Peerless Master

Xue Niang was still contemplating teaching martial arts again when Gu Shenwei brought up another request: to provide some money to win people over.

The less than two taels of loose silver he had given Shangguan Hongye the first time had already used up all of Gu Shenwei's savings.

"You don't need much, twenty taels will suffice. Shangguan Hongye probably owes over ten taels in debt. This money will be enough for him to clear it and gamble a few more rounds. Then he'll come to me willingly."

"How will you explain the origin of this money then? You're just a servant, yet you're more well-off than your master."

"This humble servant dares to ask Xue Niang to take out a few of the young lady's gold and silver wares. Even if these items are 'stolen' by me, Shangguan Hongye needs money, and he'll keep it a secret."

Xue Niang slowly shook her head. Huan Nu's plan was becoming more childish by the day, and it was likely to cause trouble for the young lady and herself. She had to consider it carefully.

Xue Niang was Gu Shenwei's backer now. In his competition with the young men in the fortress, this was a huge advantage. Without the resources she provided, he would ultimately achieve nothing.

The next morning, Xue Niang personally delivered a small package.

Old Zhang had already gone to tend to the horses early. Xue Niang tossed the package onto the kang and said to Huan Nu, who had just finished dressing:

"I hope it works."

Whether it would work or not, Gu Shenwei wasn't sure. He was still just a child himself and didn't have a deep enough understanding of human nature. But he understood one thing: never show hesitation. He vowed to Xue Niang that his plan would definitely work.

At noon that day, he "found" another small silver cup belonging to Shangguan Hongye on his way home from school. The cup had a chipped corner and was flattened, but this didn't affect its value. It was made of pure silver and weighed about three taels.

Shangguan Hongye quickly took the silver cup and grunted, as if it were indeed something he had dropped. The little book boy, however, began to look surprised. But this time, he had learned his lesson and didn't ask any questions.

For five consecutive days, Gu Shenwei "found" small items dropped by Shangguan Hongye. The progress of events also pleased him. Shangguan Hongye accepted these silver items calmly, even sending the little book boy away, always returning home alone.

The package Xue Niang had sent was filled with various gold and silver wares, enough for Gu Shenwei to give away for many days. Moreover, these wares were brought by the young lady and all had a strong "Iron Mountain Gang style," meaning they had no fixed markings, and no one could trace their origin.

The next few days were the New Year holiday, and classes were suspended. Gu Shenwei's plan to win people over was temporarily halted.

Xue Niang hesitated for several days before finally agreeing to teach martial arts.

To defeat Shangguan Yushi in one move, Gu Shenwei might not succeed even if he practiced for another ten years. However, he didn't aim to be truly much stronger than her, only to catch her off guard and give her a little "surprise."

Shangguan Yushi practiced martial arts with the twins. Their moves should be similar. Gu Shenwei wasn't very familiar with her skills, but he knew Shangguan Ru like the back of his hand. In his daily reports, he had demonstrated them to Xue Niang one by one.

Xue Niang was very familiar with the martial arts of Golden Peng Fortress and had been considering how to defeat an opponent in one move for days.

"You can't use lethal force. You can only win against that young girl through technique. This is a bit difficult. Golden Peng Fortress martial arts are complex, with over a dozen sets of just fist and foot techniques. It's impossible to counter every single move."

Xue Niang was right. Gu Shenwei knew this too, so he came up with a plan:

"I want Shangguan Yushi to use her ultimate move right from the start. Among the dozen or so sets of Golden Peng Fortress fist and foot techniques, there aren't many that can be called ultimate moves, right? I just need..."

Xue Niang sneered and shook her head. There weren't many ultimate moves, of course, but since they were ultimate moves, they were naturally the hardest to counter.

With Xue Niang's skill, she could kill someone like Shangguan Yushi in one move. But Huan Nu's internal energy was too low to learn these moves, and they could never be used on "masters."

A few more days passed, and the New Year ended amidst lively laughter and joy. Xue Niang finally thought of a way and even found a sparring partner for Huan Nu.

He Nu and Qian Nu had been assassin apprentices for several months. Every night, they still lived in the Eighth Young Master's courtyard instead of staying in the East Fortress like the others. This had caused much discussion, with the blame directed at the ill-mannered Eighth Young Madam. Gu Shenwei felt this was actually Xue Niang's idea.

The sparring partner was He Nu. She was the most suitable to be Shangguan Yushi's substitute.

Months of training had benefited He Nu greatly. Gu Shenwei couldn't help but feel a little jealous. If he had become an assassin apprentice, he would have progressed faster than everyone else. Yet now, this girl of the same age who had been practicing martial arts for less than a year was already on par with him, and even surpassed him in fist and foot techniques.

Xue Niang had Huan Nu re-enact Shangguan Ru's most skillful techniques. Based on this, she selected five moves from the numerous basic fist and palm techniques of Golden Peng Fortress and meticulously studied how to counter them.

"Remember, people have 'ultimate moves,' but martial arts don't. The moves practiced most skillfully and understood most deeply are the so-called 'ultimate moves.' The five moves I've chosen may not be the most powerful, nor may they be what that girl is best at, so nothing is certain."

Regardless, Xue Niang had her reasons for choosing these five moves. Gu Shenwei listened respectfully. If they hadn't each had their own hidden agendas, he would have truly considered Xue Niang a good "master," even better than his father Gu Lun and the household servant Yang Zheng.

"These five moves are mostly offensive and directly target vital points. If the opponent wants to finish quickly, using only a few moves to defeat you, they might use them."

These five moves came from three different sets of boxing techniques. He Nu hadn't even learned two of them yet. She had only been in the East Fortress for a few months, so she naturally couldn't compare to Shangguan Yushi, who had been practicing martial arts for over ten years. However, she possessed the focus and resilience that Shangguan Yushi lacked, compensating for her deficiencies in technique.

Moves are static, but people are dynamic. These five moves could each generate three or four variations, which Xue Niang had also considered. Her counter-methods thus amounted to over fifteen moves. Even so, she felt it wasn't enough. But considering Shangguan Yushi wasn't a peerless master, she didn't delve any deeper.

Most of these fifteen moves were modified and created by Xue Niang based on her own martial arts. If she were to truly fight someone, they would have almost no power. Their sole purpose was to counter the anticipated five moves of Golden Peng Fortress.

Gu Shenwei spent a full three days mastering these dozen or so moves. But this was the easiest part of the enemy-defeating plan. Simply learning the counter-moves was useless; he had to be able to anticipate the enemy's moves.

For example, if the enemy lowered their shoulder, Gu Shenwei had to be able to judge which move it was. Otherwise, by the time the opponent assumed the stance, it would be too late even if he knew the counter-move.

He Nu's value as a sparring partner lay precisely here. When she attacked, she wouldn't announce which move she was using, and sometimes it wouldn't even be one of the five moves. Gu Shenwei had to react solely based on subtle observation and keen intuition.

Xue Niang was a strict "master," and He Nu was not lenient either. Her attacks were fierce, as if she held a grudge against Huan Nu. This was somewhat in line with Shangguan Yushi's style.

Gu Shenwei suffered a lot because of this. On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the holiday ended, and he was covered in bruises. He still hadn't mastered the counter-moves perfectly, and school had already resumed.

Fortunately, most of the school children were still at home. The twins and Shangguan Yushi were reportedly not expected back until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, giving Gu Shenwei the necessary buffer time. He had originally thought the counter-moves would be easy to learn, but he hadn't expected them to consume so much energy.

The path of martial arts required going through multiple stages, from simple to complex, and then back from complex to simple. Gu Shenwei now knew that he was still far from achieving this.

Among the sparse attendance of school children was Shangguan Hongye. Gu Shenwei felt this was a good sign. Even more advantageous was that Qing Nu wasn't present. He had sent word that they no longer needed to guard the main gate with the young masters, but they still had to report in daily.

The escorts of the twins happily dispersed. In an instant, only five or six young boys were left at the school gate. Gu Shenwei would be too conspicuous if he stayed, so he also left and returned to the stone house to wait.

Calculating that it was time for school to end, he circled around to the alley in front of the main gate of the front courtyard and slowly walked towards the school. Not far ahead, he indeed encountered Shangguan Hongye.

Shangguan Hongye was alone, without his little book boy, walking as if he hadn't seen Huan Nu at all.

Gu Shenwei walked up to him, bowed, and said, "Young Master Hong."

Shangguan Hongye grunted indifferently, but his footsteps involuntarily slowed, revealing a hint of anticipation.

Gu Shenwei took a silver bowl from his pocket. "This is something you dropped, isn't it?"

The bowl was a bit larger than the vessels from previous times. Shangguan Hongye's eyes lit up, but he didn't take it immediately. He glanced around, then shoved Huan Nu into the corner and asked, half confused, half annoyed:

"What exactly are you trying to achieve?"

"Achieve? Of course, it's to return what I found to its owner."

"Stop lying to me. You, a mere dog slave, where would you find so many valuable things? You must have stolen them... Tell me, what is it you actually want from me? Or I'll send you to the Heart Washing Courtyard."

Gu Shenwei stiffly pushed Shangguan Hongye's arm away. This wasn't a good place for a conversation; the ever-present guards of Golden Peng Fortress might be lurking in the shadows, eavesdropping. But there was no better place. He tucked the silver bowl into his robes, observing the young man's reaction.

Shangguan Hongye's gaze shifted from arrogance to greed.

"When something is right in front of me, I can't help but pick it up. As for the Heart Washing Courtyard, I've already been there."

Gu Shenwei said coldly. He had indeed entered the Heart Washing Courtyard, known as the Ghost Courtyard, and endured torture. This experience clearly made Shangguan Hongye both shocked and fearful. He took a step back, his demeanor no longer so condescending.

"If this isn't yours, I'll just ask someone else."

Gu Shenwei spoke and made a move to leave. Shangguan Hongye, disregarding their master-servant roles, grabbed his arm. After a moment's hesitation, he smiled and said:

"No need to ask anyone else, this is my thing."

Gu Shenwei took the silver bowl out again and handed it to Shangguan Hongye, but didn't let go immediately. "If something like this is found, whoever asks me, I'll give it to them. If you have any good brothers, you might as well tell him."

Shangguan Hongye almost "snatched" the silver bowl and then stated with absolute certainty: "No, I don't have any brothers."

The little trick of delivering things continued for several more days. No matter what Huan Nu brought, Shangguan Hongye would just take it and no longer ask any questions.

Gu Shenwei felt it was time to reel in the net and make his demands of Shangguan Hongye.