Gui Wuqing was a dark guard.
The kind that protected the royal family up close.
He was quite famous in the dark guard circles. Though each dark guard had different masters, only a select few at the top of the power hierarchy could afford to keep dark guards. These circles were small, and tasks often overlapped, leading to mutual assistance and familiarity among them.
And Gui Wuqing was the boss of the dark guard circle.
He was at the pinnacle of the dark guard hierarchy.
Gui Wuqing’s skills were the best of the best among dark guards. His qinggong was so refined that he could walk on snow without leaving a trace, and his swordsmanship was mysterious and unparalleled. There were hardly any dark guards who could beat him in combat, and in a one-on-one fight, nearly all dark guards would find themselves at his mercy.
His sword was so swift that he could decapitate someone, and they would still be able to speak a few words before their head hit the ground and blood spurted from their neck.
But that alone wasn’t enough.
In the world of dark guards, one’s status depended fifty percent on skill and fifty percent on their master.
As the saying goes, even when beating a dog, you must consider its master. Dark guards were like their masters’ dogs, and the status of the master determined the status of the dark guard.
If Gui Wuqing were only skilled but his master was lacking, his status among dark guards would inevitably be suppressed.
If a master’s status was low, one had to be cautious in their actions. No matter how much less skilled a dark guard was, if they were favored by a high-status master, they could still flaunt their power and trample even the boss underfoot.
Fortunately, Gui Wuqing’s master was also a top-tier master.
His master was Prince Yu’nan, the only brother of His Majesty.
Prince Yu’nan, now twenty-three, had quelled the fierce wokou raids in the south for Great Chu when he was just a teenager. He had since fought on many fronts, eliminating numerous external threats to Great Chu.
In the eyes of the people of Great Chu, Prince Yu’nan was on par with Marquis Wuzhong, Ying Zilin, who was known as the Little God of War.
He had both family background and talent, capable of writing poetry with a brush and taking up a spear on horseback and sweeping his sword across all quarters.
Despite his illustrious achievements, His Majesty showed no wariness of him and showered him with affection, treating him like a son.
It could be said that the highest status in the world was held by His Majesty, and the second highest was not the empress dowager in the palace, but Prince Yu’nan.
And he was also very handsome.
Wealthy, powerful, talented in both literature and martial arts, and good-looking.
A truly rare and excellent master.
With such a noble status, Gui Wuqing, as his dark guard, had both skill and status, and was greatly favored by Prince Yu’nan. It was no wonder he was the boss among dark guards.
There were many young dark guards eager to cling to such a powerful figure.
The one before him was one such eager young dark guard.
The two dark guards, mysterious and seemingly omnipotent in the eyes of ordinary people, met on the roof of a pleasure house.
Gui Wuqing: “………………”
Young dark guard: “………………”
After giving an autograph and sending the starry-eyed young dark guard away, Gui Wuqing sat on the roof of the pleasure house, feeling both lonely and empty as the cold wind blew.
He hugged his sword under the bright moon, lifted a tile beside him, and listened expressionlessly to the flirtations of the two women inside.
The system, peeking into his mind, urged him, “It’s a rare scene. If you don’t watch, I will. Hurry up!”
Gui Wuqing tightened his grip on his sword, feeling chilled from head to toe, and thought silently: Watch what? Those are the emperor’s women. Watching would be courting death!
The system, oblivious to his inner thoughts, continued to urge, “Hurry, hurry, the lady is undressing!”
How vulgar!
Gui Wuqing scoffed inwardly, yet he couldn’t really watch the palace concubines mingling with the women of the pleasure house.
He listened for a while, and as the sounds inside grew more intimate, he reluctantly glanced through the lifted tile. He saw the pleasure house woman with her clothes half-off, nestled in the arms of a fair-faced young man.
The young man reached out to touch her chest, but the woman playfully dodged, and the two flirted, nearly rolling onto the bed.
That’s right.
The fair-faced young man was Gui Wuqing’s target this time, someone who had escaped from the palace a few days earlier, was greatly favored by His Majesty, and was rumored to be the most beautiful woman in the world, Consort Yu.
The system, seeing the scene through Gui Wuqing’s eyes, sighed in satisfaction and tried to stop him from taking action, “Wait! Let me take another look!”
Look at what?
If this continues, His Majesty will end up with a green hat on his head. Enough watching!
Consort Yu was indeed impressive, but if she stripped someone completely and couldn’t produce the necessary evidence herself, things would get out of hand.
Gui Wuqing, both troubled and helpless, fumbled at his waist for the knockout powder a colleague had given him. He found a small bamboo tube, filled it with the powder, and blew it through the lifted tile.
The sounds inside continued for a moment before gradually fading. After a little while, there was silence.
Gui Wuqing checked the situation inside. Seeing that both were asleep and there was no movement, he leaped down from the roof, landed lightly outside, pushed open the slightly ajar window, and slipped inside.
The room was a scene of springtime allure, with Consort Yu still holding the pleasure house woman. The two were entwined, a picture of beauty and charm.
The system, excited by the scene, chattered away in his mind like a flock of ducks.
Fortunately, he was long accustomed to the system’s antics and was unaffected. He swiftly separated the two, undressed the woman a bit more, covered her with a blanket, and didn’t forget to take some silver from Consort Yu, placing it by the woman’s pillow as payment for the night.
Once he tidied up the scene, he removed the black cloth hood he had prepared, slipped it over Consort Yu’s head, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and disappeared into the night like a wisp of smoke.