Volume 1 Chapter 43
The Orange Prince Wants to Stir Trouble
The melodies of bamboo musical instruments could be heard and beautiful dancers dancing could be seen at the Orange Prince's residence, however, he was in no mood to enjoy the beautiful scene.
I heard he got even more irritated after and fell to the floor with a loud thud while he had a cup of tea in one hand. I heard he got injured from his fall. The dancers and musicians went pale but they didn't dare to stop playing and dancing. Everybody knows the prince gets angry easily, but you can't show your fear of his rage in front of him or he'd get even angrier.
"Get lost!! All of you!!"
Everybody in the room felt like they'd just been spared the death penalty at his order and swiftly left the room. There was only one swordsman dressed in white who stayed by his side. That swordsman was none other than the prince's competent assistant, Hua Shan's leader, Jia Yunfeng.
"Who the hell is that guy?! How come my men didn't find anything after three days when he found it in the blink of an eye?"
The men the Orange Prince sent were Jia Yunfeng's disciples, so he was basically attacking him by saying that.
Jia Yunfeng embarrassingly said: "There's no need to get angry, your highness. I've looked into that guy. He's just a constable that was recruited by Liu Shan Men recently called Ming Feizhen. Your highness, you know how Liu Shan Men held a recruitment exam recently to reinforce their ranks and show off at the martial arts tournament, so their recruits can't be bad."
The Orange Prince slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed: "He's not bad, while your men are fucking disgraceful! I had Hua Shan, Song Shan and Qing Cheng, three large sects. You were the one that told me your sect could take on three sects, that's why I went and offended the other two leaders. You then came up with the stupid idea of having your disciples disguise themselves as disciples of the Demon Sect and getting them to steal the book from Cha Yuan's home. In the end, you couldn't get the book and even disgraced me in front of my father."
The prince got angrier as he spoke. He then grabbed a flower vase and said: "I'm grounded! I'm grounded! I'm the one that's grounded! You on the other hand are fucking fine. Fuck you; grounded my mortherfucking ass!" As he was speaking he threw the vase out and shattered it to pieces.
"Your highness, that's a porcelain vase exclusive to the palace during the Song dynasty."
"So the fuck what?! I'm pissed off!"
I'm stubborn!
The prince was clearly throwing a fit and would've gone off whether or not Jia Yunfeng tried to comfort him. Master Jia could only stand at the door silently like the swordsman he was.
After a while when he calmed down a bit, he finally asked: "You said… Liu Shan Men recruited three people right? What are their names and what are their personalities like?"
"Yes. Liu Shan Men held a recruitment exam and recruited three young men. One is called Tang Ye, another Ming Feizhen, and another called Su Xiao." Jia Yunfeng clearly did some digging around, and counted his fingers like a mathematician as he said: "The most skilled fighter among them is Tang Ye. He knows more than ten styles. If I were to fight him, I don't think I could defeat him within the first one hundred moves. He was the one who fought me at the Vermillion Hall that day."
"His martial arts skills aren't bad. I'd like to recruit him if possible. What about that bitch who took me hostage?" The prince got angry as he remembered the person who threatened him that day. He licked his lips and continued: "I want to make her my slave and make her have a taste of what it's like to be threatened."
"That person's name is Su Xiao…" Master Jia got a little thrown off when he mentioned Su Xiao.
"I think he's a guy."
The Orange Prince was stunned: "It's a he? A guy looking that seductive?"
"I think so. I'm not too sure, because even Liu Shan Men's people aren't sure themselves…"
"Yunfeng, where do you get your information from? How did you turn a beauty into a guy? Are you telling me the one that threatened me and held me hostage is a monster? Is your informant the leader of the Demon Sect, or is he the leader of the martial world alliance?"
Jia Yunfeng is without question smart and strong, but the three Shen Yiren chose are just rarities. He could only sigh and accept it as bad luck: "His name is Ming Feizhen. There's not much information on him. I just heard he's the disciple of a famous and reputable sect."
"So what if he's from a famous sect? Can any other famous sect compare to you? You just don't want to help, right?" The Orange Prince has been grounded for ten downs now and had no freedom. He got angrier and asked: "Where are you, Batian?"
"Present. Please give me your orders, your highness."
A big formidable, mean looking guy in a grey robe from outside came in.
He was the largest tyrant in the capital called Xiang Batian. His family was originally served the empress. Decades ago, the emperor married her when he was still just a prince. They did a lot for the empress so after the emperor ascended the throne and the empress was in power, she brought them along. They're a family which can pretty much have their way in the capital.
Xiang Batian is a deviant in the Xiang family. He was born with a strong mind and body, as well as loving to fight. He was picking fights with gangsters in the capital before he was thirteen or fourteen and also usually won. He attacks viciously, never pulling any punches. Most of his opponents suffered severe injuries like broken bones or damaged nerves.
The elders of the Xiang family felt that he was hard to restrain so they sent him to Cold Mountain Temple, one of the eight largest sects in Jiang Nan to study Buddhism and learn martial arts. They were trying to improve his personality and temperament. Before they knew it, twenty years had passed.
When he returned, he was an adult. He studied Buddhism and learnt martial arts in those twenty years but his personality didn't improve. As a matter of fact, he got more violent and vicious. The temple advocated peace and kindness. The elders of Cold Mountain Temple understood his temperament, so they didn't teach him any high level martial arts. They just had him clean and do mundane chores.
Xiang Batian never could stand life in the temple. Add on the fact that he wasn't taught martial arts, and his hatred only grew. One night, he strangled a samanera who was on cleaning duty with him to death. He then stole some secret manuals in the attic he was tasked with cleaning. He stole a copy of the "Cold Heavens Sabre Arts", and a copy of the "Golden Armour" manuals. He then left Jiang Nan and spent over a decade mastering them before returning.
He didn't rush to return. The first thing he did was return to Cold Mountain Temple, and decapitated the shifu which put him on cleaning duty. He even killed the seven monks who tried to apprehend him. The incident shook all of Jiang Nan. That made it hard for him to find his footing in the martial world, so he could only serve government officials and the sort.
He then used his family's relationship with the empress to join the Orange Prince. The Orange Prince had always behaved like he was above the law, so he was happy to have people like Xiang Batian at his disposal.
The prince laughed evilly and said: "Haha, Batian, is life in the residence alright for you? Are you still 'using' that female entertainer I rewarded you?"
Xiang Batian played along. He laughed evilly and said: "She's fantastic! You've got good taste, your highness. That girl is great."
"That goes without saying. Not only do I have good taste, I can also use my hips very well. Hahahahaha." The Orange Prince has been depressed these last few days, so he was very glad to have someone who he could get along with.
Jia Yunfeng stood silently to one side with his eyes slightly shut. He acted as the Orange Prince's personal bodyguard as the leader of a sect, so he was treated differently. Moreover, he was prideful and wouldn't talk with the prince about these unbecoming sorts of topics.
"Master Jia, you're not asleep are you?"
Jia Yunfeng was the Orange Prince's best warrior. Xiang Batian was always eyeing his position. He always wore a look of scrutiny on his face when he met Jia Yunfeng.
"Master Jia, we've been working together for a year now, so why are you still acting so distant?"
Jia Yunfeng had never liked Xiang Batian, so he frowned but refrained from answering.
"Cut the bullshit. Batian, you can choose any of the warriors from my residence. Pick and choose until you're happy." The Orange Prince wore a cruel and cold smile which contradicted his violent temperament, and continued: "I want you to go beat someone up, capture another and kill the other!"