Twenty-Nine: Ten Moves

The school was packed with dozens of people, slaves and masters alike, all gathered in a circle. The courtyard was rather small, so it felt cramped.

As soon as Gu Shenwei stepped inside, he was shoved and jostled into the circle. The students cried excitedly, "He's here, he's here!" and "How many rounds will he last this time?"

The hands on him withdrew one by one. At last he was free, standing alone, bewildered as he stared at the boy opposite him, his heart pounding.

When he had once seen Great Head God's true face, he had wondered how anyone could look so fierce. Now a similar thought sprang into his mind: how could anything in this world be so exquisitely beautiful?

The boy looked barely ten. His skin gleamed white, as if he were a human figure carved from a single piece of flawless jade. Two faint blushes drifted across his cheeks from all the exertion, like drops of fresh blood dissolving in clear water. His ink-black eyes were strangely large, like those of a young beast just learning to walk, curious about the world yet eager to control it. His dainty nose tipped up slightly, revealing his disdain for the crowd around him and the new opponent who had just arrived.

Gu Shenwei was no stranger to the world. He had seen countless children of nobles and princes in the Central Plains, yet now he felt like a country boy unexpectedly allowed into the imperial palace. He stood gaping until the laughter around him grew louder and finally snapped him out of it. His face flushed without his meaning to, and he hurriedly dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

"Huan Nu pays his respects to the Young Master."

The commotion around them stopped dead.

"I'm not the Young Master," said a crisp, angry voice, biting hard on the word "Young."

Gu Shenwei looked up in surprise. He had naturally assumed that the child in boys' clothes, surrounded by everyone, was Young Master Shangguan Fei. Only now did he realize: how could such a delicate beauty be a boy?

His mind raced. This wasn't Young Master Shangguan Fei; it was probably Shangguan Ru, the girl among the Twins. How should he address her? Miss? Since she wore boys' clothes, she probably wouldn't like that.

Gu Shenwei was staring blankly again. The school clearly had its own subtle rules, but he had been here less than half a day, and no one had told him what they were.

Shangguan Ru raised her brows. The onlookers were delighted by the spectacle, and laughter broke out again.

Gu Shenwei glanced around for help. At last, he spotted a hint behind Shangguan Ru: another girl dressed in boys' clothes, about his age. She was slender, with delicate hands and feet, but remarkably tall; in the courtyard, she stood out like a crane among chickens. Silently, she mouthed three words: "Ninth Young Master."

"Ninth Young Master, Huan Nu pays his respects to the Ninth Young Master."

Shangguan Ru's lips curled slightly. But a child beside the tall girl looked displeased. "Just look at the fine slave Eighth Brother gave me. He's so busy currying favor with someone else, he doesn't even recognize his proper master."

The child looked very much like Shangguan Ru, except that he had a little more of a manly air. There was no doubt: this was Gu Shenwei's true master, Shangguan Fei.

Of the Twins, Shangguan Fei was the elder brother and Shangguan Ru the younger sister. If they were addressed as Young Masters, Shangguan Ru should be the Tenth Young Master. So why was she called the Ninth Young Master?

Gu Shenwei couldn't make sense of it. He had been ordered to curry favor with the Young Master, but his first attempt had already gone badly. He had offended both of them before their first meeting was over.

The tall girl was probably one of the Fortress's young masters as well. Among all the boys, she and Shangguan Ru were the only girls. They were not the lowest in status, but the highest. She spread her arms to shield Shangguan Fei and shouted, "Come on, come on, a new round! I'm betting ten moves. That boy will be on the ground within ten moves."

The students began placing bets. Some bet on Shangguan Ru, while a few wagered on the new slave.

Gu Shenwei understood that he was about to fight Ninth Young Master Shangguan Ru. He didn't need to think twice to know he had to lose. His opponent was a little girl as delicate as a doll, so he would have to make himself look as clumsy as possible.

But things weren't that simple. Shangguan Fei, the elder of the Twins, didn't bet on his sister. He ran over to Gu Shenwei's side. "You're not allowed to fall within ten moves. If you do, I'll have Eighth Brother deal with you."

Gu Shenwei was caught between two choices. Qing Nu would surely know what to do in this situation, but he was outside the gate and couldn't help at all.

Shangguan Ru was already getting impatient. She took an attack stance and barked, "Move."

The crowd made room. Before Gu Shenwei had even steadied his footing, Shangguan Ru had leaped into the air and kicked at his face.

This was not the skill of a ten-year-old girl. Her movements and force were both fierce; even an adult who had trained for years might not have managed it.

Gu Shenwei had been wondering how to hide his ability, but now he had to use every ounce of it just to dodge the kick.

Shangguan Ru attacked once, then kept pressing forward with one move after another. Her boldness and ferocity were the complete opposite of her delicate appearance.

Gu Shenwei had no time to think. He darted and twisted, doing everything he could to defend himself. His martial arts were mediocre to begin with, and the Tiger Subduing Fist he had learned was a hard, forceful style, suited to offense but not defense. He didn't dare strike with full force, so he naturally fell even further behind.

After five or six moves, the cheers around them swelled into a roar. The tall girl and Shangguan Fei led the two sides, shouting themselves hoarse.

The tenth move was almost upon them. Shangguan Ru's attacks grew more and more vicious. Suddenly, she used a feint, turning as if to create distance, then abruptly ducked low and kicked backward.

The kick came out of nowhere, but Gu Shenwei could have avoided it. He hesitated, unsure whether he should win or lose. In theory, his task was to curry favor with Shangguan Fei, but Shangguan Ru seemed to be even more doted on than her brother...

In that moment of hesitation, Shangguan Ru's foot landed squarely in his stomach. Gu Shenwei flew backward and crashed into a student who was cheering with all his might.

The student was caught off guard, but fortunately he was sturdy. He cried out and staggered back several steps before the others caught him. Gu Shenwei used the rebound to stumble away in the opposite direction. He was about to fall again when someone shoved him from behind, and he managed to stay on his feet.

"Ten moves! Ten moves! He didn't fall—we win!"

Shangguan Fei stepped out from behind Gu Shenwei, shouting excitedly.

"Hey, that's cheating! He was about to fall. He only stayed up because you pushed him!"

The tall girl took two strides to Shangguan Fei, planted her hands on her hips, and scolded him furiously. She was probably Unrivaled King's biological daughter too, which was why she dared to stand her ground in front of the Young Master.

The two sides began arguing. Then everyone remembered that the person at the center of it all hadn't said a word. Shangguan Ru pointed at Gu Shenwei. "Tell me, did someone push you back up?"

Shangguan Fei leaned close to his ear and ordered loudly, "You stood up on your own, right?"

The situation had come full circle, leaving Gu Shenwei caught between two equally awkward choices again. All he could do was mumble without giving a clear answer.

Shangguan Ru pushed aside those in her way and stepped in front of Gu Shenwei, face-to-face with him. Anger flushed her porcelain-white cheeks. "So you won't admit you lost?"

They stood very close. Her angry breath brushed his face, and Gu Shenwei felt he couldn't refute her accusation. "I..."

At the crucial moment, someone finally spoke up and rescued him.

"Ahem. Everyone, back to the classroom."

The speaker was an imposing old teacher. He stood with his hands behind his back, looking coldly at the students in the courtyard.

The old teacher's words had an immediate effect. More than a dozen students, along with their attendant pages—even Young Master Shangguan Fei—fell silent like mice before a cat and turned toward the classroom, not daring to take a single large step.

Only Shangguan Ru, who liked being called "Ninth Young Master," remained where she was, glaring at the clueless slave. She had clearly won, yet he had dared not to admit it.

"Go back!" the old teacher said more sternly. Teaching at Golden Peng Fortress required a certain amount of authority.

Shangguan Ru's face grew redder and redder, like a jade cup filled with wine. But she couldn't disobey her teacher, so she turned toward the classroom. Then she suddenly whirled back, grabbed the new slave's ear, and twisted it hard.

The daughter most cherished by Unrivaled King left her mark on Gu Shenwei. The pain soon faded, but the gloom in his heart remained.

Once they left the school gate, Qing Nu, who had been listening outside the whole time, sharply reprimanded Huan Nu for his lack of tact. He had offended both Young Masters. "You could've just called them Young Master. Why did you have to say 'Young Master' and 'Ninth Young Master'? When we're talking among ourselves, 'Young Master' means the young miss. To her face, 'Young Master' means the young lord. Only the young miss likes hearing 'Ninth Young Master.' How could the young lord be happy to hear it?"

Qing Nu rambled on at length. Apart from him, probably no one else could have understood it all. It was only a form of address, yet it had so many rules. Gu Shenwei was deeply contemptuous.

According to Qing Nu, Shangguan Ru had been raised as a boy from the moment she was born. As she grew up, she became even more like a boy than her brother Shangguan Fei, especially in her competitiveness. She always had to outrank him and never admitted she was his younger sister, so addressing her was a mess.

The tall girl wasn't Unrivaled King's biological daughter either. She was the Twins' cousin, Shangguan Yushi. Her temperament was just like a boy's, and she and Shangguan Ru were inseparable.

"You have to call her Young Master Yu. Don't ever call her Miss, or you won't just lose an ear—you might lose your life."

However much she liked being called a Young Master, it didn't change the fact that she was a young lady. And she would even take someone's life over it? Gu Shenwei was contemptuous once again.

The Shangguan children studied in the morning and practiced martial arts in the afternoon. At midday, the students scattered in all directions. The two young ladies had a large entourage, more than a dozen people. Qing Nu kept a few and sent the rest away.

Gu Shenwei wasn't chosen. He went back alone to see Xue Niang.

After Huan Nu told her about his first day, Xue Niang scolded him as well for failing to win his master's favor. But like Qing Nu, she avoided the most important question: when the Twins disagreed, which side should he take?

Gu Shenwei would have to find a way to solve that dilemma himself.

Old Zhang had gone out to tend the horses. Gu Shenwei lay alone in the little stone hut. Winning a master's favor was always a hurdle for him. He wasn't Yao Nu, a born slave whose flattery had become second nature. He was no longer the young master of the Gu Family, but he still couldn't calmly accept the status of Huan Nu.

For fourteen years, he had never learned how to curry favor with others. He had only known what it was like to have others curry favor with him.

Gu Shenwei suddenly sat up. That was right: he didn't know the rules of a slave, but he understood what masters wanted. What kind of slave could truly make a master happy? He had plenty of experience with that.

He made a bold decision.