CH 12

Fed it … to the chicken?

The Crown Prince was shocked speechless.

“How could you feed our father Emperor’s Imperial gift to a chicken?” the Fourth Prince said in a loud voice. He was shocked too, but he managed to squeeze this sentence out.

Chen Ziqi shrank back as if he were frightened, and sidled over to the Third Prince. He had long since observed that the Third Prince and the Crown Prince were in different camps, and the two were always contradicting each other, regardless of what the issue was. He figured that in this situation, the enemy of his enemy was his friend, and it couldn’t be wrong to hide near the Third Prince now.

He’s guessed right. The moment the Third Prince saw that Chen Ziqi had moved closer to him, he immediately retaliated on his behalf. “Why are you bullying Little Seventh? He just came to the palace. How would he know all these rules?”

“What are you squabbling about?” Prince Qi said sternly, walking over. At the sight of him, the young princes immediately closed their mouths.

The Second Prince shot Chen Ziqi a sympathetic look, indicating that he could come stand next to him.

Chen Ziqi lowered his eyes, pretending that he didn’t see it. He didn’t move from his spot.

“You children don’t know how to start practice on your own if I’m not here?” Prince Qi was no different from any other teacher; the laziness of his students always caused him great anguish. He immediately instructed them to strike a horse-riding stance, and picked up a thin bamboo cane. He smacked this bamboo cane onto his own palm again and again as he spoke. “ The Crown Prince’s appointment ceremony is on the eighth day of the next month. The major martial arts sects will all be in attendance. This morning, instead of practicing martial arts, you will be learning out about the various sects.”

The princes were overjoyed. Not having to practice martial arts moves meant that they just had to sit and listen – that was far more relaxing.

“However, you will all still need to hold your horse-riding stance for the usual amount of time. Also, there will be a test tomorrow on today’s lesson, and if anyone can’t answer, he will be punished.” Prince Qi said. He raised the bamboo cane as he said this, smacking Ah Mu’s backside to correct his horse-riding stance.

“Oww…” Ah Mu used his short little hands to rub his backside, but continued to hold the horse-riding stance.

At present, there were three types of martial arts – swordsmanship, qi martial arts, and arcane arts.

The Sword Alliance was made up of all the sword-wielding martial arts sects, and had a relaxed governance structure. It was comprised of several major swordsmanship sects and smaller clans under these main sects. The sects in the Qi Confederate all originated from the same grand master, and they all had their foundation in the Tianyan Wanxiang Gong method. Their arts diverged at the advanced stage.

“Imperial Uncle, what are the arcane arts?” Chen Ziqi was listening intently, and was even jotting down messy notes with a brush. He could read and write, but he didn’t know that many words, and so had to use pictorial representations for quite a number of things.

“The arcane arts are a very dark topic,” Prince Qi said enigmatically. To put it bluntly, this was actually a form of black magic. These people had unspeakable powers, and held themselves apart from the sword and qi sects. Well, it should also be said that the sword and qi sects also didn’t want anything to do with the people who practiced the arcane arts.

“Are the arcane arts sects under the Cloud Palace*?” the Third Prince asked. He had always been confused about this.

*T/N: The Cloud Palace’s Chinese name is the Gui Yun Gong (归云宫), or the Palace to Which Clouds Return / Palace to which the Clouds Belong.

The Cloud Palace was a unique entity in the martial arts world. They did not have any relationship with the Sword Alliance or the Qi Confederate, but had great power and influence. All the sects treated it with respect and caution.

Let’s take the Imperial family as an example.

Long ago, when the first Emperor conquered the land, he had been assisted by many skilled martial artists. After he succeeded and ascended to the throne, all these martial artists who helped him were given peerages. The leader of the Sword Alliance and the Qi Confederate were all given the title of Guogong*.

*T/N: A Guogong is roughly equivalent to a Duke.

Being given the title of Guogong was already a huge privilege. However, the Master of the Cloud Palace had an even higher position – he was a Prince of the First Rank!

“The Cloud Palace does not manage the arcane arts sects. As such, the arcane arts sects does not have any leader.” Prince Qi waved his hands, closing off this topic. He instructed the princes to memorise the names of the different sects and their respective peerages, so that they wouldn’t embarrass themselves at the Crown Prince’s appointment ceremony.

Chen Ziqi’s notes were a sorry collection of chicken scratchings and ugly drawings. At the end, there were some complicated names that he simply couldn’t think how to put to paper, and he simply gave up, choosing to rest his head on his hand and listen instead. He stealthily pulled out a few cherries and stuffed them into his shirt to feed the chick.

Dan Yi was reclining in Chen Ziqi’s clothes, and opened his mouth to receive the juicy cherries. After eating the delicious sweet-sour flesh, he turned to rub his little beak affectionately in thanks. He then noticed that he was separated from Chen Ziqi’s skin by the soft fabric of his undershirt, which had been stained red by cherry juice from his beak. He tilted his head in thought, then scratched at the fabric impatiently. This ice silk might be soft, but it wasn’t as pleasant to sleep on as Chen Ziqi’s skin.

In the afternoon, the Crown Prince went to the Ministry of Rites to learn the proper etiquette for his appointment ceremony. The other princes were also let off early for the day.

“Gege, I haven’t remembered any of the things Imperial Uncle wants to test us on tomorrow,” Ah Mu said plaintively, pulling at Chen Ziqi’s sleeve. His little brows were furrowed in concern. Every morning, he was usually bone tired after doing the horse-riding stance exercise; he was too young to maintain the horse-riding stance for long periods of time, and at the end of the session, his legs always wobbled like jelly. If he had to suffer corporal punishment for being unable to answer questions on top of this, it would be absolutely unbearable.

“I also can’t remember it all,” Chen Ziqi said. He looked at the chicken scratchings he made earlier and sighed in defeat.

“Little Seventh, you didn’t manage to get it earlier?” A voice that had clearly tried its best to sound warm and nurturing sounded behind them. It was the Second Prince. His voice had originally been pleasant to the ears, but had recently become rough and scratchy because he was fourteen this year, and his voice was breaking.

“Second Imperial Brother,” Chen Ziqi said, turning to greet him.

“If you need some help, come to Fengyi Palace. I’ll teach you,” the Second Prince said, smiling slightly. Chen Ziqi might be of low birth, but his mother was favoured by the Emperor, and he himself seemed to have an agile mind; the Second Prince had assessed that he was worth his while to have Chen Ziqi as an ally.

Chen Ziqi lowered his head and rolled his eyes. This was obviously an attempt at a land grab by the Second Prince, done with a view to making sure that he didn’t go over to the Crown Prince’s side. The Second Prince and the Crown Prince also didn’t get along. However, when Chen Ziqi thought about it, he was a small fry, and he needed a backer; he wasn’t in any position to form his own faction. With this thought in mind, he arranged his face into his most disarming smile, and raised his head. “That’s so kind of you, thank you, Second Brother,” he said.

Dan Yi raised his head and looked at Chen Ziqi’s expression. He felt somewhat irritated. When Chen Ziqi walked out Fengyi Palace later that day, he met the Crown Prince, and that irritation turned into real frustration.

“Old Seventh, what are you doing in the Fengyi Palace?” the Crown Prince asked. He saw that Fuxi had some snacks and toys in his hand, and narrowed his eyes.

The jiulianhuan* inlaid with agate crystals was a gift bestowed on the Second Prince by the Emperor three years ago. The Second Prince had treated it as his treasure, and he was surprised that he had given it to Chen Ziqi. He had just been appointed as the Crown Prince, and the Second Prince was already making obvious moves to gather allies – what was the meaning of this?

*T/N: A child’s toy with nine interlocking links. It’s like a puzzle ring – you have to figure out how to unlock the links.

“I couldn’t remember the names of the sects and the peerages, so Second Brother said he would teach me,” Chen Ziqi said in a small voice. His head dipped, and he pressed his lips together, looking scared.

“Is that so?” the Crown Prince said. He stared meaningfully at Chen Ziqi for a while. “Next time, if there’s anything you don’t know, just come to the Eastern Palace to ask me. Fengyi Palace is the Empress’ sleeping quarters at the end of the day, and it’s not good for boys to be seen walking in and out of there.”

The Yuzhang hougong’s rules were that before a prince turned fourteen years old, he could live with the Imperial consort who was his mother in the consort’s palace. The Second Prince was fourteen this year, but hadn’t had the time to move out yet.

“Sure, next time, I’ll go look for my Crown Prince gege in the Eastern Palace,” Chen Ziqi said, raising his head to smile placatingly at the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince nodded his head in satisfaction, then walked off imperiously.

Chen Ziqi looked at the Crown Prince’s retreating back and bared his teeth. The leaders of the two sides were both trying to get him to join them – how was he to deal with this? Xiao Chen had told him before that a dog couldn’t have two masters…

At night, Chen Ziqi held the little notebook the Second Prince gave him, painstakingly trying to memorise its contents.

“The Sword Alliance’s leader’s peerage is the Lin Guogong…”

“The Qi Confederate’s head’s peerage is the Wan Guogong…”

“The Cloud Palace…”

Chen Ziqi slumped on the table and stared at the fluffy chick. He played with the jiulianhuan in one hand, and held the notebook in the other. He looked at the lazy-looking chick that was literally as free as a bird, and couldn’t help complaining resentfully to it. “Divine Chicken, what’s the use in me memorizing all this? It’s not like any of these people are going to bother talking to me at the ceremony.”

The Sword Alliance’s leader was the Second Prince’s maternal grandfather, and the Qi Confederate’s leader was the Crown Prince’s maternal great-grandfather…

“Tweet!” Dan Yi tilted his head at Chen Ziqi, somewhat worried. If this little bastard didn’t have Benzuo’s protection, he would probably not make it safely to adulthood.

“Ah, forget it. It’s not like you understand what I’m saying,” Chen Ziqi said, his lips twisting in resignation. He caught hold of the little red bird, buried his nose in the soft down, and rubbed his nose back and forth.

“Tweet tweet tweet!” Dan Yi protested. He used all the strength in his little claws to push Chen Ziqi away. This little bastard was going to be the death of him!

[Taizhen Palace, Zhaixin* Pavilion]

*T/N: Zhaixin means “to pick the stars”. It means that you can pick the stars like fruit from this pavilion, and it usually also indicates that this is the highest building in that palace.

The moon was high in the sky. The High Priest wore simple robes and sat under the lamplight, his slender fingers threading pearls on a silver wire. He reached for a pearl, and his hand touched a warm, fluffy bird head. His hand shook slightly in surprise.

“Young Master,” the High Priest. He got up and bowed to the bird in greeting.

Dan Yi looked at him and gave a solemn “tweet” in response.

When Chen Ziqi woke up, the little bird had already disappeared. This creature was a god, and often went off on his own, so Chen Ziqi wasn’t particularly concerned. He gave his room a once over in an attempt to look for the bird, but when he couldn’t find it, he shrugged and left for Chunxi Hall, thinking that it’d probably be back when he returned.

However, it never returned after that. From that day on, Chen Ziqi didn’t see the little red bird for half a month. This made him rather worried, and he thought about going to ask the High Priest about it, but he was buried in homework and didn’t have the opportunity to do so. Time passed in a flash, and the day of the Crown Prince’s appointment ceremony arrived.

The appointment ceremony was held in the Taiji Palace. The Taiji Palace was considered part of the external palace, and was where the Imperial family held ceremonies and banquets. There was a huge, sunken courtyard in front of the main hall of the Taiji Palace. It was round, and black and white marble was used to make a gigantic yin-yang symbol, also called a taiji symbol, on the floor. It was a good place for performances to be held, and for guests to have friendly duels with each other.

The sixteen carved wooden doors were all open now. The Imperial family and the distinguished guests were stationed in the hall, whilst the rest stood around the yin-yang diagram.

Chen Ziqi and a few other princes stood in front of the main hall, looking curiously at what was happening outside. Imperial court officials and martial artists from all disciplines were standing around the yin-yang diagram. Chen Ziqi looked at the round sunken courtyard. The floor was about a foot below ground level, and he wondered if any guests had accidentally fallen into it when they had too much to drink.

“Announcing the arrival of the Wan Guogong!” the Master of Ceremony sang out from his position at the entrance. In the Imperial Court, they did not use their martial arts titles, only their peerage titles.

The Crown Prince stood at the very front, unable to stop himself from smiling.

“Hahahaha!” A loud burst of laughter rang out, making Chen Ziqi’s ears ache. Before he could recover, a man in purple robes flew down from mid-air. This was Luo Hongfeng, the leader of the Qi Confederate. His hair, eyebrows and beard were all as white as snow, but his eyes were lively and youthful. He looked casually at the yin-yang pit, took a light step forward, and leapt over the full length of the pit effortlessly, landing in front of the main hall.

“Luo Hongfeng respectfully greets his Imperial Majesty,” he said, kowtowing in greeting. As the Guifei’s grandfather, he was already 74 years old, but his face did not look a day over forty.

Chen Ziqi had heard that highly skilled martial artists lived longer lives than average people, and someone like Luo Hongfeng could probably live to more than 150 years old.

“Wan Guogong, please rise,” the Zhenlong Emperor immediately stepped forward and helped him up.

“Haha! I hope your Majesty has been well?” the Wan Guogong smiled as he made polite conversation. He caught sight of the Crown Prince standing next to the Emperor and nodded at him in satisfaction.

“Brother Luo, why didn’t you wait for me?”

Before Wan Guogong could finish his sentence, the Master of Ceremony sang out again, announcing the arrival of Lin Guogong. A man in pale grey Taoist robes carrying a huge sword on his back flew in and landed in front of the main hall.

This newcomer was the leader of the Sword Alliance, Huang Huacan, also known as the Lin Guogong.

The Lin Guogong greeted the Emperor as well. The Emperor made no move to bring them into the main hall. Luo Hongfeng stroked his snowy beard and pondered for a moment. “Will the Master of the Cloud Palace also be in attendance today?”

“The Phoenix King will not be coming, but his heir will be,” the Crown Prince explained to his great-grandfather. His chest puffed up involuntarily in pride after he said this.

The Cloud Palace usually held itself aloof, and rarely attended functions even when they were invited by the Imperial family. That the Cloud Palace was willing to send its Young Master to attend his appointment ceremony was a rare honour, and it had even agreed to let the Young Master stay in the Imperial Palace for some time to study with the princes. This was an honour that even his father had not been granted.

“The Phoenix King’s Shizi* – what’s his name again?” the Third Prince asked the Second Prince in a worried voice. That Shizi’s name was difficult to remember, and he kept forgetting it.

*T/N: A shizi is an heir of a peerage.

Chen Ziqi also pricked up his ears.

The Second Prince raised his head, and looked at the palanquin floating towards them in the distance. “The Phoenix King’s Shizi’s name is Dan Yi.”

Author’s note: Mini-theater

Birdie Gong: I’m off

Qiqi: They say that good chickens don’t leave home

Birdie Gong: I’m back again

Qiqi: They say that good chickens don’t change their minds

Birdie Gong: … Who said all this?

Qiqi: “They” said it

Birdie Gong: …….