Back to Jin Wangsun, who lied on the ground in the courtyard the entire time after being beaten down. His multiple attempts to stand up were futile. No matter what he tried, as soon as he tried to use his true qi, his entire body would feel numb. He, therefore, lay there cussing 'motherfucker,' of course, it was the bastard that just left that he was calling a motherfucker.
"That's the second time now… This is the second time now. Motherfucker… If I run into you again, I'll skin you alive!"
Jin Wangsun abandoned etiquette a long time ago. He continued making death threats and coming up with thousands of variations to curse Ming Feizhen with. Listening to his cursing made him go from the appearing as the patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect to reverting back to useless Young Master Jin.
Jin Wangsun's life wasn't a smooth ride. His mother passed away when he was young. He was raised by the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect, alone. His father was the patriarch of a huge and prominent sect in the pugilistic world. At the same time, their family was one of the three biggest merchants in the land. Despite how busy he was every day, he never forgot to bring Jin Wangsun along by his side and strictly educate him.
Gold and Silver Sect started out as merchants. They value pragmatism, profit and unity. Profit was far more important than friendships. As such, the days of mental warfare - which was every single day - became a mini pugilistic world for Jin Wangsun. Subsequently, Jin Wangsun learnt power is King at a very tender age. Further, it didn't take him long to recognise that he wasn't powerful.
Many years ago at a grand event with the Seven Champion White Princes, heroes across Jiangnan were invited to attend. The heroes brought along their second generation disciples.
Among the chattering and drinking was a cheerful atmosphere. It didn't take long for somebody to suggest letting their junior disciples perform in the arena. Everyone exclaimed that it was a good idea to have the children split up into groups according to their age and put on a martial arts performance. There were many children in attendance and plenty of children at Jin Wangsun's age.
At the time, he was only nine years old. He performed the Gold and Silver Wrong Hands. He was smart and dedicated with practice, so the majority of other kids his age weren't a match for him. As such, he continued to win match after match.
The heroes in attendance congratulated the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect, "A wise goose never lays a tame egg!"
Jin Wangsun was originally extremely proud to hear that, but then his father said otherwise, "My son is still a tame egg. He had to put in the yards. He cannot compare to your talented disciples."
It was just a modest statement, yet Jin Wangsun took it to heart and belted, "They just said that I'm not a tame egg. Dad, why did you insist on calling me a tame egg? What are you if I'm a tame egg?"
His response caused everyone to erupt into laughter. The heroes' mouths nearly ended up lopsided from laughing. His father wore a displeased look as he stared at his naughty son.
It was just a normal everyday tantrum. All that his father had to do was put him in his place when they got home; however, things went south afterwards. Some villain from somewhere dared to have the audacity to act up at the venue. The villain knew that he couldn't defeat so many skilled masters, so he grabbed a kid, instead.
All the kids - bar Jin Wangsun - fled toward their parents. Jin Wangsun had absolute confidence in himself, and thus, stood in place to face off against the villain.
Naturally, Jin Wangsun took a devastating beating.
At the time, Jin Wangsun called for help in an embarrassing manner. In his moment of panic, the villain slapped him across the face until he bled. His cheeks were swelled up as if he had balls in his face. At the time, Jin Wangsun saw two scenes.
One was his father standing in the distance, protecting a child about his age. He looked at his father's arms with concern.
'Are you my dad or not?! Come help me!'
The other scene he saw was himself in shock. There were many seated female heroines. One of them held a long broadsword with one hand. She ruthlessly slashed toward the villain! Before the villain could even think of using Jin Wangsun as a shield, he pulled his hand back to guard against the attack, but he didn't last long and was slashed to death by her.
Afterwards, Jin Wangsun even forgot how to thank her. He only remembered that she was very pretty, wielded a broadsword and was very strong.
Once he arrived home, the first thing he did was reprimand his father for not saving him.
However, his father looked at him with a torn look, "That child was a child of one of our big customers. I have to do business with him. Put up with it for a bit, will you?"
'That's your reason?'
Ever since then, Jin Wangsun fell in love with mastering the sabre. He fell so infatuated with it that he couldn't quit.
He trained for five hours daily, be it rain, sun or wind. Gold and Silver Sect didn't have an advanced sabre manual of their own, so he followed Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual and learnt styles from other sects to eventually acquire the title Jiangnan's King of Sabres.
But Jin Wangsun, himself, was aware that he was unworthy of the title, for there was somebody more skilled with a broadsword right next to him, his family slave, A Hu. Had Jin Wangsun been born elsewhere, perhaps he would've been a hero and respected figure. Unfortunately, owing to his origins, his starting point was at a very advanced level, in turn making it very difficult for him to have a breakthrough to stand out. As such, if he was to be honest, he never accomplished any achievements that he was proud of.
That was until one particular day. He decided to challenge a fearsome and notorious opponent. It was the best opportunity he had in his life. Night Fortress is extremely famous in Jiangnan. His dad even said that if he could win, then he would let him succeed the patriarch seat of Night Fortress.
The master of Night Fortress didn't show up that day, consequently allowing him to finally sit on the seat he glorified most in his life. Nobody dared to look down on him wherever he went in the following months!
The moment he was crowned patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect, he began to plan a revolution in the sect. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before he met his match. He lost in their fight, but it wasn't over, yet, for there was still hope, as long as he could win the support of the Imperial Court.
However, one man came to his abode alone today and made him taste humiliation once again.
Jin Wangsun's graceful demeanour went out the window long ago. He used the most profane words he knew to curse all eighteen generations of the perpetrator's family. Despite that, though, he never mentioned the name Zhong Ning once.
He wasn't convinced that the perpetrator was Zhong Ning. To the contrary, he believed it to be a skilled master in the martial world disguised as Zhong Ning that came to give him grief due to their opposing positions.
The first time he found himself on the receiving end the first time in the plaza in the Imperial Palace. That day, he was struck into a vat with a single palm strike. The name Big Golden Vat stuck with him henceforward.
Ming Feizhen deliberately pulled punches to test Jin Wangsun's true skills. Although Jin Wangsun was beaten with no means of fighting back, he, too, was trying to find out what Ming Feizhen's true skill level was. The first time he was smashed into the vat, the attack was too fast. Given the unexpected nature of the attack, all he managed to faintly figure out was that his opponent didn't have any excellent or unique techniques; instead, his opponent relied on immense brute force.
During their second exchange when they actually fought, though, Jin Wangsun was perplexed the entire time. He couldn't figure out why he couldn't fully execute his sabre skills. Usually, a slash on the left and a hook on the right, then a slash, and it's game over for his opponent. Nevertheless, against Ming Feizhen, regardless of what he threw, Ming Feizhen wouldn't even bother with intercepting or countering his attacks. Instead, he'd just swing his pole. The gales generated from the swings were so powerful that it was practically impossible for him to breathe. Had he not immediately refocused on guarding, he would've been beaten into retardation with one swing. Consequently, there was no slash on the left, hook on the right, then slash. His only option was to guard with both blades, or else, be reduced to mush.
Despite trading countless blows with Ming Feizhen, never for a moment did it occur to him that he was technical. What he perceived from their exchange was that Ming Feizhen relied on pure insane brute strength, which reminded him of the skilled fighter that sent him flying on that day in the palace.
When Ming Feizhen was questioned, he stuttered and occasionally replied here and there.
Moreover, Zhong Ning is just a rapist. He's just a lowly pervert. Even if he possessed elite skills that could defeat him and A Hu at the same time, what would he stand to gain from beating them? He's a rapist. Offending the Seven Champion White Princes would only result in bringing him infinite grief.
Jin Wangsun isn't stupid. Once he pieced it all together, he made sense of a fair bit. He concluded that today's assailant was definitely in cahoots with Ming Feizhen, which he explained as the assailant helping Ming Feizhen by attacking him. That was the only way to explain why the assailant risked himself, yet never dealt the fatal blow, not to mention that he only touched a few maids' peaches.
With that said, Jin Wangsun was somewhat scared, nonetheless. While his attacker may not have been Zhong Ning, who knows if he's into men or not?
'Thank heavens for him being afraid of Her Highness; otherwise, we'd have been violated.'
That thought made him eagerly looking forward to the Princess even more for some reason, especially Princess Hongzhuang, because… she uses a sabre, and loves sabres to the extent that she treats it as her life. Jin Wangsun could tell that Princess Hongzhuang's skills with a sabre were advanced.
'We're nothing short of a match made in heaven.'
While analysing all the incidents, he heard footsteps approach. He remembered that Princess Jingan came to visit today. It was rude of him to fail to display the required etiquette, but the problem was that he couldn't get up.
As soon as he raised his head, he didn't see the beautiful Princess, nonetheless. Instead, he saw a group of men.
The leader of them was a well-known face in the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, Long Zaitian, who had been demoted and was no longer a captain. However, he was one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, so he had the qualifications to lead the Imperial Guards. They weren't here to rescue the Princess. As soon as they heard a disturbance inside the estate, they immediately charged in.
"Wow, Young Master Jin, what are you lying on the ground for? You sure are in a great mood, huh?" Long Zaitian found Jin Wangsun, who was lying on the ground, and couldn't resist the urge to ridicule him, "You copying gophers? Fuma Candidate, last time, you climbed into a vat in the flower garden, and this time you have climbed into a hole at the bottom of a tree. You are not going to dig a hole for yourself in a pond next time, are you?"
Jin Wangsun was angry to begin with, and thereby raged, "What would I dig a hole for?"
Long Zaitian laughed, "What did you climb into a vat for, then? If I knew why your reasons, would I have to ask?"
"Cut the nonsense! Where is Her Highness?"
Long Zaitian wasn't fond of Jin Wangsun. In a disdainful tone, he replied, "Would Her Highness see you with this "respectable" appearance of yours? Her Highness ordered me to get you out of the ground and clean you up before sending you over to her. Come, Brother, don't make Her Highness wait for too long."
Jin Wangsun cried out in pain as Long Zaitian pulled him out without a single care for his cries. Jin Wangsun, therefore, would spend more time on his sick bed as a result of Long Zaitian's method.
Jin Wangsun was taking to Princess Jingan. The Princess calmly said, "Young Master Jin, as per our agreement, I shall assist you in becoming my younger sister's Fuma."
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