"His majesty has arrived."
I lost track of time chatting with Su Xiao, and before we knew it, the emperor had arrived. He and the orange prince went to their seats, and the seats for the royal family's relatives quickly filled up soon after. However, I didn't see a princess or the rumoured red prince. It didn't seem like the emperor's harem was coming either.
I thought I'd get to see what the harem looked like today. What a pity.
"Liu Shan Men's vice-captain Shen has arrived!"
A high-pitched voice suddenly announced Boss Shen's arrival, setting off a wave of sounds from the crowd.
Yep, Boss Shen had arrived. She was here today as Liu Shan Men's vice-captain. She was dressed in a red and white warrior robe, showcasing her heroic personality. Her slender white legs were revealed, and with each step she took, you could see her naked thigh move, attracting the eyes of countless people.
From far away, Boss Shen shot me a doubtful look, frowned and then shook her head gently. It was like she was using her eyes to tell me: If you can win, fight, if you can't, run. Don't push yourself.
I then gave her a thumbs-up to say: I'll do my best.
I could sincerely feel her encouragement, so I immediately shot her a determined look and gestured with my hand: That was my plan all along! I'll run as soon as I enter the ring. Perfect!
Boss Shen looked like my teasing made her happy. She revealed a sweet oh so sweet smile. But then she discovered something was off. She gave me a rebuking look: But you are not to run without putting up a fight!
Shit! She found out! I quickly switched the topic and sent her a blow kiss: Love ya, boss!
Boss Shen smiled sweetly as she looked at me. Her gaze carried the doting feeling you would show a child, but at the same time also had a hint of mischievousness: Sweet-talker.
My, my, my. Boss Shen is just way too beautiful. But why is her prankster……
"Hey!!"
Song Ou who stood by my side angrily shouted at me and then daggered me resentfully and added: "Ming Feizhen, our enemy is right before us and yet you're not taking it seriously. Flirting with girls every day, you're ridiculous!"
I forgot Brother Bastard was standing next to me!
"I was just reporting the situation to our vice-captain……."
"That's outrageous!" Brother Bastard was fuming, the guy was ready to explode with anger, "We men are fighting with our lives on the line, without whining. Back then when Yu the great controlled the flood gates so well, General Yue Fei's army was thriving….."
Su Xiao standing behind me chuckled and said: "He's probably jealous because the vice-captain is more concerned about you than the captain."
Concerned about me?!
Come on, it's obvious she's screwing me over!!
Brother Bastard was busy spitting in my face. I glared at Boss Shen far off in the distance viciously, but she instead pulled a funny face that's hard to describe before finally smiling and continuing forwards.
Her feminine look disappeared the next moment, and she became the calm, decisive and incredibly domineering vice-captain of Liu Shan Men.
Boss Shen walked up to a seat reserved for the royal family's members, looked towards the emperor and greeted him: "Liu Shan Men's Shen Yiren sends you her greetings, your majesty!"
The emperor was in a good mood. He smiled and said: "You're here, Yiren. Wang Tushui, give her her seat."
Shen Yiren paused and then replied: "This is a seat reserved for the royal family. I am afraid that for me to sit here would be……"
The emperor waved his hand to brush it off: "What's there to be afraid of? The imperial martial arts tournament isn't just official business. There's an entertainment component to it too. Moreover, your subordinates are competing. Don't you want to get a clear view of it from here?"
Boss Shen didn't have the chance to object. Eunuch Wang who was laughing and after an opportunity for some credit had already led her up to the seat next to the emperor. She sat on one side while the orange prince sat on the either.
Song Ou was still here spitting in my face. Just when I was about to shove a shoe in his mouth, the senior eunuch, Eunuch Nan suddenly took in a deep breath. Due to him taking in a big breath, it felt like he was imbuing it with powerful spirit, so I subconsciously covered my ears.
"Please quiet down everyone!"
His voice was sonorous, making his announcement audible over the voice of the entire plaza, yet the gentleness in his voice reached a great distance. His voice wasn't extremely loud but made its way into my ears nonetheless. His ability to deliver it with such skill demonstrated that his internal strength cultivation was superior to that of Long Zaitian's. Just in terms of reach, he far exceeded Long Zaitian's capabilities. The emperor is surrounded by talent. I was surprised to discover that Eunuch Nan was an internal strength master.
"This special martial arts talent selection event is held by the courtesy of his majesty. His majesty has something to say. Everyone please remain quiet."
Eunuch Nan paused for a short while to let his voice die out.
Eunuch Nan waited for a while and then said: "Contestants, you are the pillars of talent of our nation. The imperial court shall recruit you if you perform brilliantly. That is the first thing. Second, winning and losing is normal. Do not resent or seek vengeance on your opponents."
In other words, we are to compete sensibly. We are not to pursue personal grudges under the guise of competition. Why does this sound more and more…… My eyes naturally looked at Brother Bastard and then Long Zaitian.
Long Zaitian reacted quickly. He noticed me look at him as soon as I turned my head. He glared at me and asked: "What the hell are you looking at?"
I waved at him and then said with a smile: "Vice-captain Long, please go easy on Tang Ye later."
"If you're not confident, why not piss off now? Heh, I can't stand looking at you, you weak-pussy-ass-slave." Long Zaitian snorted coldly, wore a mocking smile and said: "His majesty sure has too much free time on his hands. With me participating, isn't it obvious who the winner is?"
I smiled and nodded. I then turned back to face Tang Ye and exclaimed: "Later on, bash him to death! Don't hold back!!" Or otherwise, let me at him!
Long Zaitian looked at us. He gave Tang Ye a cold smirk and said: "You're first."
He then pointed at Brother Bastard and cockily said: "You're second."
He then looked at me, spat and said: "You're trash."
……
"What the fuck did you say?!"
Fucking cunt! Don't stop me, Tang Ye!!
Somebody give me a corn. I'm going to stab him to death today!!
Long Zaitian extended his arm out into a fighting stance: "Ooh, I'm so scared~ you want a piece of me, do you? Alright! You asked for it! I'll grant you your wish!"
Just as we were about to go at each other, Eunuch Nan's voice which sounded like the southern wind came over and entered our ears: "The imperial martial arts tournament is one of the imperial court's traditions. The winner shall be awarded."
The very mention of the "reward" is like dumping water into a boiling pan of oil. It'll crackle and explode! I could virtually see the mouths and ears of the entire audience paying attention attentively, not missing a single word.
While there weren't many seated people inside the imperial city, the onlookers standing around watching numbered far more than the number of participants during the preliminaries and semi-finals. Not only did maids and eunuchs gather here, people outside the palace were also here. Many officials who weren't invited also found their way here. As a matter of fact, there were a fair number of family members of the officials with them. There were lots of wandering warriors and imperial guards. These people give themselves pretty names, but they're just audience members who stole a spot to stand around and watch the contest.
While the flying fish pavilion is wide, it didn't look very wide with the sea of people there.
Everyone lost it and cheered loudly when Eunuch Nan mentioned that there would be a reward. Their cheers were like a huge wave surrounding the flying fish pavilion. But the emperor didn't get mad. Instead, he laughed like he was happy. I think that this is a tradition that the emperor silently promised long ago. But I guess it makes sense. The emperor should emit an aura like that in such a lively place with a martial arts contest.
With their rowdy cheers, we couldn't help but stop even though we were ready to fight.
Eunuch Nan turned around to look at the emperor. The emperor smiled and nodded. Eunuch Nan then took in another deep breath and spoke out, overtaking the voices of everyone else present.
"Since the establishment of this dynasty, our dynasty has seen many heroes. The imperial martial arts tournament has always been a place where heroes have been chosen. And heroes naturally have a beauty to accompany them."
The mention of "beauty" made the entire venue silent. Everybody was unsettled until Eunuch Nan continued: "My second daughter, Hong Zhuang is beautiful, gentle, generous, and intelligent. They are awaiting their maiden names and I am willing to betroth them to a hero. I hereby promise that the victor shall become Hong Zhuang Fuma as praise and the establishment of a beautiful fate."
The entire audience inside and outside the venue went bonkers!
The reward for the imperial martial arts contest has always been kept secret until the day of the contest where it is announced to create an incredibly passionate atmosphere.
Now everyone was excited. Not only was a talented individual going to be crowned today, the emperor was going to make his son-in-law too.
The sound of the audience discussing among each other was more than ten-times louder than before. Thousands of eyes scanned the thirty-two of us as if we were getting brushed over and over thousands of times. They wanted to see who would have the fortune of marrying the princess.
So the award this time is the second princess, huh?
I heard the second princess, Princess Hong Zhuang had come of age this year. Everybody tries to marry their daughter when they're young nowadays. Whether it's the north or the south, every family tries to marry their daughter off when they're thirteen or fourteen. I think the emperor must be getting anxious about too. I guess it's fair. If the imperial martial arts tournament were held next year, the princess would've become an old girl and probably wouldn't be liked by her husband. Luckily the imperial martial arts tournament was held ahead of schedule.
I clasped my hands and nodded.
The applause in all directions was deafening. They slowly began to end their discussions. While the crowd was excited, we contestants here were-
Song Ou listlessly said: "Stupid."
With a cold face, Tang Ye said: "Lame." He then copied Eunuch Nan and took a deep breath.
"Hey, can't you at least pretend to be interested to show some respect for the emperor?!"
Song Ou again listlessly said: "I have a fiancée already. You think the emperor can still betroth the princess to me?"
With a cold expression, Tang Ye exclaimed: "Get lost!"
Su Xiao pitifully said: "Big Brother Ming, I'm hungry."
Without a word, I pulled Tang Ye who was acting cool over and hammered him……
The audience was excited and the contestants were prideful. This imperial martial arts tournament has been blown up to epic proportions.
But it wasn't just us who were disinterested. The Qilin Guards didn't look too interested either, well, except for Long Zaitian who complained: "Tch, she can't even compare to Miss Shen's toes." But other than him, the other Qilin Guards didn't react to it either, like they didn't care about becoming the emperor's son-in-law.
"That is the end of his majesty's promise. I now hereby announce the official commencement of the imperial martial arts tournament!!"
After Eunuch Nan ended his announcement, the contestants for the first bouts ascended the ring one after another.
There are four rings here, so four bouts are run simultaneously. The first eight contestants flew up to the rings.
Just as I went to see who the eight were, I suddenly heard someone shout: "Isn't that Hua Shan's leader, Jia Yunfeng? I've heard of his opponent. I think he was an exiled student of Cold Mountain Temple, Xiang Batian."
The individual then pat himself on his forehead and added: "Both of them are the orange prince's men. That's some luck for them to be up against each other!"