Martial King's Retired Life

The Father Runs Into Trouble While His Kid Runs Into Me

Nan Junfei was lying on the ground gasping for air: ”Your highness… you saw through me long ago……”

”It wasnʼt hard.”

The emperor tossed his crossbow aside and placed his hand behind his back. The emperorʼs hands were still shaking in the darkness. Thorn-tears had truly sealed his qi. He tried to mould energy multiple times, but that only caused Thorn-tears to penetrate deeper within. His hands and feet were numb, leaving him powerless while he felt a sharp stinging pain in his dantian every now and then. It took him everything he had to fire the crossbow.

Though Shen Yiren tried to help everyone neutralise the poison, the only person she didnʼt dare to give hemlock poison to was the emperor. For her, the emperor wasnʼt just her respected and beloved uncle, but also the foundation of a vassalʼs loyalty. As such, poisoning the emperor without careful deliberation was not something she could do, even if it was a matter of expediency.

As a result, the emperor was in a horrible condition and was only bluffing as best as he could to hide the fact from Nan Junfei.

”I stopped trusting everyone the moment Chengʼer launched his revolt. Anyone couldʼve been Chengʼerʼs men so I came up with a method to determine if the person in question could be trusted. Those who mentioned the three words ʼimperial jade sealʼ were moles, no questions asked. Not only did you repeatedly mention it, you even showed your urgency on your face. Thatʼs when I started paying attention. I continued to repetitively mention Chengʼerʼs operation today. You and I were both poisoned and both in peril, but you were very calm. And you had so much to say when analysing his plan, which is completely contradictory to your usual self that speaks very little.”

”I canʼt believe I revealed myself like that……”

”The League of Assassins mustʼve grown a few more guts to dare and come invade my imperial palace. Yet they only sent small-timers like the Black Winds Thirteen Wings. Thereʼs no way Chengʼer couldʼve relied on them alone to attack the imperial palace. I felt something was wrong long ago. I just happened to not be able to figure it out until I saw that Qilin Guard, Jiao Meng with formidable skills. His palm strikes were incredibly powerful and shocking. He stood out to me particularly when he defeated my skilled fighters around me alone like a man who established his magnanimity in a wave. That reminded me of a style. The style counters variations by not varying the users techniques, drawing out fights with stamina, and focusing on brute strength as its core element. That style is called Fu Xiang Divine Palms.”

The corner of Nan Junfeiʼs eye twitched a little after what he heard so the emperor knew his guess was right. The emperor then continued: ”The cultivation and execution is extremely similar to what Jiao Meng used. So it was strange, because according to what I know, Fu Xiang Divine Palms is a style that originates from South Xinjiang. If it was being used in the Central Plains, then only one person would be using it. That would be Fu Xiang, an assassin who made a name for himself in the north.”

The emperor then got angrier and he raised his voice: ”Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye, Zhong Ning! God damn Yu Ye, Zhong Ning, Nan Junfei. I underestimated you. Mystery was a group that rose to prominence in the last six to seven years while you had entered the palace long before Mystery appeared. I thought you were just more regulated and disciplined when I saw how you were usually very careful in the palace as though you were afraid of making mistakes. I never thought that it was all a cover for your real identity as an assassin!”

”In the past, my alias was Yu Ye of the Southern Sky. The two words, Yu Ye were taken from that alias of mine after I became an assassin.” Nan Junfei lay on the ground like a mouldy-old prawn. He smiled helplessly and added: ”But thatʼs not the reason. Iʼm certain that you werenʼt suspicious of me before you entered the imperial study. At least, Iʼm not entirely sure.”

”Youʼre right. I had no way of confirming your stance after I entered so I stayed here to watch you. You barged in claiming enemies had come. You can trick people with your voice, but not your eyes. Your two sly-snake eyes were scanning the room the entire time like a dog searching for its prey! Is there any need to say what you were thinking at that point?”

”I see now…… You are most certainly wise, your highness. Not even such small actions could escape your eyes. To be honest, I was not deliberately trying to be careful. It was just that I had to be careful in front of you.” Nan Junfei smiled and slowly got up from the ground. He panted for air and continued: ”Since it was my eyes that betrayed me, I did not get hit with this arrow for no reason.”

Once he finished that sentence, Nan Junfei clenched his teeth, and resisted the pain as he yanked the short arrow out, causing a downpour of blood.

Luckily for him, the arrow wasnʼt barbed so it didnʼt open too big of a wound. It did hurt intensely though. Nan Junfei clenched his teeth and sealed his meridian. He moulded energy three times and he managed to stop the excessive bleeding. He then took out his medication for incision wounds he always had on him and had himself some. He then looked at the emperor. He had lost a fair bit of blood but he still had clear vision, and his internal energy was evidently fine.

The emperor didnʼt expect for him to be so tough, let alone stand up again. For a moment, the emperor got slightly flustered: ”Y-You can still stand?”

Nan Junfei chuckled and replied: ”I just praised you for being wise and here you are being stupid. Your highness, do you perhaps remember what style I am a master of by any chance?”

Though the style Nan Junfei is well-versed in is famous, itʼs got nothing to do with his wound. His alias was Yu Ye Southern Sky. However, that was because he was good with qinggong and secret weapons. It had nothing to do with him pulling an arrow out.

The emperor thought about it and suddenly blurted out something that came to mind: ”Qi Release Aspiration Manual! Damn you! I taught you that back then, and now youʼre using it against me!”

In one particular year when the emperor went to see how the people were doing outside the palace, a bandit tried to hurt the emperor. Nan Junfei took the attack with his body and was severely wounded. After not being able to heal for a long time, the emperor taught him the healing technique of the royal family, Qi Release Aspiration Manual.

After years of practice, Nan Junfei became proficient with the style. He sneakily used that style when he was hit by the arrow just before. And it had amazing healing properties as usual. He managed to stop the bleeding swiftly and his internal and external energy systems werenʼt damaged.

The emperor furiously exclaimed: ”You bastard!” He went to strike him with his palms. However, he had lost all of his internal energy and had yet to recover.

Nan Junfei intercepted the emperorʼs arm and slapped, knocking him onto the ground.

”Hmph! The patriarch was so skilled yet has trash like you for a descendent. Once you die, Iʼll use all of your skills and combine them into an invincible style. Letʼs see how your Li familyʼs rule fares then!”

The emperor was sprawled out on the ground and couldnʼt get up as though he was completely out of energy.

”I didnʼt want to do this, but you didnʼt give me a chance. Your highness, I originally wanted to give you a swift death, but you forced me to do it the hard way.”

Nan Junfei laughed coldly and his tone slowly became more violent: ”Your highness, I do execute my targets normally. I donʼt interrogate my targets or anything like that. Only my brother Zhong Ning is a crazy murderous killer whoʼs also specialised in all sorts of interrogation techniques. And heʼs a sick-perverted bastard who goes for men and women. If you donʼt hand over the imperial jade seal, my brother Zhong Ning might just like you given your looks when he gets here.”

Just when he got to that part, somebody kicked the door open. Nan Junfei turned around with glee to look: ”Speak of the devil.”

Nan Junfei shouted toward the door: ”Zhong Ning, come in!”

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”Zhong Ning, you bastard! Stop right there!!”

I was galloping in the haremʼs flower garden. Behind me was a pretty girl chasing me down with a sabre in her hand.

Iʼve ran a few laps in the harem with this girl in red already.

Itʼs not that I canʼt shake her off, but I need to find some makeup here. I donʼt know what the heck is up with the harem today either. Thereʼs a maid or a eunuch standing on guard every three steps so I had to take detours to avoid those places. But then I got stuck on a big straight path, making it very easy for her to chase me from behind.

Just what the hell man?!

Iʼm just looking for some makeup. Name me one girl that doesnʼt use any! Just why is it so hard for me to find some?!

”Stop right there, Zhong Ning!”

She yelled out with her beautiful-clear voice again. The speed with which the girl in red wielded her broadsword was honestly swifter than I imagined. She slashed at me again.

Get off me! Iʼm in a rush to save the emperor here! Canʼt we just do away with our debts when weʼve got national matters to deal with here?!

I suddenly stopped and threw a palm strike, forcing her to learn to back of…… I canʼt kill her or hurt her…… This is tough man!! Why didnʼt my shifu teach me some useful stuff back then?!

While I was complaining about for the umpteenth time about how my shifu isnʼt reliable, the girl in red took two steps back and then slashed the force of my palm strike away.

She seemed to struggle to breathe a little due to my palm strike as she was short on breath.

I couldnʼt face her front-on in case she recognised me in my constable uniform. As such, I kept my back to her and thundered: ”I have important business to attend to. Missy, if you continue chasing me, watch out your for you umm… your dudou!”

Kekeke, I just mentioned a place she must guard……

”Pervert!”

The girl in red swiftly covered her chest. A red flush appeared on her face. She wore a stern expression on and exclaimed: ”You barged into the harem which is an unforgivable offense, and youʼre the second team of the League of Assassinsʼ, Mystery. How can I let you go?!”

I made a mistake. This girl in red isnʼt your average seventeen, eighteen, nineteen year old girl. Her martial arts knowledge is vast and managed to keep calm like this after a mysterious man suddenly barged in on her bathing. Her composure is impressive and commendable.

”A-And…..” Her voice trembled a little. She looked at me with disdain in her heroic and beautiful eyes: ”You, Zhong Ning, are an infamous evil figure in the pugilistic world, wreaking havoc wherever you go. People in the pugilistic world call you one of the four biggest perverts. You go for men and women, you disgusting-sick pervert! What were you trying to do in the harem?!”

My jaw dropped to the ground.

What? What? What?

He goes for guys and girls? Shit! I didnʼt know this guyʼs appetite was that liberal!!

”Your majesty! We have trouble!”

A group of imperial guards rushed over. I looked at their leader. It was a proper imperial guard, not one of the orange princeʼs henchmen. It looks like the crisis at the flying fish pavilion has been resolved after Fu Xiangʼs defeat. The imperial guard captains had begun to return to their posts and the guards themselves had returned to their rightful posts.

Eh? But what did the team-captain call this girl in red just now……?

She glared at my back then and clenched her teeth before saying: ”You guys came at the right time. I was worried about not being able to find a helping hand. Just now this man……” It looks like she cares about her reputation and canʼt reveal that I peeped on her bathing. She switched to: ”He barged into the harem from out of nowhere and was rude to me. Arrest him and as the princess, I shall reward you handsomely!”

Hmm? Somethingʼs weird.

Did she just address herself the way I think she did?!

Other than the empress, the only ones who address themselves like that in the palace are……

As soon as the imperial guards heard what she said, they shouted out like I molested their mother. They angrily roared: ”You rude bastard! One glance and you can tell youʼre not a good person. How dare you humiliate the second princess!”

Sec-ond princess!!!

The girl in red is the second princess of the current dynasty, Li Hongzhuang!

Once I learnt of her identity, my hairs stood up and I realised one more thing: I just threatened her by saying to her face that I was going to strip her dudou off. My name is going to go down in history now!

Note: I have to acknowledge that I made a big mistake. I read Zhong Ning as Zhong Yi (凝 VS 疑), I left the left part out when. Author helped me point it out. Iʼve corrected that in previous chapters. Profuse apologies.

Glossary

*Dudou is like an undershirt worn in ancient China instead of a bra. Itʼs not called a bellyband which itʼs often mistranslated as. That refers to a variety of other devices including horsesʼ harness or a compression garment expectant mothers wear. For a visual, google: 肚兜

**Li Hongzhuang refers to herself as 本宫 which translated literally is ”This palace”. The English translation in the right context is just ”I”, so for raw readers, I did add in the ”…as the princess, I…” part for smoother reading and so that MFZʼs reaction wasnʼt just nonsensical to you. From here on out though, whenever 本宫 is used, I will simply translate it as ”I” unless I need to do that again. As in the chapter, itʼs how the empress, sometimes other ladies of the emperor (because there are different ways) and princesses refer to themselves. In English, itʼs just ”I”, hence why the changes I made to adapt it.

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