Chapter 51: A Great Question

Zhao Ti said: "This grandson says the Ancestral Long Fist should originally have thirty-three postures, so why is one missing today?"

"Eighth Brother, where did you hear such talk?" Gao Taotao said coldly.

"Well..." Zhao Ti, seeing Gao Taotao's expression was somewhat off, chose his words carefully: "Since this grandson practices martial arts, it's inevitable to make the acquaintance of some men of the Jianghu, as well as storytellers who travel north and south. Whenever the Ancestral Long Fist comes up, they all sigh in admiration, saying that back at the end of the Five Dynasties and the Spring and Autumn period, the Ancestor's thirty-three-posture Long Fist swept the world, rarely meeting a worthy opponent."

"Heh!" Gao Taotao laughed coldly: "Wild bandits spouting nonsense, and you actually believe it?"

"Well..." Zhao Ti smiled: "If everyone says the same thing, it's probably not without basis."

"Everyone says so? What Jianghu men of broad experience could Jingcheng possibly have? The Holy Capital is a sacred ground; those with high Wu Gong and broad learning would not linger long, so how could they speak with you?" Gao Taotao scoffed.

"Grand Imperial Consort..."

Gao Taotao looked at Zhao Ti: "Back then, when the Ancestor taught the Long Fist in the army, it was thirty-two postures, and from that it spread outward. At that time he taught thirty-two postures, so how could people outside say it was thirty-three?"

"Could it be that the generals by the Ancestor's side knew of the thirty-three postures and leaked them outside?" Zhao Ti probed.

"After a hundred years, what flowed into the common folk was thirty-two, so it is thirty-two. Even if leaked, it remains thirty-two. Would they dare to fabricate thirty-three!" Gao Taotao's tone was icy.

Something's off! Zhao Ti looked at her; this grandmother's reaction was a bit too strong.

"Grand Imperial Consort also knows I practice martial arts. These boxing techniques and moves are mostly in numbers like eighteen, twenty-four, thirty-three, or thirty-six, seventy-two, a hundred and eight — where does thirty-two come from?" Zhao Ti said.

A cold expression covered Gao Taotao's face as she stared at Zhao Ti: "Since Eighth Brother is so certain in questioning me, then I must also ask Eighth Brother — what Jianghu riffraff are you talking about? These past months you've been confined to quarters; you wouldn't have secretly slipped out of the capital region, would you? Only then could you have heard such absurd talk!"

"This grandson has not." Zhao Ti thought to himself, why does she say I left the capital region? Could it be that within the capital region itself, no one knows the Ancestral Long Fist has thirty-three postures?

"This grandson has not." Zhao Ti said.

"Truly not?" Gao Taotao frowned.

"Naturally not." Zhao Ti said: "This grandson keeps the rules; how could he do such a thing?"

Gao Taotao looked at him, then nodded, then shook her head, and finally her gaze seemed somewhat vacant, as if lost in thought.

Zhao Ti was thinking as well; he had harbored a question for some time now.

Since the Southern Tang had the Shanhai Temple, Dali had the Tianlong Temple, and Western Xia had the Yipin Hall, then... what did the Great Song have?

If there was a Tianlong, the Great Song ought to have some kind of establishment as well, but since childhood in the palace he had never seen one, nor heard of one at court.

There was only the Imperial City Office, but the Wu Gong of the guards within the Imperial City Office was not particularly high; otherwise, his own study of internal cultivation could not have dragged on for so long.

"Eighth Brother, do you truly wish to know?" Gao Taotao suddenly said.

"Grand Imperial Consort..." Zhao Ti, seeing her suddenly change her tone, hurriedly said: "This grandson truly wishes to know."

Gao Taotao looked at him: "I don't care where you learned of the Ancestral Long Fist's thirty-three postures, but knowing these things brings you no benefit whatsoever. Do you still wish to know?"

This is an admission of the thirty-three postures? Zhao Ti nodded: "This grandson loves martial arts and wishes to know. Moreover, this grandson has studied the Ancestral Long Fist since childhood and truly has not found it so formidable — it doesn't match what I've heard of how the Ancestor of those days drove countless heroes into seclusion and made champions of the age withdraw from the world."

"The Ancestral Long Fist you studied?" Gao Taotao's lips moved slightly: "Go back first."

"Grand Imperial Consort..."

"Three days from now is the Mid-Autumn Festival; come to me here. Even if I wish to tell you, I must still consider how to tell you."

Three days from now? Zhao Ti nodded and said: "Then this grandson... will take his leave first." Having said that, he turned and walked toward the outside of the hall.

Watching Zhao Ti leave, Gao Taotao closed her eyes, and a look of pain suddenly appeared on her face. Then, from the corner of her mouth, a smear of fresh blood tinged with a pale bluish color slowly welled up...

Zhao Ti left the Cining Palace, his thoughts churning. As he was about to reach the Left Side Gate, he saw Zhao Ji and a young eunuch entering; the young eunuch was also carrying a fruit box in his hand.

"E-Eighth Brother?" Zhao Ji immediately stopped in his tracks, eyes wide: "Aren't you confined to quarters at home? How did you get out?"

Zhao Ti glanced at the fruit box in the young eunuch's hand: "What fine thing has Prince Duan brought into the palace?"

Zhao Ji hurriedly stepped in front of the young eunuch: "These are pastries for Empress Dowager Xiang; you absolutely cannot snatch them."

Zhao Ti smiled: "What kind of talk is that, Eleventh Brother? What do you mean 'snatch'? Between brothers, within the Huangzu Sect, is that a proper word to bandy about?"

"Eighth Brother, you're nothing but a bandit. Last time you snatched so many things from me — has the Bai Yu lion paperweight been useful? That was my beloved treasure." Zhao Ji said, his face full of wariness.

Zhao Ti said: "Very useful indeed. I played with it every day recently, loved it to no end."

Zhao Ji said resentfully: "Don't worry, sooner or later I'll take it back."

Zhao Ti laughed: "You can't take it back. Just yesterday I disposed of it; by now it's anyone's guess where it's ended up."

"You..." Zhao Ji, hearing this, was so angry his shoulders trembled: "I'm not discussing this with you. You left the house without permission during confinement — I'm going to the Empress Dowager to report you."

Watching Zhao Ji stalk off in a huff, Zhao Ti shook his head. Empress Dowager Xiang was no fool; he had swaggered into the palace openly, which meant he must have an imperial decree on his person — otherwise, how would he dare be so brazen?

Continuing on to the Left Side Gate, two Imperial City Office guards suddenly came in from outside.

Within the palace city, there was an inner and outer division; the Imperial City Office was stationed outside the inner city beside the East Chengtian Gate, and normally also used the Left Side Gate.

The two men saluted upon seeing Zhao Ti. Zhao Ti was far more familiar with the Imperial City Office than with Zhao Ji; because of his photographic memory, he had impressions of many people inside, and he had seen these two before as well.

The two stood aside to let him pass first; as he went by, he suddenly sensed something not quite right.

The two men's breathing was extremely faint — ordinary people would never notice this at all. In the past, he wouldn't have noticed either, but now that he was practicing Phantom Yin True Qi and his internal force grew steadily deeper, he detected the anomaly.

This should be the mark of internal cultivation reaching an advanced stage. Such guards were rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns in the Imperial City Office. Although many guards also practiced internal cultivation, their methods were crude and shallow, and no amount of practice could bring them to this level. The internal cultivation attainments of these two men even surpassed those of Bai Zhan and Su Da.

In the past, when he had sought out Imperial City Office men in the palace to practice martial arts, he had run into these two as well, but they always made excuses of being clumsy-handed and clumsy-footed, dodging backward. Because there were so many people in the Imperial City Office, he had not paid it much mind, but now it seemed somewhat amiss.

Zhao Ti's steps paused slightly, and he said: "It's been a while since I went to the Office. Are you busy with assignments these days?"

The two saluted again: "Replying to Your Highness, same as always, nothing much going on."

Just as the two were saluting, Zhao Ti's gaze suddenly caught a flash of dark red light from inside one man's sleeve, as if a crimson inner garment was worn beneath.

He couldn't help raising an eyebrow. The Imperial City Office's dress code required blue both inside and out — the Great Song being the Flame Dynasty, taking the meaning of green wood giving birth to fire. How could this guard wear crimson underneath?

He nodded slightly, hands behind his back, and walked out the Left Side Gate. After thinking it over, he did not return to his residence, but went instead to a large tree across from the East Corner Tower on Panlou Street and stood there quietly.

As time passed, the sky gradually darkened. He saw two men emerge from within the Left Side Gate; from afar he recognized them as the same two Imperial City Office guards who had entered earlier.