The slave let out a tragic shriek, as blood burst from his hand as if it was a fountain of blood. He had no idea what just happened to his hand.
It just happened all of a sudden, and the crowd, naturally, had to stop, yet they heard, "Ancestral Master sure possesses mind-blowing power after all those years mastering a profound art. It is amazing for him to still have that much strength in reserve, despite being unconscious."
Ancestral Master Xie was seized by someone at some unknown point in time. He now looked burly at his age. The speaker, however, was even larger. It seemed as though it was easy for him to support Ancestral Master Xie's size. Even if this man didn't know martial arts, his physique was enough to be considered imposing.
The slave's hand was crippled, but he hadn't lost conscious. In spite of that, however, he knew that he could never wield a sabre again in his life. Furious and distraught, he charged at the tall man. When the tall man raised his leg, the weight difference between the two individuals was immediately visible. The tall man managed to boot him flying with his thick and heavy leather boots without any effort.
Nobody wondered about the strength of the man, and instead, presumed that he was sent flying so easily, due to loss of strength from his severe wound. However, the slave, himself, knew that the kick he took was akin to raging ocean waves crashing into him, produced by an internal strength akin to wild lightning, which was the same sensation as when his hand exploded. However, he didn't have the chance to mention his experience.
The tall man managed to appear here all of a sudden without anybody detecting his arrival. His expression and tone, however, didn't sound as if he was a man in a pinch, but rather very natural.
When Princess Hongzhuang saw him, she belted, "Brother Ming! You're back!"
The slave with a crippled hand fainted. Another immediately took over the role of commander and yelled, "We're just one man down! Beat them up!" The crowd immediately got fired up again and encroached upon them. They could drown them in another brutal beating as soon as they got an order.
Princess Hongzhuang quickly took on her stance then stood before her grandpa and Ming Feizhen, "Brother Ming, protect my grandpa. I shall cut open a path for us!"
However, Ming Feizhen responded by pulling her aside with a smile, "It's all right, Miss. Let them come."
He then smiled as if he was challenging them, "Try to your heart's content."
Of course, they weren't going to wait for Ming Feizhen to finish before attacking. They roared and rushed over to him.
At the same time they began their advance, sharp blades akin to venomous snakes appeared on top of dozens of resident roofs not too far away in the distance.
*Swift movement!*
*Consecutive sounds!*
It sounded as if it was one sound, but it was actually the sounds of countless arrows flying through the air! Next, painful cries and sounds of bodies dropping to the ground filled the air one after another.
Not one of the twenty-plus men that charged up first were spared. They were all hit with arrows and incapacitated on the ground. Even if they could move, they were scared of being shot with another rain of arrows.
That was when Ming Feizhen extended his hand out and exclaimed, "Men!"
Horse sounds suddenly came from in the distance. Over a hundred elite cavalry were present. Every one of them had bows and arrows on them. Behind them were hundreds of soldiers. On the other side were dozens of constables blocking the alley with their sabres drawn.
That's when the assailants realised that they were the ones who were surrounded. There were weapons shining in the darkness on the roofs that were aimed at the six-hundred or so people present. Those who had better vision noticed that the constables armed with blades were all elites. All of them appeared more than able of taking out fifty of them each.
The most shocked people were none other than the three family slaves.
'Ming Feizhen!'
'Ming Feizhen!! How did we fucking forget about him?!'
'We got high on fighting when we arrived here and totally forgot about him!'
'We were here to give him a beating, but he was never present!!'
'We spent so much effort, fought a pointless fight, failed to beat him, and instead, let him bring the soldiers over to apprehend us?! How tragic is this?!'
"Arrest them!"
The constables and soldiers orderly entered. They restrained all those laying on the ground, standing and sitting that were a part of the fighting, and then took them away from the scene.
The Princess asked, "Brother Ming, is the thing you said you remembered you had to do, this?"
Ming Feizhen replied in a natural fashion, "I remembered that our Vice-captain told us to achieve as much merit as possible in her absence, to polish up Liu Shan Men's name. I never expected the heavens to drop such a big fish to catch."
Speechless, Princess Hongzhuang then asked, "Brother Ming, those archers…"
"I went to Shuntian Prefecture to call for reinforcements."
"You even went to Shuntian Prefecture?! Why didn't you call for help sooner?!"
"I was already fast. How could we have brought so many people under control without these archers? Not even the cavalry would be able to stop them, right?"
The Princess still wanted to give a rebuttal, but Ming Feizhen waved her off. He then looked to Jin Wangsun's restrained family slaves. They were all tied up together.
"Should I be grateful for you giving me this achievement? Oh, right… Did you just say… you were from the Gold and Silver Sect?"
They shook their heads in unison.
"Oh, wow." Ming Feizhen revealed a playful smile, "That's worth looking into then. But before that, did you know that this maiden here is the reigning Emperor's Second Princess?"
The three of them revealed looks of utter shock, "Eh??!"
"Then did you know that the elder you beat to a pulp is the current Elder Statesman?"
'Eeeehh?!!!'
"Then did you know that the elder you pulled the hair out of is the Emperor's father-in-law?"
The three of them forced themselves to not allow their shoulders to tremble. After hearing Ming Feizhen, they yelled, "What?!!!"
"Also!"
Somebody suddenly spoke up from the crowd. An ugly looking young guy that looked tough, yet had eyes with a strong spirit carried a middle-aged man in a yellow robe over as if he was a hero.
He had wiped away the black coating on his face. Puzzled, Princess Hongzhuang asked, "Who are you? On your shoulder is…"
"Your Subject is a third generation disciple from Mount Daluo. My name is Hongjiu. My… Erm, Senior Brother from the same school, but different teacher asked me to come and assist. I just saved a good man."
Ming Feizhen didn't think his Second Brother would abruptly appear. He, himself, was unsure what sort of trouble his Second Brother was planning. He used his eyes to ask, "Why did you suddenly come running out here?! Who are you carrying?"
His Second Brother responded with a firm gaze, "Don't ask me anything. I didn't want it to turn out like this, either…"
As soon as he placed the Emperor onto the ground, he ignored Ming Feizhen and the Princess' utterly startled gazes; instead, he righteously pointed at the three family slaves who were already scared for dear life, and shouted, "Then, did you three know that this man you hit in the head that resulted in a horrific lump is the reigning Emperor?!"
The three slaves exchanged glances. They were ready to cry, "Hey! That's rubbish! We don't remember seeing him!!!!!"
==================
It wasn't hard to find out the truth behind the incident in the slightest, especially for Liu Shan Men, whom were experts at cracking cases and were present at the scene.
After collecting intel and investigating the actions of the suspects, Head Constable Ming Feizhen had finished up confirming that the mastermind behind this large-scale fight was, in fact, Jin Wangsun. Despite the few that claimed they were from the Gold and Silver Sect denying their claims after the fact, Head Constable Ming refuted all of their testimonies and insisted it was Jin Wangsun's handiwork.
Once the truth was out, he went to knock on Jin Wangsun's door to give him grief.
It's said that Jin Wangsun had just finished up his painting of a beauty taking shelter from the rain, when the Imperial Guards barged into his place. Due to his special identity, they merely had soldiers surround his estate, as opposed to giving an order for his apprehension.
However, the fight in Bright Lane that day was a day very much worth commemorating by those in the next generations.
In the contest, Jin Wangsun commanded a total of one thousand three hundred and sixty eight men and wounded an Elder Statesman, the Emperor's father-in-law, a Prime Minister, a Princess and three elders of the Dark Robe Sect.
Most important, they even gave the Emperor a beating.
It's said that he ended up with a lump bigger than a bowl on his head.
Upon returning to the palace, the Imperial Doctor cleared him and said that it wasn't anything major after treating him. He stayed at the Brilliant Consort's palace to enjoy the warmth and brilliance of the beauty.
Seeing her husband with such a big bump on the back of his head, she pitifully asked, "Who is this Jin Wangsun? How dare he hit Your Majesty like this? My gosh, does that hurt?"
"He gathered up men and hit even the Elder Statesman and Prime Minister. For that, I have punished him by grounding him at home and making him reflect. He is forbidden from leaving before the day before New Year's Eve."
There's only about ten days until the day before New Year's Eve, so it certainly wasn't really considered punishment in any capacity, but Brilliant Consort was well aware of how important Jin Wangsun was to the Emperor. He hadn't complained about him to her just once. Her family is among the wealthiest families in all the lands, so it goes without saying that she, too, knew how wealthy Gold and Silver Sect was. The Emperor was going to have to deal with being angry over this incident if he wanted their assistance.
Nonetheless, she fumed, "I am mad about this, too. Who does Jin Wangsun think he is to be running amok in the Capital? This is your territory. He has no respect for you whatsoever, and yet you want to betroth the Princess to him. Every time I think about that, I get so mad I want to hit him."
"About Hong'er's marriage…" The Emperor paused, "She really may not have to marry Jin Wangsun now. I've decided to let them fairly compete for her. It's all in heaven's hands now."
"Hmm? Why?" Excited, Brilliant Consort then asked, "Could it be that Mount Daluo has also reached an agreement of some sort with you?"
"No. The main reason is that I thought it through after taking this beating."
"What did you realise?"
"Hui'er, do you know why I got hit this time?"
"Heh!" Brilliant Consort playfully rolled her eyes at him, "Do you need to ask? Of course it was because of Jin Wangsun's 'graciousness'."
The Emperor shook his head with a smile, "I actually know very well that this isn't Jin Wangsun's fault."
"Huh?"
Brilliant Consort reacted with puzzlement. Her eyes that distinguished between right and wrong immediately revealed a look of confusion.
"It's not Jin Wangsun's fault after he hit you like this?"
The Emperor waved his hand and replied, "It's not his fault. It's not his fault. You must know that the crux of this incident came from how I saw the two Fuma candidates. On that day, the Prime Minister had a discussion with me, and we decided to rig the results of the Fuma selection to betroth Hong'er to Jin Wangsun, and I also scolded Ming Feizhen a bit."
Baffled, Brilliant Consort asked, "So?"
"You don't get it, Hui'er. Do you know what Ming Feizhen's nickname is?"
Brilliant Consort tilted her head. She suddenly recalled his nickname and blurted, "Liu Shan's Plague!"
"Exactly!" In an extremely begrudging tone, the Emperor continued, "Look. As soon as I tried to give him grief, I met with grief. I haven't lost a single fight in ten fights; plus, I brought men with me this time. Who would've expected that the scene was that chaotic? I was even unlucky enough to be knocked out."
With much grief, he sighed, "Sigh, his eight characters of birth time are lethal!"
Glossary
*Hui'er - the "hui" character here is the character for Brilliant in Brilliant Consort. Of course, you don't translate her name as "Hey, Brilliant…", so it's "hui" as her name, "Brilliant", when used as her title.
**Eight Characters of Birth Time - Derived from the complete phrase which is "Four Pillars of Destiny." It is a Chinese astrological concept that a person's destiny can be divined by the two seagenary cycle characters assigned to their birth year, month, day and hour.
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