Chapter 21: The First Meeting with the Crown Prince

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  The prince had been at the Yang residence for three whole days. During these three days, Yang Ziting and other officials from Jiangnan accompanied the prince to inspect the river embankments, markets and other places, understanding the people's voices, seeing that the people under the rule of Nanguo could live and work in peace, the prince's face was always smiling, which made all the officials except Yang Ziting put down their hanging hearts heavily.

  The fourth day...

  On this day, the prince did not ask to be accompanied when going out, but instead politely declined the accompaniment of his attendants and strolled around the Yang estate by himself. Speaking of the Yang estate, it was previously mentioned that the estate's land area is quite vast, with many courtyards. This isn't to say that Yang Ziteng's wealth is abundant, but rather because the emperor had taken notice of Yang Ziteng's hard work and high achievements, he specially bestowed upon him a large tract of land. Yang Ziteng couldn't refuse, so he moved his family and servants from Huadu to this place, where they have lived for a long time.

  Although the position of Taifu is one of the three dukes in the court, it is not a very powerful official position. Yang Ziting doesn't need to attend court every day, only once or twice a week. Moreover, Yang Ziting's old mansion in Huadu was also preserved, and when he needed to attend court, he would set out the day before, so living in Sichuan didn't feel particularly inconvenient.

  The prince walked ahead, followed by Yang Wenjing. Early on, Yang Ziting knew that the prince wanted to stroll around the mansion and declined his company, so he arranged for his daughter to accompany him. Due to the prince's high status, our eldest miss was being overly cautious everywhere, and whenever the prince asked out of curiosity, she tried her best to explain everything, fearing that the prince wouldn't understand. After strolling for a while, fine sweat broke out on her forehead, and in her heart, she secretly resented why this difficult task had fallen on her shoulders.

  The crown prince, however, seemed to be oblivious to feminine charms. Even when a beauty like Yang Wenjin was by his side, he would only glance at her occasionally, out of curiosity. Yang Wenjin found this strange, as she had attended some literary gatherings hosted by the crown prince, where all the scholars present would fawn over her, trying to make a good impression. But the crown prince was different. Still, she thought to herself, he is the crown prince, the future emperor - even if she wondered about it, she couldn't very well ask him out loud.

  The two of them had unknowingly walked close to Yang Wenguang's residence, and at this time they could already hear the sound of pounding coming from inside the courtyard.

  The sound attracted the prince, who stepped forward and turned to ask Yang Wenqin: "Miss Wenqin, who lives in this courtyard and why is there such a strange noise coming from it?"

  Yang Wenjin's head ached as soon as she heard it, she had long known that the front was Yang Wenguang's courtyard. Thinking of Yang Wenguang and Yunqi, this pair of treasures, hoping not to make mistakes for a while, she said: "Your Highness, in front is my brother's residence, he has nothing to do with liking martial arts, those sounds must be from his practice." When she said this, she suddenly felt happy, and immediately had an excuse, and said: "Your Highness, my brother's courtyard is not big, I'm afraid it will disturb you, why don't we go somewhere else?"

  The prince, however, seemed not to have heard the words, a smile appearing on his face as he said: "Oh? The eldest son of the teacher has excellent martial arts skills and is favored by the emperor. I didn't expect the second son to be good at it too. It seems that the Yang family will produce another general. I must go see for myself. If Miss Wenxin is not convenient, then I'll go take a look." After finishing speaking, he quickened his pace towards the gate without waiting for Yang Wenyin's response.

  Yang Wenjin was speechless for a moment, the prince had said he was going, and she had no reason not to accompany him. She only hoped that the Bodhisattva would bless her and the Buddha would protect her, and that nothing unexpected would happen. With this thought, she quickly followed after him.

  As soon as she entered the courtyard, Yang Wenjing almost fainted when she saw the scene in front of her.

  Yang Wenguang was topless, only wearing a pair of large pants, punching the wooden stake with a loud thud, humming a tune that might be from Yun Qi's teachings: "Quickly use the double-section staff, hum-hum-ha...". His hands and legs moved in perfect sync. Looking at Yun Qi again, this was the reason why Yang Wenguang almost fainted. He was wearing his clothes neatly, but had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, lounging on a stone bench with his legs spread wide apart. What's even more infuriating was the arrogant expression on his face, with his eyes narrowed and blowing out smoke rings.

  It felt like someone had entered the yard, and although his eyes were closed, Yun Qi, a former special forces operative, immediately turned his gaze towards the gate. When he saw that it was Yang Wenxin and the Crown Prince, he held back a mouthful of smoke and didn't exhale: "Cough cough cough..."

  Yun Qi's appearance was seen by Yang Wenjin, who suddenly felt a chill in her heart and looked at the prince with some embarrassment, only to find that the prince hadn't noticed anything and was instead watching Yang Wenguang strike the wooden stake with great interest.

  At this time, Yang Wenguan did not notice the difference in Yun Qi, nor did he see the person coming to the gate. Instead, he concentrated on continuing to hit the wooden stake, still humming a tune. At this time, Yang Wenguan was getting more and more into the rhythm, his movements smooth and effortless. Yun Qi also looked at Yang Wenguan and knew that this kid had already entered a state of flow. If he were allowed to continue, it's possible that after finishing, he would reach a new level in martial arts. On the other hand, if he were interrupted, he might stagnate. But the person coming was the Crown Prince, so Yun Qi couldn't help but think about whether or not to stop him.

  It seems that the prince was also attracted by Yang Wenguang's movements and did not make a sound. They had already quietly walked to Yun Qi's side and stopped to watch. Yun Qi also quickly stood up, threw away the cigarette in his hand, and saluted the prince. Seeing that the prince did not speak, Yun Qi let out a sigh of relief and thought to himself: Anyway, you're not speaking, so I won't call for a stop either.

  Yang Wenjin wanted to speak up several times, but was stopped by Yun Qi's warning gaze, and could only throw a few white eyes at the innocent Yun Qi.

  After a cup of tea's work, Yang Wenguan made the final move and then gathered his momentum! He spat out a mouthful of turbid air. As he waited for the meridians in his body to calm down, he was about to tell Yun Qi about his own progress when he suddenly turned his head and froze: "Master... Ah... Zi Lu has seen the Crown Prince." His body naturally knelt on one knee, respectfully saying so.

  "Zi Lu Mian Li! Hǎo hǎo hǎo ā!" The crown prince said three "goods" in a row, enough to see that he had made a full affirmation of Yang Wenguang's martial arts skills just now. He also said: "I didn't expect the teacher's sons to be brave and fierce one by one, it's really 'tiger father no dog son'!" After finishing speaking, he chuckled and walked forward to take a closer look at the wooden stake used by Yang Wenguang when practicing his skills earlier.

  "What is this?"

  The prince was interested in playing with the wooden stake, and Yang Wenguan naturally stood aside to explain: "Your Highness, this is called a wooden stake, it's a tool used by ordinary people to practice martial arts."

  "Oh?" The crown prince thought to himself, recalling how Yang Ziting had complained to the emperor about his two sons, one of whom was not good at martial arts and the other who also wanted to learn martial arts, causing him great frustration. Seeing Yang Wenguang today, it seemed that this young man was still secretly learning martial arts, so he deliberately said: "I once heard my teacher say that he opposed you learning martial arts, I didn't expect you to secretly practice on your own, if I tell the teacher about this, what will happen?"

  "Ah!!" Yang Wenguan was so angry that he wanted to slap himself in the face. Earlier, he had spoken hastily and admitted to practicing martial arts, but now he was facing the Crown Prince. He thought for half a day but couldn't find an answer, so he threw the question to Yun Qi beside him.

  The prince saw Yang Wenguan muttering to himself for half a day, but he couldn't get a clear answer out of him. Instead, he looked at the servant standing beside him. After thinking for a moment, his brow furrowed slightly, and it seemed that earlier he had heard Yang Wenguan call this person "Shifu". Could it be that this servant was actually a martial artist? But he was clearly dressed as a book boy... His curiosity piqued, the prince asked: "Oh? Who are you?"

  Yun Qi saw the prince and asked himself, not nervous, tidied up his clothes, raised both hands, but did not kneel down, saying: "Your humble servant Yun Qi, is a book boy of Yang Fu, greeting your highness."

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