บท 39: Bribery
บรรณาธิการ: Transn
Gu Shenwei hoped that justice would prevail at this moment. He thought that God owed him an explanation and wondered, "Why am I abused like this now? Was I an evildoer in my previous life? If I was and I'm doomed to be punished in this life, why did God let me enjoy a carefree life for 14 years?"
Seven sparring boys took turns slapping him in the face. If anyone of them did not hit him hard enough, Shangguan Yushi would beat that boy.
Reality was cruel. Shangguan Yushi was a young master, while Gu Shenwei was just a slave boy. The sparring boys had no choice at all.
Gu Shenwei had to suppress his killing desire, and every time he got a slap in his face, he would beg for mercy. "Master Yu, Please forgive me. I'll never dare to do that again."
God seemed to neglect his prayer for help. During the whole process, no one stood up to put an end to this abuse. Shangguan Yushi easily achieved her goal of punishing an obnoxious slave. She cast a disdainful look at Slave Huan and said, "Well, I will spare your life this time."
With these words, she left with her companions.
The sparring boys were left behind. They seemed at a loss for words. A boy took a step forward, wanting to help Slave Huan up, but he quickly moved back since he saw everyone else was just standing by.
Slave Qing came over and glanced at them as if nothing had happened. "Get out. What are you doing here?"
Gu Shenwei stood up and walked toward the gate. When he walked past Slave Qing, the slave caught him with one hand.
"I knew from the beginning that you would get into trouble. Your eyes are different. No slave has this kind of look in their eyes. You behave as if you are the owner of the fort. You might have been a prince of a small country before, but you are a slave in the fort now and you'll remain a slave until you die. If you want to survive here, you'd better behave yourself. Stop striving for a position by pleasing the young masters. You are just a toy. Don't be so ambitious."
Gu Shenwei humbly expressed his thanks to Slave Qing and hurriedly returned to the stone house. He grabbed a rag to wipe the blood stains off his face. He did not mind the physical pain but he found it hard to endure the emotional torture. He felt as if his heart was stabbed by numerous sharp knives and each knife caused him endless pain. He was overwhelmed by the burning desire to kill all his enemies and, at the same time, tried his best to remain calm.
Elderly Zhang came home with lunch in hand. Since being frightened by Slave Huan last night, he had been vigilant of the slave boy. The fact that Slave Huan came back heavily wounded further strengthened his belief—people were not as reliable as cattle.
Elderly Zhang placed a big bowl of rice topped with meat and vegetables on the edge of the brick bed and pushed it to Slave Huan. After a while, he picked out a few pieces of meat from his own bowl and put it in the slave boy's bowl.
Gu Shenwei looked at the silent horsekeeper in amazement.
Elderly Zhang hunched over his bowl to eat without looking at Slave Huan at all.
Gu Shenwei did not know what to say. He held his bowl and began to gobble down his food.
Mama Xue was not as kind as Elderly Zhang. When Gu Shenwei went to report to her in the evening, she looked exceptionally grave. She already knew what had happened to Slave Huan through her own channels. The sparring boys did not think it was necessary to conceal Slave Huan's public humiliation and shame.
"If it was Slave Yao, things like that would never happen," Mama Xue complained.
That being said, she actually knew very little about the pointy-faced teenager and had never shown any appreciation for him when he had been alive.
"You managed to kill him, so you should do better than him. Don't forget about your little secret and the hidden danger in your Xuanji acupoint. I'll never cure a useless slave, let alone help him avenge his father."
Mama Xue was a rigorous person but she seldom gave out a threat. Hearing what she said, Gu Shenwei was clear that she was very dissatisfied with his current progress.
He knelt down on the ground and decided to tell her what he had thought about the whole afternoon. "Mama Xue, please forgive my stupidity. I promise I'll fix it. I've got a plan already."
Mama Xue remained silent. Gu Shenwei continued.
"I'm going to give Shangguan Yushi a lesson in front of Master Ru. It's the thing she fears the most and it will be totally beyond her expectations."
"You seem to forget that you are just a slave and she's a master."
"That's what makes it a terrible shame for her. Master Ru only likes strong fighters. In the past, Shangguan Yushi was the best fighter in the school. I'm going to prove to her that Shangguan Yushi isn't as powerful as she thinks."
"Will this childish game work?"
Gu Shenwei explained after a while, "For Master Ru, everything is a game."
Mama Xue frowned. She poked the arm of the chair with her iron-like fingers, making a rat-a-tat sound.
She was too old to understand adolescents and did not remember that she had liked to play games in her childhood. She was not satisfied with Slave Huan's plan, but at the same time, she somehow felt that it might work.
"If you get into trouble again, you should make sure that Miss Luo won't be affected."
"Yes, I promise. It's just a little game between children. Adults will never care about such trivial things. Besides, Shangguan Yushi is very disrespectful to Miss Luo. She deserves this punishment."
"You don't need to drive a wedge between us and Shangguan Yushi. I already know that she's Lady Meng's minion. Of course she likes to speak ill of Miss Luo."
Mama Xue sounded a little agitated all of a sudden. Gu Shenwei knew that what he had said was right.
"Yes. Mama Xue knows everything."
"Are you sure you can defeat her? I've heard that the little girl is a good fighter and she's probably even stronger than Master Ru."
"As for this problem, please forgive me for being blunt, I need your help, Mama Xue."
"Aha, you little brat. Do you dare to ask me to play this childish game together with you?"
"No. I just want Mama Xue to teach me more about Kung Fu so that I can defeat Shangguan Yushi with a single strike."
According to his observation, Shangguan Yushi was a strong opponent. He believed that in a martial competition, she would stand a good chance to win but in a life-and-death situation, he would defeat her after he evoked his killing desire. This was because the girl had not yet learned the trick of killing, though she was extremely cruel and merciless.
Unlike his peers, Gu Shenwei had already realized the subtle difference between a martial competition and a killing through the fight between the killers and Marshal Yang.
Mama Xue still had some concerns. She stared at the daring boy for a long time without saying a word, as if she wanted to see through his mind.
Gu Shenwei did not get a definite promise from Mama Xue, but he would carry out his plan anyway.
The next day, he rushed to the gate of the school early and stayed there, waiting for an opportunity.
He had stayed with the young masters' attendants at the gate for many days. Everyone just ignored the silent slave boy, but he had heard many things from them.
There were nearly 20 students in the school. Except for the twins, they were just relatives of the Supreme King's family and most of them were surnamed Shangguan. They were seven- or eight-year-old children or adolescents aged 15 or 16, and there were only two girls among them—Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi.
Although they were in the same class, they were different in status. The Supreme King's son and daughter were the most venerated young masters and all the other pupils tried their best to please the twins. As for the young masters in the low positions, they did not receive more respect than Slave Qing.
Gu Shenwei had very little contact with the students, but he could judge their status based on the attitude of the servants at the gate.
He noticed a pupil named Shangguan Hongye. "Hongye" was a good name since it meant great achievement. His father was a younger brother of the Supreme King, but unfortunately, he had died a long time ago. Shangguan Hongye had no brothers. He and his mother depended on each other in the fort. They relied on the Supreme King's financial support to make ends meet.
When Shangguan Yushi had entered the school yesterday, she had shoved Shangguan Hongye to the ground. When being bullied in public, he did not even have the courage to say a word.
Gu Shenwei had noticed that he had looked angry at that time.
Given that, he thought he should try to find a chance to talk to Shangguan Hongye.
Shangguan Yushi was arrogant but she was, actually, just a distant relative of the Supreme King. This was her greatest weakness.
Unlike Shangguan Hongye, a nephew of the Supreme King, she and the king were just of the same clan. They descended from one common ancestor who lived about a hundred years ago.
Today, the twins and Shangguan Yushi did not come to school since they had already begun to celebrate the new year.
Not long after the class started, Slave Qing allowed the twins' attendants to leave. He himself chatted at the gate for a moment and then left to have a drink.
After that, only half of the servants still stood at the gate. They envied the twins' attendants for now as they did not have to stand outside in cold weather while holding some small items that their masters might not use for the entire day.
In such an atmosphere, no one cared about Slave Huan, who huddled in a corner.
At noon, when class was over, the students rushed out of the gate and headed for home with their servants. Shangguan Hongye was not eligible to live in the Inner Residence. His home was a small courtyard in West Castle. Given that, Gu Shenwei and he were going the same way now.
Gu Shenwei followed Shangguan Hongye and his young attendant. After they walked through two gates, he found no one else was around and called out, "Master Hongye."
It was a good place for a private conversation. The guards at the gate in front of them and at the gate behind them would never pay attention to a group of children who were chatting together. Neither would the killers hiding in the shadows.
Shangguan Hongye stopped walking and cast a doubtful look at Slave Huan.
Gu Shenwei had not yet recovered from his injuries. His eyes were swollen and his face was bruised. It took Shangguan Hongye a long time to recognize the slave boy. After that, he twitched his mouth and turned away. Though he was not a popular young master in the school, he disdained to chat with a slave, especially an unpopular slave.
"Master Hongye, you dropped something."
Slave Huan showed Shangguan Hongye something like a rag ball. Shangguan Hongye knew it was not his but before he refused, Slave Huan had already forced the thing into his hands.
He felt irritated and offended since he felt that Slave Huan had overstepped his bounds. When he was about to say something to express his dissatisfaction, he felt the weight of the rag ball and shut his mouth. He opened a corner of the rag and saw some silver inside. It was not much but was attractive enough for Shangguan Hongye.
The young master was confused. Without saying anything, Slave Huan smirked at him and quickly left. The slave's bruised face made a weird expression. Shangguan Hongye stood agape for a moment and then swiftly put away the silver.
The young attendant did not understand what had happened just now. He shouted out excitedly, "Master, how did you get the silver? Thank goodness someone picked it up and returned it to you. Now we can pay off some debt before the spring festival."
Gu Shenwei walked forward quickly, feeling uncertain about what he had done. If Shangguan Hongye thought the silver was too little or refused to receive a slave's help, his plan would be ruined.
Fortunately, the young master seemed to have accepted the silver. Gu Shenwei did not hear a thing when he walked out of the third gate and turned into an alley.
The students were a group of fools and got obsessed with gambling. Gu Shenwei had heard Shangguan Hongye's young attendant complain about his master's towering gambling debts many times. He had even said that his master had pocketed a portion of his wages to pay the debts.
Under such circumstances, Shangguan Hongye, a young master of inferior status, would treasure every penny.
For Gu Shenwei, bribing Shangguan Hongye was just the first step of his plan. He still needed Mama Xue's help.
บท 40: Unexpected Tricky Moves
บรรณาธิการ: Transn
While Mama Xue was still hesitating whether to teach Slave Huan more Kung Fu tricks, the slave boy came to her and made another request—some money to bribe Shangguan Hongye.
Gu Shenwei had given all his savings, which were less than two taels of silver, to that young master last time.
"I don't need a lot. 20 taels of silver is enough. Shangguan Hongye owes a dozen taels of silver. With this money, he can pay off his debts and get back into the gambling game again. When that happens, he'll take the initiative to ask me for help."
"How are you going to explain the origin of the money? You are just a slave boy, but you seem to be more well-off than a young master."
"Mama Xue, please excuse me for being bold. You can give me some gold or silver utensils and I'll tell Shangguan Hongye that I stole them from Miss Luo. He's well into debt now, so he'll definitely keep the secret."
Hearing such a childish plan, Mama Xue shook her head. She had to think it over since it might cause trouble for Miss Luo and her.
In the fort, Mama Xue was the only person Gu Shenwei could depend on. Her support was the only advantage he had when competing with the other slave boys. Without Mama Xue, he would achieve nothing.
Fortunately, the next morning, Mama Xue came to him with a small parcel in her hand.
Elderly Zhang had gotten up early. By the time Mama Xue came, he had already gone to look after the horses. She threw the parcel on the brick bed and turned to Slave Huan, who had just finished dressing.
"I hope your plan works."
Gu Shenwei was just a boy who had begun to understand the real world. He was not confident about his plan either, but he gave absolute assurance to Mama Xue while carefully concealing his restless mood.
At noon, when school was over, he did it again. He told Shangguan Hongye that he had dropped something and handed a tiny silver cup to him. It was pressed flat and a little bit of it had already been broken off, but it was still silver that weighed three taels.
Shangguan Hongye grunted his assent and quickly put it away, as if he had indeed dropped a silver cup. His young attendant started to doubt it but he knew he had better shut up at this moment.
Over the next five days, Gu Shenwei gave many different little things to Shangguan Hongye like this and the young master received each of them calmly. He even sent his attendant away on purpose and always walked home alone. Gu Shenwei was content with this progress.
The parcel sent by Mama Xue was filled with all kinds of gold and silver utensils, which were enough for Gu Shenwei to bribe Shangguan Hongye every day for a long time. More importantly, the things that Miss Luo had brought from the Iron Mountain Gang had no marks, so no one would be able to know where they came from.
The next few days were the New Year holidays. Classes were suspended and so was Gu Shenwei's bribery plan.
Mama Xue had thought for several days before she finally agreed to teach Slave Huan Kung Fu.
Gu Shenwei was aware that even if he kept practicing Kung Fu for 10 more years, he would not be able to defeat Shangguan Yushi with one or two moves in a martial competition. He did not plan to surpass her in a short time. He just wanted to defeat her with some tricky moves that were totally beyond her expectation.
Since Shangguan Yushi and the twins learned Kung Fu together, their moves were quite similar. Gu Shenwei did not know much about Shangguan Yushi's fighting style, but he was familiar with Shangguan Ru's fighting skills. During his previous daily reports, he had already demonstrated all her moves to Mama Xue.
Mama Xue was also very familiar with Golden Roc Fort's Kung Fu and had been reflecting on an effective tactic to defeat Shangguan Yushi.
"You can't kill her but you have to defeat her. That's a little bit tricky. Golden Roc Fort's Kung Fu is complicated. There are more than a dozen unarmed combat routines. It's impossible to crack every move in the routines in such a short time."
Gu Shenwei had to admit that Mama Xue had a point, but he had already thought of a solution.
"I'll ask Shangguan Yushi to fight me in a game of speed. I believe she'll adopt her best fighting moves in such a competition. I guess not all the moves in Golden Roc Fort's unarmed combat routines are among the best Kung Fu tricks, so I only need to..."
Mama Xue sneered and shook her head. She knew that there were only a few marvelous tricks in Golden Roc Fort's Kung Fu, but none of them were easy to crack.
Mama Xue herself could easily kill Shangguan Yushi with just one move, but Slave Huan could not learn such a move since his Internal Strength was not strong enough. Besides, this kind of move could never be used on a young master.
A few days later, when the spring festival ended with laughter and happiness, Mama Xue finally figured out a tactic. She asked Maid Lotus to serve as Slave Huan's sparring partner.
Maid Lotus and Slave Qian had been killer-apprentices for months, but unlike the other apprentices who lived in East Castle, they still lived in the Eighth Young Master's residence. This arrangement further increased criticisms against the wayward Eighth Young Mistress, but Gu Shenwei somehow felt that it must have been Mama Xue's decision.
As the most suitable substitute for Shangguan Yushi, Maid Lotus came here to practice with him.
She apparently had benefited a lot from the training, which made Gu Shenwei envious. He believed that if he could become a killer-apprentice, he would progress much faster than anyone else. But now, this girl of his own age who had been learning Kung Fu for less than a year was already an equal to him, and she even surpassed him in unarmed fighting.
Mama Xue asked Slave Huan to demonstrate Shangguan Ru's best Kung Fu tricks again. Based on what she saw, she picked out five moves from Golden Roc Fort's unarmed combat routines and focused on cracking them.
"Remember, the tricks that one is most familiar with are his or her best moves, so the five moves I chose may not be the best Kung Fu tricks in the routines or what Shangguan Yushi is best at. I can't guarantee that she'll use these moves."
Gu Shenwei listened to Mama Xue respectfully. He trusted her judgment. Though he was sure that she was just using him to achieve her own goals, he could not deny that she taught him well. Sometimes, he thought she taught even better than his father, Gu Lun, and his family's loyal servant, Yang Zheng.
"These five moves are more offensive than defensive and attack the vital parts of the body, which makes them ideal moves in a quick battle. If she promises to defeat you in a limited number of moves, she'll probably use them."
These five moves were picked out from three different unarmed combat routines. Maid Lotus had only mastered three of them. She had started her training in East Castle a few months ago, but Shangguan Yushi had practiced Kung Fu for a dozen years. Fortunately, Maid Lotus was a devoted and diligent apprentice and quickly made up the difference.
Knowing that various moves could be evolved from one classical form, Mama Xue thought of three or four evolved moves for each classical move that she picked out and cracked them one by one. In the end, she decided on 15 strikes to defeat Shangguan Yushi. Actually, she could think of more tricks, but since the girl was not a Peerless Ace, she believed these 15 moves were enough.
She created most of them based on her own Kung Fu tricks. They were not marvelous moves in a conventional martial competition, but they would be effective in fighting Shangguan Yushi.
It took Gu Shenwei three days to master these 15 tricks, but this was just the beginning. Knowing how to crack Shangguan Yushi's moves was not enough. He had to learn how to predict which move she was going to use.
For example, when she lowered her shoulders, he had to know which move she was about to use. Otherwise, it would be too late for him to react when she attacked, even if he knew the way to counter.
That was why Mama Xue brought Maid Lotus here. She would never tell Slave Huan which move she was going to use, and sometimes, she would use some other tricks besides the five moves. Gu Shenwei thus could enhance his ability of observing and reacting.
Maid Lotus treated Slave Huan as mercilessly as Mama Xue did. She gave him a sound beating as if she held a grudge against him, which made her more like Shangguan Yushi.
Gu Shenwei had a really hard time practicing these 15 moves in actual combat. On the fifth day of the first lunar month, when the school reopened after the New Year holidays, he had already received a lot of bruises on his body, but he still could not use the moves flexibly in a fight.
Fortunately, most of the students did not attend school that early. It was said that the twins and Shangguan Yushi would not come to school until the 15th day of the first lunar month. Gu Shenwei felt lucky to get more time practicing his moves. Actually, he had never expected that this would take him so much time.
To become a good Kung Fu fighter, one had to endure lots of boring exercises first and then grab the tricks from these repeated practices. Gu Shenwei now knew that he still had a long way to go.
Among the students who came to school early, he spotted Shangguan Hongye. This was good news for him. More importantly, Slave Qing had not yet come to work. He sent a servant to tell the twins' attendants that they had to come to school every day but did not have to stay at the gate all day long.
After the attendants happily dispersed, there were only five or six teenagers at the gate of the school. Gu Shenwei could not find a reason to stay, so he left for his stone house.
When he estimated that it was the time that school ended, he went around to the alley in front of the front yard and slowly walked toward the school. Soon afterward, he bumped into Shangguan Hongye.
The young master was walking alone without his young attendant being around. He acted as if he did not see Slave Huan at all.
Gu Shenwei approached him and bowed. "Master Hongye."
Shangguan Hongye hummed indifferently while slowing down his steps in anticipation.
Gu Shenwei took out a silver bowl. "Is this the thing you dropped?"
This bowl was larger than any of the previous utensils. Shangguan Hongye's eyes shone with excitement, but he did not take it immediately. He looked around and then pushed Slave Huan into a corner. He seemed confused and irritated.
"What's your purpose?"
"What purpose? I'm just returning the things you dropped."
"Save it. You are just a dogshit slave boy. Where did you get those gold and silver things? You must have stolen them from... Tell me. What do you want from me? Otherwise, I'll send you to Heart Cleansing Yard."
Gu Shenwei pushed Shangguan Hongye's arm away without saying a word. It was not a good place for such a talk since the guards in the shadows might be hiding somewhere nearby, overhearing their conversation. However, Gu Shenwei had no better options. He pressed the bowl into Shangguan Hongye and stared at his face.
The arrogant look in his eyes gradually changed into a greedy one.
"I just happened to see these things and I couldn't stop myself from picking them up. As for Heart Cleansing Yard, I've been there once," Gu Shenwei said coldly.
He had been thrown into Heart Cleansing Yard, which was nicknamed Ghost Yard, and had been tortured there. This experience clearly stunned Shangguan Hongye. The young master took a step back and did not look so aggressive.
"If it's not yours, I'll ask someone else."
Gu Shenwei said while pretending to leave. Seeing this, Shangguan Hongye swiftly gave up his commanding position as a young master and grabbed the slave boy's arm.
After a little hesitation, he said, "You don't have to ask anyone else. It's mine."
Gu Shenwei took out the silver bowl again and handed it to Shangguan Hongye, but this time, he did not immediately loosen his grip on the bowl. "As for these things that I picked up, I can give them to anyone who comes to me. If you have a good friend, you can tell him this."
Shangguan Hongye pulled the bowl out of Slave Huan's hand and said with certainty, "No, I don't have any friends."
This bribery continued for a few days. No matter what Slave Huan brought, Shangguan Hongye would take it away without a word.
Gu Shenwei felt it was the time for him to make a request of Shangguan Hongye.
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