Chapter 27: Goldfish

Gu Gu Tingye took Xu Xu Zaijing with him, and the two wandered through the palace gardens for a while.

From time to time, they could see palace guards standing watch at various posts.

However, these palace guards stood with remarkable method; they did not feel annoying, yet they could promptly detect any abnormalities.

Just as Gu Gu Tingye and Xu Xu Zaijing stopped by a pond, they heard several boys going through their voice changes talking nearby.

"Your Yuzhou is such a remote place; it can only produce rustic songs and other vulgar trifles meant for the common folk."

"Agriculture is a matter of great importance; does the Wang Shizi not know that the people regard food as heaven?"

"I'm talking to you! You actually dare to talk back? Looking for a beating!"

"Wang Shizi, this Zhao Zhao Huan is also a member of the imperial clan; striking him like this might..."

"My father, the Wang, said his father is nothing but a coward who won't stick up for him; get him!"

The guards stationed nearby also saw the members of the imperial clan fighting.

Yet everyone acted as if they had seen nothing.

Gu Gu Tingye and Xu Xu Zaijing walked over.

They saw a youth being surrounded by five others.

This scene seemed to stir up some unpleasant memories in Gu Gu Tingye.

He stepped forward and said,

"Hey, several of you bullying one person—what kind of heroes does that make you?"

"My father is Prince Yong; where did you broken riffraff come from?"

"Prince Yong?" Gu Gu Tingye's tone hesitated.

Xu Xu Zaijing, standing beside him, shouted loudly instead:

"How bold! The descendants of the Wang Fu are all refined and courteous gentlemen; how could they be hooligans who bully people like you lot!"

Xu Xu Zaijing's words left the five opponents at a loss for how to respond.

"Hmph, what exactly do you two want? If you have no business here, scram aside."

"You many bullying the few—what kind of heroes does that make you? If you have guts, let go of him; the three of us will fight the five of you!"

The five opponents were mostly in their teens, an age that in modern times would be middle school, when personalities are at their most rebellious.

As for that imperial clansman from Yuzhou, he should be the future Crown Prince in the original storyline.

At this moment, he was merely a collateral clansman standing like a lackey.

He was only a year or two older than Gu Gu Tingye.

Thus, the battle situation was five 'middle schoolers' against three 'elementary schoolers'.

Gu Gu Tingye rubbed his fists together, eager to try.

The leader among the five opposite them, namely Prince Yong's son, assessed the balance of power and lifted his chin.

The person beside him then pushed the one named Zhao Zhao Huan forward.

Once Zhao Zhao Huan came over, Xu Xu Zaijing whispered,

"I'll count one, two, three, and then we turn and run."

Gu Gu Tingye's face showed contempt.

"You coward!"

"Gu Gu Tingye, are you stupid? There are five of them opposite us, taller and stronger than us; we run while splitting them up!"

Looking at Zhao Zhao Huan, Xu Xu Zaijing continued, "After we split them up, I am confident I can take down one at maximum speed. What about you, Gu Gu Tingye?"

"I see their footsteps are floating and unsteady; they have no real skill. I can take down one too."

"My father and I often work in the fields; I can run."

"One, two, three!"

"Pah! You hooligan with no brains; only a fool would fight you head-on."

Gu Gu Tingye, full of mockery, turned and ran immediately.

Xu Xu Zaijing: "Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Coupled with his head-shaking gesture, the implication of contempt provoked even more hostility than Gu Gu Tingye's insults.

Zhao Zhao Huan, meanwhile, patted his own buttocks.

The three of them broke into a run.

"Catch them! I'll make them pay!"

Soon, after a chase where they pursued and fled from each other, they reached a fork in the road.

Xu Xu Zaijing and Gu Gu Tingye each ran toward a different path at the junction.

But very quickly, they stopped in their tracks.

Because the five from Prince Yong's household did not 'split their forces' as expected; instead, they all rushed in the direction Zhao Zhao Huan had fled.

Running at the very rear was that Wang Shizi of Prince Yong's house.

Looking at Xu Xu Zaijing and Gu Gu Tingye on either side, he said triumphantly,

"Do you think I'm a fool? You two performed so impressively for the Imperial Grandfather; how could I possibly split my forces!"

As he spoke, he even laughed proudly.

But very quickly, the smile vanished.

Because he realized that the four people beside him had all followed his orders to chase Zhao Zhao Huan.

Since he could not run fast, he had already fallen to the last position.

Gu Gu Tingye and Xu Xu Zaijing exchanged a glance.

They swiftly ran toward him.

When the four men from the Yong Wang Fu returned with Zhao Zhao Huan,

they discovered their own Wang Shizi had already been 'captured'.

"You bunch of idiots!!! Creatures who mind the head but ignore the buttocks. I—"

The Wang Shizi cut himself off, because he seemed to be calling himself a buttock.

"We have seized your family's master general; in exchange, release him," Gu Gu Tingye said.

"Did you not hear? Release the man!"

The four men opposite understood what their Wang Shizi meant.

Once everyone was released, naturally, there would be another story to tell.

Right now, with himself in Xu Xu Zaijing's hands, he could do nothing.

Soon, Zhao Zhao Huan was released and sent over; after walking a few steps, seeming as though he had been punched several times, he kept rubbing his shoulders.

"What happened? Did those few beat you?"

"It's nothing, just a few hits."

Gu Gu Tingye wanted to seek revenge for this person he had known for barely half an hour, but Xu Xu Zaijing stopped him with a look.

"After we release him below, we will go to the banquet ahead."

"Good."

Speaking thus, Xu Xu Zaijing gave the Yong Wang Shizi a hard push, and the three turned and ran.

"Three of you chase them; leave one to protect me!"

The three men ahead hurriedly panted as they ran to pursue.

But just as they encountered a corner formed by garden rocks, they were ambushed by Xu Xu Zaijing and Gu Gu Tingye.

Xu Xu Zaijing and Gu Gu Tingye had honed their martial arts and tempered their bodies since childhood; despite their young age, they were far more formidable than these scions of the Yong Wang Fu's retainers.

The three vanguard men ahead each took a punch to the stomach from the pair—a strike painful yet not injurious.

They could only clutch their bellies and curl up on the ground.

The two achieved success with a single strike and quickly ran far away.

However, they did not truly run toward the banquet before the hall, but instead made a wide detour, returning to the garden.

"The two brothers splitting forces to strike and then reuniting troops possess quite the flair of military strategy."

Hearing the praise, Gu Gu Tingye's face was full of smugness.

Xu Xu Zaijing did not say much.

"Let's go, to see the stupid fish in the garden."

The three leisurely walked to a rock beside the garden's pond.

In the water, plump red and golden fish were swimming carefree.

Gu Gu Tingye picked up a few grains of sand from the ground and threw them in; the fish were not scared away, but instead swam over in droves.

"Truly stupid fish."

Yuzhou was a remote place, and Zhao Zhao Huan's father had devoted his entire heart to farming, having no mind to arrange such ornamental trifles in his own courtyard.

This was the first time Zhao Zhao Huan, at such an age, had seen fish so plump and foolish.

"Pity there are no nets, nor fish spears; otherwise, we would surely return fully loaded."

"Oh, you used that idiom quite well."

"What is this? I learned it from my Eldest Brother; his calligraphy is even better! Why are you staring at me like that?"

Xu Xu Zaijing suddenly raised his index finger to his lips, making a gesture for silence.

He poked his head out and looked to the side.

"Where are they! Catch them!"

Xu Xu Zaijing turned and ran.

The five men chased after Xu Xu Zaijing in a line.

When Xu Xu Zaijing made a wide circle and returned to the pond side, he was already somewhat sweaty.

He peered from beside the rock.

Zhao Zhao Huan was taking a pastry from the banquet out of his pocket, crushing it, and throwing it into the pond.

Looking at Gu Gu Tingye, he said,

"Quick, quick, throw some more."

Meanwhile, Gu Gu Tingye had already taken off his clothes to use as a net bag for catching fish, and was using garden branches to skewer the fish, arranging them in a row.

Suddenly, a eunuch's shrill voice cried out,

"Where did these little monkeys come from, daring to harm the fish in the Imperial Garden?"

(End of Chapter)