The Wager

Gu Shenwei had made rapid progress in learning to read and counter moves. Out of ten attacks from He Nu, he could now guess correctly seven or eight times.

He still wasn't satisfied. He made mistakes sometimes, especially when He Nu suddenly used a technique outside those five moves. He could barely see it coming, and since he'd prepared only for the fifteen moves Xue Niang had devised herself, he was caught completely off guard and couldn't strike back.

Xue Niang, however, praised him for once. "It's a pity you can't get into East Fortress. With your talent, you could graduate in a few years and become a real killer. What a pity."

But she grew more and more worried about Huan Nu's plan. "What are the chances that girl will open with one of those five moves?"

Gu Shenwei was just as concerned. If his opponent had been Shangguan Ru, he could have been six or seven times out of ten sure of guessing her moves correctly. But he knew little about Young Master Yu's martial arts. He could only assume she'd learned exactly the same things as the Ninth Young Master, even sharing the same signature moves.

"She'll use them. I know her. She wants to humiliate me in front of everyone, and she wants me dead. She'll start with her most powerful moves."

Whenever Xue Niang asked, Gu Shenwei answered with complete certainty. He was like a gambler going all in, forcing himself to believe he would win this time and spreading that confidence to the onlookers around him.

On the thirteenth day of the first month, Gu Shenwei laid his cards on the table with Shangguan Hongye.

Shangguan Hongye seemed to have guessed Huan Nu's intentions. He calmly accepted the crumpled silver trinket, but instead of leaving at once, he folded his arms and waited for him to speak.

"Eighth Young Master, want to make a big wager?"

"What do you mean? You want to win these things back? I'll tell you now, they're not in my hands anymore."

"No. I want you to organize a betting pool."

Shangguan Hongye fell silent. Not everyone could act as the bookmaker; at the school, that role usually fell to Shangguan Yushi.

"I can find someone else. I just thought the two of us had a lot in common."

Shangguan Hongye still said nothing. Then his expression suddenly changed. "Watch what you say. Qing Nu said you didn't know your place, and he was right. Remember, I'm the master and you're the slave. What could we possibly have in common?"

"At the very least, we both hate the same person."

Shangguan Hongye knew who he meant. Everyone at the school knew how Shangguan Yushi disciplined insolent servants, and Huan Nu's scarred face had only healed a few days ago.

"You dare hate your master? You insolent dog of a slave."

"A slave has no face to speak of, of course. But she isn't my master. My real master is the Eighth Young Master..."

Gu Shenwei stopped there, leaving Shangguan Hongye to think it over himself.

Shangguan Hongye pondered for a long while. In the end, his hatred of Young Master Yu won out. "Does your wager have something to do with her?"

"Yes. I want you to persuade Young Master Yu to fight me. You'll be the bookmaker, and we'll fleece her good."

"Heh. First, you might not be able to beat her. Second, getting money out of her is harder than climbing to heaven."

"You don't have to worry about that. I have a way to beat her. You just have to organize the betting pool."

"Bet on who wins?"

"No. You'll bet that I can knock Young Master Yu down within three moves."

Shangguan Hongye gaped. This slave was becoming more and more of a mystery to him. "You've got it backward. You mean bet that she can't knock you down within three moves."

Gu Shenwei smiled and shook his head. "She knows how good I am. She won't bet on that. We'll bet that I'll definitely knock her down within three moves."

This time it was Shangguan Hongye who shook his head emphatically. "Don't joke around. I don't know whether you can beat her, but I don't want to take the risk. I've already used up most of what you gave me. I want to keep a little for myself."

"That's no problem. You organize the betting pool, and if you win, all the money is yours. If you lose, come to me for the money."

It was a deal with all the upside and none of the downside. Shangguan Hongye was sorely tempted, but still couldn't make up his mind. He hated Shangguan Yushi, but he was also terrified of her.

Gu Shenwei didn't want to press him too hard. "Think it over. I'm ready whenever you are."

The next three days were another holiday. Gu Shenwei devoted himself to martial arts practice, showing Xue Niang complete confidence, but back in the stone hut he couldn't help feeling uneasy. Nine-tenths of what he knew came from the boy slaves' idle chatter. No one could say how much of it was true and how much was exaggeration.

But he had to get past Shangguan Yushi. Her humiliation of him before the New Year had caught him flat-footed. Now it was his turn to arrange his troops, while the little she-devil would have to meet his challenge in haste.

On the seventeenth day of the first month, classes resumed, and the Twins and Shangguan Yushi finally showed up.

They hadn't seen each other in nearly a month, and Shangguan Ru seemed to have forgotten all about the "disciple" she'd taken on. She chatted and laughed with her cousin all the way to school. At the entrance, the boys crowded around to greet them, hoping to share in the good fortune of the two young masters. When the eight sparring slaves bowed together, she didn't even look Huan Nu in the eye.

She'd had a colorful New Year. Shangguan Yushi had come up with all sorts of games, and they'd nearly turned the inner residence upside down. The Penglun Sect, killers, disciples—all of it was ancient history now, long past enough to hold no interest for her.

Shangguan Hongye also came over to greet them, then followed Shangguan Fei into the school. He, too, didn't look Huan Nu in the eye, as if he'd forgotten the proposal.

Gu Shenwei kept his expression calm, but inside he was restless. Time dragged on. During the break, one of the sparring slaves was sent inside, and Qing Nu didn't choose Huan Nu.

As noon approached, the students began to disperse. Gu Shenwei had waited all morning for nothing.

Even Shangguan Hongye avoided him, hurrying off with Little Book Boy so fast that Gu Shenwei couldn't catch up.

The next day went the same way. Xue Niang began pressing him for news, and he could only fob her off with "It's in progress." His confidence, though, dwindled by the day. If Shangguan Hongye lost his nerve at the last moment, everything would come to nothing.

For three days straight, nothing changed. Gu Shenwei had just made up his mind to stop Shangguan Hongye by any means necessary when the moment he'd been waiting for finally came.

During the break, another sparring slave was sent into the school. Qing Nu had just pointed to a boy when someone called out, "Send Huan Nu."

Qing Nu was clearly taken aback. Then, very reluctantly, he pointed at Huan Nu. "You. Go."

Gu Shenwei put on a surprised expression and walked into the school with his head down. As he passed Qing Nu, he heard him mutter, "Don't go looking for death."

Gu Shenwei didn't say a word.

The schoolyard was already packed with people, more than ever before, it seemed. As expected, his opponent this time was Shangguan Yushi. Her side had clearly drawn the bigger crowd, led by Shangguan Ru.

But the leader of the other side wasn't Shangguan Hongye. It was Shangguan Fei.

It turned out Shangguan Hongye had been too timid after all. These past few days, he'd been doing his best to persuade the young master to organize the betting pool himself.

"Oh? Isn't that my disciple?"

When Huan Nu entered the crowd and took his place opposite Shangguan Yushi, Shangguan Ru suddenly remembered their little game from a month ago.

"It was only in fun. Please forgive this lowly slave for speaking out of turn." Gu Shenwei bowed and said this, and Shangguan Yushi gave a faint, almost unnoticeable sneer.

Nearly every boy had heard about Shangguan Yushi's punishment of Huan Nu. Shangguan Ru was the only one who hadn't.

Shangguan Ru curled her lip. "Hmph. Think you're so capable, do you? Young Master Yu, teach him a good lesson for me."

"Your brother thinks he can knock me down within ten moves," Shangguan Yushi said disdainfully.

Ten moves.

Gu Shenwei was startled, then immediately understood. Shangguan Hongye and Shangguan Fei had still been too conservative, not believing he could defeat her in three moves, so they'd added seven. That could ruin his plan. If Shangguan Yushi wasn't properly provoked, she wouldn't open with her signature moves, and all the hard work he'd put into learning how to counter them would go to waste.

"Ten moves? That's still too many!" Shangguan Fei shouted. He might have been his sister's shadow, but he still wanted to show off a little.

Seeing that the Twins were about to start bickering again, Gu Shenwei spoke first:

"No need to fight. I concede."

The students watching were stunned. A sparring slave's job was to practice martial arts with the masters for fun. How could he dare concede without fighting?

Shangguan Fei was even more agitated. "How do you know you've lost if you haven't fought? I've got a lot of silver riding on this. You dare concede?"

Shangguan Hongye, standing behind the young master, no longer bothered to hide himself. His face flushed as he shouted, "What kind of joke is this? Are you trying to rebel?"

Shangguan Yushi didn't care. She stood with her hands on her hips and said nothing. Shangguan Ru, however, looked disappointed. "You're pretty good at martial arts. It's not certain you'd lose." In her agitation, she'd forgotten which side she was on.

Gu Shenwei waited for the uproar to die down before speaking. "Ten moves is too many. This lowly slave is willing to concede. If the number were lower, there might still be a contest."

The students watching were even more stunned. The boisterous courtyard suddenly fell quiet, then almost everyone burst out laughing at once.

"That dog of a slave's scared witless." That was what many of them thought.

Shangguan Fei turned and looked at Shangguan Hongye in confusion. "What's going on?"

Shangguan Hongye flushed a deep purple. "Huan Nu, can you fight or not? If you can't, then get out."

But Shangguan Yushi wasn't laughing. Her brows slowly rose as she stopped Shangguan Ru from speaking. "Hey, so you've been hiding your real skills. Tell me, how many moves do you want to use to knock me down?"

"Young Master Yu is highly skilled. This lowly slave is no match for her, but I once heard someone explain a little about martial arts..."

"Less talk. How many moves?"

"Three. Not one more, not one less."

Shangguan Yushi erupted in anger and was about to accept when Shangguan Fei objected. "No way. If it's three moves, I'm out. We agreed on ten."

Shangguan Fei didn't want to bet, and the other students behind him unanimously demanded to withdraw as well. Just as the betting pool was about to fall apart, someone stepped forward.

"I bet on Huan Nu."

Shangguan Ru announced it loudly. Seeing her cousin's expression, she hastily added, "It's not that I believe him. I just want to see what trick he's playing."

The Ninth Young Master had even more sway among the students than the young master. At once, several people switched sides from Shangguan Yushi's camp. Shangguan Fei changed his mind too, and after a little commotion, the betting pool was back on.

Shangguan Yushi was so angry that she laughed. She loosened up her legs and said, "Come on, dog of a slave. Let me see your 'three moves.'"

Gu Shenwei had gotten what he wanted. He'd provoked Shangguan Yushi and even caught Shangguan Ru's interest. It was better than he'd hoped.

Now all that remained was to see whether his and Xue Niang's judgment had been right.