The Prince Regent clasped his hands behind his back, every inch of him lofty and above it all, and said, “Mu Lei, trade a few passes with Marquis Ning.”
“Yes!”
Mu Lei took the order, rose, and looked at Ning Chen. “Marquis Ning, instruct me!”
“You aren’t fit for it. Your own master thinks he isn’t qualified to raise a hand against me, and you dare ask me to instruct you?”
Ning Chen threw it back at him without the least courtesy.
The Prince Regent’s face darkened. He had meant to display his own exalted standing and humiliate Ning Chen while he was at it… and had not expected a single sentence to come straight back at him.
Pan Yucheng stepped forward. “Let me.”
Ning Chen gave a slight nod.
There would have to be a fight, that much was certain. He represented Great Xuan now, and he could not shrink from a contest and lose face.
“Are you sure of it?”
The corner of Pan Yucheng’s mouth twitched slightly.
Ning Chen smiled. “I mean — in how many passes can you beat him?”
Pan Yucheng shook his head. He had never crossed hands with the man and did not know his strength, so he would not risk a rash conclusion.
Ning Chen said, “Settle him in the shortest time you can.”
Pan Yucheng nodded, then looked at Mu Lei. “You aren’t fit to cross hands with the marquis. I’ll trade a few passes with you.”
Mu Lei looked at Pan Yucheng with contempt in his eyes.
The Prince Regent laughed coldly. “Mu Lei is my personal bodyguard, and his swordplay is quick as lightning… Blades have no eyes, and injuries are hard to avoid. Is this man of Marquis Ning’s up to it?”
Ning Chen smiled easily. “Cheap tricks, and he dares wave his axe at the master carpenter’s gate… Old Pan’s Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon wipes out every goblin and ghoul alive.”
Pan Yucheng glanced sideways. What martial art was the Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon?
The Prince Regent said contemptuously, “Mu Lei. Play with him.”
“Yes!”
Mu Lei stepped back a few paces and looked at Pan Yucheng with challenge in his eyes and contempt all over his face.
Wu’s officials edged aside too, so as not to get caught in it.
Pan Yucheng and Mu Lei opened the distance between them.
Mu Lei looked at Pan Yucheng with contempt and asked, “What weapon will you use, sir?”
When Ning Chen and the others entered the palace, their weapons had all been handed over.
Pan Yucheng’s face was perfectly cool. “To deal with you — none.”
Mu Lei’s face darkened at once.
The corner of Ning Chen’s mouth lifted. Old Pan was pretty good at being full of himself.
Mu Lei said coldly, “In that case I’ll use no weapon either. Bare hands, and I’ll play with you… I hope you aren’t too weak. It would take all the fun out of it.”
Pan Yucheng said nothing. He crooked a finger. “Come on!”
Mu Lei’s eyes went cold. He drove off his back foot, his sole scraping the floor with a sound that set the teeth on edge, and came at Pan Yucheng like lightning.
Two meters from Pan Yucheng he sprang suddenly into the air and drove a kick at him.
Pan Yucheng snorted coldly. His hand came out like lightning, caught Mu Lei’s ankle, stepped back a pace to strip the force out of the kick, gave his arm a shake, and slammed Mu Lei straight into the floor.
Bang!!!
Mu Lei made intimate contact with the floor, with no flourish about it at all, and the shock of it set the whole hall trembling.
This Mu Lei could take a beating, though.
He rolled where he lay and came up with the roll.
But before he could get his feet under him, Pan Yucheng was on him, both fists like a driving rainstorm.
Bang, bang, bang… Mu Lei took more than a dozen punches in an instant.
Bang!!!
One savage snap-kick from Pan Yucheng sent Mu Lei flying several meters. He hit the ground and slid several meters more, scraping along the floorboards.
Blood ran from the corner of Mu Lei’s mouth, and the veins stood out on his forehead with the pain. Pan Yucheng’s fists were far too heavy. He felt as though he had been ruined inside.
And Pan Yucheng was holding back at that. This was the Wu court, after all, and a death here would not do… Otherwise one punch would have burst his liver.
Mu Lei bore the pain and sprang to his feet.
Shing!!!
A flash of cold light, and the long sword came out of its scabbard.
But before he could react, Pan Yucheng had all but crashed into his chest, and his hand was empty — the sword had already been taken from him.
He had taken a naked blade barehanded.
One savage side kick, and Mu Lei could hold it in no longer. He let out a scream and went flying.
Mu Lei came down on the floor and struggled to get up, and then his body went rigid: the icy edge of the sword was resting against his neck.
“You’ve lost!”
“Your sword is too slow!”
With that Pan Yucheng turned and walked back, and handed the sword in his hand to Ning Chen.
Ning Chen took the sword and gave Pan Yucheng a thumbs-up. “Impressive!”
“He was too weak!”
Ning Chen: “???”
The Prince Regent’s face was as ugly as if his own parents had died.
The faces of Wu’s officials, civil and military, were just as ugly.
They had lost at letters, and now they had lost at arms too!
Losing the contest of letters would have been one thing, but he had to insist on a contest of arms too. It was simply bringing humiliation on themselves.
The officials, civil and military, looked at the Prince Regent. His standing made it awkward to say much, but their eyes were full of complaint.
Mu Lei struggled up and knelt. He said in a shaking voice, “This subordinate is useless. I ask the Prince Regent to punish me.”
“Worthless…” The Prince Regent ground his back teeth. “You disgraceful thing. Get out of my sight.”
Mu Lei struggled to his feet, holding his side, and walked toward the doors of the hall with staggering steps.
“Hey?”
Ning Chen turned and called out.
Mu Lei turned to look without thinking.
In the instant that he turned, Ning Chen flung out his hand, and the long sword in it flew out as a streak of cold light.
The faces of the whole court changed!
Mu Lei was frightened out of his wits, his face white as chalk.
A hiss of sound!
The long sword had not touched Mu Lei at all. It had gone precisely into the scabbard at his waist.
That one stroke astonished the whole hall.
Wu’s officials, civil and military, were struck dumb and staring.
Ning Chen, as though he had done some trifling thing, turned his head to the Prince Regent. “Is there anything else amusing? We could compete at embroidery… though I certainly wouldn’t beat the Prince Regent at that.”
The Prince Regent’s face was cold and dark, and he was about to speak when he heard the woman emperor say coldly, “Enough. A friendly trial of letters and arms does no harm to anyone… Let it end here!”
With that, the woman emperor rose and said evenly, “The court is dismissed!”
“Marquis Ning, come with this emperor… This emperor would like to know how much sincerity Great Xuan has brought to these talks.”
Ning Chen nodded. “Yes!”
The Prince Regent gave Ning Chen a cold, dark look and bowed. “Your Majesty, your subject is willing to accompany you!”
“There is no need! The Prince Regent has had a contest of letters and a contest of arms, and must be tired. Go home and rest. This emperor and Marquis Ning are only going to talk over what the two kingdoms want first… When the formal negotiations come, it will not be too late for the Prince Regent to take part.”
The Prince Regent ground his back teeth. “Yes!”
“Your Majesty, your subject suggests that Lord Fu, the Vice Minister of Rites, go along… so that the marquis is not slighted!”
The woman emperor hesitated for a long moment, then nodded slightly. “Very well!”
With that, she looked at Ning Chen. “Marquis, come with this emperor!”
Ning Chen looked at Pan Yucheng and the others. “Wait for me at the palace gates!”
Pan Yucheng hesitated. “Why don’t I come with you?”
“This is the Wu palace, and I am Great Xuan’s envoy and a marquis besides… They’ll be falling over themselves to keep me safe.”
As Ning Chen said it, he glanced at Li Hongzhuo.
Pan Yucheng understood him. “Then we’ll wait for you outside the palace gates!”
Ning Chen gave a slight nod.
Then he turned and followed the woman emperor.
The Prince Regent gave Fu Lu a look.
Fu Lu nodded slightly, then hurried after them.
(End of Chapter 355)