Chapter 79 - "Easy Peasy"

The guard ordered the numbers from small to big, then escorted the three of them up to the stone door at the cliff. They entered to find that there was nothing in there whatsoever but stone walls.

"This is balance training. In a moment, I'll leave and shut the stone doors behind me. Then, I'll press the secret switch to start the training. Three hours later, it will shut down," answered a strong guard in a respectful tone of voice.

"Yes, I understand," replied Liu Rushuang lifelessly.

The guard glanced at the three people who looked ready to train, then walked out.

After the stone doors shut, the floor suddenly withdrew from both sides. A stone column appeared in the center and Liu Rushuang jumped onto it, calm and composed.

Number Three and Number Eighteen copied Liu Rushuang and stood on top of the two other stone columns that revealed itself from the ground.

After the stone floor completely withdrew, they realised that there were just three pillars beneath them. They stood on one column each.

The tip of the stone column was just half a foot long, so a normal person wouldn't be able to last long on top before falling off. However, as assassins, the three of them found this quite simple – or so they thought.

A second later, they changed their minds as countless sharp blades suddenly appeared beneath the columns, causing them to start swaying. Although they only swayed slightly, it was enough to make under-skilled martial artists fall and get ultimately pierced by blades.

"Ah!" Abruptly yelped Number Eighteen, who was only fourteen years old. He leant back and looked as though he was on the verge of falling.

Liu Rushuang quickly used the white satin fabric around her waist to roll Number Eighteen right back up. "Be careful. Next time you fall, I may not be able to save you," she said coldly.

"Thank you milday!" Thanked Number Eighteen who was pale white from fear, as he stood firmly in front of Liu Rushuang.

Liu Rushuang smiled wickedly. Fortunately, she prepared herself as best she could before she arrived. Otherwise, there was no way she could have pulled him up from over two feet away.

Just like that, with Liu Rushuang's help, the three of them passed this stage with several close calls.

On the second day, the guard led three of them to another stone room, where they trained in agility.

After the stone doors shut behind them, a number of blades shot sporadically from the walls and after every hour, the number of shooting blades increased and sped up.

An hour later, Number Eighteen accidentally got cut by a blade in three places and Number Three was hit in two places. Fortunately, they weren't fatal blows.

Liu Rushuang emerged unscathed.

On the third day, the guard escorted the three of them to train their endurance.

After the doors shut, three iron chains appeared mid-air and countless sharp blades emerged from the ground.

The three of them grasped onto the thick iron chains with both hands, and stopped themselves from falling.

The three of them passed this stage.

Their fourth day focused on strength training. The three of them reached an incline, where giant boulders rolled down towards them. Here, they had to push the giant boulders upward.

No matter how hard Number Thirteen tried, he couldn't budge the boulder at all. In fact, the giant boulder would always slightly fall with the incline.

Liu Rushuang couldn't help but secretly curse clan master Ming Ye for taking things too far. Then, she reached her right arm out and conjured her inner breath to help Number Eighteen.

They passed the final stage.

...

Over ten days later, Beiming's political marriage procession of hundreds of majestic-looking people entered the Capital through the southern main gates.

Ouyang Yaoyi's hair was a mess, her eyes were lifeless, she looked significantly skinnier, and she limped with each step she took. In fact, passersby from Beiming took Ouyang Yaoyi for a crazy deranged woman.

Chapter 80 - "Back In The Capital"

Zhang Jiu and Li Fei didn't look too well either. Reaching the Capital of Beiming meant that Ouyang Yaoyi might just kill them. Although they tortured Ouyang Yaoyi until her body was completely defeated, she didn't go crazy and could recover just fine after some rest.

In the Capital, the women on both sidewalks gazed at Han Moze with infatuated eyes.

All they could see was Han Moze's exceptionally handsome good looks and his chiseled, sharp facial features.

On the outside, he may look unruly but he released a natural radiance in his eyes that made people not dare underestimate him.

He had a head of flowing black hair, a pair of sharp eyebrows above his enchantingly long and narrow eyes; those same eyes that had a wise glow. If people weren't careful, those eyes made people fall to his evil clutches.

He had a tall nose bridge and reasonably thick lips which, in this very moment, flashed a captivating smile that dazzled people.

In those women's hearts, he was the God of war and a good Emperor who protected people from harm. Whoever married him would truly have the fortune of several lifetimes. With that thought, they were a little jealous of the betrothed princess.

As Han Moze rode his black stallion, he had a sudden thought which made him break into a wide smile, causing the women's hearts to flutter even more so.

All of a sudden, commoners began to kneel one after the other and cry, "We respectfully welcome your majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

As the procession marched forward, shortly reaching the imperial palace, the sound of cheering erupted, proving just how much Han Moze was loved by the people.

Then, the procession emerged from the commoner's residential area, passed many guards and eventually reached the group of civil and military officials.

"Respectfully welcoming your majesty! Long live the Emperor!" Kneeled and greeted the hundreds of officials.

Han Moze continued to lead the bridal procession into the living quarters of the Emperor, concubines and palace maids.

Once they entered the imperial palace, Han Moze dismounted first. Then, others followed suit one after the other.

Han Moze waited until the servants took the horses away, before he grinned at the officials. "Thank you everyone for your hard work. I will invite you all to a feast another day. You may be excused for today," he said flatly to the minister of rites.

"Yes, your majesty!" Replied several high ranking officials.

After Han Moxi watched the officials leave, he stepped forward. "Royal brother, I shall take my leave too. Finally, I can go back and get a good night's rest," he said with a soft smile.

Han Moze scoffed. "I'm afraid you may not do as you wish. I still have a task for you," he said coldly.

"Royal brother, can this not wait until tomorrow?" Asked Han Moxi with a forced smile.

Han Moze grunted coldly and grabbed the Blood Feast authorisation tally from his waist and handed it to Han Moxi. "Visit all the Blood Feast properties in the Capital and find her," he said flatly.

"Royal brother, would it not be all the same if you left this task to the bodyguards?" Asked Han Moxi with pursed lips.

Han Moze smiled and argued with conviction. "It would be difficult to not raise suspicion if it was left to the bodyguards. I feel more at ease leaving it to you." With that, he patted Han Moxi's shoulder and calmly said, "Go on now."

Han Moxi furrowed his brows and unwillingly took the tally from him. "Then brother, I'll be going now," he said in disappointment.

Thereafter, he turned around whilst tightly clutching the tally and left with gritted teeth. The high ranking officials saw the sullen look on Han Moxi's face and didn't dare walk up to them to greet them and express their sympathies.

With a wicked smile, Han Moze watched Han Moxi walk angrily away.

Oh royal brother, bullying you every now and then is also one of my hobbies.

If Han Moxi heard what was going through Han Moze's mind, he would definitely throw the tally back at him in anger!

Han Moxi's mother was the former Emperor's concubine Rong, Han Yueming, who passed away after complications giving birth. After that happened, Han Moxi was sent to a side chamber and was raised by a wet nurse. Concubine Rong's father was army general Shen Yixiu, a second rank who cared for Han Moxi after his mother's passing because the Emperor saw him as an unlucky presence. On top of it all, Han Moxi's wet nurse was naturally kind, so Han Moxi grew up considerably happily without worry.