The attack didn"t happen though. It didn"t happen not for lack of desire or opportunity but because the masked guy pulled out a ma.s.sive sword, swung it, and the thugs aiming for the empress dowager"s throat, fell on their knees, wheezing as they tried to catch their breaths.The cool, freezing air that accompanied the movement of the sword even froze the tears clinging to Chang Chang"s long lashes. She was livid and tried to attack the guy with a complicated martial arts move but the empress dowager, who remained standing and unmoved by the freeze blast, pulled a leg and sent her flying some distance away with a simple kick.
"c.u.n.t," the empress dowager muttered disgustedly.
Mu Xing smothered a laugh; there was a distinct chortle hastily suppressed behind the black mask.
"Throw them all out," she ordered. "This is a friendly game between friends and neighbors. I will not have it disrupted by the disgusting act of a s.l.u.t who cannot accept defeat. You," she said, glaring down at the pups yelping unhappily before her, "get that stinking b.i.t.c.h out of here and never come back. If you"re not out of the capital by an hour, I"ll have everyone of you thrown in jail for conspiracy to commit murder!"
The Zhengyi contingent who entered the gates with their heads held high left the arena with their tails between their legs, Chang Chang with a huge bruise on her cheek, and their big egos totally crushed.
By this time, everybody, especially the judges, were finally told of what really transpired between Chang Chang and w.a.n.g Sao. w.a.n.g Sao had suffered a deep cut which almost tore his insides to shreds. He was still being looked at by the doctor, who feared an infection would occur and complicate the wound.
When the emperor was told of what happened, he immediately issued an edict banning the Zhengyi athletes from ever competing in the Battle of Talents. This decision shocked many people, who considered it too harsh a punishment. The emperor, however, explained that discipline and the grace to accept defeat were part and parcel of what makes compet.i.tion a true endeavor.
"Zhengyi displayed neither grace nor sportsmanship when their leader attacked an innocent man for no apparent reason other than she was angry for losing. That is not how true warriors behave in the sports arena or in the battlefield. The team knew better but they chose to believe her story and was even ready to attack empress mother for stopping the murder."
Gu Sheng gave an unexpected laugh.
"I didn"t really for empress mother. I feared for the Zhengyi team. She could be quite a handful if angered."
The guy with the black mask continued to win his matches when the contest resumed. He advanced to the final round and won by beating two opponents from Yuqui and Lu w.a.n.g.
Watching him from a distance, An Ning frowned. She remembered the masked man who pulled Gu Sheng out of the blast but before the thought could take hold, she shook her head. It couldn"t be him. This man"s face, what little he allowed people to see, was scarred and damaged as if he had been pulled out of a burning fire. The left eye, which was covered by a lock of long hair, was almost totally shut. The man in the purple bandana had smooth brows and a pair of undamaged eyes which had frowned in distress when he checked Gu Sheng for injuries.
"Are you envying the winner?" Gu Sheng said, whispering the words in her ear.
An Ning turned, startled, and gave a laugh.
"I"m not as good as him," she said. "He"s almost lethal with that bow. Who is he?"
"I don"t really know. All I know is that he comes from Chengdi, that"s a kingdom that used to have business with emperor father, I think. I spoke to their amba.s.sador the other day. He said the emperor heard about the coup and wanted to help. I told him it was not needed since everything had been resolved."
"Very nice of him to offer his help," An Ning said.
"I thought so, too," he said then smiled. "But what are you really thinking?"
"I"m thinking about those Zhengyi sc.u.ms. Have a very bad feeling about them."
"Yi Hai checked. They already left the gates not too long ago."
"Hmnn..."
"Come on, who says we can"t play just because we"re their majesties the emperor and empress? I know you"ve been dying to try the range. Let"s get our bows and shoot, shall we?"
"This is abuse of power, you know," An Ning said, smiling.
"I know. But doesn"t it feel great?" Gu Sheng throw his head back and laughed.
Although the compet.i.tion had ended and the names of the winners announced, everyone was reluctant to leave, still milling around gossiping about what happened with the Zhengyi team and how it ended badly for them. Banned for life from competing in the Battle of Talents. That was the worst thing that could happen to any aspiring athlete hoping to make a name for himself in the annual compet.i.tion.
But that Chang Chang to attack w.a.n.g Sao like that. She was obviously insane and wanted to hit back at someone for her team losing the archery pennant. But then the empress could have locked her up and throw away the key but instead she remains free while poor w.a.n.g Sao is still fighting for his life. She was lucky to get away, the b.i.t.c.h.
The gossip went back and forth but gradually sputtered to a stop when people started noticing something different in the range. The emperor and empress stood there, bows in their hands, then firing at the target some seventy yards away.
The emperor was laughing, his shoulders convulsing with his mirth, as his arrow fell some distance away without even hitting the target. The empress shushed him loudly then fired but the arrow went the same path as the emperor"s and missed.
Now their laughter rang loudly and made everyone who heard it break into a smile. Many wanted to walk closer and exchange a greeting or two with the happy young pair. Many wanted to but never really quite found the courage to intrude and break this lovely interlude.
For many of them, to see this human part of the usually somber and unnaturally mature emperor Gu Sheng was a revelation. To see him like this, being teased by a girl, teasing her back, laughing and giggling and simply behaving like any normal teen out on a date with a girl he obviously likes, even if that girl was his own stepmother, already gave them glimpse of the kind of ruler he would grow into as he matures into power over the years.
Some distance away, the kind of ruler Gu Sheng would eventually become did not interest a pair of stormy eyes that looked at the young man and the young girl as if he could literally fry them with the lethal heat oozing from his fiery orbs.
Out on the range, Gu Sheng was laughingly fitting his arrow to his bow and was getting ready to let it fly into the distance once again. Besides him, An Ning was smiling, looking at him with a gentle expression on her face.
Gu Sheng pulled the bow but before he could release the arrow on its hold, something wheezed past him, fast, sharp, and very lethal. The arrow landed straight and true on the target, then pa.s.sed thru it almost without a trace and continued on its path until it reached the edge of the clearing and vanished into the trees beyond.