Chapter 19: The Royal Son
After leaving Zhao Yuan's study, Liu Xunyi tossed and turned all night and couldn't fall asleep. The words Zhao Yuan said kept echoing in his mind for a long time.

……

“Xun Yi, I know this matter is of great importance, and it is not easy for you to successfully persuade the famous Luo Tianjin on your own. However, the Song Dynasty is currently short of soldiers and food. Apart from relying on the power of the martial arts world, it is difficult for the court to come up with a comprehensive plan at the moment…”

"If we abandon the northern land, the next target of the Mongolian army will be to march south and completely swallow up the Song Dynasty. Now the country is in a precarious situation. With the help of the martial arts heroes, we can start an uprising in the north not only to recover the land, but also to tie down the energy of the Mongolian army. At least it can allow the Song Dynasty to continue to live in peace in a corner without being harassed. After all, it takes enough time to prepare for war and make steady progress..."

"Luo Tianjin not only has the ability to command the heroes of the martial arts world, but also has many friends among the gentry and wealthy merchants. If we can get his full support, then all problems will be solved, whether it is the shortage of soldiers or the lack of financial resources. Therefore, winning over Luo Tianjin is definitely a foolproof strategy that kills two birds with one stone..."

“Xun Yi, you are the most qualified to take on this task among all the people in Tianji Pavilion. I know that you like to make friends in the martial arts world, so with your personality, you will not be exposed if you sneak into the Xianwang Mansion. Luo Tianjin likes to make friends with heroes. With your martial arts and character, you will definitely attract Luo Tianjin’s attention and be accepted. Then, you will be successful in the Xianwang Mansion, and then the prime minister’s mission will be half accomplished…”

"Also, remember not to reveal your identity to Luo Tianjin, so as not to fail. People in the martial arts world often have contempt and hostility towards the government, so if you want to be safe on this trip, remember not to reveal your true identity. And there is another advantage to doing so, that is, you can openly regard yourself as a person in the martial arts world, and secretly make friends with heroes from all walks of life in the martial arts world. If you can't convince Luo Tianjin, you can use your eloquence to explain the righteousness to your close friends and win them over to persuade Luo Tianjin together. Luo Tianjin must like face with his current status. If you can win over some fellow martial artists to persuade together, your chances of success will be much greater..."

"Xunyi, you must remember that this is not only for the sake of the Song Dynasty, the status of the East Palace and the dignity of the Tianji Pavilion, but also for yourself. As long as you can accomplish this, you will have made great contributions to the Song Dynasty. At that time, not to mention the 'Princess Xinde', even the 'Princess Xinde', you will be qualified to marry. Whether you and Princess Xinde can get married and have a happy marriage, everything depends on your own ability..."

……

It was not until the sky was bright that the upset Liu Xunyi fell asleep. In the dream, Liu Xunyi dreamed of Zhao Xin as usual, but in this dream, he and Zhao Xin were no longer separated by others, no longer had secret trysts, no longer shed tears of reluctance, and no longer watched Zhao Xin marry other princes and nobles and then cried his heart out.

This was a rare beautiful dream of Liu Xunyi. He dreamed that he successfully persuaded Luo Tianjin to come to Lin'an to discuss the plan of restoring the country with the prime minister. The emperor rewarded him according to his merits in the Golden Palace and conferred him the title of a loyal and brave general of the first rank. With the matchmaking of the prime minister and Zhao Yuan, the emperor ordered a marriage. Zhao Xin, dressed in red, knelt with him in the Golden Palace to thank God for his grace. The two of them lived together happily, and there were congratulations everywhere inside and outside the court. Liu Xunyi achieved success and finally got the beauty. He was so happy and free.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

A quick knock on the door suddenly woke Liu Xunyi from her sweet dream. Liu Xunyi lay on the bed with her legs crossed, still unsatisfied, and asked lazily, "Who is it?"

"Lord Liu, last night you ordered me to go to the Rong Palace to meet the young prince. In the morning, the young prince sent someone to invite Lord Liu to the palace for a chat." The servant outside the door hurriedly replied. His words also made Liu Xunyi gradually sober up. After he received Zhao Yuan's order in the study yesterday, he knew that he would soon leave Lin'an for Luoyang City, so he wanted to meet Zhao Xin before leaving. However, according to the current situation, he naturally couldn't meet Zhao Xin directly, so he could only meet Zhao Xin privately under the pretext of meeting the young prince Zhao Yu. This statement has long become a secret between Liu Xunyi, Zhao Yu and Zhao Xin. Therefore, the purpose of the young prince Zhao Yu sending someone to invite him this morning was naturally to secretly fulfill their tryst.

"Oh!" Liu Xunyi exhaled lightly, and recalled the beautiful dream just now. A look of joy appeared on his face, and he said loudly, "I know, you can go down now!"

"Master Liu, you need to hurry up." The servant's voice sounded a little bitter. Before Liu Xunyi could ask, the servant said anxiously, "I came to report once this morning, and Master Liu said he already knew it. But now it's noon, and Master Liu still hasn't left. I'm thinking..."

"what?"

The servant's words were like a blow to the head, causing Liu Xunyi to suddenly turn over and jump to the door. The door opened, and Liu Xunyi grabbed the servant's arm with an anxious look in his eyes and asked hurriedly, "What time do you say it is now?"

"It's noon, Master Liu..." The servant looked up at the sky with a look of grievance, "If you don't leave now, the young prince will make trouble for me..."

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier? You really delayed my important business!"

Before Liu Xunyi could finish his complaint, he had already walked around the servant and rushed out of the courtyard.

The Prince Rong's Mansion in the north of Lin'an City has high walls and deep mansions, and is very imposing. It is considered the largest mansion in Lin'an City except for the Imperial Palace.

At this moment, in the back garden of Prince Rong's Mansion, a boy who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old and slightly bloated was waving a sword around. The sword tip slashed at the vegetation in the garden, chopping the fragrant flowers into pieces. You should know that every plant here is an extremely precious variety, but now it is wantonly destroyed by this boy, which is tantamount to wasting nature's gifts. If people who love flowers see it, they will go crazy.

The young man was wielding the sword randomly, his moves and postures were not correct. But even so, the servants and maids surrounding him kept clapping and praising him, cheering one after another, and praising him with endless words, while they turned a deaf ear to those poor beauties.

In fact, it is not the fault of these slaves and maids to flatter against their will. After all, the young man dancing with the sword in front of them is their master, the young prince of Rong Palace and the nephew of the current emperor, Zhao Xie.

With Zhao Chen's status and position, let alone destroying a few famous flowers, even if he burned down the entire back garden, I'm afraid no one would dare to say a bad word.

Zhao Yu looked quite ordinary, and even had a hint of dullness between his eyebrows. He also looked a little silly when he smiled. If it were an ordinary citizen, he would probably be regarded as stupid, but for the young prince of Rong Palace, he was born simple, amazing, and extraordinary.

"Your Highness's swordsmanship is superb. We are in awe of you!" "Your Highness, chop that flower! Chop that flower! Wow, you are so amazing!"

Zhao Xie proudly waved his sword under the treatment of everyone. From time to time, he turned his head to look at Zhao Xin who was sitting on a stone bench not far away, and said with a smile: "Sister Xin, what do you think of the swordsmanship I have practiced? I bought this sword at a high price. The man who sold the sword also taught me a set of swordsmanship, which is the 'Falling Flowers and Falling Leaves Swordsmanship' that I am practicing now. The sword seller said that this set of swordsmanship is a unique martial arts skill. After learning it, you can be invincible in the world. What do you think of the results of my practice for a whole morning? Hehe..."

"Needless to say? The young prince has made some progress after only practicing for the morning. If he practices a little more in the afternoon, he will surely achieve great success. Haha..." Before Zhao Xin could answer, the servant beside her hurriedly complimented him.

Zhao Xin smiled absentmindedly at Zhao Yu and evaded the question, "Not bad! Not bad!"

Seeing Zhao Xin looking around in bewilderment, Zhao He naturally knew what was going on and smiled, "Sister Xin, don't worry, the master will be here soon." The 'master' Zhao He was talking about was Liu Xunyi, who had been practicing martial arts with him since childhood, so they were very familiar with each other. Because Liu Xunyi was a few years older and had great martial arts skills, Zhao He admired her and even recognized her as his master without authorization. Although Prince Rong and Zhao Yuan thought that such a discipleship was unbecoming and could not be counted, it did not prevent Zhao He from entertaining himself. As for Liu Xunyi, he had no power to oppose Zhao He, so he could only let him do whatever he wanted.

"Your subordinate kowtows to the young prince and Princess Xinde!"

While Zhao Xie was playing with his friends, Liu Xunyi had been led into the back garden by servants. When he saw Zhao Xie and Zhao Xin, Liu Xunyi immediately knelt down and saluted.

"Alright, alright, all of you get out of the way!" Zhao Yu pushed aside the servants around him, holding his precious sword and running to Liu Xunyi. He put his arm around Liu Xunyi's shoulders without any hesitation and said intimately, "Master, why did you come just now? Sister Xin and I have been waiting for you for half a day. If you don't come soon, my 'Falling Flowers and Falling Leaves Sword' will be completed. By then, Master, you won't be able to beat me, so don't be angry. Hehe..."

"What...the Sword of Fallen Flowers and Fallen Leaves?" As Liu Xunyi entered the back garden, his eyes fell on Zhao Xin, so he seemed a little absent-minded towards Zhao Xie's enthusiasm.

"Here!" Zhao Yu seemed to not realize that he was redundant, and he showed off his sword in front of Liu Xunyi, "What do you think of this sword? I just bought it, it's a peerless sword."

Liu Xunyi could tell at a glance that the sword was ordinary. Not only was it not extraordinary, but it was crudely made and had redundant and complicated decorations. It could not be considered a suitable weapon at all. But for Zhao Yu's sake, he still smiled and said, "This sword is not bad. It's just that the little prince was still practicing boxing a few months ago. Why did he suddenly change to practicing swords today?"

Zhao Xie couldn't help but pout and said, "I asked you to teach me the invincible boxing, but you made me do horse stance and hit wooden stakes all day long. It's tiring and boring. It's better to practice sword."

Zhao Yu has such a temperament. Although he has practiced martial arts since he was a child, he still has not made any achievements. The reason is that he is fickle and has a playboy character who cannot persevere. In addition, due to his high status, no martial arts master in the palace dared to force him to practice martial arts, and Liu Xunyi did not dare to force him. As a result, he became the weak and weak person he is today, with no skills in boxing and kicking, no weapons, and even no solid basic skills.

"Young prince, only when you stand with your horse like a rock can you be considered to have roots. If you don't stand with your horse like a rock, you will be like a rootless duckweed when fighting with others. No matter how powerful your skills are, you will still suffer." Liu Xunyi advised earnestly as always, "I asked you to stand with your horse for two hours every day to train your lower body..."

“I don’t understand!” Zhao Yu waved his hands impatiently, threw the sword in his hand to Liu Xunyi, and said with a smile, “Master, your swordsmanship is not bad either. Show me a few moves. How do they compare to my Falling Flowers and Falling Leaves Swordsmanship?”

Liu Xunyi couldn't help but smile bitterly. Now he just wanted to talk to Zhao Xin about his feelings. How could he have the mood to practice sword with Zhao He? However, seeing Zhao He's relentless look, Liu Xunyi could only carry his sword and walk to the open space covered with withered flowers, waiting for an opportunity to smile at Zhao Xin.

"Everyone, watch carefully. My master's swordsmanship is also peerless." Zhao Yu called a group of servants to come forward and praised proudly, "Everyone, watch carefully. Write it down for me. I want to learn it later!"

Liu Xunyi stood still with the sword, paused for a moment, and suddenly turned his wrist and the sword came out, cutting off a shaky white flower on the branch. Before the flower fell to the ground, Liu Xunyi raised the sword in his hand, and the flower fell steadily on the tip of the sword, letting the sword of Liu Xunyi fly up and down, the movement was smooth, sometimes as fast as lightning, sometimes as slow as ripples, but the flower never flew away from the sword. A silver light threw out a group of white shadows, flying up and down around Liu Xunyi, like heavy rain and flying snow, accompanied by a series of "swoosh" sounds, the flowers and willows that had just been chopped into pieces by Zhao Yu were reborn under Liu Xunyi's sword, and were trimmed neatly in the blink of an eye, with a unique artistic conception.

“As the saying goes, the knife comes out like a fierce tiger, the sword moves like a flying phoenix, the knife moves in black, the sword moves in green, the sword never goes over the head, the knife never enters the elbow, the sword never collides, and the stick never makes two sounds. Therefore, it takes a hundred days to practice a knife, a thousand days to practice a spear, but ten thousand days to practice a sword. Any weapon cannot be used freely overnight. The young prince still needs to practice hard. The best strategy is to practice hard.” Liu Xunyi patiently explained to Zhao He while dancing with the sword. Finally, the sword came out straight and stopped steadily in front of Zhao He, and the withered flower still fell steadily on the tip of the sword, as if it had taken root in the sword.

Zhao Yu was amazed and slowly stretched out his hand. He carefully touched the flower on the tip of the sword, but it was this weak force that caused the flower to scatter to the ground instantly. Zhao Yu exclaimed softly, then turned around and knocked the head of the servant beside him heavily, scolding: "What do you mean you have only achieved a small success in half a day? Master danced with the sword so fast that the flower did not even shake. I just touched it lightly and it fell. It shows that there is still a huge gap between my sword skills and Master's. Throw it away, I won't practice sword anymore, let's practice boxing again!"

"My young prince, the key to close combat is to attack as soon as you are attacked, and to attack as soon as you are attacked. You can attack and attack at the same time, and then attack and attack at the same time..."

"I know, I know! Master, please talk to Sister Xin. I'll ask them to accompany me to practice boxing somewhere else!" Without waiting for Liu Xunyi's careful instructions, Zhao Yu couldn't wait to pull a few servants out of the garden, "Master and Sister Xin, please talk slowly. No one is in the mansion and no one will disturb you. Hehe..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Yu had already led his people away in front of Liu Xunyi's helpless gaze. Liu Xunyi, who was hesitant to speak, could only sigh softly, and then turned his gaze back to Zhao Xin who was sitting next to him, with a gentle smile on his lips.

……

(End of this chapter)