Chapter 456 - Putting Down a Rebellion (2/2)

Because he detested traitors, the head of the hidden guards, who was the most skilled out of all of them, made Liu Fusheng the target of his ambush. As for Royal Prince Yang, who had barely reached his twentieth birthday, the leader regarded him as an unskilled young fellow. Thus, because he was underestimated, Royal Prince Yang was only targeted by two of the death soldiers.

With Royal Prince Yang’s insane martial arts skills, how could two little death soldiers do much against him? In fact, the prince acted as if he was a cat playing with two mice and was very carefree as he fought with the two soldiers. The fight didn’t even resemble a battle and instead seemed more like a game to him.

Liu Fusheng, on the other hand, was in a whole other situation! It could be said that all of the hidden guards’ skills had been learned from this leader alone. Furthermore, their master wouldn’t teach them all of his tricks. Even though Liu Fusheng hadn’t become rusty in the past few decades and even sparred constantly with Royal Prince Yang, his opponent was still his previous master! The leader of the hidden guards wasn’t just a tiny bit better than him; he was a lot better.

As he was caught off guard, Liu Fusheng had been instantly injured by his old master and obtained a serious internal injury. Blood spewed out of him as he desperately tried to defend himself. Under the oppressive attacks of his opponent, his body started collecting large and small injuries very quickly. If Royal Prince Yang hadn’t discovered his peril and started to fight seriously to get rid of his own opponents before he leapt over to block a fatal attack, it was likely that Liu Fusheng would have lost his old life at that battlefield.

After hearing such a thrilling story, Yu Xiaocao felt her heart clench in fear and she asked in worry, “That leader of the previous dynasty’s hidden guards is so violent that even you, Head Steward Liu, aren't his opponent. Wasn’t Royal Prince Yang in danger then?”

Liu Fusheng finished his large cup of tea and then poured himself another cup from the tea kettle on the table. He had tasted pretty much all of the famous teas of the era and thought that even the top-notch Da Hong Pao [2] wasn’t as fragrant as the tea in this pot. Obviously, this pot of wild tea had been personally processed by Miss Yu herself. All of his deep exhaustion and pain from his injuries seemed to have disappeared after drinking this tea.

“Miss Yu, you are truly looking down on my master!” Head Steward Liu let out a light sigh of relief and continued to tell his story about that fight on the battlefield.

When the head of the hidden guards saw that Royal Prince Yang was coming of his own volition ‘to die’, he decided to seize the opportunity to arrest the leader of the opposing army right then and there. This guy was from the imperial family and was also a favored grandson of the Great Ming Dynasty’s emperor emeritus. If he had this prince in his hands, then the Great Ming troops wouldn’t dare to continue for fear of harming the youth. It would definitely be an advantage to capture this juicy target.

The leader of the hidden guards didn’t even consider Royal Prince Yang to be an opponent after looking at his youthful, handsome face. He believed that as long as he stretched a hand, the prince would be captured. He never expected that this ‘embroidered pillow’, who was even more beautiful than a woman, was more than he could handle! Since he underestimated the prince, Royal Prince Yang very easily injured him. With an internal injury now hindering him, the head of the hidden guards continued to fight but noticed that Royal Prince Yang seemed to get fiercer and fiercer as time went on. The young man fought with an incredible ease and was full of energy. The leader of the hidden guards knew that he had finally hit a hard wall!

As soon as he sensed that things were going south, he made a quick calculation. Although he was unable to defeat Royal Prince Yang, he still had some leeway to flee with his life. His young master was still waiting for him to get back, so he couldn’t have a mishap occur here. Thus, he abandoned all of his subordinates and the rebel army he incited. The leader of the hidden guards escaped without even looking back!

Soon thereafter, the remaining remnants of the previous dynasty, who had infiltrated in, either fled from the battlefield or died right there. The ignorant peasants, who had been incited, had nothing left for them! Before long, the rebellion in the north had been suppressed!

Liu Fusheng had a very serious internal injury and was also covered in external wounds that weren’t light. If his master hadn’t reluctantly given him a pill for treating internal injuries, then he likely would have lost his life. Even if he didn’t somehow die from his injuries, his veins, muscles and tendons had all been heavily damaged. He would have likely become a cripple.

Fortunately, the internal injury pills that Miss Yu personally made not only saved his old life but also allowed him to recover from his internal injury very quickly. The military doctor had kept saying that a full recovery was impossible. However, the master had also given him some special wound balm and it was much more efficacious than the army’s wound balm. The foot-long wound on his back had very quickly stopped bleeding after the wound balm was rubbed on. Furthermore, his wounds stopped hurting and a cool, refreshing feeling came on instead. Before several days had passed, he felt like his scabs were starting to itch. After accidentally picking one off, he discovered that the flesh underneath had unexpectedly healed! This...wasn’t logical ah!

After receiving a warning glare from his master, Liu Fusheng, as a perceptive man, naturally knew that this wound balm and medicine to heal internal injuries weren’t normal. He continued to wrap himself under layers of gauze even after his wounds had completely healed. Furthermore, whenever he swapped his dressings, he didn’t dare let the military doctor help. He even pretended to have an internal injury that hadn’t healed completely from time to time as he was afraid other people might notice something odd. Now that he was looking back, he felt that it was very tiring to have to put up an act for so long!

Just as they were about to go back to the capital after putting down the rebellion, news came from the northern border that outsiders were invading. The emperor sent an emergency decree from far away to give Royal Prince Yang command over the army as the head general to reinforce the frontier troops.

When he received this new imperial decree, Zhu Junyang had already been away from the capital for more than a month and he missed his little lass. He originally thought that after the rebellion was put down and things became calm, he would be able to go back to the capital to see his little lass, Xiaocao. He didn’t expect he’d be called to duty again to rush to the northern border for who knew how long. This made the prince very irritable for some time.

[1] jianghu (江湖) - literally 'rivers and lakes', often refers to the martial arts communities in Wuxia novels. Members of the Jianghu are usually more aloof from politics of the mundane world.

[2] Da Hong Pao - Mentioned in other chapters, but a very high-quality oolong tea.