WK Chapter 46

The New Year was approaching.

 

The Empress had already started gathering the consorts to begin preparations.

 

The duties of the imperial consorts were not just to serve the emperor. With different ranks, they had different responsibilities. Higher-ranked consorts needed to assist the Empress in organizing various palace banquets and festival ceremonies throughout the year.

 

Their monthly allowances weren’t given for nothing.

 

Thus, under the Empress’s coordination, all those ranked as consorts and several older, more stable noble ladies were assigned tasks.

 

This resulted in fewer consorts visiting Qu Dubian.

 

Emperor Chongzhao was busy both selecting a foster mother for his son and spinning like a top to deal with matters piled up until the New Year.

 

The ministers also wanted a peaceful New Year, so all matters had to be resolved in advance to avoid an unsettled holiday.

 

So these days, he would wake up at around 2 AM. Qu Dubian had spent a hefty 5 days of lifespan to buy five wuxia/cultivation novels, sometimes staying up late to read. Hearing his cheap father get up to work, he deeply felt that sometimes the emperor’s life was worse than a dog’s.

 

At least Da Hei was still sleeping at this time.

 

When Emperor Chongzhao got busy, he couldn’t pay attention to him, so Qu Dubian regained his freedom with the little dog cart.

 

But this time he was smarter, wearing a thick hat to protect his forehead from the wind. Da Hei no longer ran, just pulled him along step by step at a leisurely pace.

 

Since the old man stubbornly refused to let Consort Xuan become his foster mother due to face, he couldn’t blame him for causing trouble at this crucial time.

 

Qu Dubian sat in the little dog cart, spreading out the paper in his hand. On it, in scrawling handwriting, was his self-made daily schedule.

 

“First, go to the martial arts field.”

 

To see if there were any martial arts masters who knew internal energy. Wen Xiaochun knew martial arts, but it was all external techniques, without internal power, that is, true qi.

 

If he wanted to understand the true qi circulation diagram given by the simulator early, he needed to find someone to teach him.

 

Actually, Yi Shi’er would be great… but he was a hidden guard, rarely showing himself. Last time he had barely saved him, it would be too hard if he got punished again for showing his face.

 

At the martial arts field.

 

Emperor Chongzhao occasionally came here to practice archery and horseback riding to maintain his health and physique.

 

The rest of the time, it was where the princes came to learn martial arts from their masters and practice riding and archery. Emperor Chongzhao required them to learn at least some hand-to-hand combat skills, in case they ever needed to defend themselves.

 

Besides this, the martial arts field was quite leisurely.

 

The martial arts masters were all more or less familiar with each other. Often when someone retired, their own disciple would take over, following the principle of passing down the craft. It was an unspoken rule among them.

 

But recently, a stranger suddenly appeared at the martial arts field, immediately taking over one of the six grand master positions.

 

What’s more, he didn’t understand social niceties at all. He didn’t treat them to drinks or meals, didn’t explain his identity, and even wore a strange mask, appearing and disappearing mysteriously every day, with the visible lower half of his face as white as a ghost.

 

After all this time, none of them knew this person’s name.

 

Even reporting it didn’t lead to any action.

 

It was bizarre.

 

Those who were displeased and challenged him couldn’t last ten moves against him.

 

And strangely, they could feel that the weird person could have killed them many times but always held back at the last moment—

 

They privately speculated that this person had previously learned killing techniques.

 

After summing it up, they became even less willing to provoke him.

 

So the entire martial arts field tacitly began to ignore this strange person. Later, finding that he had quite a good temper, ignoring turned into exclusion.

 

This was specifically manifested in the meals sent from the main kitchen; by the time they reached the strange person, the meat was always missing.

 

–

 

Meanwhile, Qu Dubian was getting closer to the martial arts field.

 

At this point, when the simulator reported that Yi Shi’er was 299 meters away from him, he didn’t pay much attention.

 

“Little Prince, we’ve arrived at the martial arts field. Can I learn along with you?”

 

“Of course!”

 

Wen Xiaochun smiled and said: “To be honest, before entering the palace, when I was secretly learning martial arts, I thought maybe I could open a martial arts school and be a teacher in the future.”

 

Qu Dubian: “You can still do that now. Xiaochun can find some palace servants who want to learn martial arts and teach them.”

 

Wen Xiaochun was stunned for a moment: “But if I do that, I won’t be able to stay by Your Highness’s side all the time.”

 

“Doing what you want to do most is the best thing.”

 

Qu Dubian understood that in ancient society, it was unlikely to instill the concept of equality that had been ingrained for thousands of years. If Xiaochun had a dream to pursue, he could guide him gently.

 

He thought for a moment and changed his approach, “Besides, if Xiaochun takes on disciples, wouldn’t that mean more people to protect me?”

 

Wen Xiaochun’s footsteps slowed half a beat. Ye Xiaoyuan patted his shoulder and said softly, “You can consider what we talked about last night.”

 

The two of them hadn’t been sleeping well these past few days because of the little prince’s situation.

 

The Emperor seemed to value the little prince, but no one knew what was really in his heart. The little prince choosing a foster mother was originally a good thing, but after Noble Lady Chu’s incident, no one knew how things would turn out in the future.

 

If they didn’t have some power in their hands, wouldn’t they just have to watch the prince suffer every time, like these two occasions?

 

Especially Wen Xiaochun, who hadn’t detected the addictive substance in the egg custard last time, felt both frustrated and resentful, towards himself and towards Noble Lady Chu.

 

His experience was still too limited.

 

Now that the prince had the Emperor’s care and Ye Xiaoyuan’s attention, Wen Xiaochun felt that apart from his external martial arts skills, he had no other strengths, becoming dispensable.

 

Ye Xiaoyuan didn’t think Wen Xiaochun was dispensable; he felt his talents were being wasted.

 

With martial arts skills and literacy taught by the prince, he could be useful anywhere.

 

Last night, after discussing, Ye Xiaoyuan suggested: “Last time you did a favor for the head of the armed guards at the main kitchen. Now the North City Gate Inspection Department is being cleaned out and replaced, they’re short-staffed. If you want to go, hurry and find him to get you in there.”

 

The Inspection Department was the best place to train people.

 

Wen Xiaochun was hesitant.

 

It wasn’t until the little prince spoke just now that the scales in his heart began to tip.

 

But if he left, there would be no one with martial arts skills by the prince’s side. How could that work? He wouldn’t feel at ease leaving.

 

For now, he kept this matter in his heart as he followed behind the little dog cart.

 

As they got closer to the martial arts field, Qu Dubian became more puzzled.

 

Yi Shi’er’s distance from him was shortening as he approached the martial arts field. Could the old man’s secret guard headquarters be in the martial arts field?

 

As the only one riding a little dog cart in the entire palace, Qu Dubian was recognized as soon as he arrived.

 

The masters were eating with their shirts off when they caught sight of the imposing Da Hei. They choked suddenly and kicked their colleagues who were slurping their food.

 

They hurriedly greeted: “Greetings, Little Prince. What brings Your Highness here?”

 

Glancing at the bowl in his hand, Qu Dubian said: “Carry on with your meal, I’m just here to look around.”

 

As expected of martial artists, their bodies were so robust and tall. Enviable.

 

He got off the little dog cart. Da Hei instinctively ducked under the rope and stood beside him.

 

Qu Dubian wandered around seemingly aimlessly, but was actually constantly adjusting his direction based on the simulator’s distance prompts.

 

The grand master put down his bowl and followed beside him: “Little Prince, that area is where we usually live. It’s all rough men, it wouldn’t be good for you to go in there.”

 

“How not good?”

 

“…Just not very good.”

 

“I just want to look around.”

 

The martial arts masters lived in small courtyards behind the martial arts field. At the very corner was a small house. Qu Dubian said: “Let’s start looking from here.”

 

[Yi Shi’er is 7 meters from the host.]

 

[Yi Shi’er is 5 meters from the host.]

 

Qu Dubian stopped outside the door, which was half-open.

 

Going inside, he found the interior very simple. Except for a few storybooks on the desk, there was no sign of anyone living there.

 

The grand master said: “A strange person lives here, doesn’t work properly, and who knows where he’s run off to now.”

 

Qu Dubian felt dejected for a while. This was the closest he could get to Yi Shi’er; beyond was just a wall. He wondered if Yi Shi’er had drunk the milk tea he gave him last time.

 

He turned and left to look elsewhere.

 

Behind the wall.

 

Under a tree.

 

Yi Shi’er’s consciousness was already somewhat unclear.

 

These past few days, something seemed to be happening at the secret guard headquarters. The person bringing him the antidote was coming later and later.

 

Today was even later.

 

Just when he felt it difficult to breathe, a bottle of medicine was thrown down from the tree, landing beside Yi Shi’er’s hand.

 

He barely opened his eyes, picked it up with trembling hands, and ate it mixed with snow. As the antidote gradually took effect, the drowsiness in his mind slowly dissipated.

 

Yi Shi’er: “Is something happening at the secret guard headquarters?”

 

A voice came from the shadows: “The secret guard headquarters is relocating, but that’s not why the delivery was late. The leader said this is punishment for you entering Zichen Palace without permission last time. That’s His Majesty’s bedchamber, and you’re not a secret guard anymore.”

 

Yi Shi’er was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: “You’re new. Are you my replacement?”

 

There was no sound from the shadows.

 

Yi Shi’er: “Only new secret guards would say useless things to me.”

 

“…” The new Yi Shi’er spoke coldly: “You’re very foolish. The leader said if the Seventh Prince forgets you, you’ll still die. And the Seventh Prince hasn’t mentioned you at all until now. You don’t have much time left.”

 

Yi Shi’er said softly: “You should go. New secret guards who talk too much don’t fare well.”

 

That’s rich coming from someone who’s been dismissed.

 

The new secret guard left swiftly.

 

Yi Shi’er stood up, leaning against the tree, feeling his internal energy flowing through his body again, his lost strength returning. He patted off the dirt on his hands, preparing to go to work for the Seventh Prince.

 

He tilted his head to sniff his shoulder. The bone-deep wound was healing slowly. The Seventh Prince had a keen sense of smell; he wondered if the faint scent of blood would be detected.

 

Unexpectedly, just as he leapt onto the roof, he heard the familiar commanding voice of the child.

 

Yi Shi’er’s footsteps paused.

 

–

 

In the martial arts field, Qu Dubian stood on a table, directing several half-baked martial arts masters to demonstrate their internal energy and lightness skills.

 

“Bang!”

 

When the brick was split, it made a loud noise. The internal energy shock actually broke it into several pieces.

 

Qu Dubian applauded very generously: “Wow—”

 

He always gave ample emotional value. He wasn’t just watching for free either, distributing the gold melon seeds he got from Emperor Chongzhao to them, like tipping on a livestream in modern times.

 

The martial arts masters became even more enthusiastic in their demonstrations.

 

When the atmosphere had heated up under the stimulation of money, Qu Dubian judged the time was right. Blinking his eyes, he said with a face full of longing: “I want to learn too!! Is it true qi? Can one of you circulate true qi in my body once and teach me?”

 

The martial arts master who had been laughing heartily stopped laughing.

 

“That’s not possible, Little Prince. It could be dangerous.”

 

“Yes, yes, it’s not allowed. If you want to see, we can demonstrate for you as long as you like.”

 

Controlling true qi wasn’t a simple matter to begin with, let alone for these half-trained individuals. A slight mistake could lead to qi deviation and death by body explosion.

 

To circulate true qi in a little child’s body, and a precious prince at that? Unless they were tired of living, they wouldn’t dare.

 

Qu Dubian held up his little finger: “Just a tiny bit.”

 

“Even a tiny bit is not okay, Little Prince. We can’t joke about this,” the grand master said with difficulty. “You two gentlemen, please try to persuade him too.”

 

Qu Dubian sighed heavily.

 

“Then can you take me flying with your lightness skill for a while?”

 

The grand master said awkwardly: “We can use lightness skill ourselves, but carrying you would be quite dangerous.” If they lost their breath for a moment, they might fall.

 

Qu Dubian looked at them expectantly: “Then is there anyone else powerful who can take me flying?”

 

The martial arts masters: “Uh…”

 

They looked at each other.

 

Their kung fu was quite impressive, enough to teach princes, but circulating true qi and carrying people while flying was beyond their scope.

 

Qu Dubian was utterly disappointed, “Alright then, I’ll leave for now and come back later.”

 

He turned around and almost bumped into a black wall, which emitted a faint plum blossom fragrance.

 

“!!” Qu Dubian braked urgently and leaned back, retreating a few steps, “Who who who?”

 

After steadying himself, he looked closely and saw a young man in black tight-fitting clothes standing there. It was Yi Shi’er.

 

Yi Shi’er hesitantly moved a step forward. As he moved, plum blossom petals fell from his sleeves and hem, scattering on the ground, each step bringing forth flowers and fragrance.

 

Qu Dubian: “…”

 

Yi Shi’er: “…”

 

He hurriedly tightened his sleeves.

 

After hearing that the Seventh Prince had come, he knew it was a good day to meet his new boss and wanted to make a good impression. But he was worried there might still be a bloody smell on him, so he made another trip to the flower house and stuffed flower petals into his clothes.

 

The effect was a bit too much; tightening the sleeves didn’t help, the petals still fell.

 

After trying to tighten them a few times, Yi Shi’er gave up completely and walked up to Qu Dubian.

 

“I can take you flying.”

 

Qu Dubian instinctively reached out his hand and caught a petal falling from him.

 

The usually taciturn former secret guard had made an incredibly flamboyant entrance.

 

To the shock of all the martial arts masters in the courtyard, Yi Shi’er stood in front of his dumbfounded little boss, lowered his head, and quietly experienced social death.

 

---

 

(advanced chapters available on kofi)