Inside the martial arts field, the two stood facing each other. Their gazes locked, and an undercurrent surged as they silently searched for each other’s weaknesses.
Among the onlookers, some of the bolder ones began placing bets. In the crowd, one youth asked another, “Qingzhang, who do you think will win this time?”
The youth named Duan Qingzhang had a fair complexion and an elegant, scholarly aura. He pondered for a moment and answered with a question of his own: “When have you ever seen His Highness challenge someone else with such enthusiasm and seriousness?”
The other person thought carefully and realized that truly, he never had. He was instantly rendered speechless. Fang Youcheng possessed a noble status, and his martial arts were taught by the absolute best instructors. Combined with his own diligence, he had laid down a solid foundation from an early age, staying far ahead of his peers in martial arts and inevitably breeding a certain arrogance that led him to believe he had no rivals in the capital city.
Yet this secondary son of the Northern Suppression Marquis who had arrived this time had reportedly accompanied his father and brothers to the battlefield in his youth. Looking at how preoccupied the Prince had been since returning yesterday, it was clear this person’s martial arts skills were not subpar.
Duan Qingzhang smiled faintly, the upward curve of his lips barely perceptible, as his gaze fell back upon the two figures inside the training field. “That little white tiger sent over as tribute after Northern Yue’s defeat is adored by His Highness. He’s using it as a wager this time; if he loses, there’s no telling how furious he’ll get.”
Bo Ruofeng adopted a compass-stance opening guard, keeping his eyes locked tightly on Fang Youcheng. Fang Youcheng suddenly moved, having realized that maintaining a large distance between them was disadvantageous to him. Thus, right from the start, he charged directly in, attempting to close the distance at maximum speed with his sword tip pointing straight at the other’s vulnerability.
With a loud clatter, the forewarned spearhead deflected the sword blade. Bo Ruofeng sidestepped to evade the offensive, and while opening up the distance, he pivoted at the waist and swept back around. The spearhead, reflecting the sunlight, thrust forward fiercely and precisely toward the other’s head.
If that strike hit, it would probably shatter a skull into pieces. If something happened to the Crown Prince, no one present would survive! A timid study companion immediately couldn’t help crying out in alarm, trying to intervene, “Audacious!”
However, this was clearly overthinking it. The timid study companion had only run down two steps of the platform before even getting close to them, while the rest of the audience watched Fang Youcheng rapidly recover his defense. He feinted a thrust to lure the opponent, then pivoted to stab at the other’s waistline.
The breath that everyone had hoisted up was let out halfway. Watching the sharp sword being parried away by the long spear once more, in the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged countless perilous moves.
A duel between the two of them left no room for anyone else; to the two individuals wholly immersed in the fight, all spectators were completely superfluous. Back and forth, their weapons collided with crisp sounds, and the flashing afterimages of sword blades and spear shafts intertwined tightly, practically inseparable. Yet their locked gazes made no secret of the tyrannical desire to suppress the other.
The two maintained the distance of a single long spear between them throughout. No matter how superb Fang Youcheng’s sword techniques were, his multiple attempts to press the attack were precisely evaded, failing to pierce the spear’s perimeter. On the contrary, the long spear struck fiercely with immense force, causing his web of the hand to grow numb.
While flexible, a sword required far more physical exertion than a rigid long spear during hand-to-hand combat on open ground. Fang Youcheng gradually began to feel the strain; a light sheen of sweat broke out across his forehead, yet his eyes shone brighter than ever from extreme excitement.
In the exchanges back and forth, they had already traversed the entire training field. Time seemed to pass in a blur in the eyes of the two combatants, but to the anxious audience watching from the study doorway, with sword shadows weaving like silk and spear flames soaring high, they wished a victor would be decided in the very next moment.
That moment arrived swiftly. Both men’s physical strength and stamina were plummeting rapidly. Seizing the right opportunity, Bo Ruofeng swung his horse-clearing sweep with the spear, putting solid, massive force behind the shaft as it smashed squarely against Fang Youcheng’s sword.
Fang Youcheng felt his entire arm go numb. The long sword was knocked out of his grip, flying up into the air in a parabolic arc.
The crowd quickly scattered. Amidst cries of panic, the long sword landed right at the doorway of the Imperial Study, piercing into the gap between the blue bricks and vibrating with a hum.
This Prince’s swordsmanship was indeed somewhat beyond expectations. Bo Ruofeng secretly thought it was a close call; if he hadn’t acted with caution, he might have been successfully counter-killed by Fang Youcheng. In that case, the Crown Prince’s claim that he won using dirty tricks would have become an unchangeable fact. With a thousand thoughts racing through his mind, his expression remained completely untroubled as he withdrew his spear and stood straight.
He had expected Fang Youcheng to fly into a rage and stubbornly continue looking for trouble. To his surprise, when he looked up, instead of a dark face so gloomy it made people want to execute him on the spot, he met a pair of eyes filled with unadulterated appreciation amidst Fang Youcheng’s relaxed and joyful expression.
That sparkling gaze didn’t look like he was looking at someone he hated; rather, it looked like a puppy that had finally found its favorite juicy bone and desperately wanted to drag it back to its den to keep all to itself.
Wait no, that analogy has massive problems. Bo Ruofeng spent a few seconds reflecting on his own thoughts, casually stabbing his long spear into the ground and cupping his fists. “Your Highness, you flatter this subject.”
His lowered hands were received by slightly sweat-moistened palms and lifted upward. Bo Ruofeng could easily catch sight of the red marks across Fang Youcheng’s palms, clearly showing the other had applied ruthless strength just now. Shifting his gaze upward, he saw Fang Youcheng say excitedly, “You’re quite good!”
“Your Highness is too modest, it was just luck.” Bo Ruofeng beamed brightly, thinking to himself: No need for you to state the obvious! Serves you right for knowing what’s good for you!
Bo Ruofeng nodded inwardly with firm conviction. Although he possessed an innate pride deep down in his bones, the biggest difference between Bo Ruofeng and Fang Youcheng was that Bo Ruofeng was still willing to maintain a veneer of modesty on the surface.
Fang Youcheng lost simply because he was a genuine, hot-blooded youth. Bo Ruofeng’s twenty-plus years in his previous life hadn’t been lived in vain; possessing an adult’s consciousness paired with a physical body primed for cultivation, he had naturally trained himself bitterly with deliberate purpose.
They watched as Fang Youcheng stared fixedly at him, suddenly grabbing his shoulders with both hands and shaking him twice, his excitement and elation spilling over. Bo Ruofeng’s vision practically spun with fireworks from being shaken.
Then he heard the Crown Prince raise his voice to a pitch high and solemn as he issued an invitation: “You’re very good! Surname Bo, be my man!”
Not just Bo Ruofeng, but the entire courtyard fell completely dead silent.
To think the Prince likes martial arts this much. Bo Ruofeng completely overlooked his own excitement and agitation following the duel, inwardly scorning: He only won a single match against him, look at how hyped up he is.
Fang Youcheng released his grip and struck a fist against Bo Ruofeng’s shoulder. “As expected of my study companion, I acknowledge you.”
Knowing that if he followed the Prince’s words and acted modest now, uttering polite remarks like “Thank Your Highness for your high regard,” the future dynamic between the two of them would forever be locked into that of master and servant, and the Prince would only ever view him as a formidable personal guard.
Therefore, Bo Ruofeng raised an eyebrow, reached out to grab Fang Youcheng’s fist, and provoked him with the posture of a victor. “Who wants your acknowledgment?”
The atmosphere between the two gradually grew subtle. Their gazes locked, and simultaneously discarding their weapons, they began fighting bare-handed.
Duan Qingzhang blocked the study companions beside him who were about to rush down to pull the two apart, speaking in a clear voice: “The Junior Preceptor is coming to inspect our coursework today, have all of you finished yours?”
Hearing this out-of-nowhere remark, the others froze in place. As the Prime Minister’s son and the Crown Prince’s cousin, Duan Qingzhang held a status and position in the Imperial Study second only to the Prince. They couldn’t understand why Duan Qingzhang wasn’t stopping the two of them right now, but instead wanted to herd them back into the study.
Frowning, Duan Qingzhang urged, “Since you haven’t finished, why aren’t you hurrying back inside?”
While these people still hesitated, compared to coursework and the Crown Prince’s safety, the latter was naturally far more critical. They had been sent here to serve as study companions, not purely to study.
In that brief moment, the two fighting on the training field exchanged a few more moves. Fang Youcheng gained the upper hand, straddling Bo Ruofeng’s waist, using one hand to tightly lock the other’s arm while pinning his neck down against the floor with the other, his expression arrogant. “Cousin, you all go back inside first. My coursework is on the desk.”
Just as his attention lapsed for a single sentence, Bo Ruofeng’s waist arched upward, and his legs clamped around Fang Youcheng’s neck like a pair of scissors. With Fang Youcheng using one hand to choke Bo Ruofeng’s throat and Bo Ruofeng locking his legs around Fang Youcheng’s neck, the two momentarily maintained a mutual posture of holding each other’s vital points. Their faces turned flushed red, neither able to get the upper hand over the other.
With this posture, it looked as though the two would perish together at any second, and nobody looking at them could feel at ease.
“Alright.” Duan Qingzhang glanced at them, shook his head, led the other study companions back inside the room, and quickly shut the door.
Bo Ruofeng glared at him, exerting force with his legs. “Let go!”
“You let go first!” Fang Youcheng was choked to the point of almost losing his breath, and angrily snapped.
Bo Ruofeng felt equally uncomfortable, but the more uncomfortable he was, the harder he clamped down—operating on the principle of if I’m miserable, you aren’t going to have an easy time either. Struggling while gasping for air, he wheezed, “I’ll count to three, and we’ll let go together.”
Fang Youcheng readily agreed, his voice hoarse with strain. “Fine.”
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!”
The two still maintained their original posture.
Having already fought one round, filled with hot-blooded vigor, they were still entangled with one another. No matter how mature someone was, they couldn’t help acting on impulse amidst this heightened emotional state. Growing frantic with anger, Bo Ruofeng cursed, “And you call yourself the Crown Prince, completely untrustworthy!”
Being forced backward by the legs locked around him, Fang Youcheng coughed and choked, nearly suffocating on his own saliva. Blurted out in desperation, he yelled, “You’re not trustworthy either! If my neck breaks, your entire family will have to be buried with me! Let go right now!”
“You still want to harm my family?” Speakers may have no intention, but listeners do. Bo Ruofeng’s clear pupils flashed as a rush of blood filled his head, completely obliterating every shred of remaining rationality. Opening his mouth, he bared two rows of stark white teeth. “Brat, I’ve tolerated your rotten temper for a long time!”
With that, he lowered his head and clamped down fiercely onto the wrist Fang Youcheng was using to choke him.
A miserable scream echoed outside the house.
Quite a few people felt nervous enough to want to go outside and check, but seeing Duan Qingzhang’s mature, composed demeanor as he lowered his head to hold his brush and acted as if nothing was wrong, none of them dared to suggest opening the door to greet the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince was already unhinged, and while that Bo Ruofeng looked human enough on the outside, his conduct and style were utterly untamed. Putting these two together—would they really not cause trouble? The study companions were filled with deep anxiety, already foreseeing that their days in the Imperial Study weren’t going to be very peaceful from here on out.