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The young eunuch carried the guqin case back to Rui Wang’s residence.
Rui Wangfei was sitting in the pavilion, yawning.
The young eunuch said, "Wangfei, do you want to take a look?"
Rui Wangfei’s mind was completely at ease and free of doubts as it was something she took back from Gu Jiao. She waved her hand and said to the young eunuch, "Just take it and keep it."
"Yes!" The young eunuch moved the guqin case into Rui Wangfei's room.
Court Lady Xu was directing the palace maids to tidy up the room when the young eunuch bowed to her and said, "Sister Xu, Wangfei asked this servant to bring the guqin here. Where should this servant put it?"
Court Lady Xu found a cabinet that was opened regularly, "Just put it here, it will be used again in a few days."
The envoys of the State of Liang were arriving, and the Crown Princess had just sent a message to Rui Wangfei, hoping that she could play a song at the palace banquet to entertain the envoys. fre(e)webnov(l).com
Really?! Did the Crown Princess not know that their Wangfei was pregnant?
Rui Wangfei had an operation a year ago and was pregnant before her body had fully recovered, so the imperial physician advised her to stay in bed as much as possible.
Despite being full of complaints, Court Lady Xu dared not really speak out. She could only close the cabinet in a gloomy mood.
During the third month, when the greenery was blooming and various birds were flying, the capital was a thriving scene.
The streets were crowded with pedestrians.
The main streets of the capital were spacious enough to accommodate at least four horse-drawn carriages at the same time, and the wider ones, such as Zhuque Street near the imperial palace, wouldn’t get crowded even if there were a dozen carriages.
Little San pulled up safely to the destination Gu Jiao indicated to him.
Little San looked up at the four words on the inscribed board— Taihe Martial Arts School, and couldn't believe his eyes, "Gu girl, did we go the wrong way?"
Turn left, then turn right, turn right again, turn right once more, and lastly turn right again. Was it possible that he had turned the wrong way once?
Gu Jiao lifted the curtain, took a look, and said, "It’s right, this is the place."
Little San was more confused, saying, "Er, Gu girl, what do you plan to do here? Is it... a house visit?"
But why change her clothes into that if it was a house visit? Could it be that this place didn’t allow female physicians to enter?
Countless questions flashed through Little San's mind.
Gu Jiao didn’t answer him. She jumped out of the carriage and simply said, "Park the carriage in the alley and wait for me for a while."
"Oh." Little San wasn’t a talkative person most of the time, otherwise Gu Jiao would not be willing to let him drive the carriage for her.
Little San parked in the alley on the right side of the martial arts school while Gu Jiao stepped into the building.
Taihe Martial Arts Schools was one of the largest martial arts schools in the capital consisting of three floors. Through the entrance was the lobby, and on the wall facing the entrance were huge letters that form the word martial arts written in cursive writing. There were also various kinds of weapons displayed on both sides. At this moment, there were several martial arts students in the lobby, gesticulating with their bare hands, as though they were discussing how to spar.
They were not surprised to see a stranger here. It was obvious that they were used to strangers coming here.
This wasn’t surprising.
In the State of Zhao, there was no imperial examination on military knowledge and skill, only on literary skills. Therefore, the State of Zhao produced only one literary Zhuangyuan every three years, unlike the States of Liang and Yan, which, apart from a literary Zhuangyuan, also selected a military Zhuangyuan from all over their country.
However, the State of Zhao also needed people talented in martial arts. Some of these talents directly entered the military camp, such as Gu Changqing, but others were unwilling to serve the imperial court, only hoping to find a way forward for themselves with their martial arts.
Martial arts schools were born under this kind of situation.
Although it was said that everything else was inferior to studying, some people were just not born to be a scholar, instead they wanted to learn martial arts. After learning martial arts, they could be an armed escort, a martial arts grandmaster, and even a guard of some high-ranking and noble family... In short, there was no shortage of food to eat. It was much better than digging the ground for food.
Therefore, martial arts schools were very popular in the State of Zhao.
Of course, martial arts schools were also classified into different types. In jargon terms, there were white schools and black schools. White schools were those schools who only accepted students who wanted to learn martial arts, while black schools were much more complex, in addition to recruiting students, they also had a lot of side businesses.
Taihe Martial Arts School was a black school.
Gu Jiao learned about this place from Gu Chengfeng, mainly because Gu Jiao would find Gu Chengfeng to exchange blows with him every once in a while. At first, Gu Chengfeng was able to narrowly defeat Gu Jiao, but gradually Gu Jiao and he fought to a draw. Eventually, Gu Jiao always beat him into a pig's head.
He wasn’t just gonna let himself take a beating!
He was a thief, not a punching bag!
Gu Jiao wanted to regain her strength from her previous life, so she must constantly find a more powerful punching bag.
Gu Jiao took out a mask from her bosom and put it on.
This mask was also something she robbed from Gu Chengfeng; she didn't spend a single cent.
She breezed into the interior of the martial arts school, passed through the festooned door to a seemingly unoccupied tea room. She gently turned the oil lamp on the tea table, and heard a rumble as the wall of the tea room opened up.
There was a noise coming from inside.
Gu Jiao expressionlessly walked into the passage, and the wall behind her closed with a bang.
As soon as it closed, the noise ahead seemed to have been amplified.
At the end of the passage was a large martial arts arena, a three-story wooden structure with viewing rooms on the two upper floors while in the middle of the first floor stood four chilly and awe-inspiring martial arts rings, three of which had on-going fights.
Gu Jiao came to the counter and gently tapped her knuckles lightly on the table.
The somewhat sleepy shopkeeper yawned, "A match or a bet? Ten wen for entering a match, one hundred wen for placing a bet, plus two hundred wen if you want a room…”
As he spoke, a small fishbone plate fell in front of him.
The moment the shopkeeper swept his eyes at the small fishbone plate, he was immediately stunned and most of his drowsiness faded away.
He stood up without delay, changed his expression, and said smilingly, "Young Master Li, how come you’re here again so soon? Didn't you just come here a few days ago?"
Gu Jiao didn’t speak, only glancing at the roster in the Shopkeeper’s hands.
The shopkeeper understood and whispered, "East ring."
Gu Jiao moved toward the east ring.
Those who stood in line behind Gu Jiao, waiting to receive the plate for entering matches were not happy, and one of them shouted at the shopkeeper, "What's going on? We've been lining up here for half a day and we haven't gotten in yet, how come he got in just like that? Didn't they say you had to get a plate before you could enter a match?"
The shopkeeper looked at the newcomers mockingly and showed the fishbone plate in his hand, asking, "Do you know what this is?"
The crowd shook their heads.
The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow and said haughtily, "This is a martial master’s plate."
"Martial, master?"
Those who were still yelling about their discontent with Gu Jiao had all been silenced.
That weak-looking boy was a martial master?
In a martial arts school, someone who taught martial arts to students was called a martial master, but within the martial arts arena, only those who had won a hundred matches were qualified to be called a martial master. contemporary romance
"He… He has won fifty matches?" Someone exclaimed.
Majority had the knowledge that only those who won fifty matches could be called a martial master.
The shopkeeper clicked his tongue and said impatiently, "What are you all saying? It’s just one match!"
He challenged a martial master and defeated him, becoming a martial master in just one fight.
According to the rules of major martial arts schools in the capital, if you challenge an opponent of a higher level and win, you could take away their status.
But not everyone could afford this match that bypassed ranks. The challenger not only needed to sign a death certificate, but also had to pay a huge deposit, which would all go to the hands of the one being challenged if the challenger lost.
When the boy first arrived, he boasted that he wanted to fight with the most powerful martial master in the arena that day.
According to the martial arts school’s rules, he could at most challenge someone at the second level, but the young boy bet a whole thousand taels of silver, so the martial arts school made an exception for him, letting him challenge someone at the third level.
At first, the martial master was reluctant to take up the fight. The martial arts school then asked the boy to add another five hundred taels of silver, and only then did the martial master move.
In a match bypassing ranks, no one was responsible for their life and death. This had always been the rule in this industry.
Everyone thought the little boy was a goner. No one placed a bet in his favor, and in the end, everyone lost their money.
A young man clutching his sword snorted disdainfully, "What's the big deal about winning against one martial master? I heard that there are several martial masters in your martial arts school today, I don't believe that he can still get lucky!"
Everyone nodded. That’s right. Such a petite boy, how could he beat those martial masters? He must have been just lucky at that time!
Gu Jiao was unaware of these people's heated discussions, and even if she knew, she probably wouldn't care.
There were four rings in total, each in every direction, and every day, different martial masters would be assigned to different rings. The shopkeeper pointed her to the east ring, which should have the strongest fighter.
"Warrior Yan Sandao wins! Is there any expert who wants to challenge Warrior Yan?"
Above the ring, a young man dressed in the uniform of the martial arts school shouted as he knocked the gong and the wooden club he was carrying.
This Warrior Yan had been fighting in the ring all morning and had defeated an unknown number of experts. At this moment, no one dared to fight him anymore.
"If there’s no one, then today, Warrior Yan——" The young man was about to end this fight when he saw a light little figure leaping into the ring.
……
Meanwhile, Old Marquis, who was punished to copy military books, spent a whole day and night in the imperial palace and finally finished the last copy.
This was far more exhausting than training martial arts. His head felt dizzy, his limbs numb, and he almost suffered internal injuries from copying so many words.
No, not almost. Copying so many words did inflict him internal injuries.
Marquis Xuanping hadn’t returned since he slipped out. It was unknown what he did.
Old Marquis simply paid him no thought. He stood up on the table and nearly fell to the ground because of his numb legs. He really looked like an old man in his sixties at the moment.
Old Marquis dragged his exhausted self and went to the imperial study holding the still warm military books to make amends to the Emperor.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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