

Qi Jingchun waved his sleeve. “Leave at once.”

Gao Zhen and the old eunuch had no choice but to take their leave, taking the same route that the veiled maiden had retreated.

The young man asked in a low voice, “Is she dead?”

The old eunuch shook his head. “She will not live for long, she has a brief life left. The flying sword only allows her to linger, but will do nothing to help her much.”

The young man hesitated for a moment and then curiously asked, “When did you realize that her command of the flying sword wasn’t as effortless and comfortable as it seemed on the surface, Grandfather Wu?”

The old man said, “Too much is as bad as too little, her precociousness gave her away.”

The young man was puzzled.

The old eunuch led the young man out of the original alley and said softly, “Let this old one ask Your Highness a question. Having seen so many rare and precious objects of wealth and luxury, would Your Highness still be interested in the ordinary porcelain of this small town?”

The young man patted the pouch at his waist and smiled. “Of course not. Only this jade seal, or something of a similar quality, could bring me joy.”

The old eunuch nodded. “Exactly. When that maiden was controlling the sword to kill, her heart was as still as water, extremely calm and composed, like… ordinary people’s eating, drinking, and relieving themselves. Furthermore, after realizing my true martial arts cultivation, she decisively gave up the idea of fighting. In particular, she was afraid that I would see through her bluff, so she deliberately provoked us. Her true intention was to give both sides a way out, afraid that I would be so murderous that I would rather kill by mistake than let someone go, cutting off the roots. Therefore, she had to break the stalemate. Of course, the facts proved that she did not do well. But all things considered, at such a young age, to have such thoughts is already very unusual. But the more this is the case, the greater the threat to Your Highness will be in the future if she is allowed to return to the mountains and grow strong.”

The old man sighed. “Young boys and girls are at the height of their spirit and energy. If they kill out of passion or die generously, this old one wouldn’t be surprised. But to die calmly after careful consideration, or to kill without causing the slightest ripple in the heart, is very abnormal. It can even be said that this kind of disposition, which can only be honed through experience, has nothing to do with a person’s talent or aptitude. Whether cultivators or martial artists, many geniuses die young because their shortcomings in disposition are too obvious, and things easily go wrong when they encounter setbacks.”

Gao Zhen lamented, “Either way, it’s a pity.”

The old eunuch joked half-jokingly, “Your Highness, if you sigh every time someone like this dies, then you will be very busy when you truly stand on the top of the mountain in the future.”

The young man smiled. “I don’t believe it.”

The old eunuch suddenly said, “I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but this old one feels that there is a problem with Master Qi’s heavenly cultivation.”

The Great Sui prince said dismissively, “Anyway, as long as we can get this ‘Dragon Gate’ seal, it will be a great success. I never thought that this priceless treasure would actually ‘devolve’ into a small extra gift in a big deal. So, it’s time for us to take advantage of this opportunity. When I mention that golden carp, I can’t help but think of that straw-shoe boy…”

The old eunuch smiled. “Is Your Highness thinking of finding an opportunity to thank this young man in the future?”

The young man shook his head. “Not at all. I’m just distressed about that bag of copper coins.”

The old man burst out laughing.

Perhaps the Sui Dynasty will have a frugal Emperor in the future?

—

A quiet north-south alley, with the only sound being the rumble of wheels.

A young Daoist with a lotus crown on his head closed his stall early today and was pushing his cart forward, thinking of returning home to pack up quickly and head back. Whoever gets involved in this mess will get bad luck.

A slender figure in black stumbled out of a east-west alley and leaned against the wall, slowly moving. One hand passed through the veil, revealing a hint of thin gauze, and pressed hard against her mouth, while the other hand pointed at the young Daoist.

The young Daoist quickly lowered his head and murmured, “Don’t see me… don’t see me… Supreme Old Lord, hurry as the law commands… Forget it, may Buddha protect me, may Bodhisattva manifest…”

It was inappropriate for a Daoist to ask for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for protection in the moment of crisis.

Sure enough, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas didn’t seem to want to bother with disciples of other sects. The veiled maiden, with the last bit of strength from who knows where, staggered towards the Daoist and fell heavily to the ground. But her hand was holding the Daoist’s ankle tightly.

The young Daoist held his head in his hands, looking utterly devastated, as if asking the heavens, “Such a big karma is coming down on me! Isn’t that the same as carving the words ‘eager to die’ on my forehead? I’ve been traveling around all these years, sleeping in the open, trekking mountains and rivers, and often getting bitten by dogs on the streets… It hasn’t been easy! Damn you Great Sui Gao family, and old dog Wu, you just wait! This debt can’t be settled in five hundred years… My Dao cultivation is so shallow, I really can’t take on such a heavy burden…”

The already incoherent young Daoist lowered his head, almost in tears. “Little girl, have a heart of compassion, and let this poor Daoist go, okay? Later, I will help you find a place with beautiful mountains and rivers and excellent feng shui, which will definitely bless your descendants… Oh no, you are still a virgin maiden, then…”

The maiden had completely fainted.

Seeing that there was no one around, the young Daoist squatted down to quietly pry open the maiden’s fingers.

*嗖* (Swoosh!)

The flying sword hovered in the air, the tip of the sword only three inches away from the young Daoist’s brow.

The young Daoist released his hand without showing any signs of discomfort, with a look of compassion and righteousness, “Humans are not plants, how can there be no sympathy? This poor Daoist has lived a life of honor and brightness, how can I be the kind of person who would stand by and watch someone die?!”

The young Daoist sat cross-legged, his handsome face almost crumpled into a ball. “The next step is to send to the mountain, but it’s trouble.”

The flying sword, which had been three inches away from the Daoist’s brow, moved forward one inch.

The Daoist explained patiently, “If you want your master to live, this poor Daoist needs a helper. By the way, go to the old locust tree and bring a locust leaf. This poor Daoist will first try to hold on to her yuan qi. Your master is a bit special. This poor Daoist doesn’t want to save people carelessly, and accidentally delay her cultivation progress. This new karma… makes this poor Daoist want to die again…”

The flying sword seemed to hesitate, the tip of the sword trembling slightly.

The Daoist said annoyedly, “If you go a minute earlier, your master will come back a step earlier from the gate of hell. If you go late, we’ll all be done for!”

The flying sword disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The Daoist murmured angrily, “Only when there is mutual love and respect, can they become a beautiful couple, but you, Qi Jingchun, Master Qi, are good. You match up whoever you want, without cleaning up the mess!”

The young Daoist held his chin in one hand and performed divination with his fingers in the other. “Let this poor Daoist calculate, to which family in the small town will you be sent, so that you can survive, and the other family will not be destroyed. First from the Lu family… the Lu family won’t work. Same as the Zhao family, they already have a destiny. Then the Song family?”

Before the Daoist’s voice had finished speaking in this alley,

All the door gods posted on the doors of the Song family on Fortune Street lost their brilliance and became dim. Invisible wisps of green smoke rose.

Deep in the courtyard, an old man with bare feet pushed open the door and stood in the courtyard, cursing and yelling, “Which bastard is trying to harm my Song family’s foundation?! Stand out and fight!”

The young Daoist coughed and muttered to himself, “The Liu family on Fortune Street has a prosperous incense offering, as if they are capable of withstanding fate, try?”

The family hall plaque, inherited for thousands of years, shattered with shocking cracks.

An old woman with a thick voice heavily knocked the ground with a dragon-headed crutch. “Which deity, could you please come out and meet us?!”

The young Daoist pretended that nothing had happened. “Then the Wei family in Peach Leaf Alley? I can tell that your family is accumulating virtue and doing good, so you can definitely bear this karma.”

Soon, an old man transmitted his voice with a secret technique, roaring to the academy, “Qi Jingchun! Are you going to do something about it?! If you can’t do it, or if you don’t dare to do it, get out of here and give the position to Ruan Qiong! Let him clean up this sneaky guy! Or is all of this Qi Jingchun himself venting his personal grudges?”

A man was leading people to dig a well by the stream south of the small town’s covered bridge. He stood straight and moved his lips slightly to the north.

As if a series of spring thunder, rolling and resounding in the sky above Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Alley, “Enough! You are not allowed to be disrespectful to Master Qi. And I, Ruan, will never interfere in the affairs of the small town before the vernal equinox!”

For a moment, the world was silent.

And the culprit sitting next to the cart in the alley grabbed the black-clothed maiden’s hand and placed the green locust leaf brought by the flying sword in the palm of her bloody hand.

The locust leaf touched the wound in the maiden’s palm and disappeared like melting ice and snow.

The young Daoist lamented, “Whenever I see this scene, I want to feel… for this creation of heaven and earth…”

After pondering for a long time, the Daoist could not come up with the words he wanted.

The young Daoist finally lowered his head, looking at the maiden, who had a slight luster in her face, feeling a bit of difficulty. “Since the fate you are involved in is even bigger than this poor Daoist imagined, then I can only go against the grain. Above the small town, six hundred families, intertwined, generation after generation immersed in the atmosphere of this secret realm, it is easy for this poor Daoist to find a guy with fate. But to find a poor wretch is more difficult than ascending to the sky. It’s like finding an official in the grand hall of the imperial court, it’s easy, but to find a beggar, how can you let this poor Daoist find him?”

The young Daoist gave a sound of surprise.

He had really found such a pathetic worm.

He was not surprised at all, but frightened, closed his eyes, and asked himself.

The young Daoist sighed, “No matter what, let’s see how you will choose first, this poor Daoist will never force you. If you are unwilling, then this poor Daoist will take on this karma myself.”

Finally, he put his hands together like a monk. “May Buddha protect me, may Bodhisattva manifest, and be sure to let this poor Daoist overcome this calamity.”

—

In Mud Bottle Lane.

The young Daoist bent over and pushed a two-wheeled cart, stopping outside a courtyard door. After knocking on the door, he asked, “Is Chen Ping An here?”

On the cart, in the crack of the corner, there was a long sword with a snow-white scabbard. The flying sword inside the scabbard was sickly, as if嫌弃 (xiánqì) young Daoist for finding such a poor man.