Editors: Cypress Venus Trap, Xu Xian
Chapter 29 Ten Moves
The school was crowded with dozens of people, there were both lords and servants forming a circle. It appeared to be very crowded since the yard was not big.
Gu Shenwei was pushed and shoved into the circle as soon as he entered. The students yelled excitedly, “Come, come, how many rounds will he fight?”
The hands that held him left one by one, he finally broke away from their binds. Alone and confused, Gu Shenwei’s heart thumped when he saw the teenager facing him.
Previously, when he first saw Big Head G.o.d, he sighed secretly about the possibility of meeting such a ferocious person in the world. Similarly, a completely different thought popped up in his head: how was it possible that such a delicate and beautiful being existed in the world?
The teenager in front of him looked only about 10 years old, his skin was shiny white, like a humanoid carved out the best jade; His cheeks held two red spots from excessive movement, like two drops of blood dissolving into a clear surface of water; His ink black eyes were surprisingly big, like a small beast who just learnt how to walk, filled with curiosity and a desire to control the world; His small lip was slightly upturned, fully showing his disdain towards the surrounding crowd and the new rival.
Gu Shenwei was not green and inexperienced, he had seen many sons and daughters of n.o.bles in the Central Plains, however, this time he was like a stunned, juvenile villager who had accidentally been allowed to enter the palace. He finally woke up when nearby sneers started getting louder, he could not help but flush. He quickly kneeled on one knee, lowered his head and said,
“Servant Huan bows to little gongzi.”
The surrounding tumult vanished suddenly. “I’m not the little gongzi.” A crisp voice said angrily, stressing the word ‘little’.
Surprised, Gu Shenwei raised his head. Granted, he thought that this kid dressed in men"s clothes and surrounded by the crowd was the little gongzi Shangguan Fei. Now that he was finally able to react, such a delicate figure, how could it possibly be a boy?
His thoughts rapidly spun, this is not the little gongzi Shangguan Fei, she"s probably Shangguan Ru, the girl twin, how should I address her? Miss? But she"s wearing men"s attire, she probably won"t like me calling her as such.
Gu Shenwei was stunned again, obviously there were a few unwritten rules in the school, but he had joined within less than a day and no one had told him anything.
Shangguan Ru raised her eyebrows, the onlookers sneered again as they were happy to watch the commotion.
Gu Shenwei looked around seeking help, finally, he got a tip from someone standing behind Shangguan Ru. She was also a young girl dressed in men"s attire and her age was similar to Gu Shenwei’s. She had slender arms and legs and was very tall, almost the tallest in the yard; she used her lips to silently mouth three characters: Ninth Gongzi.
“Ninth Gongzi, Servant Huan greets Ninth Gongzi.”
Shangguan Ru lifted the corners of her mouth slightly, but the kid standing next to the tall girl was not happy. “Look at the good servant that my eighth brother sent to me, he is so eager to please the others that he forgot about his real lord.”
The kid looked very similar to Shangguan Ru, but more manly. There was no doubt in Gu Shenwei"s mind that this was his real lord, Shangguan Fei.
Between the twins, Shangguan Fei was the elder brother and Shangguan Ru was the younger sister. If one was asked to call her gongzi, one should call Shangguan Ru the Tenth Gongzi, then why she was called the Ninth Gongzi?
Gu Shenwei didn’t understand. He followed the order to please the little gongzi, but didn’t expect to step off on the wrong foot and offend both of them on their first meeting.
The tall, young girl was perhaps one of the misses of the castle. Amongst the group of boys, she and Shangguan Ru were the only two girls present. Their statuses were not the lowest, instead, they were the highest. She stuck out her two arms and blocked Shangguan Fei behind her and loudly said, “Come come, the new round starts, I bet 10 moves, this kid will fall down in 10 moves.”
The school kids got involved one by one, some of them bet on Shangguan Ru, but there were several others who put their stakes on the new servant.
Gu Shenwei realized that he was going to compete with Shangguan Ru, and knew that he must lose without even thinking about it. The opponent was a beautifully dressed little girl, he had to pretend that he was clumsy.
But it was not that simple, surprisingly, the twin brother Shangguan Fei didn’t bet on his little sister. He ran to Gu Shenwei’s side. “You’re not allowed to fall down in 10 moves, or I’ll let my eighth brother teach you a lesson.”
Gu Shenwei was faced with a dilemma, even if Servant Qing knew how to handle this situation, he was outside the door and couldn’t help him.
Shangguan Ru was already getting impatient, she a.s.sumed an attack posture, and shouted, “Get out of my way.”
The crowd vacated the place for the two of them. On the opposite side, Shangguan Ru already leaped and kicked his face before Gu Shenwei even settled his feet.
This was not a move a 10 year old little girl should know. Both her movements and strength were very sharp, even an adult who practised martial arts for many years may not be able to achieve her level.
Gu Shenwei thought about hiding his capabilities, but now he had to use all of his skills to barely dodge her kick.
Once they started, Shangguan Ru’s moves fell in continuous succession. Her determination and valour contradicted her appearance.
Gu Shenwei didn’t have time to think, so tried his best to protect himself by twisting and turning. His fist techniques were average, and the Tiger Subduing Fist he learnt was a fierce move used mainly for offense rather than defense. He did not dare fight ruthlessly and so, naturally, he was the inferior one.
After five or six moves, the crowd’s cheering became roars inside the school. Especially the tall girl and Shangguan Fei, the leaders of the two sides, who shouted hoa.r.s.ely.
Shangguan Ru"s attacks became more malicious. When it was the tenth move, she feigned pulling away for more room, but suddenly lowered her body and kicked back.
Although Gu Shenwei had the ability to avoid this unexpected kick, he still hesitated about whether he should win or lose. Arguably, his task was to please Shangguan Fei, but from what he understood up till then, Shangguan Ru seems to be more favoured than her brother…
His thoughts took less than a second, but Shangguan Ru’s foot already kicked his abdomen solidly. Gu Shenwei’s whole body flew backwards and hit a school kid who was yelling good.
The school kid that was. .h.i.t was unprepared, but luckily he was strong. He cried Aiyo and took several steps back before being held by others. Relying on the rebounding force, Gu Shenwei staggered in another direction. He almost fell down before someone pushed his back and he finally stood up.
“Ten moves, ten moves are over. He did not fall down, we win!”
Shangguan Fei moved away from Gu Shenwei’s back and shouted excitedly.
“Ehhh, you’re cheating, obviously he would"ve fallen down if you guys hadn’t pushed him.”
In two steps, the tall girl strode out in front of Shangguan Fei, holding her waist and argued aggressively. She must also be Unique King’s daughter, otherwise she wouldn"t dare hold her ground in front of the little gongzi.
The two groups started quarrelling until, suddenly, everyone realised that the partic.i.p.ants of the fight hadn’t said a word. Shangguan Ru pointed at Gu Shenwei, “You, speak, have you been pushed to stand up by the others?”
Shangguan Fei stood close to him and ordered loudly in his ear, “You stood firmly by yourself, right?”
It was like going in a circle, Gu Shenwei was trapped in an awkward situation again, he could only stammer to vaguely answer what happened.
Shangguan Ru pushed the people out of the way and stood in front of Gu Shenwei, face to face. The white-porcelain-like face became deep red from anger, “Aren’t you going to admit your defeat?”
The two of them stood very close, her angry breath puffed on his face, Gu Shenwei felt that he could not deny her question, “I … …”
At this crucial moment, someone finally opened his mouth and saved him.
“Hmm, all of you, go back to the school.”
The one who spoke was a dignified elderly teacher who had his hands folded behind his back. He stared at the school kids in the yard with cold arrogance.
The old teacher’s words took immediate effect. A dozen school kids along with their bookkeepers, including the little gongzi Shangguan Fei, all suddenly turned into rats that met a cat. They obediently stopped uttering a single sound and returned to the school, even their steps weren"t very big.
Only Shangguan Ru, who liked others calling her ‘Ninth Gongzi‘, remained and stared angrily at the sniffy servant. Obviously she won, but, to her surprise, he dared to refuse to admit it.
“Go back!” The old teacher emphasised. It wouldn"t work if one wasn"t imposing enough to teach in Golden Roc Castle.
Shangguan Ru’s face turned redder and redder, like a jade cup being filled with red wine, however, even she couldn’t disobey the teacher’s order and had no choice but to head for the school. She suddenly turned back and grabbed the new servant’s ear and twisted it heavily once.
In this way, Unique King’s favourite daughter left a mark on Gu Shenwei’s body. The pain from his ear would recede soon, but the haze over his heart would not dissipate.
When he walked out the school door, Servant Qing, who was waiting outside the door, chewed Servant Huan out, blaming him for not being smart and offending the two gongzis. “Why did you call her little gongzi and then call her "Ninth Gongzi"? Don"t you know to call her gongzi? Privately, we call the little miss "little gongzi", but when serving them, we call the little lord, "little gongzi". Only the miss likes to be called "Ninth Gongzi", how can the little gongzi be happy when he hears this?”
Servant Qing babbled continuously, perhaps no one other than he himself could understand what he was babbling about. It"s just an t.i.tle, how come it has so many meanings behind it. Gu Shenwei despised it very much in his heart.
According to Servant Qing’s explanation, as soon as she was born, Shangguan Nu was nurtured to be a gongzi, as she grew older, she became more boyish than her older brother. She was a highly compet.i.tive person who always wanted to rank higher than her brother and never admitted she was the little sister, so it was very confusing to address her.
Also, the tall girl was not Unique King’s own daughter, she was the twins’ elder female cousin; her personality was also boyish and she was Shangguan Ru’s diehard follower.
“You have to call her ‘Yu Gongzi‘, never call her miss, otherwise it will not be as simple as a boxed ear, you will probably lose you life.”
No matter how much they like the t.i.tle of gongzi, they still can’t change the fact that they"re female, how can they punish someone simply because of this. Gu Shenwei despised them again in his heart.
The Shangguan Family’s descendants studied in the morning and practised kung fu in the afternoon. At noon, the school kids scattered in an uproar. The two female gongzi had more than a dozen followers, Servant Qing kept several of them and dismissed the rest.
Gu Shenwei was not selected, so he went back to see Xue Niang alone.
After hearing Servant Huan’s first day experience, Xue Niang scolded him even more, she blamed him for not trying his best to please his lord. But even Xue Niang, like Servant Qing, avoided choosing a side to stand on between the twins when they had different opinions.
Gu Shenwei could only rely on himself to solve this problem.
Elder Zhang went out to tend the horses, Gu Shenwei lay alone inside the stone hut. Knowing how to please the lord would always remain an obstacle for him. He was not Servant Yao, who was born to be a servant and always sucked up to others through instinct. He was not the young lord of the Gu family anymore, but he still couldn"t calmly accept his status as Servant Huan.
In the past 14 years, he hadn"t learnt how to please others and only knew how to be pleased by others.
Gu Shenwei suddenly sat upright, he didn’t know how a servant should conduct himself, but he understood the lord"s thoughts. What kind of servant would make the lord feel really happy? In this, he was well-versed.
Thus, he made a bold decision.