第十九章

A Xu scratched his head, looking frustrated. "How would I know? Brother Jingyuan, maybe you should say something." Jingyuan glanced back at Xu Haoyue and saw him leaning back, glasses reflecting the light, eyes half-closed as if meditating. He had no choice but to steel himself and interrupt. "What Lord Fu said makes a lot of sense, Your Majesty. May... may this commoner offer a word?" He chose his words carefully, unsure if he was getting it right.

Lord Fu finally stopped, though his expression was a bit strange. Several other ministers also looked at Jingyuan with odd expressions. The Emperor raised his eyes to glance at him, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly before he waved his hand and said, "Granted."

Jingyuan and the others didn't notice anything amiss and had to continue. "Your Majesty, it's like this. We're outsiders. Lord Fu here just told us so much about the Nine Prefectures all at once; we probably can't remember it all. How about we go back later and have Brother Su Heng explain it to us, or maybe read up on it ourselves? We'll definitely give it our all in the competition, fight hard, and try to beat those contestants from Jizhou Prefecture and whatever other prefecture. What do you say, Your Majesty?"

"Hahahaha, you brave souls are quite straightforward. Since you put it that way, I, the Emperor, shall grant your request. Elder He, arrange lodging for these brave souls later, and see that they are well taken care of." The Emperor laughed heartily, said no more, and immediately gave the order.

The man called Elder He was extremely old. He tottered out from the group and led the way ahead, apparently intending to take them directly to their lodging. They followed cautiously behind him, afraid that if they walked too fast they might bump into the old man and couldn't bear the responsibility.

The seven of them weren't lodged in the palace. Instead, they were put in sedan chairs, carried out of the palace, taken through seven or eight turns, and brought to a fairly large courtyard. Hanging at the entrance was a gold-lacquered plaque, but the characters were written too sloppily and in an old style. The seven studied it for a long time but couldn't figure out what it said; too embarrassed to ask, they just went straight in.

Elder He briefly explained the layout of the courtyard to them, but his body couldn't take it anymore. He summoned someone else and was helped back out, leaning on others for support.

It was a courtyard with three main sections and three side yards. Everyone stood outside marveling for a moment before Fatty and Xiao Ai charged in first, racing to grab the room with the light pink gauze canopy over the bed. Unfortunately, although Xiao Ai was quicker, she was outmatched by her short legs and still lost. When she got to the door, Fatty had already pounced onto the bed, hugging the quilt and ready for battle.

Xiao Ai stamped her foot angrily at the doorway and yelled back to the others, "Sister Youyou, Fatty's fighting me for the room again!"

Fatty wasn't happy to hear that. Sprawled on the bed, he retorted, "Hey, didn't we agree it's first come, first served? Xiao Xiao'ai, you can't keep welching like this every time. Just because you want to sleep in the pretty room—well, I like this pink one too!"

Seeing Fatty refuse to get up from the bed, Xiao Ai ran over unhappily and tried to drag him off, arguing unconvincingly, "When did I ever welch? You're the one who always uses being taller and fatter than me to bully me, okay!" Hearing the commotion from their argument outside, Jingyuan and Xu Haoyue immediately grabbed Su Heng and changed direction, heading for another room.

Su Heng glanced at them in confusion but ultimately didn't ask, because he remembered another question.

"Why did you address Prime Minister Fu as 'Lord' just now?" Su Heng looked at Jingyuan and asked.

Jingyuan was focused on finding a comfortable room and found the question strange. "If not 'Lord,' then what? Aren't officials all called 'Lord'?"

"Ah, really? Perhaps your country is a bit different from ours in that regard, Brother Jing Yuan," Su Heng said somewhat awkwardly. Hearing this, something seemed to flash in Xu Haoyue's mind, and he couldn't help but ask further, "Then what does 'Lord' generally mean here?"

"Er..." Su Heng hesitated for a moment, explaining with slight embarrassment, "Generally, we only refer to our own fathers as 'Lord'." After hearing his words, and recalling the expressions of those ministers in court earlier, Xu Haoyue immediately snorted with laughter.

He stood beside Su Heng, leaning on his shoulder while clutching his stomach as he laughed quietly but uncontrollably. Jing Yuan, standing on the other side, wore a face as unpleasant as if he were constipated.

While they were laughing over there, Xiao Ai and Fatty were still locked in a stalemate. Little Wu and A Xu tried to persuade them for a long time before Fatty finally softened a bit. Youyou also pulled Xiao Ai aside for a long talk, bringing up past incidents where Xiao Ai always seemed to come out on top and Fatty ended up losing. Hearing this, Xiao Ai felt a little embarrassed. After hesitating for a while, she eventually relented and gave the room to Fatty.

Now Fatty was happy, but Little Wu was somewhat troubled. Although there were many rooms here, Jing Yuan and Xu Haoyue strictly forbade him and A Xu from staying in the same room. Every time, either Fatty had to watch him, or he had to room with them. He didn't want to stay with Xu Haoyue and the others, but the room Fatty chose was all pink and frilly, which he didn't like at all.

A Xu watched the scene with schadenfreude, then hurried off to pick a room that suited his own taste.

Everyone had a good night's sleep in the new house. Apart from Jing Yuan being a bit depressed over the "Lord" incident, they were all full of energy the next day. Fatty, especially thrilled about getting the room he wanted, even got up early for once. He dragged Little Wu, who was trying to stay in bed, out for morning exercises.

This time, Youyou didn't indulge Xiao Ai either. For once, all seven of them gathered for the morning run. Even though Xiao Yue wasn't there, Xu Haoyue dutifully took the lead in shouting the cadence. Their voices weren't exactly deafening, but they were loud enough to wake Su Heng, who was also staying in the courtyard.

Su Heng, wearing his underclothes and yawning repeatedly, walked to the doorway. Watching the seven running laps, he asked in confusion, "Um, Brother Jing Yuan, Brother Xu, what are you all doing?"

"Ah, we're doing morning exercises!" Xu Haoyue was busy shouting the cadence and didn't pay him any mind, so Jing Yuan had to answer.

Su Heng didn't really understand this lap-running form of exercise and walked away shaking his head. After finishing their run and warm-up, they began their hand-to-hand combat training. Based on their recent experience, Xu Haoyue felt they had a strong advantage in close-quarters combat. He also had Youyou and Xiao Ai practice the judo techniques they'd learned before, thinking it might give them an extra edge in a fight.

Perhaps infected by their energy, Su Heng, who had originally just been meditating in his room, changed into a neat set of black martial attire and came out. He followed along, learning a few sets of punches and practicing them to the side. He wasn't completely unskilled in martial arts, but having grown accustomed to using magic, his hand-to-hand skills were a bit rusty and less firmly remembered.

After practicing a few times, he could even exchange a few moves with Jing Yuan. However, the judo that Youyou and Xiao Ai were practicing looked rather ungraceful. Even though they were fully dressed, they kept rolling on the ground and grappling with each other. This made Su Heng feel quite awkward staying in the courtyard.

Even though he was quite familiar with them by now, he still wasn't very comfortable with it. This was even more true for the servants assigned to the courtyard. Every time they saw Youyou and Xiao Ai wrestling, they would blush, hurriedly run away, acting as if they had seen something improper.